Furiel hurls another flame ball and his minions attack too.
Taking a step forward, The Green Man bellows a wordless challenge at the large Troll, unable to be impressed or intimidated by it's size in his current condition.
As he steps forward, the spirits begins to gather around him
The troll growls though the attacks against him, and snarls as he claws at Green.
"Without magic chains - you would be torn bits now.. not men."
Dolgrym pulls his axe and moves to K 17 to provide a flank for those battling the troll.
Furiel steps twenty feet closer, and fires at the troll again, targeting a part away from his friends.
The dog disappears, but the elemental attacks one more time before leaving.
Norton attacks
Sonechka the bird, out of other options for the moment, lands fifty feet behind Green and shimmers back into the form of a snowy-skinned woman. She points a finger at the troll and a lance of black energy shoots out at the monster. "You look tired. I think you should lay down."
The armored troll clamps his eyes shut for a moment and shakes his head - as if trying to overcome the sudden wave of fatigue. He looks upon Sonechka with bleary eyes. "Weak magic, bird woman."
The Green Man can't truly feel his speed decreasing, because his blood is up now, and his blood calls for blood.
The Troll needed to die, and he wouldn't stop until it was down.
Green gets a clean hit with his ax - you hear the troll suck air through his teeth.. then roars "Go.. Down!"
He turns facing Green completely - ignoring all others and the pain of his own tattered flesh - to finish off the raging half-orc. He swats at Green, but fails to hit him.
You see the torn ribbons of flesh on the troll pull back into place. The burns from Furiel remain, but the other wounds are mending at an unbelievable rate.
Furiel continues to close and hurl fire.
"Guys, something is off, its wounds heal fast, and it seems it is getting faster with time, we should really get to an end with this."
Dolgrym takes a 5' step away from the troll and casts his last Toppling Magic Missile of the day.
Damage
Trip check
More of the troll's flesh cracks and chars from Furiel's flame. Norton's swing causes the troll to yelp in pain. It shakes its head - glaring into Green's rage-filled face... "Go..."
Dolgrym's arcane bolts slam into the troll just as it begins to speak again. The beast's eyes flutter then turn vacant as it teeters and falls.
Though you see un-charred wounds mending he is down and not conscious.
The air feels charged.. as though you were in the eye of a storm, but there is no storm.
Furiel advances, creating an elemental fire to engulf the troll as he fires balls of flame at the troll.
Sonechka points at the root cellar. "Another one there!" She shouts at the ancient troll crone in Giant. "Stay where you are, old one!"
The decrepit troll claws at the crumbling stone - the back wall of root cellar which opens into the cave, and growls a response which seems half to herself.
(in Giant) "Burning troll flesh in the air.. blood boiled dry... fight has ended... human-tongued still live. Body too old and broken to match rage inside. Come to end me? End me."
Sonechka frowns, quickly becoming more curious than worried about the crone. She replies in Giant. "Ancient mother, I have no anger for you, no flame to burn. My element is ice, not fire. We hunt the Foul King. Is he your master or has his horde driven your people here?"
She inches forward and sniffs the air. The very front of her catches enough ambient light to see the opal eyes, wispy tufts of eyebrows, facial features sagging like a softened candle wax....
"You say foul king.. is this lizard king? Vesket? Hmmpf.." She shakes her head. "No master.. no people. I am apart from my kind for countless days and nights... years before green turned grey."
She runs the back of her claws clacking against her dry, cracked and split scales - more like dead beetle husks than the supple norm.
The Green Man hear all the talk buzzing around him like so many irritating wasps, on some level he realizes that this means combat is now over, and so he releases his rage to the void and falls to his knees, panting heavily and begins to take stock of his wounds.
"What happened to your people, grandmother? Why are you apart?"
"Hrmm. Tires me to speak so loud. Come... closer."
You've never seen a troll this old... because they do not normally live beyond 40 years. She appears too feeble and blind to effectively hunt. Trolls die from starvation. Trolls are not known to take care of their elderly, and would not hunt for them to keep them alive.
She might be a troll fury... druidic troll- they have fire resistant scaly hide.
Furiel seems uninterested in the older crone troll. After leaving the other trolls as smoking embers, he releases the fireballs from his hands and looks around.
Unsure of the morality of leaving any being to be continually drained while they regenerate, living a life of imprisonment and suffering, Furiel tries to see if there is anything of value around.
Norton goes to tend to the wounded Murak. This sacrifice-the-troll-to-endless-bleeding affair doesn't find him the least agreeing. For the moment he will see how it turns out.
The first part of what was being done was now done, as The Green Man slowly wiped sweat from his brow, he began to ponder the next part.
No way would I ever allow the fey to keep the children, but they are clearly wicked, so I do not want to give them what they want either.
My guess is that a dead troll is no use either...so we have to rely on trickery.
Luckily, I know whom to talk to...
"So, what's the plan here folks? We have a task, are we going to do it?"
Sonechka smiles her chilly smile at the ancient troll as she stands her ground. "I have very sharp ears, grandmother. Do not strain yourself with raising your voice."
She looks over at Dolgrym as he voices his question and gestures for him to come over and turns back to the wizened troll. "You sound as if you have no love for Vesket, grandmother. We have that in common."
The Green Man joins Dolgrym, leans down and whispers to him.
"No, fey are known to often be fickle, and fey that feed on blood do not inspire much trust as far as I am concerned.
I pretended to go along with their deal to buy time, as long as they have the children we have a problem.
I won't let these trolls threaten our people, but I do not intend to trade an problem for another.
Luckily, we have access to people who are diplomatic, intelligent and cunning.
I have faith we will succeed in all objectives yet."
The old troll snorts in response to Sonechka's response.. the corner of her mouth nears a smirk.
Regarding the mention of Vesket, she grunts and shrugs. "Nuisance... calls himself king only for getting old. He is no king. Gryshtrut told me Vesket has let the human settlement grow without skirmish or culling. He would not lead.. Vesket's trolls.. without a bargain." She steadies herself against the wall as if suddenly dizzy... and growls low... "hunger... must feed..." She straightens and gingerly shuffles forward a few feet. "I need to eat... gone too long without...."
The mention of "culling" and "Skirmish" makes The Green Man lips curl up in angry distaste, but he keeps his temper in check for now.
Having just recently had a chance to vent his titanic anger made it easier to restrain himself now.
Sonechka stands her ground, unwilling to look weak in the old troll's eyes. "We can find you something to eat, grandmother, if you are willing to tolerate us for more conversation once you are sated." She glances at Green, asking with her expression if he could bring the ancient troll a deer or something else to eat.
Hnnnh, not a trapper, but I guess I should try.
The Green Man begins to look around the area for tracks, wondering if he might be able to find something suitable for an old troll to eat.
...
And something he might think suitable to feed her.
Dolgrym stood silently, watching the interaction take place. He wasn't sure they shouldn't just use the old troll to ensure peace, but the others had shown good judgment before.
Furiel finds six beds crammed inside the dwelling - three of them sized for a child, and two more in the loft of the barn. Other than barrels and sacks of grains and dried foodstuffs, there is nothing of value. The farm tools, furniture, religious symbols are all slightly primitive.. handcrafted without metal components.
Green returns with a deer within an hour. The old troll devours it in minutes... messily and thoroughly.
She picks her fangs with a claw, and asks "What are your questions? ... mighty smallfolk..."
Sonechka smiles her chilly smile at the ancient troll. "Does Vesket have many trolls in his service? This Gryshtrut, does he lead them?"
She shrugs... "Not likely. Moss trolls, river trolls might follow.... Gryshtrut would have led... He served Hargulka, but made bargain with Vesket... dead now. Youngling of my youngling.. taught him.. taught Gryshtrut as a youngling. Taught him about nature's power. " she gives a curt proud nod.
..but then lowers her head... "He had questions, and Vesket's witch found me. Gryshtrut came... saw me blind and fed. Hmm.. shame.. He dragged me from the barbed children to here. His questions... I could not answer. Then.. slow death of hunger... held in the shallow cave by his younglings."
"Gryshtrut made bargain with Vesket but is dead now?" Sonechka glanced over at the recent battlefield. "The great troll, that was Gryshtrut?" She looked back at the crone. "We would rather have talked than fought, grandmother, but we do not shy from battle."
"Our goal is to defeat Vesket. Can you tell us anything more about him? Now that Gryshtrut is dead, does Vesket have any other trolls serving him? Who is Hargulka? Vesket's witch, is she powerful?"
"Umm..."Barbed children"? What are they?"
I wonder if it is the name of our blood drinking fey? The plot as they say might just end up thickening now...
"Mmm.. yes Gryshtrut was the troll who spoke your tongue... "
She just grunts and shrugs in response to "We would have rather talked than fought..."
After a translation, she turns her head in the direction of Green's voice. "Never come across them before. Never seen them with my eyes. They do not speak my tongue. I only know they are puny.. but large in number. They've kept me in their lair and fed me... I knew only their vines, barbs, and drain... fatigue for countless moons."
She then continues her response to Sonechka...
"I know nothing about Vesket's army. I know Vesket's witch. She took my sight. Many many years ago my tribe fought against the Old Beldame when the human filth bound the true King of the Narlmarches."
"I won't speak his name, no no... and I won't speak of Hargulka."
She tosses aside the last bones of the deer.
"I am sated. My body.. feels right again. I am ready to die like a troll."
She stands and extends her arms.. baring her claws.
"Grandmother, there is no reason for you to die here today." That said, Sonechka takes a few steps back to get closer to Green. Though she had been translating the ancient troll's words to Taldane she adds her own thoughts in the common tongue, "She wants to die in battle rather than starve to death. A sentiment I applaud, but we need her alive for those other monsters."
Dolgrym nods. He's on Sonechka's side on this dispute.
"I wonder if there might not be a way for everyone to get what they want...or at least ALMOST everyone.
We could give her a battle and the death she desires, we could give the fey the troll they want, and we could rescue the children.
The only question is, can we turn the battle so that the fey are destroyed as well, allowing us to rid ourselves of ALL monsters?"
The Green Man makes sure to keep his voice low, just in case one of the fey is nearby, spying on them.
Norton was sitting this out, fearing his friends wanted to take the easy way out. Their intentions now are more of his likings.
"Bring the troll to the fey, and make them fight. We take the troll side and slay the fey. Even if this troll survives it won't be much of a menace to anybody."
"Only question I have: are we equipped to deal with the fey?"
"I do not like doing handing over someone for a life of torture. Even if it is the easy way out, I say no. Do you think the fight is fair?"
Sonechka holds a hand out to forestall the ancient troll for a moment. "We may have another fight for you to die in, grandmother. A moment."
She nods at Green, smiling. "I like this idea. Rid ourselves of all the monsters we've met today rather than simply one." The witch also nods at Norton. "Another question to consider is whether we can manage to defeat the fey and save their hostages. The children are the reason we didn't fight them in the first place, remember. They will be at risk if they are still there when we reveal our treachery."