After you spend some time traveling though the area that the trolls have been sighted in, you almost pass by a large rocky hill with an ancient guardpost perched on the side of it. The use of the natural stone and it's current, crumbling state makes it appear to be a natural outcropping of the hill rather than the man made structure it is.
Finnegan kneels down, studying the ground, then says, "I've got faint traces of large footprints dragging an object. The trail looks like it heads in the direction of that old guardpost over there - might be some sign of where the trolls went if we follow them."
Recent? They might be about.
"It's worth checking out. Let's take a look."
Following the trail leads to the beginning of a narrow path that winds its way up the hill, a steep cliff face on one side and a sheer drop-off on the other. At the top, the path follows a wide ledge, where the corner of a weathered stone building juts from the side of the hill. There is no cover once you begin up the trail and you know you will be visible if there is anything watching the trail.
Finnegan stops just inside the tree cover, before starting up the trail. "Could someone make Othniel or I invisible? We could scout the trail ahead and see what's there - without cover, we aren't going to have the element of suprise if anyone is here or keeping a good watch."
I have no skills for concealing people.
Of course, Alexander says. He prepares to cast invisibility on the two of them when they're ready to head out. It will only last a few minutes, so use it well.
The two of you make your way up the narrow, windy path towards the stone building you glimpsed from the base.
Not surprisingly, nothing seems to notice the two of you as you make your way up to the side of the building. There is what looks like a newly installed door in leading into the building.
The stone exterior of the building is very weathered with age and parts of it have chipped away.
In the upper window of the guard tower, you get glimpses of what appears to be a troll walking back and forth impatiently.
You two do not see any other creatures at this time and cannot see anything past the guard tower from your present position.
Radomir, not being particularly sneaky. Stands watch with his horse, protecting his lord's flank and rear.
No doubt about it, the trolls definitely went this way.
Finnegan eyes the tower. The troll at the top was obviously a lookout of some kind - the rest wouldn't be able to approach without sounding the alarm. They needed to take the beast out. Finnegan grabs the wall and begins climbing, gloves aiding the process.
Finnegan easily scales the wall.
Andrea picks someone out of her teeth as she waits.
Hearing Finnegan begin to climb the wall, Othniel whispers "Hey, throw me a rope when you get up there. I'm no good at climbing."
"Me neither
Finnegan studies the troll, slipping into the tower and drawing his machete.
Finnegan stealthily ties a rope to the tower and lowers it over the side so Othniel can climb up. If the two of them could act quickly enough, they could possibly take out the troll without raising an alarm.
With utmost stealth, Othniel sneaks up behind the troll, before plunging both of his swords into its back.
Finnegan hacks at the troll with his machete.
Finnegan continues hacking with his machete.
The guard troll is taken completely by surprise you your attacks. Though he takes damage from your surprise attacks, you can see the wounds begin to mend. Sadly for the troll, your next attacks lay him out before he could fully heal them.
Though the troll is laying unconscious in front of you, it is obviously not dead and if you wait long enough you can watch its wound begin to heal.
Finnegan pulls out a torch and lights it, moving to set the troll on fire. "I'll burn him. You signal the others that the way is clear."
Othniel fires a splash of acid into the corpse for good measure, then nods and heads back to the roof. Once there, he waves for the others to approach.
Looks like they were successful, let's head up. Andrea moves her horse.
You applied fire and acid in a timely manner, so the troll does not regenerate and dies.
Radomir nods and follows Andrea.
Assuming everyone goes up to the guardtower once the troll is finished off, you can view the rest of the old fort or what remains of it. The far side tower has begun to crumble down the cliff face. The most interesting feature is the newest one where the mountain forms the fourth wall of the fort. Someone or something has recently dug out a large entrance, roughly 10x10 feet.
Piled around the courtyard area are various piles of refuse and junk left over from the current inhabitants, though you do not see anyone currently down there. You do not see any movement along the walls and you are not sure if the other guard towers are inhabitable or not. The old barracks looks fairly stable and aren't near the cliff.
I suggest the barracks
"As good a place to start as any. Should Othniel and I scout ahead again?"
Head out my brave minionsA good practical move.
For those scouting ahead, it appears that the old barracks have been turned into one large kennel for a pack of trollhounds. You can actually hear them barking and growling before you even enter the building. Peering though the cracks and gouges in the door you can plainly see a large troll with an axe dismembering a humanoid corpse and feeding the various pieces to the slavering trollhounds that are chained by large collars on their necks.
Alexander nods, I can't afford too many more invisibility spells, so I'll scout with you.
Othniel sneaks in alongside his boss, then wracks his brain to remember anything about trollhounds, even though he's sure that his widely-read (and fearless!) leader already knows whatever he is about to say.
Andrea stays put rather than clank along.
As much as radomir hates it, he stays put with Andrea rather than draw more attention to the group.
Finnegan quietly creeps along, bow out and arrow nocked. Once they are outside the barracks and they look in, Finnegan turns to Alexander. He looks at Alexander, gestures towards them, and then raises an eyebrow as if to ask, What do we do, boss?
Alexander signals for Finnegan and Othniel to stay put and heads back to the others.
There's a troll and some trollhounds in the barracks. The hounds will probably hear you coming first. Radomir, you'll go through the front door as usual. Mr. Rook, Othniel, and I will attack if they hear you coming before you hit the door. If you hear them shouting, that's probably us.
Alexander heads back to the scouts and fills them in on the plan. Signaling that they should circle around the building and see if there's another way in.
Andrea nods as she listens to Alexander.[smaller]A sound plan. I will back you up, Radomir.
There are arrow slit style windows along the upper half of the sides of the the barrack. In the back there is a large chimney area on the left side and on the right, a set of double cellar doors built at an angle into the ground and the lower half of the barrack.
Slavering and voracious, trollhounds seem to be trolls in smaller canine form, and indeed, are often found as pets among gangs and tribes of trolls. Requiring vast amounts of food to fuel their regenerative metabolisms, packs of wild trollhounds range far and wide through the mountains of the north, their ravenous hunger driving them to hunt and consume any prey they can track down and kill.
A typical trollhound stands 4 feet tall at the shoulder, has short but powerful legs, and weighs around 350 pounds. A trollhound’s skin is somewhat scaly, with patches of rough, greenish-black fur. It has oversized jaws with a pronounced underbite, and its eyes are normally a dull, hateful orange.
A trollhound’s saliva is an infectious brew of contagion. Creatures bitten by a trollhound are often afflicted with bloodfire fever, a disease characterized by deep internal pain, as if the victim’s blood were on fire. Additional symptoms include loss of muscular coordination, pus-filled blisters, and overall lethargy and fatigue. Trolls and trollhounds alike are immune to bloodfire fever, even though trollhounds often exhibit the pus-filled blisters that come with the disease.
Andrea nods as she listens to Alexander.[smaller]A sound plan. I will back you up, Radomir.
Radomir nods. I agree, a sound plan, indeed. And, thank you Andrea.
the knight readies himself to charge in
Andrea follows Radomir, ready to fight.