Marikel summons Iomedae's weapon to attack the creature while alerting his allies.
The troll closes the distance between herself and Marikel with astonishing speed, both claws ripping into the priest and causing his blood to mingle with the light rain. "Siz singlimni o'ldirdingiz!" she hisses, as the scratch cut by the force sword seems to close of its own accord.
Alicia springs to her feet and dashes toward the scuffle. Drawing her rapier as she goes, she says, "Another flood troll!"
Stand and move to U2.
Is there any precipitation at the moment?
Mahath also jumps up and moves out in the open.
Is there any precipitation at the moment?
"We'll need to burn it as long as this rain persists!"
Of its own accord, the blade of force follows and strikes at the troll again.
Meanwhile, Marikel sidesteps around the monster and brings the blade's corporeal form to bear on the troll also.
The spiritual longsword makes another slash into the rain-slicked skin, and the physical one follows up from the other side.
Again, the cuts visibly heal but this time not completely. Marikel dodges her first claw easily but just manages to interpose his shield at the last minute between himself and the second.
Hearing the cry of the troll, Dorn rises quickly and draws his warhammer while making his way toward the troll. "Ehtimol, u atrofida yurib odamlarni o'ldirishga uringan bo'lmagandir, ahmoq! Hey, unga shunday qarang, siz uni yana ko'rasiz," he says, grinning cleverly.
"Reaver! Ymosod!" the dwarf calls out to the big bird.
Skyreaver rises into the air at the dwarf's instruction and flies into action.
Dorn gets to his feet and rushes to join the battle, drawing his hammer and commanding his roc.
Skyreaver takes to the air and circles around the flank the troll with the dwarf.
Alicia draws her hopeknife as she continues her advance on the flood troll. Slipping into a flanking position opposite Marikel (), she skewers the monster in the kidney with her rapier.
Taking advantage of the distracting swarm of opponents surrounding the enemy, Alicia slips up quickly and stabs deeply into the troll's vital organs.
Mahath points a finger at the troll and utters a spell. Knowing what he knows about trolls, he changes his inflection as he chants, morphing the energy as it leaves his aura.
Casting ray of frost, using Versatile Evocation to change it from cold to fire. To hit, ranged touch attack, . Damage fire damage.
Mahath's ray of fire sizzles through the falling rain and burns into the flood troll's hide. It collapses to the wet ground.
Marikel raises his sword high above his head and brings it down on the fallen opponent.
He turns to Mahath, his sword still ready.
"Will that stop it?"
Marikel's blade lops off the creature's head.
Mahath moves up. "That should do it. Though we should separate the head and body or burn them, out of an abundance of caution."
"An excellent suggestion. Anyone else hurt? How's our guest?"
Marikel mutters a prayer to Iomedae and his wounds close up as he heads towards Zola.
"All good here, lad. And I say we burn it. Burn it all."
Astonishingly, Zola is still snoring.
Marikel nods to the others.
"Sorry to disturb you all. I'll clean up here."
He sets about placing the troll head in the fire and moving away the corpse, while checking it over for clues or items carried.
"No worries at all, lad. The last thing we need is for any of us ta wind up as troll lunch. I'm turnin' in. Wake me when it's me turn ta watch." The dwarf then returns to where he was initially resting and tries once again to get some shuteye.
Mahath appears indecisive. I should be doing something now in the aftermath... But Marikel seems to have the clean up well in hand. So instead he follows the example set by Dorn and Zola and settles back in by the fire.
With distaste but a sense of duty, Marikel pats down the headless body. The flood troll carries neither arms nor armor, apparently trusting in her claws and regeneration, respectively. A filthy sack is tied to the rope bound around her waist; the contents are a muddy mess with no discernible value: some deteriorating fish (perhaps a meal), a handful of silver and copper coins, some roots and rocks, presumably picked up for their curious shapes or colors....
Marikel is about to toss them all away with the body when a glint from one of the stones catches his eye. This rock appears cleaner than the others, and as he examines it, he notices multiple tiny crystals embedded in it. As it is the only unusual item the troll is carrying, it may be the party's best chance to trace her movements. If they can discover where such a rock might be found, they may stumble on Gorewillow's trail. The druid Silvermane is most likely to be able to identify the stone.
--------------------
By the time Marikel wakes the next watch, the rain has tapered off. The rest of the night passes uneventfully.
When she is awakened in the morning, Zola complains, "What an awful place to stop and rest! I didn't catch a wink of sleep all night."
The following morning, Alicia greets Zola's complaint with a cold stare.
"Of course Miss Sawyer. You must have been terrified when that troll attacked us last night. Fear not, we'll have you back to your father in no time."
He looks to the others.
"Let's move out. I've something to show you."
Nodding, "Sounds good ta me. Reaver!" the dwarf calls as they head out. At his own leisurely pace, Skyreaver makes his way after the dwarf.
The party packs up their camp, Zola grumbling about the lack of breakfast. Marikel checks on the troll's headless corpse before leaving, feeling reassured that it is still where he left it, apparently not growing a new head, and showing signs of decay. The group mounts up and heads back toward Trunau, where they hope to arrive well before noon and enjoy a hearty luncheon if they encounter no further trouble.
Once the party are well under way, Marikel makes his way over to Mahath and guides him out of Zola's hearing before he hands him the stone.
"I found this on the troll," Marikel speaks quietly. "It seems unlikely the beast stumbled across us. It may have followed us and that would be most likely at the behest of Mr Gorewillow. Or might this be something to which Mister Dorn would be better suited?"
Marikel looks across to the dwarf, and gives a friendly wave to Zola if she pays them any mind.
Marikel displays a distinctive rock, studded with tiny crystals.
Understanding Marikel's discretion, Mahath keeps his back to the others as he casts a minor spell on the rock. He turns it over in his hands as he examines it.
The rock is not magical, nor is it particularly valuable, though the sparkling crystals might induce people to think it is. The tiny crystals are quartz, not diamond, embedded in ordinary stone.
Mahath furrows his brow as he whispers back to Marikel. "I don't think it is really worth anything. It may be a clue as to where the troll has been, but I think it was just picked up as pleasing to look at."
"Well, if it's a clue to where the troll has been, and the troll was set on us, then it might also be a clue to where our kidnapper has been. Do you know where that is? Would Mister Dorn know? Or someone else?"
Mahath narrows his eyes as he concentrates, trying to think of where he might have seen or heard of such rocks before.
Knowledge . Whether it should be Geography, Local or Nature, they are all at +10 for him).
The party encounters nothing else to delay their journey before Bloodmarch Hill is in sight. The palisade is still undergoing repair, though it looks much less pregnable than when they departed, and the Patrolmen on guard at the main gate hail them without the edge of menace they displayed when the town was less protected.
When they get back to town, Mahath makes sure he knows where he could find the others, and then excuses himself. He heads over to Jess Meeson's store.
"His place was up toward the foothills of the Mindspins, northeast of here, like you're heading toward the ferry down the Kestrel. He said you could find the place easy because there's a big hill half-tumbled down, dirt and grass on one side but bare cliff and loose rock on the other. That's where he found the crystals, when he was scavenging rock to build his farmhouse. I bet it's a pretty thing in the sunlight."
Later, Mahath looks for Marikel and the others. When they are someplace that he can talk to them with minimal chance of being overheard, he shares an insight.
"When we killed that troll on our way back, it had a stone on it. Pretty, but not terribly valuable. You can't really expect a stupid troll to know the difference. But the rock might be a clue as to where the troll has been. If it was set on us by Gorewillow or his co-conspirators, it may help lead us to them."
"Jess Meeson had a rock like it some time ago. It came from a farmer that tried to make a go of it north of here. The farmer gave up and left town, but not before he traded the rock towards some supplies. It was up in the foothills of the Mindspins. Do you think it would be worth checking it out?"
"It sounds like our best lead. Isn't that where the twisted nail came from? If so, there could be a lot more to this."
Marikel gazes up the hill.
"We may also want to question the Sawyers some more."
The dwarf narrows his eyes at the mention of Gorewillow. "If there's a chance we can bring that smug piece o' garbage down, I'm all for it." Turning to Marikel, "Ya really think the Sawyers are goin' ta be of any help to us, lad?" he asks, truly wondering if there's a possibility.
He turns to Dorn and adds "Jess reminded me that it was northeast of here, like you're heading to the ferry down the Kestrel. We would need to look for a big hill that is dirt and grass on one side and a bare cliff and loose rock on the other side. We'd know it is the right one if there are more of those rocks in the refuse.I know it isn't a lot to go off of, but I was hoping it might mean something to you."
Scratching his head in thought, "I can't recall anythin' off the top of me head, lad, but if it's near the Mindspins I can sure take a shot at finding it."
"And the hill you're talkin' about doesn't really ring a bell either but if I saw it, I'm fairly certain I'd know it. So if you lot want ta chance lookin' for it, I'd be more than willin'," he says plainly, nodding.
Marikel nods to the others.
"Very well. It isn't much to go on, but it's all we have. Before we go, I'd like to speak with Miss Varvatos. She at least needs to know the truth of the matter. We may also want to let Ms Blackblade know of our suspicions, since Trunau may not yet be safe."
"You got it. Lead the way, lad."
Alicia grunts her response. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with."