Thanks Phil, I look forward to when we can make our (postponed) meeting in person
And now, on with the story...
Rested up and prepared, they scout out the passageways beyond the cave in which they fought the green dragon. None of them notice a pair of furtive goggly eyes viewing them from the waterline in the stagnant watercourse alongside their path.
The first cave they find is empty and clearly unsound, but they notice sound and movement from another chamber. There is a fierce looking reptilian biped on a ledge at the far side of the cave. They eye it cautiously, and are surprised when suddenly a jet of vile green fluid shoots from its head at Trajan. His trained reflexes swing his shield up and he is surprised and pleased to find that the shields magic deflects the acidic blast completely
DM note: the shield grants improved evasion on any saves against acid attacks
Anne Marie springs forwards and in a prodigious leap launches herself up fifteen feet onto the ledge next to the creature. The digester was prepared however, and successfully bats her off down onto the floor again. For a few rounds Meliamne and Trajan prepare their bows and shoot from the entrance while Anne-Marie leaps up and down like a demented jack-in-a-box, slashing at the creature with her rapier. The digester is unable to successfully draw a bead on Anne-Marie because of her excellent dexterity and her monkish ability to evade harm. Eventually it succumbs to the (almost literal) death of a thousand cuts and the party moves on.
Arilyns light illuminates a huge cavern, larger than the ballroom in the Barons’ hall in Knightsbridge. The light is deadened by the dull surfaces of hundreds of mushrooms growing throughout the area – huge ones the size of small trees and thousands of tiny ones as numerous as grass. They would worry about it more if it were not for the clear pathway through the midst of the fungi.
The path winds through to a narrow, rough-hewn stairwell, and thence to a small chamber at a crossroads. Lying on the floor in the middle of the chamber is a chitinous, headless corpse the size of an ogre but with even more hugely muscled arms. Ignoring the side passage, and alert to danger, Taran slips his elven cloak around his shoulders and his special goggles over his eyes and sneaks ahead to scout out the passage.
After a couple of hundred feet and numerous bends he hears rough voices ahead, clearly conversing in a dialect of Dark Speech. From their size they are large creatures. Cautiously moving forward his nostrils are assaulted by a terrible stench arising from a 5ft crevasse that divides a cavern in two. On the far side of the crevasse are two large, rubbery trolls, apparently arguing about something. Beyond them the rough-hewn walls progress farther and at the limit of his darkvision he can just about make out a large iron-bound door.
He returns to the party and a plan of action is drawn up. Arilyn casts invisibility upon Trajan. He and Anne-Marie are to be the shock force that attack the trolls while Meliamne will support them with his song and arrows and Arilyn will marshal her magical forces. Taran will be sneak across and be available should the moment arise.
First Trajan runs forward, springs across the crevasse and charges up to one of the unaware trolls. In a lightning fast move unfortunately invisible to all his scimitar leaps from its sheath and nearly shears completely through the trolls body.
DM note: iaijutsu focus coming into play. Anne-Marie then covers the length of the cavern in a prodigious leap with the aid of her magical boots, and draws a thick red line across the chest of the other troll. Much to Trajan’s surprise he is still invisible, Arilyn smiles at the knowledge that her power is now greater than that of her erstwhile rival Dala, who could only make people invisible until they attacked. She has managed to improve on the magics that untrained sorcerer once used!
Both trolls turn to attack Anne-Marie, but she proves a far too elusive target and although one tags her with a claw neither are able to rend her slender form. Unfortunately for the trolls their hidden foes are ready to pounce. Taran leaps up from the shadows towards the flank of one troll and slices twice with his shortsword, puncturing its kidneys and then slicing its throat open. The invisible Trajan unleashes a full attack and with his new experience and tricks lands three blows on the remaining troll, two of which are criticals. His target falls in four places.
Wise to the way of trolls they quickly produce some fire and burn the trolls corpses even as the trolls inhuman vitality attempts to regenerate them back to life. Once charred and certainly dead the corpses are rolled into the shallow crevasse alongside the detritus of the trolls earlier victims.
Now for the iron door.
! Just getting caught up...you and the Missus getting any sleep these days? Your namesake is just past 10 months and walking is immenent...hide the breakables!
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