Troll
Attack!As the main part of the group approach the sink hole, Thunderbolt neighs loudly, and pulls on his reins, obviously upset by something. Soupy the pack pony seems unperturbed however, plodding along next to Milo and carrying most of the stuff.
Following Thunderbolt's sudden skittishness, tension fills the air, and the group start to peer all around, looking with particular suspicion at the sink hole. Lucretia loosens his
Ceely moves closer to the hole, stepping two paces away from the close set stones of the old elven trail to peer over a large moss-covered bolder at the sink-hole and the water trickling down it. As she peers over, she gets a sudden waft of something disgusting - a smell like the worst bad breath she could imagine. She tenses, as her memory plays back the time she had last smelt that smell - when being attacked by trolls on the Evermoors, and she is not that surprised when suddenly, one of the large boulders next to her, literally uncurls to reveal it's self to be a tall scraggy looking troll, that lunges forward and grabs at her.
"Trolls!", she yells, straightening quickly and trying to jump back.
Her hand, already moving to the hilt of her sword, jerks it free from it's scabbard
and scythes the blade across in front of her, cutting deeply into the snout
of the troll that was lunging forward to bite at her, it's stinking breath hot
in her face and it's spittle damping her cheek. Her blade snaps it's head wide,
and she hears it's jaws clack, close to her ear. The thing moves surprisingly
quickly, it's long arms grabbing at her roughly despite her leap backwards.
Part of her mind registers that it has grabbed her, rather than the normal slashing
of sharp claws that she'd expected. Instead, they grip her painfully hard, it's
right hand on her left shoulder, it's left on her right hip. Some 10 paces behind
her, she can hear Lucretia drawing his bastard sword, cursing Milo fluently
for giving up the Harpell's staff as he drops Thunderbolt's reins and starts
to run forward.
As she tries to bring her sword up to chop at one of the arms holding her,
the troll throws itself backwards, pulling her with inhuman strength
with her. Pulled off balance, she tries to stretch out a hand and
a leg to stop them, but the entwined pair literally fall into the
sink-hole - disappearing from sight from the others. Her stomach lurches
as she is in free fall for a moment, and she finds herself looking
face to face with the monster, an evil gleam of triumph in it's eyes
before they collide with rocks, and the pair are ripped apart, water
from the brook spraying over her as she tumbles down thirty feet,
bouncing off the rock walls to crash into a shallow pool at the bottom.
Her involuntary scream is cut short as her breath is driven from her by the
first crash against the jumbled rock walls of the shaft.
The water cushioned the final impact a little, and for a second, all she can
see is stars, till the distant light of the hole above her comes into
focus, haloed in the spray of water coming down from the waterfall.
Her body aches from several collisions with the rocks, and part of her is grateful
that the fall didn't spread her brains all over the rocks, though for the moment,
she is still somewhat stunned and not sure if she can even get to her feet.
(OOC: 11hp damage) Close by, a small part of her brain recognises that the troll
is also stunned by the fall, it seems to be twitching next to her, also trying
to recover itself to get up.
Up above, Lucretia races forward to the sink hole, his bastard sword in his
hands. "Herod!" he calls, the Battleguard also running forward.
"Grab a rope from the horses! Quick!" He delves into his pocket for
his light coin, unable to see anything in the darkness at the bottom of the
hole.
Further back, Blondung looks around wildly at the trees, his fingers delving in pockets to prepare spell components. Near the back, Larz hefts his battle axe. "Trolls!" he spits, glancing at his cousin. He lumbers forward, pushing to get past Merrell and the various ponies etc in the way.
END OF ROUND ONE
Lucretia manages to dig out his light coin and drop it into the hole as Vaslin
nimbly jumps from stone to stone, neatly in balance to get a good
view down the hole. The light coin ricochets down the hole, before
plopping into the shallow pool at the bottom, and illuminating the
cave in which Ceely now finds herself. The area directly at the bottom
of the shaft is probably only five feet or so around, dominated by
the shallow pool, a few mossy boulders around the edges, but to the
east, it opens up to a larger cave - widening slowly to 15 feet or
so, with a ceiling of rough broken stone.
With her head still spinning, she manages to push herself into a sitting
position, her bruised muscles screaming in agony as she struggles
to draw a breath. Close to her, the troll seems to be recovering more
quickly, and giving it's head a final shake, it starts to rise, grinning
evilly in her direction.
Meanwhile, up above, Vaslin hops around the top of the hole again,
trying to get a good view down into the hole so she can see the troll.
Further back down the trail, Milo pushes Soupy aside slightly so the
dwarves can rush past, Dorn managing even to overtake his cousin in
his zeal to help Ceely. As the dwarf reaches the hole - he takes a
fraction of a second to come to a decision, and jumps straight down,
aiming for the troll. In mid-flight, he considers trying to slow himself
down using his axe against the walls, but realises with the nature
of the jumbled rock, he'd probably just disrupt his trajectory, and
end up tumbling wildly, and he grits his teeth with satisfaction as
he slams into the troll feet first. The troll is slammed backwards
as the heavy dwarf collides with it, and Dorn crashes into the ground
a moment later, bouncing somewhat on the rocks. The impact jars him
more than he anticipated, and he finds himself stunned and unable
to breath for a few moments. (OOC: 11hp damage from the fall - now
on 36/47)
Vaslin, her target momentarily obscured by falling dwarf, hesitates,
a prayer spell on the tip of her lips. Catching a glimpse of the troll
as Dorn crashes into it, she utters her spell, and the bottom of the
shaft illuminates further. She is unable to see immediately if the
spell has had the desired effect, but down below, both Ceely and Dorn
can see that a bright light seems to be emanating from just above
the troll's head. (OOC: It made it's save).
Yvandel, grabbing the old staff bought from Minnerl the Mighty Con-man
off one of the summoned pack mules, he strides forward, and slams
it into the ground, murmuring a quick spell. Four snarling vermen
appear, straining in their chains, their rat like faces snarling and
snapping. Yvandel glances all around, wondering if other trolls might
appear. The horses are somewhat surprised at this, and whinny a lot,
but as he is facing away from them, they do not bolt. Milo does his
best to calm them.
Yvandel is not so wrong however about his suspicions, as there is
a snarling growl, and the sound of trampled undergrowth, and another
troll bursts from the undergrowth a few yards away on the other side
of the sink-hole, aiming towards Vaslin! Larz cries a warning, and
tries to intercept, but he is too slow. Vaslin tries to leap away
herself, but the troll is upon her, and snags her out of the air,
it's teeth crunching down on her arm as she and it slam into the side
of the hole, and then fall down into it. (OOC: 6hp damage from the
bite, now on 22/28)
Lucretia glances around, still in the process of pulling out a rope
to tie to Thunderbolt's saddle, his face full of shock as he sees
the troll and Vaslin disappear into the sink hole.
There is a second snarling roar, and a third troll bursts from the
undergrowth, close to Yvandel. It's roar turns into one of surprise,
as it finds itself grabbing empty air though, as it tries to bundle
one of the illusionary vermen into the hole. Instead, it trips and
tumbles, falling virtually flat on it's face, lying awkwardly on the
slippery boulders at the edge of the hole.
Seeing an opponent he can do something about, Larz wastes no time
in rushing up to slam his hammer of Clangeddin into the troll, which
grunts with pain at the blow.
A fourth troll also roars, dropping out of a tree to land behind Yvandel.
Blondung, having also moved up slightly is prepared however, and his
hands move quickly, manipulating a piece of fur in his hand before
pointing at the troll. A bolt of jagged lightning leaps from his finger
tips, slamming into the troll, knocking it past Yvandel, and almost
deafening him with the thunderclap of it's passing. The troll is knocked
down, a scorched mark on it's side and it struggles to right itself,
it's limbs twitching wildly.
Meanwhile, Herod prepares himself, quaffing a potion. The magic of
the potion flows through him, and he feels his strength magically
enhanced.
Down at the bottom of the hole, Dorn and Ceely are still struggling to right
themselves, when they hear a scream from above. Realising that the bottom of
the hole is not a safe place to be with further falling bodies, the two manage
to gather their wits enough to try to throw themselves out of the way, and a
moment later, there is a sickening thud as another troll and Vaslin reach the
bottom of the hole. (OOC: Another 11hp damage - now on 11/22). Vaslin is stunned
and winded from the fall - the troll got knocked off her on the way down, and
is lying next to her, also stunned.
END OF ROUND TWO
Roaring his challenge, Lucretia pulls out his bastard sword and charges towards the troll next to the hole, to join Larz in his attack on the creature. The troll, snarling in rage at having been fooled by Yvandel's illusionary vermen, rolls onto it's back and lashes out at Larz and Lucretia.
Larz jumps, managing to avoid the sweep of the vile creature's right arm, but Lucretia, with his own sword raised above his head, feels the troll's dirty claws rip across the shin of his left leg, tearing through the thick material that made up that part of his armour, cutting right through to the bone below. (OOC: Critical hit, 12 points of damage, now on 40/52).
The warrior gasps with the sudden pain, and obviously distracted somewhat, strikes sparks off the stone as the troll rolls out the way of his own blow.
Merrell, still further back, peers over the somewhat spooked horses, trying to see what is happening. Behind him, Cleo stands guard with broadsword in hand, watching all around in case further trolls were to appear.
Herod, with magically enhanced strength flowing through his muscles, busies himself with a rope, quickly tying off one end to the Soupy's harness. Turning, he hurries towards the top of the hole.
Meanwhile, down in the hole, everyone is still somewhat stunned from their sudden descent. Several feet away from the base of the waterfall, on an area of gravel, the first troll that Dorn had literally jumped on, was still shaking it's head, trying to rise. Dorn, with dwarven stubbornness, uses the haft of his axe as a brace, as he pulls himself to his feet. He waves a hand a few inches away from Vaslin's ankle, wondering why it isn't where his eyes are telling him it is, and he staggers a step, trying to put himself in between Vaslin and the second troll that had fallen with her. He glances towards Ceely, the half-elven ex-sailor-turned-ranger making her own attempt to stand. "Yooly, Cee alright?" he says, a little incoherently. As Ceely manages to claw her way up the wall to a wobbly standing position, pain shooting through her bruised back, the dwarf continues, trying to bring his brain back into focus. "Too are a yuff one, it's hood to gaf you arouve" He shakes his head a final time. "Let's get em!" he finally says, getting his focus back.
Ceely, her own limbs finally coming back under control, nods in agreement.
Behind her, Vaslin struggles to sit up, bruised and aching, the world spinning still. Fire seems to suddenly rain down around her, as the waterfall seems to ignite into bright, though heatless silent flames.
The troll lying at the very bottom, almost surrounded by this waterfall of fire, seems to thrash somewhat, it's limbs moving in an uncoordinated way as it tries ineffectually to get away from the flames, bumping Vaslin in it's panic, the latter knocked back prone again. The other troll in the cave, already half to it's feet, gives it's own head a final shake and scrambles back a few steps, it's eyes wide. It hisses and growls in a loud, albeit incomprehensible voice.
At the top of the hole, Yvandel is pleased with the effect he has generated. The troll closest to the top of the hole rolls in horror away from the flames it can see right next to it, almost knocking Larz over in the process, who promptly slams his mace again into the troll, the heavy metal head of the weapon making a cracking noise as it broke a bone or something on the somewhat rubbery troll. The troll lets out a shriek that sounds most un-troll-like from this mighty blow. (OOC: A critical hit from Larz!)
Herod, with rope in hand, hesitates for a moment, seeing the flames, but it is pretty obvious to him, from the lack of sound or heat, that these are Yvandel's work, and he crosses his fingers as he starts to edge his way over the edge of the hole. (OOC: It will take you a round to climb down)
Meanwhile, Milo fumbles with fire lighting equipment, desperately trying to strike sparks onto tinder to get a flame.
A pace or two from his side, Blondung casts an unusual spell. The fourth troll, scorched from the lightning bolt, scrambles to it's feet, it's eyes locked with Blondung. It takes a step towards the mage, when suddenly it is pulled up short. Looking down at it's feet, confused, it sees an earthy hand has reached up out of the ground and gripped it tightly around one ankle. It tries to jerk it's leg free, but can't and starts instead to claw at the hand.
"Someone dig out some oil!" hisses Blondung, preparing spell components for another spell.
END OF ROUND THREE
Her head clearing, Ceely hears Dorn's battle yell, and surges to her own feet. Close beside her is another troll, scrambling to get away from the waterfall of burning liquid that seems to falling around her. With short sword miraculously still in her hand, she leaps forward, slashing the weapon across the troll's back, the blade slicing it's warty green-grey hide, a black ribbon of dark troll blood welling up immediately. The troll growls, continuing to scramble to it's feet, past Dorn until it is next to it's companion, before whirling around and slashing out at Ceely with it's long arms. One misses fairly wildly, but the other catches Ceely's arm, the claws digging painfully in (6hp damage, now on 16/33)
Meanwhile, Dorn battles with his own troll, aware of the sudden appearance of the second troll and Ceely at his side, but concentrating on the foe in front of him. Lunging forward, he hammers his axe at the first troll, ducking in close to cut deeply into the troll's side. Black, foul smelling liquid gushes out, along with some rubbery looking organs. The troll staggers sideways, but still manages to lash out with both of it's claws. It's strength is incredible, and despite Dorn's heavy plate mail armour, Dorn feels like he's been hit by a forge hammer as one of them nearly spins him round. (OOC: 7hp damage, now on 29/47). The battered dwarf grits his teeth, reversing the swing of his axe, and chops again, this time the blade cutting deep into the troll's shoulder, nearly severing the arm. The troll's knees buckle, and it nearly collapses to the ground, but then lunges forward and bites at the dwarf instead. (OOC: Ouch! 12 points damage, now on 17/47).
Behind Ceely and Dorn, Vaslin lies still, counting to herself as she tries to bring herself back into focus. Further up the hole, Herod rapidly rappels down, the rope fairly flying through his hands and round his back as he makes his way into the sinkhole safely. (OOC: critical successful dex check, so I'll give you an attack this round!), At the bottom, he turns in time to see Ceely's injury, and pulling free his axe, he leaps over Vaslin's body, to squeeze in beside Ceely. The troll leans back away from the Battleguard's axe blade, and hisses at him, it's eyes flicking between Ceely and Herod.
Up above, Larz follows the troll near the top of the hole, bashing again at it as it rolls to it's feet, but already, it's split skin seems to be healing over, and it growls at him and Lucretia, preparing itself to attack them.
Meanwhile, further back, Merrell pulls the mask out, quickly fitting it to his face. Instinctively, he knows that the mask will deafen all in it's path, and he slips further forward, just in time to see Larz and Lucretia attacking one troll. He realises that there is no way he'd be able to use the Lion's Roar against that troll without catching Lucretia and Larz as well, so he turns slightly, angling the cone of sound in his mind's eye towards the troll trapped by Blondung's spell. Drawing his breath, he throws back his head. To those watching, his face literally seems to become a lion's with the jaw seeming to unhinge impossibly wide before a deafening roar blasts out. Dust and leaves are blown in front of the blast of sound, and the troll, staggers as if struck, falling flat on it's back as it fails to catch its balance, its leg still gripped by the earth hand conjured by Blondung. As the sound dies, it seems to continue to rumble on for a moment, distant echoes similar to the thunderclap from Blondung's lightning bolt earlier.
Lucretia, cursing the troll for the vicious wound to his leg, flinches at the roar, but retains his focus, and hefting his bastard sword in both hands, steps up next to Larz, hacking down on the troll with all his might. The heavy blade cuts deep into the shoulder of the troll, and it collapses to the ground, twitching.
Blondung glances around towards Milo, the Painbearer blowing onto a small pile of leaves in the middle of the trail, a curl of smoke just starting to rise from it. Shaking his head, the wizard murmurs the words of a spell, and a second later, a jet of flame leaps out from his outstretched finger. The trapped troll screeches in pain, as the flames splash across it. It tries to escape, but is held firm by the earthy foot.
Meanwhile, Yvandel continues to work his own style of magic. The sheets and droplets of raining molten fire pouring down into the sinkhole, begin to jet off in fiery sparks and motes of molten flame. The flames begin to rise higher, becoming a geyser of raging fiery fluid with the sinkhole at it's base. Almost as if a damn of molten fire had burst. Something disturbs this fiery geyser, though, a giant flaming humanoid hand, a good 8 feet in length and as large around as a man's waist reaches out, bending around as if setting itself firmly into the lip of the sinkhole so that is visible both above and below the ground level. It sets itself as if it were being used to pull a large bulk thru a hole ripped in the fabric of the earth. A second fiery arm pulls up thru the middle of the morass of burning fire and sets itself into the opposite side of the waterfall. It too flexes as if about to lift a large bulk thru the flaming waterfall. A large flaming head soon appears with a large gaping mouth filled with leaping flames.
Cleo, her mouth open in shock at the sound that Merrell had brought forth, shakes herself, and continues to guard the party's rear, scanning the undergrowth for any other trolls.
END OF ROUND FOUR
Merrell snaps shut his mouth after the roar, and for a second, studies the result. For a moment, he delves his hand into one of his pockets, searching for the components for the same spell Blondung had already cast, but then he pauses, realising that one of the trolls was already down, in the process of being bashed to pieces by Larz, and the other was still being burnt by Blondung's spell. Perhaps his spell would not be needed after all. (OOC: A post from Mike would have been good here!)
<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> "Larz, hack this one up...I'll tend to the other."
Larz grunts an affirmative, and slams his hammer of Clangeddin again into the troll's head, which is fast becoming a crushed mess.
Lucretia, keeping clear of the jet of flame, moves closer to the burning troll that Blondung had cleverly trapped, his bastard sword readied to strike at the troll. The troll is howling under the onslaught of flame and doesn't even see the warrior's approach. Even as Lucretia raises his sword to attack the troll, the troll collapses, burning. A few moments later, Blondung's spell expires, his jet of flame vanishing, to leave the troll behind, still burning, quickly becoming nothing but a charred lump. This was one troll that was unlikely to rise again!
Several paces back on the trail, Milo starts to feed a few tiny twigs to a single flame curling out of the tinder. Blondung looks over his shoulder, about to speak to Milo, but stares instead at the impressive illusion that Yvandel had created.
Yvandel, concentrating hard on his illusion, is almost oblivious to the successful
conclusion of the battle around him, and remains instead focused on
the emerging fiery being.
The idle thought drifts thru his mind should he make it demonic or
elemental. Pushing that thought aside he moves onto the reason he
shaped it. He causes one of the great flaming arms to 'slowly' reach
out and swipe at the nearest troll at the top of the sinkhole. Slow
enough to get its attention and definitely give it a chance to get
out of the way. But fast enough to keep it distracted from those up
there.
Keep it focused on something else he thinks to himself. Sleight of hand. What
it does not see is what will kill it. He hopes to himself as the others continue
to battle on against the trolls. It is only as the hand reaches out towards
the prone troll that Larz is pulping, that he realises that the battle is done
- at least above the hole.
Cleo, satisfied that no further trolls appear to be emerging from the forest, rushes forward and follows Herod down the rope into the sink-hole.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the hole, Vaslin keeps shaking her head to try to stop the world spinning, still stunned. Ahead of her, the battle continues to rage.
Dorn, not quite believing the tenacity of the injured troll in front of him,
swings at it, but misjudges the distance, and his blade cuts nothing
but air. Encouraged, it grins at him, it's wounded arm seeming to
start to heal before his eyes, even as the stinking creatures launches
itself up and forward, rising from it's kneeling position to throw
it's self bodily at him. Dorn tries to dodge aside, but is bundled
back several steps, as the troll overbears him, pinning him to the
ground with it's larger size and incredible strength. The troll's
breath washes over him as it pins him to the ground, and whips it's
head forward to bite, but finds itself biting helmet instead as Dorn
ducks
his chin to his chest. (OOC: Dorn can obviously struggle to escape the pin,
but whilst in it, he is unable to attack the troll, so he is in a difficult
position at the moment, since the troll has a bite attack it can continue to
use on him.)
At his side, Herod and Ceely battle with the other troll. Herod swings his own battle axe at the troll, but also misses, At his side, Ceely, feeling the pain from the troll's attacks, hesitates for a moment, holding her short sword and wishing she had her favoured harpoon to hand. The troll in front of them has no need of weapons however, having powerful claws and teeth "built in". Ducking Herod's swipe, the troll whips out it's left arm, the vicious claws ripping across Ceely's chest, tearing through leather and flesh and leaving another bloody wound in her body as it jerks her a pace forward, and bites deep into her shoulder. (OOC: 8hp & 7hp damage, now on 1/33 Eeek!).
It doesn't leave Herod untouched either, it's right arm snagging out to the side to ping links out of his chain mail, gouging into his side. (OOC: 6hp damage, now on 27/33) Ceely, short sword in hand, drives the blade hard into the troll's stomach, the enchanted blade punching hard up towards where it's heart and lungs would be, and it releases her to stagger back, black and red blood mingling in it's mouth as it coughs and splutters. (OOC: Critical hit!).
Behind them, the rope twitches among the illusionary flaming waterfall as Cleo hurries down.
END OF ROUND FIVE
No sooner than Ceely jerks her blade free from the troll, then it lunges forward again, fire in its eyes as it drives forward after Ceely, the seriously injured ranger backing off, frantically sweeping her short sword in front of her to defend herself, fending off the troll's snapping jaws and slashing claws. At her side, Herod also manages to duck the troll's swinging right arm, and transferring his weapon into his off hand, stretches out his right, he manages to touch Ceely's shoulder, blurting a word of prayer.
Ceely feels a jolt of energy burst into her from her left shoulder, the first time she'd ever received healing actually during a battle, and her heart nearly skips a beat in surprise, though immediately, she can sense some of her wound's closing up, and a little more strength flows into her body. (OOC: CLW to Ceely, 6 points back, now on 7/33)
A few paces behind her, there is a splash as Cleo drops the last few feet into the shallow pool at the base of the sink-hole, to stand next to the still stunned Vaslin, the latter wobbly clambering to her feet using the rocky wall for support. Spinning around, the barbarian's daughter can see Dorn struggling to get out from under a massive troll, and without hesitation, she leaps forward, smashing her broadsword down onto the troll's back. The enchanted heavy blade rips open a long wound, and the troll shudders then goes limp, even as Dorn manages to shove it off him and struggle his way out from under it.
Behind them, Vaslin finally comes to her senses and is able to act again.
Meanwhile, up above, Lucretia peers down the hole, trying to ignore the illusionary portal and the top half of the fiery demon stretching out around him. When he'd first looked down the hole, he'd been barely able to see the bottom, but with the flaming waterfall, he can see Cleo close to the bottom, along with Vaslin, but the troll's are further back, our of sight, so sheathing his bastard sword, he grabs the rope and launches himself down as quickly as he can. Soupy the pack pony, to whose saddle the rope was tied, staggers a few steps closer to the hole for a moment, before doing what pony's do best and standing rock still, as Lucretia starts to wiz down the rope.
Close by, Merrell watches on through the eye slits of his mask, almost forgetting he is wearing it as it feels so comfortable. Blondung, his spell finished, turns to one of the pack ponies, grabbing out a torch. He glances towards Milo, who has managed to coax a couple of small flames out of the bits of grass and twigs that he's managed to ignite.
Larz pauses in his pounding of the troll at his feet, looking around at remains of the other troll, wondering if he needed to give that one a bash as well, but the body is charred and twisted, and it doesn't look as if it is likely to regenerate, so he gives the one at his feet another sound splat, just for luck.
Yvandel, having been rather caught up in crafting his illusion, sees that the image is not really going to be able to help those down below anymore - and there's no trolls left up here. With a chuckle, he decides to change his strategy, and suddenly, the waterfall of fire, and it's half-emerging demon, suddenly and silently explode in a waterfall of fiery butterflies, that swirl around the area. As Yvandel looks at the butterflies though, his smile fades somewhat. Not quite as realistic as he'd hoped for, the illusion had flaws here and there - it was getting just too complex for his mind to hold all the details.
10 paces away, from deep in the undergrowth off to the right hand side of the trail, there is a very-much-troll-like grunt of alarm at the sudden explosion of the giant portal and its demon, and the appearance of the fiery butterflies floating down over everything. The undergrowth rustles and another troll is glimpsed as it tries to pat out fires that aren’t there.
Larz glances up at the sound. "Father of Battle!" he hisses. "There's another one!"
Blondung also look up from one of the summoned pack ponies, a fresh torch in hand, and then glances over at Yvandel. "Your illusion must have scared it!" he says, stepping to Milo and attempting to light the torch from the tiny fire.
END OF ROUND SIX
Gaining her bearings, Vaslin takes in the situation at a glance and sees where her presence may be best put to use. Splashing forward across the shallow pool, she approaches Ceely's back, murmuring a prayer to Tymora on the way. Keeping clear of Ceely's short sword, she lunges forward and touches Ceely's back, and for a second time, Ceely feels a sudden rush of holy power as more of her wounds are healed (OOC: 8 hp back, now on 15/33).
Cleo, pleased with her work on the troll attacking Dorn, leaps over him as the dwarf struggles to extricate himself, and comes up on Herod's left, screaming "GET AWAY FROM HER!!!", as she attacks the remaining troll. He broadsword suddenly brightens to bright torch-light, and the troll blinks as she swings at her broad sword in a sweeping chop, cutting into it's right side. It yowls in pain and lashes out at her with it's right arm, the claw catching her across her left arm and gouging deeply. (OOC: Critical hit I'm afraid - 12 points damage, now on 30/42)
Even as Ceely lunges forward with her short sword, and Herod with his axe, the troll rakes Ceely again, ripping open freshly healed wounds with the claws of it's left hand (OOC: 6 hp damage, now on 9/33), and it's rubbery neck snakes forward, it's teeth clamping down on Herod's chain mail, bruising his mid-rift.
Ceely's short sword stabs forward, again cutting deeply into the troll's side, almost simultaneously as Herod's axe chops into it, cutting it deeply across the shoulder. The troll staggers, then with a last gurgled gasp of defiance, slumps to the floor. Cleo, her blood up, slashes again at the troll with her brightly lit sword, the blade cutting deep into it's back, where there is a cracking of bone.
Dorn, having wiggled himself out from under the first dead troll, rolls to his feet, picking up his axe in a fluid movement and staggering after Cleo. As he runs round behind Cleo, to get a clear shot at the troll, he realises he is too late.
Behind the group, there is a splash, as Lucretia arrives, and they look around in time to see him draw his short sword and hammer it into the troll that had dived on Dorn. The creature was just starting to push itself off the ground, but at Luc's hefty blow, it collapses once again.
Meanwhile, up above, Blondung, now with a lit torch, hesitates as he sees the fifth troll, disturbed from it's hiding place by the flaming butterflies. The troll, roaring as it realises it's been fooled, since it can feel no fire, starts to leap through the undergrowth towards the remaining group. Yvandel starts to turn his illusionary vermen towards the troll, but Merrell is quicker, the mage letting rip with the same spell Blondung had used earlier. A jet of fire leaps from his finger tip, splashing onto the troll and into the woods behind. The troll roars with pain and hesitates for a moment, but then continues to charge! And directly for the source of it's pain, Merrell! Blondung curses briefly, and whips out the bone wand. "Nagasz hratblar" he snaps, and a bolt of blue-white lightning leaps from the end of the wand, slamming into the troll from only feet away. It is thrown back several yards, back into the now somewhat burning foliage, where it twitches and jerks for a few moments, before falling still.
For a few moments longer, the flame continues to jet from Merrell's finger, burning the troll to pieces.
As an area of the woods smoulders and smokes, and here and there actually burns where a bush has caught alight, the group realise they have overcome all the troll opponents. Blondung, scowling at the use of a valuable charge out of the wand of lightning, heads across to the troll that Larz had pulverised, and starts to sear it with the flames of the torch. As the flames lick against it, the troll flesh seems to shrink and squirm away from the heat, before blackening and charring.
Larz glances at Milo, and shakes his head. "We've beaten them lad - no
need to waste a hole barrel full of lamp oil - just pass a couple
of lit torches down to those in the pit" he suggests.