DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3R - Things that go Bump in the Night

Pavel

Pavel seeing the troll he ran across the stable to goo down eyes the other one a mere ten feet away. The creature is hurting after the onslaughts from the other adventurers in the stable with him. He attacks with both his blades still irked by the treatment the troll's buddy subjected him to.

Pavel Two Weapon fighting attack
Miales rolled 1d20+6,1d20+6 and got 24, 11

Striking out with both his blades his mainhand strike rings true. Meanwhile, his offhand arm barely touches the troll.

Pavel Damage
Miales rolled 1d8+3 and got 11

DM

Pavel's first strike is effective at dealing the final fatal damage to the troll, who collapses to the ground.

Perhaps Pavel's backhand strike was expecting a living target.

All the trolls are now dead, and the party has time to assess the damage and heal the wounded.

[OOC: Suspending initiative order. Roleplay at will! Note it's the middle of the night and you may not get a long rest; this may impact your plans for tomorrow and your use of hit points or healing spells. Related video.]

Zhu

As the last Troll collapses, she notes all of her companions are standing and so before doing anything else she walks thru the barn casting a fire cantrip on each Troll body to ensure they stay dead.

Kriv

Seeing Zhu doing the needful, the Dragonborn exited the stable, summoning the brightly glowing Glassstaff to hand and using it to highlight and illuminate the path the lumbering brutes had taken to the inn.

"I'm going to want at least one healer with me on the offchance. We need to see how these savages gained entry into the stockade in the first place. A change of guard is likely required." He spoke with commanding clarity and no small measure of grimness.

Aubric

"I'll accompany," Aubric tells Kriv, heading out past the now-dead trolls, "and can offer you some extra protection should you need it."

To the others, he comments, "Troll skin and blood are valuable to healers. Let the townspeople claim what they can."

Before departing the area, he offers a prayer to his deity for healing of Arus and Pavel.

Channel Divinity: Preserve Life
PHB, pg. 60

As an action, you can restore 35 HP. Choose any creatures within 30 ft. of you, and divide those hit points among them. This feature can restore a creature to no more than half of its hit point maximum. You can’t use this feature on an undead or a construct.

Arus receives 20 hp bringing him to 30/60. Pavel receives 8 hp bringing him to 23.

DM

Two of the trolls are clearly dead even before Zhu makes double-sure. But as time passes, all four of the trolls remain very dead.

The townspeople begin to approach cautiously, some of them having seen the excitement of the combat, others hearing about it as they arrive. A few scattered shouts of "Huzzah!" ring out.

Lily's mother appears, holding on to her daughter tightly, thankful tears in her eyes. She doesn't even know what to say to the adventurers, but simply nods respectfully toward them, her expression all the thanks they likely need.

Kriv: Roll Wisdom (Perception) to see how well you can find the Trolls' trail.

Inspiration Points

I want to award two players inspiration points for their performance in this scene.

Davroar for exceptional in-character roleplay. I had expected one of the healers having to save Lily, but when she rolled a 20 and fled, that became unnecessary. Still, Davroar spent an entire turn in combat pausing to assess her wounds and give her instructions on staying safe.

Zhu for creativity in using the "Spring" effect of Fey Step to teleport Bern to the balcony where he could take pot shots from safety.

DM

The trolls' trail is easy for Kriv to follow. They largely kept to the roads leading to the eastern gate, and from there northward into the forest.



The gate itself has clearly been forced open with violence, and the body of a guardsman lies nearby inside the gate, apparently the first victim of the attack. His sword is in his hand; he went down fighting.

Aubric Wisdom (Medicine) Check
AquaDyne rolled 1d20+7 and got 13

Aubric assesses the body. "Clawed to death," he says quietly.

Kriv

The Dragonborn took a moment to make a gesture of respect to the fallen guardsman. "He did his duty to the last, there are few better eulogies. A duty that still needs to be carried out, I'll hold this position until one of the locals relieves me, and there will need to be people sent to take him to his repose." He detailed, before standing in the breach, staff shining out into the darkness beyond, holding the line between civilization behind and untamed wilds before, as befit one with his allegiances.

"Best be done quickly," he added.

<Bern>

With the last troll dispatched, he puts up his bow and begins the climb down from his perch.

Once down, he adds what little healing he has to helping his companions.

Jaliera

Everyone seems to be alright but just to be sure.

"If anyone is really in need to healing, I have potions."

Her eyes are already looking around the stables to see if Meadow is alive.

Aubric

Taking a cue from Kriv, Aubric pauses a moment to offer prayers for the man's life, and then turns to return to the battle scene, intent on finding a guardsman or three to relieve Kriv.

DM

Jaliera's mount Meadow is safe. The victim horses were all from other travelers.

More and more townspeople arrive to observe the aftermath from a safe distance, the newer arrivals hearing the stories from the older ones. As expected, the tales sometimes grow in the retelling. A few children try to run forward to get a closer look at what's left of the trolls, but either their parents or a helpful neighbor intercepts them.

Tamalin Zoar, the inn owner, is among the earlier arrivals, observing from a respectful distance. A few well-armed men and women are near her, to which she appears to be giving orders. At least a few of them depart in various directions to complete the assigned tasks.

Aubric notes this group and approaches, gesturing toward the east gate and reporting what he found and Kriv's temporary post. One of the men near Tamalin nods curtly and immediately turns toward the crowd of townspeople, calling out some names.

Sindar

As the group's attention turned towards healing, his melodic tones became softer and more relaxing. His song turns to one to offer respite and rest, which will help the people recover from their exertions.

Song of Rest

Aubric

As Sindar sings a relaxing tone which will help Arus and Pavel heal more quickly after they rest, Aubric decides to contribute some of his own assistance to their recovery. And why not include the girl who first sounded the alarm, who's close enough for her mother to thank them all?

He positions himself within 60 feet of Lily, Arus, and Pavel, and then utters a powerful healing spell for all of them.

Mass Healing Word
3rd Level Evocation as 4th Level
PHB, pg. 258

As you call out words of restoration, up to six creatures of your choice that you can see within range regain hit points equal to 1d4 + your spellcasting ability modifier. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the healing increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 3rd.

Disciple of Life
PHB, pg. 60
Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore HP, the creature regains additional HP equal to 2 + the spell’s level.

Aubric Mass Healing Word
AquaDyne rolled 2d4+10 and got 16

Lily becomes completely healthy, and the two warrior "tanks" have a bit less pain to think about while they relax to Sindar's melodies.

(OOC: 16 + 6 = 22 HP for Pavel (now 45/47) and Arus (Now 52/60).)

DM

As the excitement of the moment dies down and the party moves into recovery mode, many of the townspeople return to their homes.

Some unlucky villagers will have a longer night, though.

The guards who were initially trying to keep two of the trolls distracted report that they were at the gate with the third guard who died, and detail the assault on the gate and their efforts to raise the alarm. They are permitted to go take care of burial rites for their companion, while a heavily armed detachment of ten is sent to guard the open gate until it can be repaired, thanking Kriv for standing in the gap until they relieve him.

The men and women around Tamalin Zoar come and go with various reports. One brings a quartet of townspeople, one of them the blood-covered butcher seen in the common room earlier, and two women pushing a cart. They approach the party and ask permission to gather what they can from the trolls to use for healing and other uses, "if yer not gonna use 'em, of course. You have first claim." In a town built on commerce, valuables like this are not quickly ignored.

Tamalin herself waits a respectful amount of time before approaching the party. As she had conversed with Sindar earlier, she addresses him. "I can not thank you all enough. Your stay here is free as long as you wish."

She pauses, pondering her next words a moment. "You deserve to rest, and the entire guard is on alert and double shifts. Please recover as you need but I would ask to visit with you in the morn to discuss more about... this." She waves a hand generally in the direction of the trolls. "And favors we may trade."

The rest of the night is mercifully uneventful.

OOC: I'll start a new thread for the morning. Feel free to wrap up anything else you'd like to do here in this thread.

Sindar

When his song is finished, and he has done what he can for his companions and the townspeople, he watches her approach on her terms. He learned long ago it was always better to allow situations to develop as they wanted to rather than force them, given the option.

He gave her a light bow of his head, more than a nod, but not enough to be considered even a light bow, but still a showing of respect.

"Thank you for your kind offer," he accepts graciously. "I will have to discuss with my companions what our plans are in light of this new incursion. I am sure that a couple would be interested in amicable trade. I am always willing to trade in knowledge," he adds, finishing with a smile.

<Bern>

His initial reply would not have been as 'eloquent' as Sindar's so it was probably a good thing that he replied first. He 'smiled' and 'nodded' his commitment to his partner's 'plan' ... at least for now.

Jaliera

She has her arms around Meadow's neck.

"Clever horse. Not calling attention to yourself."

She had wanted her own horse for a while. In some ways a status symbol for her. But her feelings for Meadow quickly surpassed this to a genuine affection.

Pavel

He looks down at the corpse and nudges it with his foot then leans back on one of the stable walls. Still hurting and nearly spent. The bards song washes over him invigorating him. Feeling like he just had a second wind he approaches the bodies calling out to the rest of the party members.

"Anyone know the going rate for troll's blood?"

Sindar

He frowned and shook his head. Though he understood the need to traffic in such things, he would prefer not to have to get dirty to make the coin. He could spend it on a better night's enjoyment.

Zhu

"No, but we need to harvest it, and the skin. We can probably use it for trading."

Aubric

The resident healing expert speaks up. "You can get about five vials of blood per troll, at about 5 gold each," he answers Pavel. "One of the ingredients in a potion of healing. I expect we could probably trade the vials for potions at no cost. Given that it's the middle of the night, that's about all I'm interested in taking the time for."

He continues. "Skin is less valuable, unless we have a use for that I'd leave that to the townsfolk. The heart is the most valuable part... if you can find a buyer for it."

A final shrug. "Or we can let the townspeople do the harvesting. I doubt they'll charge us much, if any, if we just leave them to do the work."

<Bern>

He sighed. While he would rather have avoided such, he knew that Zhu was right. He got his dagger our and went to work on the nearest corpse.