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You decide to use the spare manpower to forge metal armour for the army. Good armour will pay off in many future battles.
In the meantime, you summon Hoknar, the village shaman. You ask Hoknar about cave trolls, what their weaknesses are and how they can be tamed. Hoknar tells you that rushflowers are the bane of trolls, and that they are also repelled by fire and sunlight. You don't see how flowers would be of any use in battle, but fire and sunlight will be useful. Hoknar says that according to legend Shmirgle used rushflowers to tame cave trolls, but how he did it has been lost to time. Apparently the Yardaks have rediscovered the secret. Rushflowers are abundant in the forest, and Hoknar says this may be why cave trolls do not stray from the barren parts of the mountains.
You discuss possible allies against the Yardaks with your advisors. There are tribes of hill goblins in the forests to the south, and the Bagnars are the closest. The Bagnars have not warred with the Lugbods in recent history, but they have warred with the Yardaks. The Hagrots are also nearby, but they have no special reason to hate the Yardaks and they have bad blood with the Lugbods as the result of several wars. The Tablons are also enemies of the Yardaks, but are further away than the Bagnars. Both Grinkob and Zegbar agree that the Bagnars are the best choice to approach for help. The hill goblins have little in the way of metal, as they do not have the tunnels and caves that mountain goblins do. Hill goblins instead rely on their bows in warfare, with wooden or stone-tipped arrows. Bows would be an ideal weapon to use against a troll, as getting close enough to strike one is very dangerous. Since metals are rare and valuable to hill goblins, it would also be cheap to hire them. Your advisors estimate that you could hire 200 men from the Bagnar chieftain for 10000 silver pieces.
But there is also another less conventional option. Even further to the south, on the edge of the forest lies a town of humans. Humans dislike goblins, for good reason. But this town has been known to trade with the hill goblins in the forest from time to time. You have never seen a human, but you know that they value silver, and that human warriors use great longbows in warfare which can pierce through armour. A cave troll still towers over a human, but you suppose their powerful bows would be much more effective at piercing a troll's thick hide than the hunting bows of the hill goblins. Humans are also much larger and stronger than goblins, standing twice as tall. If you were able to hire some human warriors from the town you think they could kill the Yardaks' troll, allowing your armoured warriors to conquer the Yardaks with ease. You have no idea how much human warriors would cost, but you suspect they are much more expensive than goblins. You decide you will send some scouts first to confirm the existence of this cave troll before spending silver on any mercenaries.
