From the introduction: Having dealt with an incursion of hill giants, the adventuring party now finds that stone giants are causing problems deep in the rocky mountains. The PCs have disturbed the plans of some evil faction, and as such the stone giants are now aggressively taking up the slack left by their defeated allies. They have begun blocking the main trading route through the mountains, demanding exorbitant tolls, and ransacking caravans. They threaten the flow of goods and information; they are building leverage over the rulers of the area.