Our Heroes:
- Sir Kentor (Human Paladin) played by Paladin Steve
- Sir Lantor (Human Fighter) played by Boom Gun Brandon
- The Mighty Xyzzifax (Human-ish Wizard) played by Blaster
- Braeden (Human Ranger) played by Battletech Terry
- Malice (Human Bard) played by Grognard Mike
- Samson (Halfling Mechanist) played by Shootist Will
- Jaric (Human Cleric) played by Variable David
The party is level 5-6 at this point. This account is mainly written by Malice. Full crew this time! We begin on Day 74 of the campaign.
We begin by looting the bodies. The high priest has +2 chainmail, a +1 shield, and a +2 warhammer. Amongst all of them, we find a total of 300 gp. While we’re looking into all of this, Sir Kentor gives the boots of Striding and Springing back to the party. The assistant priest has a mace with a ruby worth 1000gp in the hilt of the mace. The high priest’s holy symbol is gold and set with a ruby worth 2500 gp. He has three spell scrolls – dispel magic, and tongues – which Xyzzifax takes, and Flame Strike, which Jaric takes. Malice recommends that Samson looks, but not touches, the altar looking for hidden compartments. It turns out, his goggles allow him to see through some of the stone, so he’s able to tell that the cauldrons off to the sides have a magical liquid within them. The altar itself is magical. And, the great tube bell is magical. Even the fire pit is magical. And, it looks like there’s something buried beneath the coals.
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| I mean, we all knew it was coming ... |
Xyzzifax “borrows” a rope from Braedon, and strings up the high priest. And he spells in chalk on the ceiling “This is the fate of all who oppose Lord Xyzzifax”. Then, we pull out, planning on getting to the tower where we can rest.
More taunting ...
On our way back, the passage is blocked by Carrion Crawlers. Braedon shoots, and the Sir Lantor charges, and the first is killed. And then, Xyzzifax uses one of the two fireballs left in the wand, and all of them are injured – but none are seriously injured, much less killed. Sir Kentor moves up, pressing even further into the room of beasts, and begins slashing with Zwei. Malice moves up to behind Sir Lantor, and flings a firebolt at the most dangerous of them. Then, they mostly mob Sir Kentor, who is like a living avatar of a turtle. So many of them attempt to strike, but he defends against all of them. Then, one stretches its tentacles, and lashes out at Sir Lantor. The slime is a contact poison, but it doesn’t seem to do much.
Braedon fires again, hitting the fattest of them. Sir Lantor fights in, slashing at the one that struck him. One of the swings only hits by pure luck, and it scuttles back from the second strike. And, Xyzzifax hits the group of them with a second fireball. When the smoke clears, there is only a pair of them left, one in bad shape, and the other not so harmed. Sir Kentor withdraws from the least wounded, and he drives Zwei through the terribly wounded one, slaying it, before returning his attention to the last of the crawlers. The two clash as Malice fires a firebolt, but the beast still stands. Braedon puts a pair of arrows into the last one, and though it still is moving, that only invites the final strike from Sir Lantor to kill it.
We finally make it back to the tower, and tend to our wounds. When we get there, we find that Jaric and Samson had returned, and were waiting for us. And, after we rest, we partake in the storytelling and Sir Kentor’s chili, as has become our tradition. And then, we make our way back into the dungeon. Malice lets the Valiant Swords know that this day the Wand of Binding will not be able to cast Greater Hold. Braeden takes a pair of holy waters from our party’s stash.
We make our way to the long tunnel that goes south around the Water Temple and Fire Temple, intent on checking the rooms that Bubo could not search. There are a few rooms with noises coming out of them, and Bubo does not press its luck. As we move to where we can see past a wide part in a passage, we spy a pair of trolls. Samson takes a pot shot, throwing his javelin that darts around the troll. It takes a step back, letting the wall take the hit, and then charges the front line, followed by another that sprints past the front line – taking a blow from Sir Lantor’s long blade – as it rushes towards the other noise that Bubo heard.
Sir Kentor lunges at the troll, but he is able to parry the blow. This leaves it open for Sir Lantor to be able to hit with a mighty slash. Braeden shoots at the troll that had engaged the knights, and after the arrows hit, the troll is finally showing signs of his wounds. Xyzzifax blasts with a firebolt, as Jaric hits with the staff of striking. Then, Sir Kentor ignites the flametongue that he attuned in the Tower. And with that, the troll is slain! Malice steps to just behind the front line, and firebolts the fleeting one.
Samson rushes past the front line, and fires twice with his crossbow. Only one of the shots hits, and though he was trying to pin the creature’s foot to the ground. Though the shot hits the beast’s foot, it doesn’t slow it down. The troll calls out, and we hear more movement coming our way. Then, from behind the first trolls that rushed us, another pair of trolls charge – one of them even larger and uglier than the rest – and female! Samson, having put himself in front is clawed by the troll. Then, from down the hall, an owlbear charges Samson. The little halfling is in bad shape, and the owlbear is bearhugging him. Then, it tries to snap the halfling’s head completely off. It doesn’t succeed, but Samson most certainly can’t take much more of that.
Sir Lantor closes with the biggest troll, but it simply bats the greatsword aside, but he does manage to hit with a lucky backswing. Then, he spies an opening and takes it, slashing an additional time. Braedon shoots the owlbear, and my that thing is large. But that just gives the ranger more area to work with, one of the arrows is just a vicious hit. As the trolls and owlbear are clumped, he hits them with a fireball from the wand. The owlbear is really showing the damage, as is the largest of the trolls. The female, troll, though, weathers the blast – at least as well as a troll can. Jaric closes with the owlbear, and crushes its skull with the staff of striking. Then, Jaric hurries to the end of the hall, so that he can watch for what the fleeing troll might have been up to. But, the chief reaches out, and slams the cleric as he rushes by. Sir Kentor moves where he can protect Samson, and slash at the troll chief. Malice saunters to the line of combat, and with a few words of the black speech, many of his wounds heal.
Samson takes care as he withdraws from the front line, falling all the way back to Xyzzifax’s side. We hear roaring coming from where the troll fled, and Jaric can see the hydra as it is coming around the corner. The troll chief tries to push Sir Lantor back, and Sir Kentor keeps him from being hit. Then, Sir Lantor cleaves into the large troll, but it is still standing! Braedon puts an arrow into him, and that is finally enough for the huge troll to fall. Then he shoots the female troll, and leaves her not looking well, too. Xyzzifax throws a fireball into the room, and its a really effective placement. Jaric then gives ground before the hydra even gets close, and closes with the female troll, laying into her with the staff of striking, killing her. Xyzzifax gives tactical analysis that we likely have just a few seconds before the hydra arrives, so Sir Kentor charges the last of the trolls we can see. The flametongue does its job most grievously. Malice almost lazily walks where she can fling a firebolt at the troll, and then backs away from the potential fight.
Samson repositions himself, readying for the Hydra. He jams the javelin into the ground, clearly attempting to make a makeshift trap. Meanwhile, Sir Kentor manages to keep the troll at bay for most of the blows, but the repeated pummeling is enough to painfully wrench the paladin’s wrist. The hydra comes around the corner, and exhales a sizable cloud of poison. Only Jaric is within it, and he is coughing up blood within mere moments. The troll that fled comes back into sight behind the hydra. And, another troll lumbers through the door, and pushes Sir Kentor’s shield out of the way and bites him! That’s just mean!
Sir Lantor charges the hydra. The hydra previously had five heads before the swirling melee, and for the moment he has cut one of them off. And then he punches the stump, and takes another swipe as well. Braedon marks the hydra, and arrows fly down range. A second head is killed. Xyzzifax steps into where he can see the Hydra and Troll, and hits them with a slow. Jaric speaks words of healing, and his own wounds close. Then, he engages the wounded troll, killing it handily. Sir Kentor didn’t even need to take a step to be able to swing at the most recently arriving troll, and a pair of slashes are easily landed. Malice throws a lightning bolt, striking the hydra and the troll. The hydra loses another head in all of that. Then, Samson moves up, and grabs the javelin that was part of the trap that never sprung, and throws it into the hydra.
Malice was hoping that the lightning bolt was going to keep the heads from regenerating, but there was no such luck. The hydra’s severed head spewed blood and gore all over Sir Lantor. Malice speaks a black word, and Sir Lantor is only disgusting, rather than suffering any conditions from it. Three heads were slain, and six more grow in its place. The mass of them all snap and tear at Sir Lantor. Though he takes some hits, he’s not in nearly the terrible shape that we’ve seen him in before. The troll tries to bite Sir Kentor’s shield, then claws at him, but these attacks aren’t effective. The troll from behind the hydra comes around to where he can fight almost side to side with it, and slashes deeply into the fighter. Sir Lantor goes to work on the Hydra, cutting off a pair of heads. Braeden puts more arrows into the hydra as well, and there are only five living heads when the ranger has done his work. Xyzzifax attempts once again to slow the Hydra – and the beast still stubbornly resists. The troll remains slowed, however. Jaric slams the troll that is next to him and Sir Kentor, and for once a creature that the staff of striking blasts survives the experience. Sir Kentor drives the flametongue into the troll, and even that is not enough to end the thing. Malice calls out for the line to reform, and her magical healing begins to wrap each of her companions. Samson dashes to where he can see the troll, and throws the spear into the troll, killing it.
The Hydra clatters forward, and the heads rear back and so much poison fills the hallway. Sir Lantor and Jaric both fall, while Braedon and Samson are both in terrible shape. Then, his slain heads double, and it is now up to eleven heads. The troll concentrates, and says a prayer to the dark elemental gods, and surprisingly, they perhaps answer him – for it is freed of the slow. In response, Xyzzifax casts slow again – this time finally catching both the hydra and the troll, who groans as the magic hits him again. Braeden casts a cure on Jaric, who stands and casts a heal on himself and everybody else as he washes the battlefield with a mass healing. Samson, Jaric, and Braedon are looking much better, and Sir Lantor is awake again. Finally, Jaric moves up to Sir Lantor and casts an additional cure on him. Sir Kentor judges the foul creature from the depths of hell, and drives the flametongue into the huge beast. Malice calls forth a shatter spell, knocking both the troll and the hydra around. Malice’s healing power continues to close some of Samson’s wounds as he throws the javelins at the hydra, hoping to fell the beast once and for all. And success! The javelin drives in and out of it, and the hydra is slain. And then, Samson feeds Sir Lantor a potion.
The troll retreats… very slowly. But, the spell comes to an end once more. Sir Lantor climbs to his feet, and Malice’s magic has him looking in much better shape. Sir Lantor activates his magical wings, and he flies after the fleeing troll. Braedon dashes after the troll, and Xyzzifax gives charge as well, and flings a firebolt at him – but the troll manages to dodge. Jaric races forward, and calls forth a sacred flame, and this one hits! Sir Kentor gets into chase as well, and then makes good use of the misty step to be able to close and attack the troll. But the troll’s luck holds, and he is able to stay just a few steps ahead, and out of the flametongue’s range. Malice runs as well, with Samson close on her heels, and then he pulls ahead of her right at the end.
The troll flees again, but giving his back to Sir Kentor just means that the paladin is able to slash his back. Then, Sir Lantor flies all the way to the troll, and Braedon catches up with a misty step of his own. A pair of shots fly at the troll, and that is enough to finish things. Braedon’s arrows are enough to have put an end to both the troll and the chase. We double back to check out the room that the troll chieftain came out of. All we’re able to find of note in the first room of trolls is a leather bag with some coinage. The troll chief’s room is decorated, if it can be called that, with bone and feces. In the room, we find a potion of superior healing that Sir Lantor takes. And, looking at the chieftain himself, he had a gold and jeweled necklace worth 5000 gold. Then we make our way back to the Tower.
DM Notes
This was a pretty hairy fight even with the whole party present. This was 6 trolls (including the chief and his wife), an owlbear, and a hydra, many of which were active at the same time. Troll regeneration is one of those rules that looks impactful at first and then once you get into an actual game it's really a non-factor. They are still mean brutes though. Then there is the hydra ...
This was a somewhat spread-out fight so I was having to keep close track of where the fire damage was being inflicted but you can see how this can get interesting.
Then there is this additional escalation. You're not going to run away from these without taking some shots. It also has a recharge breath weapon that does poison damage and then a bonus action if it is down heads that inflicts incapacitation and the poisoned condition as well. It's a nasty beast and I really like they leaned into the classic mythological "hydra poison" as a signature of this creature.
They did win in the end but they had to work for it. This is a guarded point to some deeper parts of the dungeon and all of these creatures are guards/guard dogs so it's meant to be tough.
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