Killing of the Great Troll Chef

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: Killing of the Great Troll Chef
GM: Noel
Season: Spring 797 WK

The Good Guys

• Aqualina, Water Human Female (Scribe)
• Callas, Earth Human Female
• Father Rowan, Wiccan Human Male Priest of Chantris
• Gustav, Non Mage Human Male
• Kryan, Illusionist Human Male
• Starflower, Mind Elf Female

Time on adventure

It all happened between 5 Thaw 797 and 7 Thaw 797.

Employer

Volunteers

Mission

The oversized troll, having recently taken up residence under the Seagate bridge, is slain by a volunteer guild party.

Places Visited

Seagate

Seagate Bridge

Fight'N'Fuk Tavern

Principle NPCs

Giant troll

Original Scribe Notes

Media:Snsp9703.zip

Scribe Notes

It was at the 1st of Thaw 797 Guild meeting that Starflower stood up and asked for volunteers to help eradicate the twenty-five foot troll that had attacked the dock area in Seagate last quarter.

Since then there had been periodic sightings of it and disappearances of livestock in the surrounding countryside. Flamis had told me that a couple of their cows had gone missing, but then she'd set up a dragon-flames ward, and whatever had done it had set it off. Guess it won't be coming back there in a hurry.

Starflower had also been keeping tabs on its movements using her Finding spell and had concluded its lair was somewhere near the new Seagate Bridge. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I mean isn't it traditional for trolls to lurk under bridges? And why shouldn't there be an overly large troll under an overly large bridge?

But I digress. Nearly straight after the Guild meeting found the volunteers clustered in a nearby pub. Those present were:

Gustav

a fine and honourable warrior

Callas

a female Earth mage

Father Rowan

priest of Chantris

Starflower

a dour elven female mind mage

Kryan

an illusionist and the person I'm lucky to be married to.

and me, Aqualina

a short female water mage.

Both Gustav and I had witnessed the first attack of the troll but Gustav had got a lot closer to it than I had so I let him describe what had happened. The troll itself was twenty-five feet tall, and was wearing squashed iron ingots for armour it had pressed into its own body. A massive amulet that emitted a continuous stream of air was being worn on its chest and it wielded a monstrous club. It had been observed to breathe super-heated steam on its opponents. At its waist it had a bag filled with assorted herbs. During the last combat it was grabbing children, steaming them, then dipping them in the herb pouch before eating them. That appeared to act as a healing potion.

The other fact that seemed significant was that the stream that ran past the Alchemist's Guild flowed into the Sweetwater just upstream of the bridge. Had something they had dumped in the stream done something to the troll and mutated it? It seemed likely and I was very tempted to draft a letter of protest complaining about their pollution. At least the stream that runs through the Guild and under the Water College is clean.

After much discussion and several drinks later, it was decided that we should get together later that day after doing some divinatory rituals.

So that evening we met again in the same pub. Callas had done a reading asking "Where can we find the troll" was "South the orcs stare screaming into the night".

The answer to Kryan's "When we first see the troll" with the answer "The day the Dark Mage is hung".

Gustav and I remembered that Bellode and Scorpion had suggested that the troll should visit the Fight'N'Fuk tavern, a notorious hangout for orcs, and that the troll had replied that was a good idea. The tavern itself was located to the north of the docks. As for the Dark Mage, stories were going around the town that one such was going to be publicly hanged by the Duke's men in the square next Reapsday, four days away.

We discussed ways of disposing of the troll, many of which involved attacking it with one of Callas's Earth Elementals. However Starflower got a very bad feeling when someone suggested using an illusion to make the elemental look like a female troll.

Finally we decided to try to lure the troll into a trap somewhere in the country side the next day. An outlying paddock at Basalic's farm was selected. I just hope he didn't get too annoyed when he got back.

2nd Thaw

So about mid-morning found us out there. Callas summoned her Earth Elemental and got it to create a large pit. When it was complete, Kryan threw an illusion over it. Then Father Rowan did some sort of ritual designed to attract the troll. Callas threw Armours of Earth and Strength of Stones on us all then we settled down to wait. Kryan and I were perching on Father Rowan's battle throne as it floated above the scene.

Half an hour later we saw a shimmering image of the troll arriving. It looked like it was searching for herbs as every so often it would examine the ground or a tree. Over mindspeech, Starflower told us that it was very likely that the troll was a Master Herbalist and it was using special herbs that allowed its mind to go wandering without its body. There wasn't a lot we could do to it physically so Starflower tapped into its mind and picked up these thoughts:

"I'd better get back to my body soon as I don't want to be a spectre" and "Mmmmmmmmm.. Orc. Mmmmmmmmmm".

Once it left, Callas had the elemental fill in the hole again then used a spell to send herself, Kryan, and Starflower as quickly as possible to the bridge. The rest of us followed more sedately on the battlethrone. By the time we got there, Kryan had already gone for a swim. Starflower explained that Kryan had created an illusory picture of the bridge which she had used to divine the troll's location with her Finding spell. The water was so murky that only an illusionist's enhanced vision talent could see through it, a not uncommon occurrence for the Sweetwater. When we investigated the rest of us could see a lot of bubbles rising around the central pylon. When Kryan returned he reported that the troll was just standing there. Several bits and pieces such as bones were scattered about.

Now it was more than likely that the troll was going to go for the Fight'N'Fuk on Reapsday night and it was near there where we would have to make our stand. So Gustav and Starflower went to scout out the area. They discovered that a wide street ran down to the docks which terminated at a square outside the tavern. This was the most likely route for the troll to take. So we went to warn the City Watch who agreed to evacuate the area of innocent citizens. They then decided to take us out to dinner. Why do I get the impression that they've been looking for a chance to reduce the local orc population and see this as a really good opportunity?

5th Thaw

Finally Reapsday night arrived and we assembled in the area. As we went in we noticed some hobbits putting up 'Free Drinks at the F&F' posters. Several streets had been blocked off and the buildings around were evacuated.

After several Maze and Trollskin wards were put up in the area, we took up our positions. Kryan and I watched from the roof of a nearby building under an illusionary fog while the others were in a side street.

About midnight we powered up. I did Waters of Strength for Callas and Gustav while Father Rowan tossed spells at us that would also assist. Finally I cast Waterbreathing all around - just in case.

It was one in the morning when the troll finally turned up, sprinting down the street. All remained still for a moment as Starflower triggered Quickness on us. An illusionary wall popped up in front of it, but it busted straight through it, just in time to meet Gustav's charge with his flaming lance. He hit. The troll wheeled away and crashed into a nearby wall. At that moment the earth elemental appeared while Starflower walloped it from the rear. As something shiny and golden fell from the troll and landed in the street she absently noted where it landed. I tried distracting it with a Rainstorm but the spell failed to go off. Just then I noticed a hobbit boarding up the back door of the Fight'N'Fuk inside which a riotous orcish party was in full swing.

The troll solidly hit the elemental and the elemental dissipated. At the same time Starflower hit the troll again.

Father Rowan blasted the troll with a Hellfire while Gustav and Starflower hit it again. The troll swung around and took out the corner of a building, the one we were standing on. Fortunately both Kryan and myself were near Father Rowan's battlethrone as the building collapsed and we were able to hang on as he caused it to leap up into the air. I was just hoping my arms were strong enough to hang on.

The troll plowed into the wall of the Fight'N'Fuk creating a large hole. It then grabbed an orc and ate it. Four grenados also flew inside and the building was racked by a massive explosion. The troll then turned towards Gustav and raised his club. The club smashed into him, sending him into the weakened wall. Several orcs cushioned the impact as masonry fell inwards.

While Father Rowan did another Hellfire, Callas created a Wall across the street in order to block off the troll's retreat. Meanwhile Kryan caused Gustav to disappear. I was spending the time trying to get to a safer position on the battlethrone without falling off and plummeting to the street below.

Another elemental then appeared and went to attack. The troll retaliated by scooping up a handful of gravel and throwing it at Starflower and the elemental. It then followed up with a blast of steam before bodyslamming what was left of the front wall and tumbling into the Fight'N'Fuk. Father Rowan Hellfired it again and the troll lay still, only twitching from time to time.

More grenados flew in from the hobbits in the sidelines while Callas sent the elemental in. Gustave also charged in to finish it off. Meanwhile Starflower retrieved the golden object which turned out to be a small key.

Finally the troll was vanquished and the body burnt. Quite a few orcs had also died and a few were seriously wounded. I tried to do what I could. The amulet was severely magical with the nature being planer. Some sort of conduit to the Elemental Plane of Air we believed. The key was also magical with the nature being Finding. As we sorted everything out, a massive celebration was going on outside.

6th Thaw

All the iron that the troll had been wearing had been salvaged as well as the ash from the body. Apparently troll ash is useful for some sort of ritual. The Guild divinated both the amulet and the key and confirmed the connection that we had suspected. The Key had a very interesting property though. It allowed the person carrying it to find their one true love then they had to pass it on to someone else who was unmarried. Both Starflower and I believed that a certain Solar Celestial mage should use it at some stage. Might serve him right to be smitten. But for now, Callas had it.

We then checked out the lair to see if there was anything else there but there wasn't. That should have been that, just another week in the life of a typical adventurer. But it wasn't over yet. A troupe of master bards had also witnessed the events and had decided to write a play about it.

The first I heard about it was when Brigetta came over to the Water College, where I was training and insisting that I accompany her to see this play that had premiered in Seagate that week. I had been wondering why some Guild members had been giving me curious looks that last few days but when I saw the play I understood why. What they had done was to dramatise the events turning it into a classic heroic battle between Good and Evil. The troll was represented as being as tall as the clouds, and us adventurers were portrayed as being mighty and heroic, much more mighty and heroic than the mundane reality in my case. Their actors looked very much like the adventurers they portrayed and they had somehow found out who we were as our names were being used. I could feel myself getting rather embarrassed by all of this, especially when I was recognised by the crowd (a disadvantage of being the only Pasifikan in town) and had to face their accolades.

Still it does seem rather nice to have a really good reputation for a while, especially if I can live up to it. And I especially like the sound of 'Princess Aqualina...'