EPISODE 2: The Troopers reach the Hill (B5)

 

Party: Toth’s Troopers

Adventure: #2 “The Horror on the Hill”

Session Number: 4

Session Date: 3/15/26 (Evening of Thaumont 25. Moldain -26^th. Nytdain. AC 1000.)

Adventure Background:

Toth and his party have reached Guido’s Fort and the surrounding settlement. Their plan is to arrange passage across the river to the Hill in the morning and begin exploring.

The Troopers:

Toth Casksword (L) Male Fighter 1. Leader of the group.

Alzador (N) Male Magic User 1

Bailey (N) Male Thief 1

Brother Kenton (L) Male Cleric 1 (CoK)

Konstantin (Kon) Maras (N) Male Fighter 1

At the Lion’s Den Inn, Toth and his companions rested for the evening. (Kon pays.) While relaxing in the taproom, the party talked with some of the other patrons, trying to learn more about the Hill.

“There’s witches that live out there! They act kindly, but drop your guard and yer done for!”

“A friend o’ mine swore he saw a horde of ghouls roaming the riverbank. Hungry for human flesh!”

“There be a dragon there, below the hill!”

“They say a horde of orcs are over there. Just waiting for the word to attack us.”

One old man was happy to talk about it indefinitely (for a mug of ale) but had little to add that the other locals hadn’t said as well. Toth, always willing to be civil bought him a couple rounds and listened patiently to his stories.

“You’re a decent lad.” the old man said, slurring his voice just slightly after draining his mug again. “The Hill’s a nasty place. If you’re set on going, take this with you.” He handed Toth a small bottle of clear liquid. “It’s healin’ juice. But go easy on it. There’s only a few doses’ worth in it.”

Toth accepted the flask gratefully. He wasn’t sure if it was really a potion or not, but having some magical healing in the party was a great boost to his confidence.

The next morning, the group gathered at the riverbank, looking for a ride across the water. After some brief negotiations with a fisherman named Gerd, he agreed to ferry them over. For an additional few coins, he agreed to come back for them when they were ready. The party was to light a fire where he dropped them off and he’d come back for them.

Gerd dropped them on an open stretch of sandy bank. There was a stream flowing down out of the trees to a small waterfall and into the river. The day was warm enough, but a steady drizzle made everything damp and unpleasant. “If the sun were out, this would be a great place for a picnic.” Kon observed. Kenton chuckled at the big man’s jest. They were on the doorstep of who knew how many monsters’ homes and he was talking about taking a holiday.

There was a narrow path leading into the woods to the northwest, but the party chose to follow the water upstream, as it went more directly into the forest and it would be difficult to get lost The trail there was narrower but it seemed passable enough. The group began following it, staying alert for anyone or anything they might come across.

After perhaps half an hour, the party came to where the stream left a large pond. The water was clear and shallow. They could see smooth, brightly colored rocks lining the bed. Toth and Bailey both noticed some unusual plants growing nearby. They looked like raspberries, but the fruits were nearly the size of an apple and looked far too ripe for so early in the season. Despite Alzador’s curiosity, they left the plants alone.

Turning south, the group followed a trail that opened into another clearing, at the far end was a large mound of dirt. Crawling atop it were two ant-like creatures the size of large dogs.

“Driver Ants!” hissed Kenton. “I’ve heard about those. They could be dozens in that hill. Bad news.”

“True.” Bailey nodded, “But I hear that they mine gold!”

“Kids’ Stories!” scoffed Kenton.

Toth eyed the mound for a minute then said, “We’ll check it out. At least a bit. We’re never going to find any decent loot if we don’t take a few chances.” then he grinned. “We can’t keep living on Kon’s generosity.”

The big man looked uncomfortable a moment but the group chuckled. Toth continued, “All right. Nice and easy. We aren’t rushing in. Just getting a closer look.”

The group moved into the clearing. Kon consciously shifted position to be in front of Alzador and raised his shield slightly. Alzador was surprised for a moment, but then remember Toth’s comment when he let Kon join the group. “You can keep the monsters off of Alzador while he works his magic.” Despite the comment said half-jesting, the big Thyatian seemed to have taken the charge seriously. The wizard was surprised to find he felt pride in Kon at that moment.

As the huge ants closed in, and unfortunately both moved toward the pair of men. Kon held his shield at the ready, his sword raised. Alzador hesitated to use his magic so early in their explorations, so he drew his dagger and hoped it wouldn’t come down to the strength of his arm to win the day.

The first ant’s mandible clashed against Kon’s shield, but the second got past his guard and bit into his side, below the ribs. The mail covering the area tore and the pincer dug deep. Kon spit some blood and fell to one knee before toppling onto his side.

Kenton saw the big man fall and ran toward him, pulling the healing potion tha the old man had given them from his bag. If he could administer the healing draught before Kon bled to death, he might be able to save him! He tried to get some elixir into the man’s mouth, but it was too late, Konstatin the warrior was dead. [Note: I run damage and death that 0 hp or less = dead, but I ruled here that if Kon could be healed to positive hp by the end of the round, he’d live. Sadly, he was at -3 and the potion only healed 2 hp. RIP Kon.]

Kenton, shocked by the suddenness of the loss, lashed out with his mace at the nearest ant, but failed to connect. Toth and Bailey were both frantically trying to kill or drive off the creatures, but were faring no better. One of the ants got hold of Bailey’s thigh and nearly severed the leg! Blood poured from the wound as the thief crashed tot he ground screaming. Kenton tried to reach him with the potion, but couldn’t get past the ant he’d been fighting. In a matter of moments, the blood from Bailey’s wound slowed to a trickle, then stopped. Bailey stopped crying out and was still. [Note: Kenton had acted already, so no chance to get to the Thief with the potion in time. RIP Bailey].

Toth saw Alzador, still standing a bit back, obviously shocked by the casualties. Toth shouted, “Al! Take the mule and get out of here! Kenton! Retreat!” He then backing away from the creatures, still trying to fend off their blows. Kenton did the same, asking Toth in a strained voice as he managed to disengage, “What about Bailey and Kon? We can’t leave them for ant food!”

“I know. We’ll figure something out. For now, we need to try not to join them!”

Alzador had taking Mule and run back the way they had come, out of the clearing. When Toth and Kenton reached him, the monstrous insects seemed to have lost interest. They spend a few moments investigating the bodies, then returned to their mound at the far end of the clearing.

Toth whispered, “When they move out of sight, we’ll run up and each take one of the bodies. No fighting, just running.” Kenton nodded. Sure enough, a minute later they had their chance. It was nervous work dragging the corpses away from where they’d fought, but the ants were either distracted or uninterested and they were able to escape the clearing with their grisly burdens.

They quickly slung the bodies onto Mule and started heading back the way they came. No one had any appetite for further adventures that day, and it would have been foolish to continue so depleted. Everyone was subdued. Now that the initial shock was over, Toth berated himself for his recklessness. That wasn’t a fight that needed to happen. He felt his failure as team leader most acutely and vowed to never be so careless with people’s lives again.

Back at the beach, the group decided to bury the dead near the treeline, where the ground was soft but far enough from the waterline that the graves would stay dry. Toth placed Kon’s sword and shield in the grave with him as well as Bailey’s knives and tools with him. Kenton said a prayer for the dead to consecrate the graves. Alzador found two flat stones and wrote their names upon them, placing them on top when the graves were filled. On Kon’s stone, Alzador added the words “the Brave” after his name.

When it was over, Toth lit a signal fire. About an hour later they could see Gerd working his boat across the water toward them.

End Adventure 2.