"We should still be careful. A pack of armed trolls could still give us more trouble than they're worth. But I'm definitely ready to get out and see what exactly they're doing out there. And see if there's an interesting story in that tomb."
"Sesker's Gully..." Ehren repeats as he subconsciously sifts through the abundance of memories he gained from the Drezen menhir. "Clan Sesker was a druidic clan, one of the oldest. They and the clans that were sworn to them established the village, but they welcomed crusaders there with open arms. They were all able to live there in harmony... until Drezen fell." Looking to Ary, the druid shakes his head. "I do not know for sure, but marauding trolls were common in the region before the Worldwound opened. They could just be following their old ways."
"In any case, I am in agreement with Variska. Bringing too large of a force would draw attention to ourselves, and as fearsome as trolls are, it would be difficult to avoid casualties. As long as we exercise caution, I believe we can handle the situation on our own."
"Thank you Ary, I would greatly appreciate it." Hinagiku answers with a touch of relief in her otherwise serene voice.
"Sometimes being less is better, it is true." Hinagiku finally concedes. "But... isn't it strange that we discovered this crypt now? Considering how onis act, couldn't it be a trap?"
The heroes mount up on horses and make the 15 mile trek out to Sesker's Gully. It takes 2 hours of the heroes plodding through the bitter cold, their horses' hooves stomping through the frozen tundra. Variska draws her long, furred cloak tightly around her body in an effort to keep the bitter cold out, but otherwise keeps her attention on the lurid, lavender-and-chartreuse clear Abyssal sky ahead. "You know, it's really weird... but also kind of spectacular. In it's own way," she says, eyes cast upward.
Mother Heartwood's influence starts to wane the further from Drezen they get, and the climate begins to get hotter and hotter, and the wind picks up to incredible speeds. The heroes strip off their furs and put them away. And then it starts to rain. Light at first, but then a horrible downpour, accompanied by howling winds. Beyond the storm’s edge towards Drezen trails an enormous rainbow with wide bands of individual colors.
The heroes had followed what was once a road to get here though due to age and time now the cobbles are barely visible. An old sign on the road has two markers, one pointing east, the other, west. East: it reads 'Sesker's Gully, 0.5 mi'. West: it reads 'Drezen, 14 mi'. The sign that read's 'Sesker's Gully' is barely hanging on, and as the heroes reach it, the wind blasts it right off of its nail. It goes flying off into the distance.
"As good a place as any to tether our horses," Anevia says, dismounting her steed, a brown and white skewbald mare. "Ugh, this rain, I'm drenched down to my undies," she grumbles.
"Could be worse!" says Lann. "During our scouting exhibition out further east, once it rained pus."
Anevia groans. "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that!"
"I can barely see or hear anything... but... that means nothin' else can see nor hear anything either!" Anevia continues brightly, having to speak loudly to be heard over the wind. "A'ight, how should we do this?"
Isilme refreshing her magic, Isilme ensure they will be able to talk despite the wind using message. Unfortunately due to Ayavah's absence, it was impossible to cover everyone, resulting in Variska sitting out. In this weather she was likely to stick close to Xanderghul anyway, so it seemed the best choice.
"Much better," she says through the spell, clearly audible over the din. "It is too heavy to risk sending someone ahead, I believe we should stick together. Perhaps Val and I can watch the front, Ehren can watch the rear, and everyone else keep an eye to the left and right. We might also consider finding a building to take shelter in until the weather dies down."
As the weather begins getting significantly rougher, Anevia's form seems to unblur, hunkering down slightly to make herself less affected by the winds. The rain was gonna be hellish on her archery and Valaria's... whatever you called throwing giant fourpronged daggers.
"Hm. The advantages do cut both ways... as long as we're above ground, we have less to worry about from ranged attackers - you can't target a foe without seeing them - but I think they cut a bit more towards 'creatures built to rip foes to pieces'. What preparations did we make for ensuring the trolls reach their final deaths?" Ary asks as she looks to Ehren and Xanderghul, before looking to the horizons, trying to get hints as to what the weather has in store for them.
Variska hunkered down on her horse, a big muscular brown thing that probably would have been a draft horse if it had been found somewhere normal. She pulls her hood against the swiftly-coursing rain and shivers.
Xanderghul didn't bring a poncho, not expecting rain, but despite his soaked-through robes he feels quite comfortable, shielded from the cold by his new divine magic. 'I have shadow evocations prepared, as is customary. Most of my magic today is geared towards making sure that we don't get ripped to pieces.'
Given the size and density of the storm clouds ahead, the storm will likely hold out for the next 7 hours.
It's currently late afternoon, so the storm will likely end during the night. It will be a dark, cloudless night.
Given the clouds in the distance, you expect it will rain tomorrow also, but the influence of the Abyss in the Worldwound can always lead to unexpected changes. You'd have a better idea in the morning.
Variska shivers. "I brought my best chopping sword. It's also my only sword but... she'll do." She dismounts, tying her horse's bridle to the signpost. She pulls her hood tighter around her face, which doesn't do much for keeping the rain out of her hair and clothing.
Ehren grimaces at Lann's mention of the unique weather they experienced together, almost wishing that the wind had drowned it out. He had learned the hard way that it was impossible to wash pus out of fur.
"If they've been corrupted, then fire won't work quite as well as it should," Ehren surmises, recalling that the trolls that had been stationed in Drezen were similar. "But acid should work just fine. I will be able to conjure some when the time comes to finish them off."
"I am in agreement with Isilme. We can't risk anyone getting caught alone."
"I agree. And the rains will add an extra layer of safety to our movements... though it ups the risk of walking into an ambush." Ary shares with the others, calmly despite the rain. It simply rolls over her form as she shows little reaction to it at all. "We can't really wait out the rain, though. It will last until late into the night, and then it will simply be the creatures who have darkvision's advantage. There's no way of knowing, reliably, what tomorrow will bring. So we should press forward as a group."
"Ugh, so we're going to have to deal with this for the entire day? Fantastic..." Val grumbles a little as she pulls her furs a little tighter around herself. Even if she could handle frost bite better than most, that didn't make being wet any less dreadful. "That's fine with me though. I'd rather not try to fight a pack of trolls by myself even in good weather. Trying to throw through this is going to be hell."
Deciding to stick together, the heroes head towards the town on foot, struggling through the sheets of rain and howling winds. Sesker's Gully was on a tributary of the Founder's River known as Little Bulrush. Little Bulrush had long dried up, and so the heroes have to trudge across its empty banks to get to the front gates of the town. A wooden fortification used to surround the village, but after the attack it was barely left intact. Large segments of the wooden walls were destroyed by much larger fiends, and the front gates lay open. The town is built around a small hill, and at the top of the hill, further eastward, there is a military fortification that overlooks the entire village.
Anevia walks with Ary just behind Valaria and Isilme. As they pass by the gates, she looks at the two worn down statues that flank the entryway. 'Glad they aren't dwarven, huh, boss?' she says after appraising them.
Now that they are traveling on foot, Ehren realizes that Hinagiku is still moving ever so sluggishly, likely because of some injury sustained during the battle with the night hags. Moving to her side, he removes one of his numerous wands from his belt and lightly presses it against her arm, mending her strained leg muscles completely. He smiles at her softly before falling back to his place in their formation and turning his attention to the town itself, wary of any looming threats.
As they approach the gates, he eyes the statues curiously, attempting to discern any significance they may have.
They are statues of the Kellid Warrior-Hero, Vard Rockgrinder, whose worship was common in the old days. It was thought that statues or depictions of him would confer protection against threats to Sarkorian clans, be they monsters, wild beasts, or even just other kellids.
Even without the rain, the horse ride hadn't been pleasant, Hinagiku still wasn't really used to it. But now, with the rain, what moment the kitsune wasn't shaking off the water from her fur, she spent with ears flattened.
After tying down her horse, the monk follows the others to the town's entrance. From there, she tries to peer through the down, not only in search of onis lying in wait, but also for a crypt.
Given there would be little chance to prepare if they encountered foes in this weather, Isilme moves up to Val and lays a hand upon her shoulder, enchanting her with heroism bolstered with her own runic magic. "There Val, just in case we run into the trolls sooner rather than later," she says.
She then summons a flute, and over the howling winds, plays a tune that quickens with each moment, building until it finally ends a minute later. Despite the cacophony of the storm, the group feels its effects, leaving them all lighter on their feet.
Moving slowly into the town, Isilme drops back a bit to comfort Hinagiku. "It is terrible, is it not?" She remembered the not-too-distant experience of shifting into the form of a kitsune in the baths. "We can use magic to dry you off once we are inside the tomb," she says sympathetically.
As they pass by the fort, Isilme focuses on the ruins, and then their path forwards, looking for any signs of movement. "Ehren, Ary, has anything come through here recently, or headed into the fort?" she asks, knowing their skill at tracking was strong enough to spot evidence of things even if it had been raining for quite a while.
Ehren looks to the ground, searching for any signs of footprints. Trolls were hardly subtle creatures, but the weather conditions might have obliterated any tracks they left behind, even more so for anything smaller that might have passed through.
At Isilme's behest, Ary moves forward looking over the gateway, eyes scrunched slightly against the driving rain, as she tries to get an idea of what's been through here... at least those things that didn't fly in. Trolls would be easy to pick out, probably... but the numbers, and the insane rains would make it exceedingly difficult without care.
"Uh, Isilme, don't think we need to track them..." Anevia whispers into message. As they pass the gates, they can see something big and tall... make that several somethings big and tall... towards the back of town.
You hear several voices... the trolls?
"Sollix held að við ættum að fara í þennan stað! Þessi staður bölvaður ... reimt ... of mörg skrímsli Sollix getur ekki brotið!"
"ÞEGIÐU. Ef elskan mín Lambrecht segir fjársjóður er hér, þá er fjársjóður hér. Sollix veikur, veikur eins og hræðilegur maður!" This voice is a woman's voice, deep and husky.
"Ah, það er allt í lagi, Yuzu, ástin mín. Við höfum athugað næstum hvert hús og turn á þessum stað ... það verður að vera í dulritinu. En það eru of margar draugar í þessum hluta bæjarins. Drocha swarms eru ekki hálf eins slæm og te-" This voice is masculine, deep and cool.
"Yuzu óttast ekki drauga. Yuzu sprengja heimskur draugur með troll-máttur! Yuzu myndi gera eitthvað fyrir elskan Lambrecht!" responds the woman.
"Ég veit, Yuzu, ég veit að þú myndir ... Komdu. Við skulum komast héðan, komdu aftur þegar þetta rigningin fer að lokum," says the man.
They are speaking in Giant.
Bowie's nose sticks out from under the flap of Variska's backpack. He didn't mind the cold... but he certainly minded the wet. "Ssssh, I know, I don't like this either, buddy," whispers Variska, though without message it was unlikely anyone but perhaps Xanderghul heard her. Utterly and completely out of the loop, she watches her mentor intently for a sign that she should do something. Just in case, she draws her sword...
"Xanderghul, you speak Giant, right?" Isilme asks. She could hear the trolls speaking, but could not understand it herself. Perhaps if she relayed it for him, however...
She memorizes and repeats the troll's speech as best she can, giving the wizard a chance to decipher what they were discussing.
"Sollix think we should leave this place! This place cursed... haunted... too many monsters Sollix cannot smash!"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH. If my darling Lambrecht says treasure is here, then treasure is here. Sollix weak, weak like pitiful human!"
"Ah, it's okay, Yuzu, my love. We've checked nearly every house and tower in this place... it's gotta be in the crypt. But there's too many f$**ing ghosts in that part of town. Drocha swarms aren't half as bad as the-"
"Yuzu not fear ghosts. Yuzu blast stupid ghost with TROLL POWER. Yuzu would do ANYTHING for darling Lambrecht!"
"I know, Yuzu, I know you would... Come on. Let's get out of here, come back when this f@#~ing rain finally passes. "
You see evidence of at least 6 different large humanoids passing by on the muddy road, and one medium sized one.
Variska grips the hilt of her sword as she anxiously waits for the heroes to decide what they want to do, watching as water runs down the blade of her weapon and streams down to the ground...
Ehren listens carefully as Isilme speaks, unsurprised by her ability to relay an entire conversation in a language she herself cannot understand.
"They are searching for treasure," Ehren replies, despite not being Xanderghul. "They have checked everywhere but the crypt - apparently that part of town is haunted by ghosts. It sounds like they intend to leave and return once the storm has passed."
"Going by the tracks they've left, there are at least six trolls... and one smaller humanoid, more our size." He pauses for a moment, before asking, "Should we hide and wait for them to leave? Or should we ambush them?"
"I would favor ambushing them, we have the element of surprise," she says. There was no doubt the fight would be difficult. If they could take advantage of the weather to confuse and ambush them, that would give them a significant advantage.
"With the wind and rain, illusions might be an effective way of splitting their attention as we ambush them."
Külə shakes his head from side-to-side violently, trying to get some of the water out that was seeping into his barding and making it chafe. "Whatever you want to do, decide quickly. They're coming in our direction."
Quickly, Xanderghul conveys what's going on to Variska - "There are trolls here looking for treasure. Looks like you came along for a good reason after all."
"They're with another person. Sounds like a woman. She has them in thrall. Maybe... six? If we engage, take on no more than one at a time, and do so with others. Take advantage of your reach, got it?"
Then he turns to his allies. "I doubt illusions are necessary. Besides, I didn't prepare many figments today. Illusions are for when we want someone to go somewhere that they aren't already going," he says, gesturing towards the trolls that are advancing towards them. "Let's just hide inside and lay into whatever passes when it does."
Variska's eyes light up at the news that there might be treasure involved in today's troll-slaying. "Yessss! You hear that, Bowie?" she says, nudging her pack. The fox gives a little yipping sound in response. Let's go out and wreck them and find whatever it is they're looking for!"
"Ambush works for me. I doubt we want them to get their hands on whatever might have been left here anyway."
'Buncha dumb trolls... heh. Sounds like fun. Need help, boss?' the Bound Horror chortles.
You recognize the name "Lambrecht". "Lambrecht Roskelly" is a half-orc bandit that has been roaming the area, mostly picking on travelers headed to Drezen. He doesn't appear to be affiliated with any known cultist organizations, and the crusaders believe him to simply be an independent criminal. From what few reports of him have been put forward by robbed suppliers and travelers that were allowed to live, he is some sort of bard, skilled in song and verse and with the drum. He is described as a tall half-orc with long blonde hair, and as unusually handsome for a member of his race, but that could have been charm person talking for all you know.
None of your reports have mentioned him traveling with trolls, so this must be a new development.
With the trolls approaching quickly, and ambush the chosen course of action, Isilme reaches over and quickly intones to cloak Külə with invisiblity as quietly as she can manage.
"Lambrecht, that name has come up a few times. A bandit and a bard. Not one who seemed to be associated with cultists, and certainly not working with trolls. We should try to capture him," she says briefly before moving into position to hide. Crouching down in the first floor of the watch tower, she draws her starknife and channels arcane power into it to prepare to fight.
With a gesture, Xanderghul motions Variska into hiding. She was not the most subtle of all people, and he wanted to make sure that the ambush was not ruined by her loud armor. She proceeds up to the indoors of the tower to hide, while Xanderghul himself casts a simple spell and vanishes from sight before clambering into one of the watchtowers and hiding invisibly. Quietly, he whispers, "Bard-off! Bard-off!"
Ary and Anevia both move as quietly as they can up into the watch-tower, hoping to ambush the trolls. Anevia because height was its own advantage, and Ary because she did not trust herself not to foil the ambush, even with the effects of the rain.
Nodding to Lann, Ehren moves up to hide within the interior of the watchtower - he couldn't conceal himself under such short notice even if he wanted to. After a moment of consideration, the underfolk man follows suit. While rather adept at stealth himself, he is just a tad uncomfortable with being on the first floor while a pack of fearsome-looking giants passes by.
"Thank you for the suggestion Mrs. Isilme. But, if I need to, I can simply change back into my human form to get rid of all this water... though, my clothes might still need the magic to dry."
Hinagiku follows Ehren and Lann up a watchtower. Despite being light armored, she knew she wouldn't be able to hide well. Once she reaches the second floor, she slowly crawls to one of the walls, and through a slit between the wooden planks, she tries to spy on what's going on outside.
Val ducks down in the building, trying to keep out of sight of the trolls as she waits for them to draw close enough to launch their attack.
As the voices grow closer, it becomes easier to hear what they're saying, even with the wind.
"Sprengja drauga, drepið þá einn daginn, þau eru komin aftur á næsta .."" says the male voice.
"F!%$ing ghosts, kill them one day, they're back the next.."
"Bíddu, elskan." says the gruff female voice, urgently. "Ég lykt eitthvað ... eitthvað er hér sem var ekki hér áður ..."
"Wait, darling. I smell something... something is here that wasn't here before..."
An enormous female troll trudges close to the watchtowers. She's closing her eyes and sniffing the air. Behind her, a half-orc with long blonde hair with a scimitar in his left hand strides past her. He narrows his eyes and peers around his surroundings... then spots Valaria through a hole in the wall left by a missing timber!
"Eh? Ó, fífl! Það er Valaria! Valaria Alazario!" he exclaims, pointing right at her ... "þessi tiefling kona við krossfarana! Krossfarar eru hér!"
"Eh? Oh, f~&@! That's Valaria... Valaria Alazario! That tiefling woman with the crusaders! Crusaders are here!"
Moderate evil.
Surprise Round!
Ary, Anevia, Ehren, Lann, Isilme, Xanderghul and Variska are up!
Crouching inside the room, Isilme approaches the wall nearest the direction the trolls were approaching from. She watches the she-troll and half-orc begin passing by, followed closely behind by another half-dozen of the trolls. They would definitely have the element of surprise, though the number of trolls was problematic.
Since Xanderghul had opted not to use an illusion to distract them, confusion might be the best bet. The spell had worked wonders during the trolls' attempt to cross the river during the battle of Drezen, leaving them beating each other to death as they burned in the fires Ehren started. Certainly the same spell would be effective here. In fact, she just might be able to put a little twist on it.
Thinking back to her dreams of Elysium, thinking back to the storms that swept over the endless plains there, she remembered standing there feeling the wind blowing in three different directions at once as the storm swirled above, and the rain falling in directions completely unrelated to the gusts. The clouds themselves swirled with lightning and color in ways that the weather on Golarion could never match. To sum it up, it was chaotic.
Their discovery came sooner than expected, and surprisingly the bard seemed to be able to identify Val without much trouble. It was more than a little disconcerting that the she-troll was just outside the wall, but there was little that could be done about it. The most important thing was to finish dividing their forces.
Reaching for the root of her memory, she scribes a new divine rune in the air before her: 'अराजकता'. It read 'chaos', but at its heart it was the complete severing of cause and effect. The rune prepared she unleashes the spell confusion in the middle of the unsuspecting trolls, bolstering it with a fragment her own divine power.
From within the ramshackle watchtower, Ehren can just barely tell what is going on down below. Peering through the failing structure's numerous holes, he watches as the female troll trudges closer, accompanied by her... mate? He rubs the tips of his fingers together, ready to call down a pillar of acid the moment they wander into a more open area.
That is until he hears the shouting. The druid frowns, quickly deciding on a contingency. It was not the signal he had expected to launch the attack, but it would have to do. Instead of accidentally blowing up the towers that his friends are residing in, he would bring in some more muscle. Judging by the number of trolls they are up against, they are going to need it.
As Ehren begins to chant, motes of light begin to appear one by one and begin to revolve around his body, gradually increasing in number as they pick up speed.
Unable to really contribute anything while hiding away, Lann retraces his steps as he descends the tower, taking care not to step through any rotting planks. Once he reaches the bottom floor he draws his sword and waits. He is not so bold as to run right up to a troll on his own... but he would if he must.
Xanderghul, in full view of all of the trolls, decides to weave some simple light magic. He taps into the geometry inherent and behind all things, and he views where the mathematically perfect location for the burst of light to be. Not only that, but when he appears and it flies into the face of the opposing bard and his disgusting trollish consort, the shards of holy energy seem supernaturally drawn to the eyes of his targets, threatening to blind them.
Variska descends the stairs, drawing her sword as she goes. She adopts reaching blade stance, knowing that an enemy that draws into melee combat would have to pass through her enhanced reach in order to do so. She steps protectively in front of Xanderghul and waits for battle to begin.
Ary moves quickly down the stairs, readying herself for the coming battle, while Anevia moves quietly as she can to the top of the tower, ready to take advantage of her foes... and with luck, she'd be right at the tippy top with just enough time to come out and start blasting some faces. As Ary reaches the bottom of the stairs, she draws Radiance, Anevia carefully threads an arrow as she hunkers down, hopefully, just out of sight.
"Ó fjandinn! Það er meira af þeim!" Lambrecht cries out as he is abruptly blinded. He starts rubbing his eyes to no avail.
"Yuzu mun sprungið refsaðan stríðsglæpi! Fallegt Lambrecht, vertu á bak við Yuzu!" growls the She-Troll. Xanderghul's magic had simply washed over her to no effect, her time living in the Worldwound imbuing her with a resistance to all forms of magical energies.
"Ah, skít ... vel, gleymdu fjársjóðnum, hefurðu einhverja hugmynd um hvað féið er á höfuð þessum herra út í vestur? Við munum vera ríða ríkur! Strákar! Reyndu og einbeittu einum af þeim niður!" says Lambrecht.
"Ah, s#$+...wait, do you have any idea how much the bounties are on their heads out West? Forget the treasure, we can be rich! Boys! Focus them down one at a time! "
Lambrecht belts out a spell, and vanishes from sight. His voice belts out proudly against the howling winds:
"Tre rötter finns där
Nej aska-träd Yggdrasil;
Nej de första liven Hel, | "den andra frostjättarna,
De sista är mänens land."
"Three roots there are | that three ways run
'Neath the ash-tree Yggdrasil;
'Neath the first lives Hel, | 'neath the second the frost-giants,
'Neath the last are the lands of men."
Meanwhile, Hinagiku moves quickly down the damp, rotting stairs. She sprints past Ehren and Lann to engage the She-Troll...
31. Lambrecht
23. Hinagiku
20. Troll #4
16. Lann
15. Valaria
14. Isilme (+6)
14. Troll #3 (+2)
13. Kule
12. Anevia
10. Xanderghul (+4)
10. Ehren (+3)
8. Troll #2
7. Yuzu (+3)
7. Troll #5 (+2)
6. Ary
5. Troll #1
4. Variska (+3)
4. Bowie (+2)
Initiative!
1. Lambrecht Roskelly
2. Hinagiku
3. Troll #5
4. Lann
5. Valaria
6. Isilme
7. Troll #3
8. Kule
9. Anevia
10. Xanderghul
11. Ehren
12. Troll #3, Yuzu, Troll #5
13. Ary
14. Troll #1
15. Variska
Round 1!
Lann, Valaria, and Isilme are up!
"S~##," Val mutters under her breath as she hears her name from the half-orc and the trolls and their leader round on their group. Fortunately, her friends are more than on top of it and the enemy group is quickly bombarded with spells. She backs up a bit out of the building she was hiding in and draws her starknife. The cold iron blade starts to glow with hot silvery light and she sends it flying at the female troll at the rear of the enemy formation.
"Ah!" Lann remarks as Hinagiku races past him. Emboldened, he closes in on the female troll, his shield held high in anticipation of her fearsome claws. Moving alongside Hinagiku, he gives his sword a quick whirl before slashing upwards at the troll's belly, testing the water for his next attack. There was no need to use any more force than necessary, after all.