Shyff tells Shrike that Madam Sylvia was after a particular herb: white moss. The ranger paled, as there is only a single place where one could reliably find fresh white moss. And that took someone not only through kobold territory, but nearly into the Blights.
And all citizens knew not to go that far. Because that is where the vile, merciless frogmen lived.
The journey was difficult at night but manageable. Few people knew the Dread Swamp as well as Shrike the Ranger. Thelian noticed an apple tree at one point, and the band of adventurers took their fill.
With haste and worry, the band traveled through the night. They only rested briefly in the morning before trudging on. With luck they could make the edge of the Blights by nightfall, since Shrike knew a shortcut.
But with haste came a slight dulling of the senses. Even as hardy and stalwart as they were, the heroes were still mortal. And while Kadasa kept an eye out for danger, and managed well -- even side-stepping a troll at one point -- she eventually slipped.
***
The first sign of danger was a dramatic one, when suddenly the water at their ankles burst into flames.
Shrike is leading the way when he catches a whiff of something wrong--Wraith at his side also sniffs suddenly. When the water bursts into flame, the ranger reacts quickly, diving directly away from the rest of the group into a roll that brings him back to his feet. His cloak absorbs most of the impact with the water, and though his outer garment is now heavy with dripping swamp, Shrike himself is more or less unaffected. "Eyes open!" he shouts, looking about for the source of the threat.
Reflexes rarely betray Thelian. He dives to the side, covering his head with his hands, face down into the mud, yet again cursing his life. The explosion barely grazes his cloak.
Thelian immediately jumps up, looking for whoever did this, with his spear ready to strike.
Shyff, startled out of a travelling stupor unleashes a bowelshakingly low blast of soundwaves from deep in his chest to extinguish the fire.
Kadasa tries to roll away from the flames, but it seems her foot is caught on a root.
Kadasa and Skyff cannot quite get away or endure the sudden burst of flames.
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But luckily the flames were weak, and didn't quite burn them.
***
The ankle-deep water itself is now aflame, and the heroes can see 5 eel-like creatures in the water.
What do you do?
Thelian pokes his spear into one of the creatures, checking what will they do.
Thelian handily skewers one of the creatures.
Shrike quickly draws his bow, nocks an arrow, and fires at one of the nearest eels, while Wraith pounces on the same, snarling and wild.
Kadasa springs forward and strikes one of the eels soundly on the head with a heel stomp. "I don't know if these things could cause that sort of explosion."
Shyff shakes the flames from his robes and armour before drawing his rapier. He approaches one of the eels and thrusts clumsily
"I'm not exactly the best at this type of work!"
Seeing his blow land true, Shyff starts thrusting over and over, opening himself to the eel's attack to deal more damage.
Shrike, Kadasa and Shyff manage to destroy their targets. The strange eels being impaled, pummeled and stabbed respectively.
The eel being heedless of the death of its kin, sprays a mucous on Wyla that ignites as soon as it hits the air. But Wyla manages to mostly shake off the flames.
Thelian thrust his spear into the last creature, being especially careful after it burned Wyla.
Thelian's spear skewers the last eel.
Kadasa scorches her heel slightly on the eel's burning skin, but she shrugs it off as a minor burn. "Well, that was different."
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Shyff wades through the swamp muck. Scouring the surrounding area for anything useful or valuable. Signs of where to pick up the trail again.
[dice=Spout lore]2d6
Thelian knows that the slimy monsters make good ingredients for fire-resistant gear. You recover the 5 fire eel corpses and place them in a sack for later.
Shyff does a little exploring of the immediate area, but doesn't notice anything particularly interesting or valuable about it.
"Is anyone hurt? Let's get out of this muck and I'll tend to your wounds." Shyff says, before finding some dry ground.
"We shouldn't stay long, but I can't make heads or tails of this swamp... "
Gesturing to the Ranger "Let's put that filthy beast to use then? See if it can pick up a trail.... oh, and the Wolf should go too!" He says sharply
Kadasa shakes her head."It's nothing that won't heal. We should continue onwards. The herbalist is likely in worse straits than we."
"They didn't bite or burn me"
"We should move," Thelian echoes Kadasa.
The companions continue their journey and find a mangrove with a semi-pleasant scent in the air. Shyff recognizes this scent to be white moss and smoke.
There looks to have been some sort of battle here, including scorch marks from some sort of fire.
Thelian peers into the surroundings. "Be careful. Whoever did this might still be around."
Thelian frowns as he finds a broken dagger blade covered in a dry, yellow substance that he immediately identifies as Frogman blood.
He tells the others.
Shrike frowns at the discovery, and looks to Wraith before nodding. "Something happened here. I need to look for tracks, and see if we can't find more."
Shrike can easily see the remnants of a battle that took place here. Perhaps the Frogmen attacked Madam Sylvia and her band here. He also finds a possible trail.
Shrike and the others continue along the trail, following as best they can. But the Dread Swamp is often cruel and unpredictable and today is no exception. They would have lost the trail completely if not for a sudden gruesome discovery.
A corpse--a recognizable one. Happy Jack--a good, solid fellow from Murk Water. And one who had been kind to each of the adventurers at one point or another. One quick to laugh and smile, and always willing to aid a neighbor in need.
He was a large, strong man. And no stranger to the Dread Swamp. And to see him now hanging by a rope from a tree, with his entrails falling out of a large cut from his abdomen--it is a grisly and disheartening sight.
The only upside is a cave opening nearby. If there are any survivors, that cave would be it.
"Poor guy."
Thelian cuts the rope, carefully lowering the body on the ground.
"Did they hang him for intimidation? Doesn't matter, we must go inside, Madam Sylvia's probably in there. Not sure if she's alive, after what we've seen."
He comes closer to the cave, peeking inside.
Shrike shakes his head and casts a sharp look at Thelian. "Doesn't matter? Everything matters out here. Any little thing can kill you, or hurt you and leave you to die, or slow you down so you run out of food and clean water. Happy Jack knew that, and here he is. Don't ignore the dangers of the swamp, Thelian. Your spear won't save you from everything." So saying, Shrike moves forward and once more begins examining the wounds.