Lukaros healed himself from the two wounds that Ronan almost slew
him with (you might be amazed that he survived, given that he was unarmored and
unmagicked!). Dorgon and Nikkolai fell ill from poison, then Ronan's severed
head chuckled and gasped something like, "A billygoat passes the
window. His nose, horns, ears, and
hooves all pass, but why does his tail not pass by?" Then Ronan lay dead, and you searched
the monks' bodies finding 6 enchanted blue robes, silver talismans with pieces
of blue crystal in them, nice iron scimitars, some vials of blue liquid that
Elohwyn took, and 2400L in coins.
Lukaros looked at the bodies and proclaimed, "See, I was right, the
White Moon charade was nonsense!
The sissies of the White Moon do not wear blue like this! These are the robes of elite assassins
of the Blue Moon, Orogeria! [a.k.a. Annilla]" He grumbled about how this meant that
the Red Emperor had his hand in this.
Dorgon tracked nack to find the monks' sable mounts, which you added to
your caravan.
That afternoon you caught up with four Talastari hunter scouts
from the caravan down the valley, which was led by an odd fat dark troll
merchant (of Argan Argar cult) named Caspar Godsman, with his scowling henchman
Willem Darkdrake the duck. They had
come all the way from Dorastor to here (a roundabout trip), trading along the
way following an old route that some of them had passed decades ago. Caspar welcomed you to ride with him and
chat and trade. Surprisingly, a
small contingent from Raus fort was along with them: Daryli Godspeaker the
priest, Beetis Sharpdealer the barbarian merchant, and Narin Kinscold the
Balazaring guide. You bought some
maps of the local area and far-off Balazar, along with information about the
area. Apparently you were in troll territory
on the eastern edge of Dagori Inkarth, and the trolls here were known for
breeding big bugs. They assured you
that it would be much safer to travel with them, but after much consideration
you declined the offer and surged ahead, trying to catch up with Nolantor just
an hour or so ahead. Lukaros
remained tight-lipped about where Nolantor might be going, but gave in that he
was probably going at least as far as the Hidden Greens, some 10days further
into the Desolation Hills.
At night you camped, wary of the sounds of troll drums in the
hills, which Groloday thought were celebrating the end of Fire Season and the
improvement of feeding (and troll activity) that comes with that
transition. A huge black centipede
snuck into camp and killed a sable, then tried to drag it off to eat but was
slain by a mighty blow from Elohwyn.
Lucky it was after furry prey, not you!
In the morning the drums ended but were replaced by a humming
buzz, which later resolved itself as insect riders far above, who later scouted
your group slowly. They seemed to
be dark trolls riding giant locusts.
You had a bad feeling that this night would be worse. And you were right, although Dorgon
found a more defensible spot for you this time (kudos to his many Track,
Search, and Prax Lore rolls that have helped you immensely on this trip!). First, a trollkin horde scrambled into
camp seeking food. Ji unleased the
Screams of the Drowned from Magasta's Wrath, which scared off most of them (and
demoralized most of the party too), but many kept pushing hungrily for
something to bite into. They were
the lowest of trollkin, unclothed or equipped, and desparate. You slew some of the pathetic things
while Nikkolai's well-used City Harmony spell kept most others at bay before
they attacked the beasts. One
captured trollkin was so miserable that you just killed it after trying to pry
information.
Then the cave trolls came; 5 big chaos-tainted thugs with mauls,
but you mowed them down fairly easily.
Then it got ugly, with at first large 5 green beetles engaging
the front ranks, and ice-protected shades descending in surprise from
above. Nikkolai was fearshocked to
death, and Lukaros nearly met the same fate, then demoralized Groloday was bitten
through the arm and nearly died twice before he was saved by Dorgon and
Elohywn's actions. Elohwyn herself
had a fierce fight with beetles, one of which gravely injured her, so she had
to use her last Heal Body (and a Shield 2 to fend off the shade). As things looked worse, she resorted to
calling on the grace of Vinga to "Heal my compatriots so they might chase
down the Lunar menace." You
then dispatched the remaining foes handily. Lukaros revealed another of his secrets,
that he had saved a spell-traded Resurrection for an occassion like this, and
would use it on Nikkolai in the morning if you lived, in return for magic (a
small matrix) that would help him escape Prax later.
But it got uglier.
Locust riders buzzed overhead so you took cover, but they then chose to
pelt Dorgon and your beasts with moaning slingshots, killing two more sables
and injuring others. You yelled
challenges at them and they left after two passes.
And then the assault troops moved in: 5 dark troll warriors in
full armor with shadowy mauls. One
was befuddled, another was demoralized, another was engaged by a semi-corporeal
ghost (and later possessed), but they kept coming as some of you were blinded
by umbrous magics from the darkness (Lukaros helped by dispelling some of
these). It looked grim until one by
one they dropped from your searing iron blades. Then the voice of Slamanglob, the troll
matriarch who was leading the assault from far off, echoed down the canyon,
saying that you had proven yourselves by besting them in battle, and may pass
safely through her clan's territory from now on if you let her warriors go
safely. You had little choice even
though you had won the battle, and uneasily put your trust in Slamanglob'd word
as the trolls retreated with their fallen members.