An Audience with the Wyrm of Kryptgarden

The latest session... I tried to get them into the cloud castle but they weren't having it. So they went on their first overland trek. I didn't use it because I haven't reviewed the rules but I want to try using the Adventures in Middles Earth journey rules. Anyone tried them?
In any case, after being super cautious about giants, the players decided to kiss off the ancient wyrm and nearly died for their troubles. I'm thinking Gnawbones is ok with giants rampaging around and will be amused if he can manipulate the players into slaying the one good aligned frost giant.


Traveling along the Sword Coast and the North. Ignoring the newly docked sky castle above Waterdeep, the pained roars of the creature above, the struggles of the Winged Pegasus Knights, and the golden request of well connected douchebag Danilo Thann, the party decided to hang out drinking cider and eating exotic sweatmeats from the Moonshae Isles on the street until the could consult with Chaz Yardhorn, renowned dragon expert extraordinaire, and cat lover. He told them of the ancient enmity between dragons and giants and suggested they seek help from one of the great wyrms of the North, Old Gnawbones the Green in Kryptgarden Forest. He was also very interested to make an etching of Althea's doom-y Black Dragon Mask, which he promised to research while she was traveling. He gave them potions of poison proofness with which to prove their mettle against the dragon they sought. 

 Thinking carefully, Althea returned to Bezel the Jeweler and re-bought the crown of Barovia as an offering for Old Gnawbones. Ghael the Barbarian selected a small herd of sturdy horses equipped with saddles, bags and tack (at a cost of 100gp each) and they set off, setting the shadow of the Sky Castle behind them, though Apollo's purse felt lighter of a sudden.

In the Inns along the way, the "Sleeping Dragon" and the "Singing Sword" of Red Larch, the talk was of Giants raiding food stores yes, but also of red haired giants excavating massive pits in the ground. No one knew why. Amidst all this chaos, the people of Red Larch were even more grim. They seemed to have been terrorized for some time by "maniacs" and "moon men". The elements themselves were an enemy in the Dessarin Valley.

Entering the tangled fastness of the Kryptgarden Forest, the first sighting was of a beautiful triad of dryads fleeing their bathing area, even leaving their towels and jewels. The source of their terror soon became apparent with the shaking of the earth and snarling of hellish hounds. The druid camouflaged her fellows and they ambushed the massive iron man tower, a veritable 20ft dreadnought of blackened steel smashing a wide swath through the forest. With spell and sword, wand and spear they laid low the armored foe. 

 Soon after the Old Gnawbone himself had accosted the party. With the corpse of man dangling out the side of it's cavernous jaws, dragon accepted the offering of the crown and demanded yet more treasure. Finally it offered a cryptic utterance, "Find Harshnag Greyhanded. This is all his fault. Slay him and your troubles will ease. The Wyrm of Kryptgarden cares note!"

"Fine you jerk!" said the haughty wizardess Althea. "We don't need you anyway." And she spit at the dragon as she and her fellows turned away. 

 There was a pregnant pause, a mighty inhalation that sucked all the oxygen from the forest air, then all was green, their lungs were burning and the heroes were stumbling running out of the forest, their horses, slain, themselves hardly more alive, they dragged themselves to the town of Triboar.