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The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7408724" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 47: TROLL HOLE</strong></p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 28 April 2018</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>"I need to see Cal!" decided King Galrich.</p><p></p><p>"Cal? Who's Cal, Your Majesty?" asked one of his clerks, who had been going over the schedule for the day with the half-orc king.</p><p></p><p>Aerik knew who Cal was. He stepped up to the king's side and reminded him, "We haven't adventured with Cal for over two decades, Me King."</p><p></p><p>"What?" demanded King Galrich. Then, as if shaking away an unwanted headache, he insisted, "We need to go see Cal, at once. We're off to the Temple of Kord!"</p><p></p><p>"But your day's schedule, Your Majesty!" insisted the harried clerk, chasing after the burly ruler as he stomped his way out of the palace meeting hall.</p><p></p><p>"Later!" hissed Aerik. "We'll be at th' Temple of Kord!" As they passed a castle page, Aerik commanded, "Fetch them what're waitin' fer th' meeting at eight bells -- have 'em meet us outside, at once!" The page saluted smartly and rushed off to do the bidding of the king's bodyguard. As King Galrich and Aerik started down the steps of the castle, they were met by a group of the king's adventurers.</p><p></p><p>"Ah, there you are, Feron," said King Galrich, smiling at the sight of Finoula. The elven ranger opened her mouth to correct the king, but shut it again at a stern look from Aerik. The others - the entirety of the adventuring team, save for Gilbert Fung and Aerik's own daughter Ingebold, who were both still preparing their spells for the day - fell into line. "Where are we going?" piped up Binkadink, extending his <em>gnomish stilt-boots</em> to keep pace with the king.</p><p></p><p>"Temple of Kord," replied Aerik tersely, and said no more.</p><p></p><p>The Temple of Kord was a fine building - not surprisingly, as it had once been the pre-eminent place of worship in all of Kordovia, given that the country was founded in the god's name. However, the attacks from orc and goblin forces that had begun two decades back and more had severely reduced the ranks of the clergymen; not surprisingly, the clerics of the God of Strength insisted on pitting their might on the front lines against the enemy, and casualties had been heavy. The current leader of the church was <strong>Father Bendrick</strong>, who welcomed a visit from the king even if he hadn't expected it.</p><p></p><p>"Your Majesty," greeted the elderly cleric. "To what does the church owe such a visit?"</p><p></p><p>"I need to talk to Cal," replied King Galrich, pushing past the cleric and entering the church. It was laid out like many such temples, with rows of pews for the parishioners facing the back of the open room, which held a pulpit for the head cleric; this one had an enormous stone statue of Kord standing in an alcove behind the pulpit.</p><p></p><p>"Cal?" asked Father Bendrick, confused, as he followed the group into his church. King Galrich stood in the center of the room, looking all about him: at the stained glass windows depicting stories of Kord's might; at the empty pews; at the statue of the God of Might, his muscles seeming to bulge even when carved from stone. The others held back, giving the king his space.</p><p></p><p>"How long has he been like this?" whispered Finoula to Aerik. "He mistook me for my little sister."</p><p></p><p>"A few days now," admitted Aerik in a low voice. "It comes and goes. He gets confused, then snaps out of it like nothin' 'appened."</p><p></p><p>"There you are!" said King Galrich, but when the others looked to see who he was addressing, there was nobody there.</p><p></p><p>"And sometimes, 'e talks to folks what aren't there."</p><p></p><p>"What do you think I should do?" asked the king to the open air. Moments passed in silence, with King Galrich giving every impression he was listening intently to an unspoken answer. Then he replied, "I'll get my guys on it at once." He shook his head again as if coming out of a trance, then turned and walked back to the double doors at the front of the temple. "We're done here," he announced. Turning to Finoula, he said, "Gather up the rest of your troops. I have a mission for you."</p><p></p><p>"Y-yes, Your Majesty," acknowledged Finoula as King Galrich and his dwarven bodyguard stomped back to the castle.</p><p></p><p>Half an hour later, the assembled group - including Ingebold and Gilbert, who had been quickly brought up to speed about the morning's events - sat around the table in the briefing hall they had originally been scheduled to meet with the king to give him a status report of their recent adventures. All of that had been put by the wayside, however, as King Galrich was more interested in giving them their current assignment. He began by plopping a large sack of coins, taken directly from the king's treasury, onto the table. That got Castillan's attention at once.</p><p></p><p>"There's a half-orc merchant named <strong>Grommurk</strong>," King Galrich informed the team. "He peddles his wares from a mule cart, generally making the rounds between Baranford, Garonis, Kisail, Littleberg, Pantarn, and Fountainspring. I want you to find him. He wears a silver circlet on his brow – I want you to purchase one just like it and return it to me."</p><p></p><p>There was silence around the table. Gilbert finally broke it by asking, "That it? That our mission?"</p><p></p><p>"That's it," agreed King Galrich. "That's your mission. You are dismissed." Then he abruptly stood up - the others rising hurriedly as he stood - and exited the room, Aerik in tow.</p><p></p><p>"This not a mission," complained Gilbert. "This a shopping trip."</p><p></p><p>"Nonetheless," Ingebold began, "He is our king, and--"</p><p></p><p>"Yes-yes-yes," Gilbert interrupted, waving his hand as if shooing away a bothersome fly. "Still a stupid mission."</p><p></p><p>"How should we go about finding this Grommurk?" asked Darrien. Gilbert rubbed his beard as he gave it some thought.</p><p></p><p>"He visit same six cities, over and over," the portly mage observed. "Baranford the closest. We start there, see if anybody seen him lately."</p><p></p><p>"A half-orc merchant wearing a silver circlet who drives a mule cart would rather stand out," pointed out Finoula. "Anybody who'd seen him would likely remember having seen him."</p><p></p><p>"Let's go, then!" enthused Castillan, grabbing up the sack of gold coins.</p><p></p><p>The group opted to travel in the dragonfly vessel; it was much faster than their Vistani wagon, even if it was much more conspicuous. Rather than make a scene by landing their flying ship in the middle of town, they had Jinkadoodle drop down just outside of Baranford. The group disembarked from the ship from there, Ingebold taking their rolled-up <em>carpet of teleportation</em> with them, stowed inside the <em>portable hole</em> she carried. That way, all but one of them could return to the ship when they were finished, while the one left behind walked with the carpet back to a rendezvous point to be picked up.</p><p></p><p>Once entering the town by foot, the team split up. Some hit the taverns while others found their way directly to the marketplace, but each questioned the locals as to whether they'd seen Grommurk recently, and if so, when. The general consensus was that Grommurk had been in town about a month ago and would likely be back in another month. "That mean he halfway through his cycle," observed Gilbert. "We skip Garonis and Kisail, go straight to Littleberg."</p><p></p><p>At Littleberg, Castillan met a man who had ordered something from Grommurk for his wife and was expecting him any day now. "He shoulda been here a week ago," the man complained.</p><p></p><p>"Then he either in Kisail or traveling this way," Gilbert decided. Rather than wait, the group flew to Kisail. After confirming there that the half-orc merchant had already departed Kisail, the group decided they'd do best by following his trail on land rather than by flying over the main road between Kisail and Littleberg with the dragonfly ship. Not only was it much less conspicuous, but they'd likely see things on the ground that they wouldn't be able to from the air. So after using the <em>carpet of teleportation</em> to pop up to the dragonfly ship and tell Jinkadoodle of their plans, Binkadink returned to the group, bringing with him (in several trips) his jackalope Obvious, Finoula's timber wolf Wrath, and Darrien's pet dire bear cub Grumps Junior. Then they all went to rent horses for their trip while Jinkadoodle flew the ship back to its "parking garage" in the clouds.</p><p></p><p>The gnome fighter opted not to rent a horse - he had his jackalope mount and was much more comfortable with Obvious than he would be on even the smallest of ponies. Ingebold opted for a pony, as did Castillan, while the others rented full-size horses.</p><p></p><p>"You might want to see about a draft horse," piped up Binkadink, smirking at Gilbert Fung.</p><p></p><p>"You shut stupid gnome mouth," Gilbert retorted. But once everyone was suitably mounted, they took off on the road to Littleberg.</p><p></p><p>"I kind of miss the Vistani wagon," observed Castillan, who often rode on top of the roof as a lookout. "It's a shame there no good way to transport it on the dragonfly ship."</p><p></p><p>"Not me," replied Finoula. "This is much better, being out on the trail on horseback." She missed her own mount, Daisy, but the pony was back at the stables at Battershield Keep. Wrath trotted along at her heels, making Finoula's mount a bit skittish - these rented horses weren't used to having bears and wolves travel alongside them. But the team made good time on the road.</p><p></p><p>About three hours later, the group spotted a commotion up ahead, off to the side of the road where it butted up against the Dapple Wood, a forest of thick trees. A small group of people were gathered together beneath the branches, fighting over an overturned cart. Finoula quickly cast a <em>longstrider</em> spell upon herself and jumped off her pony, not wanting to ride the rented mount into a potential battle - and with her spell active, she lost no speed in the process. She pulled out her longsword <em>Tahlmalaera</em> with her right hand and uncurled her <em>whip of thorns</em> with her left. "What seems to be the problem?" she asked as she approached the group.</p><p></p><p>At her words, several people dashed off in different directions, eager to flee the scene. Three rogues dressed in leather armor stood their ground, however. "We was here first, and we claim alla these goods fer ourselves!" their leader said. "Now scram!"</p><p></p><p>Castillan leaped off of his pony and raced up to the group, shooting the leader with his light crossbow once within range. That served as official notice what the bounder thought of the bandit's proclamation.</p><p></p><p>Darrien had followed the others' lead in not taking a rented horse - likely unused to combat - into a fight with bandits. So he activated his <em>ebony fly</em> and took to the air, leaving his terrestrial mount behind. Maneuvering the fly with his knees, he notched an arrow into his <em>Arachnibow</em> and let fly. His first arrow finished off the bandit leader, while his next two slew the next bandit in line.</p><p></p><p>Hagan was the next to react. As a spellcaster, he opted to remain on his rented horse - it wasn't like he was planning on riding it into battle. Instead, realizing the usefulness of having a survivor to question, he cast one of his few nonlethal spells at the remaining bandit, hoping to deprive him of his sight and make him that much less of a dangerous combat opponent. Unfortunately, the bandit managed to shrug off the spell's intended effects.</p><p></p><p>However, Finoula managed to do with her sword what the half-orc sorcerer had failed to do with his spell - take the remaining bandit out of the fight. Racing up to the remaining bandit with spell-enhanced speed, she had the point of <em>Tahlmalaera</em> at the man's throat before he could react. "Do you wish to join the others in death?" she asked.</p><p></p><p>It turns out he didn't. "I surrender!" he cried, dropping his weapons: a light crossbow and a short sword. "The dagger as well," Finoula prompted, spotting the extra weapon on the bandit's belt. Without hesitation, the bandit added the dagger to the pile of other weapons at his feet.</p><p></p><p>"We found the wagon like this, I swear!" the bandit exclaimed, sweat rolling down his face. While Finoula had the man lie face-first on the grass at sword-point, the others explored the area and confirmed his tale. There were drag-marks at the road indicating the mule cart had been pulled to its present location. The leather straps that had once affixed the mule to the wagon were cut, by something less sharp than a steel blade; it looked to have been the work of claws. And, most telling of all, the mud on the wheels of the cart was thoroughly dried. "It's been here two days, at least," determined Darrien.</p><p></p><p>Finoula allowed the bandit to regain his footing. "We're keeping your weapons," she advised him. "Now get out of here." The bandit made no argument, racing away from the group, headed to Kisail. He didn't even make any attempt to gather up any of his partners' belongings, which Gilbert was gathering and doing a quick mental calculation of their likely worth. "These short swords look like maybe masterwork quality," he observed.</p><p></p><p>Castillan had been exploring further into the Dapple Wood - admittedly, at first merely to gather up the odd bits of silver merchandise that had been scattered among the area. But he called the others to him. "Look at this!" he said, pointing down to a huge footprint in a dried patch of dirt. Darrien and Finoula, the rangers, exchanged knowing looks with each other. "Troll," they said in unison.</p><p></p><p>Castillan held a silver ring up for examination. It bore a stylized "G" on its face - a symbol which matched a painting on the side of the mule cart. "I think they got our Grommurk," he said.</p><p></p><p>"The trail leads this way," remarked Darrien, looking at drag-marks on the ground where something heavy - likely the mule - had been pulled along. Dried bloodstains further marked the trail.</p><p></p><p>"What about the horses?" asked Finoula. "We probably shouldn't leave them here by the side of the road, where they can get stolen." Ingebold pulled out her <em>portable hole</em> and retrieved the <em>carpet of teleportation</em> from within it. Binkadink took the time to take each of the horses, one at a time, aboard the dragonfly vessel. "We'll have to return them once we're finished up here," he said. "But Aithanar said they'll be no problem." Aithanar had quite a way with animals; Finoula found herself smiling at the thought of Castillan's younger brother.</p><p></p><p>The trail led deeper into the Dapple Wood, ending abruptly at a large hole, some 15 feet in diameter, nestled between two sturdy-looking trees. A hollow log partially covered the hole, serving as a potential barrier - although if it was meant to keep people out it wasn't very effective, as there was more than enough room for a person (even one of Gilbert's bulk) to slide in on either end of the hole.</p><p></p><p>"That where we going," observed Gilbert. "Ingebold! Open up <em>hole</em> again, it time to let Mudpie out." The dwarven cleric complied, and Gilbert's earth elemental familiar stepped out of the extradimensional plane on the other side of the <em>portable hole</em>. "Master," it greeted the heavyset wizard.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert began the casting of preparatory spells, starting with <em>mage armor</em> upon himself and his familiar. Hagan followed suit, casting the spell not only upon himself and his weasel familiar Wezhley, but also upon Obvious, Wrath, and Grumps. The rangers each cast a <em>barkskin</em> spell upon themselves, while Binkadink fed a <em>potion of barkskin</em> to Obvious, who by now had gotten used to the taste. Gilbert followed up with a <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell that linked him and Mudpie in to Binkadink, Darrien, Finoula, and Hagan.</p><p></p><p>"I think we ready," he announced. "Mudpie: pull log out of way!" The earth elemental hurried to comply, as Binkadink called up to the trees in the language of burrowing mammals. "Squirrels!" he called. "Are there many trolls in here?"</p><p></p><p>There was a rustling of leaves overhead as a few squirrels got closer - but not too close, the gnome was quick to notice - to speak to the strange little man who spoke their language. "Trolls!" one replied. "Yes! Bad-bad-bad!"</p><p></p><p>"How many trolls?" Binkadink inquired. The squirrels gave this question some thought before replying, "Many!" The gnome shrugged, not expecting much more; squirrels were notoriously bad at numbers. Nonetheless, he thanked them for their help and wished them a good day.</p><p></p><p>Looking down the vertical shaft, Binkadink determined it was about 15 feet down or so. He summoned forth a set of <em>dancing lights</em>, sending them drifting slowly down the shaft to provide illumination below, then remounted Obvious as the others lined up to go in.</p><p></p><p>Hagan volunteered to go first. There were several roots sticking out from the side of the shaft which made for suitable hand-holds. Dropping to the packed earth of the floor, the sorcerer looked around - and locked his gaze with that of a troll, whose red eyes glinted in the illumination of the <em>dancing lights</em> from deeper within a side cave whose opening abutted with the main area directly below the entry shaft.</p><p></p><p>Hagan acted instinctively, dropping a <em>wall of fire</em> across the cave opening, sealing in the troll and sending blasts of flickering heat his way. <strong>Cheplik</strong> roared in pain from the flames, as Finoula dropped to the floor beside Hagan, having effortlessly traversed the shaft with her <em>boots of spider climbing</em>. She landed facing the other way, into another side cavern, and the sight she saw there made her blood run cold.</p><p></p><p>It was another troll, but that wasn't the problem, for the elven ranger had expected to see trolls living in this cavern complex. Rather, it was the troll's appearance, which was unlike anything in the ranger's experience. This troll had four arms, the second pair grafted into the sides of the body just below the normal pair. And jutting through the troll's torso and limbs, in a random-enough pattern to convince the elf that this wasn't a natural occurrence, were spikes the color of bone - in fact, they were actually shards of bone poking through the creature's warty, green-skinned flesh, judging by the shattered edges of several of the protuberances.</p><p></p><p>Enjoying the look of revulsion its appearance generated on the elf's face, <strong>Skrongo</strong> spread all four of its arms wide and grinned a horrible grin at Finoula. Then, in a blur of motion, it sprang at her, hooting in excitement. But Finoula had both of her weapons out and at the ready, and as the four-armed monstrosity approached her she flicked her <em>flaming whip of thorns</em> at it. Skrongo howled in pain as the flames burned into his flesh, but swung a pair of claws at Finoula, raking her across the shoulder. However, the ranger stepped into his embrace, leading with <em>Tahlmalaera</em>, which slid deep into Skrongo's belly. The troll slashed at her again, and Finoula ignored the pain of the thing's claws and protruding bone-spikes as she twisted the sword in its wound. Then, fearing to be caught up in a four-armed embrace, she kicked away from her opponent. Greenish blood dripped from a deep gash in Skrongo's stomach and he staggered as one hand clamped it shut to keep his intestines in place as his warty flesh began to regenerate the wound.</p><p></p><p>With a roar of anticipated pain, Cheplik raced through Hagan's <em>wall of fire</em> spell, burning his flesh but more importantly freeing himself from being burned alive in his own cave without the ability to fight back against his attackers. Claws raked across Hagan's chest, causing the sorcerer to fall back a step. But the troll was well within range of Darrien's <em>Arachnibow</em> as the half-elf ranger stood at the top of the pit. He rapidly shot arrow after arrow down at the troll, peppering him with feathered shafts.</p><p></p><p>With Cheplik thus occupied, Castillan scampered down the entry tunnel, bounding past Finoula and behind Skrongo, setting himself up for a sneak attack against the four-armed monstrosity. But the bounder had to put a stop to his own attack at the last moment, seeing that his intended stab from behind would impale his own hand on a bone-spike jutting out from the creature's back! Cursing his luck at the wasted opportunity, Castillan readied himself for another opening.</p><p></p><p>Without hesitation, Obvious jumped into the entry shaft, hitting one side of the tunnel wall and whipping his body around to bound off the other; he landed on all fours at the bottom of the shaft, and Binkadink, now used to such mid-air maneuvers, had the presence of mind to keep his glaive readied to strike. He thrust at Skrongo with every ounce of strength he possessed, and the blade nearly severed the four-armed troll's head from his neck, so deeply did it cut. As Skrongo fell backwards in death - and Castillan scampered back to prevent the troll from falling onto him - Binkadink wheeled his glaive around and thrust it at Cheplik, scoring a solid hit but failing to drop the second troll.</p><p></p><p>But no matter: Obvious finished the job with a goring from his antlers. The jackalope followed up by stomping on the falling troll's chest, helping to ensure it fell backwards directly into Hagan's <em>wall of fire</em>, where Cheplik's body quickly started burning, filling the area with the rancid stench of seared troll-flesh.</p><p></p><p>Ingebold climbed down into the troll hole, but at the moment there were no enemies within sight, so she stepped over by Finoula to ensure her Battle-Sister didn't need any healing. Finoula suggested they drag Skrongo's body into the <em>wall of fire</em> to ensure it didn't regenerate itself back to life, but Hagan responded by casting a second <em>wall of fire</em> directly through Skrongo's body. "Or we could just do that," Finoula remarked.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert entered the cave network in his own inimitable fashion, by sending Mudpie to earth glide through the side of the wall while holding his hands up to form platforms for Gilbert to stand upon; as the elemental lowered himself down the vertical shaft, he alternated his hands so that Gilbert "walked" down the tunnel without once taking an actual step. Once at floor level, he stepped off of his familiar's hands and cast a <em>stoneskin</em> spell on the two of them.</p><p></p><p>Eager to see what else this cavern complex had to offer, Finoula strode confidently down the tunnel into a larger chamber. Ten feet up along the wall to the right there were two narrow niches, each housing a juvenile troll. One of these, <strong>Spakko</strong>, backed into the farthest reaches of his nook, while the other came to the front of her own nook and pointed a stick at the intruding elf. "Sping!" she cried, and when that didn't work, she followed with "Burrak! Dormluk!" But despite her best efforts, <strong>Jorpa</strong> couldn't get the stick to shoot fire like she'd seen its previous owner make it do.</p><p></p><p>But Finoula ignored the troll children, her complete focus on the two adult trolls who had hopped down from another side cave about a dozen feet up from the floor of the central cavern, further down the right-hand side. They advanced menacingly, one of them licking her rubbery lips with a blackened tongue at the thought of elf-flesh for dinner. Together, they rushed at Finoula, attacking her from two adjacent directions. Finoula cracked her whip at <strong>Garpo</strong>, allowing her partner <strong>Tork</strong> to get in a good rake with his claws as the elf ranger devoted her attention to his mate.</p><p></p><p>But from behind her, Darrien shot a barrage of arrows at Tork, striking him repeatedly. The troll shrieked in pain and backed off, allowing Finoula to continue focusing on Garpo.</p><p></p><p>Castillan came up just behind Finoula, looking over to a cave on the left that Finoula hadn't been able to focus on due to the immediate attack from Tork and Garpo. Two more trolls advanced from this side cave, the pair covered in white runes all over their bodies. "Spellcasters!" Castillan cried, assuming the trolls to be the spell-adepts of the group, judging from their adornment. But the bounder decided to help Finoula with the pair she was up against, as there were other heroes coming from just behind to deal with the spellcaster trolls. Activating his ring, Castillan <em>dimension doored</em> directly behind Garpo, his blades out and ready to strike.</p><p></p><p>Obvious squeezed by the others in the narrow passageway, leaping forward once in the open, allowing Binkadink to skewer Garpo with his glaive. She fell to the cold stone floor, dead but her lethal wounds already stitching themselves back closed. Behind the mounted gnome, Ingebold stepped up and swung her warhammer at Tork, crushing a kneecap but taking a clawed strike in turn.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert decided to take on the "spellcaster" trolls, <strong>Jublin</strong> and <strong>Wessup</strong>. He cast a <em>fireball</em> spell that encompassed the two, causing them to howl in pain as their warty flesh sizzled. Behind him, Hagan cast another <em>wall of fire</em> that sealed up Jorpa and Spakko's nooks, trapping the juvenile trolls within.</p><p></p><p>Finoula used her longsword and her whip against Tork, hitting with both, but taking another claw strike in retaliation. Behind her and to the side, the juvenile trolls had both come to the same conclusion: staying in their sleeping nooks was a death sentence! Both rushed through the <em>wall of fire</em>, but only Spakko survived the experience; Jorpa's flaming body fell to the floor, the wooden stick falling from her grasp as she landed. Finding Obvious standing directly before him, Spakko directed all of his hate and fury against the jackalope, slashing out with claws that the antlered rabbit easily dodged.</p><p></p><p>Castillan pondered maneuvering to strike Tork from behind when the troll's whole body spasmed and shook, the result of Darrien's latest barrage of arrows striking him repeatedly. With Tork seemingly well in hand, the bounder opted to go deeper into the cavern complex to find some trolls he could fight by himself, without the others always getting in his way. Dipping through a narrow passageway, he saw a larger cavern with several side caves. From a side cave to the left emerged another pair of trolls, <strong>Squinch</strong> and <strong>Ratti</strong>, while from the one directly ahead stepped a massive troll sporting an oversized greatclub in each hand and an extra head on his shoulders. "Who dares enter <strong>Vessik-Durath</strong>'s domain?" demanded the two-headed troll in the Giant language.</p><p></p><p>Castillan didn't understand the Giant language, but he didn't need to know the two-headed troll's words to realize this was a trio he didn't want to face by himself after all. Spinning on his heels, he scurried back the way he'd come, the three trolls fast behind him. Ahead, Jublin and Wessup had advanced further into the central cavern, but Binkadink had plucked a bead from his <em>fireball necklace</em> and hurled it at the pair, encompassing them in a blossom of flames once again. Tork had finally fallen to Darrien's arrows, and now Obvious was leaping up and down on the fallen troll's corpse, inflicting further damage so its eventual regeneration back to life would take that much longer.</p><p></p><p>Ingebold cast a <em>flame strike</em> spell on Jublin and Wessup; the third fire spell finally dropped the two - and before either had been able to cast a single spell themselves, the cleric mused. Seeing most of the group bunched up together, Gilbert cast a <em>haste</em> spell on the adventurers, catching all but Hagan in the spell's effect - the half-orc had stepped forward to fetch Jorpa's dropped stick, finding it to be a <em>wand of fireball</em> with "fuegar" carved clearly on the side; apparently Jorpa couldn't read! But with a free moment out of combat - for Vessik-Durath and the last pair of adult trolls were just now coming through the passageway in the back - Hagan directed a <em>scorching ray</em> into <em>Tahlmalaera</em> at Finoula's request, reattuning the <em>variable energy blade</em> from sonic to fire. Flames leaped from the enchanted blade, bringing a smile of anticipation upon the ranger's face. "Thanks!" she called to the half-orc sorcerer, advancing to meet the approaching troll forces.</p><p></p><p>Vessik-Durath exited the narrow corridor in a loping bound and came right up to Finoula, his twin greatclubs raised; behind him, Squinch and Ratti were about halfway through the sloping passageway connecting the two larger caverns. Before the half-fiend ettinblood troll could bring either weapon crashing down upon Finoula, Darrien sent a cluster of five arrows crashing into his chest, noting with pride that each had struck true but frowning upon noticing the wounds didn't frost up like they usually did since he'd had his <em>Arachnibow</em> enchanted to enhance his arrows with cold energy. But despite being able to ignore the arrows' lack of cold damage, Vessik-Durath wasn't able to ignore Castillan's sudden attack, for the bounder ducked underneath the troll's raised left arm and sent his blade deep into the creature's side, then used it as a handhold to help stab the creature in the back with his rapier with maximum force. Roaring in pain, the two-headed beast dropped both greatclubs and grabbed his side; Castillan only just managed to pull the weapons from the demon-troll's flesh and step back out of the way.</p><p></p><p>Vessik-Durath staggered in place, wheeling around to face the elf bounder. But then Binkadink was upon him, bringing his magic glaive in to slash across the troll leader's lumpy flesh. The troll dropped to one knee, tried steadying himself with a hand on the stone floor, and then Binkadink brought his blade crashing down on the back of one of the troll's twin skulls, dropping him in an instant. Ingebold brought her warhammer down on the other skull, crushing it to pulp. "Let's see ye heal that!" she cried.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert cast a <em>fire shield</em> spell upon himself and Mudpie, then sent his familiar to go trample the two-headed troll's body. Across the cavern, Obvious was still doing the same to Tork's corpse; the poor troll wouldn't be rising any time soon!</p><p></p><p>Finoula turned to face the last two adult trolls, her now-flaming sword in hand, matched by the flames erupting from her <em>whip of thorns</em>. A look of worry crossed the faces of the last troll pair, but then they steeled themselves against these intruders and forged ahead. Darrien sent a few arrows into Squinch's broad chest, and then Hagan called for the others to back away from the trolls. Intrigued, Binkadink did as the sorcerer requested, as did Ingebold; the cleric spent the time casting a healing spell upon her Battle-Sister, who of all the group had sustained the most damage from the trollish forces. Gilbert communicated with Hagan over the <em>telepathic bond</em>, and then the two spellcasters struck in unison.</p><p></p><p>Hagan cast yet another <em>wall of fire</em> sideways along the length of the narrow passageway, catching both trolls in the middle of the spell effect. They roared in unison as their greenish flesh erupted in flames; with growls of determination they raced through the length of the <em>wall of fire</em>, eager to get past its effects - only to come crashing into the invisible <em>wall of force</em> Gilbert had planted right at the end of Hagan's flaming wall. Unable to escape from the <em>wall of fire</em>, Squinch and Ratti cried out in pain as the flames took them. Only after their corpses were charred to a crisp did the spellcasters dismiss their respective <em>wall</em> spells.</p><p></p><p>The trolls seemingly defeated - and after Tork and Vessik-Durath's bodies were dragged into the <em>wall of fire</em> that had taken out Jorpa and Spakko - the group split up to give the caves they'd passed a quick look. Ingebold found a sack of 250 pieces of gold in Cheplik's quarters, along with several skulls hung on the walls of the cave mounted with metal pitons. There was also a wineskin made from a cow's stomach and a 50-foot length of silk rope. In Skrongo's cave, mixed in with a nest of leaves, Finoula found the poorly-stitched hide of a stuffed dire boar, likely a combination pillow and stuffed animal, mixed in with the scattered bones of recent meals (including what she suspected were the bones of Grommurk's mule). Castillan found a bag of crystal marbles in a small blue sack in the cave shared by Tork and Garpo, while Binkadink unearthed a near-empty can of white paint in Jublin and Wessup's cave, the source of the nonmagical (and quite useless) "protective runes" Wessup had painted on the pair.</p><p></p><p>Moving farther into the sections of the cave complex they hadn't yet explored, Gilbert and Mudpie found a deep pit of unknown purpose; it was a "punishment pit" where disobedient trolls were tossed in - often without their limbs, which would eventually grow back - until they had learned the errors of their ways. Darrien discovered that Squinch and Ratti's cave contained a wide variety of fungus along the back section, combination bedding and food source. While Hagan explored the large cave Vessik-Durath had used for his own personal quarters, he found nothing more than simple bedding. By then, though, Castillan had caught up to the sorcerer and explored one of the two openings from the leader's den to a higher-level cave whose twin entrances were each 5 to 6 feet above the floor. Excited by the glint of silver he saw in the middle of the floor, the elf headed over in that direction - and immediately felt the weight of something heavy on his back, as well as a pinching at the back of his neck as sharp mandibles pierced his skin.</p><p></p><p>It was only because there were two such creatures attacking him that Castillan knew what he was up against; the phase spider directly before him he was able to keep at bay with his blades. But as the two arachnids disappeared back into the ethereal plane, Castillan scooped up a large, cloth bag and a pair of goggles that were lying on the floor before backing out cautiously.</p><p></p><p>Hagan called the others over the still-active <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell and the group congregated in what the bounder had determined was the treasury. "Any sign of Grommurk?" asked Finoula, concerned about the abducted merchant's welfare.</p><p></p><p>"Likely dead," explained Castillan before briefing the group on the phase spiders waiting to attack anyone who ventured into the treasure cavern.</p><p></p><p>"I go in," offered Gilbert, as Mudpie gave his master a lift up into the cavern and then followed. Sure enough, a phase spider suddenly appeared behind Gilbert - and was burned by the wizard's <em>fire shield</em> spell when it tried biting the tasty morsel. A steady diet of Vessik-Durath's half-fiendish blood had given the phase spiders a lesser immunity to cold and fire, but the wizard's spell was painful enough to cause the phase spider to retreat back to the ethereal plane. The other one briefly appeared when Binkadink entered the cavern, but his glaive dealt enough damage to likewise drive it away. They gathered up the rest of the trolls' treasure and retreated back to Vessik-Durath's lair. Looking over at their takings, they found a black velvet bag of diamonds, two trade bars of silver, a pair of gloves which later proved to be <em>gloves of arrow snaring</em>, and Grommurk's silver circlet.</p><p></p><p>"I guess we'll bring this one back to the king," said Castillan. "It doesn't look like he'll be making another anytime soon."</p><p></p><p>"Let's go," suggested Ingebold, pulling the <em>carpet of teleporting</em> from her <em>portable hole</em> and unrolling it onto the floor. "This oughtta be safe enough here until we come back fer it." One by one, the adventurers stepped onto the magical carpet and back on board the dragonfly vessel, where they briefed Jinkadoodle of their encounters. They'd had enough for one day; they'd get the horses back to Kisail and go retrieve their carpet from the troll hole in the morning. But Ingebold insisted they return the silver circlet to the king at once, and so they did, the little gnome illusionist piloting the airship safely to the castle. King Galrich was overjoyed at their success and wore the circlet at once.</p><p></p><p>But two days later, he and Aerik were back at the Temple of Kord and the king was back to talking to people who weren't there. "It's no good," he said to the open air of the temple interior, as Father Bendrick and Aerik Battershield looked on with concern. The king looked up intently at the statue of Kord as if listening, although none of those accompanying him heard anything. "Then it's settled," he said. "How much longer?"</p><p></p><p>Finally, the king turned back to Aerik. "There you are," he said absently. "We're done here. We may as well head back to Guild Headquarters."</p><p></p><p>"Headquarters, Me King?" repeated Aerik, confused.</p><p></p><p>"Hmm? No, no, the castle," replied King Galrich distractedly. "I've got to make some plans." He scratched his head, his fingers bumping against the <em>circlet of vitality</em>. Pulling it from his forehead, he looked at it as if puzzled by its appearance, then handed it to Aerik. "Give this to Hagan," the king commanded. "It'll do more for him than it will for me."</p><p></p><p>Aerik dutifully took the circlet from the king's hand. "Yes, Me King," he replied.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>The <em>circlet of vitality</em> was my own creation for this adventure. Here are my own notes on it:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Alas, it's too late for it to be of any good to King Galrich at this point, as he's probably well into his 50s by now and if his recent actions are any indication, into the first stages of early onset senility. (Oddly enough, senility doesn't seem to be covered in the D&D rules - not any that I could find, in any case. There are rules for decreases in physical ability scores, but the mental ability scores only ever normally increase with age.)</p><p></p><p>The players were all rolling hot this adventure; I think they had more threats and confirmed crits than in any other adventure session I can recall. And none of my trolls managed to ever get in two successful claw attacks so they could rend - was that really too much for a DM to ask for? Apparently it was.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>T-Shirt Worn: My "TSR 25th Anniversary" T-shirt, since it has a Tony DiTerlizzi troll among the other creatures marching in a line to celebrate the birthday. (The troll's even wearing a party hat.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7408724, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 47: TROLL HOLE[/B] Game Session Date: 28 April 2018 - - - "I need to see Cal!" decided King Galrich. "Cal? Who's Cal, Your Majesty?" asked one of his clerks, who had been going over the schedule for the day with the half-orc king. Aerik knew who Cal was. He stepped up to the king's side and reminded him, "We haven't adventured with Cal for over two decades, Me King." "What?" demanded King Galrich. Then, as if shaking away an unwanted headache, he insisted, "We need to go see Cal, at once. We're off to the Temple of Kord!" "But your day's schedule, Your Majesty!" insisted the harried clerk, chasing after the burly ruler as he stomped his way out of the palace meeting hall. "Later!" hissed Aerik. "We'll be at th' Temple of Kord!" As they passed a castle page, Aerik commanded, "Fetch them what're waitin' fer th' meeting at eight bells -- have 'em meet us outside, at once!" The page saluted smartly and rushed off to do the bidding of the king's bodyguard. As King Galrich and Aerik started down the steps of the castle, they were met by a group of the king's adventurers. "Ah, there you are, Feron," said King Galrich, smiling at the sight of Finoula. The elven ranger opened her mouth to correct the king, but shut it again at a stern look from Aerik. The others - the entirety of the adventuring team, save for Gilbert Fung and Aerik's own daughter Ingebold, who were both still preparing their spells for the day - fell into line. "Where are we going?" piped up Binkadink, extending his [I]gnomish stilt-boots[/I] to keep pace with the king. "Temple of Kord," replied Aerik tersely, and said no more. The Temple of Kord was a fine building - not surprisingly, as it had once been the pre-eminent place of worship in all of Kordovia, given that the country was founded in the god's name. However, the attacks from orc and goblin forces that had begun two decades back and more had severely reduced the ranks of the clergymen; not surprisingly, the clerics of the God of Strength insisted on pitting their might on the front lines against the enemy, and casualties had been heavy. The current leader of the church was [B]Father Bendrick[/B], who welcomed a visit from the king even if he hadn't expected it. "Your Majesty," greeted the elderly cleric. "To what does the church owe such a visit?" "I need to talk to Cal," replied King Galrich, pushing past the cleric and entering the church. It was laid out like many such temples, with rows of pews for the parishioners facing the back of the open room, which held a pulpit for the head cleric; this one had an enormous stone statue of Kord standing in an alcove behind the pulpit. "Cal?" asked Father Bendrick, confused, as he followed the group into his church. King Galrich stood in the center of the room, looking all about him: at the stained glass windows depicting stories of Kord's might; at the empty pews; at the statue of the God of Might, his muscles seeming to bulge even when carved from stone. The others held back, giving the king his space. "How long has he been like this?" whispered Finoula to Aerik. "He mistook me for my little sister." "A few days now," admitted Aerik in a low voice. "It comes and goes. He gets confused, then snaps out of it like nothin' 'appened." "There you are!" said King Galrich, but when the others looked to see who he was addressing, there was nobody there. "And sometimes, 'e talks to folks what aren't there." "What do you think I should do?" asked the king to the open air. Moments passed in silence, with King Galrich giving every impression he was listening intently to an unspoken answer. Then he replied, "I'll get my guys on it at once." He shook his head again as if coming out of a trance, then turned and walked back to the double doors at the front of the temple. "We're done here," he announced. Turning to Finoula, he said, "Gather up the rest of your troops. I have a mission for you." "Y-yes, Your Majesty," acknowledged Finoula as King Galrich and his dwarven bodyguard stomped back to the castle. Half an hour later, the assembled group - including Ingebold and Gilbert, who had been quickly brought up to speed about the morning's events - sat around the table in the briefing hall they had originally been scheduled to meet with the king to give him a status report of their recent adventures. All of that had been put by the wayside, however, as King Galrich was more interested in giving them their current assignment. He began by plopping a large sack of coins, taken directly from the king's treasury, onto the table. That got Castillan's attention at once. "There's a half-orc merchant named [B]Grommurk[/B]," King Galrich informed the team. "He peddles his wares from a mule cart, generally making the rounds between Baranford, Garonis, Kisail, Littleberg, Pantarn, and Fountainspring. I want you to find him. He wears a silver circlet on his brow – I want you to purchase one just like it and return it to me." There was silence around the table. Gilbert finally broke it by asking, "That it? That our mission?" "That's it," agreed King Galrich. "That's your mission. You are dismissed." Then he abruptly stood up - the others rising hurriedly as he stood - and exited the room, Aerik in tow. "This not a mission," complained Gilbert. "This a shopping trip." "Nonetheless," Ingebold began, "He is our king, and--" "Yes-yes-yes," Gilbert interrupted, waving his hand as if shooing away a bothersome fly. "Still a stupid mission." "How should we go about finding this Grommurk?" asked Darrien. Gilbert rubbed his beard as he gave it some thought. "He visit same six cities, over and over," the portly mage observed. "Baranford the closest. We start there, see if anybody seen him lately." "A half-orc merchant wearing a silver circlet who drives a mule cart would rather stand out," pointed out Finoula. "Anybody who'd seen him would likely remember having seen him." "Let's go, then!" enthused Castillan, grabbing up the sack of gold coins. The group opted to travel in the dragonfly vessel; it was much faster than their Vistani wagon, even if it was much more conspicuous. Rather than make a scene by landing their flying ship in the middle of town, they had Jinkadoodle drop down just outside of Baranford. The group disembarked from the ship from there, Ingebold taking their rolled-up [I]carpet of teleportation[/I] with them, stowed inside the [I]portable hole[/I] she carried. That way, all but one of them could return to the ship when they were finished, while the one left behind walked with the carpet back to a rendezvous point to be picked up. Once entering the town by foot, the team split up. Some hit the taverns while others found their way directly to the marketplace, but each questioned the locals as to whether they'd seen Grommurk recently, and if so, when. The general consensus was that Grommurk had been in town about a month ago and would likely be back in another month. "That mean he halfway through his cycle," observed Gilbert. "We skip Garonis and Kisail, go straight to Littleberg." At Littleberg, Castillan met a man who had ordered something from Grommurk for his wife and was expecting him any day now. "He shoulda been here a week ago," the man complained. "Then he either in Kisail or traveling this way," Gilbert decided. Rather than wait, the group flew to Kisail. After confirming there that the half-orc merchant had already departed Kisail, the group decided they'd do best by following his trail on land rather than by flying over the main road between Kisail and Littleberg with the dragonfly ship. Not only was it much less conspicuous, but they'd likely see things on the ground that they wouldn't be able to from the air. So after using the [I]carpet of teleportation[/I] to pop up to the dragonfly ship and tell Jinkadoodle of their plans, Binkadink returned to the group, bringing with him (in several trips) his jackalope Obvious, Finoula's timber wolf Wrath, and Darrien's pet dire bear cub Grumps Junior. Then they all went to rent horses for their trip while Jinkadoodle flew the ship back to its "parking garage" in the clouds. The gnome fighter opted not to rent a horse - he had his jackalope mount and was much more comfortable with Obvious than he would be on even the smallest of ponies. Ingebold opted for a pony, as did Castillan, while the others rented full-size horses. "You might want to see about a draft horse," piped up Binkadink, smirking at Gilbert Fung. "You shut stupid gnome mouth," Gilbert retorted. But once everyone was suitably mounted, they took off on the road to Littleberg. "I kind of miss the Vistani wagon," observed Castillan, who often rode on top of the roof as a lookout. "It's a shame there no good way to transport it on the dragonfly ship." "Not me," replied Finoula. "This is much better, being out on the trail on horseback." She missed her own mount, Daisy, but the pony was back at the stables at Battershield Keep. Wrath trotted along at her heels, making Finoula's mount a bit skittish - these rented horses weren't used to having bears and wolves travel alongside them. But the team made good time on the road. About three hours later, the group spotted a commotion up ahead, off to the side of the road where it butted up against the Dapple Wood, a forest of thick trees. A small group of people were gathered together beneath the branches, fighting over an overturned cart. Finoula quickly cast a [I]longstrider[/I] spell upon herself and jumped off her pony, not wanting to ride the rented mount into a potential battle - and with her spell active, she lost no speed in the process. She pulled out her longsword [I]Tahlmalaera[/I] with her right hand and uncurled her [I]whip of thorns[/I] with her left. "What seems to be the problem?" she asked as she approached the group. At her words, several people dashed off in different directions, eager to flee the scene. Three rogues dressed in leather armor stood their ground, however. "We was here first, and we claim alla these goods fer ourselves!" their leader said. "Now scram!" Castillan leaped off of his pony and raced up to the group, shooting the leader with his light crossbow once within range. That served as official notice what the bounder thought of the bandit's proclamation. Darrien had followed the others' lead in not taking a rented horse - likely unused to combat - into a fight with bandits. So he activated his [I]ebony fly[/I] and took to the air, leaving his terrestrial mount behind. Maneuvering the fly with his knees, he notched an arrow into his [I]Arachnibow[/I] and let fly. His first arrow finished off the bandit leader, while his next two slew the next bandit in line. Hagan was the next to react. As a spellcaster, he opted to remain on his rented horse - it wasn't like he was planning on riding it into battle. Instead, realizing the usefulness of having a survivor to question, he cast one of his few nonlethal spells at the remaining bandit, hoping to deprive him of his sight and make him that much less of a dangerous combat opponent. Unfortunately, the bandit managed to shrug off the spell's intended effects. However, Finoula managed to do with her sword what the half-orc sorcerer had failed to do with his spell - take the remaining bandit out of the fight. Racing up to the remaining bandit with spell-enhanced speed, she had the point of [I]Tahlmalaera[/I] at the man's throat before he could react. "Do you wish to join the others in death?" she asked. It turns out he didn't. "I surrender!" he cried, dropping his weapons: a light crossbow and a short sword. "The dagger as well," Finoula prompted, spotting the extra weapon on the bandit's belt. Without hesitation, the bandit added the dagger to the pile of other weapons at his feet. "We found the wagon like this, I swear!" the bandit exclaimed, sweat rolling down his face. While Finoula had the man lie face-first on the grass at sword-point, the others explored the area and confirmed his tale. There were drag-marks at the road indicating the mule cart had been pulled to its present location. The leather straps that had once affixed the mule to the wagon were cut, by something less sharp than a steel blade; it looked to have been the work of claws. And, most telling of all, the mud on the wheels of the cart was thoroughly dried. "It's been here two days, at least," determined Darrien. Finoula allowed the bandit to regain his footing. "We're keeping your weapons," she advised him. "Now get out of here." The bandit made no argument, racing away from the group, headed to Kisail. He didn't even make any attempt to gather up any of his partners' belongings, which Gilbert was gathering and doing a quick mental calculation of their likely worth. "These short swords look like maybe masterwork quality," he observed. Castillan had been exploring further into the Dapple Wood - admittedly, at first merely to gather up the odd bits of silver merchandise that had been scattered among the area. But he called the others to him. "Look at this!" he said, pointing down to a huge footprint in a dried patch of dirt. Darrien and Finoula, the rangers, exchanged knowing looks with each other. "Troll," they said in unison. Castillan held a silver ring up for examination. It bore a stylized "G" on its face - a symbol which matched a painting on the side of the mule cart. "I think they got our Grommurk," he said. "The trail leads this way," remarked Darrien, looking at drag-marks on the ground where something heavy - likely the mule - had been pulled along. Dried bloodstains further marked the trail. "What about the horses?" asked Finoula. "We probably shouldn't leave them here by the side of the road, where they can get stolen." Ingebold pulled out her [I]portable hole[/I] and retrieved the [I]carpet of teleportation[/I] from within it. Binkadink took the time to take each of the horses, one at a time, aboard the dragonfly vessel. "We'll have to return them once we're finished up here," he said. "But Aithanar said they'll be no problem." Aithanar had quite a way with animals; Finoula found herself smiling at the thought of Castillan's younger brother. The trail led deeper into the Dapple Wood, ending abruptly at a large hole, some 15 feet in diameter, nestled between two sturdy-looking trees. A hollow log partially covered the hole, serving as a potential barrier - although if it was meant to keep people out it wasn't very effective, as there was more than enough room for a person (even one of Gilbert's bulk) to slide in on either end of the hole. "That where we going," observed Gilbert. "Ingebold! Open up [I]hole[/I] again, it time to let Mudpie out." The dwarven cleric complied, and Gilbert's earth elemental familiar stepped out of the extradimensional plane on the other side of the [I]portable hole[/I]. "Master," it greeted the heavyset wizard. Gilbert began the casting of preparatory spells, starting with [I]mage armor[/I] upon himself and his familiar. Hagan followed suit, casting the spell not only upon himself and his weasel familiar Wezhley, but also upon Obvious, Wrath, and Grumps. The rangers each cast a [I]barkskin[/I] spell upon themselves, while Binkadink fed a [I]potion of barkskin[/I] to Obvious, who by now had gotten used to the taste. Gilbert followed up with a [I]Rary's telepathic bond[/I] spell that linked him and Mudpie in to Binkadink, Darrien, Finoula, and Hagan. "I think we ready," he announced. "Mudpie: pull log out of way!" The earth elemental hurried to comply, as Binkadink called up to the trees in the language of burrowing mammals. "Squirrels!" he called. "Are there many trolls in here?" There was a rustling of leaves overhead as a few squirrels got closer - but not too close, the gnome was quick to notice - to speak to the strange little man who spoke their language. "Trolls!" one replied. "Yes! Bad-bad-bad!" "How many trolls?" Binkadink inquired. The squirrels gave this question some thought before replying, "Many!" The gnome shrugged, not expecting much more; squirrels were notoriously bad at numbers. Nonetheless, he thanked them for their help and wished them a good day. Looking down the vertical shaft, Binkadink determined it was about 15 feet down or so. He summoned forth a set of [I]dancing lights[/I], sending them drifting slowly down the shaft to provide illumination below, then remounted Obvious as the others lined up to go in. Hagan volunteered to go first. There were several roots sticking out from the side of the shaft which made for suitable hand-holds. Dropping to the packed earth of the floor, the sorcerer looked around - and locked his gaze with that of a troll, whose red eyes glinted in the illumination of the [I]dancing lights[/I] from deeper within a side cave whose opening abutted with the main area directly below the entry shaft. Hagan acted instinctively, dropping a [I]wall of fire[/I] across the cave opening, sealing in the troll and sending blasts of flickering heat his way. [B]Cheplik[/B] roared in pain from the flames, as Finoula dropped to the floor beside Hagan, having effortlessly traversed the shaft with her [I]boots of spider climbing[/I]. She landed facing the other way, into another side cavern, and the sight she saw there made her blood run cold. It was another troll, but that wasn't the problem, for the elven ranger had expected to see trolls living in this cavern complex. Rather, it was the troll's appearance, which was unlike anything in the ranger's experience. This troll had four arms, the second pair grafted into the sides of the body just below the normal pair. And jutting through the troll's torso and limbs, in a random-enough pattern to convince the elf that this wasn't a natural occurrence, were spikes the color of bone - in fact, they were actually shards of bone poking through the creature's warty, green-skinned flesh, judging by the shattered edges of several of the protuberances. Enjoying the look of revulsion its appearance generated on the elf's face, [B]Skrongo[/B] spread all four of its arms wide and grinned a horrible grin at Finoula. Then, in a blur of motion, it sprang at her, hooting in excitement. But Finoula had both of her weapons out and at the ready, and as the four-armed monstrosity approached her she flicked her [I]flaming whip of thorns[/I] at it. Skrongo howled in pain as the flames burned into his flesh, but swung a pair of claws at Finoula, raking her across the shoulder. However, the ranger stepped into his embrace, leading with [I]Tahlmalaera[/I], which slid deep into Skrongo's belly. The troll slashed at her again, and Finoula ignored the pain of the thing's claws and protruding bone-spikes as she twisted the sword in its wound. Then, fearing to be caught up in a four-armed embrace, she kicked away from her opponent. Greenish blood dripped from a deep gash in Skrongo's stomach and he staggered as one hand clamped it shut to keep his intestines in place as his warty flesh began to regenerate the wound. With a roar of anticipated pain, Cheplik raced through Hagan's [I]wall of fire[/I] spell, burning his flesh but more importantly freeing himself from being burned alive in his own cave without the ability to fight back against his attackers. Claws raked across Hagan's chest, causing the sorcerer to fall back a step. But the troll was well within range of Darrien's [I]Arachnibow[/I] as the half-elf ranger stood at the top of the pit. He rapidly shot arrow after arrow down at the troll, peppering him with feathered shafts. With Cheplik thus occupied, Castillan scampered down the entry tunnel, bounding past Finoula and behind Skrongo, setting himself up for a sneak attack against the four-armed monstrosity. But the bounder had to put a stop to his own attack at the last moment, seeing that his intended stab from behind would impale his own hand on a bone-spike jutting out from the creature's back! Cursing his luck at the wasted opportunity, Castillan readied himself for another opening. Without hesitation, Obvious jumped into the entry shaft, hitting one side of the tunnel wall and whipping his body around to bound off the other; he landed on all fours at the bottom of the shaft, and Binkadink, now used to such mid-air maneuvers, had the presence of mind to keep his glaive readied to strike. He thrust at Skrongo with every ounce of strength he possessed, and the blade nearly severed the four-armed troll's head from his neck, so deeply did it cut. As Skrongo fell backwards in death - and Castillan scampered back to prevent the troll from falling onto him - Binkadink wheeled his glaive around and thrust it at Cheplik, scoring a solid hit but failing to drop the second troll. But no matter: Obvious finished the job with a goring from his antlers. The jackalope followed up by stomping on the falling troll's chest, helping to ensure it fell backwards directly into Hagan's [I]wall of fire[/I], where Cheplik's body quickly started burning, filling the area with the rancid stench of seared troll-flesh. Ingebold climbed down into the troll hole, but at the moment there were no enemies within sight, so she stepped over by Finoula to ensure her Battle-Sister didn't need any healing. Finoula suggested they drag Skrongo's body into the [I]wall of fire[/I] to ensure it didn't regenerate itself back to life, but Hagan responded by casting a second [I]wall of fire[/I] directly through Skrongo's body. "Or we could just do that," Finoula remarked. Gilbert entered the cave network in his own inimitable fashion, by sending Mudpie to earth glide through the side of the wall while holding his hands up to form platforms for Gilbert to stand upon; as the elemental lowered himself down the vertical shaft, he alternated his hands so that Gilbert "walked" down the tunnel without once taking an actual step. Once at floor level, he stepped off of his familiar's hands and cast a [I]stoneskin[/I] spell on the two of them. Eager to see what else this cavern complex had to offer, Finoula strode confidently down the tunnel into a larger chamber. Ten feet up along the wall to the right there were two narrow niches, each housing a juvenile troll. One of these, [B]Spakko[/B], backed into the farthest reaches of his nook, while the other came to the front of her own nook and pointed a stick at the intruding elf. "Sping!" she cried, and when that didn't work, she followed with "Burrak! Dormluk!" But despite her best efforts, [B]Jorpa[/B] couldn't get the stick to shoot fire like she'd seen its previous owner make it do. But Finoula ignored the troll children, her complete focus on the two adult trolls who had hopped down from another side cave about a dozen feet up from the floor of the central cavern, further down the right-hand side. They advanced menacingly, one of them licking her rubbery lips with a blackened tongue at the thought of elf-flesh for dinner. Together, they rushed at Finoula, attacking her from two adjacent directions. Finoula cracked her whip at [B]Garpo[/B], allowing her partner [B]Tork[/B] to get in a good rake with his claws as the elf ranger devoted her attention to his mate. But from behind her, Darrien shot a barrage of arrows at Tork, striking him repeatedly. The troll shrieked in pain and backed off, allowing Finoula to continue focusing on Garpo. Castillan came up just behind Finoula, looking over to a cave on the left that Finoula hadn't been able to focus on due to the immediate attack from Tork and Garpo. Two more trolls advanced from this side cave, the pair covered in white runes all over their bodies. "Spellcasters!" Castillan cried, assuming the trolls to be the spell-adepts of the group, judging from their adornment. But the bounder decided to help Finoula with the pair she was up against, as there were other heroes coming from just behind to deal with the spellcaster trolls. Activating his ring, Castillan [I]dimension doored[/I] directly behind Garpo, his blades out and ready to strike. Obvious squeezed by the others in the narrow passageway, leaping forward once in the open, allowing Binkadink to skewer Garpo with his glaive. She fell to the cold stone floor, dead but her lethal wounds already stitching themselves back closed. Behind the mounted gnome, Ingebold stepped up and swung her warhammer at Tork, crushing a kneecap but taking a clawed strike in turn. Gilbert decided to take on the "spellcaster" trolls, [B]Jublin[/B] and [B]Wessup[/B]. He cast a [I]fireball[/I] spell that encompassed the two, causing them to howl in pain as their warty flesh sizzled. Behind him, Hagan cast another [I]wall of fire[/I] that sealed up Jorpa and Spakko's nooks, trapping the juvenile trolls within. Finoula used her longsword and her whip against Tork, hitting with both, but taking another claw strike in retaliation. Behind her and to the side, the juvenile trolls had both come to the same conclusion: staying in their sleeping nooks was a death sentence! Both rushed through the [I]wall of fire[/I], but only Spakko survived the experience; Jorpa's flaming body fell to the floor, the wooden stick falling from her grasp as she landed. Finding Obvious standing directly before him, Spakko directed all of his hate and fury against the jackalope, slashing out with claws that the antlered rabbit easily dodged. Castillan pondered maneuvering to strike Tork from behind when the troll's whole body spasmed and shook, the result of Darrien's latest barrage of arrows striking him repeatedly. With Tork seemingly well in hand, the bounder opted to go deeper into the cavern complex to find some trolls he could fight by himself, without the others always getting in his way. Dipping through a narrow passageway, he saw a larger cavern with several side caves. From a side cave to the left emerged another pair of trolls, [B]Squinch[/B] and [B]Ratti[/B], while from the one directly ahead stepped a massive troll sporting an oversized greatclub in each hand and an extra head on his shoulders. "Who dares enter [B]Vessik-Durath[/B]'s domain?" demanded the two-headed troll in the Giant language. Castillan didn't understand the Giant language, but he didn't need to know the two-headed troll's words to realize this was a trio he didn't want to face by himself after all. Spinning on his heels, he scurried back the way he'd come, the three trolls fast behind him. Ahead, Jublin and Wessup had advanced further into the central cavern, but Binkadink had plucked a bead from his [I]fireball necklace[/I] and hurled it at the pair, encompassing them in a blossom of flames once again. Tork had finally fallen to Darrien's arrows, and now Obvious was leaping up and down on the fallen troll's corpse, inflicting further damage so its eventual regeneration back to life would take that much longer. Ingebold cast a [I]flame strike[/I] spell on Jublin and Wessup; the third fire spell finally dropped the two - and before either had been able to cast a single spell themselves, the cleric mused. Seeing most of the group bunched up together, Gilbert cast a [I]haste[/I] spell on the adventurers, catching all but Hagan in the spell's effect - the half-orc had stepped forward to fetch Jorpa's dropped stick, finding it to be a [I]wand of fireball[/I] with "fuegar" carved clearly on the side; apparently Jorpa couldn't read! But with a free moment out of combat - for Vessik-Durath and the last pair of adult trolls were just now coming through the passageway in the back - Hagan directed a [I]scorching ray[/I] into [I]Tahlmalaera[/I] at Finoula's request, reattuning the [I]variable energy blade[/I] from sonic to fire. Flames leaped from the enchanted blade, bringing a smile of anticipation upon the ranger's face. "Thanks!" she called to the half-orc sorcerer, advancing to meet the approaching troll forces. Vessik-Durath exited the narrow corridor in a loping bound and came right up to Finoula, his twin greatclubs raised; behind him, Squinch and Ratti were about halfway through the sloping passageway connecting the two larger caverns. Before the half-fiend ettinblood troll could bring either weapon crashing down upon Finoula, Darrien sent a cluster of five arrows crashing into his chest, noting with pride that each had struck true but frowning upon noticing the wounds didn't frost up like they usually did since he'd had his [I]Arachnibow[/I] enchanted to enhance his arrows with cold energy. But despite being able to ignore the arrows' lack of cold damage, Vessik-Durath wasn't able to ignore Castillan's sudden attack, for the bounder ducked underneath the troll's raised left arm and sent his blade deep into the creature's side, then used it as a handhold to help stab the creature in the back with his rapier with maximum force. Roaring in pain, the two-headed beast dropped both greatclubs and grabbed his side; Castillan only just managed to pull the weapons from the demon-troll's flesh and step back out of the way. Vessik-Durath staggered in place, wheeling around to face the elf bounder. But then Binkadink was upon him, bringing his magic glaive in to slash across the troll leader's lumpy flesh. The troll dropped to one knee, tried steadying himself with a hand on the stone floor, and then Binkadink brought his blade crashing down on the back of one of the troll's twin skulls, dropping him in an instant. Ingebold brought her warhammer down on the other skull, crushing it to pulp. "Let's see ye heal that!" she cried. Gilbert cast a [I]fire shield[/I] spell upon himself and Mudpie, then sent his familiar to go trample the two-headed troll's body. Across the cavern, Obvious was still doing the same to Tork's corpse; the poor troll wouldn't be rising any time soon! Finoula turned to face the last two adult trolls, her now-flaming sword in hand, matched by the flames erupting from her [I]whip of thorns[/I]. A look of worry crossed the faces of the last troll pair, but then they steeled themselves against these intruders and forged ahead. Darrien sent a few arrows into Squinch's broad chest, and then Hagan called for the others to back away from the trolls. Intrigued, Binkadink did as the sorcerer requested, as did Ingebold; the cleric spent the time casting a healing spell upon her Battle-Sister, who of all the group had sustained the most damage from the trollish forces. Gilbert communicated with Hagan over the [I]telepathic bond[/I], and then the two spellcasters struck in unison. Hagan cast yet another [I]wall of fire[/I] sideways along the length of the narrow passageway, catching both trolls in the middle of the spell effect. They roared in unison as their greenish flesh erupted in flames; with growls of determination they raced through the length of the [I]wall of fire[/I], eager to get past its effects - only to come crashing into the invisible [I]wall of force[/I] Gilbert had planted right at the end of Hagan's flaming wall. Unable to escape from the [I]wall of fire[/I], Squinch and Ratti cried out in pain as the flames took them. Only after their corpses were charred to a crisp did the spellcasters dismiss their respective [I]wall[/I] spells. The trolls seemingly defeated - and after Tork and Vessik-Durath's bodies were dragged into the [I]wall of fire[/I] that had taken out Jorpa and Spakko - the group split up to give the caves they'd passed a quick look. Ingebold found a sack of 250 pieces of gold in Cheplik's quarters, along with several skulls hung on the walls of the cave mounted with metal pitons. There was also a wineskin made from a cow's stomach and a 50-foot length of silk rope. In Skrongo's cave, mixed in with a nest of leaves, Finoula found the poorly-stitched hide of a stuffed dire boar, likely a combination pillow and stuffed animal, mixed in with the scattered bones of recent meals (including what she suspected were the bones of Grommurk's mule). Castillan found a bag of crystal marbles in a small blue sack in the cave shared by Tork and Garpo, while Binkadink unearthed a near-empty can of white paint in Jublin and Wessup's cave, the source of the nonmagical (and quite useless) "protective runes" Wessup had painted on the pair. Moving farther into the sections of the cave complex they hadn't yet explored, Gilbert and Mudpie found a deep pit of unknown purpose; it was a "punishment pit" where disobedient trolls were tossed in - often without their limbs, which would eventually grow back - until they had learned the errors of their ways. Darrien discovered that Squinch and Ratti's cave contained a wide variety of fungus along the back section, combination bedding and food source. While Hagan explored the large cave Vessik-Durath had used for his own personal quarters, he found nothing more than simple bedding. By then, though, Castillan had caught up to the sorcerer and explored one of the two openings from the leader's den to a higher-level cave whose twin entrances were each 5 to 6 feet above the floor. Excited by the glint of silver he saw in the middle of the floor, the elf headed over in that direction - and immediately felt the weight of something heavy on his back, as well as a pinching at the back of his neck as sharp mandibles pierced his skin. It was only because there were two such creatures attacking him that Castillan knew what he was up against; the phase spider directly before him he was able to keep at bay with his blades. But as the two arachnids disappeared back into the ethereal plane, Castillan scooped up a large, cloth bag and a pair of goggles that were lying on the floor before backing out cautiously. Hagan called the others over the still-active [I]Rary's telepathic bond[/I] spell and the group congregated in what the bounder had determined was the treasury. "Any sign of Grommurk?" asked Finoula, concerned about the abducted merchant's welfare. "Likely dead," explained Castillan before briefing the group on the phase spiders waiting to attack anyone who ventured into the treasure cavern. "I go in," offered Gilbert, as Mudpie gave his master a lift up into the cavern and then followed. Sure enough, a phase spider suddenly appeared behind Gilbert - and was burned by the wizard's [I]fire shield[/I] spell when it tried biting the tasty morsel. A steady diet of Vessik-Durath's half-fiendish blood had given the phase spiders a lesser immunity to cold and fire, but the wizard's spell was painful enough to cause the phase spider to retreat back to the ethereal plane. The other one briefly appeared when Binkadink entered the cavern, but his glaive dealt enough damage to likewise drive it away. They gathered up the rest of the trolls' treasure and retreated back to Vessik-Durath's lair. Looking over at their takings, they found a black velvet bag of diamonds, two trade bars of silver, a pair of gloves which later proved to be [I]gloves of arrow snaring[/I], and Grommurk's silver circlet. "I guess we'll bring this one back to the king," said Castillan. "It doesn't look like he'll be making another anytime soon." "Let's go," suggested Ingebold, pulling the [I]carpet of teleporting[/I] from her [I]portable hole[/I] and unrolling it onto the floor. "This oughtta be safe enough here until we come back fer it." One by one, the adventurers stepped onto the magical carpet and back on board the dragonfly vessel, where they briefed Jinkadoodle of their encounters. They'd had enough for one day; they'd get the horses back to Kisail and go retrieve their carpet from the troll hole in the morning. But Ingebold insisted they return the silver circlet to the king at once, and so they did, the little gnome illusionist piloting the airship safely to the castle. King Galrich was overjoyed at their success and wore the circlet at once. But two days later, he and Aerik were back at the Temple of Kord and the king was back to talking to people who weren't there. "It's no good," he said to the open air of the temple interior, as Father Bendrick and Aerik Battershield looked on with concern. The king looked up intently at the statue of Kord as if listening, although none of those accompanying him heard anything. "Then it's settled," he said. "How much longer?" Finally, the king turned back to Aerik. "There you are," he said absently. "We're done here. We may as well head back to Guild Headquarters." "Headquarters, Me King?" repeated Aerik, confused. "Hmm? No, no, the castle," replied King Galrich distractedly. "I've got to make some plans." He scratched his head, his fingers bumping against the [I]circlet of vitality[/I]. Pulling it from his forehead, he looked at it as if puzzled by its appearance, then handed it to Aerik. "Give this to Hagan," the king commanded. "It'll do more for him than it will for me." Aerik dutifully took the circlet from the king's hand. "Yes, Me King," he replied. - - - The [I]circlet of vitality[/I] was my own creation for this adventure. Here are my own notes on it: Alas, it's too late for it to be of any good to King Galrich at this point, as he's probably well into his 50s by now and if his recent actions are any indication, into the first stages of early onset senility. (Oddly enough, senility doesn't seem to be covered in the D&D rules - not any that I could find, in any case. There are rules for decreases in physical ability scores, but the mental ability scores only ever normally increase with age.) The players were all rolling hot this adventure; I think they had more threats and confirmed crits than in any other adventure session I can recall. And none of my trolls managed to ever get in two successful claw attacks so they could rend - was that really too much for a DM to ask for? Apparently it was. - - - T-Shirt Worn: My "TSR 25th Anniversary" T-shirt, since it has a Tony DiTerlizzi troll among the other creatures marching in a line to celebrate the birthday. (The troll's even wearing a party hat.) [/QUOTE]
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