Home > Campaigns > Book 5, Chapter 9 - Danger and Confusion
Danger and Confusion
Over the hill, there was indeed a cave. Mical informed us that the tracks belonged to trolls, but we didn't need to be told. We could just spot a crowd of trolls carrying the boy over their heads. They entered the cave, and three came back out. They picked up something from the ground and ate it. In ten minutes, a giant shaman emerged from the cave. It wore feathers in its hair and a medallion around its neck, and was holding Boebil upside down by one leg, shaking him. Six trolls followed him out and tried to grab the boy.
The giant and trolls shouted at each other, but we could not understand what was said. The giant finally pointed at the sun, then at the eastern horizon, and tossed Boebil to the trolls. They caught him and carried him back into the cave. The giant followed them back in. Every so often, other groups of three trolls came out, apparently to guard. Two different giants also stepped out.
It was getting dark and desperate. We were about to approach, when the chief giant and five trolls came out with torches. (Trolls with torches! Never thought I'd see that.) They disappeared into a tunnel, so we chose that moment to go. Halfway there, I snapped a branch underfoot, oops. One of the trolls began to advance toward me. Everyone else dropped to the ground and held still, while I rolled behind a tree. It was still coming, along with its two buddies, so I quaffed a 'polymorph self' potion. With a blue flash of light, I transformed into a troll just as ugly as any in existence.
Lyra cast 'faerie fire' on them just as I stumbled out as if I were injured. I moaned, and fell in front of the nearest one. Lagasse and Lyra shot and killed one of them, lending credence to my act. The remaining two looked at me and decided I wasn't worth helping, then ran toward Lyra. Mical cast 'prayer' and everyone got clawed or bitten. They successfully killed one and battled the last one. Just as they killed it, the first dead one got back up. It clawed Lyra twice, then another one of them finished regenerating. Lagasse swung at it, hard, and missed. His sword went deep into Mical's side, who fell and was barely breathing. The last one rose as well, and bit Lyra. She was nearly dead, too.
I didn't know how poorly the fight was going at the time because I had decided to walk into the cave as if I belonged there. I tried to act grumpy, so no troll would try to speak to me, since I wouldn't understand anyway. There was a large fire in the cave, and beds. Boebil was huddled in a big cage opposite the fire. One troll sat near the cage door. Past the cage was another area with three monstrous beds, and two giants.
I made it to the cage, but it was locked with a rusty lock. I struggled to quietly pick it in my unfamiliar form. Troll claws are good for lock picking, I soon discovered. I reached in to grab Boebil, trying to reassure him that I wasn't really a troll. I suppose he was too frightened to listen. He dove past my legs and disappeared into a crack in the wall. Just then, the giants and other troll looked at me. They stood and approached me, so I acted like I was chasing the boy. I changed into a mouse midstride and ran into the crack.
Meanwhile, Lagasse had just somehow killed the last of the three trolls when an even larger group of trolls arrived, accompanied by the shaman giant. He poured oil on the three dead trolls, then he, Lyra, and Mical ran as fast as they were able. When the giant reached the dead trolls, Mical heaved some oil of fiery burning at it. The giant burst into flames and the dead trolls turned to ash.
The burning giant still ran toward them, followed by five of the trolls. Mical ran toward and into the cave, holding his side. He saw the troll and two giants peering at a crack on the back wall, and charged past them into it before they could react. Lagasse and Lyra ran the opposite direction, and kept running until no one chased them.
Inside the cave, I squeezed through twists, turns, and narrow areas until I reached a vast cavern. I changed into my normal form and followed the stream running along the side. Boebil was not there. Over the roar of falling water ahead, I heard someone enter the cavern behind me. Mical! I gave him the healing potions I had and found out what had happened outside. He was angry with the others, calling them cowards for running away. I think he was just delirious from blood loss, since I doubt we could defeat three giants and a bunch of trolls.
We followed the stream to a hole in the southeast, where it seemed to drop to a lower level. I cast 'levitate' and Mical held onto my legs. We lowered into the water slowly. It pulled us along into the hole, and almost immediately we found ourselves floating above a pool of water with the falls behind us. Another stream flowed from the lake presumably out of the cave. Mical, still hanging from my legs, spotted the boy, all wet, standing on the shore.
We called to him and he seemed glad to see us. I tied a piton to a rope and tossed it to him. He pulled us to the shore, then we lowered to the ground. Mical's armor would have drowned him had we dropped in the water. Mical examined Boebil and pronounced him healthy. Other than an abiding hatred for trolls, he would be fine.
