Sorrin kneels beside the fallen beast. Observing tracks... They went this way.
Sorrin tracks the prints expertly through the marsh. The mire eventually becomes little more than greenish bog the consistency of soup. All possibility of continuing on foot ends at a small rotting jetty. The remains of two coracles lie drowned at its side, whilst far away you can make out a clump of bent trees that appear to be strangling a building – you can just make out horribly fractured gables, a collapsed wall, peeling statues, and, nearby, a curiously strangled spire which rises from the waters. Between you and this choked carcass of a structure lies a quarter mile of ooze; stagnation assaults your senses here. The surface of this mire is not still however, and you can make out small eddies
and the sound of sucking coming from beneath the waters. Cypress and willow trees bend on the banks as if in worship of the awful place. A horde of a thousand insects buzz about you.
You understand, we're going under... Something in this place or about this place doesn't want us here, poking around. Swimming, water breathing, etc...
We'll need some poles. How big do we want this? The craft, Embrianna.
Sorrin begins collecting vines and rope.
Bri shares her expertise with Sorrin and assists in the building of the craft.
"I'm not concerned too much about going under. I'm an ok swimmer and can breath underwater when needed."
"As for the poles, likely a bit longer than that. Though the water itself is shallow, we will have to push deep into the mud to hit ground solid enough to get resistance to push off of."
"Astri, do you recognize anything about the ruins there?"
Astrianna follows Sorrin and the group as they track the Karikanti, glancing about. So it's no singular beast, but a group of those cursed Tulita... I wonder if they are kidnapping children just like the shark-man at Thumb's Reach told Reefstead to? I still wonder if some diabolical ritual is afoot.
The arrival at the eddy already has the bard covering her nose- the Hungermire was as foul as it was deadly. She is glad Emrbianna asked her about the structure in the distance, giving her an excuse to not help putting together the raft. "I will need to get closer for a true inspection, but based on the architectural style..." Astrianna also checks her map to see if there are any notes or names for the place.
Torgue will take off his breastplate when it starts becoming obvious that they will need to cross the bog and puts on his studded leather. Something to keep in mind to buy, something that will let us survive in this muck.
Torgue will provide moral support since his lack of sailor skills keep him from building boats. He even has only one swig of his aleskin!
You planning on coming back? Now, get off your ale-swiggin' arse and lift some heavy wood, brother. Line them up like this... Here, pull these ropes tighter.
Sit on these, hold them still... Thanks. Keep working.
Torgue lets himself be pushed around, he knows Sorrin likes that deep down.
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After a couple of hours you get a raft assembled that is swamp ready. A few times Torgue's had to go and chase away few prying gator eyes that were getting a few feet too close for comfort, but no encounters occur.
Astri the best you can figure form this distance and with the coking vines and growth over the collapsing building it looks like it could have been some sort of center hall of a lost community, or a temple of some sort. From this distance it is hard to tell though.
Fighting on these rafts is a precarious affair. PCs using piercing or missile weapons need only make a DC 14 Acrobatics check before each attack to avoid falling into the water, but those with slashing and bludgeoning weapons must make a DC 17 check every time they use the weapon. Using two-handed weapons is not possible from rafts or coracles. Spellcasters do not need to make Acrobatics checks unless you deem it necessary.
Sorrin tests his balance on the raft. Guessing that's the best we can do. Hey, maybe these are Tulita ruins.
Uh..Anyone got a dagger I can borrow?
You don't carry one to... cut your cheese? Sorrin shrugs.
Astrianna makes a show of checking her notebook, scribbling some things in her journal, checking her map, and generally looking like she is researching the structure while everyone else works on the raft. In reality she has no idea, but she really didn't feel like working on the raft. When construction was nearly complete the bard announces to everyone the following: "From what I gather it may have been a temple. The Karikanti built many temples to Dajobas before the gods cursed this place... I don't think I need to warn everyone to be on their guard."
Astrianna flexes her wrist and a silver dagger pops from her sleeve. She tosses it in the air, catching by the blade and extending the hilt to Torgue. "This dagger is silver and magical, please don't drop it in the swamp." Barrett was gracious enough to provide it, no reason to let it go to waste! She was far to attached to her longsword Echo to hand it over, even if it was worth less monetarily. Torgue was very good at breaking things... and she shudders to imagine what he would do to the blade, smashing it against monsters like a club.
Before they set off she uses a scroll of Heightened Awareness on herself and IMMEDIATELY regrets it. The half-elf starts choking and coughing as her magically enhanced nostrils are assaulted by the horrific smells of the Hungermire, smells she didn't even know were existed on the material plane. "Why... oh, Shelyn save me... why.. it reeks here!" She gasps dramatically, eyes watering from the sulfuric stench. In order to distract herself she drinks her antitoxin , but all she can taste is swamp smells...
See, she has one to cut her cheese.
Torgue nods and takes the dagger while chugging his own antitoxin.
The group pushes off from he mucky shore and begins to pole and paddle their way towards the over grown building.
Torgue and sorrin are manning the oars while Bri uses a pole to push along. Astri and Chell try to remain vigilant as lookouts.
Sorrin brings a finger to his lips, reminding everyone to be silent. As gently as possible, he rows.
Bri attempts to pay attention to their surroundings as they pole around, so that she can find her way back and not get lost.
So far the water's been 3-5 feet deep but you've hit a few holes that were beyond the pole length. I'm assuming you have a 8 foot pole to use.
By the way, it is getting to be about 5 - 6 pm in the evening, the trees really filter the day light so it's hard to tell exactly. Your vision is still there though.
Astiranna kneels at the front of their makeshift craft, bow in hand as they slosh along the stinking soup of the Hungermire. She remains quiet, scanning the bubbling surface for any abnormalities.
You know this place will be creepy once the the sun goes down and the animals come out to play, you hear terrifying shrieks from the shoreline you left. After you've navigated the Hungermire you come upon the following...
Here the walls rise like fractured limbs from the dank waters at their feet. Chaos, collapse, and damp overpower your senses. Ivy and boughs above, weeds beneath, both strangle the building and its nearby spire. This is a building approaching the welcome embrace of collapse.
"Should we start discussing yet if we will just keep moving all night or if we want to try to find a solid patch of ground to camp out on? I wonder how solid those ruins are....."
Astrianna gazes on the old ruin with a mixture of pity and excitement, her mind trying to imagine what purpose it served and how many lives it touched in its prime. It was sad to see the decay of such wonderful architecture, but given the age of the place and the reputation of the Hungermire there could be exquiste treasures within.
She turns around to face Embrianna. "Not very. But it would be much better than camping out in the open. I came prepared to camp tonight, and would recommend it if we find a good spot." The bard turns back to the ruins- they demanded exploration. "For now, we should see what this old place has to offer."
"Though I would only want to stay in whatever part of it is still above water level. Staying the night someplace below it is just asking for trouble."
"Can you tell yet what kind of people used to live here? What race built it?"
Astrianna considers the witch's question. "I've never seen a building in this style before, and it's quite ancient. It was probably around when the Tultian gods cursed this place into the swamp you see today... Perhaps when we get inside I can make some kind of assessment."
"You don't happen to see any little shark figures carved into it, do you?"
As you approach the building you can see that it is partially submerged roughly 4-5 feet actually, while there is roughly 7 feet above the water. There is sense of evil here almost pulling you towards it, you just know that you're going in the right direction. The water is murky and stagnant.
The half-elf laughs softly. "That would give it away, wouldn't it?" She notices how submerged the building is, and is glad she purchased a scroll of air bubble earlier. "We might have to do some diving inside the building, Chell, Embri."
Now that she is next to the building, Astrianna can get a better feel for it.
Torgue gets out of the boat and sighs at the sodden building. We should split up to look for clues!
Astrianna pulls out some scrolls from her haversack and works the magic on Torgue, who got scuffed up from the mangled monkey before. "Compliments of Barret..."
You notice the structures look ready to collapse and you recognize that certain area type spells like fireball could in fact, collapse sections of the building, creating an unforeseen hazard.
As you get closer see a spire that reaches out of the water like a drowning man’s hand. Ivy and choking limbs of trees strangle it. The spire rises some forty feet out of the waters, and branches have stabbed into the heart of the structure, fracturing a gaping hole in it near the top.
Beyond the Spire the main building stretches.
After a cursory inspection of the building, Astrianna informs the group- "This building is about to collapse. I would avoid any fireballs or explosive spells that affect wide areas. I wouldn't lean on any of the walls either."
The bard points up at the hole in the spire. "We could climb up the side of the spire and see what's inside, or I will anyway. Otherwise we can go to the main building." A frown crosses her face. "I have never felt such a foreboding sense of evil from a place before... We may be walking onto desecrated ground."
After the ground lands, Torgue will get his breastplate back on with the generous help of Chell and Bri. ;)
"How much you wanna bet that something with wings lives in the spire and flies out that hole whenever it gets hungry?"
Bri looks around the water's edge of the structure, looking for a good place to tie their raft off to and get to the ruins.
After the ground lands, Torgue will get his breastplate back on with the generous help of Chell and Bri. ;)
From the direction that you are coming from you have not seen any doorways...yet. The spire looks easy enough to climb up though.
Astrianna grins and agrees with Bri. "I wouldn't bet much because you're probably right. Can't be too big though, or it would collapse the spire."
Torgue will be happy to cover Sorrin with his longbow!
Sorrin marvels at what passes for quiet.
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