Logrivich's Tower - Part 2

Jorgen backed away from the large female troll but she followed him out into the weapons room. Again she took a whack with her battleaxe. Jorgen was screaming for help but the mechanical background noise and the battle going on in the dining room made hearing him difficult.

Amadeo killed off the last troll in the dining area and then Casia began burning the two troll bodies there.

At this point Santrel and Milos had found that Jorgen was not around and went looking for him. Santrel saw him alone in a great battle with the female troll, who looked more foul than the ones they just killed.

The party then made its way to help Jorgen, Fanara filling up much of the space.  Jorgen again attempted to escape the creature but he failed and was knocked prone. Now the battle became a slugging match as Amadeo and Casia joined Fanara in attacking the monster.  Jorgen crawled out of the line of fire and Milos channeled healing for the party.

After a longer battle where the troll was healing until Casia hit it with Alchemist's fire.  Santrel used magic missile but missed continually with Acid Splash. Under duress from three heroes the troll finally hit the floor.  A quick search found three potions and a ring that were magic, also the suit of scale mail on a battle dummy was found to be magic. Two keys were found on her also.

As Fanara urged the party to head to the second floor before her enlarge wore off, they quickly searched the troll's room.  A giant-sized bed sat in the southwest corner of this spacious room, and a large polar bear rug sprawled across the floor. Several small tables occupy the corners of the room, along with a chest in the southeast. Behind it on the wall hung a large mirror.

Santrel and Jorgen used the rug to cover the mirror and Jorgen picked the lock on the chest finding coins, a magic greatsword, a potion, an iron nose ring, and a collection of 12 brightly polished human skulls. Jorgen left the skulls and nose ring.  Meanwhile Casia organized the children.  They were becoming excited at the prospect of leaving but Casia said that they would need to wait until the group finished clearing out the tower.

"Is that monster Granny Nan?" Casia asked.

"No, that is the nastiest ice troll," one of the boys said.

"Where is Granny Nan?"

"She is up on the second floor.: 

One of the young girls animatedly said "A girl named Inga was taken up to the second floor a few days ago.  We have not seen her again."

Another added "There is an old witch there who cooks for the trolls a ghost, and at least two dragons one white and one black that breathes fire." 

"Oh," one of the children piped up, "and a beautiful princess who sings-when she's not crying."

 "Do you have homes to go to?" she asked.

"No, we came from orphanages.  Some of us have parents but they do cannot feed us." answered one of the older boys.

Fanara checked the shattered statues and found a magic adamantine longsword.

"Let us get upstairs quickly," Fanara said.

The group headed up the stairs with Fanara squeezing in the regular sized passageways.  At another landing a door led to the south and the stairs continued up.  Jorgen opened the door and found several boxes and barrels were stacked waist high at the end of this broad hallway. Double doors led to the east and west.  Jorgen moved up to a crate but couldn't see what was in them without opening. Listening at the east or west door did not provide any indication.  All that was heard was the mechanical noise prevalent in the entire tower.

The party opened the west door and revealed a room which contained a table in the northeast corner on which rested an attractive glass oil lamp atop a doily. A rocking chair sat in the southwest corner next to a basket containing yarn, knitting needles, and a half-completed mitten. The room is otherwise empty.  Single doors led north, east and south.  To the south and east no sound was heard but to the north a quiet child's crying was heard.  The door was locked and none of the keys worked on it.  Jorgen made an attempt to unlock and was successful.  

Toys and dolls were strewn about the floor of the room, and small tables and chairs sized for small creatures or children sat in the northeast and northwest corners. Books, papers, quills, and ink vials sat atop the tables. A cot stood to the southeast. The windows were barred, but the shutters were open to let in the natural light.

The only currently occupant was a young girl waif. She was overjoyed at the sight of the heroes, but sagely put one finger to her lips and whispered, "Have you met Granny Nan yet?"

"No we haven't," Casia said.

"She feeds me well while I am up here."

Fanara was impatient and finding the south door locked began smashing the wood.  In two turns she managed to completely destroy the door.  Inside a bedroom with powder blue walls was a old hag in the corner who cast a spell.  Fanara and Casia became shaken but Jorgen was frightened and retreated into the nursery. 

Milos entered the nursery and offered his hand to the little girl.

"I am Milos, who are you?"

"Inga, don't let the ghost see me." she responded.

"I am going to take you downstairs to the other boys and girls. Will you come with me?"

"Sure, lets go."

Milos took her down the the first platform and explained that she needed to stay with the older kids till he came back to get all of them.  Inga slowly crept down the stairs and Milos headed back to the fight.

The party soon surrounded the witch and although she was blinking the party's strikes were true and she quickly fell after grabbing some hit points from Amadeo with Vampiric Touch.  Fanara immediately covered a mirror in the room with the provided curtains. A bed occupied the east side of the room, its headboard pushed against the wall with a nightstand on either side. A desk and chair sat next to the south wall. A large glass snow globe depicting Whitethrone's Royal Palace with a music box built into
the base sat atop one of the nightstands.  No magic was visible in the room.

The final door in the sitting room revealed a water closet with large tub and pitcher and basin. Nothing stood out in this room. 

Jorgen and Casia headed to open the other set of doors which revealed a kitchen with three tables occupying the northern half of the room. A five-foot square extrusion with a small access door on its western face ran from floor to ceiling just south of the doors. A gigantic cast-iron cauldron stood in the southeast corner with wood stacked beneath it. A large iron stove with twin flue pipes running into the wall dominated the southwest corner.

Milos entered and found the kitchen very clean, free of dust and well organized.  A small cauldron on one of the tables was magic but there was little else of interest though double doors headed north.

Outside in the hallway a creature made of a conglomeration of tiny clockwork gears, bird bones, dried twigs, and scraps of dog fur, topped with a cracked and chipped porcelain doll's head, climbed over a barrel and attacked Santrel who saved after feeling his voice tremble. As the party advanced on this pitiful creature they heard the voices of many children sobbing, crying and screaming in the area around the monstrosity.

The the iron stove abruptly lurched to life pulling away from the wall to leave its flue pipes dangling above.  It attacked Milos with enthusiasm, the serrated jaws of its oven doors snapped wildly like those of a hungry crocodile. The jaws grappled Milos as he fought to free himself.

 DM's Notes: The party is progressing well headed for the dragon.  They will be at sixth level before facing Logrivich.