Halgrin bends down and points out some signs to the others.
"Several humanoids with large feet, came out of the woods from there, then went back the same way. Looks like we have a trail."
"Then let us follow them. To their doom.", Horat replies tersely.
"Agreed. If they keep making a trail like this it shouldn't be too hard to backtrack them."
You follow the tracks into the woods where they lead to a clearing on the side of a rockface. In front of the rockface, as if on guard, stands a large, green, ugly looking brute.
Quietly, Horat says:
"What is that?"
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"Look, don't let the tusks fool you, I'm a city boy. I have no idea. Is it like a giant? Are green giants a thing?"
The sight of the creature stirs Gram from an episode of deep thought.
Troll. he says, frowning. Disgusting creatures. They climb up out of the well at the Yawning Portal sometimes. Pain in the ass to kill. Unless you hit them with fire or acid, they can regenerate from any wounds.
"I can reliably produce both acid and fire." says Katra.
"That's a troll?! Wow. Those dumb masks kids wear at Trolltide just do not do justice to how ugly these things are."
Halgrin turns up his noise in disgust. "Or how bad they smell."
Halgrin draws his sword.
"Let's get this over with. I don't want to risk my uniform smelling like that thing forever."
for her part, Katra will cast Bless on halgrin, Gram, and Horat.
"We strike together from range. For my part, a chill to slow the troll's advance."
I'll try fire off a bolt before switching to melee when it closes.
He draws and loads his crossbow, and when everyone is ready, he fires.
Halgrin, grips his sword tightly, but remains completely still as magic spells fly past him.
A spell hurls from the worlds along with a crossbow bolt as Katra chants to bless the party. The troll turns in alarm, looking ready to charge the woods.
A ghostly, spectral hand wraps lightly around the troll's throat.
The hand then remains there until the start of your next turn. During this time, the target is unable to regain hit points.
Horat summons another hand, while keeping his halberd ready, to guard the others from a charge.
Gram loads another bolt and lines up a shot. Dont forget! Fire and acid!
And he lets loose another bolt.
Halgrin steps into the troll's view. "Hey, ugly, let's dance."
He then shifts his stance into something more defensive, and smirks at the troll.
Gram's crossbow bolt glances off the troll's thick hide while Horat's spectral hand clamps down harder on the giant throat. The angry monster rushes forward into the edge of the woods and, randomly deciding to focus on Katra, strikes at her three times with a bite and two claw attacks. The dwarf stands strong raising her shield and manages to avoid all but a bite on the shoulder (5 dam).
Katra draws and throws a vial of alchemical acid at the troll.
Horat steps up to Katra's left, his halberd's blade vibrating. He then swings at the troll.
Gram moves ten feet northward, reloads, and fires another bolt at the troll.
Gram's bolt deflects off the troll's tough hide!
Halgrin dodges in front of the troll, trying to stay safe from its massive claws.
The troll bites Katra once and misses Halgrin twice with his claws.
"While acid or fire will keep it down, we must first bring it down!"
Halgrin recklessly swings his sword at the troll.
"Come and get it, ugly!"
<--
Gram moves further north, reloading and firing another bolt.
; Total attack = 16
Katra lobs another flask of acid, which also strikes the troll. The foul fearsome foe throws back its head and shrieks in pain then attacks Katra with all its might. But the dwarf stands strong, deflecting every blow with shield and armored hand.
Gramm loads another bolt. "Looking good so far, but don't let up!" He then fires another shot.
Horat continues hacking and bashing at the beast, to brutal effect!
Halgrin and Katra continue attacking the beast, Halgrin with his blade and Katra with her acid.
Halgrin strikes the foe hard while Katra's acid sears its skin again, keeping its wounds open so the troll can't heal! The giant cannot stand up under the sustained pressure and falls. You stand over the monstrous foe, the terror of which you've all heard stories of. Trolls destroying an entire village that couldn't stop it from healing itself, killing dozens of guards, relentless, brutal, indomitable, savage. Your confidence grows as you stand over the massive corpse.
You see that it was guarding a niche in the rock wall that doesn't seem to lead anywhere.
Horat begins hacking at the troll's blubbery neck, to be doubly certain that it will not rise again.
As he does so, stratagems appear in his mind's eye. A new level of focus is open to him, and he will make use of it!
Seeing the niche, he says:
"Perhaps this is an illusion."
As he approaches the niche, and gently presses the tip of his halberd against the rock.
Horat doesn't detect any illusions!
You find a small niche in the wall that can open up into a small compartment. You find two small metal faces engraved into the wall with small metal levers below them. Engraved above the faces are the words "One of us lies and one of us always tells the truth. Ask one of us one question and then choose a lever."
Katra stops, then walks up to a wall and opens a small compartment. she then says to the group "There is some sort of puzzle here."
"We should decide what we shall ask before we say anything to the occupants. Perhaps which lever the other face would suggest."
Halgrin turns to Horat.
"If you think that will help. This magic stuff is far beyond me."
Horat asks his question of the face on the left. It responds "My lever."
Horat nods., then asks the same question of the right face.
"That granted less insight than I had hoped for. Nevertheless, it seems that we have little option but to pull a lever. I suggest the other face's lever. Are there any objections?"
He looks at the others.