Gygax and Greyhawk Session #38 - More Trouble with Trolls

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranzel of the Wood (Human Ranger 5)
Solcha (Elf Fighter 5 / Magic User 4)
Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 5/ Thief 5) w/ trained bear Wojtek & henchman Caron (Half Elf  MU1)
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 4 / Fighter 5) 

Date/Time

Brewfest-Godsday (early evening) to Patchwall 4 (morning)

Arriving back at their camp, the party finds all is well with the four guards and their recovering henchman. They settle in for an uneventful night, and then choose to stay around camp the next day to rest and heal a little more. That evening, just as dark is falling, they hear the noise of dogs or something similar to their south. Suddenly, three strange canines, each with two heads, burst out the scattered scrub and charge into camp. While victorious, the party looses one of their horses and are unimpressed to find the dog's bite was poisonous (though no one was affected). As the battle draws to a close, they note further movement out in the bushes. A brief pursuit and the party sees two trolls heading off into the night, in the direction of the ruined keep. They figure this is Xur and his buddy, out to hunt them down.  

Next morning, the party returns to the ruins under a grey drizzly sky. Along the way they find the remains of their horse carved up and meat taken. Their ultimate plan is to return to the cellars, but a side trip to the trolls on the second floor is the first stop. To deliver some fresh meat Skeef and Ranzel had hunted the day before, and to get what info they could on the keystone which the trolls seemed to know something about. Parley was initially tense but friendly, with meat exchanged for a 'stone-key' from the trolls; a crude key carved out of rock and painted copper. Unimpressed and looking for revenge, Skeef passes on a fire trapped box, and the party charges into the troll lair post-explosion. This does not go well for the party. Wojtek the bear goes down first, followed by Ranzel. Solcha escapes by luck after a particularly vicious claw/claw/bite brings her to near death. A total party kill is prevented by a combination of Goro's bravery and Solcha's magic missiles, backed up by the spells and torches of Skeef and Caron. The trolls are slain and burned,  Ranzel's wounds bandaged, and the room looted of a small treasure chest hidden in the fireplace. 

After a short time searching for secret doors into the main keep using Solcha's now superfluous knock spells, the party drags their battered bodies back to camp and then elect to travel back to Nevond Nevnend so Ranzel and Koreyth the Master can finish recovery and the party can re-equip for another expedition to the ruined keep. 

GAINS

40pp

188gp

37ep

23sp

31cp

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Trolls 

3 Death Dogs

LOSSES

Ranzel (Unconscious)

Wojtek (dead)