You make quick work of the two Anubis.
Going to check them, they have a kopesh for a weapon and simple leather armor.
You crest the small dune from whence they came and discover an immense terrain of mud flats. Gasses bubble out of the mud, from small bubbles to gigantic ones larger than all of you put together, including the horses.
You have a choice - risk the mud flats and reach your destination in two days, or go around the mud flats and reach your destination in just over a week.
"F!%@, I don't know. I'm tired and want to get there faster but I'm not sure it's worth the risk. You guys decide."
Gärwin was uncertain of traveling through mud flats, but a quick check of his pack and waterskins told him all he needed to know. "I don't think we got enough supplies to make it the long way, we gotta push on. I hate to lose Dumpy here to the desert heat." The dwarf pats his horse affectionately and readies himself for a slog. "I think we either push through or turn back and return with more supplies."
Drot looks at the dwarf and his horse wearily.
"Indeed, I'd like the horses and us all to
survive as well... Unfortunately it's almost as though swamps were made to trap horses and other animals of the like. Solid ground to us can easily cave under the weight of a horse and their narrow feet.
If we take things slow and have one person scout ahead for the most solid path, the rest of us can follow."
Everyone decides to head into the flats. It's slow going. You have to follow narrow causeways and other raised ground to avoid slipping into the mud. Often times, you find yourself doubling back as the paths switch back and forth. More than twice, you had to double back because the path simply ended.
A hint of sulfur fills the air. For miles, there's nothing to see. Off in the distance, you can see an old tower, leaning at a 45° angle. This is your only landmark and you use it to help navigate.
The end of day two approaches.
The heat and humidity continue to take their toll on Tesswyn, and by day's end she slumps in her saddle, exhausted. "We better get to that f~!#ing place soon. This is miserable."
The only silver lining is that she's probably sweating off all the pounds she gained recently.
+?
"Damn, why is it still so blasted hot?" Gärwin wipes sweat from his brow for the umpteenth time that day. He was still worried about his horse, but Dumpy was fine. The horse was quiet, like it was focusing on walking on the solid path.
"I would like be relieved at the potential for respite but it looks like someone built a kingdom and it sunk into the swamp. Then built another kingdom on top of that and it too sank into the swamp... Perhaps a third time will suffice..."
Drot slowly fans himself with his notebook, sweat dripping from his brow. His skin has taken on a much darker tone in the short amount of time the party has spent in the hot sun; apparently but unsurprisingly, he was a very pale orc.
It's not long into the next day when you uncover a hidden blessing. Half buried in the mud is a skiff. It's easily repairable, although it will take some time. 1d4 hours to get it unburied, 1d6 hours to repair it.
If you are able to repair it, it will take almost a full day off your trip, as you won't have to follow the switchbacks.
Using the skiff requires magical input. For each spell rank "cast" into the skiff, you get 1 hour of travel time. A rank 0 grants a half hour.
Being a former outlaw, Gärwin was used to making the best of situations and is able to eventually repair the skiff. After fixing it up as best he can, Gärwin is stumped. "Well, I fix'd it up best I could, but I dunno how to get it movin'. There's no sail, no engine, not even paddles. Jes' this weird set o' runes. What do you think Drot?"
Tess helps Garwin patch up the skiff. "I think between the three of us, we can keep it going for a while."
"I think Tess is absolutely right, and you did a great job SirGär! Might I suggest some improvements to the these arc relay coils? This focusing crystal can be cleaned, this old incantation for Fixed position non-thrust lift can be re-written, and the arcane spark plugs need a good shining... Oh! and the..."
Drot busies himself with making minor adjustments to the intricate parts of the craft while he babbles on about complex systems within the system.
Gärwin scratches his head at the orc's nonsense. "That's a lot of magic mumbo jumbo Drot, maybe best its l leave it to the experts."
His job done, Gärwin reclines atop the skiff while the others work their magics.
The party dogs the skiff out if the mud over a period of hours, and then spends the next hours repairing it.
Fortunately, nothing bothers you during the time. But it is exhausting work, just standing there with the sun baking down upon you.
Finally, the skiff is ready to go. You load up two horses and leave Charles behind.
You sit with your two horses, waiting for their return, hour after hour after hour. The sun beats down. It's getting hotter.
At some point during the wait, a gigantic mud bubble forms and pops, splattering mud all around it. It's not close enough to get to you, though. This happens several more times, when you realize the cause - something is rising up out of the mud! Something obsidian - shiny blackened stone. The mud drips off it, slowly.
Eventually, enough of it rises up that you can tell it's an old tower. Skinny and tall, it rises up and then falls on its side, the tip of it slamming into a small island. You could reach it.
Do you explore?
Suddenly, a mud bubbles ranging the size of a person to the size of a house start exploding! Searing mud goes flying everywhere!
Whoever is piloting: Agility or Intellect Challenge roll to dodge the main explosion. Failure means everyone takes 2d6 damage, as you drive right into a mud bubbles and the searing hot mud coats everyone.
Whoever is a passenger: Agility or Strength Challenge Roll to hang on as the pilot tries to maneuver. Failure means you've fallen off the skiff! You will take ongoing damage until rescued.
Both horses lose their balance and fall off into the mud! Whoever is riding the horses, make an agility or strength challenge roll get off the horses and leap back to the skiff!
The pilot can rotate the skiff around to rescue the horses, next round. Doing so will require another agility or intellect challenge roll to avoid the mud explosions (failure is another 2d6 damage to all on the boat). If you make this choice, then a strength challenge roll is needed for each horse rescue. Any PCs who have fallen off can simply climb back up themselves.
If you choose not to go back, then you're done with with challenge as you escape the boiling dangers. Any who have fallen off are sacrificed.
"S@~%! Hang on!" Tesswyn shouts as she drives the skiff around the mud bubbles. She manages to avoid driving into them, but looks back in dismay as the horses fall off.
"Damn it! I'm bringing us back around!" The rogue spins the skiff and drives around the bubbles again to try to rescue the fallen mounts.
Gärwin leaps Clear of his horse just in time, landing flat on the deck. As Tesswyn wheels the ship around, he clings to its side holding on. Sliding up to the horse, he tries and fails to pull it free. "I know yer scared Dumpy, but c'mere will ya! I'm tryin to rescue you!" By some miracle, the cowardly horse actually seemed to understand the dwarf's pleas and climbs out on it's own!
With a strong grip between the skiff and the horse, Drot manages to pull both together again.
Well it does pay to be a burly orc sometimes!
The tower is at an angle, sticking out of the mud. It seems to he constantly shifting, albeit very slowly.
Charles heads off to the tower, careful not to step in the mud as he leapt from island to island, trying to get to it.
By the time he reached it, the "top" of the tower was nearest him, and Charles was able to jump to grab the edge, climbing up.
Scrambling up the rampart on the top of the tower and leaning against the inside wall, he was able to see in the middle of the floor, which is more a leaning wall from his perspective, a trap door.
The tower top has one of those block shaped guard rails. Charled managed to climb up to the opposite side to tie off a rope.
He could hear a scraping sound from the inside. Like metal against stone. As he climbed in, the tower shifts again, this time falling almost entirely on its side. About 15 yards away, he spotted a skeleton walking, dragging a scimitar behind it. Its green glowing eyes shifted his way.
Managing to keep his feet against the twisting tower, Charles moves against the skeleton. Swinging his own sword against the monster but his first attack went wild.
The skeleton's sword dances upwards as he closed, cutting into his arm just before he struck, leaving a large gash behind. After he missed, it riposted, but the blade was deflected by his armor.
Grimacing against the pain and surprised by the graceful swings with the weapon Charles let's out a long breath and decides he might need some assistance. He called forth a Blessing of battle from Astrid.
The mindless skeleton swings again. Charles brought his sword up and deflected it to the side, allowing the scimitar to barely miss.
The blessing of Astrid empowering him, Charles attacks with more confidence.
"Feel the power of the New God, fiend!" As he strikes the skeleton, he burns the power of his vitality burst to blast it with a divine smiting.
The strike combined with the divine influence shatter the arm, shoulder, and half the face of the skeleton. One green glowing eye still stares malevolently.
It swung again but with the full protection of Astrid, the creature seems unable to cut blood from his body.
"It seems this fight at least, is finished." Charles says as he steps in as second time to just barely strike at the monster, letting a much smaller blessing add to the smiting of the monster. (Life sense spell.)
After a moment, Charles sheathes his blade and steps over to pick up the scimitar from the fallen skeleton. It was a normal blade. Well rusted. Setting it back down, he proceeds to explore the way the skeleton had come from.
He heads into the back room and discovers an ancient throne. Whoever lived here before was some sort of self important megalomaniac, holding his own tower with his own throne. Old skeletons scatter the floor, but none of them move.
The skeleton on the throne is bejeweled in rings and bracelets and a crown. The tower shifts again; the throne starting to raise up. The skeletons on the ground shift with the movement, but the skeleton on the throne stays seated, not moving despite the tower moving.
Charles could feel the tower starting to sink back into the mud. He had limited time.
He moves forward, and grabs the crown. Then the rings, throwing them into his bag, he looked longingly at the bracelets but then decided to run.
Fortunately, he'd left himself a rope and he was able to grab it, climbing up. The climb wasn't difficult but Charles could feel the intense heat rising from the boiling muck as the tower sunk.
You climb up the rope and out the hatch. Once on the top, you see just how close to death you became. The tower is just barely above the mud. You jump back over to the island, safe.
Wiping his brow clear of the sweat of exertion, Charles lets himself laugh a little at the fortune he had to get out of that alone. He goes to sit by the two horses again, and waits for the others.
Charles: Nothing happens. The hours pass as you watch the sun drift closer to the horizon. Mud bubbles grow and pop out in the distance. There's no further signs of the tower you explored.
Skiff Riders: You make your way past the exploding mud bubbles with all hands and hooves accounted for. The horses have been burned by the hot mud, but they should survive. They'll no longer be show horses unless magic is used to heal them.
Once you get past the mud flats, you discover that your skiff will travel over sand as well.
Everyone gets off for a needed break from the ride. When it's time, those headed back to Charles set off.
Tesswyn relies on her insight to navigate back to Charles, though Drot will have to provide magical fuel for the skiff.
"Let's get this show on the road! I hope you know where you're going, I was too busy lifting an entire horse to look at our path."
In this brief moment Drot began to feel good again. Things were going their way for now. Towards the end of the trip Drot hesitated putting his magic in the skiff. The machine began to sputter and bob low to the ground until he finally cast his spell. His turned black and the veins in his neck became a vibrant purple for just a moment as he spoke the unfamiliar words. Then all was normal again and he was back to smiling and watching his surroundings.
It's a long boring five hour return journey. Along the way, you see some floating rocks, off thataway. It's hard to tell if they're close and small or huge and far away.
Tesswyn throws her arms around Charles and gives him a big kiss. "Missed you. You didn't get into trouble while we were gone, did you? Let's get moving."
Remaining behind with the horses, Gärwin decides to set up camp. Pitching his tent and laying out his bedroll, the dwarf goes over his map one last time, trying to make heads or tails of where he was.
Charles had begun to worry ever so slightly that the others wouldn't be able to find him on their return journey but they did.
He held her close for a moment and chuckled at Tess's question. "Who me... well I had a little trouble. Nothing I couldn't handle. It'll make for an exciting tale on our way out from here. Plus I got a few trinkets to show you." he said hefting his bag.
Charles goes over to the magic intake area on the skiff and begins pumping magic into it.
"Not too much trouble getting out of here with the other horses and then back here was it?"
"Not too much trouble. Just a minor mud-related incident," Tesswyn says as she prepares to pilot the skiff one more time.
"Tesswyn did some fine piloting, and I picked up a whole horse! We are absolutely either taking this skiff with us or I'm taking it apart and making a schematic. It's invaluable! If I could make one that runs on additional energy sources, who knows how far we could go! We can't get out of this chaotic place fast enough..."
Drot adds. He checks that the horses are well and then helps Gärwin make sense of the map in this constantly changing environment.
Just before you're about to fall asleep, you head a rumbling sound. Your dark vision allows you to see the mud start to boil. Standing on the shoreline, it seems safe enough....
After several hours of this, you can see a light appear off in the distance, like watching a boat out on the ocean. Over the hours, it slow gets closer.
Just as it nears, the boiling mud explodes.
Make an agility challenge roll or take 2d6 damage.
It takes a full six hours to return. It's difficult traveling at night, the magic light provided by Charles helps a lot. On the other hand, it also means anyone else can see you.
Time passes. The journey is relatively uneventful, even with the light broadcasting your location to anyone who glances your way. After several hours of guessing the right direction, you see Gärwin's light come on. You know the way.
As you get closer, you the turbulence of the ride starts to increase. The mud beneath you starts to boil. When youre about 50 feet from the shoreline, the boiling mud explodes.
One of the horses falls off, screaming as the mud burns it. It is not the horse someone was riding.
Suddenly, a very large creature emerges from the mud. It is humanoid in shape, but only its torso appears above the surface. Based on the size of the torso, it looks like it would be at least tifteen feet tall.
Acting quickly, Gärwin leaps to safety as the boiling mud crashes behind him. Scurrying to his feet, he starts loudly drumming his shield in an attempt to distract the mud man.
"Over here you slimy bastard! Come get some ugly!"
Tesswyn ducks back, avoiding the scalding mud. She curses loudly as the horse falls off the skiff. "Gods damn it! Can we go five minutes without a horse falling into mud?"
She grits her teeth as the monster appears, turning back around to rescue the horse.
"Gah! By Astrid's will, grant us the strength to overcome this challenge." Charles calls for divine aid, the familiar flash of power covering them all.
Drot held onto the skiff to steady himself but missed grabbing the horse as it slipped off, into the mud.
Seeing that they were going back for the horse he prepared to rescue it when they got close enough.
He was able to once again, life the heavy creature back onto the skiff with a guttural yell. He turned to his companions as they headed back to the little camp.
"I don't know if it's a good idea to stick around here. We might want to consider sacrificing one of the injured animals and making a run for it. We don't know what this giant is capable of."
The monster roars as you spin the craft around to grab the horse. Ignoring Gärwin, it reaches out to grab someone on the skiff.
It tried to pluck Charles off his Horse!
It grabs Charles and tries to consume the paladin!
For each body trapped inside the monster, it gains a +1 bonus to Size and a +10 bonus to Health.
While inside the body, the target’s Speed is 0, and cannot be targeted by spells or effects originating from outside the monster's body. The target is also blinded and deafened and takes 2d6 damage at the end of each round.
The target can use an action to make a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane. On a success, the target emerges from the body. When this effect ends, the target moves into an open space within 1 yard of the monster and falls prone.
Charles Struggled against the grasping monstrosity, managing to wriggle free of it's grasp. "By the strength of The New God, enhance us with your blessing!"
"Oi! Don't you run away from me, you coward! I'm gonna stuff yew back into the outhouse yew care from!" Gärwin continues his clanging and banging, hoping to draw the creature away from the boat long enough for the others make it to shore.
"I'm going to bring us up alongside that thing! Hang on!" Tesswyn's knuckles tighten on the controls as she drives the skiff right at the creature!
As Tesswyn turns the skiff around Drot braces himself for the fight. Anticipating that the mud monster is going to grab for them once again, he readies himself to smash its hand before it does so.
"Charles! If you're not using your glaive, it would be much appreciated!"
"Right." Charles said, pulling out his glaive and passing it to Drot'ook. "Don't miss."
Tesswyn pilots the boat alongside the mud monster, allowing the opportunity to strike at it, but also giving it there opportunity to strike back.
Meanwhile, Charles casts divine health on everyone.
The monster goes for the attack, this time trying to grab the pilot.
As he tries to grab her, Drot slams the glaive down. The monster is easy to hit, but the weapon doesn't seem as effective as it could be.
Nonetheless, the monster still missed the grab for Tesswyn.
As Gärwin yells, the monster turns to look at him.
The monster is about 20 yards off shore. The skiff is right next to it, about to zoom past.
Tesswyn pulls the skiff back to a stop, then blasts the mud man with her fiery staff!
Taking a moment to recover, Charles reached into his bag and pulled out a notably marked vial and downed it.
The stop jostles Drot for a moment and he uses the forward momentum to strike at the mud man again. He aims the long blade of the glaive at the thing's wrist, hoping to separate its hand from its arm!
Damage Tracker: 29.
The mudman strikes back at Tesswyn; her being the most painful of the tiny foods floating by.
Tesswyn has been grabbed! Make an Agility Challenge Roll with one Bane or be Engulfed!
Tesswyn cries out as the monster grabs her, but she pushes with her feet to avoid being engulfed. The fires of her staff have exhausted themselves early, so she contents herself with smacking the thing with the heavy length of wood. "Let go of me, a&!&+%+!"
Drot continues to his stratagem to sever the mudman's hand!
Gärwin fishes around in his pack and pulls out a spare dagger. Hurling it hard as he can, he hopes it's good enough. Sadly, the weapon plops short, landing in the mud.
Gärwin runs along a narrow strip of land, getting close enough to the creature before throwing his dagger.
The heavy mud slows the dwarf's movements and his throw falls short, his dagger sinking into the sludge.
Damage tracker:
36
Frustrated, the mudman tries to grab a horse! Unfortunately, it grabs the one Charles is riding.
The mudman engulfs the horse, and as it does so, it grows larger!