Attack of the Trolls! (7th - 9th of Bearguard, Rose: 47)

Play continued in the afternoon of 7th of Bearguard, Rose: 47.

Rescued hostages were cared for and looked after.

• Tye, a Freewoman of Rhackdalia, a regular stationed at Inverness, says that Shyn-Preen is in danger if they’re cutting the overland supply routes through the pass. Once they’ve heard Inverness has fallen, Civilians will flee into the Pastore Hills and Highlands; Shyn-Preen has no standing militia. They’re sitting ducks.

• Lharya, a Freewoman of Rhackdalia, a regular stationed at Inverness, has the start of hypothermia in her left hand and feet; her extremities are blackened. Siegride loaned her Ring of Warmth to Lharya to help.

• Lorya, a Freewoman of Shyn-Preen, a regular stationed at Inverness. She is very religious, a devout soul. She prays to Dhyane. She asks for retribution. War. A reign of death on these adversaries. She begs Dhyane for an opportunity to fight, to kill, these aggressors in Her name, and to protect her family from them.

• Whycka, a Freewoman of Shyn-Preen, a laborer tasked with helping the trading caravan through the pass. She plays with a deck of playing cards. She hid the deck from the guards. She is casting a question. What need I know now to survive? Past, Present, Future; the inquirer card is placed below. She cast a question for Ma'yah.

• Ghayle of Shyn-Preen, a merchant, useful information. She’s able to give specific timelines relative to the capture of Inverness. She can also tell the party what happened at Inverness.

Not wanting to be observed from the ridge of the Pass, the party pressed on for another 3 hours until dusk and made camp further away from their last fight. That night, the party was attacked by three trolls - two females, one male, and the male had an extra malformed head jutting from its ribcage, all slobbering and apparently very hungry. They were sniffing the air and following the apparent trail of yummy former hostages through the snow. It was a vicious battle, many of the PC's got slapped around, and there were comments from the players like, "Should we just roll-up new PC's now?", but, with some oil, fire, and a couple of lousy die rolls from the trolls, they survived. Whycka used a Healing skill to help stabilize and restore Tolman after he was mauled by a hungry troll. Regrettably, Tye ... became ... Tye Food ... for a hungry troll.

On the 8th of Bearguard, the party slow-marched on the Pass back the way they came, back towards Overreach. Mid-afternoon, a squad of six guards arrived from Overreach who saw them on the pass - carrying food, clothing, shelter, and medical supplies. The party and guards escorted the freed hostages back to the Overreach.

Back at the Overreach, Unna waits for reinforcements from Rhackdalia. Still in touch with his contact, Twyst, in Rhackdalia, Twyst indicated that the runner from Overreach arrived and went immediately to the Magistrate, who then called an emergency meeting with the Matrons of three Houses: Brix, Witherdew, and Ennen-Tayle. As a response, the Magistrate dispatched 40 guards to the Overreach.

The party cringed! The Magistrate obviously has no idea about Inverness and the ~90 half-ogres that occupy it, and sent a force to simply reinforce the Overreach - which, if pressed, could support 50+ guards, but really isn't outfitted to sustain such a deployment for long. The Magistrate is woefully ill-informed! And the Halfling boasted of his infinitely better connections as member of Ashes and Omens than city managers.

Unna said she needs more information. She fears her and the Overreach will be the last bastion of protection from an aggressor storming out of the Pass. She needs to know more about what's going on at Inverness; the activities of the occupiers; potential leadership and purpose. She needs a fact finding mission, and asked the party for their help.

The next day, looking at the map, the party borrowed rope and climbing gear from the Order and set out north of the Pass, along the mountain ridge of the Mherisan Melts, in order to gain access to Inverness from the north, and hopefully unobserved.

That's where we'll pick up again, on the 9th of Bearguard, Rose: 47.
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