| Session Date | April 5 2024 |
| Start Date | 2 Harvester 1273 |
| End Date | 3 Harvester 1273 |
| Starting Location | Troll King's Throne Room |
| Ending Location | Heading towards road most traveled |
| Player Characters | Helga, Burt*, Mord, Deaglan, Sirius, ZZ |
| Base XP Gained | Carry Over |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
The Troll Kings treated the party to a meal in their throne room. Although not exactly gourmet, it was both filling and not horrifying to eat (on par with the Dark Market). When asked if anyone in the party wished to participate in the upcoming gladiatorial combat, there were no takers, to the disappointment of some of those present.
With the meal finished, the Troll Kings pronounced it time for the games and the party accompanied their majesties and senior officials to the rostrum high above the pit. Scores, even hundreds, of humanoids were present in the amphitheater below the rostrum to watch the sport. Some of the Bugbears even cheered when they saw the party. Finally, the huge troll Sooja stepped forth from a large double door at the base of the pit. He did a few circuits of the pit, jeering and preening to get the crowd worked up even more. He even took a moment to give the party a “you guys” sort of gesture of defiance.
After a short time, the great door opened once more and an immense dinosaur was driven out at spearpoint to face the Giant Troll. It was a Paleoscincus. The creature wasted no time charging Sooja and a rather impressively epic battle ensued. Despite his immense size, Sooja proved to be nimble and a skilled warrior. Still, the dinosaur was simply immense and it took the King’s Champion some time to wear the thing down before finally defeating it, having suffered numerous serious injuries (not regenerating, of course).
The games concluded, the party spoke more with the Kings. The party was granted freedom of movement throughout the level or anywhere else they wished, though the Kings asked them to remain not too distant in case they were needed. Asking about the jungle area, the party was told that a Dark Druid dwelt there. He had been there for quite some time and both he and the Troll Kings’ forces avoided antagonizing the other. The Druid was said to be a powerful man, not to be trifled with. Talk now turned to remuneration and the sum of 5000 silver or equivalent was agreed upon, with promises of great bonuses and gifts if the party were successful in helping defeat the Serpentine Lord. Further, the party was promised a few useful magic items up front (which proved to be a Trident of Submission and a Wand of Negation). During this time, Sirius used a detect magic ability to scope out the Kings’ entourage, all proving to be very well equipped with magic.
The party was now escorted to a room to the south, ironically the same one they’d fireballed previously. The Bugbear escorts lamented that everyone there was killed by “forces of the Serpentine Lord” during the recent battle, so the room was available. Here they rested overnight. Also, Hans departed alone to the Dark Market, where he intended to meet up with Elishandra and Sandrix, and from there make their way to the surface.
The next morning, they returned to the presence of the Kings, which directed the Ghoul Chalmers to present the party with a signed letter of marque, authorizing them to call on aid from the Kings’ forces at need. The party was assured that the various patrols now out were all well aware of the party. They were escorted to the southernmost guard chamber and resumed their explorations.
In one room, they found a bowl with an inscription saying to pray for your due, which ZZ did, resulting in a pool of holy water appearing. Nearby they slew a rust monster before it could do any damage, while two wandering medusae were easily dispatched without incident. One room contained eight mummies chained to the floor, above them written “suffer for thy heresies.” Several of them wore silver symbols of Roshim, god of evil (depicting a stone archway). The party let them be.
They then came to a room with a grate in the ceiling and floor. After a few minutes, some copper coins rained down from upper to lower grate. This was followed by some silver coins. The party toyed with this for a time, eventually catching some coins and even a few decent gems. But eventually the coins began to be accompanied by weirdly colored gasses, so the party moved on, where they soon ran into a not unfriendly patrol from the Troll Kings…