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Adventures in the Eastern Provinces
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 7592819" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>Questioning the dead troll reveals a fair amount about Skalmad. For one, the troll refers to him as “Skalmad the Undying”, but as Karl points out, that might be a reference to the trolls' ability to regenerate from most damage. </p><p></p><p>“But what if it's not?” Shifty moans, wringing his hands.</p><p></p><p>“Bah!” Kane snorts derisively. “We will lay this Skalmad low, no matter how many times we must kill him!”</p><p></p><p>The resurgant kingdom of Vardar, it turns out, is centered on a place called the Great Warren, a nest of caves within the swamp known for obvious reasons as the Trollhaunt. The troll gives confusing, rambling, incoherent directions; Shar remarks, “I hope it's easier to find this warren than it was to find Tscire Nobi!”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Although there is a strong consensus that the party needs to bring the fight to the troll king in his lair, the folk of Moonstair and not pleased at the notion of their greatest defenders leaving them to the tender mercies of further troll assaults.</p><p></p><p>So it is that Karl and Sepia decide to stay behind, to lend their might to the town's defenders while the others advance into the Trollhaunt.*</p><p></p><p>The Trollhaunt is a mess of thickets and marshland, with wiry, twisted trees and great screens of moss hanging down. Insects buzz and bite, constantly harrassing the warm-blooded creatures within. Birds call; frogs sing. The spongy ground is dotted with fungus. Oozes harmless to creatures larger than a butterfly pulsate and swim through the water, consuming water bugs. The rich, fecund odor of the swamp fills the air, forming a strange fug.</p><p></p><p>The trudge through it takes time, and the party quickly finds evidence that they are on the right track, for a troll war party stumbles on them the first night. The fight is furious and brutal; our heroes win.</p><p></p><p>“You should learn to cast <em>fireball,</em>” P-69 tells Moab. “This would be a lot easier with a <em>fireball.</em>”</p><p></p><p>Moab sniffs. “I'll be sure to take your advice on matters arcane just as soon as you have finished up years of study and earned a degree in spellcasting.”</p><p></p><p>The deeper into the Trollhaunt the party goes, the more difficult the terrain becomes. But they remain on the right track, for they keep seeing troll claw marks on trees, troll droppings, and half-eaten, mostly-rotten, discarded carcasses. After several days of grueling travel, they finally find a muddy track. Troll footprints are abundant.</p><p></p><p>Finally, the trail ends at a sturdy wooden gate anchored to the wall of a cave. A sluggish stream flows into the side of the mound that the warren is apparently built into. A narrow window looks out to the left of the entrance. The party keeps watch for several hours, noting the presence of trolls and more troglodytes.</p><p></p><p>“It doesn't look like there's much of an easy way in,” Shar mutters.</p><p></p><p>“Then we must cut our way in.” Kane grins and unsheathes his sword.</p><p></p><p>“Let's try to keep them from sounding an alarm,” P-69 says. “The last thing we need is to have everything in the warren come crawling out at us.”</p><p></p><p>“Let them come,” Kane rumbles disdainfully.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The party pushes into the warren, hacking through the guards at the entrance, then burning the troll bodies to make sure that they stay dead. Fortunately, the cave is already foul-smelling and smoky, so it seems unlikely that the added smoke will alert the inhabitants. </p><p></p><p>The party stays left, going deeper into the warren and crossing a stone bridge over the river. They soon find an underground lake, full of black water. A few stretches of dry ground run alongside it, and two small islets poke up from near its center.</p><p></p><p>“This would be a crappy place to fight trolls,” Shar murmurs. “It would be too easy for them to put out any fires we start...”</p><p></p><p>“LOOK OUT!” Shifty shrieks.</p><p></p><p>A dark draconian head rises from the water, as long as a man's torso. Wicked eyes focus on the party.</p><p></p><p>Shifty hurls his <em>gnomeblade,</em> then dives to the side as the dragon breathes out a stream of acid. Moab, P-69, and Kane are all caught in the caustic fluid. Screaming in pain, Moab hurls himself into the water to wash the acid off.</p><p></p><p>Kane gives a tremendous battle cry and leaps at the dragon, striking a mighty blow against it. </p><p></p><p>It laughs and dives under the water.</p><p></p><p>“This isn't what I expected!” shouts Shar. </p><p></p><p>Moab surfaces and staggers out onto dry land again, water streaming from his sodden robes. “Try to lure it close and I'll use my <em>beguiling strands</em> to force it out of the water,” he says. “As long as it stays deep in the lake, we can't fight it!”</p><p></p><p>There is an eruption of water as the dragon breaches the surface again. It rushes in to batter Kane with its claws and bite, then slashes at P-69 with its tail before rushing away again. Our heroes land a few blows, but they don't seem to have much impact on it.</p><p></p><p>“Watch the water for it!” Shifty cries. “Where did it go?”</p><p></p><p>Again, the dragon rises, this time spewing more acid all over Kane and Shifty, only to submerge again after a few quick spells and missiles from our heroes.</p><p></p><p>Kane groans. “Cursed dragon!” he shouts. “Stand and fight, you coward!”</p><p></p><p>There is no answer. A few short moments pass-</p><p></p><p>The dragon rises again, breathes again. P-69, Shifty, and Shar are all coated in the acid this time, and when the dragon retreats into the murky water, Shifty says, “We should get out of here! We can't fight like this! We need to figure out a strategy!”</p><p></p><p>“We can't just let the trolls attack Moonstair!” Shar snaps.</p><p></p><p>“They're not worth it!”</p><p></p><p>“We'll come back,” P-69 says. “But Shifty's right. We're going to get killed by this thing if we let it set the terms of the battle.”</p><p></p><p>Reluctantly, the party retreats. They leave the Great Warren and hurry away into the surrounding wilderness, trying to head uphill as much as possible to find a place to camp on dry land. </p><p></p><p><em>We'll be back,</em> Shar silently promises the dragon.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The party makes another daring raid into the Great Warren the next day, this time taking the right-hand passage leading deeper into the place. They cut through more troglodytes and more of the humanoid creatures with single massive eyes dominating their heads.</p><p></p><p>When the battle has been one, Shifty prods one of them with a toe. “These aren't cyclopes. I don't know what they are.” </p><p></p><p>But in short order, a trollish counterattack deals significant damage to the heroes, and they are forced to retreat again. They return to their campsite, but this time are attacked as they try to rest.</p><p></p><p>“We need to keep our distance from them,” P-69 opines. </p><p></p><p>“Or hide better!” Shifty suggests.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>While seeking a better place to camp, our heroes stumble into a single person campsite. A blue dragonborn is whittling on a stick as they enter. Her eyes are wary. She is wearing plate armor and a greataxe is propped against a tree next to her.</p><p></p><p>“Hello,” she says, continuing to carve.</p><p></p><p>“Uh, hello,” Shifty replies. “Who are you?”</p><p></p><p>She puts her stick down and rises to her feet, gripping the axe. “My name is Sabine. I'm a paladin of Garnet. And you...” She grins. “Are you the so-called Heroes of Moonstair?”</p><p></p><p>Shar and Kane share a glance.</p><p></p><p>“Yes we are!” Shifty beams at her. “So, you've heard of us?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes. I helped with the defense of the town.”</p><p></p><p>“You did? Ah, excellent! So I can only assume you are here to fight the trolls!”</p><p></p><p>“Well... sort of. One of my relatives was a member of a party of adventurers who went to confront the trolls before the attack.”</p><p></p><p>“Oh, I believe we heard about them.”</p><p></p><p>“They didn't come back. So I'm trying to save them. Save them... or avenge them.”</p><p></p><p>“I see, I see... Well, it seems as though our courses are aligned, at least for the moment! Perhaps we should join forces?”</p><p></p><p>“It sounds good to me. To be honest, I was hoping to find you while I was out here. Some of those trolls are pretty tough, and Garnet only knows how many I'll have to fight before I find my cousin. Or his remains.”</p><p></p><p>“What if the trolls have eaten him?” P-69 asks.</p><p></p><p>“I'll know if we find his gear,” she replies. </p><p></p><p>“All right,” Shar says, “I think we can agree that working together will make us more likely to take out this troll king. And, of course, that dragon.”</p><p></p><p>“Dragon?” Sabine looks at her.</p><p></p><p>“Aye,” Kane growls. “A black monster that keeps submerging to escape us.” He scowls. </p><p></p><p>Sabine grins again. “I've always wanted to be a dragon slayer.”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The party once more enters the Great Warren and, once past the troglodytes now stationed to guard it, keeps to the left, heading quietly toward the underground lake. </p><p></p><p>“If we can lure it out,” Sabine says confidently, “we can take it.”</p><p></p><p>Kane curls his lip. “Unless it flees like a coward again.”</p><p></p><p>P-69 picks up a rock and hurls it into the water. There is a splash, then, for a moment, nothing.</p><p></p><p>Then the water starts to churn and bubble, and the dragon's head rises up again.</p><p></p><p>This time, the strategic situation is different. Sabine subjects the dragon to her divine sanction, then hangs back, and when the dragon breathes acid on several of the others, it pays for it in radiant damage. The dragon tries to use the same hit and run tactics it did before, but with her sanction in effect, this rapidly proves too painful. It is forced to emerge from the water to fight. </p><p></p><p>The dragon is a whirlwind of destruction, its teeth and claws tearing into Kane and P-69. It snaps its tail into Sabine as she charges in to close with it, delivering a telling blow. But once it is surrounded by them, Shifty springs in to flank with an <em>acrobatic attack</em> and Shar hits it with <em>iron to glass,</em> reducing the amount of damage it deals.</p><p></p><p>Soon, the monster attempts to get away from them again, seeking to retreat to the water. But this time Moab has positioned himself to prevent such shenanigans. He is ready with a <em>beguiling strands</em>. It can only reach the shallows before P-69 intercepts it and pulls it back toward them.</p><p></p><p>The party piles on the damage, unleashing their deadliest attacks.The dragon roars and breathes again, but as they are not grouped up, the dragon is forced to choose between catching only Sabine in its acid or affecting Moab, Shar, and Shifty. It chooses the painful option, and the paladin's divine sanction activates once more, dealing yet more radiant damage to the dragon. </p><p></p><p>Finally, Sabine brings down the black dragon with a mighty smite.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>A search of the water turns up considerable treasure, including a bastard sword that drips acid. Kane claims that gleefully, then the party retreats to their camp to rest before returning to make another foray into the warren.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes meet Skalmad the Troll King!</p><p></p><p></p><p>*This is about the point at which we lose two more players, alas. But as you can see, the party quickly met a new one!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 7592819, member: 1210"] Questioning the dead troll reveals a fair amount about Skalmad. For one, the troll refers to him as “Skalmad the Undying”, but as Karl points out, that might be a reference to the trolls' ability to regenerate from most damage. “But what if it's not?” Shifty moans, wringing his hands. “Bah!” Kane snorts derisively. “We will lay this Skalmad low, no matter how many times we must kill him!” The resurgant kingdom of Vardar, it turns out, is centered on a place called the Great Warren, a nest of caves within the swamp known for obvious reasons as the Trollhaunt. The troll gives confusing, rambling, incoherent directions; Shar remarks, “I hope it's easier to find this warren than it was to find Tscire Nobi!” *** Although there is a strong consensus that the party needs to bring the fight to the troll king in his lair, the folk of Moonstair and not pleased at the notion of their greatest defenders leaving them to the tender mercies of further troll assaults. So it is that Karl and Sepia decide to stay behind, to lend their might to the town's defenders while the others advance into the Trollhaunt.* The Trollhaunt is a mess of thickets and marshland, with wiry, twisted trees and great screens of moss hanging down. Insects buzz and bite, constantly harrassing the warm-blooded creatures within. Birds call; frogs sing. The spongy ground is dotted with fungus. Oozes harmless to creatures larger than a butterfly pulsate and swim through the water, consuming water bugs. The rich, fecund odor of the swamp fills the air, forming a strange fug. The trudge through it takes time, and the party quickly finds evidence that they are on the right track, for a troll war party stumbles on them the first night. The fight is furious and brutal; our heroes win. “You should learn to cast [i]fireball,[/i]” P-69 tells Moab. “This would be a lot easier with a [i]fireball.[/i]” Moab sniffs. “I'll be sure to take your advice on matters arcane just as soon as you have finished up years of study and earned a degree in spellcasting.” The deeper into the Trollhaunt the party goes, the more difficult the terrain becomes. But they remain on the right track, for they keep seeing troll claw marks on trees, troll droppings, and half-eaten, mostly-rotten, discarded carcasses. After several days of grueling travel, they finally find a muddy track. Troll footprints are abundant. Finally, the trail ends at a sturdy wooden gate anchored to the wall of a cave. A sluggish stream flows into the side of the mound that the warren is apparently built into. A narrow window looks out to the left of the entrance. The party keeps watch for several hours, noting the presence of trolls and more troglodytes. “It doesn't look like there's much of an easy way in,” Shar mutters. “Then we must cut our way in.” Kane grins and unsheathes his sword. “Let's try to keep them from sounding an alarm,” P-69 says. “The last thing we need is to have everything in the warren come crawling out at us.” “Let them come,” Kane rumbles disdainfully. *** The party pushes into the warren, hacking through the guards at the entrance, then burning the troll bodies to make sure that they stay dead. Fortunately, the cave is already foul-smelling and smoky, so it seems unlikely that the added smoke will alert the inhabitants. The party stays left, going deeper into the warren and crossing a stone bridge over the river. They soon find an underground lake, full of black water. A few stretches of dry ground run alongside it, and two small islets poke up from near its center. “This would be a crappy place to fight trolls,” Shar murmurs. “It would be too easy for them to put out any fires we start...” “LOOK OUT!” Shifty shrieks. A dark draconian head rises from the water, as long as a man's torso. Wicked eyes focus on the party. Shifty hurls his [i]gnomeblade,[/i] then dives to the side as the dragon breathes out a stream of acid. Moab, P-69, and Kane are all caught in the caustic fluid. Screaming in pain, Moab hurls himself into the water to wash the acid off. Kane gives a tremendous battle cry and leaps at the dragon, striking a mighty blow against it. It laughs and dives under the water. “This isn't what I expected!” shouts Shar. Moab surfaces and staggers out onto dry land again, water streaming from his sodden robes. “Try to lure it close and I'll use my [i]beguiling strands[/i] to force it out of the water,” he says. “As long as it stays deep in the lake, we can't fight it!” There is an eruption of water as the dragon breaches the surface again. It rushes in to batter Kane with its claws and bite, then slashes at P-69 with its tail before rushing away again. Our heroes land a few blows, but they don't seem to have much impact on it. “Watch the water for it!” Shifty cries. “Where did it go?” Again, the dragon rises, this time spewing more acid all over Kane and Shifty, only to submerge again after a few quick spells and missiles from our heroes. Kane groans. “Cursed dragon!” he shouts. “Stand and fight, you coward!” There is no answer. A few short moments pass- The dragon rises again, breathes again. P-69, Shifty, and Shar are all coated in the acid this time, and when the dragon retreats into the murky water, Shifty says, “We should get out of here! We can't fight like this! We need to figure out a strategy!” “We can't just let the trolls attack Moonstair!” Shar snaps. “They're not worth it!” “We'll come back,” P-69 says. “But Shifty's right. We're going to get killed by this thing if we let it set the terms of the battle.” Reluctantly, the party retreats. They leave the Great Warren and hurry away into the surrounding wilderness, trying to head uphill as much as possible to find a place to camp on dry land. [i]We'll be back,[/i] Shar silently promises the dragon. *** The party makes another daring raid into the Great Warren the next day, this time taking the right-hand passage leading deeper into the place. They cut through more troglodytes and more of the humanoid creatures with single massive eyes dominating their heads. When the battle has been one, Shifty prods one of them with a toe. “These aren't cyclopes. I don't know what they are.” But in short order, a trollish counterattack deals significant damage to the heroes, and they are forced to retreat again. They return to their campsite, but this time are attacked as they try to rest. “We need to keep our distance from them,” P-69 opines. “Or hide better!” Shifty suggests. *** While seeking a better place to camp, our heroes stumble into a single person campsite. A blue dragonborn is whittling on a stick as they enter. Her eyes are wary. She is wearing plate armor and a greataxe is propped against a tree next to her. “Hello,” she says, continuing to carve. “Uh, hello,” Shifty replies. “Who are you?” She puts her stick down and rises to her feet, gripping the axe. “My name is Sabine. I'm a paladin of Garnet. And you...” She grins. “Are you the so-called Heroes of Moonstair?” Shar and Kane share a glance. “Yes we are!” Shifty beams at her. “So, you've heard of us?” “Yes. I helped with the defense of the town.” “You did? Ah, excellent! So I can only assume you are here to fight the trolls!” “Well... sort of. One of my relatives was a member of a party of adventurers who went to confront the trolls before the attack.” “Oh, I believe we heard about them.” “They didn't come back. So I'm trying to save them. Save them... or avenge them.” “I see, I see... Well, it seems as though our courses are aligned, at least for the moment! Perhaps we should join forces?” “It sounds good to me. To be honest, I was hoping to find you while I was out here. Some of those trolls are pretty tough, and Garnet only knows how many I'll have to fight before I find my cousin. Or his remains.” “What if the trolls have eaten him?” P-69 asks. “I'll know if we find his gear,” she replies. “All right,” Shar says, “I think we can agree that working together will make us more likely to take out this troll king. And, of course, that dragon.” “Dragon?” Sabine looks at her. “Aye,” Kane growls. “A black monster that keeps submerging to escape us.” He scowls. Sabine grins again. “I've always wanted to be a dragon slayer.” *** The party once more enters the Great Warren and, once past the troglodytes now stationed to guard it, keeps to the left, heading quietly toward the underground lake. “If we can lure it out,” Sabine says confidently, “we can take it.” Kane curls his lip. “Unless it flees like a coward again.” P-69 picks up a rock and hurls it into the water. There is a splash, then, for a moment, nothing. Then the water starts to churn and bubble, and the dragon's head rises up again. This time, the strategic situation is different. Sabine subjects the dragon to her divine sanction, then hangs back, and when the dragon breathes acid on several of the others, it pays for it in radiant damage. The dragon tries to use the same hit and run tactics it did before, but with her sanction in effect, this rapidly proves too painful. It is forced to emerge from the water to fight. The dragon is a whirlwind of destruction, its teeth and claws tearing into Kane and P-69. It snaps its tail into Sabine as she charges in to close with it, delivering a telling blow. But once it is surrounded by them, Shifty springs in to flank with an [i]acrobatic attack[/i] and Shar hits it with [i]iron to glass,[/i] reducing the amount of damage it deals. Soon, the monster attempts to get away from them again, seeking to retreat to the water. But this time Moab has positioned himself to prevent such shenanigans. He is ready with a [i]beguiling strands[/i]. It can only reach the shallows before P-69 intercepts it and pulls it back toward them. The party piles on the damage, unleashing their deadliest attacks.The dragon roars and breathes again, but as they are not grouped up, the dragon is forced to choose between catching only Sabine in its acid or affecting Moab, Shar, and Shifty. It chooses the painful option, and the paladin's divine sanction activates once more, dealing yet more radiant damage to the dragon. Finally, Sabine brings down the black dragon with a mighty smite. *** A search of the water turns up considerable treasure, including a bastard sword that drips acid. Kane claims that gleefully, then the party retreats to their camp to rest before returning to make another foray into the warren. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes meet Skalmad the Troll King! *This is about the point at which we lose two more players, alas. But as you can see, the party quickly met a new one! [/QUOTE]
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