GM Bigrin's Giantslayer (Inactive)

Game Master bigrin42

Storn tromps along happily, once again sure that a lot of giants are going to die. It was certainly some kind of cruel trick, and he was going to get eaten but then punch his way out.

The tunnel was long, a mile, at least, but you met no resistance as you traipsed through it. Probably a good thing, too, as Storn's complete inability to move quietly was amplified in the stone corridor. Several smaller passages branched off the larger one, but the way forward was clear enough. After a few hours' worth of marching underground, you can see a dim glow in the distance. It must be the end of the tunnel.

Kipa snuck ahead and confirmed that it was indeed the tunnel's end, and judging from the color of the light, it was nearly dusk. The rogue saw movement at the tunnel's end, and ducked back just in time as a pair of trolls moved into it, taking places at either side of the tunnel, where it flared outwards. They were obviously guards.

The rogue scampered back to the others and relayed all that he had seen.

Sander moans in displeasure.

"Now what do we do? They're not just going to let us pass, right? But if we kill them, everyone will know we're here."

He buries his head in thought for a few minutes.

"What if I give Kipa something to make him invisible? He could maybe sneak past, and then try to do something to distract him and lure them away long enough for us to get through? Or maybe Molly, so she could summon something..."

Storn grunts as he looks down the hall, recalling that he was told the other guards wouldn't let them pass.

"It is important to follow your heart; my heart says I should stab things."

He thinks for a really long time, shushing anyone who talks to him. "I keep a little bit left in my brain just for Gorum, and can put a silence spell there. Maybe sneak someone up who is silenced, we rush the trolls, they can't make noise, we take 'em out fast."

I've got a blank slot I can fill with a silence spell and then cast it on a sneaky person who can sneak ahead into the trolls so we can rush 'em.

"Maybe we should have the sneaky person" -- he can't help looking at Kipa -- "check first to make sure there's nothing right past them that could see us doing that. But remember, once they're killed, they'll know we're here. ... Unless, Molly, could you summon something that could fly away with their bodies, so they'd think that's what happened?"

"It is important to follow your heart; my heart says I should stab things."

Sweet Jeebus, this is beautiful.

Quill nods along with the plan, thinking of a solution.

"Or maybe summon something to eat the bodies. Or just eat the parts with our weapon damage and so it looks like a monster ate them instead," Quill offers an idea as he readies his bow.

"It should work as long as they are silent. Should be no problem. Another solution might be have Molly go talk to them, maybe bluff our way through. Though she should use some makeup to be more troll like. She's got the looks of a giant, not of a troll, you know?" Quill smiles at the compliment he offers.

"I could summon some fire elementals," Molly offers - after giving Quill a dirty look. "Or a crocodile. Those are usually good for a second helping. If it's about flying them away, dire bats could work. But remember, they're trolls; we need them all the way dead or they'll just regenerate."

The Witch eyes the trolls, eyes narrowing. "We might be wise to lure 'em into an ambush, out of sight from what lies beyond the tunnel. Storn can cast Silence when they enter it, and then we jump 'em. But we'll need bait to lure 'em in. Normally, I'd say slather Quill with BBQ sauce, but we need him for sniping purposes. Ideas?"

Sander shakes his head at Molly's idea.

"I think those summons would still make someone realize we're here," he disagrees.

Maybe I'm overthinking? If we kill them silently and hide the bodies, perhaps everyone would think they just wandered away. Trolls aren't typically known for their dedication to guard duty, I don't think.

That said, GM, can we get the results of Kipa's sneaking forward to see what's beyond the trolls? I can make him invisible.

Making Kipa invisible is the only way to get that info.

An invisible Kipa moved down the tunnel towards the entrance, trying to slip between the trolls. One of them gave a huge sniff, followed by a second. The other troll started sniffing too, and both moved together, blocking the entrance and swinging their arms in circles. Their pig-like eyes roved the darkness as they tried to find the source of the smell.

Kipa deftly moved through the trolls, sneaking past and getting a good look of this part of the valley. After looking for a good long while, he started back to the others. Unfortunately, he stomped on a troll's ingrown toe as he moved back past. The troll yowled in pain. "Someone's here! Sound the alarm!"

Ingrown toe sounds really painful.

Round 1

Quill hears cries of pain and bravely moves up to help Kipa. He moves to J12 and fires once at hello.

1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 12 + 2 = 21 to hit;
1d8 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + 9 + (6, 1) = 17 magic cold iron damage;

Storn lets out a groan as Kipa manages to alert the trolls to his presence despite being invisible and a super-thief and what good are halflings for anyways. Realizing the troll has shouted and any alarm is going off anyways, he gives up on using the silence spell and instead just stalks into view so they can move in on him.

Move to H13, wave at the trolls, brace for a charge.

Molly hisses a curse, then runs after Quill and Storn and chants a very different one! Black lightning blasts forth from her hand and flies towards one of the trolls!

Move to 112. Cast enervation on blue troll; ranged touch 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26 for 1d4 ⇒ 4 negative levels.
Huh. Do crits apply to level-draining spells? If yes, confirm 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23 for additional 1d4 ⇒ 2 negative levels.
Snake style - AC = 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18

Sander groans as the plan he was so proud of collapses before it can even really come close to being implemented. He steps forward to F-8 and pulls his extract of barkskin, which he promptly drinks.

Ingrown toe sounds really painful.

Oh they are. I was channeling a bit of myself into that poor troll. Some kid at soccer practice accidentally trod on mine the other night. All I could do not to rip his head off and scream into the wet hole.

Also, if anyone wondered what happened, Kipa rolled a 1 on his acrobatics check to squeeze between the scent-alerted trolls

@Storn - which armor are you currently wearing? Do I need to make a save?

Storn moved up and braced to receive a charge, even as Quill rushed in and fired and arrow into the troll on his left. Sander boosted his own defenses, even as Molly began to shant her spell. It rushed across the cavern, taking the troll with the blue-beaded necklace and wrapping it in dark energy. You could almost see the creature withering as its strength was sapped. In moments, it was easily half of what it had been.

Kipa, seeing a great opportunity, drove his twin rapiers at the creature, popping back into visibility at once. Unfortunately, in his haste he looked up, right under the troll's loincloth, and the visions of horror he saw there upset his aim. His rapiers mostly missed, though he did leave the troll a scratch under said loincloth.

The injured troll spun, lashing out at the thief, but Kipa nimbly dodges the teeth and claws that flashed at him. The other troll didn't spare a thought for its weakened companion, but rushed straight at Storn. It either didn't notice the set spear, or ignored it, swiping fruitlessly at Storn as it neared him. Both of the trolls' wounds sealed up slightly, as was typical with their type.

Round 2

Quill 5’ steps back and fires thrice again at yellow.

1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 10 + 2 = 32 to hit;
1d8 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 9 + (3, 2) = 16 magic cold iron damage;

1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 10 + 2 = 25 to hit;
1d8 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (6) + 9 + (6, 6) = 27 magic cold iron damage;

1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 5 + 2 = 18 to hit;
1d8 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (5) + 9 + (4, 2) = 20 magic cold iron damage;

Pot crit:
1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 10 + 2 = 26 to hit;
2d8 + 18 ⇒ (4, 4) + 18 = 26 more magic cold iron damage;

Molly barks the words of a by now familiar spell and bathes the yellow troll in flames before retreating behind Storn.

Swift: Snake style AC = 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17
Standard: Cast Burning hands defensively 1d20 + 7 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 5 = 31 (success!) for 5d4 ⇒ (4, 4, 3, 2, 1) = 14 fire damage, Ref. DC16 for half.
Move to G12.

Storn is in his half-plate, not the scale armor. No save.

Oh yeah. Action. Storn has 15' range with the spear so behaving accordingly.

As the troll runs in, Storn stabs out with his spear, grinning.

AoO: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20 Damage: 2d6 + 9 + 6 ⇒ (6, 3) + 9 + 6 = 24

He then follows up with two more quick stabs.

Attack: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13 Damage: 2d6 + 9 + 6 ⇒ (1, 5) + 9 + 6 = 21
Iterative Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 6 - 2 = 23 Damage: 2d6 + 9 + 6 ⇒ (1, 4) + 9 + 6 = 20

Sorry for the delay, guys. Yesterday was LONG.

Sander hurries forward to F-12 and lobs a bomb over Storn's head toward the troll.

"We need to go help Kipa!" he calls out.

Bomb (ranged touch), point blank range, soft cover: 1d20 + 12 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (10) + 12 + 1 - 4 = 19
Damage (fire damage): 4d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3, 2, 2, 3) + 3 + 1 = 14

@Snder - quill killed yellow. If you want to redo your action you can.

The troll took some of the damage from Molly's fiery spell, though it didn't go up like a torch as some species of troll would. Storn stabbed it repeatedly. Its wounds were healing even as Quill's arrows punched into it. The troll collapsed to the ground, but even as you watched, one of the arrows was forced out of the hole it had caused.

Kipa launched another flurry of attacks at the troll he was facing, but the rock-like hide of the troll deflected most of his strikes. Even the one hit that got through closed almost immediately. The troll struck back, but Molly's spells made it difficult for the beast to move its unwieldy arms, and Kipa dodged the blows.

I'll just have held on to my bomb in that case and moved to G-12.

Seeing the troll not seeming to react normally to fire, Sander tries to figure out why, but he's just not sure.

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Anyone else want to check?

Sander moves closer, pulling out a vial of acid, and gets ready to pour it on the troll. Move to I-13; holding off on pouring the acid pending anyone else's Knowledge check or if anyone has an acid cantrip; if not, I'll pour the vial on the troll to try to stop its regeneration.

Storn scowls and looks down at the healing trolls.

"Uh, I can make my sword do fire or cold or whatever, but someone needs to tell me what works on these guys!"

With the other troll still up, Storn clanks across the cave to help out Kipa.

Double move to M19.

Molly starts chanting, her voice reaching into odd distances...

Summon monster III

No need to redo action, just glare at Sander.

Round 3

Quill 5’ steps forward and fires thrice again at the remaining troll.

1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 9 + 2 = 26 to hit;
1d8 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (5) + 9 + (1, 4) = 19 magic cold iron damage;

1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 9 + 2 = 14 to hit;
1d8 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (6) + 9 + (4, 2) = 21 magic cold iron damage;

1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 2 = 14 to hit;
1d8 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (3) + 9 + (3, 3) = 18 magic cold iron damage;

Why are you glaring at *me*? You're the one who ninja'd my kill!

GM, can Kipa do a Know (local) check, please? (Though he may not want to yell out the results until we get closer.)

"Guys, these are rock trolls! Acid or sonic damage will get rid of their regen. And they turn to stone in daylight, if that helps! "

Kipa's words were enough for Sander to spill his vial of acid onto the downed troll, ending its regeneration permanently. Storn charged forward, giving Kipa a flanking partner and Quill a chance to try and shoot him in the back. Quill missed Storn, but pinioned the troll once. Kipa's strikes carved the troll a pair of new exits for its kidneys. The troll fell to the ground, its emaciated form trying to close the new wounds.

"Sander, tell me you have more acid!"

Quill moves up, both to try to recover his missed arrows but also to plug the troll if it rises again.

1d2 ⇒ 1 high is good recovery
1d2 ⇒ 1 high is good recovery
1d2 ⇒ 2 high is good recovery

"Yeah, I have three more flasks!" Sander calls back, rushing forward. "Or drag it out into the sun!"

If no one does that, I'll douse the second troll with acid; then let's get out of here.

Wth sacred weapon doesn't provide the corrosive property. Assuming combat is over...

Storn heads over to the nearest troll and starts trying to drag it out into the sunlight.

Gorum doesn't want you destroying metal armor, you heretic!

Quill follows Storn with arrow knocked. He’s following suit to keep watch and remind Storn from loudly grunt or cursing, which might trip alarms.

”Can you strain a bit more quietly?” Quill asks, not willing to add his noodly arms to help drag the troll.

1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35 Perception

"No. hhnngggggg"

Kipa agreed with that, and stepped out of the cave to scout a bit. In moments he had disappeared.

You were making sure of the last troll, when Quill heard something.

"Psst! Psst!"

The noise was so small compared to Storn's gruntings and scraping that it was almost out of Quill's hearing. The noise came again, and he was sure that it was someone down one of the side tunnels trying to get his attention. Cautiously he peeked down the nearest and didn't find anything. When the call came again, he realized it was coming from the tunnel across the way. This one was so narrow, even Quill's noodly body could barely fit through it. About a dozen feet back, he saw her. A female dwarf, dressed in dirty armor and carrying a huge axe blinked back at him.

She was filthy, as if she hadn't bathed in weeks, eaten well in days, or seen the sunlight in a long while. Blood clotted her hair and the left side of her head from a wound. She looked a little wide-eyed as she whispered "Are they dead?"

Quill looks over at the dwarf, wondering how he had missed her.

”Dead? Maybe? Who can tell with trolls? They are always alive and dead, you know?” Quill replies while tapping Storn on his back and pointing the big man’s face to the filthy dwarf.

”Who are you and what are you doing here?” Quill asks, quite confused.

"'sCalled 'surviving', Ears," Molly says as she squats by the tunnel. "They're good'n dead. Y'wanna come out an' have some rations or sumthin'? Swear I can hear yer belly growlin' from here."

She eyes the party looking at her, "You're sure they're dead? I thought that beady-eyed bastard was done until he nearly took my arm off!" She slowly starts making her way out of the tunnel. She's careful to keep her axe up in case these new adventurers mean to do her harm. "One of our arcanists back home, Dingerschrö, was fascinated by trolls. He kept trying to put them in boxes for some reason. He's dead now. I guess he got his answer though." A few moments later, she fully emerges. She's limping slightly and seems to have trouble focusing on everyone, maybe because her head never stops swiveling between them. She eventually addresses Molly, "my name is Chwaer Moltengem. I came here with a group so we could try and stop the giants. We weren't prepared. We were able to sneak into camp but they eventually saw us. Dalrigg and Grenmur were killed right away. They dragged Armmun and Greta off somewhere." She begins to tear up a bit, "who knows what happened to them. What's happening now.

I was able to get away in the mayhem. I've been hiding in these caves since." She squints back into the tunnel, counting marks scratched into the stone, "I guess that was about a fortnight ago." She pauses for a moment and nods to herself as she makes a decision. She sets down her axe and slides down to the ground. "So that's my story. What brings you here? I can't recommend the lichen, but the millipedes are in season."

"Yeah, not happenin'," Molly says as she pulls a day's trail ration from her pack. "I'm Molly Blackfoot, an' I ain't eatin' bugs'n moss when I still got proper food on me."

She tosses Chwaer the ration and adds: "An' ye shouldn' haveta, neither. Eat up."

Chwaer grabs the ration out of the air and smiles, "thank you Molly. You're sure? Grind up a little rock dust and you can't even taste the hairy legs." She begins to perk up as she tears into the ration, barely pausing for air.

"my name is Chwaer Moltengem. I came here with a group so we could try and stop the giants."

Quill rolls his eyes, thinking that he had just heard the dumbest thing he’s ever heard.

”Trying to sneak in and destroy a giant camp is a pretty stupid idea, you know?” Quill replies. ”It’s an absolutely terrible idea. I mean, with just 5 dwarves, nonetheless? It’s nice that you dwarves like to show bravery and throw your lives away, but that’s a bad idea.”

Quill is ready to feed the dwarf and dismiss her to find her way back home. He’s had enough death of his companions over time. He remember Dieter. And others.

”Well, we can feed you and point you the way out,” Quill says while his eyes scan for millipedes that might be worth eating.. ”We’re going to sneak in there and try to destroy the giants, k? You can return to your warren or oubliette or whatever.”

Storn clanks up to the dwarf. He is an enormous beast of a man covered in half-plate that's had spikes affixed to it after the fact. Wild bits of hair stick out from his helmet. He carries a ludicrously long spear, an ancient greatsword, and a very, very big sack over his shoulder. He has a booming voice with a lilting, Ulfen accent.

"Hrmph, you look terrible but alive. That is good, you can help us kill giants. I am Storn. Don't worry, I am a man of medicine. Sander, please bring me some a dried lemming testicles - we must make rauðan te to aid her malnutrition."

Storn yanks off his helmet, his hair and beard are a wild tangle with two intense eyes staring out of the mess. "We are trying to find a way to dismantle the army from the top without getting killed. Although Gorum would be pleased if I personally punched every giant, the logistics makes my head hurt. What do you know about their camp?"

"What?!" a timid-looking halfling replies. "I don't have that! I'm an herbalist, Storn! And even if I did have ... lemming testicles, they wouldn't help with malnutrition! Food helps with malnutrition! Molly's got the right of it, though I don't know why she's suddenly objecting to bugs. Where does she think the ones she vomits up come from?"

He runs his hands through his hair in exasperation.

"Did you see anything in the camp? I think we have to sneak in there too, unfortunately. They want to destroy our home and I'm not letting that happen!"

"Wherever they come from, they don't go down," Molly firmly declares.

"Bah! We don't have herbs in my homeland - just testicles. Fine, I'm sure she will survive. Look at her! A fine specimen of... dwarf? Yes, dwarf."

Chwaer's eyes go wide as Storn insists she needs testicles, "uhhh I'm good, no testicles needed over here. You .. uhh, you can keep those for yourself." Finishing the ration, she starts to stand up, using her axe as a momentary crutch, "the camp is bigger than we were led to believe. Hundreds of giants! All different kinds. Most of the army is camped around here to be close to the giant lord. Lots of fighting going on, in and out of the pit. There's one that seems untouchable though, goes by" her mouth stretches to make a few harsh sounds that anyone who speaks giant would loosly translate to Storm Tyrant. "and he seems to be the one deciding who gets to stay. Plenty of giants were turned away for being "weak"."

She thinks for a minute before exclaiming, "And the s&+*! Gods be damned, the s*#~ is everywhere! They found a way to milk a Mindspun Ram." She points at Gorum, "you might like that, they milk a ram, somehow, and make this cheese. It smells like death BEFORE they eat it! I actually feel bad for the ogre crews that need to clean it up. That's actually how we were caught, we tried to sneak into the Cathedral of Minderhal in a dung cart. The giants aren't really paying attention, we were able to sneak around quite a bit. But Grenmur couldn't handle the smell and started retching and it was all over. "

”What Cathedral?” Quill asks, still happy to let the dwarf return to her hovel and get away from the giants. ”Why would you want to go to the Cathedral?”

Chwaer shrugs, "we thought if we could take down the giant lord, we might not need to fight hundreds to giants. What's your plan?" She grabs a whetstone and begins sharpening her axe, "I have some friends to avenge."

"We were thinking we'd sneak in, shank the tyrant and get out while everyone else started scrapping for the big chair. That or poison their drinking water, whatever works."

I have to take a 2-day hiatus for work and I come back to this treasure. Bless you all! It's the best St. Crispin's Day gift ever! Keep it up! I'm just going to sit back here and cry tears of joy!

\o/

"Fine, I suppose my God has given me magical powers to heal people but nothing beats a good home remedy."

He listens as Chwaer goes on. "Cathedral? That's what I have been looking for - a building where we can kill everything inside without the army knowing. So how do we get to this cathedral."