[Pathfinder] Kingmaker Redux, part 25: Against the Trolls

 

From the journal of Lythande Syldorei

Wealday, 10th Abadius

As we planned for taking the offensive against the trolls,  we had several questions to answer. Should we take Zander's wagon or ride horses? Should we take any of the Lorewynd militia with us? In the end we decided that a group of horses might be more a liability than a benefit as there was no one to look after them for us once we left them to face the trolls. We also concluded that taking our remaining militia with us would leave Lorewynd unprotected in the event of an enemy attack. So it was that the five of us and Arravis DeVray were the only folk to make our way into the Narlmarches to seek out the trolls' stronghold.

Starday, 13th Abadius

We did not pause when we passed the Old Beldame's cottage and the area where the lizardfolk village is located. Though going by wagon took a day longer than the journey on horseback would have required, we reached the hill in a clearing where the ancient dwarven fort stood quickly enough. Only two stone walls and a very sturdy door stood on the hilltop. There were several tracks that had been left by the trolls but Zander and Chahana felt they weren't recent. Zander and Chahana skirted around the hill to make sure there was no evidence of the trolls coming or going lately and found nothing. The door in the hill stood ajar, and the layer of dirt and leaves at its base indicated it hadn't been shut in some while. Reislin was concerned that once we got inside the trolls would shut the very heavy and sturdy door behind us and trap us within, but in the end we decided this was not enough of a risk for us to try spiking the door open.

Zander went in first as there was no light and he is more skilled at moving quietly. Reislin had cast her messaging spell upon us all so he could tell us what he saw. He found a narrow passage inside, and a set of open doors leading into a chamber occupied by a lone troll who failed to detect his presence. We had all moved into the passage when he warned us of the troll, but because Arravis and Maria both had lights we hung back so the troll wouldn't notice. Zander whispered to us to ask what we wanted to do. Reislin asked if he could slay the troll stealthily, which Zander did not like as his Aldori duelling masters would consider attacking an enemy from behind to be dishonorable. I confess I am not over fond of that option myself. 

This concern became unimportant when a second troll appeared from a side room just as I moved forward to keep an eye on Zander. The first troll got to its feet. I readied my spear and moved in to join Zander. Maria and Arravis joined us while Reislin and Chahana hung back in the passage to use their spells and arrows. Reislin cast a spell upon me and the others in the room to make are weapons keener. The second troll said something in its native tongue that none of us understood and let out a harsh, humorless laugh. Then we heard growling and we knew the trolls must have hounds with them. A moment later a troll hound rushed into the room. We all fought mightily, suffering wounds but not without dealing injuries to the troll as well. Then a second troll hound joined them, rushing me as soon as it entered. At Reislin's direction a burst of flame blossomed behind the second troll and hound. Chahana approached the doorway to lob flasks of acid when the trolls and their hounds fell to their wounds, thus preventing their regenerative ability from getting them back on their feet. Everyone was splashed with acid, but that small pain was worth the advantage it gave us. 

Just before both trolls and hounds fell and would not rise again, Zander realized that there was another creature in a chamber to the south, a rock troll. As we had no way to lure it out into the sunlight to turn it to stone, we had to fight it as well. It was not a weak foe, but because all of us were able to focus on it as one we soon slew it.  Reislin had given us all increased alacrity, which allowed us to strike it more times than we might ordinarily have been capable.

After we had dealt with the rock troll and I had called upon the Dawnflower's healing power to share with my comrades, we examined the room the rock troll had been sitting in, which proved to have once been a kitchen. It contained nothing of value. To the west of the kitchen was a small storehouse also empty of valuables. Another set of defaced doors led out of the larger chamber to the west, into what might have been a mess hall. There we surprised another troll, this time one cursed with two heads! 

Zander leaped upon a table to attack the troll and for his effort was fiercely clawed as well as bitten by both heads. Reislin encouraged him to withdraw from the fight and join her in the doorway so she could use her wand to attend to his injuries. She had also increased our speed again and I stood my ground beside the troll, striking at it with my spear as often as I could though the blade often slipped off its rough hide. Another troll hound came at the two-headed troll's call and sank its fangs into several of my friends. Chahana splashed it with acid after it was brought down by our blades and her arrows. The troll was brought low after I thrust my spear into it again, but not before Maria had been knocked down and fallen unconscious due to the wounds it had dealt her. Reislin climbed on a table and used the wand to heal her, just before it fell and was dowsed with acid to prevent it rising again.

Off this chamber we found another storeroom. To the south stood another set of heavy doors that were not securely closed. The doors were adorned with emblems of the dwarven gods, now vandalized presumably by the trolls. Maria searched the body of the fallen two-headed troll and discovered that it had in its possession an enhanced buckler of very small size, evidently made for small folk such as halfings or gnomes, or perhaps goblins or kobolds. It was too small for any of us and in any case had lost its handgrip. Curiously it was marked with the holy symbol of Abaddar. 

Next: part 25: Destruction and Growth