"I could kill a Fuzzy Wuzzy. Name's not important compared to the threat."
Hilde doesn't make any aggressive moves, but doesn't seem to like the unfolding situation.
Kaliban makes the brave stance to slide himself in past one of the larger gaps of the wooden 'door' covering the hole, finding a short but noticeable drop that would take a small effort to climb back up using roots as handholds. It appears to him, overall, like it was a natural sinkhole that's been adopted by the once pair of trolls, and trollhound.
Very evident is that last point, with the loud warning growl coming from an excruciatingly ugly and bulky looking four-legged creature, that only vaguely looks like an actual dog. Standing behind it, sticking to a shadowy crevasse, is the one Kaliban believes to be Bonesnapper. It certainly looks like what the half-orc might expect a troll to look like with it's huge, hunched posture and oafish appearance. It's skin however seems a lot bumpier then he'd have expected, and the creature's jaws spout strangely crystalline teeth from a hefty underbite.
Beady eyes squint, taking careful looks at the smaller man's emptied hands for any sign of deceptively hidden blades. Finding none, their owner grunts mildly. "Youse be brave small thing or stupid thing, but Bonesnapper be thinking you not be lying."
The troll continues staring at a Kaliban for a long, uncomfortable amount of time.
Alasayn's rather taken aback by the trolls before saying, "Well, then, I suppose we'll be helping you two to get to this...cold cave."
"Sounds like fun," Dawn said cheerfully. She didn't sleep, so she'd make sure nothing untoward happened.
I'm glad you sense I am not lying. If you want our help... come out and tell us more about where you have come from, and why you left.
I'm going to turn around now, and leave the cave... slowly. Okay?
The troll shakes his head, "No. Will leave when skyfire gone."
Kaliban looks up, even though he's still inside. You mean the... Sun? Sounds reasonable... we will be back.
Thank you.
Kaliban and Alasyn are eventually brought back out of the sinkhole, where both troll and hound sit in the shadows waiting- perhaps eagerly- for the sun to finally set. When Bonecrusher is eventually described to the group, the more knowledgeable about trolls are given a brief moment to ponder it's appearance. It certainly sounds different the common troll they're more familiar with.
Dawn didn't really know much about Trolls, but tried to remember anyway.
Dawn has a vague suspicion that this creature is called a 'Rock Troll', rather then your standard fair. Though she's a little uncertain on what makes these different then the typical fair.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Moving up to Emma, Dawn asked, "What's a rock troll?"
Local through Bardic Knowledge
Emma Jane shrugs.
"Yeah, I kind of didn't pay much attention when we were covering giant-types in class. Skipped out to work on my thesis on the viability of combining arcane and divine healing sources. Sorry."
Despite his normally formidable knowledge, information about some terrestrial creatures have a tendency to evade him.
Despite everyone's best efforts, they're unable to figure out what differs a rock troll from it's more common cousins, other then their appearance and a preference for caves. Bonesnapper sits down heavily on a pile of old, crudely skinned animal pelts while his trollhound watches the intruders make their way back out.
Looking up at the sky when everyone's back together, people can note that sunset is still several hours out leaving you to wonder what should be done in the meantime.
Kaliban raises his voice so that he is heard back inside, Should we find you some food? So you're less likely to eat... us us?
Shrugging to the others, Thoughts on passing the day? Checking water sources, game, terrain in general?
Kalbian receives a response near instantly, "Bring tasty meatses."
"Game?" Hilde looks about the area, at all the scraps which would lead the few animals that might have been close to avoid this area.
Kaliban sees the look on Hilde's face.
Do you know where the nearest meatses is? How much do you two eat? You and Fuzzy... Wuzzy.
The reply back comes back slower this time, more ponderous. "...Not much here. No birds. Ugly dogs, sometimes. Humie-caves had horned things. Bring those."
Dawn began unloading some of the various meats she'd acquired, especially the vulture. She wasn't sure it qualified as tasty. She wasn't sure it qualified as meat. But she wasn't sure a rock thingy would care that much.
While vulture meat is probably not could for her own Leahy digestive system, and definitly not fit for a humanoid, Dawn imagines that a troll might be abke to handle it just fine. Assides, if she were to keep it aroubd much longer it was bound to turn rotten.
Wandering in, Dawn offered the, for lack of a better definition, meat to the rock troll. "Here you go. Also, if you get hungry, I'm a plant. You can't eat me."
Bonesnapper doesn't make any immediate moves to rock over and pick up the meat, and with the amount of drool the hound was leaking entrusting Fluffy to deliver a package was too much to hope for. Dawn thusly finds herself being rather brave and confident in her lack of palatability towards the trollish taste buds of both master and pet. Which, thankfully, seems to hold true.
"Green things bad, makes huge big smelly mess. ...Is that bird meatses? You find flying things out here?" The troll grumbles in a matter that could almost be considered appreciative. Or maybe that was his stomach, seeing as the creature ravenously starts devouring the offered food. "Very good hunters. Will trust small creatures to feed Bonesnapper while walking. Go now, want sleep rest."
Kaliban chuckles... Beauty sleep, no doubt.
"Sure, sleep is a thing people do," the unsleeping Leshy said cheerfully, and throwing some doubt on exactly what she considered herself.
Looking at the others, she added, "We should probably stock up on meats now, before we start, as much as we can." Although she rather doubted there would be much in the way of meat in an area the troll had been living in.
To some general mutual conclusion, the group leaves Bonecrusher to his 'beauty sleep' and move back to the village in an attempt to obtain supplies. Predictably you're stopped again by the first villager come guard you met. "Less crunched up then expected. Beastly dead now?"
Emma Jane bites her lower lip to stop herself from responding.
Alasayn, despite his superiority complex, has proven a much more skilled spokesman for the group, and besides, she didn't really want the task of explaining this situation.
"Well...not precisely. As it turns out, only one of the two trolls really had a craving for man-meat. Rest assured, though, the remaining troll does not wish for any sort of conflict with you all, and we are in the process of escorting it to another dwelling farther from here."
The man's brow furrowed, "don't right beleive that was what there here agreed upon. Thingfs all be man-eaters, it just gone go kill some other folk."
Alasayn gives the man a pointed look, "Well would you rather it stay here? If you have quarrel with the way we have handled this, we can leave the troll where it is. I just hope some other band of travelers comes along to help before the troll strikes again."
Kaliban let's the two catch eachother up, then asks. And, where could we get a... goat?
"You're threatnin' us to take our goats?" He asks, almost in disbelief.
Kaliban shakes his head, taking a turn at disbelief. Relax, sir... I'm no thief. Is one available for purchase?
"Will threatening you for the goat mean I don't have to hear any more of this?" She's obviously not real happy with the situation, and is willing to accept a target to vent on . . ..
He looks between both warriors with apprehension, before slowly drswing the words out. "Not my here there goats to part with. Need to speak talk with thr heardmaster. Mr. Tom."
"OK!" Dawn says cheerfully. "Where can we find the herdmaster? Is he with the herd? Then where would the herd be?"
While some might expect a look of satisfaction to settle onto Hilde's face, what you see instead is one of relief.
Your group listens to the whispy man's direction, and he sees you off with a harsh look to your backsides. About a ten minutes walk after that you reach the little ha let's farside, where a modestly sized ranch holds an amount of animals nearly a fourth of it's capacity. The fencing itself looks old, perhaps dating back just as long as the curse. The dry air's preservation effect's seems to be the only thing really holding it together.
Inside the goats within meander a scraggly field trying to munch up whatever scant nutrition they can from the impoverished earth. Despite the poor condition, the animals themselves seem to be in better health then the villagers.
A thick-skinned man with orange skin sits in the barn, tending to a heavily pregnant doe. He notices your approach, but seems to be more focused on his work.
Dawn had no idea why the man was orange. She was green, after all, and so it seemed a perfectly valid thing to be. Maybe he was an autumn Leshy? Regardless, she focused on the pregnant creature, approaching softly and being careful not to get too close - after all, the deer was pregnant and probably could eat her.
Dawn gathers that the doe seems to be in good health, though she is skinnier then a common mountain goat should be. It's probably only a month away from kidding. The heardmaster has likely been doing his best to keep them as well fed and watered as possible, especially when they're the only stable source of protein put here. A healthy leads to an, at the very least, not scurvy-suffering disease-ridden peasantry.
The Leahy is quite certain that however well maintained they were, a goat is likely to find her a tasty bite-sized snack, though they're not exceptionally strong to take her down on their own.
"OK, I'll wait over here, so they don't eat me. I'm too delicious for my own good." Dawn stared at the flock with polished, unblinking eyes.
"It was good luck getting one with foal under these conditions. Got a spare male in there we can get?"
The rancher blinks, turning around slowly and watching Hildeborg critically. After a moment of consideration, he responds to her request. "I've two I've scheduled for slaughter. Four gold a piece, if you just want them for the meat."
Dawn called from her hiding spot.
The doe near the rancher startles at Dawn's cry, and it takes the man a moment to settle her back down. He turns around with a sharp glare, but remains business-like. "A silver per [1/2 pound]."
"Prices for the goats don't sound too bad. Meat's hard to come by out here, for sure. What do you think, Alasayn? We need both?"
"8 gold pieces?"
Alasayn reaches into his coin purse, extending his hand to the farmer, "Make it an even 10. It's a hard life out here, and your town has been most hospitable."