Session 35: Trollin, Trollin, Trollin on the river... Report

General Summary

It had been a good trip, relatively quiet, and some fun making Goro lose his mind a bit by keeping him clean and sober. Then Jeeves noticed the new "crew" coming up from below deck as the passengers were ushered inside and the doors locked, heavily armed marines who must have hidden somewhere below deck the past week. A few minutes later the bar on the door was pulled back, and the captain, chief steward, and first mate were shoved inside before the door was closed and the bar was replaced. The party asked about these events, the captain explained they didn't know, that the marines were the same troop hired many times, to protect them from trolls in the approaching narrow canyon and the dangers of the badlands beyond. The mercenaries would stay below for the first week, then the passengers would be below for two weeks while the marines patrolled the deck and protected the ship. This time, however, the marines shoved ships leaders and passengers instead of the usual polite approach. The marines also somehow snuck an extra 15, above the normal 30, and were now pirating the ship. A long conversation about a previous encounter with a dragon ensued as the party tried to get a ships captain to explain the nuances of a dragon, which was a rather fruitless endeavor. The group finally came to a conclusion that the marines were more than capable of holding the ship against the party. Goro suggested perhaps going about cloaked in illusion, but the captain asked Roy to conjure a small image, and when the image was clearly illusory explained that there was magic aboard to prevent use of illusion to deceive the senses. Goro began playing a zither, a soothing but slightly haunting melody. Roisin Marshfield expressed uneasiness, concern that the marines might know about the Princess' presence. The captain explained that she just thought Roisin Marshfield was a horribly scarred child, not realizing the truth of the party. The group, a short time later, began hearing the horrible screech of metal tearing and scraping against metal. Jeeves opened a shutter on the port hole to look out on the deck and saw a troll, massive and huge, ripping a construct apart and eating the metal. Jeeves also took an arrow to the face and was ordered to keep the port holes closed. The first mate ascertained that the ship was slowing, perhaps to a stop, and the captain informed them that this might mean they would have to spend a night at the "Black Dock", a place where whatever supernatural power controlled the place, a dock where each ship must send one of their number ashore, never to be seen again. A payment of a soul for the privilege of docking for the night. Although the dock was evil, it only demanded a single individual; while the section of river that followed, if entered at night, would destroy the entire ship. This limited cost is why the ships would stop there rather than risk the section of river that followed. A few moments later, there was a pounding on the door, and the party found themselves facing a familiar face, the unknown wizard they had faced multiple times in the past. Introducing themselves as Magus Corinth, a name they paused when offering. This individual informed the Princess that she could come with them, or she and her friends would die. Roy stated flatly that if they stepped into the room he would kill them, and Roisin Marshfield stated they would not take her. The wizard asserted that they would take her dead, if necessary, as the contract was "alive or dead", and asked if the Princess wished her friends to die, or if she would go with them. The Princess asserted that she would not go with them, so they began to cast a spell. The party reacted, Cigfran using a divine boon to react before everyone else, even the wizard, and rushed out to grapple the wizard and pull them aside, taking multiple powerful strikes from the guards adjacent. The wizard completed the spell, and poison gas filled the room. Jeeves used a boon to paralyze the wizard, and Cigfran destroyed the wizard, which exploded in a shower of, curiously, snow. The guards were killed by the blast, and Cigfran would have died but for yet another mystic boon. Cigfran saw trolls fall upon the remains of the guards, devouring the remains, and some marines stepped up and returned him to the cabin, where the party realized the captain, first mate, and chief steward had succumbed to the poison cloud. Boris consumed a valuable handful of diamonds and, with a prayer, revived the captain and the first mate. The mate mentioned it was possible to exit the ship, and the captain admitted that they knew who the Princess is and was ordered to deliver the group to Arenfell. The captain had a plan to have the group tie her and the first mate up and "escape" right outside of Arenfell so they could escape and perhaps the captain could still keep the ship. The captain also asserted they would kill the dark priest always near Alathius Marshfield if they could. The party chose to take the, difficult, passage through the bilge to exit the ship. The moved below the ship, where they held onto the added support girders which further stiffened, and protected the bottom of this massive barge. Looking about they noticed that there were river trolls swimming about, but fortunately they could not keep up with the ship. Unfortunately, the barge scraped the top of a sandbar, which explained the need for the girders, but also led to a couple of trolls grabbing hold of the ship and moving hand-over-hand toward the party. An intense and difficult combat followed, with Goro repeatedly coming close to death, but the party finally beat the creatures down to near death, and Roy , with the help of Roisin Marshfield's alchemical potion and Boris' holy cleansing blade, managed to deal the required fire and cold together to destroy the foul trolls permanently.

Notes

Cigfran and Goro both encountered deadly disease while in the bilge.