< Enforcer’s Blade >
This sturdy iron blade can be wielded with one or two hands and grants the bearer increased threat generation. Critical hits have a chance of inflicting the target with fear.
Value: 15 gold
“Wait! How’d you get that?” Cedric asked. “That stuff should all be worthless.”
Kelikk and Leilani came over as well, examining the blade. “Better than anything we picked off of those goons,” the dwarf said. “Where’d you find the blade?”
“The Scavenger skill gives me a chance to find extra loot on things and at level ten that extended to the environment.” I explained.
“That seems very useful,” Leilani said. “Where’d you learn that skill? That seems like something everyone should be gunning for.”
“Well, it’s actually quite easy,” I said, grinning my biggest toothy grin. “Re-roll as a kobold. It’s a racial skill.”
“Hah!” Kelikk barked and looked at Leilani, who was shaking her head and glaring at the dwarf.
“What?” he asked. “I’d make a damn sexy lizard!”
“No,” she said in a very definitive tone before turning to me. “Don’t give him any ideas. He has a history of character A.D.D. and while he’s always been good about keeping up, I’d rather not lose any out of game time with my husband while he did so.”
I shrugged and offered the sword to Cedric. “This better than the one you have now?”
He picked it up easily in one hand and examined the blade, swinging it in a figure eight. “Oh yeah. This thing is way better than my bronze blade.”
“Good,” I said. “Consider it part of the party loot.”
Everyone seemed happy with that arrangement. The blade, while potentially useful for one of my minions was worth far more to my party member. I’d rather have their good will and take my share out of the overall loot later.
Cedric tucked his bronze blade into his bag and sheathed the Enforcer’s Blade in its place. “Where to next?” he asked.
The dwarf gestured to the closed door on the west wall. “Through there looks like a dead end, but there’s something moving around. My Delver’s Sense lets me get a decent preview of the map for underground things, but doesn’t extend into the bestiary. “
Pointing to the east, he continued, “Through there is a much bigger room that extends further in. Couldn’t hear anything through the door but there are likely more bandits. I think we should clear out the dead-end first. Don’t want to leave anything at our backs in case we have to run.”
“What do you guys think?” I asked.
Cedric just shrugged while Leilani seemed to be more thoughtful.
“I think the dead end is probably the best bet as well,” she said. “If nothing else, it’ll be more XP.”
“Sound good,” I agreed.
We moved over to the door and I examined the handle. It didn’t look like the door was locked, but there was no way for me to tell without trying to open it.
I gestured for them to wait and went over to one of the remaining bandit corpses. I quickly dissected its bones and raised a new minion to play doorman.
No traps went off as it opened the door, but the foul stench that emerged was almost as effective.
Crouched over the half-eaten body of a cow was a giant, gangly humanoid with rubbery looking green skin and a wild, matted mane of coarse black hair.
The system identified the creature as
I ordered my skeleton back as the thing raised its nose and started sniffing and spammed party chat telling my companions to move back quickly.
The troll went back to its meal as I slowly pulled the door closed.
“We need a plan,” I said.
“What do we need to beat a troll?” Cedric asked, looking to the more experienced party members for guidance.
“Anyone have any fire spells?” Kelikk asked. Both Leilani and I shook our heads.
“Acid?” he continued.
I shrugged. “I can make some basic acid, but it probably won’t do much to a beast like that. Thing is at least level eleven so four to eight damage isn’t going to mean much. My Rot spell might be able to counter its regeneration if that’s what you’re worried about and there are torches all over if we need to burn it when we are done.”
“That’ll have to do, I guess,” Kelikk said and turned to Leilani. “What do you think, dear? Think we can take it?”
She thought for a minute and shrugged. “It’s only one creature so we should have an advantage. And if we fail all we have to worry about is time. So, sure.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” I replied. “I get to enjoy the death penalty now, which will cost me half of the XP I’ve gained towards my next level… but I just leveled, so let’s try it.”
My companions crouched down, and Leilani began to outline a strategy using odds and ends from her bag as placeholders. “Ok, Ced. You know what you need to do. Try and keep from getting too dead, kay?”
“Sure thing, Sis,” he replied.
“Kababala, you lay on the debuffs while your bone boys circle around and attack his flanks, then blast it.”
I nodded and she continued. “Kelikk darling, you get to live your DPS fantasy and just chop up the nasty troll. And don’t die. If you do, you get to make dinner since you’ll be in limbo for a bit, kay?”
The dwarf chuckled. “Nothing like avoiding making her a sammich to keep me from being reckless.”
I laughed as Leilani glared at the dwarf. Cedric tried to hide his own amusement.
The plan complete, it was time to kick some rubbery green behind.
***
30
We burst through the door, Cedric leading the way, followed by the skeletons, Kelikk, me, and then Leilani bringing up the rear with my trap detecting orc.
I broke left and started casting Cripple as soon as I reached my position. I directed Gimli and Curley around the outside of the room while my throw away pet charged past us at the creature.
The troll stood up, towering over everyone. It was more than eight feet tall with long, gangly arms ending in claws that scraped against the stone of the floor.
Roaring out its displeasure at having its meal interrupted, it grabbed the mangled cow and threw it at Cedric who barely dodged the flying mass of meat and bone. My orc skeleton wasn’t so lucky and became one with the cow.
Orc Skeleton has been destroyed!
The troll yowled in pain as my Cripple spell took hold, its bones and muscles warping slightly, robbing it of some of its speed.
Cedric stepped forward and unleashed an attack I hadn’t seen before, dashing forward with his shield held high. He charged across the room, leaving a trail of golden light behind him and slammed into the troll’s hip, causing it to take a step backwards to catch its balance and dropping its health by a sliver.
The troll responded with a massive right-hand slash, scraping across the paladin’s shield and dropping his hit points a touch with the sheer force of the blow.
Kelikk leapt forward with an overhand slash aimed at the troll’s flank, but it spotted him coming and caught the blow on its forearm, taking a nasty cut but robbing the blow of most of its power.
Curley and Gimli reached their positions and charged toward its flanks as I cast Rot, adding a pinch of Bone Dust for the bonus effect.
The wound on the troll arm was almost healed by the time my DoT landed, but the healing stopped as the necrotic fog sank in. The creature’s skin took on an even more sickly tinge and its muscles sagged as the secondary debuff took hold.
Cedric lashed out in a series of blows with his sword, cutting into the creature’s hand and forearm as the troll tried to claw him.
A spray of blood erupted as Curley buried his axe in the troll’s thigh, dropping its health by about five percent with the sneak attack. The troll roared and backhanded the skeleton, launching it across the room and knocking its health down to less than twenty per
cent.
Gimli struck from the other side, slicing his shortsword through the troll’s calf.
I sent a series of Necromantic Bolts into the troll as it turned its attention on the dwarven skeleton, throwing a backhanded slash that was intercepted with his shield absorbing the majority of the blow.
With everyone in position, we fell into a routine. Cedric used his taunt skills whenever they were available to keep the troll focused on him, while Kelikk, Curley, and Gimli cut at its flanks.
Leilani kept Cedric alive, sparing an occasional heal for Kelikk when he was too slow to avoid the troll’s attacks.
Things were going smoothly until the troll hit fifty percent and a nasty black liquid started oozing from its pores.
“Here we go!” Kelikk yelled. “State change!”
Forest Troll is no longer affected by Cripple!
Forest Troll is no longer affected by Rot!
“It dispelled the debuffs!” I yelled, immediately moving into the gestures for Rot and glancing at my mana which was at forty percent.
“GARA NI’OKA BARTOOTH!” the troll roared, spitting everywhere as the black liquid continued to flow, coating its claws and teeth.
Bartooth uses Shadowblood!
Kelikk, Cedric, and the two skeletons continued their assault, but the damage they were landing wasn’t enough to overcome the troll’s regeneration.
I finished the spell and sighed as it took hold and stopped the creature’s healing.
I started casting Cripple as well, getting halfway through the spell when the oozing substance finally came into play.
The troll lashed out with a quick series of attacks, the dark substance extending outwards from its claws, slicing through Cedric, Kelikk, and Curley as if their armor and weapons weren’t there. The physical claws scraped against their armor, but the shadowy counterpart continued through, barely even slowing as they slashed through flesh and bone.
Cedric’s health plummeted to twenty percent and Kelikk to less than ten from that blow. Curley… well, Curley exploded into a pile of broken bones and leather armor.
Orc Skeleton (Curley) has been destroyed!
I finished casting Cripple, slowing the monster enough for my companions to regain their footing and defend themselves while Leilani reacted to the blow.
Her first spell shot out and healed some of Cedric’s wound, and Kelikk chugged a bright red potion to keep himself going.
Gimli had escaped the shadowy slash and continued to cut into the troll’s ankles, catching its attention.
I ordered the skeleton to back up quickly, giving my party mates more time to heal up.
After the troll’s special attack, the shadowy liquid had been expended, but it was slowly replenishing itself.
Judging by the speed the liquid was gathering, we had a little while until it could do its shadow Ginsu attack again. Unfortunately, it didn’t need a special attack to deal with my minions.
A quick slash knocked Gimli’s shield wide while its other followed through, tearing through the copper plates and chainmail and leaving the dwarven skeleton with a bare sliver of health.
The troll raised its claws to strike but turned away as Cedric cut into its back with his shiny new sword.
Hoping it would work, I tried to dismiss the dwarven skeleton. I didn’t want to lose my best miner to a troll. When the magic took hold and transformed him into his compact skull form, I let out a sigh of relief.
Casting Necromantic Bolt with my main hand, I reached into my bag and pulled out Larry’s skull. My bolt blasted into the troll’s face, scoring a critical hit and knocking off another six percent of the creature’s health and earning me the seconds needed to summon Larry to take Gimli’s place.
Kelikk dashed back in and used some sort of ability that caused his muscles to bulge and his form to shimmer like the heated air over a fire.
His blows seemed to take on a whole new level of power as he cut into the beast’s flank once, twice, and a third time before the troll was able to react.
Roaring in anger, the monster backhanded him across the jaw, dropping his health back down below half and sending him sprawling.
Leilani sent a bolt of healing his way, sealing up some of his wounds as he regained his feet.
I continued my barrage of Necromantic Bolts, and Leilani drank a mana potion to shore up her dwindling pool. The amount of healing required to keep up with the beast’s damage was staggering.
“Guys,” Leilani said, “the more we cut it, the faster it’s gathering its shadow gunk so get ready. I’ll try and shield you this time Ced, since we know what’s coming.”
“Got it,” the paladin answered, his breath becoming a bit more ragged as the fight continued.
The beast’s hit points dropped further, thirty percent, twenty-eight percent, each attack dropping its hit points further.
At twenty-five percent, the black blood reached its peak. As the boss reared back to attack, Kelikk and Larry dashed to the side and Leilani shouted, “Divina Protector!”
A glimmering golden bubble appeared around Cedric right before the troll lashed out. Its first two strikes crashed into the shield, both physical and shadow claws being stopped completely, but its third strike shattered the bubble and cut into the paladin within, dropping his health to eighty percent.
Our tactics had improved, and both Kelikk and Larry had avoided the shadowy claws of doom. We doubled up our attacks, and I quaffed a mana potion when my mana started getting low.
I reapplied Rot to make sure the thing couldn’t heal, and we slowly brought the beast down to ten percent, and then lower.
At five percent things got even weirder.
“GARAMAK BARTOOTH DAMANA!” the troll yelled and its eyes dissolved into pits of blackness as the flow of black blood increased.
“It’s enraging!” Kelikk shouted, and we focused our attack.
The troll attacked without any control, ignoring any sort of targeting priority. Larry took a direct hit to the face and collapsed into a pile of bone shards.
Orc Skeleton (Larry) has been destroyed!
The rush of mana as the bond was broken let me keep going, casting bolt after bolt as Cedric and Kelikk took turns trying to kite the troll while inflicting as much damage as possible.
Leilani even started contributing, shooting the troll with bursts of what looked like moon shaped darts until with a final roar, the troll collapsed, dead.
Your party has killed Bartooth the Shadowblessed! You have gained 333 XP!
QUEST UPDATE: Eviction – Clear out the Bandit Lair: 15%
Cedric has reached level 7!
Kelikk has reached level 7!
Leilani has reached level 7!
I saw my first level up from the outside, watching each of my companions’ eyes gloss over in pleasure as they levitated a foot above the floor and pulsed with a bright white light.
“Congrats all,” I said when the process was complete.
They thanked me and then got that glazed expression on their face that said they were accessing their menus, so I decided to tidy up. I collected Gimli’s skull and the gear from Curley and Larry, tucking it into my bag for later.
Along the back wall was a large iron chest. That could wait until everyone was ready, but maybe I could slice and dice in the meantime.
I knelt next to the troll’s corpse and saw one of my favorite sights in the game: the sparkle of a scavengable bit.
Success! You have gained a Shadowtouched Talon! You have gained 20xp!
I tucked it into my bag and activated Dissection targeting the beast. I scanned the list of potential components, skeleton, skin, muscle, heart, blood, bile… quite a laundry list of bits. I shrugged and left them all selected and started the process.
The progress bar went by extremely slowly, and my party members were moving again before it was finished.
Cedric spotted the chest and they headed over. Kelikk waved me over, but I gestured for him to wait while my Dissection finis
hed up. It wasn’t long, and after a few seconds the progress bar completed, consuming the corpse and leaving my harvest behind.
Success! You have received: Forest Troll Skeleton (1), Forest Troll Blood (5), Forest Troll Bile (1). You have gained 40xp!
I collected the items, tucked them into my bag, and joined the party at the chest.
“Cut up anything good?” Cedric asked.
I nodded and told them what I’d butchered from the beast and the talon I’d managed to scavenge.
“Nice,” Kelikk said. “That talon can probably be crafted into a pretty useful dagger or something.”
“I hope so,” I said. “I could use a replacement to my starting ‘Utility Knife’. Not that I plan on wielding it in combat, but it’s what I use to cut up the beasties, and some buffs would be useful in the long run.”
I gestured to the chest. “Who wants to go first?”
Kelikk bowed to the moon elf. “Ladies first, of course,” he said and dodged as she swatted at him playfully before heading over to the chest. She popped open the lid and looked inside, smiling as she pulled out a staff carved of white wood with a clear gem at the tip.
“Oooo,” she said. “A Purified Oaken Staff. Increases healing spells by five percent when cast using the staff. Nice.” She tucked it into her bag and then pulled out a small sack of coin and two vials of purple liquid. “Nine gold, four silver, and eight copper, plus two potions of mana regeneration. A pretty decent haul. Next?” she said, gesturing to the chest.
Cedric stepped forward and reached in, pulling out a shining steel helmet with a Roman style crest. “Helm of the Centurion, solid armor with a plus two to Strength and Constitution… and a ten percent resistance to stun effects! Awesome!” He gathered the rest of his loot: ten gold, two silver, nine copper, and a health potion that could restore over two hundred hit points.
Rubbing his hands together like a cartoon villain, Kelikk stepped up and reached into the chest and pulled out a leather cloak.
He looked at it and raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Werehide cloak… huh? Bonus to defense against weapons that are lower in quality than silver. Has a once-a-day use that increases Strength and Agility by five for one minute. Not bad, not bad.” He collected his coin and some healing potions as well. Then it was my turn.
Extra Credit Page 23
