"Okay, speak up boys and girls. Are we heading back to Linhaus, or are we staying around to let Naia check out the homeland to be sure this stops the blight? Naia, what do you want to do? Might as well let you make the call since it is your homeland after all.".
"I'll defer to Naia as well, but my suggestion would be to walk to her homeland overland if its not too difficult to get to. Now that I think about it, do sea elves even live on land or do they live underwater?"
"It seems wisest to return from whence we came, perhaps talking to any of the keepers we encountered en route. Perhaps at Linhaus we can search for mor eanswers of other ...cubist sphere-blobs.... or what might be calling them to appear."
The elf-maid sighs.
"Truly I am at a loss. Beaten, both physically and in terms of victory - or lack thereof.I have no understanding of the means of movement we attained to appear under my homelands, nor what reason those indecipherable creatures might have for such wanton and seemingly untargeted destruction. It feels to me though as if there is a reason, just not one we understand. As yet. So - to Linhaus?"
At Naia's suggestion, you begin the long trek back the way you came, toward Linhaus.
After a couple of hours of walking, you're crossing an area of thigh-deep water (well, for Teo it's more like chest-deep) when you all simultaneously see a group of ripples moving through the water toward you. As they draw close, you see that it's a trio of snakes swimming right at you! They're mostly submerged, so you can only see a few inches past each of their heads, but you'd guess they're around 3-4 feet long each. They have brownish-green scales that blend in with the mucky water rather well.
These are water vipers. They live in wet habitats like this and take down prey much larger than themselves with their potent venom.
The snakes attack in the blink of an eye, biting at Finlogan and Gwenifer!
,
,
,
Two of the bites fail to get through boots and armor, but Gwen feels a pair of fangs go into the back of her knee like syringes!
Gwen feels a harsh burn spread through her leg from the bite, and she begins to feel a bit weak and dizzy!
"Why does it always have to be snakes?!". Teo moves forward and uses her Acid Spash cantrip to blast two of the attackers, assuming they are within five feet of each other. If not, she focuses on the closest.
acid damage
Dexterity check to negate damage.
"Ugh I feel woozy."
Gwenifer swings her sword done at the snake that bit her but is weakened by the poison.
Nope
Finlogan releases his shortswords and stabs at the odd snake attacking him.
Teo's magical acid burns two of the snakes!
Gwen swings, but also sways, and succeeds only in making a splash!
Fin goes to work and kills one of the injured snakes!
Naia slides through the water and slices at the remaining serpent with her blocky scimitar...
[+3 Dex, +2 Prof, +1 enhancement]
Naia advances and tries to cut a snake, but misses!
The two remaining snakes continue to bite at Gwen!
,
,
Neither gets through this time!
Finlogan twists and stabs at the odd snakes
Fin misses with his first blow, but his second finishes off the injured snake!
Teo decides to stab at the creature with her dagger.
Attack
Damage
Gwenifer is still weakened but managed to fend off the snakes and swing with more focused aim for the moment.
Naia swings also...
[+3 Dex, +2 Prof, +1 enhancement]
Gwenifer and Naia hack away at the last snake, killing it!
The poison is nasty, but not life-threatening. If you take some time to treat it (a short rest), she'll be fine (condition removed). If you trek on, it'll probably take a few hours for her body to beat it on its own, and you could run into more danger while she's still afflicted.
"I'm fine. I'll tough it out." says Gwenifer who is still a little shaky and sweating from the poison.
Finlogan looks at Gwen's wounds with nothing but empathy. He's never seen or heard of these water snakes or about their poison.
"If you are okay, let's keep going then. I'd like to put w much of miles between us and this place, if that's alright with the rest of you!"
Unsure of what to do about Gwenifer's snakebite and wanting to get out of the marsh as soon as possible, you press on.
Your next couple of hours of travel are thankfully uneventful, and gradually Gwen begins to feel better.
Evening draws near, the clear sky beginning to darken as the sun sags behind you. At the next reasonable-looking spot you find, you set up camp for the night.
Thankfully, your swampy sleep is left undisturbed, and you start the next day stinky, but refreshed.
By lunchtime, the terrain is starting to shift from full-on swamps to soggy grassland. There are still plenty of mud puddles due to the recent rain, though.
With the afternoon still young, you notice ahead of you a tiefling, slumped in the grass with their back against a rock, unmoving.
"You think that tiefling might have been poisoned, too? We should probably go check on them. Maybe we can just yell, so they won't think we are the violent type."
"I agree. Caution would be best. If something injured the tiefling it may still be around."
"Hello, tiefling!" Finlogan calls out to the tiefling approaching him cautiously.
The tiefling moves its head slightly toward you, though it seems to take great effort to do so. It tries to raise one arm, but struggles after a bit and stops moving again.
Finlogan cautiously approaches the tiefling looking for trouble that he expects. Either it's injured or being restrained. Or it could be bait...
Any sign of tracks or disturbances nearby?
Naia is grateful to put miles between her and the underground catacombs. Upon sighting the tiefling she is immediately suspicious.
"Though I have no reason to be so cautious, this feels wrong. The snakes we faved earlier are not here. The individual could indeed be bait for a trap..."
The water elf sniffs the air and peers about, wishing Wraith were still with their band...
Gwen sees plenty of tracks in the muddy grass, most of them obviously animal-made and all criss-crossing over each other every which way. Naia scans the area, but sees nothing amiss.
Finlogan approaches the tiefling warily. Getting closer, it's clear that it's a young male, probably no more than 20, and dressed in cheap traveling clothes. A very empty-looking backpack sits next to him, and his face and arms look rather emaciated.
"Please..." he says in a pained whisper, "Water... food..."
Teo follows the others. "Let's help him out. No telling what awfulness he's seen out here!" She pulls a brightly pink colored vial from her stash. "Drink this! You'll feel better and have much more energy!"
Vial spoiler
The tiefling man fumbles with the vial a bit, and you end up having to help him drink it. While doing so, you can see his chapped lips indicating a bit of dehydration.
He coughs a bit, then says, "Thank you, is there any more drink you can spare, or food? Please, I have money, can you help me?"
Teo pulls a hunk of hard tack out from her bag and hands it over. She passes him her canteen as well, not wanting to waste more of her special wares. "What in the world are you doing out here by yourself?"
Seeing Teo engaged in helping the tiefling, Naia stands with her back to them, scimitar out, keeping watch and sniffing the air.
"Where are your companions?" Naia asks over her shoulder.
"It was foolish to be out here unprepared but we'll help you. Can you walk?"
Seeing the tiefling's needs of food and water well in Teo's hands, Finlogan prepares for ambush like his companions.
Between mouthfuls of the most enthusiastically-eaten hardtack you've ever seen, the youth explains that he was on a "snipe hunt" as a sort of initiation for a group of would-be friends who then ran off while he was by himself. He got lost, and has been wandering alone without sufficient provisions for several days. He affirms that he can probably walk, but he's not sure how far if he doesn't get more food. He also doesn't seem to know where he is, and inquires about the nearest town.
"What's your name? And where do you live?" Finlogan asks politely.
"My name's Tanner; I'm from Linhaus," the tiefling replies. "Do you know it? Is it very far? Even the direction would help."
"Nice to meet you, Tanner. I'd suggest you find some new friends. Your current ones might be punks, for the record. We know the direction to town. We might be able to escort you, to be sure you don't get lost again. We have a couple of people with very good directional senses."
"Wellmet, Tanner. As it happens, that's where we're headed. We'll go when you're ready to travel." Finlogan replies and moves to his usual distance in front of the group toward the direction to Linhaus ready to go.
While he walks away from Tanner, he looks for tracks not quite believing stupid human tricks.
Finlogan currently occupied, Naia turns and slumps down in front of Tanner, hands across knees, feet planted firmly on the ground. After considering him a momnent, the elfmaid addresses him in Elven.
"Qui palath teruneia edtra okulari? Dereith sala Olwe?
"If you are too weakened, I can lend you an arm to help you walk to Linhaus. I can sing a rowdy marching song to heighten your spirits as well."
Gwenifer lends down and offers Tanner her shoulder.
Tanner gives a confused look to Naia and replies, "S-sorry, I only speak the common tongue..."
At the offer of escorting him back to Linhaus, his eyes light up. "Really?!"
He stands up too quickly, sways a bit, then finds his footing and picks up his backpack. Reaching into a side pouch, he produces a handful of coins. "Please, let me pay you," he says, offering the coinage to whoever will reach for it. "It's not a lot, but you've saved my life."
Meanwhile, Finlogan scans the area but finds nothing out of the ordinary.
Satisfied, you continue your journey to Linhaus, new groupie in tow.
The afternoon passes without incident, and the terrain has gotten much easier by the time the sun hangs low enough to prompt you to set up camp. Poor Tanner is exhausted, needing occasional (very small) snacks to keep up with the exercise without getting sick. By the end of the day, he's out like a light after dinner.
The night comes and goes, and you all awake refreshed (and Tanner very ready for breakfast). It's now an easy walk to Linhaus, and you arrive right around midday. Tanner thanks you again and says he should be getting home.
Teo counts out the coins and accepts the generous offer, adding 12.65 gold to the party till.
Finlogan suggests/insists to escort Tanner home.
Gwenifer will accompany Finlogan and Tanner because she doesn't trust shifty tieflings.
Naia likewise doesn't trust strangers rescued in the wilderness, and accompanies Gwen and Finlogan to make sure they are fine.
"Tanner, where do you live? Let's take you home. I insist." Finlogan politely says.
He continues to reflect on the decision for Teo to accept the coins are their behalf but keeps his concerns to himself.
Teo is okay to accompany the others. She has nothing pressing going on right now, so getting the kid home is fine with her.
Tanner happily agrees to show you to his home, which is a small townhouse in a low-income neighborhood, largely populated by craftsmen of various sorts, mostly elven. He lives with his adoptive parents, both elves, who seem mildly relieved at his return. Tanner explains that if they hadn't taken him in as an infant, he'd have died in the street before his first birthday.
You'd guess that the elven parents' compassion doesn't extend very far beyond keeping him alive, judging both by their unenthusiastic reunion and by the fact that he seems to be named after their profession (without a surname). Tanner's pleasantness of personality seems rather impressive for one in his position.