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The three warriors both strike, killing the 2 fey creatures. After you heal, you move toward the doors. Goliath can read a simple warning in Druidic that is etched into the wood above the doors: “If you seek peace in nature, welcome. If you seek anything else, beware the wrath of the Vault of Thorns." When you are ready to proceed through the doors: An extensive wooden bridge stretches across a wide, high chamber and overlooks an exotic garden far below. The air is hot and humid, and a powerful stench of overripe vegetation wafts throughout the massive, domed chamber. The ceiling overhead is a complex series of star-patterned glass that magnifies the rays of the sun directly above. At the far end of the bridge, interwoven branches form a doorway. The bridge is 15' wide with no railings and appears to be about 80' above the floor below. It appears to be 80' long as well. The temperature, amplified by the "sun's" beams is very hot.
Round 2: Fey
The green bundle of sticks 5' steps south and attempts to flank Jericho, but misses.
The party touches the glowing runestone and you are teleported appearing to the following scene: A lone menhir stands in a clearing in a vibrant forest filled with thick, verdant plant life. Exotic flowers drape the standing stone, which pulses with brilliant chartreuse light. A path lined with rose petals leads from the monolith to a giant floral bloom carved from wood. Two carved wooden stamens stretch out toward the pulsating menhir, extending from either side of a set of ornate doors carved into the giant flower. An overpowering fragrance of flowers and sweet grass permeates the air. The sun above sits at its zenith, basking the area in light and warmth. Before you can appreciate the beautiful natural scene, two tiny, vaguely humanoid creature seems to be made completely of bundles of sticks wound with thorny vines appear near the double doors and approach you with ill intent!
Round 1: Enemies You swaer you hearing snickering and jeering, as the tiny green creature moves forward 15', adjacent to Goliath, and ejects a barrage of splinters and brambles from its body in a 15' conical blast, striking Goliath, Ulmo, and Penny! You can hear the creature cruelly laughing, as his attack draws blood!
The red bundle of sticks moves forward into Goliath's square and tries to spear him, but the weak attack misses by a mile!
With the marsh giant gone, after some curing off-screen, the party draws the lantern and washes its light over the central menhir. The thick vegetation covering the monolith quickly withers away, revealing a faintly glowing, olive-hued stone.
Golaith misses and Penny's magic inflicts more damage on the female giant, but she is hardy. Round 2: Giant
Penny and Goliath are up.
Ulmo's attacks fails to penetrate the giant's thick hide.
Round 1: Giant The female green-skinned, web-fingered, and obese giant brings her weapon down on Ulmo. "More dwarves for my belly!" However, her wounds must have hurt her more severely because she misses both attacks by a mile!
As the 3 warriors approach the central menhir, while Penny watches over them, a female green giant bursts from the swamp hidden, wielding a barbed spear, malice in its eyes! "More food for Gripwort!" The giant has 10' reach with the spear. Initiative:
The former druid, now wisp, replies to Goliath, "We sacrificed ourselves when we were overrun by orcs to become wisps to defend the swamp. We will continue our sacred duty. Good luck on your journey!" With that, the wisp bids you adieu and disappears from sight. You follow the light of the ghostlight lantern which leads you an hour later to the following scene: A circle of monolithic standing stones surrounds a central menhir covered in a layer of thick, thorny vegetation. In all, eight formations surround the central stone: five intact trilithons and another three that have crumbled and partially sunk into the swamp’s soggy floor. A large pool gently bubbles to the northwest of the standing stones. The central menhir stands about 12 feet tall, while the surrounding ones are 8 feet tall.
The wrathful wisp hesitates and does not attack as the half-elf's silver tongues causes it to doubts its actions. While it debates what to do next, Goliath speaks in Common and then in Druidic! Suddenly, the ghostly image of a venerable human with a bushy beard smiling appears within the creature’s glow. The will-o’-wisp speaks in a calmer tones, "I am Mossmoon, a former member of the Council of Thorns, and once a druid such as your friend. I am excited that you seek to bring sword to the giants and orcs. Your candor has impressed me. The entrance to the Vault of Thorns is deep in the heart of the marsh, but the lantern will show you the way. Please, follow me. Now that I know your purpose in the swamp, my fellow wisps and I will not harm you.” Mossmoon leads you further into the swamp, but with no encounters. Eventually, he leads you to another clearing in the marsh containing a strange collection of pale, spongy spheres 1 foot in diameter. The spongy globes are dead will-o’-wisps. "This is the resting place of the fallen members of the reincarnated Council of Thorns. Lantern-bearer, please gently place of the spheres into the lantern." As soon as a dead will-o’-wisp is placed within the lantern, the lamp emits a beam of light that points NW. Mossmoon speaks in a friendly tone, "Please pass the light over the central menhir to open the Vault of Thorns, a sort of demiplane, where you do not tire or require sustenance. I hope the weapons stored there will aid you in your quest to vanquish the foul orcs and giants. Anything else you wish to know?"
As Ulmo heads forward stealthily, a will-o-wisp appears from invisibility, screaming in common, "You! You're the one who stated that you had the ghost lantern! Where did you get that?! Your theft will not go unpunished! Give that back to us!" Ulmo senses that the creature is getting angrier and is about to attack.
Hope everyone had a nice holiday! Update coming tonight!
Jericho shares with you that will-o-wisps are evil aberrations common to swamps that can fly, become naturally invisible at will, are immune to most spells except magic missiles, and they have an electrified touch that can kill most commoners. They are also difficult to hit and are healed by your fear or death. They are known by many names: jack o’ the lanterns, corpse candles, walking fires, pine lights, spooklights, and rushlights.
With Ingrahild healed, she thanks Goliath for his handy wand and happily leads you NE through the swamp. 10 minutes later, you reach your destination, a safe spot some 200' from a copse of trees where you can see the flickering lights of will-o-wisps moving through the swamp before disappearing from sight and reappearing elsewhere. "I do not know why you need them, but there's a bunch of wisps for your choosing. Now what?"
Ingrahild hugs Ulmo and proudly greets the rest of the party. Looking at Jericho, she smiles, "Actually, now that you mention it. My brother and I did pass by an eerie section of the swamp where we saw some wisps. Given the fact that they are tough bastards, we avoided them like the plague. However, given the fact that you are looking for them, I can definitely lead you there after I heal from the beating you apparently gave me.
Penny senses no danger from the surrounding area. After the dwarf is freed from her bonds, she extends a hearty handshake to the party. "I am Ingrahild Nargrymkin. My brother, Ulmo, and I came to the Ghostlight Marsh looking for the tomb of our ancestor, Nargrym Steelhand. Wait...I am starting to remember. Ulmo and I came here with a pair of hired mercenaries, and we stumbled on this circle of standing stones. That looked druidic to me. We were ambushed by a coven of green hags and their marsh giant bodyguard. The mercenaries died instantly. One of the hags cast some magic on me and ulmo and that is the last I remember. Maybe he is still at the circle of stones? I think I remember how to get there. Will you accompany me?"
The dwarven ranger is flummoxed by Ulmo's response. She smiles a little at Goliath's comment. "Uh, what? I called you orcs? We battled?! My body does feel sore as hell. My memory is so hazy. I do not remember anything except traveling in the swamp with my brother...my brother?! By the gods! Where is he? Did you see him with me?" Her voice grows frantic!
You feed the dwarf the potion carefully so she does not choke. Goliath heals the dwarf with the wand and she regains consciousness. She moans in pain, as she looks around. "Why the heck an I bound? Who are you fools? Thieves? Did you beat me up? Let me go! I am no one's prisoner!" She looks at Ulmo, "Why did you betray your dwarven kind? You're the worst kind of dwarf to turn your backs on your kin." She struggles against her bonds.
Both Jericho and Goliath can tell the potion is not harmful, but you cannot specify its effects.
Jericho tastes the two potions and senses that one potion is a beneficial potion, possibly to remove some affliction like lesser restoration or remove blindness, etc. He cannot identify the other one.
Jericho and Penny search the unconscious dwarf. You find her dwarven waraxe and handaxe, a dagger strapped to her ankle, 52 gp, and two potions.
Goliath delivers a resounding blow to the dwarf's head that knocks her unconscious.
Round 5: Dwarf
Round 4:Dwarf
Ulmo and Jericho both hit, inflicting 33 nonlethal damage on the dwarf.
Goliath moves up and swings, but the female dwarf moves out of the way, so the blow harmlessly deflects off her chainmail.
Round 3: Female Dwarf Since Goliath swung at her, she full-attacks the "greenskin" beast, drawing blood twice with her handaxe!
Round 3: Female Dwarf
Round 2: Female Dwarf As the rest of the party comes into view, the dwarf, clad in chainmail armor, grips her weapons even tighter. She looks at Ulmo, "If you think I'm afraid of your greenskin clan, think again! I will slaughter you and your tribe!" She has a crazed look on her face.
The female dwarf strains to look through the bog to see the face of the stranger addressing her. It is not until Ulmo comes within range of her 60' darkvision that she sees him. She calls out in Dwarven, which everyone understands except Goliath, "Filthy greenskin, I shall not be your meal tonight!" "Greenskin" is the dwarven racial slur for orcs and half-orcs.
The female dwarf stands and draws a dwarven waraxe and handaxe in one fluid motion, holding her ground. "Come meet your death, ya scum of a greenskin!" It is clear that she is directing her threat at Ulmo and has not seen the rest of the party.
Fully healed, you continue north and reason that the hydra dominated this territory as over the next hours, you do not encounter any further predators. Eventually, the bog water level lowers to 1 feet deep of swamp. In the distance, you see the light of a campfire. Assuming you approach, you can see a red-haired female dwarf clad in armor squatting near a smoldering fire, apparently mumbling to herself, although you are too far to hear what she is saying. You are about 80' away from her and with her focus on the fire, she has not noticed you.
The combined strikes of the Penny's fire magic, Ulmo's piercing strike, and Goliath's blunt force trauma kill the hydra.
Round 2: Hydra
Party is up again: Ulmo, Penny, Jericho, and Goliath.
Round 1: Hydra The beast's serpentine heads debate whether to attack the elf or the giant druid and in the end choose the bigger prey! The beast charges through its natural habitat, as the bog does not hinder its movement at all! The beast reaches within 10' of Goliath and then its 5 heads attack, but only one draws blood!
As the party slugs its way through the swamp, a huge creature with 5 serpentine heads rises from the swamp some 40' ahead!
The captain sneers at Goliath's comment. "How could I predict that our cook would poison the crew to turn us over to an orc barbarian? I thank you all for your assistance, but I wouldn't be in this predicament if I had not agreed to take you to the border of this swamp. And these are the comments that I get?! You may stay the night and then you are to get off my ship at first light." Clearly pissed, the captain storms off. The party rests for the night and recovers all spells. In the morning, you are escorted off the boat, with the crew quickly disappearing down the river. On the riverbank, you spot a stone carved with a circle of thorns—the marker Silvermane described that will lead you to the entrance to the Vault of Thorns. You head north, looking for more markers, officially entering the Ghostlight Marsh. The marsh is mainly comprised of slow-moving streams, pools of stagnant water, and waterlogged reeds. On average, the water is 4 feet deep and each square counts as 4 squares of movement.
Sure Penny, we are early enough that you can take that archetype.
The Captain asks, "Will you be staying on board until tomorrow to allow Penny to heal or will you be disembarking now?"
Goliath searches the ship with his spider companion and with his survival skill and the blood drops that he finds near the railing at the front of the ship, he surmises that the cook jumped overboard and is nowhere to be found. The rest of the crew recover after about an hour and once again, they are thankful for saving them from the orc barbarian and the treacherous cook.
Penny heals 9 hit points of damage and is conscious.
A giant spider appears next to Goliath. What do Ulmo and Jericho do? You see no combatants.
The orc barbarian makes the fatal mistake of stepping 5' west, allowing Ulmo and Jericho to flank it. It is able to deflect Ulmo's blow harmlessly, but in doing so, it falls prey to Jericho's sword, as it pierces its back and lung, killing Tark, as he screams in pain, before choking on his own blood, and crumbling to the floor.
Round 5: Tark
Round 5: Gash
The last orc dies to the dwarf's spear. Two foes remain and 3 party members are standing. Jericho's attack misses Tark.
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