Stodor is a stone giant who lost his family to a Synth Satellite attack and was subsequently captured by The Synth and chained to the Bally Table pinball machine.

Description

  • Stone giant
  • Lost his wife and two children
  • Conditioned to throw rocks at red/golden moons
  • Imprisoned and chained to a pinball machine by The Synth
  • Tells stories while eating dinner with various body parts

Backstory: The Bad Moon Rising

Stodor told this tragic story to the party during dinner, explaining how he came to be imprisoned. The story unfolded non-linearly through prompts in hollow eyeballs.

The Cave Dwelling

  • Stodor lived peacefully with his wife and two children in a cave
  • Party of explorers (including Hanzo) tumbled into their home while fleeing from skeletons
  • Skeletons were rising from the ground, doubling on respawn
  • The giant family helped the explorers fight off the undead

The Bad Moon Rising

Associated with the song “Bad Moon Rising”:

Don’t go around tonight
Well it’s bound to take your life
I know the end is comin’ soon

  • An unnatural golden-red moon appeared on what should have been a new moon night
  • Actually a Synth Satellite, not a real moon
  • The moon raised waves of undead:
    • Ogre Zombie
    • Beholder Zombie
    • Revenant
    • Wraith
  • Earthquakes and lightning, storm approaching
  • Multi-level battlefield on a clifftop

The Tragedy

  • Climactic battle where everyone was overrun
  • The Beholder Zombie killed Stodor’s wife and children
  • In a final desperate act, Stodor threw a boulder at the moon
  • The boulder cracked the moon, revealing it as a Synth Satellite
  • The spawning of undead ended

The Mourning

Stones have no enemy but time…

  • Days turned to months, months to years
  • Stodor lived alone in the cave
  • Every night, he went out to hurl stones into the sky
  • A ritual from giant culture: speak a prayer and throw a rock
  • The goddess who grants these prayers was dead
  • Yet Stodor continued the tradition

The Capture

  • The Synth eventually traced the trail of stones back to the cave
  • They investigated what destroyed their experiment
  • Captured Stodor alive
  • Chained him to the Bally Table pinball machine
  • Created a visual illusion: when a ball needs to be thrown, a golden-red disc appears
  • Stodor was conditioned to throw rocks at this illusion
  • The party fought alongside dream-Stodor during this story
  • Hanzo was consumed by the dream and replaced by Velden

Musical Themes

Stodor’s story incorporates several songs:

  • “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival - The unnatural moon that raised the undead
  • “Spooky Scary Skeletons” - The endless waves of respawning skeletons
  • “Pinball Wizard” by The Who - His imprisonment at the pinball machine

Connections

  • Victim of The Synth and their Synth Satellite experiments
  • Chained to Bally Table pinball machine dungeon
  • Story connects to Hanzo’s disappearance and Velden’s appearance
  • Present at same location as Bob, though their stories are separate
  • Connected to Viscount Bridgerton who operated the Bally Table