[sblock=ooc]Sorry for absence, internet was out this weekend.
Also, ENWorld is slow![/sblock]"
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The party once again trudges its way in the swamp, using the map as a guide. The swamp seems to play tricks with your mind... Ominous noises seem to fill the air, splashing, the cracking of twigs and the croaking of frogs are heard from unknown sources. Every tree seems to be watching you and the sky seems to grow darker the closer you get to your destination.
When you are but a couple miles from town the trees start to close around you, forming a thick tangle of branches and exposed roots, making progress slow and difficult. Sharp, broken limbs scratch your arms and legs as you push forward, and the wind whistles an odd, lifeless tune as it rushes through the leaves overhead. As you break through a clump of foliage, a light appears in the distance. It is brighter than a single lantern, warm and inviting in the cold damp air. The light is not at eye level. It hovers in the dark so that you must look up to see it. Like moths to a flame, you slide easily toward the source of the light. It is a small wooden house, hardly larger than a shack. Light spills from its two front windows and a wide open door. The house appears to be suspended in the air above the surface of the swamp, its reflection shimmering in the dank pool before it.
[sblock=perception=17]The house isn't actually floating in the air; it just looks that way in the darkness. Four stout poles rise from the swamp, lifting the house some 8 feet above the water. The poles obviously serve to protect the house from rising water and the creatures of the swamp. [/sblock]
Suddenly, a rope ladder drops from the doorway. No figure steps into the light to greet you, and not even a shadow passes the open door. The ladder, constructed of wooden steps and thick rope, simply rolls out with a brief clatter of knocking wood. The last step hangs just above the surface of the fetid water, inviting you to climb up into the warm light.
