“Can we barricade their entrance to the tower from the outside? If we could, it might give time for both of Ghan’s lightning strikes to hit the tower. Even if we can’t, if the lightning does anything to the tower, it may allow in enough light that we have fewer trolls to deal with. They may also be injured from falling stones.”
Elfstan ponders another minute then adds, “How fast is a troll? Can our mounts outrun them if necessary? If so, maybe the trip line or entangle should be saved to cover a possible retreat?”
“One last thing. We need to do something about their tunnel. I would hate for one to come out of there and catch us by surprise.”
Entangles won’t work for long on Trolls but at least it will slow them a bit. You might need a plant growth first though as the local plants near the tower wouldn’t even slow them.
Gilraen, “I can pass the bauble off as a light source but not for this type of use. I don’t plan on them getting near me. I know I can outrun a troll and I will probably stay on Kali.”
Curu, “The trolls may be able to catch the ponies but not the faster horses. That is iffy though and most trolls are as slow as Dwarves.”
Elfstan looks anxious. He glances at the growing storm clouds and says, “If we can find the tree and then the tunnel that the rodents mentioned, I’ll take a look inside. It’s going to have to be quick though.”
Just a heads up that I’ll be away for the majority of the weekend. My apologies. It always seems to happen just when things are getting tense! I can post until midday tomorrow and then again Sunday evening though.
Actually Gil-Gandel, what a troll would prefer is not some skinny Elf which might cause it trouble, but a nice easy hobbit which it will not want to share with it’s friends. I may ask to borrow certain of your magic items, but it won’t hit me I hope and I can lead it away from the rest of them. This would also free you up to shoot at it in my time of need.
As for the tunnel, I would always defer to a dwarf in such matters, but if we could collapse it or trap it, we could keep them at bay. Even light a fire in it and smoke it out would be easy enough.
An invisible Elfstan taking a look around would be good to sneak in to the quieter areas. I may tag along and try and see what is up there as well get an idea of what we are up against.
Ok, I like this idea. If we swap out Mulligan for the Elf as bait and send Elfstan to set traps inside the tunnel (Mostly for the goblins is my thought) to keep anything from getting out quickly. Then set up some sort of ambush on the outside of the tunnel to grab anything that makes it through the traps we might be able to take them on in a more controlled environment.
I would check out the tunnel myself, but my axe will be needed and I am not stealthy, or fast, enough to get in and out of the tunnel without drawing alarms.
Good enough. What do you need, Mulligan? I can probably rely on staying out of a troll’s reach, and I have no fear of goblins even with nothing but my wits and natural agility.
If we can find somewhere that gives a view of the Tower (about 150 yards away - the range of Call Lightning ), Ghân offers to:
cast Plant Growth in front of us (partly to provide cover but also to allow an Entangle that works on Trolls)
cast Call Lightning (the first stroke is to damage the Tower, later ones are to damage the Trolls)
This also gives the party a field HQ, so any brave souls trying to lure a Troll into ambush know where the spellcasters and caravan passengers will be.
