> last month, my players were trapped by Big Bad Uz
Rah! Go trolls!
> and they were thinking of a way to escape. On of them had an interesting
> idea : "why not poisoning some food with iron and it to the Bad Uz?".
Not a bad idea. Troll stomachs probably can't (unfortunately) handle iron,
at least IMO -- I figure trolls are burned slightly just by touching it
(though this might be to "faeriesque" for some). Holding a piece of iron
for several minutes is risking a severe burn, and having a chunk of the
stuff floating around in your tummy is probably not healthy, might lead to
ulcers or worse. Might even kill you if it burns through the stomach
lining before the stomach acids break it down -- larger the piece of
iron, more chance it hurts you. Ground powder mixed with food might be
dissolved quickly, of course. Not that tummy troubles are the only
problem -- think what happens when the troll processes it farther! "Torgak
sat down *very carefully* and glared at his human captives..."
In fact, if you mix in iron with veggies or meat it probably gets sucked into the plant/meat route, and thus *isn't* broken down. Nasty.
Proper trolls should have some sort of spirit cult that helps them (b)eat this nasty Mostali trick. Summon up Ironeater (minor hero? darkness spirit?), and sacrifice for some sort of ritual Eat Iron spell (allows the troll caster to eat iron without taking damage). Makes for a very effective way to eliminate iron once and for all; have a big ritual once a year and munch down on all the nasty iron crap you've confiscated from those hooman thugs that come round to bother you.
James "Stomach of Lead" Frusetta
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