The startled trolls give chase for a while but you are eventually able to lose them in the swamp. Eventually they tire of the chase and turn north.
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Veronica, meanwhile, does a little shopping to procure some fire arrows in case of the eventual encounter with the trolls. She takes note of the request for troll blood, then, later in the day, discovers the note about the lost boy, and immediately sets off to find more information - though only time will tell if she crosses paths with Larisa before her friend is already off and away!
Hey Veronica, if they have such a thing pick me up a half dozen fire sling bullets, just in case. Ezekial asks and offers coin.
Ezekial will pick up 3 more alchemical acid flasks.
The following morning Connor wakes to pounding on his door. He finds two city guards waiting for him. "Lord Doe asked us to tell you that she has departed in search of the missing boy Tig. She headed south last night to the swamps on the western edge of the Tuskwater. She hasn't been seen since."
"Funny, we were just headed that way,' Seres quips, climbing into his saddle.
After picking up her shopping, Veronica goes to find Zeke, and discovers him with the rest of the crew. She passes him a half-dozen incendiary arrows and a tindertwig.
"It sounds like Larisa went off looking for a lost child," she says. She sighs heavily and continues, "I think she's doing a sort of martyr complex thing - doesn't want to be a burden, has to prove herself all over again, better if she sacrifices herself than that we risk everyone, that kind of thing. I think I have a handle on which way she went, though."
"Sacrifice is giving of yourself for the greater good of the nation, not putting yourself in a situation where we have to come to her aid ... again. Decisions lead to consequences and this is ...." Connor trails off, frustrated.
"Nevermind that, she is one of us. Let's go collect her and move on to find the gnomes."
Once everyone has everything they need, he hops on Cinder and starts the ride off in the direction the guards indicated looking to Veronica to take the lead.
After riding several hours southeast, you find yourselves in the swampy region on the western bank of the Tuskwater. You realize you are very close to the hovel of Seres' Aunt, Old Beldame - the swamp witch.
Larisa looks around her, tired and hungry as she stops to give her mount a moment's rest, the poor steed was probably feeling worse than her. "Well done." She says, breathlessly as she strokes the horse's mane and dismounts. Quickly rustling through her pack she feeds it an apple from her rations before conjuring some water in a pot for it. She takes a fey minutes to herself to rest, eating some trail rations as she listens to the sound of land around her. Enjoying the nature around her she takes a meditative stance, focusing on the Green Man's medallion. I suppose while I'm out here alone with my thoughts I should make an effort to feel for the ley lines like he wants me to. She thinks to herself, perched atop a relatively dry spot a land as she lets the sounds of the swamp flow over her.
The whole way there Raff keeps a lookout for tracks and signs of Larisa's passage.
Raff is able to find fresh tracks from a rider. They head south through the swamp.
After traveling most of the morning the tracks lead you to the shores of what could only be Lake Candlemere. Here you note that the horse tracks are interspersed with the tracks of large humanoids. On the shores of the lake, as the sun rises to its zenith, you note a dark mass in the distance that must be an island.
After several minutes you spot Larisa sitting on the swampy shore gazing out onto the lake. She sits with her legs crossed in a meditative trance.
Connor nods to Zeke.
Veronica shifts in her saddle and sniffs the air, though even her shifter's nose isn't so keen as to pick up scents that the others would miss. She glances at Connor as if to appraise him for a moment, then nervously tightens her archery glove as she watches Ezekial ride off toward the lake's edge where Larisa waits.
Zeke, you note the tracks of seven large humanoids appear to walk up to the water front before turning north. You detect no threats.
Seres fires an arrow towards Larisa, to get her attention without hitting her or shouting out.
Connor raises an eyebrow at Seres, but otherwise sits on Cinder, still as a statue, and waits.
As the arrow lands Larisa's serene posture goes taut as she rolls to the side, drawing a dagger from her belt. As Zeke steps out into view she relaxes, looking a the man tiredly. "I figured you'd track me down." She says, smiling back at him as she stands her eyes looking past him at the others. "It's good to see you, sorry making an abrupt exit but I had to get on the trail before it vanished. Good thing I did, some trolls came wandering through the area, no doubt the brutes have destroyed any tracks they passed."
Sheathing her weapon, Larisa takes the reigns of her steed and leads it to Connor. As she approaches she raises a hand in greeting. "My lord."
Seres retrieves his arrow with a wink. "Do you suspect the child was kidnapped, or just wandered a long way into bad territory?"
"Larisa." Connor replies neutrally.
"Trolls, you said? I am concerned they are this close to town. Scouts for the army? Show me these tracks."
Connor dismounts and heads to those tracks, reaching down to touch them and closing his eyes to gain an exact image of the creature thst made them.
Larisa looks at Zeke, a shadow of reproach crossing her face before her stern demeanor comes forward. "I left the information with the guard, with a child missing in these woods I thought it imperative to get on his trail as soon as possible before it got lost." She gives him a small deferential nod of the head. "I am sorry if I made you worry."
"Yes, from my tracking I am confident that the child has been abducted. The tracks were made by Lizardfolk, they're a xenophobic people known for their barbaric ways. In particular they practice cannibalism, I only hope they haven't eaten the child yet. I suspect they have an encampment across the lake," She says, pointing at the dark island. "I would have gone to investigate but before the trolls drove me off I saw flickering lights across the water. While it may have been swamp gas you did mention that Will-o-wisps haunt this area so i thought it prudent to retreat. Before that I did notice that the track continue west, skirting the lake."
Finished giving her report Larisa gives Connor a meek look as she indicates the tracks. "Yes, seven of them. I didn't get much of a look at them in the gloom but that would be a reasonable assumption to make.
"Lizardfolk..." says Veronica, letting the elephant in the room lie for the moment. "Not always hostile. But yes, things aren't looking good for the poor child."
Larisa brushes the dirt from her pants as before mounting her steed. "That's what I was thinking. What's our next move?" She asks to no one in particular, staring out across the lake, the bags under her eyes giving her face a grim countenance.
Connor glances at the troll tracks and then looks down the path they lead. With a long sigh, he turns back to the party, "No more than one hour looking for this boy amongst these lizardmen. After that, regardless of success, we press after the trolls and search for Jubilost."
Larisa, in the day light, you find evidence of the lizard folk tracks skirt along the lake edge and then move west along a river that merges with Lake Candlemere.
Larisa looks at Connor, for a moment it looks like she wishes to say something but bites her tongue. "Then I've wasted too much time stand around already." She says, setting off as she returns to her tracking. She points out how they skirt the lake edge and begin follow the river.
"Aight then, let's kill us some lizard men!" Raff spurs his horse on, he follows after Larisa.
"Or... talk to some lizard men!"
"Meh. Kidnaping cannibles are pretty high on the list of things I dont reason with."
Seres arches a brow, "For some reason, I suspect your ancestors were accused of such and worse, yet you are not a cannibal. Accusations do not make a crime truth -- as we've so recently proven -- and do not give way murder and wanton assault."
Raff gives Seres a angry frown in return. "Not accusing them because their ancestors did it Seres. I'm accusing them because Lizardfolk STILL do it... And thanks for going for the jugular with the Half-orc card. Real nice of you." He turns away from Seres with a huff.
Seres shrugs, nonplussed by Raff's irritation. "My fey ancestors have done some very unkind things to otherwise innocent folks, and still do, but not all fey deserve death because of it. I'm just suggesting we should try and talk to them and see for ourselves what they are like, rather than wading in swinging swords based on rumors and hearsay. If they are indeed kidnapping cannibals, then by all means, unleash righteous vengeance upon them. But if not..."
"Seres is right, the Sootscale kobolds are a perfect example of that. But let's debate inherent evil later, and move with haste to find this boy."
As the day progresses dark rain clouds gather overhead and a slow torrential rain begins to fall. Though the tracks that Larisa followed the previous night have now been washed out, you find increasing traffic of lizard men tracks following the river. The wooded swamp slowly gives way to open expanses of grassed fens submerged by brackish water.
After several miles you see the dark outline of a structure through the gray sheets of falling rain. A low, muddy hummock protrudes from the middle of the widening river, surrounded by a palisade of outward-facing, sharpened wooden stakes. Inside, tendrils of smoke rise from a handful of mounds clustered around a single larger mound. A simple wooden gate on the eastern side of the hummock seems to be the only entrance to the fortified island.
"This must be the place," says Veronica, carefully keeping her bow under her cloak so the string doesn't get soaked. "How do we want to make our approach? Diplomacy first?"
"Go silently..." Seres says, casting invisibility on Zeke.
"And if you are made, for Erastil's sake dont engage. Flee and get back here."
Ezekial sees that the palisades rise 10' over the the standing water. The palisade's wooden gate is about 8' high. Two lizard men, standing on a platform, keep watch over the gate. They don't appear to have seen Ezekial.
As Ezekial approaches, the painful cry of a young boy rings out from within the compound.
Larisa patiently waits atop her horse, staring out intently through the rain at the palisade. Drawing her cloak about her she ignores the wet and cold, water dripping down the lip of her hood as she mutters a prayer to Erastil under her breath for Ezekial and the boy.