Session 20 - Chapter 4 - Knuckleheads & Golden Feathers

Hello & Welcome!

Battered and bruised and frankly happy to have survived the encounter, the four intrepid Heroes tended to their wounds and rested within the trees waiting for the caravan to catch up to them. It was most fortunate that the two remaining Trolls decided to abandon their attack. The effects of the Poison also started to wear off after about an hour or so.

Dafnae was determined to try to harvest what she could from these foul monsters. This Troll blood would be most useful given its strong poisonous nature and of course Troll hearts were greatly sought after for their special properties. 

Unfortunately due to the difficult nature of the extraction and the fact that she was still fuming from the encounter, she was unsuccessful with her roll checks and failed both the collection of the blood as well as the extraction of the heart, each time unfortunately splashing some additional amount of the poison on herself. She angrily muttered an Elvish curse upon the remains of the Trolls and abandoned her task with a display of disgust that was most unbecoming of her Elvish nature. Pipp was even quite surprised to see an Elf, let alone Dafnae of all, lose their temper like that. Chard and Torsion then moved their carcasses off of the main road so as to not obstruct the route.

After a few more hours their heard the sound of the Caravan approaching. Pipp hurried out ahead to meet them in advance to tell them it is safe to approach. When she came up to the first caravan the wagon came to a stop to ask about the situation. Pipp user her Bardic style to briefly tell of the two dead Trolls and that the road was now safe but did her best to downplay just how difficult it of an encounter it was for them.

And so they carried on, taking special care to guard the bridge (this time with more guards) as each Wagon made its way across the bridge one at a time. Once they were all safely over the river, they all resumed the journey together.

Over the next several days the journey continued without incident. Chard continued his midday practice and the guard duties continued as normal.

They were keeping an eye on the Wagons that were pointed out to them by Lesivius that were tight lipped about what they were carrying. Perhaps these were the ones that were carrying the Dragon Cult's treasure. They also kept note of which guards were the ones linked with those Wagons as it may come in handy later as well as the apparent secret dalliance that was happening between two guards from different wagons. 

Pipp also managed to have a chat with Aldo (the one who was acting strangely in the Tavern back in Baldur's Gate) as well as a Rock Gnome named Radecere Perethun travelling amongst the troupe over a game of cards. No one knows where Perethun is ultimately headed or why. He always was seen eating alone, seldom speaks, and always rides in the back of the wagon, staring wistfully at the road gone by. The only thing that brings him out of this shell is a game of chance. He gambles boisterously and well.

Aldo seemed to be more at ease. He clarified he was a lawyer but one of his clients recently felt betrayed by him and so out of fear for his life he felt like he had to leave the city and start afresh.

On the 14th day of travel Chard again had his nightmare. It was the same as the last one. And on the 15th day they managed to reach another small town and have a full day of rest within the Troll Nose Inn in the town of Kheldrivver. There was a renowned boot shop within the town, but sadly there were no magical boots for sale.

They set out on the next day, again travelling without incident. They were now well out of the Trollclaws. The area started to become more mountainous and one side of the road had sheer rocky cliff faces jutting up out of the ground. There were still vast grassy plains on the other side of the road.

Midway through the 17th day though, as they were coming up across a hill the Caravan stopped as they saw some large object in the middle of the road which would block their passage. They were too far away to really see what it was. The Party agreed that they would scout ahead to investigate. No one else within the Caravan objected - these four had built up quite the reputation for being able to handle themselves in battle and so they were all more than happy to leave it to them, plus most of the others were rather tired from all the long travel.

So Chard, Dafnae, Pipp, and Torsion scouted ahead to see what they could make of this large object blocking the road.

As they approached the obstacle still from afar, it was still far enough away to clearly make out what it was. And well before it became clearer, what they did observe was 4 loud, gruff speaking voices arguing. While it was difficult to fully make out what the topic of disagreement was, it seemed to centre around who was going to take the horses.

Bewildered, the four continued forward. The arguing continued and soon it became apparent that the four voices were arguing over who would take the spoils of the kill and eat, as they described it, the "juicy, tasty horses".  The argument was getting more and more heated and was more akin to the type of interaction you would expect to see in some dingy, rundown pub between some meatheads jostling over some inane topic or another, each one puffing out their jest and gesticulating more wildly than the other, jostling for dominance in a drunken haze.

So while distracted, the Heroes were able to slowly advance and once they got closer, they could see that in fact the 4 voices were coming only from 2 sources. It seemed like their obstacle was two Ettins arguing over the spoils of a destroyed wagon. It was not clear yet from that distance if only the horses had perished or if there were other victims or survivors. 

They decided to split up, Chard sticking to the road, Dafnae and Pipp taking cover in the trees, and Torsion standing guard in front of the treeline to defend the his companions, They quickly discussed that Chard would first try to see if he could convince the Ettins to leave and if that didn't work, then they would resort to slaying them. Ettins were known for being dim witted, so perhaps some clever trickery would work.

In position, they advanced a bit more and then Chard called out to them from the top of the road: "Hey you Knuckleheads! Why don't you just split the horses evenly and call it a day and go home and let us pass?". Torsion grumbled under his breath - he thought to himself, dim witted they may be, perhaps insulting them as the opening gambit was perhaps not the best tactic. He tightened his grip around the hilt of his War Hammer in case this was going to go awry.

From this vantage point, Chard and Torsion could see behind the Ettins and the damaged Wagon that there were two fallen guards. Maybe the person whom they were guarding was still alive, hiding?

The two Ettins turned their four heads to look at Chard and Torsion - 3 of them staring at Chard, the last one at Torsion.

They started to argue amongst each other. 

"Who is HE calling a knucklehead?" said 1-A.

"I think HE means YOU, you knucklehead" said 2-B.

"Who YOU calling a knucklehead, you knucklehead?" replied 2-A.

"Not YOU, you knucklehead, I mean HIM!" snapped back 2-B.

"Why would HE call himself a knucklehead" asked 1-B?

"No, you knucklehead, HE's not calling himself one, he's calling YOU lot knuckleheads, you knuckleheads!", grumbled back 1-A.

This exchange lasted some minutes, the heads arguing back and forth. It seemed like 1-A was the most "sensible" one, but that was perhaps overstating the situation.

Chard smiled to himself, perhaps it would work. Torsion seemed a bit surprised as well - maybe his friend would pull it off.

Just when it seemed like the two would storm off in a huff, it was 1-A that exclaimed "Oi, you knuckleheads, quit yer bickering! How's about we eat HIM and his friend first, AND then share eat these juicy horses!"

The others agreed, although 2-A seemed still a bit bewildered, but it was then that they all focused their gazes on both Chard and Torsion and 1-A again exclaimed "Right! You two puny things - quit yer yammering and get ready for a clobbering!". 

Chard then crossed his arms, pointing at the two of the Ettins and said "Well, you knuckleheads are for sure going to regret this!" 

2-A still confused, asked "Now who is he calling a knucklehead?" 2-B yelled "Stop it you knucklehead!" and then he hit his paired head square on the forehead with the flat end of his axe to which 2-A yelled out "Ow! You didn't have to do that you knucklehead!". 1-B finally chimed in and just roared loudly.

Chard then moved his one arm back and summoned his glaive and with the other he started to prepare an Eldritch Blast - the purple radiant swirls starting to form at his palm. Torsion saw this unfold and saw the new familiar light start to build in Chard's had and he called out to Dafnae and Pipp "Right lasses, the situation is about to get ugly - get yourselves ready!" and then he tightened again his grip on his Warm Hammer's hilt.

And then the encounter began with initiative rolls.

Anticipating what could have happened, Torsion and Dafnae were at the ready and waited for Chard to act first, readying their action to trigger for when Chard would attack. Pipp unfortunately was unable to properly see through the dense underbrush and her initiative roll was low so she would take her turn later.

Chard's Eldritch Blast fully formed into a beam of Force Energy, striking the Ettin directly in front of him with a heavy hit. The blast hitting its mark, Chard then used his Bonus Action to envelope his Glaive in infernal flames. This action triggered Torsion's Guiding Bolt and Dafnae's Longbow arrow to strike true. Dafnae, being concealed, struck massive damage with high rolls on her Sneak Attack.

The Ettins, enraged, dashed forward to attack.

The Ettin hit with the three volleys made its way towards Chard. Using his Polearm Mastery Feat, he landed a strong Critical Hit with his reactionary bonus attack, landing extra damage, enhanced by the flames dancing around the blade. This Ettin had taken massive damage even before he had a chance to attack.

The other Ettin charged towards Torsion, running out of Dash movement just before reaching him.

Pipp was finally able to react but she user all of her movement to try to get a better view, but it was tough going through the rough terrain.

In the next round, Chard landed another good solid flaming blow on the Ettin engaged with him. Torsion Disengaged from the one by him and moved towards the other one engaged with Chard in order to lure his Ettin away from his comrades, giving them a chance attack safely. Torsion did land a strong blow from his Sacred Flame bonus action that he summoned forth from his Warhammer.

The Ettins fought back hard with both Battleaxe and Morningstar, landing some decent damage back against their assailants, Chard and Torsion.

With the Ettin moved away from the treeline, Dafnae was able to land another strong arrow into the Ettin with Chard before using her bonus action to Hide again, She had hidden at the end of the previous round, and with Chard engaged with his Ettin, the Sneak Attack damage again caused heavy damage.

Pipp moved closer to the forefront in order to properly see to attack. 

In the next round, Chard again invoked his flaming Glaive and with his Ettin having turned towards Torsion, he was able to land a strong Critical Hit, leaping into the air and bringing his weapon squarely down in between the two heads on this first Ettin, killing it. Chard felt the energy of his Pact bubble inside him as he gained temporary Hit Points. As he landed on the ground, his Glaive rendered free from the dead Ettin, Chard whispered to himself "At least in the end we managed to split you two knuckleheads apart ..." and he turned his attention to stare down the other advancing Ettin.

Pipp emerged finally from the treeline and was able to hit the Ettin with a strong Shatter spell. Dafnae again emerging from her concealment to strike the remaining Ettin with another strong Sneak Attack from her Longbow.

This Ettin fought back, hitting both Chard and Torsion with one of each of its multiattacks with its Battleaxe and Morningstar.

Another round of combat, another exchange of blows. The Ettin was able to resist the Dissonant Whispers from Pipp. It seemed to her that sometimes it turns out two heads are better than one. 

The fighting continued, all sides landing blows. Pipp tried again with Dissonant Whispers but this time it succeeded and this gave both Chard and Torsion the opportunity to attack the fleeing Ettin. It was looking quite damaged at this point.

Resuming its assault, the Ettin was able to again land a strong blow on Chard who fell unconscious. 

But heroically again emerging from the treeline, Dafnae landed another strong Sneak Attack, this time her arrow piercing the skull of one of the heads, pinning it to the other head. It then crashed in a heap on the ground, slain.

Torsion quickly healed Chard. Coming to, Chard looked around and noticed the second dead Ettin and he laughed, looked at his friends, and said "Well, I had just closed my eyes for a second and in that time you killed it?" Torsion grumbled under his breath and he wished his friend was not so foolhardy when it came to matters of life and death. 

Quickly searching the bodies, the found nothing of value. This encounter did nothing to alter the common perception that Ettins were rather dim witted after all. Chard and Torsion moved the bodies off of the main road so the Caravan could pass and in the meantime Dafnae and Pipp went to explore the wagon.

Pipp noticed that the horses seemed to have been killed in a way not consistent with the weapons the Ettins were wielding. They had what looked like claw marks across their bodies. And looking around she found a large golden feather She picked up the feather and inserted into fashionably into her hair.

Dafnae explored the wagon remains and the two dead guards and called out for any other survivors. There was a voice calling out from underneath the wagon. Someone was still alive!

They found Nyerhite Verther (Male Human Merchant sheltered under the wagon, with crates of Calishite silk dragged between the wheels for cover). He was quite distressed.

Dafnae tried to calm him stating that the Ettins had been defeated and that he could come out and join in with their Caravan - there was safety in numbers.

In between sobs, he whimpered and asked if the first attackers were around. Dafnae asked for clarification and Pipp suddenly realised what the golden feather was and she turned her gaze upwards to see if she could spot any other dangers. 

Nyerhite meanwhile explained that he was part of another Caravan heading South but he had fallen ill and had stayed behind in the village of Wayfork. Once he felt better he decided to take the risk and venture out to try to catch up with his Caravan and resume the jouney.

Unfortunately he was set upon by Griffins that killed his horses and despite his guards stepping in to help , they too were slain. And while he hid under the wagon, the Ettin approached and scared the Griffins away. And that was when they arrived.

Torsion and Chard joined them and Torsion set to heal them as the Ettin had done quite a bit of damage and if what his merchant was saying was true, the immediate threat may not be yet over.

And that is when from high in the sky near the mountain ridge Pipp heard a loud screech. She again kept her eyes peeled but could not yet see the source of the sound. 

Torsion continued his healing and it was Dafnae who this time heard the same screech and then with her keen sight she spied a golden bird screeching and circling above.

They saw the Griffins continue circling, with a menacing look in their eyes. A new round of initiative began.

The Heroes huddled around the Wagon and launched remote attacks. Chard with his Eldritch Blast and Torsion with his Guiding Bolt, all landing true. And with Dafnae taking her turn immediately after Torsion, her attack being at advantage gave her the opportunity to do Sneak Attack damage. Pipp prepared her Dissonant Whispers should the Griffins advance closer.

They managed to damage one of the Griffins heavily and it flew away. The other one tried to advance fast, but Pipp's Dissonant Whispers managed to repel its advances. Determined though, the second Griffin continued to try to catch its dinner. But it took heavy damage and it turned to flee as well.

Chard launched his final Eldritch Blast before it went out of range and hit it square in the side, causing it to die and crash spiralling to the ground with a thud.

The new threat vanquished, they freed Nyerhite from under the destroyed Wagon and Pipp went to go notify the rest of the Caravan it was safe to advance. He would join them on the trip. He was hopeful that someone would be able to carry his goods back to Wayfork, He would wait there and decide what to do next.

In the meantime Dafnae took her hand to extract some items from the dead Griffin. The Talons would be useful and she was sure the Feathers would be helpful and there definitely would be someone who would want the eye. She didn't want to waste time with the extracting the Talons individually so with the help of Chard, they butchered the beast to take the four paws and she would attempt to remove the Talons at a later time. The Feathers were easy to remove and she collected 10 of the largest ones. The eyes proved trickier. She failed her first attempt but then did succeed on the second one. 

The four Adventurers felt better after this encounter as compared to the harrowing experience with the Poison Trolls. 

Once the Wagons would arrive, they would find a way to sort out the stranded Merchant and continue their way to Wayfork.