Move 247: Slobbering Trolls
Troll Caverns--Afternoon, Day 14Jana stepped away from the fallen troll and moved up to intercept two more of those running in. Renn moved up to help, intending to help Olaf, but he got met by two of the other trolls before he could get there. The fifth troll also chose not to break the line, going after Blacky instead of one of the spellcasters standing in the rear.
Azrun took his lit torch and set the troll that had gone down first aflame. Echo shot her crossbow, but the bolt flew wild, bouncing off the cavern wall. Aloysius threw some magic missiles at the troll on Olaf.
Jana and the two trolls she was facing squared off. One of the trolls took a sword found, but the fighter was clawed and bitten in return. Blacky dropped one of the trolls he was facing, but the second seriously ripped into him as payback. Daelen's fiery sword burnt into the troll on him. The troll was distracted enough by the fire that it did not hit the fighter. Both priests cut into the trolls on them with their swords. Unfortunately, the trolls were able to hurt both Olaf and Renn rather badly.
Three more trolls ran up and picked people to fight with. One of them went through the fighting in the front, going after Aloysius. One of them went after Daelen. The third decided to join his two slobbering brothers in surrounding Jana.
Aloysius took out a scroll and began franctically reading from it. A mystical arrow and slammed into the troll charging him, splattering acid over the monster's torso. Azrun managed to touch the torch to the troll Blacky had downed moments earlier. Echo shot her crossbow again, this time putting the bolt in the troll on Blacky.
The front line degenerated into a confusing flurry of sword blows, claws, and bites. Jana nearly took one of the trolls on her down, but she was unable to defend herself from the onslaught of the three of them. She looked badly hurt and the trolls gave no sign of letting up. The other troll on Blacky went down under his axe before it could cause any additional problems. Daelen dropped one of the two trolls on him, but he did not escape the other's natural weaponry. Olaf and Renn, although displaying some skillful swordwork, came out much worse off than the trolls they were dealing with.
Luckily, the waves of trolls charging from deeper in the cavern seemed to have subsided; no more approached, at least for now.
Azrun dropped his torch to the side, "Arachne, the torch is yours!" He turned and looked at Jana's situation, "Jana, go for one of the the ones. I've got the crippled one." With that he began casting his spell, hoping that all the magic missiles would take it down long enough for Arachne to get to it.
"Eager to die you walking scum pile?" Daelen taunted as he stepped over his fallen opponent and attacked his newest challenge with renewed energy.
Echo took out another dagger and moved up to melee range with the troll on Olaf. "Olaf, back out of the fight. We need your healing spells," she said. "I can distract this one for you."
Olaf yelled, "CLOSE YOUR EYES!" Then he stepped back from the troll, calling on Tyr's power, "Lord of Justice, Show these beasts your power!"
The spindly mage looked on with an odd resignation as the huge troll closed on him. He tossed his scroll to the side and drew the magic dagger he had been given earlier.
"So be it then . . . ." he muttered as he advanced against his much deadlier opponent.
"Blacky," Jana said, a slight tinge of panic underlying her otherwise calm voice, "I need your help." She swung at the uninjured trolls on her.
Renn continued his fight against the trolls, though he averted his eyes when Olaf gave his shout.
Echo moved up to fight in melee with her dagger, allowing Olaf to move back to cast a spell. Azrun dropped the torch he was holding, and it soon afterwards disappeared, as Arachne presumably picked it up before it extinguished itself. Blacky moved over to help Jana with her overabundance of trolls.
Azrun cast a magic missile spell which effectively took out the wounded troll that Jana had been fighting. Jana injured another troll with her sword and defended herself against all of its attacks other than one claw. Blacky followed suit with his axe, injuring the troll he fought and taking an additional claw wound.
Daelen continued his extremely enthusiastic hacking on the troll. The troll seemed just as enthusiastic about hacking on Daelen. Again, both fighter and monster took wounds in the exchange.
Echo slashed at the troll Olaf had been fighting, but her dagger proved ineffectual against the beast. The troll, however, caught the swiftly moving woman with a claw. Aloysius, too, attacked with his dagger, but his weapon was just as useless against the troll he was fighting. He dodged the troll's attacks; his awkward fighting posture seemed to be working out well for him on this occasion. The acid on the troll's torso continued to burn into it.
Renn cut into one of the trolls on him with his long sword. The troll clawed him once, and then, in the confusion of the following moments, managed to claw its self somehow. Before the other troll could attack, Olaf's spell went off.
"Hold on Jana, I'm coming" Blacky said as he saw her in a three to one battle and rushed to help her. He closed one eye anyway at Olaf's yell, keeping the other on his opponent.
With the priest's warnings, everyone was able to avert their eyes before the show started, and as such, no one actually saw it. They only saw the benefits of the after effects. One of the large troll bonfires was extinguished, and two of the trolls, the one Echo and Olaf had been fighting earlier, and the one on Aloysius, went charging away from the fight at top speed. One of them ran towards the former home of the Topknots, while the other ran back in the direction this group of trolls had come from. The other trolls held their ground and kept attacking, but several of them seemed to be floundering about blindly.
Jana made a soft, high-pitched noise at the troll got in a claw, suspiciously close to a whimper. She shut her eyes, then opened them. "Thank the gods," she muttered, then set about dispatching the blinded troll nearest her.
Olaf pulled a torch from his pack and lit it.
Starting to feel the effects of the fight, Daelen continued his effort, each stroke splattering some of his own blood onto the troll.
Shocked to still be amongst the living, Aloysius watched his troll flee before moving ahead and trying to help Renn. The mage went after the more seriously injured of the trolls on the Fey Warden, attempting to stab the creature in the back if possible.
After the troll she was fighting ran off, Echo went to help Aloysius and Renn with the two trolls.
Seeing the troll on Jana drop he smiled, " Yes!" He covered his eyes as Olaf's spell went off. When he opened them back up and saw the trolls running away, he looked shocked, "Damn, that was pretty effective."
He sprung back into action and began casting another spell and pointed at the troll on Daelen.
"Errnn...that all you got," Renn coughed out. "Don't make me bleed on you," he laughed as he left the blinded troll alone and attacked the troll with fewer wounds.
"That must have been pretty impressive to frighten these big guys off." Blacky said as he continued attacking the troll in front of him.
There was a lull in the fighting due to the confusion of Olaf's spell. As party members and trolls regained their bearings, with some of the trolls now blinded, the party had more of an advantage. Azrun fired off his final magic missile spell, wounding the troll on Daelen. Daelen was then able to finish the creature off. Jana cut into the blinded troll she was fighting, but in her weakened state, she was not able to drop the creature immediately. Blacky hacked into the troll he was fighting, but the troll did not fall.
Aloysius stabbed at the wounded, blinded troll that had been fighting Renn. He stuck it with his dagger, but the troll was beginning to regenerate at a rapid rate. It flailed about blindly and was unable to make contact with the mage. Renn and Echo attacked the other troll. Neither of them hit it, but this troll, which could still see, clawed Echo.
The trolls continued to catch on fire as they fell, presumptively Arachne's doing. Olaf took out a torch and lit it.
The battle continued, with Daelen now joining Echo and Renn to surround the troll they were fighting. Daelen cleaved off one of the troll's arms with his sword. The arm, moving on its own, went after Echo but was not able to grab hold of her. The other arm, still attached to the troll, smacked Daelen. Renn gave the troll a minor wound with his sword.
In the meantime, the troll fighting Aloysius was doing more stumbling around than actual fighting, although it was still healing itself at an alarming rate. Blacky finished his troll and moved to help Aloysius. Jana killed the troll she was facing and not many moments after that, Blacky, Aloysius, Daelen, Echo, and Renn polished off the remaining two slobbering monsters.
The party stood, slightly stunned from the somewhat unexpected fight, in the midst of ten troll bonfires. No more trolls came into the area. More than anything else, the bloody, beaten group needed to get to a place they could rest before anything else happened. It was doubtful that they could make it as far as their previous "night's" campsite in their weakened condition.
As the last of the trolls fell, Rennirolas dropped to one knee and gasped for breath. His white and blue raiment was stained with a combination of his blood and that of the trolls, and when he tried to wipe the red smear from his brow, he only succeeded in smearing it about.
Azrun looked around at the group in dismay, "Where are we going to try to move to? It doesn't look like we're going to go far no matter where it is. Perhaps, those of us who aren't hurt or hurt as bad can help the others along. Do we want to head back the way we came?" With that the bard made his way around to the other to see if he could carry things or them.
"Let's get back to that room with the pool in it. We should be able to set up some sort of barricade or ward or both." Blacky said and offered Jana a shoulder to lean on for the return trip should she need it.
"When we've established our position I can set my wyvern ward. It's better than nothing," Renn said and began to shrug, but seemed to think better of it when he winced.
"Obviously," Jana said with a scowl, "this area isn't safe. We need to fall back." She reached for a rag to clean off her sword. She froze in mid-reach, eyes bugging out a bit. "Ow," she said in a high-pitched, soft voice. "Very bad idea." Slowly, she got the rag and, still slowly, cleaned and sheathed her blade. "It might be a good idea if we all get as healthy as possible as quick as possible," she suggested, looking at each priest and Arachne in turn, "in case the ones that ran away went to get help."
"Aye," Rennirolas said with exhaustion in his voice. "Let me...do what I can with my salves and bandages before we use magic. Unless you think it best to hold off on that until we've secured a camp."
"I don't think I can make it 'til we've secured a camp," Jana admitted. She looked rather pale, about as bad as she'd ever looked while still retaining consciousness.
Azrun tried to help Jana if she'd let him, "I can drop a web spell on that other tunnel if you want. It should last an hour and a half or so I imagine. It'll either piss them off and they'll come through screaming or they'll leave it alone and stay where they are. What do you think, Lady Leader?" He gave her his patented smile and a wink hoping to boost her spirits.
"Oh," Jana replied irritably, "a web spell. What a simply fabulous idea, Azrun. No, I think you should save it. In case we need to defend ourselves. Like when they're running at us to attack, before they reach us. That sort of thing." She winced as slung her shield on her back. "I think we need to spend a little more time planning, so we allocate our resources more effectively next time we're attacked like that. And I'm sure there'll be a next time," she added grimly. Jana leaned on Blacky a bit as they limped off, most of them anyway, to a more defensible location.
Azrun stepped back as his face turned red and he clenched his fists. He calmed himself a bit, "I was doing what I was told....I lit the damn torch and Aloysius said he had the web spell covered. I dropped the torch like I was told and cast spells to help you and Daelen out." With that he turned and went to help Renn and Olaf.
Olaf began praying to Tyr for healing. After moving about healing folks he said, "My spells are exhausted. I have one prayer left from Tyr, a sell to shape stone. I cannot close off a tunnel with it, but i can perhaps make an opening smaller, if it is small enough to start with I might be able to make it to small for a troll. Later, after sleep and prayer I can reopen it."
Olaf, praying over Jana, said something quietly to her after Azrun left.
Jana said something back, clearly angry, and walked away.
Olaf got up and moved to the next person to heal, limping heavily while blood dripped from his deep claw wounds.
Olaf cast his remaining healing spells, but with the extent of the group's injuries, they did not look much better.
Minutes passed while the spells were being cast. The group had a couple of choices, and a decision of what was to be done needed to be made as soon as possible. The first was to try and barricade themselves in one of the nearby caverns. The second was to head down the tunnels. The first offered the benefits of a more defensible location, but it was very close to where the fight had just taken place. The second would put distance between them and any remaining trolls, but, as there were no side passages or caverns down the tunnel, they would be exposed if anything came along.
Ignoring the angry woman, Olaf limped painfully over to Azrun with blood flowing from his wounds, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Judge yourself not too harshly, Azrun. The battle came upon us swiftly and there was little time for thought. Your offer to web the tunnel is a good idea, but if we hold the spell until we have found a place of rest, perhaps it will be of more use. Now, some of the time it buys might be wasted waiting for the trolls to arrive."
"Aye, and without your help I might never have gotten the chance to topple that brute I was trading blows with. My health and my pride both thank you." Daelen said with a grin, looking somewhat better now that he had been healed.
Azrun nodded, "Thank you, Olaf. I think perhaps she has a lot on her mind. She came close to going down during that last swarm of trolls. The thought of losing the baby is probably getting to her. Tongues can be sharp, but the usually pride is the only thing hurt." He did what he could to bind the priests wounds and support him.
Clearly notable despite Daelen’s ragged and bloody condition was his wide smile and the complete lack of sarcasm in his voice. "Lemme catch my breath for a minute and I'll be right along... Gods, what a glorious battle!"
"Renn," he called over as he put a restraining hand on Olaf's shoulder, "could you spare a moment to patch up this one? Not only is he gonna bleed to death, he'll leave a nice trail doing it too."
Aloysius watched as Azrun headed away and Jana and Olaf exchanged heated words. "Damn me for a fool," he said, lowering his eyes to the cavern floor. "According to my calculations, my spell could only cover one passage or the other, not both. My foolish choice would have killed us all if not for Olaf's quick thinking."
He rubbed his face with his hands, oblivious to any blood he might be spreading. "Azrun was correct. I said I would cover the passage, and I failed to do so. Once more, Stargazer proves more bane that burden," he added sadly. He leaned back against the near wall, waiting for someone to tell him what to do.
"Arachne, since you're still invisible, do you mind going to check that the cave with the pool is still empty?" Echo asked. "I'll give you the boots. I don't know if we'll be able to make it very far down the tunnels." If Arachne said she would go, Echo took off the boots of speed and put them on the floor where Arachne could get them.
"I'm going to move back away from the fires to listen," she said. "To make sure no more are coming right now."
During the healing time, Arachne attempted to make the loose light stone on the battlefield disappear.
"Glad to," Arachne's voice said softly. "If the boots will help anyone else limp faster or more easily, then I'll pass on taking them," she added. "I don't really understand what they can and cannot do."
"I've been waiting for the divine favors to be shared out," the gnome's voice added. "I can offer some healing yet when I get back. I guess I'll want to be instructed then who is yet the least mobile or most in need of improved health... reduced bleeding ... whatever..." Her voice trailed away into mumbling.
Her departure was evidenced by a darkening of the area.
Azrun turned and kneeled down in front of Aloysius, "Aloysius, I did not mean to state that you made the wrong decision. What I meant was that I was doing what I was told. We're not seasoned warriors. We read books and cast magic spells. In a situation like this we're going to make mistakes."
He sighed and looked back at the tunnel, "I should have dropped the torch for Arachne to light and cast my own web spell at the other tunnel. Perhaps, we should let Jana call the shots for the warriors and either, you, Echo, or myself call the magic. A coordinated attack between three magic users can be an awesome sight to behold." He looked to the mage, "What do you think?"
Jana listened to Azrun's suggestion. "I think Aloysius would be a good choice to coordinate the magical attacks." She looked straight at Aloysius. "You're the best choice. You know more about magic than anyone else and you won't be giving away your position by calling out orders and it's best if you stay out of direct combat anyway. You've made good decisions in all our recent battles, this last one included. I think you can do it."
Aloysius looked up, his mouth agape. "You can't be serious," he said. "My magics have failed us at nearly every turn. I nearly caused all of our deaths just minutes ago. Verily, Stargazer would be a poor choice for such an important responsibility. Perhaps Echo or Azrun would be better suited. . . . "
His voice trailed off and he resumed his intense study of the floor at his feet.
Azrun looked to Aloysius, "Aloysius, my friend, you doubt yourself. That is your only fault. All you need is confidence in your abilties. Jana's right. You have the most experience with the arcane. We can confer in the morning on what spells should be appropriate for that day. That way you'll know what is available."
"You did no such thing," Jana replied firmly. "Your use of magic was effective. Do you think for one moment, Aloysius, that'd I suggest you coordinated the mages' attacks if I didn't think you could?" Jana asked with a sardonic smile.
"I agree, the trolls appeared to be guarding the tunnel you webbed, Aloysius. Clearly there must be something of value down that tunnel, but there were reinforcements down the other one. Had I the magic, I would have chose the same as you." Blacky agreed. "We should probably head back the way we came. Regardless of where we plan to rest, it is that direction."
Aloysius sighed. "I don't know . . . " he said hesitantly. Turning towards Echo, he asked, "what do you think about this, Echo? If Stargazer is to try and give directives, he'd prefer to do so to a willing party." Echo, however, was not there.
The mage still didn't look entirely convinced as to the wisdom of the plan.
After a few minutes passed, the lighting in the room increased again.
When there was a pause while Aloysius considered how else to say no,
Arachne's voice sounded quietly, fairly close to Jana: "Still all clear in the -- uh, pool room. Who wants help?"Echo returned from down the tunnel, "I don't hear anything right now. Let's get moving while we have the chance."
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