From very ro miour: Iymmirn, Coier Gun, THAME KAYALITMICR SERISSA ‘When King Hekaton disappears, Princess Serissa finds herself thrust into power. Unable to find her father and fearing that he might be dead, Serissa can imagine her political influence evaporating quickly. Several giant lords previously under her father’s thumb have aban- doned her court and set out to impress the gods in ways that could all but destroy the civilizations of the small folk. Serissa fears warfare among the six giant races as, they strive to outdo one another, perhaps in the process reigniting the ancient conflict between giants and drag- ons. The princess-regent knows that her older sisters envy and despise her, but it has never occurred toher that they were involved in their mother's death or their father’s kidnapping. Other than Iymrith and her Uncle Uthor, there are few giants Serissa feels she can trust. Hekaton left behind a piece of regalia called the Korolnor Scepter, a magic item that allows its owner to harness the powers of the Wyrmskull Throne. In accor- dance with her father's wishes, Serissa has claimed the ‘scepter and the throne. Even with the throne’s magic at her command, she feels adrift. Serissa wants to reach ‘out to the small folk for help in finding her father, be- cause she knows that despite their size, they are capable Of great feats of heroism. But lymrith and Uthor have ad- vised Serissa to steer clear of them. Uthor believes (in correctly) that an alliance with the small folk would fur- ther anger Annam the All-Father, while Iymrith wants the giants and the small folk to annihilate one another. Serissa values the counsel of her advisors, but she has her own mind. She wants to see her faith—and her mother's faith—in the small folk vindicated, so she leaps at any opportunity to use small folk to find her father, ‘who she believes has the power to set things right. She ishoping for a cosmic sign to validate her beliefs, but time is not on her side. TYMRITH Iymrith is an ancient blue dragon who can assume the form of a storm giant. In this guise, she has infiltrated Hekaton’s court. While concealing her true nature and agenda from the giants, Iymrith offers counsel to Prin- cess Serissa and at the same time secretly feeds the an- ger and jealousy of Serissa’s older siblings, withthe ulti- ‘mate goal of thrusting the giants into war with the small folk. The dragon also wants to wrest the Wyrmskull Throne from the storm giants and add it to her trove. ‘The disguised dragon put Mirran and Nym in con- tact with representatives of Slarkrethel,a legendary kraken that haunts the Trackless Sea. These small folk belong to a secret yet widespread organization called the Kraken Society. Using information given to them by the evil storm giant sisters, Kraken Society operatives ambushed and killed Queen Neri. Iymrith then planted ‘rumors in the storm giant court that the queen had been assassinated by the Lords’ Alliance, a confederacy of cities and settlements populated by small folk and seat tered throughout the North. The Lords’ Alliance rep- resents one of the greatest threats to dragons in Faeran, so Iymrith is keen to bring about its end. Tue Giant Lorps Convinced that King Hekaton is dead or otherwise out of the picture, five giant lords have struck out into the ‘world to reshape the ordning through their deeds, each hoping to be elevated by the gods to the pinnacle of, aiantkind. Curr Gua Guh, a gluttonous hill giant chief, has raised an enor- mous timber steading in the hills northeast of Gold- enfields, in the central Dessarin Valley. Comfortably housed within her lair, Guh has instructed her husbands