North to Kalsgard

The party awoke still hardly believing what they had learned yesterday. Their friend, Ameiko Kaijitsu, who they’d always known as a somewhat rowdy former adventurer and innkeeper, was, in fact, the last surviving heir to the Jade Throne of Minkai! They were now setting off for the city of Kalsgard, deep in the Land of the Linnorm Kings, to help her recover her family’s ancestral sword and possibly secure passage across the Crown of the World to the fabled Empire of Minkai!

Sandru’s caravan trundled off for the north with two new passengers. When Kelda Oxgutter learned the party’s destination was Kalsgard, she asked them if she could accompany them back to her home, and promised a reward for her rescue when they arrived. Spivey had also shyly approached Marie. “I have spent decades caring for the cemetery of Brinewall Village, but it’s better to protect the living than the dead. I feel drawn to travel with you for some reason, as if it is Desna’s will.” Marie looked at her oddly and opened her mouth as if to speak, but then paused and her thought went unspoken. Instead, she simply nodded. “We would be delighted with your company,” was all she said.

The party traveled north through uncharted (at least for them) territory. Sandru had never led a caravan this far north, beyond the borders of Varisia, and even Brinewall had been farther north than any of them had ever traveled. They passed through a broad plain beyond the northwestern-most reaches of the Kodar Mountains. The sky was overcast most days, and the nights were damp and cold. They built the fire a little larger each night, trying to chase away the chill.

Several days after they left Brinewall, a dense fog rolled in around sunset. By the time they’d finished supper, it was difficult to see the wagons on the opposite side of the encampment, despite a roaring fire. They set watches, as they always did, and everyone settled in for another chilly sleep.

Sometime after midnight, in the midst of the second watch, Shinjiro’s sharp ears picked up a sound that shouldn’t be there. It sounded as if something were moving boxes in one of the wagons. He quietly alerted Bella, who was also on watch, and they crept around opposite ends of the wagon. There they surprised a band of brigands, who had snuck up to the camp using the fog as cover, and were stealthily unloading crates from one of the wagons. Bella shouted an alert, and she and Shinjiro leaped to the attack. Shinjiro quickly dropped one thug with a flurry of blows, but one of the others tossed a small sack at him. It burst as it struck, unleashing a glob of tar, resin, and other sticky substances that coated the monk and then became tough and resilient upon exposure to air, thoroughly entangling him. Another of the thieves tossed a small clay sphere over the wagon towards the fire. It burst with a deafening bang that left Kelda completely deafened, and dispelled any possibility that any of the party might still be sleeping.

As they struggled out of their bedrolls, the party found their ability to counterattack limited by the thick fog. Nicki spotted a dim figure off in the mist, and summoned a Flaming Sphere to roll in its direction. Luckily, it was one of the brigands, and he was soon blazing brightly, providing some much-needed additional illumination. Sandru leaped atop one of the wagons, furious that anyone would try to steal from his caravan. He fired off a quick shot from his shortbow, and despite the poor visibility buried his arrow directly in the eye of one of the thieves. Then he leaped down and charged another, slicing his head clean off with a single blow of his sword. But before the enraged caravan master could do any more damage, one of the remaining brigands hit him with one of the Tanglefoot Bags, and he found his feet firmly glued to the ground.

The brigands realized they were overmatched, and tried to flee. Spivey flew after one, and cast a Confusion spell on it, and it stood there babbling incoherently until Bella arrived to finish it off. Sandoval and Zhustin chased down the last fleeing thief, and he too fell to their blades. Shinjiro and Sandru managed to scrape the goo off of themselves, and Sandru spent the rest of a sleepless night patrolling around the caravan.

The next several days passed uneventfully, although there was no break in the weather. The plains gave way to the eaves of the Grungir Forest. A cold drizzle started falling before dawn, ensuring everyone was cold and miserable. The thick overhanging branches only blocked out light without seeming to do anything to lessen the rainfall.

Moss Troll

Suddenly, three enormous creatures dropped down from the upper canopy, grasping the lower branches and swinging from tree to tree with ease. They seemed to be covered with moss and bits of foliage, and had long toothy snouts and incredibly long arms ending in razor sharp claws. Marie thought they looked like some species of troll, but there was little time for classification as the creatures swung to the attack. Their freakishly long arms allowed them to swipe at people on the ground without coming down into melee range.

One was attacking Sandoval, and although he, Sawyer, and Sandru were peppering it with arrows, its wounds seemed to be healing right before their eyes. Another swung at Nicki. He knew that fire was the best way to deal with trolls, so he summoned another of his Flaming Spheres; it rolled to the trunk of the moss troll’s tree, then bounced up into the air. It failed to burn the beast, but the troll seemed terrified of the flames. Screeching, it swung through the branches to the opposite side of the road. Unfortunately, Nicki couldn’t send the sphere after it without torching one of the wagons or Marie, so he reluctantly dismissed it.

The third troll took a swing at Zhustin, who responded by zapping it with a Color Spray, stunning and blinding it for several rounds and taking it out of the fight. The troll attacking Sandoval also seemed unnerved by Nicki’s flames, and it leaped farther north, away from the flames, and then attacked Koya. The old woman tumbled off her wagon seat and cowered beneath the wagon. Sawyer hit it with another arrow, and the troll tumbled to the ground, apparently dead.

The troll that had fled Nicki’s fire now was attacking Bella. The rogue took a cue from the brigands who had attacked a few nights before, and flung one of their Tanglefoot Bags at the beast, who found itself glued to the tree. She followed up with one of her flasks of Alchemist’s Fire, and Zhustin helped out with an Acid Dart, and the creature was soon a smouldering lump glued to the branches.

But before the party could relax, the troll that Sawyer thought he’d killed stood back up! Apparently it’s regeneration continued even after it was “dead”. However, now it was a target on the ground, and Kelda gleefully charged, bloodlust in her eyes. Half the party was splattered with troll’s blood by her blow, and the troll didn’t get up again. That just left the stunned troll, and he didn’t stand a chance. Sandoval used his Wand of Scorching Ray to finish him off.

The party searched the trolls, but although they were clad in crude (and now badly burned) clothing and wore simple bone necklaces, they had no other possessions. But the mere fact that they had clothing at all made the party wonder if they might have a lair nearby. Since Spivey could fly, she was sent out to scout the nearby vicinity.

The PCs earned 772 XP for their exploits, and are now 10,084 XP, with 15,000 required for level 5. We’ll be at Leo’s next week.