Move 242: Exploring the Topknot Caves II
Arachne, Azrun, Blacky, Daelen, RennirolasCaves--Midday, Day 14
Arachne concentrated for a couple of minutes, then seemed to be listening intently and sniffing the air like an animal. Daelen turned around and headed back for the main cavern alone.
"No, I'm not sure how the lizards got around," Arachne's voice murmured. "They didn't seem to be back at the entrance to the troll lair, but their smell seems to get stronger further in.... Implies a rear exit somewhere. Don't like that. And there's _something_ moving around ahead, but not that close yet... Do we want to go back with Daelen?" The circle of light didn't move.
Azrun looked around, "You couldn't tell how big it was could you? If it's big I suggest we go get Daelen and his flaming toothpick, so we don't have to use more oil on a troll."
"I think the plan was not to go too far into a tunnel while we are separated. We should probably head back and check in with Jana." Blacky commented.
While the group stood in the tunnel discussing Arachne's findings and whether to go after Daelen, they heard the man in question yelling from back in the main cavern, "TO BATTLE! TO BATTLE!" That effectively decided the question, sending the rest of them running back to the main cavern.
Once they were there, they paused to determine where he had gone, but the lights and the noise down the southernmost tunnel showed where the others had gone.
Aloysius, Echo, Jana, OlafTroll Caves--Midday, Day 14
Now that the light had stablized and everyone's eyes adjusted, they were able to see that these three trolls were already slightly injured with burns. Olaf quickly cast a spell, causing a bright flame to appear in the palm of his hand. Almost immediately after the flame appeared, the troll fighting him raked him with a claw.
Jana badly wounded the troll she was facing, but it did not fall. It caught her with one of its claws, following that up with a bite to her sword arm.
Aloysius cast a spell at the two-headed troll, hitting it with a barrage of magical energy bolts. The troll charged forward, manuevering through the other melees and reaching the wizard. Now that the troll was closer, the "jewels" in its tiaras were easier to see; teeth, not pearls, adorned the creature's heads.
Trying to push his fear aside as the two-headed troll moved towards him, Aloysius attempted another spell.
"I don't see any more trolls in here," Echo's voice called. "Jana, I'm coming into the fight, okay?"
Olaf started hurling handfuls of fire at the troll fighting him. Each time he hurled one spate of flame, another appeared in his hand.
"Only if Aloysius needs you," Jana replied, taking another hack at 'her' troll. "I'm almost done here, so this one'll need burning."
Olaf threw a ball of flame at the troll on top of him, hitting it squarely in the chest. It seemed to be burned by the magical fire, but it did not catch on fire. The one-handed priest tried to get out of the way of the troll's onslaught of attacks, but the creature bit down on him hard.
Jana finished off her troll, at least for the time being, before it could attack her again.
Aloysius cast a spell; when he was done, there appeared to be four of him. Echo reappeared behind the two-headed troll, burning it with the flames streaming from her hands. This troll did not immediately catch on fire either. The troll attacked in a flurry of teeth and claws, leaving two less copies of Aloysius remaining when it was done.
The Aloysiuses began casting another spell.
Jana smiled grimly as 'her' troll fell. She spun and attacked the troll on Olaf, swinging twice. "Olaf, I've got this one; use your sword to burn the one that's down then help Aloysius."
Olaf noded as he continued to try and dodge troll claws. He tossed his next ball of fire into Jana's downed troll.Echo started casting again.
From somewhere outside of the tunnel, the group heard Daelen yelling, "TO BATTLE! TO BATTLE!"
Olaf backed away from the troll as Jana moved in to take over. He caught the fallen troll on fire while Jana dispatched the second troll.
Aloysius cast another magic missile spell at the two-headed troll. Echo repeated the spell she had cast before as well. Between the two spellcasters, they caused the troll a significant amount of damage, although it still seemed heartier than they might have liked. The troll dispelled Aloysius' last image, then caught him with its other claw. It tried to bite Echo, but she nimbly darted out of its way, using the magic of her boots.
About that time, Daelen charged into the cavern, and seeing the only remaining troll combatant, jumped in with his sword. He hit the troll, but it did not catch fire from his fiery sword.
Meanwhile, while Olaf caught the newly downed troll on fire, Jana moved in on the troll as well, giving both Aloysius and Echo an opportunity to get away from it. Both fighters cut into it with their swords, but the big two-headed monster kept fighting. It ripped into Daelen with its claws and scored a tearing bite against Jana. The fighters circled around the troll, and with a few additional skill sword strokes, took the monster down.
By the time they removed the troll's odd headwear and set it aflame, the rest of the group came jogging into the cavern.
Azrun, Blacky, Renn, and presumably still invisible Arachne arrived to find three burning trolls. Aloysius, Daelen, Jana, and Olaf were all wounded, and Echo was no longer invisible.
Azrun ran with the others to what had happened to his friends in the other cavern. Once there he looked around to make sure everyone was okay.
Olaf prayed over Alysius, Daelen, and Jana. His prayers left all of their conditions improved.
Jana winced as Olaf cast his spell, then flexed her arm. "Thanks," she said, not quite covering a repeat wince. She flashed a smile, then turned her attention to the discussion at hand.
The cavern had a pool of water on one side and a large pile of stacked rocks on the other.
Aloysius stood impassively and watched the trolls burn. "Believe do I that the two-headed one was their leader," he said, stating what was likely obvious. "With their depleted numbers, the leader no doubt surrounded . . . er, 'its' self . . . . with what trolls remained. Doubts have I that we shall e'er see another Topknot."
Turning to the members from the other group, he added, "Did the rest of thee locate anything of interest?" As he asked his question, he inspected his wound.
"I thought I saw something over in that pile of rocks," Echo said. She waited for the other group to report what they had found, then she went to investigate the rocks again.
"Oh?" replied Aloysius. The mage went to find his light stone before going to look at the rocks with whoever else decided to go.
"I'll go with you," Jana said. "I don't think anyone ought to be alone at this point," she explained. "If those trolls catch someone alone... And gods know what else is down here. Oh, yeah, Aloysisus," she said over her shulder as she started off after Echo, "you might ask Azrun about that fungus stuff we saw earlier."
Aloysius picked up his light stone and stuffed it inside his bandana before stuffing it back inside his robe. "I had forgotten about that," he said as he walked over to where Azrun was standing.
"Azrun, when we went down the first passage, we found a chamber full of growths that appeared to be some type of subterranean fungi. It is unlike anything with which Stargazer is familiar. If memory serves, didn't Tauster loan thee a tome on Underdark plant life? Perhaps we should look at it before we leave this area."
Azrun nodded, "Yeah, he had a few things that I looked through while we were there. I might be able to remember something if I look at them. I don't have the books with me. Wizards are quite protective of their books as you know." He smiled at Aloysius.
"Oh, Arachne ah, smelled the lizards in the tunnel we entered," Renn said as he looked at the wounded with a practiced eye. "Their stench grew the further up the corridor we progressed, and also sense something moving about in that same area."
"Heard," Arachne's voice corrected, from the middle of a relatively well-lit area. The lighting started to drift over toward the stone pile with Echo and Jana, then shifted and went with Blacky toward the pool of water.
Renn approached Olaf, and cast a healing boon upon the priest. "Two headed troll eh," the priest grinned, "that's something I wouldn't mind seeing, from a distance at least." After another check of the others, the moon elf cast a number of healing prayers in quick succession
Olaf grinned, "Aye, it looked impressive. Didn't seem to stand up to the attacks very well, though."
Olaf looked at Jana, "My thanks, I'm afraid that troll was getting the better of me."
"Damn, sorry I missed the battle. It looks like you handled it fine without us, though. Assuming that water is clean, we can finally get this stench off of us." Blacky said looking at the pool. He moved over to the pool to inspect it.
Daelen observed the talking light for a moment. Then, shaking his head at what seemed normal lately, moved to the pile of stones. "Looks like a cache to me - shall I start moving the rubble? Or do you ladies want to do all the heavy lifting too?"
"Feel free," Jana replied, waving at the rocks. She winced slightly at the movement; it was the arm the troll had gotten. "I sure hope that water's safe to clean up in," she mutters.
Azrun looked over to where Daelen was, "Not that I'm paranoid or anything, but maybe we ought to poke at it a little bit before digging into it. Who knows what might be crawling around in there." He shuddered for a second and then looked back in the direction they had came in.
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