Session 58: January 31, 2016
After the heroes returned the people who had been under the Black Sisters' control to Oleg's Fort, the following day they set off for Wyvernstone Bridge with a company of militia. They pushed their horses to get as close as possible to the bridge by the end of the day, then camped in the lee of a rock outcrop. During the night, Landon left his body and had his consciousness occupy one the simulacra he had left behind in Oleg's Fort.
The next morning the group rode cautiously toward the bridge, sending Cyst ahead to scout. The imp saw a small number of people and at least one structure, but no sign of the trolls the refugees from Pitax had warned of, and he detected no magic or evil in the area. Garrick felt oddly drawn to go to the bridge. When the group approached the people around the bridge, they were greeted by a man named Otis Barker, who told them that he and the others were settlers from distant Brevoy. They were unaware of the existence of Galisat or New Hope, for they had written to Restov for help when they saw trolls, though Otis claimed that they had been able to drive the trolls off themselves. When Garrick and Landon told them about the threat of the Tiger barbarians, the troubles in Pitax, and the dangers in the nearby marshlands, they were persuaded to pack up their camp and head for Oleg's Fort. Garrick gave them a letter of introduction to give to Oleg when they arrived. He wondered if these settlers had been drawn to the locale as he had felt.
The group stayed with the settlers for the day, sharing their food, and saw them off the next morning. They also saw off most of their small troop of armsmen, who they sent off to explore some of the territory on the Galisat side of the river. Only two men remained to help with the horses.
After leaving the bridge, the party decided to head for a region where Cyst had detected an unpleasant aura of evil during his reconnaissance the previous day. As they rode along a bend in the river, they heard voices. Thim moved out ahead to find out where the voices came from, and returned to report that he had seen four trolls and a giant. Everyone dismounted and most of the party members activated their rings of flight to approach their foes. Silverleaf began the attack with a fireball from his staff of fire, and Tahjah quickly followed with a holy smite that left two of the trolls temporarily blind. San'Kari then swallowed a potion of enlarge person and charged the giant. Garrick put on a burst of speed and rushed one of the trolls to stun it with blows of his fists. His wife Amaya laid down a path of glory to provide healing.
Three of the trolls and the giant had remained in a tight group, so Silverleaf surrounded them with a wall of fire in a ring shape, trapping them inside it. Tahjah then forbid them to move, leaving them unable to escape the encircling flames. But the spell did not prevent them from attacking, and they continued to battle with San'Kari until he was sorely injured. At that point a creature suddenly emerged from the river and emitted a blight wave that affected not only the heroes but also the trolls and giant. Landon identified the creature as a type of evil aquatic fey called a nuckelavee.
Silverleaf saw that San'Kari was in dire straits and moved forward to channel energy to heal him. San'Kari stepped back and drew his cold iron axe. Tahjah forbid the trolls and giant to attack, leaving them unable to do anything. Landon moved, leaving behind one of the trolls to attack the nuckelavee. The fey creature at that point retreated into the river, swimming away far too swiftly for anyone to catch it. The combination of fire, attacks by Garrick, Landon, and San'Kari, and the nuckalevee's blight wave ability, had dropped the giant. Soon the trolls joined him in death.
When searched, the giant proved to be carrying potions of aid and delay poison, and one of the trolls had a potion of cure moderate wounds and a tattered scroll of bestow curse in its possession. The trolls and the giant had a total of 212 gold pieces between them.
When everyone had recuperated from the fight, the group moved on, heading toward the possible location of Armag's tomb. Cyst had located a group of cloudberries which they harvested on behalf of Bokken the alchemist. Later they found an encampment of boggards that showed clear indications of having been overrun by the trolls and their giant compatriot. The boggards had been slain and some of them had been eaten.
Loot:
potion of aid
potion of delay poison
scroll of bestow curse
212 gold pieces
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