The cast of Part 11:
- Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
- Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
- Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
- Alisandra, the rough edged human bard and former soldier recently arrived from the far north.
- Jinx, a gnome inventor willing to engage in adventure to fund her researches.
- Lorrain Greenleaf, an elvish wizard looking for puzzles and adventure. Three Elk's player's new character.
- Heldig One-Thumb, a dwarven forge-priest with almost as much jewelry as Rissa.
Recap Part 11, the bulk of Into the Deep Dark and the beginning of Perils of the Underdark:
Back in Milborne, the party mourned the loss of Three-Elks as best they could, but also set about making their preparations for a return below. Old Grizzler introduced the group to his newest acquaintance: a dwarven forge-priest named Heldig who was interested in joining their next expedition. When reliving the tale of what had happened became too much for her, Alisandra stepped outside where she encountered the elven wizard Lorrain Greenleaf. Both adventurers were quickly convinced to join the party. Before turning in for the evening, Lucien made a report of matters to Garyld and asked him to inform Kuiper as well. Lucien also passed along one of the mysterious silvered flasks to be given to Tauster for identification. With various matters handled in town, the party turned in to get at least one night's rest in comfortable beds before returning to their adventure.
Before setting out on the return trip, the group discussed how to be more strategic in their approach to dealing with the trolls. Many tactics were suggested and the group also agreed that Alisandra should lead during the battle, directing their attacks and calling the retreat if necessary. Lorrain also mentioned that, with some time to prepare, he could fashion some scrolls to help in the coming battles. While the wizard worked, Lucien paid a visit to Master Carman to see what he could learn about the history of the mines. He learned that the mine became unprofitable and has been closed and unused for 60 years. He also learned that the mines were made by linking a series of natural caverns, but that no one had been aware the caverns went so deep or so far. The two other mines in the area had reported no strange activity or disappearances. As Lorrain continued to work, some of the party traveled to Eelhold to check on Shiraz and the goblins. The warning about the threat to spellcasters was passed to her during the visit, but she reported nothing strange, only that things seemed to be going well with the goblins.
Once everyone is gathered together again, the party departed back to the tunnels through the Garlstone Mines. Though the passage through the upper parts of the mines and then the orc tunnels was uneventful, the party was attacked by Quaggoths before they reached the troll tunnels. The beasts proved no match for the group and after they were defeated, the party reached the entrance to the troll tunnels without further incident where they decided to rest and plan. Rissa produced her magical shrinking cottage. The party collected equipment they had stored within and Lorrain set to work on another scroll. Alisandra revealed her plan for fighting the trolls and everyone made various suggestions to enhance it. Once the plan was set, the group rested while Lucien's familiar scouted the path ahead.
Two trolls were waiting for them at a junction in the tunnels so the party prepared their trap at a narrow point. However, when Alisandra blew her horn to try and summon the trolls into the trap, they did not take the bait. After some discussion and expressed concern about the apparent intelligence of the trolls, it was decided to reset the trap closer to the tunnel junction. Closer to the trolls, Lucien used his cloak to fly in and bait them, but this was barely more effective than the horn. At the junction there were now nine trolls waiting for the party. Rissa used her staff to cut two of them off from the rest and the battle was joined. In the fight that followed, the group managed to defeat four trolls before deciding to retreat under cover of an ice wall from Rissa's staff.
During the retreat to a place where they could camp and recuperate, further discussion was had about how intelligent the trolls seemed to be and Heldig revealed more of what he knew about the Illithids. Once back at camp, Lorrain summoned his familiar as a spider and he and Lucien coordinated to have their two familiars scout the area behind the junction the trolls were guarding. When the familiars returned, they brought devastating news. The party faced not just the five remaining trolls they had failed to defeat in the previous battle, but an entire tribe of trolls; nearly seventy of the beasts including small ones and a two headed leader. This revelation was an understandable shock to the group so they decided to head back and confer with the deep gnomes before continuing the assault.
When they found Carmeneren, Priestess of Callarduran Smoothhands, and her fellow gnomes again, the gnome priestess confirmed that she intended for the party to defeat the entire tribe since forty trolls were nothing compared to the Illithids. There was some debate with the gnomes, but ultimately, the party decided to continue the fight and headed back towards the troll caves before resting. During the march, Rissa, Lucien, and Alisandra had a brief heart to heart regarding Rissa's increasing attachment to the staff and her feelings of inadequacy. When they stopped to rest, the familiars were sent to scout again and reported the trolls did not appear to have changed their disposition.
The next attack against two trolls guarding the junction ended quickly when they fled despite an attempt to block them Rissa's ice wall. Pausing in the junction, familiars were sent out to scout, but before they returned the party was set upon by two more trolls who they managed to defeat. After a brief rest, the party decided to try and engage the remaining trolls in the main tunnel, including the two-headed leader. Lucien went forward and laid a trap just beyond where the trolls waited, the used his familiar to tell the rest of the group to advance. After a fierce battle, they managed to defeat all six trolls. This victory prompted the group to fall back and rest before continuing the attack. The next 'day' they scouted the tunnels again before resuming their attack. They took on the first of two groups of two trolls guarding a router to the rest first. Next they went down a side passage and took care of 40 troglodytes that appeared to be some kind of prisoners or servants to the trolls. With a combination of a cone of cold, flaming spheres, and another of Lucien's traps, they managed it. They found a great pile of treasure in the cavern, but also discovered their way out was blocked by two trolls. They left the treasure, defeated the two trolls, and decided to fall back and rest.
After a rest, the party went about finishing off the remaining trolls. Two more troll guards were handled easily and they detoured briefly to collect the treasure from the troglodytes cavern. Though they managed to take out the next group of four trolls, it took a heavy toll on the group so they took a short respite before proceeding. The next group they fought contained six trolls, but half retreated to stay near a pool of water allowing them to be fought in two groups of three. Another pile of treasure was loaded into Rissa's cottage before the group agree to retreat to safety and rest one final time before fighting the final group of trolls. The fight against the final group of seven trolls was finally won with a prodigious application of magic. The party spent some time collecting treasure including recovering Three-Elks effects, before leaving to try and find the deep gnomes.
End Part 12.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Sat 30 Sept 2023.