Pathfinder Ruins of Azlant: Sumner watches a Troll lose his reason for living

He died as he lived

Part 30 of my campaign playing in Paizo’s Ruins of Azlant Adventure Path

My introductory post can be found here: https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2020/12/14/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-the-world-edition/

Part 1 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2020/12/25/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-glados/

Part 2 can be found here: https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/01/09/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-a-hole-in-the-ground/

Part 3 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/02/01/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-a-most-wretched-hive-of-skum-and-circuitry/

Part 4 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-gets-punched-in-the-brain-and-learns-how-to-hogtie/

Part 5 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/03/10/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-soggy-undead-and-evil-lobsters/

Part 6 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/03/17/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-gets-kod-by-a-fireball/

Part 7 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/05/02/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-some-sharkmen/

Part 8 can be found here: https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/09/12/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlantsumner-pucnhes-a-troll-and-a-crab-not-necessarily-in-that-order/

Part 9 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/11/25/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-out-an-old-lady/

Part 10 can be found here: https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2021/11/25/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-and-the-beginning-of-the-noodle-arms/

Part 11 can be found here: https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/01/27/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-takes-stock-and-loses-a-bout-to-a-thunderstorm/

Part 12 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/01/28/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-kos-diplomacy-scary-smoke-monsters-some-oozes-a-rat-and-a-table/

Part 13 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/03/25/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-dodges-a-meteor-kos-some-hounds-and-the-noodle-arms-strike-back/

Part 14 can be found here: https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/03/25/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-enters-the-temple-of-clockworks-and-noodle-arms/

Part 15 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/03/26/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-rides-the-lightning-and-watches-leeroy-come-into-his-own/

Part 16 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/04/09/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-struggles-to-catch-up-to-the-longest-fight-ever/

Part 17 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/04/17/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-trades-blows-with-a-giant-supersonic-shrimp/

Part 18 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/04/26/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-gets-punched-in-the-brainagain-in-return-of-the-dragon/

Part 19 can be found:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/04/28/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-learns-that-elves-are-assholes/

Part 20 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/05/18/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-heads-to-tallahassee-where-he-learns-that-not-only-surface-elves-are-assholes/

Part 21 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/05/19/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-out-a-giant-wyrm-from-the-inside/

Part 22 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/06/13/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlantsumner-watches-leeroy-make-a-bad-guy-give-up-by-puking-on-himself/

Part 23 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/06/22/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-punches-some-flowers-and-gets-a-cold-sore/

Part 24 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/06/29/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-wades-through-a-pile-of-viscera-and-gore-in-order-to-play-janitor/

Part 25 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/08/08/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumners-spring-break-or-the-return-to-tallahassee/

Part 26 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/08/08/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-loves-it-when-a-plan-comes-together/

Part 27 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/08/08/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-learns-to-appreciate-art-and-how-to-make-splinters-out-of-a-wizard/

Part 28 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/09/07/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-donkey-punches-a-urinating-scrag/

Part 29 can be found here:https://blackroseberserker.wordpress.com/2022/09/12/pathfinder-ruins-of-azlant-sumner-watches-spud-make-the-second-longest-fightever/

To Recap: Our heroes (Nyvne the draconic sorcerer, Leeroy the dragonman Paladin, Spud the potatoman Druid and his giant vulture companion Falkor, Oakbark the tree man Wizard, and Sumner the mooseman Brawler) had made their way to the gigantic underwater tower of Auberon the Drowned. Entering through the topmost level above-water they had made their way down one of the ‘tines’ of the Alabaster Trident, ending on a level which branched out into the other two tines, as well as continuing further down under the water.

It had been several weeks in a row since Trevor had shown up to play Oakbark, and even though we had his character with us, none of us really wanted to run him, with the potential for his death, and the complexity of playing a wizard. We decided that we would leave him in the cleared room at the top of the tower we had first entered, and having checked his spell list, that he could teleport back to Tallahassee when we found and saved Drecissa.

Which worked out well since Nathan had met a few co-workers who were interested in joining the group. Unfortunately, my memory is not up to remembering the players’ names, but their characters stood out distinctly. First, we had The Ram, an undead hippopotamus that exuded pink goo from his body. His mind was that of an Awakened Ram (made intelligent through a druid spell) which had been transplanted into the hippo body. He had also taken levels in Monk. Secondly, we had Al. Al, was a flumph, an aberration that looks like a floating spherical body, a mouth, two eyestalks rising from its top, and dozens of tentacles limning its lower body. Al would contort itself into a human cadaver that it had found and would drag it with him. Al also had taken levels in Monk.

Deciding that clearing enemies out behind us was the better part of discretion, we moved from the centermost tower over to the westernmost, the second tallest of the two still standing over the waterline. Moving up a level we enter a room of horrors. A long, thin room curves to the north ahead of us. Along the southern wall are rows of hospital beds, the sheets on top bloody and torn in most cases. Two of the beds are occupied by the previously described new PCs. Standing over them, apparently in the middle of operating on them are two figures; one is a large Scrag, better armed and armored than the ones that we had been fighting in the tower up until this point. The other is some kind of custom Clockwork being, man-shaped in size and appearance, with a cluster of mechanical arms rising up out of one of its shoulders to help it operate. It looks at us, curses, and then all hell breaks loose.

Initiative is all over the place. Nyvne hastens the group, Spud flies Falkor up to the clockwork doctor and attacks him, but misses and is missed in return. The Ram starts spraying pink goo out of his body all over the place; the equivalent of a Stinking Cloud spell. Sumner moves up to attack the Scrag and she retaliates. Leeroy engages the mechanical doctor, whose damage reduction helps him out against the Paladin’s sword attacks. Al slips out of its body and frees itself from the shackles holding it to the table. A couple more rounds of combat occur, with Sumner helping the Ram free of the table after downing the Scrag leader. The Clockwork Doctor has access to spells and Sneak Attacks (A Vivisecionist Alchemist) but is unable to stand up to an entire adventuring party by himself.

With the people waving claws and scalpels around now lying dead or broken, we introduce ourselves to our new companions. The Ram seems in awe of Sumner, looking at how large his antlers are comparatively. They seem funny, good company, and fucked up, so they fit in with our group right away. There is one more stairway leading up from this room which we take.

As we crest the top of the stairway we see that we are entering a Scrag sleeping chamber, currently occupied by several Scrag guards. Passing a Perception check, Sumner sees that one of the Scrag beds has a ship’s figurehead badly hidden under a dirty pile of blankets within it. The figurehead is shaped like an Ulfen Dragon (think a Viking-esque dragon figurehead) and has apparently been acting as a “waifu” or bedmate to the scrag. When we stop laughing at the description, we roll for initiative.

Scrags/trolls are pretty decent middle-level encounters, especially when you start to add martial class levels to them. Scrags aren’t able to come back from a Brawler and 2 Monks all with Pummeling Style charging in with full attacks at them like crazy Anthropomorphic Martial Artists. Topping it all off, Nyvne nukes the room with a fireball. The Scrags drop like flies, the one with the dragonhead waifu, collapsing on top of it as he dies. Nyvne waits for a beat and then says, “He died as he lived!”
We all crack up laughing, and five minutes later when we calm down, Spud minces down into the room on Falkor, looks around, and casts Warp Wood, to break the figurehead. We all start laughing again. As we break for the week, we are glad that we have made some new friends.