Seeing the hooks straining, Darian instead maintains his shield wall in front of the others so they could fire from behind him in safety should the hounds break free.
"Makes sense. You good, Darian?" Josef asks as he calmly swaps weapons.
Johanna stands fast with Darian ready for the hook to snap.
Josef lightly wounds one of the hounds with his second shot.
Yellow tears the hook from the wall and with a clatter of chain on stone lunges at Darian
Sinking his filthy teeth into Darian's leg he sends him to the floor.
Darian is prone. Everyone can now act.
”Aggghhh! Damnit!” Darian curses as he slashes at the beast from the flat of his back.
Johanna looks on thinking about tumbling past Joseph into the room to flank but she would be engaged with the other two.
"Fall back. Darian let me grab you."
She steps over and uses the re position trick to put Darian on the ground behind her.
The young man sigh as he simply drops the bow and draws his sword so quickly that it seems to simply appear in his hand. "Darian. Really? Don't pet these. Bad dog. Play dead." He grunts as he tries to make light of the situation while also attempting to resolve it as directly as possible.
The revolting hound it quickly slaughtered by Darian, Isabel & Josef..
Darian you failed your fort save, but the disease won't kick in for a day. :)
The room to the south is:
R6. Storeroom
Stacked boxes, barrels, crates, and bags fill this room from floor to
ceiling and line the crude wooden shelves along the walls. A rough hole gapes in the southern wall, leading deeper into the hillside.
What now?
Darian grunts as he stands, favoring the sore leg. He works a bit of magic and places his hand over the bite, and the wound stitches closed flawlessly. He tests some weight on it before nodding to himself and taking point again.
”Looks like we don’t have a lot of options. This way,” he says as he continues on southward through the tunnels.
Johanna takes up point again to inspect for traps as they go.
"I will lead the way and make sure it's safe. I hope these things are not smart enough to ambush us."
Lisl, as directed, remains as quiet as possible (for a cleric).
Josef retrieves his bow and any arrows he can, stowing everything as he moves along with the Baron.
The passage is roughly carved out of stone, and was done recently from how fresh the work is. It soon splits into two directions, one leading north, the other to your west.
You can hear a rough mumbling conversation in the western passage.
Which way people? No traps so far.
The source of the mumbling turns out to be a two head troll holding a conversation with himself? He turns as you arrive and slobbers with hunger.
Init
Party.
Troll.
The party may act.
Darian begins letting his magic flow out to his allies, bolstering their confidence and enhancing their weapons before taking a step towards the two headed troll cautiously.
Josef eyes the Baron, wondering what his choice might be about, before shrugging and moving forward. "Not here to let you get hit like that." he mutters as he moves forward and takes an experimental swing.
Moving out by himself, he does use a mite more caution than normal as he goes, though.
Watching Josef wade in Johanna follows flanking the beast to aid in bringing it down.
Attack as one!
Lisl moves into position to help with the fighting against this heavy monstrosity.
Freya tries to hex the ugly thing, but two heads is too much for it to work.
Josef & Joanna step in and hammer it hard with dazzling strikes.
Snarling and slobbering at Josef & Joanna the troll lashes back.
The party can now act.
Wondering where Fenrir has gotten off to, Freya creates a ball of flame at the feet of the two-headed monstrosity.
Johanna parry's the claw away but the bite penetrates her defenses.
Round 2
Status: 39/52 HP 3/4 Panache
Johanna will attempt to parry any attacks against her.
Adjusting to a lightly more advantageous position, Josef works to end this dance . . ..
But he seems to be more focused on his footwork than his handiwork . . ..
Lisl opts to give the team a bit of regeneration of its own, excluding the troll.
The two headed troll doesn't dodge the Flaming sphere, and his regen is gone.
Joanna parries and cuts delightfully.
Josef on the other hand looks good but fails.
Lisl bathes you in healing light.
Waiting on Darian & Isabel to finish it.
Darian moves beside Johanna and thrusts his blade up towards the trolls lungs...
Darian & Isabel combine, his slash causing it to stumble onto her bolt and fall over dead.
The monster had hidden (Poorly) his treasure in a corner on the room, you immediately spot it and gather it up.
Loot
1,902sp,
888 gp,
A dusty rose prism ioun stone. Which He didn't know was magic.
What are you doing now?
Once the creature falls and the treasure is gathered, Darian turns to lead the way onward to down the northern branch.
"Do you want your wife boxing our ears? Get back and let us up front again." Josef makes the comment with a grin, but pushes past the Baron as they start moving forward.
R8. Troll Barracks
This floor of this wide cavern is littered with half a dozen pallets
made of branches, leaves, and smelly, uncured hides.
This is where the rank and file Trolls rest. At the moment you can see two off duty trolls sitting and conversing. Strangely though they are both sitting with their backs turned to the entrance. Almost as if they want to ignore the sounds coming from the room you just left?
What are you doing now? The Trolls have not noticed you yet.
Looking at his companions, Josef shrugs, points at the group, then pretends he is tip-toeing and points in the directions of the pair, with an obvious question in his expression.
Darian shrugs in reply.
Are these trolls...trying to stay out of it? Maybe they would be open to peace? Or surrender? Or...maybe even helping? Were they conquered by the trolls leading this place and being forced to serve?
He gives a questioning look to Isabel, wondering if she can get a read on them...
Lisl quietly raises an eyebrow, wondering how long the team's luck will hold.
Freya stands by, waiting for direction from the Baron and his bride.
"Should I try and talk to them then?"
She awaits an order to attack or negotiate.
Darian shrugs and once more pushes his magic out to the rest of the group.
Johanna nods and takes the lead with Darian's inspiration.
Having wandered the area for a long time Genrimul starts hearing that the ones who had cleared up some of the bandit trouble were trying to make a go at settling the area. Since he know the woods and streams as well as any, he makes way towards this new village to see if he could help with the efforts...
With the meeting of someone who's also headed to Silverhold, Zhi's last part of the travelling turns to be a bit more pleasant and safe. Still, he makes some notations on his book, describing some of the most important geographical features he finds "for a potential Atlas of the area".
Once in the settlement, Zhi wanders around a bit, taking mental note of what amenities can be found in town and what others seem to be needed. At any point during his stroll, he boards a passerby, asking for directions.
"Excuse me, good sir, where can I find the Major or someone with a similar charge?"
To those who bother turning their heads, Zhi appears as a mixed-blood Tian and Ulfen, which surely must be something exotic, wearing light and comfortable travelling clothes and carrying little luggage but from some books, one of them in hand with a finger through its pages as if keeping it open for further consulting.
Johanna hugs Isabel and cries with her as she prepares to leave. She knows too well the feeling of losing family. After goodbyes are said. She looks to the others.
"Who will rule? Shall we go out and look for members of the populace to help govern?"
"Don't look at me." Freya says, wanting no part of ruling a town, let alone a nascent nation.
"I suspect looking among the populace is our best bet, although we will have to watch whoever is chosen closely."
Farus wears an impeccably clean courtier’s outfit with a gold chain around his neck. He carries the hallmark blade of Desna at his side and carries a buckler.
Farus spends the latter part of the caravan journey attempting to ingratiate himself with a fellow traveler headed to Silverhold. He sings a jaunty toon to help their travels seem less weary, and tries to keep the caravan in generally good spirits. As they arrive, he departs with those bound for Silverhold, including his new acquaintance Li Zhi Godjensen.
Seeing that Li Zhi intends to seek out those in charge, and seeming as good a plan as any, Farus tries to help out with his search, asking around town with him.
Genrimul shows up and looks for a place to get a drink and trade some furs he captured. That done, he seeks out these new folk who are trying to organize things. He presents himself as a capable warrior and woodsman saying ”I’d like to help out how I can. I’m a fair hand at planning a fight, especially in this wilderness. I’ll fill what role you see fit, but I’m not one for politicking. What we seem to need is a person who draws the focus of those looking to be led. We can rule as a council, but someone has to be the face, even if he is new to the role.”