Arrival at Nurok

If any of the troll's body is under water Cædwyn will take hold of the immobile troll and drag it out of the water and onto dry land so that it can be properly burnt. He'll then douse it with the three vials of lantern oil he brought to accelerate the process.

Ilwyn looks up from Merri's body with a grimace. "Tend to him." She says to Hraefn. "Retreat if you must." She then runs over to Caedwyn, calling out. "Hack at it if you must! Do not let it stand!" She lays a hand on Caedwyn's shoulder, then takes up her blade and brings it down on the corpse in an attempt to stunt its regeneration.

Cædwyn nods to Ilwyn and begins to butcher the corpse, cutting away chunks of it with his sword and tossing them onto the dry land where they can build a bonfire out of the remains. He yells out, "Bram, get a fire going for all this! We'll hack it apart, you make sure it all burns!"

Bram concentrates on the Flaming Sphere until everyone is done hacking at it and the pieces are moved onto dry land.

Ilwyn continues to hack away at the corpse for several seconds after it expires completely, before burying her sword in it, leaving it there and toppling backwards with a sigh of exhaustion. She catches her breath, then speaks: "I'd like to extend my sincerest apologies. Particularly to you Lord Eigendrast, and Merriweather, of course. I underestimated the threat grossly, and you ended up paying the most." She stood up and stepped back into a low bow. "I was stubborn. I cannot apologize enough, nor thank you enough for your support."

Cædwyn lets out a loud guffaw (though he winces a bit in pain from the laughter) and claps Merri on the back. "Ha! That beast was no match for us. If we're lucky, perhaps we'll run into two more on the way back."

I apologize to all of you. I didn’t due my best today and I let you down. I say between coughs. It won’t happen again.

Cædwyn nods to Merri, "Aye, cause you'll be letting me walk in front now right?" He grins and rubs his hands together, "Now, I don't suppose a creature like this would keep a horde of treasure nearby hmmm?"

Ilwyn looks surprised at Cædwyn's positivity, breaking out into a smile just after. She turns to her sword, putting a foot on the charred carcass as she yanks it out. "As much as I love a good fight, Lord Eigendrast," She says over the heaving of flesh being rent. She wipes her forehead before continuing. "Merri looks like he could use a drink. A whole tavern's worth, in fact."

She sheathes her weapon and marches over to the men, grabbing Cædwyn by the shoulder and shaking him. "Your skills are impressive, though. Well fought." She kneels down, helping Merri to his feet and letting him lean on her. "No apologies necessary. I should've been more astute - It won't happen again. How are you feeling?"

The ranger stands over the hulking corpse as it burns. There's a certain pleasure in the vile stench of melting fat and boiling swamp sludge. Guilt reigned in her words. The apology seemed to come so easy to Ilwyn that Etna wasn't quite sure of her sincerity. With a tut, she chides herself for her prejudice: she still had difficulty seeing people behind their noble trappings. No such fluent apology rolled off Etna's tongue for the time being. With the blaze at her toes she contemplates Lod's words.

"I'm no smith, but ev'n I ken true bonds are forged in fire. Man 'n' beast, man 'n' man, man 'n' 'imself. You've gotta see their blood pumpin' with yours, lest y' ne'er really ken 'em."

He liked that one; he'd say it over and over. He seemed miles away now in this swamp, she wondered. Sure enough, even though it took her to fail them, to drag them into a ditch, bruise and batter them and to come put herself unscarred, but she felt she knew them better now. Even Merri, scoundrel though he was. There were village kids like him in Fairwall. The kind spurned once by a lass, then took to angst and darkness, even if it was all for show. She felt the same nugget of goodness buried deep in Merri as she did in them. Caedwyn too. He wasn't unlike Lod in some ways: a boisterous drunk, incorrigible gambler and fierce competitor. I just wish it didn't take for the flesh rent off them for me to see it.

She wipes water from her eye - is it the warmth of the flames or the intensity of her daydream?

Before departing, I use a dagger and remove the biggest tooth I can.