Day 17 begins with the party breaking camp and continuing towards Omu. After a few hours of travels, they meet Devin the Half-Orc and HetGarl the dwarf on the trail. Devin and HetGarl explain that they were part of a treasure seeking group that was almost wiped out by dinosaurs. They are the only two surviving members. For safety, and adventure, they join our party on the quest to stop the Soulmonger.
The party continues on southwest until they setup camp. Watches are posted as always, and surprisingly the group gets a full night rest. The group sets out on Day 18 in the jungle.
During the afternoon, they hear some loud noises coming from the jungle. Melech sends Mr. Happy, his quasit familiar out to investigate. Melech doesn't believe his eyes, and the rest of the group looks at him like he is crazy when he tell them that he sees frost giants in the dungeon. The party is still in disbelief as three giants and two winter wolfs emerge out of the woods. Artus Cimber tells the group that they are most likely looking for him. He hides behind some bushes and hopes to avoid a deadly confrontation.
The giants approach and tell the group that they are on a mission to find Artus Cimber. The giants take extreme interest when someone says that they encounter Artus earlier in the adventure. The giants send the wolves around to circle the party. While Melech is trying to handle the situation peacefully, one of the wolves start growling. It becomes clear to Artus that his cover is about to be exposed and draws first blood with his longbow.
This enraged the giants and they attack. During the conflict, the giants manage to kill Hew and Gudrun. Artus gets knocked unconscious and a giant moves in to take the ring. The giant reaches out and rips Artus' ring finger off his hand. The giant now have the Ring of Winter. Since their mission is accomplished, they turn and leave.
Driscol wants to kill Artus but is stopped by Dragonbait. Artus regains consciousnesses and is dismayed to find out that the giants took the ring. After some healing and group discussion, the party decides to split from Artus. Retrieving the ring is now Artus' top priority so Dragonbait joins him to recover the ring.
The party having just got their asses kicked, deal with the remains of Gudrun and Hew before retreating to Camp Vengeance to regroup and hire a new guide.