Continuing on from their journey, with their wounds mostly healed, the T&A Company make their way toward the Ruins of Dragonhold. As the sun is setting on the forth day they come across an area of sparse tree cover that would make a decent campsite. It is quickly revealed as unsafe and the hunting ground of a rough-green hide troll. The setting sun seems to be impairing the trolls vision, as it sniffs around for them. The T&A Company decide to try and flee, but are ambushed by a second troll coming around a large copse of trees.
Tirian and OX’s horses freak out, and bolt away into the woods with their riders. Arimar’s horse also bolts, but right between the trolls! He jumps free to try and hide in the tree and brush cover. Out of all of them, only Tannim manages to keep control of his horse.
While his horse is fleeing Tirian manages to get off a spell to conjure forth a cloud of fog to obscure their path, then rides off into the forest on his wild horse. Ox leaps from his horse as he sees Arimar get cut off from the rest, rushing in to try and help. The trolls close on them.
Arimar quickly runs behind the approaching trolls. A third troll appears, but grabs the fleeing horse and begins feasting. Arimar makes it to Tannim’s horse and hops onto the back, but the new rider upsets the horse and it bucks and starts to flee right toward the trolls! Tannim hops off when he is unable to control it, but Arimar uses the horse as cover, since it looks like they’ll have to fight, and hops off behind the two closing trolls.
The first troll nearly kills Tannim, while Arimar and Ox fight the second one. They cut and slash deep wounds that heal up almost as quickly as they are being delivered. Arimar’s dagger seems to be more effective thanks to it’s corrosive acid enchantment. Tirian finally knocks out his horse with a punch before running to join the others, arriving to find most of the party almost dead. He charges in on the troll fighting Tannim to try and distract it. Tirian makes himself invisible with a scroll and uses another scroll to haste the party.
Arimar and Ox down their troll, with Arimar taking the time to finish it off with his corrosive dagger, Ox moving to help Tannim and Tirian with the other troll. The third troll by now has disappeared, moving somewhere unseen behind the trees. The haste proves to be a valuable boon, allowing the party to dispatch the second troll much more quickly than the first.
With the party just catching their breath the third troll appears around the trees, pulling out a massive crossbow. Ox rushes it to prevent it from getting a shot off. It drops it’s weapon and mauls him, nearly killing him in one trio of attacks, leaving him bleeding and unconscious on the ground. Arimar runs over to the fog cloud to gain cover, sneaking into the trees to try and recover the fallen Ox.
The troll, stuffed from the horses it had killed wanders away as the others put some distance between them. Tannim using a scroll of fly to get some distance before circling around and picking up the other two.
All of them are nearly dead, quaffing potions, out of spells and using their wands to heal themselves. Tannim says “These ruins better be worth all of this.”
The party holds up deeper in the woods, away from the road. Spending a whole day recovering from the last battle. If this is just the road, what awaits them inside of the legendary cursed Ruins of Dragonhold?
Characters: Arimar, Tannim, Tirian, Ox
Experience Rewards: (Each)
Trolls: 1200 XP
Treasure:
None, but much was used.