Iron Crisis Part 2 (IC)

[Amnestic]

"I think Melian's right, either we all go in together or we all stay out. There's gotta be too much risk if we split." Vala asserts, concern about splitting writ quite clearly on her face. Deception doesn't seem to be one of her great strong suits either, at least when it's not in song-form. "Strength in numbers and all that, right?"

"I think you all stand ou' yeah, but s'long as you're good a' making money they'll probably overlook it." Loog says relatively noncommittally. "Doubt you could pass for a guy with a quick haircut, they'd sniff you ou' in a second. Tol' you to rough me up, you wouldn' do it, so why'd you wanna listen to me now? I'll be slippin' out first chance I get. Wha'ever yer after, I don' wanna be 'round when they find out. Gettin' you in I can do, maybe, but outside of tha' you're on your own." He lapses into quiet as your progression through the woods continues. Rather than following any specific trail, Loog (bound), points you instead in a single cardinal direction, using the sun to make sure you're staying on track. It's a north-easterly pattern, not quite along the trail you followed yesterday but instead heading on what he asserts is the shortest path to pick up the camp trail. From what you can tell, he's not lying, and the direction does make sense from the patterns you saw back at the emptied site you were teleported to.

Squeezing around trees and over logs it's no more than an hour into your journey when you hear a slobbering sound up ahead. The sound of gnashing teeth chewing, of drool and juices falling down faces, of bones crunching in jaws. It stops, quite suddenly, as they hear you - the carts wheels, the snapping of boot on twig, the scuff of clothes against branches and leaves. Through the undergrowth your two sides lock eyes. You, a bunch of delicious looking morsels to add to their feast. Them, three trolls with red blood matting their moss green faces, spackling their rubbery skin. Clutched in their taloned grips are chunks of flesh with clear bitemarks. One is simply holding a human arm, dangling on its own. They were crouching before but at the arrival of new sounds and smells they stand up to their full nine feet in height, even with a severe hunch to their spine. They drop what they're holding, leaving their long gangling arms free to reach out and take hold of their next, fresh meal.

Spoiler: Map

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Attacking from range at more than 10' away will give them half cover. Attacking at more than 20' away will give them 3/4 cover. In both cases, this is because of the dense trees.

Before you go throwing any fireballs, be aware of the potential to cause forest fire (only you can prevent them). It's very hot, and therefore very dry, and the trees are very close together. Fire-based AoE may have unintended consequences!

Spoiler: Cover Stuff

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Walls, trees, creatures, and other obstacles can provide cover during combat, making a target more difficult to harm. A target can benefit from cover only when an attack or other effect originates on the opposite side of the cover.
There are three degrees of cover. If a target is behind multiple sources of cover, only the most protective degree of cover applies; the degrees aren't added together. For example, if a target is behind a creature that gives half cover and a tree trunk that gives three-quarters cover, the target has three-quarters cover.
A target with half cover has a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. A target has half cover if an obstacle blocks at least half of its body. The obstacle might be a low wall, a large piece of furniture, a narrow tree trunk, or a creature, whether that creature is an enemy or a friend.
A target with three-quarters cover has a +5 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. A target has three-quarters cover if about three-quarters of it is covered by an obstacle. The obstacle might be a portcullis, an arrow slit, or a thick tree trunk.
A target with total cover can't be targeted directly by an attack or a spell, although some spells can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect. A target has total cover if it is completely concealed by an obstacle.

Loog is still bound, armourless and weaponless so he won't be fighting. You may want to make sure someone keeps an eye on him though, either because of trolls or in case he decides to try something... He will act on Vala's initiative.

Turn order is Senna/Melian, Enemies, then everyone.

Spoiler: Troll Nature DC

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Spoiler: DC0

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Those are some BIG goblins.

Spoiler: DC5

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An 'uncivlised' species that is incredibly widespread despite having no common grouping, they can be found in various forms/subspecies across all biomes. Their primary weapons are sharp claws and sharper teeth, and they can be surprisingly agile for such tall, gangly creatures. They average 8-10' when fully grown and often sport large noses that have exceptional smelling capabilities. Very rarely do trolls live together, sometimes grouping together under a shaman or warlord, but these groups rarely number more than 20 and often fall apart from infighting.

Spoiler: DC10

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Trolls are known for their incredible regenerative powers, being able to heal from wounds that would be 100% fatal to any other creature. This regeneration is hindered however by acidic substances (magical or otherwise) and fire, which cauterises the wounds and prevents regeneration. Some troll subspecies are more or less vulnerable to one or the other (arctic trolls are more susceptible to fire than acid) however forest trolls like the kind you're encountering here are roughly equal.

They usually speak their own language (commonly known as 'troll') but it's less of a unique language and more a guttural mix of a few tongues - giant, orcish, common and goblin being the most common ones, though it can vary by region. They're extremely aggressive, and extremely ravenous.

Spoiler: DC15

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It's said that even beheading a troll is insufficient to overcome their regeneration. Professor Jowd of Waterdeep once bisected a troll down the middle as part of an experiment, and the result was that the regeneration created two, separate trolls - effectively cloning the original.

Because of this, and a troll's dangerous nature, troll blood is a quite expensive, sought after ingredient. It's often used in alchemical formulas for potions, poisons, antidotes and more. It's an infrequent spell component. The flipside is that con artists and tricksters will sell people fake 'troll blood' as a cure-all. A vial of authentic, preserved troll blood can be sold in the range of 300-500 gold pieces, depending on its quality. Dilute troll blood or aged specimens sell for lesser amounts. It's not the sort of thing that can be sold casually however, and usually troll blood is more of a "purchased to order", with groups specifically tasked to acquire it for a buyer, since people with the gold to buy it and need to do so are niche.

Spoiler: DC20

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Experiments by people using trollblood to extend their lifespan (obtaining eternal youth/immortality as the end goal) have thus far met with less than stellar results, though it hasn't stopped people from trying. The most successful case to date was an exceedingly rich Cormyrian nobleman who spent his entire fortune on acquiring trollblood to drink, causing a minor local genocide of the creatures as people rushed to fill his request. He managed to extend his life, somewhat, living to the ripe old age of 233, however it had less regenerative properties than he hoped and for the latter 111 years of his life he was unable to move under his own power, only able to drink the blood that kept him alive as his body withered, his muscles atrophied, and his mind failed.

He was mercy-killed by his great, great, great, granddaughter.