Troll Trouble

The sheriff of Yellow Water, Gisborne, has been working with a pair of trolls to make some money and secure "food" for the town. He has been capturing Kobolds and delivering them to the trolls. Even though we have no great love for the kobolds, they have given us aid and shelter. And they also believe that Wotan is their god Wutas. So it only seems right to get rid of the trolls that hold their kin as prisoners. Not to mention the only good troll is a dead troll.

As we leave the kobold warrens, some of them gather to wish us luck. The cowardly creatures have no desire to come with us, but they do offer us some oil - we've learned the hard way that you need fire to kill trolls. The trip up into the mountains is slow and arduous, but otherwise uneventful. That is, until we spot what we can only assume is our destination.

Set in a hollow between mountain peaks is what appears to be an ancient, abandoned temple. Two tall towers rise up in front of the temple, though both show signs of advanced wear and tear. A low, sprawling  building lies behind the towers, flanking a small courtyard dominated by a large, but long dead, tree. Carvings and symbols adorn the walls of the towers and the courtyard beyond. Most prominent are symbols depicting a crescent moon; symbols most commonly associated with the goddess Sehanine. Ayas flies up on his pegasus to get a better look at the place while the rest of us clamber through the rubble between the towers.

Immediately after entering the courtyard we sense signs of disturbance. Scrabbling noises are heard coming from a small room to the west. From the east, we can hear what sounds like snoring. But even more disturbing the noises is the effect our presence has on the tree. Over the course of a few seconds the tree transforms from dry and dead to green and full of life. Then a voice echoes through the courtyard. "What are you doing here?". It is difficult to determine where the voice is coming from, but it almost seems like it is coming from the tree itself.

"Wait, I know that voice. But it can't be..." exclaims Kai. 

"You are not wrong. It's Thrys. But that doesn't make any sense" says Wotan, finishing Kai's thoughts.

Terik is the first to make a move, heading towards the western area of the temple to investigate the noises. Inside a small room he sees a large, reptilian creature lying on the ground. It is large, and looks like it would be dangerous - but the deep lacerations and signs of decay tell him it has been dead for some time. That is, it should be dead. But it's skin flexes and bulges menacingly. Then Terik sees what is really happening, as a number of smaller creatures, all reptilian, emerge from around and within the corpse. Smelling fresh meat they charge, joined by more hidden in the cracks on the far side of the room. Terik quickly draws his sword to meet them, but he is quickly surrounded by the tiny creatures, who climb his legs and tear at any exposed skin they can find.

Meanwhile, across the courtyard, something begins to stir. Just as Dandelion approaches the doorway, he is greeted with a loud roar, as two large trolls begin lumbering towards him. Armed with huge clubs and covered in nasty furs, the trolls begin to charge, slowly recovering from their slumber. Dandelion quickly backs up to rejoin the group as they ready themselves for these new combatants. Terik swipes as many of the tiny reptiles off of himself as he can, lays into a few with his sword, then runs to join in the larger battle. But the little buggers are tenacious, and follow him out of the room.

The group lays into the two trolls, determined to get them down quickly. But the trolls regenerate nearly as fast as they are damage, and the party is forced to switch tactics. They pull out the few torches they have, along with some of the oil they got from the kobolds. The swarm of reptiles closes fast, as well, looking for the nearest target they can find - Dandelion. With the Vistani preoccupied with the swarming menace, the rest use the fire to hamper the trolls' regeneration. And soon enough they are making some progress towards taking them down.

But the trolls have some nasty surprises for our heroes. Swinging wildly, their huge clubs toss the group around wildly. And as the party starts to separate the two, things only get worse. They manage to mortally wound one of them, only to see it stand up again in a few seconds, despite being still being on fire.

"They work together!" Kai screams. "Drag them apart"

That plan did not work. It seemed the further they were from each other, the faster their regeneration healed them.

"Plan D!" yells Dandelion. "Push them back together!"

Finally, with the two trolls on the ground next to each other, their regeneration slows to a halt and they expire.

Near the back of the temple, the group finds an old cellar door, covered in rubble but showing signs of recent use. From inside, they can hear sounds of life. As they quickly pull the rubble from the doors, they are greeted by numerous small, terrified kobolds - obviously taken from their homes by Sheriff Gisborn and his troll flunkies.

"What do we do with them?" asks Ayas.
"We were asked to bring them back home, so that is what we will do" replies Wotan.
"But they stink!" exclaims Dandelion, obviously not thrilled with spending too much more time around the kobolds. "We take them back, then we go home. I need a bed, good food, and better ale."

"Indeed" responds Kai.