(The continuing adventures of Mira Luna, Andrew, Coralis, Solstin, Ah-Leph, Savaun, and Tysis after their year long quest for the Destiny Stone has finally ended)
Once we returned from the Rakers an amazing miracle had occurred. Coralis’ lifeless body returned to life with amazing effect. All of us stood in shock while as we were about to walk through the gates of the Temple of Pelor in Rel Mord. Looking back at the time spent and all the trials of the quest for the Destiny Stone came to a shockingly quiet halt. Most of the Flanaess had no idea of the amazing deeds of these great adventurers that saved the world from total domination of the alien creatures known as the Faranth. No parades, no great visitation of any worldly kings or emissary from afar to give thanks. Memories of friends long since gone although their contribution of the quest in finding the Destiny Stone not forgotten; Maccabee, Padril, Brandon, Josephus…
Walking through the streets of Rel Mord, Savaun could be seen adjusting his trousers while walking out of a local brothel. Ah-Leph looked on with condemning eyes as Savaun jovially rejoined the party of adventures. Seemingly dismissive, Savaun asked what he missed. With very few words and none to elaborate, the group as a whole said, “Nothing”, and continued on to the nearest inn.
The days turned to weeks and the need to fulfill Ah-Leph’s quest began to take its toll. As if waiting for some divine direction Ah-Leph would spend hours on end sitting in the vast temples of all the good gods in Rel Mord. Although, rumor had it that far to the south there was a need for experienced adventurers to dispatch a covey of hags in the Vast Swamp. It was that or return to that dreadful Maure dungeon. Who knows… perhaps in some way an adventure in to the swamps might eventually lead the party where Ah-Leph needed to go: to the north in the lands of the Old One (Iuz).
So, set out to the Vast Swamp they did, making preparations to dwell in the hot marshy area perhaps for months. It took some weeks to get to a starting point with all of the necessary gear and provisions, but the group was relentless in striving on in hopes for great glory. When arriving in the town of Eyedrinn just north of the swamp they finalized whatever preparations were needed. The townsfolk made it a point to help in any way they could especially in selling their wares. Once a large enough raft had been acquired, the journey no longer would be afoot but on the quiet smooth flowing river. Once in the marsh after a few days other than the nuisance of humidity and insects, a group of Bullywugs attacked the party. They were dispatched in short order with the combined firepower of Mira Luna and Solstin. Although the entanglement spell of the Bullywug leader slowed them down the group managed to set their course southward with the tracking abilities of Savaun.
That day did not finish without further excitement as the group slowly made its way to a cluster of boat people grouped together on a small patch of dry land. They seemed to be native to the area and were beginning to nervously disperse at the approach of the adventurers on their raft when Ah-Leph stood up in hailed them with a peaceful greeting. The natives seemed more at ease as the adventures closed the distance to the natives. They were darker of skin especially compared to Ah-Lephs glowing white flesh. Once settled in with the locals Ah-Leph began a slow but unnatural discourse in a simple dialect of Common, in which the leader of the savages spoke brokenly. Unexpectedly, Savaun offered the chieftain a well made sword of cold iron as a gift to which Ah-Leph vehemently warned Savaun against. Before the reality of Savaun’s error set in the problem began to manifest further. That night was filled with much drinking and merriment as Savaun was married to the Chieftains daughter who in short was named Tiki.
The following day Tiki stayed close to the side of Savaun as the group of travelers began their trek deeper into the Vast Swamp. The group as a whole did everything they could to ensure Tiki would live a long life. (For those interested Tiki is a 1st level Warrior and the average party level is 14th. You do the math.) As the group continued its travail over through the marsh two huge crocodiles broke the surface of the brown, murky water. Solstin neutralized one of the huge reptiles with an acidic spell while Mira Luna used a magical hold spell on the other to give the group time to make an easy get away. Unfortunately they weren’t able to get far enough away when the reptile broke free of the enchantment. It came up underneath the raft and launched it into the air, sending Solstin cartwheeling overboard to splash down into the water. Tysis tried to skewer the creature with arrows as Savaun extended one of the long raft poles out to Solstin to pull him back on to the raft. Fortunately Coralis was able to hit the huge croc with some forceful divine energy and destroyed the great beast once and for all.
Solstin, although a bit wet, regained some form of dignity and the group continued on their way. In the midst of this Tiki and Savaun had exchanged some form of discourse which seemed to be the newlyweds’ first marital dispute. As the day went on more disputes sprang up.
Not much longer in the day the party of adventures saw a group of five pilgrims greeting them from where they stood on a large sandy island. Out of respect and an opportunity to camp for the night, the group moved to shore. Ah-Leph’s instincts took over and he began scanning for evil auras. It wasn’t until after they brought the raft onto the beach, that Ah-leph moved close enough to detect great evil in two of the five men and evil of a lesser degree in the other three. Ah-Leph spoke in Celestial to the two in his party that recognized the language, Coralis and Solstin, warning them of the great evil. Immediately Solstin cast a spell which alerted the five men and battle broke out. Tysis was a bit perplexed as Ah-Leph was trying to look through the ruse and was unable to. With unsuspected force one of the evil men struck at Ah-Leph with great force that literally knocked him to the ground. Andrew came to assist but also was knocked to the ground. The appearance of the men did not match their strength so Guardian sent a glitterdust spell at the closest enemy. The spell revealed not the outline of a normal man, but a huge man-shaped creature. Savaun was ensnared in a large net by another pilgrim/creature and Tiki hurried over to cut her husband free from its entangling strands.
Coralis was able to heal up those who took the most damage and withdrew to a safe position. Solstin continued to send forth more of those fiery spells as Tava sent forth volleys of magic missile. Mira Luna enlarged the group and followed with a cascade of fire. Ah-Leph and Andrew began striking at the huge creatures from prone whittling down their opponents as others helped to finally dispatch them. One after the other the creatures showed in death their true forms as two massive trolls and three ogres. Taking stock of their condition the group relieved their foes of their wealth as Savaun and Tiki commenced another argument, something about Savaun being ineffective in the battle against the monsters while the others bravely dispatched them.