Hotun-Shûl

Hotun-Shûl was a large, underground giant temple beneath the Ice Spires.

Description
The walls of Hotun-Shûl were roughly wide and tall, with the topmost  being lined with hundreds of friezes that depicted the history and accomplishments of the giants. The friezes also depicted the history of their chief giant deity Annam All-Father and his progeny, such as his retribution against Ulutiu.

Three rooms in the temple were dedicated to the three most important runes of the giants, representing the cycle of life and death. Each of these rooms were lined with friezes that depicted the giant language, along with a common translation beneath them.

In the centuries following its destruction, many areas within the temple became wild magic and dead-magic zones.

Interior
Rotunda: the temple's central rotunda was wide, with a glass domed ceiling that reached just as high. In the center of the room was a tall statue of a kneeling giant, with large carved diamonds for eyes; the statue was a depiction of Illsenstaad paying his respects to the ancestors of all giant-kind. In the statue's right hand was held high a bowl of blue flames, while in its left was a wooden pole capped with short, iron spikes engraved with the rune Haug (hill). This pole was enchanted to gift its wielder the strength of a hill giant, but it would permanently lose this enchantment if removed. Only by rotating this statue to face the north could the rotunda's barred concave door be opened.

Hall of the All-Father: directly outside the rotunda was a hall lined with friezes that depicted Annam All-Father's arrival to Faerûn, his marriage to Othea, and the birth of his children. In the center was a wide fresco of a white-haired, blue-robed giant with fire opals for eyes. Anyone that attempted to steal these opals would be crushed beneath a block of stone.

Halls of the Progenitors and Afterlife: the area west of this hall was lined with friezes that depicted the progenitors of the various giant races, including Arno and Julian and Vaprak. The area to the east of it had friezes that depicted all giant and giant-kind races feasting together merrily at a long table in the afterlife of Ysgard.

Hall of the Hartkiller: the hall of the progenitors led into a room whose friezes depicted the story of Hartkiller.

Unfinished Hall: the hall of the afterlife led into a room that was still being constructed when the temple was destroyed. It was a largely featureless space, full of piles of decayed scaffolding and stone carving tools fit for a giant. The friezes in it were incomplete, only covering a third of the room, and depicted the history of the ettins and cyclopes. The room extended out to two other rooms, but one of these halls became blocked following the temple's destruction.

Hall of the Trolls: one of the rooms that the unfinished hall connected to was lined with carvings that depicted a cruel, black-skinned giant who is cursed to live forever, standing atop a pile of his own limbs. In the center of the room was a black obelisk adorned with a wide variety of gemstones. Anyone who attempted to steal these gemstones would activate a spell of reverse gravity, surely killing them.

Hall of Death: the other room that the unfinished hall once connected to was one of the three master rune rooms. The word friezes that lined its walls cataloged the time, place, and manner of death for thousands of giants. In the center of the room laid a crude chunk of obsidian that depicted a giant holding Dod, the giant rune that represented "death." The giant is shown casting light from the rune down upon a group of dead animals and plants, while other giants stand aside aghast at the sight.

Hall of Life: the hall of hartkiller led into one of the three master rune rooms. Its walls had thousands of crystals embedded into them and word friezes that documented the births of thousands of giants, as well as where they lived. In the center of the room was a large slab of alabaster that depicted a giant holding Liv, the giant rune that represented "life." Basking in its radiance around him were animals, flowering plants, and younger giants.

Hall of Journey: adjacent to the hall of the ordning and the hall of the seven stones was one of the three master rune rooms. The word friezes that lined its walls documented giant accomplishments across the ages, such as frost giant victories, revelations made by stone giants, and great things forged by fire giants. In the center of the room stood a perfectly-square slab of forged iron that depicted a giant hammering upon Ferd, the giant rune that represented "journey," on a glowing red anvil.

Illsenstaad's Chambers: one the friezes in the hall of journey had a secret sliding mechanism that revealed the living quarters of the master stone giant artisan Illsenstaad, whose bones could be found piled in a corner centuries after the temple's destruction. Every surface of the chamber was etched with a wide variety of engravings - writings, pictures, and geometric designs.

Hall of the Ordning: the hall of life led into a room lined with friezes that depicted Annam growing increasingly weary of his progeny's bickering, until finally creating the Ordning. At this final moment his six children are shown hanging their heads in shame.

Hall of the Seven Stones: the hall of journey led into a room with a carving on its southern wall that reached up higher than any carving in the temple. It depicted a tall, thin Obadai instructing a circle of seven stone giants to contemplate the surface world; it represented the Seven Stones enclave. Six of the giants each express a different emotion, while a thin seventh giant watches over his peers whilst leaning upon a cane.

History
The countless friezes in Hotun-Shûl were carved by Illsenstaad, who had been charged by his father Obadai with documenting the history and accomplishments of the giants. Prior to its destruction the temple was a place of learning and it was in its halls that the first Runecasters among the giants learned their magic.

Around the 10 century DR, 400 years prior to 1366 DR, the temple was ransacked, by a group of grimlocks with earth magic and elementals. However, the grimlocks' involvement in the temple's destruction would be unknown for centuries.

At some point prior to its destruction, Skrom Jek of Thay wrote a book on the temple entitled, The Meanderings Upon the Friezes of Hotun-Shûl.

In the centuries that followed its destruction the ghost of Illensenstaad worked tirelessly to carve runes into the statue that laid in the temple's central rotunda, eventually transforming it into a rune-forged guardian to protect his temple.

Around the late 15 DR, seismic activity caused the temple to become unearthed. This attracted the attention of many drow, grimlocks, and giants around the Ice Spires region.