"Speak for yourself! You're not the one with fur," Derric complained to Damien, "Wet fur isn't good!"
Leo opens his mouth to say something, then thinks better of it and keeps rowing.
The journey upriver is uneventful, the current is rather weak this close to Sog's Bay and no more of the skeletons appear. Occasionally you sight a monitor lizard or hear a sudden splash from some animal leaping into the water.
Drawing nearer your destination a light fog begins to coalesce amongst the trees, the air draws stiller and the ever present sounds of the swamp begin to dwindle into silence. Eventually, Runt guides you close to your destination, putting in at the shore. Southward you can see the rising cliff that sets the southernmost boundary of the Brinestump Marsh.
"Bony men be around here somewhere, lots a caves near here, in cliff, must be in one." Runt is noticeably worried.
"So it's simply a matter of finding which cave and clearing them out." Daichi steps out of the boat and looks around. "That shouldn't be too much trouble." He stops for a moment to think. "I might have a way to make our search quick and relatively easy. I've recently been contacted by an earth spirit who could scout ahead for us and search the caves without being detected easily."
"Okay, sure," says Leo with a look of some surprise. He carefully exits the boat once it's safe to do so - his bulk and armor making that difficult - and takes up his shield again. "I mean, if I don't have to charge in ahead and take the hits, great!"
Damien drops to the ground without a sound, far lighter (and more fragile) than his brother. He glances around and readies his weapons and extracts.
"I wouldn't be opposed to that. Normally I do the sneaking, but this sounds far less life-threatening."
Daichi nods and finds a dry rock to sit on. He sits in the lotus position and closes his eyes. Small rocks begin to float around him, then begin to come together into a recognizable shape. A few moments later, the rocks now seem to be a statue of a small bird. The bird twitters and flaps its wings, then it flies off toward the caves.
Jayna looks impressed with the familiar. It would be amazing to have one of those. She begins to clean and dry anyone who got wet during the latest trip. "No reason for us to be dirty and wet while we wait to find more undead creatures to fight."
"He's a recent acquaintance," Daichi says absently, his eyes still closed. "But he's a welcome friend." He takes a slow breath, keeping his focus on holding the small spirit in the material world.
Kiko remained mostly quiet, thinking about what all of this implied about her father's side. She hardly knew anything about them, Ameiko didn't really talk about it that much. Not that Kiko had asked.
"I wonder if we'll find anything that tells me more about my family." It all came out quite absent mindedly.
She then looked up as her eyes followed the little earthen bird fly away, "What a lovely creature."
It is not long before Daichi's earth spirit finds a likely cave. The cave is hidden behind a curtain of nettle vines growing up the 50 foot cliff face. Sitting neatly at the base of the cliff, the normal sounds of the swamp are almost absent from the area and the plant growth is oddly twisted. The air seems to be thicker and the shadows heavier here, as if night were attempting to fall early.
"Found it, Daichi says as his companion locates the cave. "There's a cave hidden at the base of the cliff where the evil has seeped in to the very ground and hangs on the air. If there's anywhere that undead would dwell, it's there." He stand up as he allows the spirit to return to his mind. "Let's get moving."
Derric nodded in agreement with the others as he began cutting down the nettles growing in front of the cave entrance.
"Let's stay sharp people. No telling what we'll find in this cave along with the undead."
Jayna casts dancing lights just inside the cave entrance. "This might help we humans to see better."
Daichi pulls the eternally burning lantern from his pack. "If anyone else wants light, I have this as well." He stands aside, letting one of the bulkier warrior types go first.
"Thanks," says Leo. He hefts his shield and switches back to his sword for a moment, then eyes the vines critically.
Leo looks a little dismayed at using his sword on thick vines, but shrugs and then starts carefully hacking them away so that the opening is visible. "I'll just have to clean and oil my sword later," he says.
"Thanks, Rishana," says Leo, as he gives her a little room to help.
"Let's see if I can help." Kiko moves in behind Rishana and Leo but she doesn't assist with the vines.
Instead she opens one hand and from it float four tiny moats of light. While initially they might appear to be fireflies they rapidly grow in size while they pass by Rishana and Leo to better illuminate the first short distance into the cave.
"Well between the three of us, I think we have cut down these nettle vines, making it safe to enter the cavern. Well safe until we encounter the undead that is," the kitsune said.
He was a bit amazed by what Kiko did. He felt that her magic was a bit...familiar.
"Sort of reminds me of when I cast dancing lights. Hm...No she can't be a kitsune! If she was, Ameiko would have told me. I mean there is a strong family resemblance between Kiko and Ameiko, so they might be sisters, or half-sisters. And I don't see Ameiko's father being open to sleeping with a kitsune. I remember how much he hated me and kitsune, from all the times he used to hurl insults at me whenever Ameiko and I tried to play with one another," he thought to himself. He thought about offering to do the same but decided against it as too much light might draw attention to themselves.
Damien smiled a bit, glancing down at his rapier.
"I'd help but this is more for poking holes in things than cutting up foliage. I'll, uh, supervise?"
After a few minutes work, your combined efforts clear away the nettle vines. The cave extends away into darkness, your light reaches to a slight curve to the left before being insufficient. A small passageway branches off to the right, barely wide enough for a human to move comfortably. The main passage is wider, allowing perhaps two to walk side by side, if tightly. The ceiling is low, no more than 7 feet high at its highest. Dripping water can be heard and small puddles and rivulets cover the floor of the cavern.
Leo takes out his sword cloth and carefully removes the vine sap from the blade so it won't rust, then sheathes it and draws his warhammer again. "If there are more bony men, best to be ready," he says. "I'm going in." He advances slowly into the passage, waiting for the group to follow along (especially since he needs their light, as he can't see in the dark).
"Lead the way my friend." Daichi follows behind him, lifting his lantern to let those who can't see in the dark tell where they're going. His sharp eyes stay peeled for any sign of the undead that are sure to be lurking somewhere ahead.
"I'll help back up Leo, keeping any enemies from getting past us," Derric said.
Jayna takes a position toward the middle of the party. She follows not too closely to the person in front of her. I don't want to bump into anyone who needs a sword arm free. "Be careful everyone.
Like Jayna, Kiko takes a place in the middle of the group. "Just say it if more light is needed, I can probably do a bit more."
She felt somewhat guilty. These were the bones of her family's servants or retainers, or maybe killers, and she could hardly do anything to help. Providing light to guide the way was the least she could do.
Bearing right into the side passage the ceiling grows lower and the tunnel narrows, barely five feet high and wide. The passage begins to bare left, you would guess running parallel to the main tunnel. After a few moments of squeezing a small cavern opens up perpendicular to the tunnel. The ceiling here is not much higher the the previous tunnel but it is much wider, perhaps 15 feet, and appears to be 30 feet long at most. At the far end, by the entrance to another small tunnel, sits a hairy form with two many legs and compound eyes hunched over the husk of a large lizard. The giant spider notices as you enter but has yet to move, guarding the remains of its prey.
"Should we back away or attack it? It seems to be leaving us alone at the moment."
"It's an animal. If we threaten it, it will attack. If we leave it alone, it won't likely bother us until it's hungry again."
Damien nodded in silent agreement. He found a particularly deep shadow and stepped into it, whispering to the group.
"Don't be too surprised if you look for me but don't see me. I'll be where you need me to be."
Damien seemed to melt into the shadows, disappearing beyond the sight of all but the keenest of eyes.
"I believe we should keep moving. If we need to, we can come back and remove the spider if it gets in our way. I would like to conserve our resources for when we battle these skeletons or boney men, or whatever you want to call them," Derric said.
Doubling back and taking the main path deeper into the cavern quickly leads to an underground pool that proceeds deeper into the earth. Beyond the pool, at the edge of the light, you can see more solid ground. While the pool does not appear very deep at first glance it is difficult to tell in the confines and darkness of the cave without further probing.
Damien's voice is a bare whisper.
"A sound idea. A Light cantrip cast on a pebble would do nicely to plumb the darkness."
Damien moves a Shield extract into his hand, ready to quaff it at the first sign of danger.
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"I'm starting to feel like I would have been better off if water responded to me the way earth does," Daichi muttered under his breath. "I need to learn how to make bridges at some point. Or at least stepping stones."
"Agreed." Kiko nods in Damien's direction before pulling a single sling bullet from her pouch.
After a moment in which she seems to whisper something to the polished stone at starts to glow with a bright, white light. Kiko then gently tosses the bullet into the puddle.