Part 5

"So why are we hanging out in the warehouse district hunting for giant frogs?"

"Because that's the kind of thing heroes do, obviously."



"I don't know where you get your information on heroism, but you certainly know how to find frogs."

"Oh man… we've got to cook those legs up. I've heard they taste like chicken. Giant chickens!"



Giant chickens with long tongues that are easily popped by sharp objects. They aren't really a thing, and the experience is pitiful. Still, they're kind of fun to see just for their strangeness.



I think that's the back door of the temple… maybe we should investigate them, since Longtresses seems to have a bone to pick with them?"

"The back door? Like a peasant?!"

"Actually, peasants go in the front door. Who goes in the back door of a temple?"

"Mostly gentleman callers and prostitutes, depending on the temple."



"And evidently cultists in fabulous black and purple robes. Lovely."



These are the guys I missed a screen cap of earlier. They're not terribly impressive, but they do have a fairly decent armor class. Luckily sleep spells are a thing.



"Does going through this door make us gentleman callers?"

"Only me."





"That sounds terrible. And like a personal problem. We'll just be leaving now. Who's for roasting some trolls?"



He's not kidding, either. If you don't clear out an entire group, the ones you've killed will pop up with full HP a couple of turns either. The only way to prevent it is to have someone standing in the spot where they would pop up.



"I'd say he's a man of few words, but he's obviously not. Even when writing warning signs."

"They're pretty serious about this whole 'step in here at your own risk' thing, aren't they?"



"Gods, that thing's ugly enough that I'd want to kill it with fire even if I didn't know that you had to."



Luckily for us, trolls in the ruins come in very small groups. I only saw singles, but wouldn't be surprised if they occasionally came in pairs. They're a bit weaker than hill giants, but they regenerate 3 HP per round. They're also worth about 150 experience, and drop more coins than their bounty is worth.



We kill two and move on. It's not really worth the effort for enough money to pay for 1/5th of a level up for each troll, especially since Krevish gets a share of both the money from the troll AND from the reward.



Instead, it's time to head upriver to our next destination, the Silverymoon that the dead Banite cleric's letter pointed us to.



"Moonbridge could be a name… or a place… or both."



"A much more wholesome place than the ones that are just one or the other."

"Yeah, you should be suspicious of anyone who has a meal without a beer."



"Maybe this is where that shop is? Although I'd expect them to set up in somewhere a bit more discrete… and upscale."



"Looks like just run of the mill bandits here. But… they'll do for a warm up."



They really are just very basic bandits. Sad.



"That looked like a normal market, not a festival. We must have been in the wrong square."

"There's nothing else that would fit the bill on this side of the river, but I didn't see a bridge either."



"I'll believe that when I see it. Or don't see it."



"That is definitely not a bridge. As someone in heavy armor, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Quit whining… we'll pull you out if you sink. Maybe. Okay everybody, on three!"



"This is really cool, but it's got to be really terrifying for people who live here."

"And horribly unsafe, since you can't see the edge of the bridge. They must be really good swimmers in this town. The survivors, anyway."



"Shouldn't that be "Ladies" with an i? I don't think this is a very good college."






"I think it's just what happens when you've got no security around your warehouses or anything else to keep them out, honestly. We've seen it in every other town we've been to as well."






"How is there not a drum circle here?"



"Somehow the fact that there was a festival today had completely escaped our notice, before we found this helpful banner."



"So who gets to play good guardsman and who gets to play bad guardsman when we interrogate this guy? I vote for me, with threatening to burn down his shop."

"Or we could just ask him outright and see what happens. If that doesn't work, then we go into threatening his livelihood."



"You can tell us a bit about this festival. We're new in town, and we've never been before."

"Why do you ask me about the festival?"

"…look, we've come from Nesme you colossal idiot."

"I was afraid you'd never come! Here, follow me!"






"Well, that went better than expected!"



"And this place was right around the corner. Man, after we help this guy we might have to hang out here for a couple of days."





"I'm putting this on both of you. You jinxed us, and that's why this happened."





"Oh, no such thing. This is a natural result of dealing with enemies that are violent enough to abduct a man by force but stupid enough to leave directions to their hideout. We'll have him out in a few minutes."



"Once again, a city watch has let villains build a hidden door into one of its main streets without batting an eye. I'd never stand for it in a city that I ruled."



"Fugh. Maybe the watch found it and just figured that it went into a sewer or something."



"You'd think the orcs would have tipped them off, though."



This is such a pathetic guard force that I kind of feel sorry for it. Almost.



"Do you think there's any chance we could convince Longtresses that we killed these in Nesme and collect the bounty on them too?"

"That would be dishonest. Not to mention we'd have to tote part of a regenerating creature with us in a boat for a number of days, which couldn't end well for anybody involved."



With two trolls, this makes the fights we had in Nesme kind of a training ground. It's most important to concentrate on hacking one troll down at a time, since if you split your efforts the fight can drag on considerably due to their regenerating powers. Still, this worth a good 300 gold and the trolls drop a piece of jewelry as well. Jewelry and gems can be appraised at shops for a random value, but it's enough to get one person a level up.



"Who is that guy even yelling at? It was just us and the trolls, and he's squirreled away in a hidden passage unless I miss my guess."





"Alright already, just keep your pants on. No, really, I mean that. We're here to help."



"And you look like you'd block a bunch of arrows from getting through to me. Welcome aboard!"

Character Snapshot





Our limited funds let us get levels for Galen and both of our wizards, getting them into the second level spells. Stinking cloud is obviously the best option out of those, so that's what we're going with. Other than that we're still running behind on money and not quite caught up with leveling. Erek here isn't a bad guy to have fighting on our side, even though he's really not that great either… luckily he's a temporary party member, so it's not that much of an issue.

Next update: The great rescue, and we finally get caught up on our levels.