Slip past the trolls while the rangers attack. Gos willing, they will never notice we were there.
Trent nods his head at the large humanoids and quickly knocks an arrows before drawing the bow back, his fellow ranger's doing the same he quickly yells "Split and surround them from all sides, do not let them close in on you! Aim for the eyes and hope you kill them quick." With that he let an arrow loose and began scrambling off to the side as he prepped another arrow.
Have the other two rangers split up and circle around the trolls firing arrows when they get the chance and staying away from the things.
I myself do the same and aim my shots at their eyes hoping to kill them swiftly.
Fight them, with an emphasis on stabbing the eyes and dodging.
Ursula and her men [4] carefully track around the ongoing fight, nearly falling down a ravine at one point. They make it past the trolls without being embroiled in the conflict. [1] Dawn won't strike for at least a few minutes, anyway. Ursula walks on, never looking back at the fate of those behind her.
Tiakath: +1 Ranged/Melee, +1 Armour. 3/3hp.
Trent: +1 Ranged/Melee, +1 Armour, +1 Numbers. 5/5hp.
Troll: +1 Troll Strength, +1 Troll Hide, +1 Troll Bulk. 4/4hp.
She-Troll: +3 Troll. 4/4hp.[
4+1 vs
3+2,
4+2 vs
5+2] The four of you spread out and start firing arrows or throwing knives at the trolls, who are momentarily confused by your reaction. Tiakath's throwing knife stabs the male troll in the arm, cutting deep. He pulls the knife out and holds it in one meaty hand, utterly unperturbed by the black blood leaking from his flesh. [1 vs 3, 2+1 vs 2] The troll moves with surprising speed for its size and in a flash it is bearing down upon Tiakath, swinging the blade as if it were the spike on a club. The she-troll tries to catch the rangers, but they move in different directions to evade her.
[4 vs 1+1, 5 vs 1] Tiakath draws Renart Lionel's longsword and thrusts upward as the troll strikes for her, ducking beneath the blow. The sword catches the troll in the cheek, goring it. The rangers fire on Trent's command, pincushioning the she-troll who roars in some unintelligible tongue. The male troll bellows back and gives chase to the fleeing Tiakath, [4 vs 3] who evades him, [6+1 vs 3] while the rangers continue to keep the she-troll corralled between them. [3/4hp Troll, 3/4hp She-Troll]
[4 vs 5+1, 2 vs 4] Arrows and knives rain harmlessly off the thick hide of the trolls. Worse, as the trolls try to catch the skirmishers they can see in the pale pre-dawn light the troll's wounds seem to bind shut through some sort of muscular action. Blood ceases to flow, pain seems to vanish. In all its horrible glory, the regenerative power of the troll is seen. [4/4hp Troll, 4/4hp She-Troll]
[6 vs 4, 4+1 vs 6] Tiakath ducks out of the way of another charge from the male troll, but the she-troll catches one of the rangers by surprise. [1 vs 6+1, 1 vs 6] Tiakath's throwing knife once again smacks harmlessly into the thick leather of the troll's flesh, missing any vital points. The she-troll grabs Darnell by the leg and swings him around into Ardella. There is a sharp snap as Darnell's back breaks and you watch in horror as Ardella is thrown, screaming, into the deep ravine by the mountain pass. The she-troll adjusts her grip on Darnell's leg and wields his corpse like some sort of grotesque flail. [3/5hp Trent, Numbers advantage lost.]
[3 vs 2, 6 vs 1] You both maintain distance from the trolls, firing and throwing as best you can. [5 vs 2+1, 6 vs 2+1] Enraged by the death of your companions, your game kicks up a notch. Tiakath's knife slashes across the troll's jugular, which sprays black blood in a wound that would have killed any lesser beast. Trent fires an arrow into the skull of the she-troll, just beneath the eye. She tears it out with her free hand and continues advancing upon Trent, [4 vs 2, 5 vs 2] who keeps distance alongside Tiakath. [3/4hp Troll, 3/4hp She-Troll]
[5 vs 3+1, 2 vs 6+1] Tiakath circles the male troll, throwing another blade that opens up one of the troll's femoral arteries. Trent tries to take advantage of a boulder to shoot down at the she-troll from above, but she closes distance to him with a burst of speed and nearly sweeps him off his feet with Darnell's corpse. Trent rolls to the ground and stands again, [6 vs 4, 6 vs 2] maintaining distance. The trolls roar in their strange tongue as muscular action forces shut the wounds in their bodies. [3/4hp Troll, 4/4hp She-Troll]
[3 vs 1+1, 6 vs 6] Another throwing knife jams into the male troll's throat and his roars take on a gurgling sound. He rips the knife out, spraying blood from another wound (the jugular cut has now slowed to a dribble) as he chases after Tiakath with knives in both fists. Trent fires an arrow, which sails unerringly to the she-troll's eye. She catches it with one giant hand and slowly and pointedly snaps it so Trent can see. [2/4hp Troll]
[4 vs 6, 3 vs 3] Although Trent continues to circle the corpse-wielding she-troll, Tiakath slips on some loose rubble and the male troll catches up to her. [1 vs 4+1, 1 vs 3+1] A knife slams into her side, by sheer luck missing anything vital. The fist that accompanies it is less kind and breaks at least two ribs as it sends her flying across the pass. Trent's arrows continue to fly past the she-troll without success. [2/3hp Tiakath]
[3 vs 6, 5 vs 3] The troll lumbers over to Tiakath and smashes both his fists down, [4 vs 4+1, 2 vs 1+1] as Tiakath tries to roll away. She fails to roll away entirely, and the fist crushes one of her feet. Bones snap, crackle and pop in their fleshy casing. [4 vs 3, 5 vs 3] Trent fires an arrow at the male troll, distracting him for the moment needed for Tiakath to crawl behind a rock. The male troll snarls as the wound in his leg seals up. [3/4hp Troll, 1/3hp Tiakath]
Sunlight breaks over the high mountains and the first ray strikes the male troll, who roars in dismay. Both trolls seem shaken, though not actively injured by the arrival of the dawn.
[4 vs 1+1, 5 vs 1+1] Fighting past the pain, Tiakath hurls her last knife at the troll. It strikes him in the flesh just below his eye, and this time he does not pull it out. Blood continues to flow freely, with no sign of the muscles closing up to seal it away. Trent manages to fire an arrow directly into the softer flesh beneath the she-troll's arm as she raises it to strike him down with a corpse-flail. [2/4hp Troll, 3/4hp She-Troll]
[4 vs 5, 4 vs 5] With Tiakath injured, it is a simple matter for the male troll to catch her, and a lost moment of Trent's footing allows the she-troll to do the same. [2 vs 1+1, 5 vs 6+1] Tiakath lurches from side to side, narrowly evading the blows of the troll. At one point its fist smashes into the rock around which she is hiding, shattering loose a few flakes of stone. Trent catches his comrade's skull beneath the chin, sending him crashing into the ground and dazing him. [3 vs 2, 1 vs 1] The she-troll lurches after Trent while Tiakath finds herself playing cat-and-mouse with the male troll around the large rock supporting her broken body. [2/3hp Trent]
[1 vs 2+1] Throwing rocks at the troll proves ineffective for Tiakath [3 vs 4] and he rounds the stone for another swing. [3 vs 6+1] The she-troll simply smashes Darnell into Trent while he is on the floor, [2 vs 1] catching him by the side and flinging him some distance away. [2 vs 2+1] Tiakath tries to evade the male troll until the moment one of her knives catches her in the throat, followed by thirty pounds of fist. [5 vs 6+1] Trent tries feebly to fire another arrow at the she-troll to little avail, [6 vs 1] then starts to crawl to safety.
[5 vs 6+1, 3 vs 1, 5 vs 2+1, 1 vs 6, 6 vs 1+1, 1 vs 4, 6 vs 4+1]Trent drags himself away from the she-troll as she lopes after him, swinging Darnell's increasingly shattered and bloody body at the ground again and again as Trent tries to roll away. He props himself up against a rock and fires his bow, once, twice and a third time. One arrow misses. A second strikes the troll in the throat. She keeps coming. The third arrow strikes the troll in the chest, the wound oozing hot blood over Trent's face as the she-troll looms over him. She swings the body, missing Trent by inches and hitting the rock face beside him. The body shatters, the ribcage and torso splitting apart and scattering blood and gore over Trent. The she-troll is left only with Darnell's leg, which she swings again, knocking the bow from Trent's hands. The she-troll raises the leg for a final blow when Trent lurches upward with an arrow clutched between his fingers.
The arrow goes straight through the she-troll's eye, piercing her brain. Trent jams the arrow in as far as he can, twisting it until the huge body spasms and collapses.
[4+1 vs 5, 6 vs 5+1, 3+1 vs 3, 5 vs 2+1, 1+1 vs 4, 4+1 vs 4+1, 2+1 vs 2, 6+1 vs 4]Trent is pinned to the ground beneath the she-troll's body. He can barely move, but her corpse provides ample cover from her approaching mate, who is screaming in incoherent rage at her murderer. The bow is gone, but he teases his short sword out of its scabbard and tries vainly to stab upward as the troll smashes at him again and again with his fists. The sword makes contact, contact Trent can barely see because of the black blood spilling into his eyes from both trolls' wounds. He feels more of his ribs crack under the weight of the troll's blows and the she-troll's body. He continues to stab blindly until a blow breaks his fingers. He makes one last slash with his broken hand before the sword slips from his fingers.
For the briefest of moments, Trent sees a golden-eyed bear standing on the pass, just in the corner of his vision. Then nothing.
You awake, minutes later. Pain is your being, not least because of the two troll corpses crushing you from above. It takes the better part of half an hour, but you drag yourself out of your fleshy prison and back onto the pass. A short distance away you can see Tiakath's crumpled form. She is lying in a pool of crimson blood and snow, streaked with black. There is a knife [6] some distance away from her in the snow and a clear spray of blood from where she pulled it out. Trent drags himself over to Tiakath. [5-2] Against all odds, she is alive. Barely. Her hand is clutched to her throat, a rag pressed against it. The combination of crude bandage and snow seems to have frozen the worst of the wound shut, though gods know what will happen when you remove it. Her breathing is shallow, almost nonexistent. [5-1] The bones in her foot are shattered. You don't know how her ribcage must be coping, but he doubts well. Amazingly, though, it is not as bad as it could be. Most of the breaks are clean, and you suspect few fractures. [5] Her head is almost untouched, save a few bruises. If she lives, she will likely not suffer any lasting metal effects either.
[3-1] Your own ribs are much worse off. You think at least half a dozen have been broken, with at least one fractured badly. You are having trouble breathing. [3] You are still woozy from the head trauma, but you think you should pull through without lasting effect. [6] You have a lot of open cuts and wounds, but they seem to be largely superficial. You are, of course, still covered in the gore of an old friend.
[4-1] You tear strips of cloth as best you can from Darnell's bloody clothing, trying to wash them in ice without much success. You remove Tiakath's hand from her throat wound and press the cloth as hard as you can, then tie it into place. It isn't much, but you aren't a healer. At least she isn't dying. [6-1] Setting her broken foot and ribs seems to go better; you find some hardy saplings and cut them, binding them as a splint. You aren't sure how good a job you've done. [4-1] Setting your own ribs is excruciatingly painful and you pass out. When you wake up, though, you think it worked. [6] After an hour she regains a sort of consciousness but is utterly delerious; you will have to drag her.
[2] You try to walk without much success; travel back down the pass will be slow. You grub as much dirt as you can and sprinkle it symbolically into the ravine and onto what is left of Darnell; you can't pack your comrades in clay, but you hope Ziamdaka will take pity on them anyway. You take a locket from Darnell for his family, but nothing remains of Tellard or Ardella. As proof of your journey of folly, you gouge a tusk from the jaw of each troll.
[2-2] After an age of scrabbling down the mountainside, a storm picks up. You feel ice in your bones, [5] but just as the storm starts to become fatally harsh you spot a cave nearby. You drag yourself and Tiakath in and start a fire, warming yourselves throughout the night. This proves fortunate, as come morning you find yourself feeling dizzy and feverish and find that Tiakath is suffering much the same. [1] Tending to yourself is difficult when you have another to care for, and you end up neglecting your own needs. You soon fall into a deep and dark sleep, troubled by dreams. [3] Tiakath's fever progresses, but under your care she seems to pull through. After three days she regains enough consciousness and awareness to feed herself strips of trail jerky and boil it on a fire to feed you broth. [2] Her care is less than ideal, though, and you remain plagued by fever.
[3] After three more days of clear weather, Tiakath tries to walk again but finds that her foot is setting improperly. All she can do is crawl, and so she crawls out in the hope of finding help. [4] After a day she comes upon a mountain goat, which she lures near and kills. She drags the carcass back and for the first time in a week you both eat relatively well. [3] Tiakath gains strength, [1] but you worsen. She has no choice but to venture out again, [1] and is caught in another storm. [5] She stumbles for an hour until against all odds she finds a hut built against the mountainside and drags herself in to rest. A day later she is found to her mutual surprise by a Haegar goat herder, returning with his flock. The pair of them return to the cave, [4] where you are hanging on by a thread to life.
[3] The Haegar proves better at caring for you than you did, but not by much. [3] It takes weeks, but the pair of you are slowly nursed back to a semblance of life. The goatherd takes everything of value you have as payment, but that is not much. You pointedly threaten him when he tries to take Darnell's locket, and explain why you have it - he understands and just takes your money instead. He leaves your weapons because he is not stupid - he presumes you could kill him just as well without them. [2] When it is time to leave, he makes you tell him where the troll bodies were so he can collect them in exchange for rations and supplies. It is not a fair trade, but you have little choice.
The pair of you eventually make it back to civilisation, but the adventure has left its scars on both of you.
Trent and Tiakath have both gained the title Trollslayer!
Trent returns to Northwatch with proof of his victory.
Trent bears a permanent scar beneath his chin and multiple scars on his ribs.
Trent will suffer breathing problems for the rest of his life.
The long fever has left Trent weakened, to the point where much of his hair has thinned or turned grey and he looks slightly emaciated.
Tiakath returns home to find 50 crowns in profits waiting for her at her inn.
Tiakath returns to Northwatch and is able to deliver a comprehensive report on Adderkeep. She still has the Haegar arrow she scavenged.
Tiakath will permanently have a slight limp as a result of her foot never quite healing properly.
Tiakath will permanently have a long scar on her ribcage and a short but deep one on her throat.
Trent gains 50 training points toward Archery I.
Tiakath gains 50 training points toward Throwing I.
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Topic: You are King III: Spring 938 AAL (Read 123998 times)