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Wing Three
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 6072049" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 45 - THE SWAMP KING</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Chalkan, half-elf ranger/cleric of Corellon Larethian/sorcerer/arcane archer</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Delphyne Babelberi, human witch (wizard)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Rale Bodkin, human rogue</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Telgrane, human conjurer</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Old Clem, human commoner/expert (fisherman)</p><p></p><p>Having just fleshed out the respective backstories of Galrich and Delphyne, I was in the mood to do more of the same. However, just to be different (and to keep the players on their toes), I decided to be sneaky and make it Old Clem, their hireling, who was the focus of the adventure for once. This whole adventure was written around one of Logan's D&D Miniatures, a sorcerer riding a Large black dragon. They became my main bad guys for the adventure, which suggested a swampy locale, which tied in nicely with Old Clem's fishing village.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>Old Clem enetered the common living area of Wing Three, holding a folded letter in his hand. "Beggin' yer pardon, milords," he said, "but I was wonderin' if I might take some time off to visit my old fishin' village? Y'see, my little niece is gettin' herself married and all...."</p><p></p><p>He passed the letter over to be read by the group. It was a wedding invitation from his niece, and Old Clem being her oldest living male relative, she was asking if he would mind giving her away at the ceremony. The letter also stated that Old Clem's "adventuring assistants" were welcome to attend if they'd like; they'd be honored guests at the wedding, bringing much prestige and good fortune to the newlyweds. In addition, the letter mentioned some mysterious disappearances by members of the fishing village that the group might be able to look into while they were there.</p><p></p><p>Chalkan, the one responsible for originally hiring on Old Clem to tend to the horses and cook the meals while the group was out in the field, took it upon himself as the "leave granting authority." He stated his intentions of going with Old Clem, and Delphyne, Rale, and Telgrane all decided likewise. That settled, the fishing village was about three days south of Greyhawk City, and while the wedding was still a week away, the group decided to head out in the morning. After all, one never knew what hazards would be met on the road, and if they got there days in advance they could always check into the disappearances.</p><p></p><p>The three days of travel were surprisingly uneventful, and the group arrived in Old Clem’s remote fishing village, where he was greeted by the villagers, both old and young. Rale and Chalkan, the only two to have visited the place before, noticed one difference right away: there were fishermen on patrol along the outskirts of the village, armed with gaffs and fishing implements. They by no means gave the appearance of hardened warriors, but they looked like they were willing to put up a fight if they had to.</p><p></p><p>It turned out that since the wedding invitation had been written and sent to Old Clem via courier, there had been six more abductions of village members. Only with the most recent attack were the perpetrators identified: a small band of bullywugs who snuck into the village at night and made off with a fisherman’s wife. The other victims had been of all ages and both sexes; there seemed to be no real rhyme or reason for the abductions, nor did the victims seem to have anything in common other than the fact they all lived in the same village. There was apparently some kind of a specific selection process going on, though, because on two separate incidents in the past week the bullywugs knocked out or killed one or more villagers on guard, only to capture someone else from the fishing village rather than abduct the already-unconscious guardsmen.</p><p></p><p>The fishermen knew of a tribe of bullywugs living somewhere deep in the swamps beyond the town, but they had never caused any trouble before; they'd stayed in their hidden swamp dwellings while the fishing village had always focused its attention on the coast and the schools of fish to be found in the sea. Nobody knew why the bullywugs had suddenly started making off with the fisherfolk, and while some of the younger men wanted to make a foray into the swamp to rescue their kidnapped kin, the wiser heads of the village counseled patience, knowing that Old Clem the Adventurer and his band of assistants would soon be here. (Apparently, Old Clem had been embellishing his "adventures" with the group, and his role in their heroics, just a bit in letters back home.)</p><p></p><p>Tracking the bullywugs would be problematic, as the creatures lived in the marshlands and had the ability to travel across the top surface of the bogs without leaving any trace. The fishermen of the village had several small boats they were willing to lend to the group if they wanted to try to navigate through the swamps, but they warned the odds of them stumbling upon the bullywug encampment were virtually nil.</p><p></p><p>However, since there had been abductions nearly every night of late, there was a good chance that the adventurers might be able to capture a bullywug in the coming night’s raid and interrogate him, or follow the bullywugs to wherever it is they’d been taking the captured villagers. So that was the plan eventually decided upon.</p><p></p><p>That night, the group spread out among different huts in the small fishing village, and gathered the majority of the remaining fisherfolk into two of the larger huts for their own protection. Old Clem, with a reputation as a "powerful adventurer" to uphold, opted to gear up and stand guard with the rest of Wing Three. They didn't have long to wait, for shortly after midnight the group heard a croaking noise coming from the swamplands behind the village. This was apparently a signal, for several squat figures were soon thereafter spotted creeping between the huts of the village. The adventurers crept out of their own huts as quietly as possible, and the first one to get a good shot at one of the bullywugs was Chalkan. He shot a <em>scorching ray</em> at the bullywug in front of him but the toad-man, acting on some unknown instinct, ducked and crouched at the last moment and the spell went whizzing by his head to strike another - fortunately unoccupied - hut, setting it quickly ablaze.</p><p></p><p>With that, the bullywugs dropped all pretense of subtlety. There were apparently only four of them, but they were being accompanied by an ever-increasing line of creatures coming up out of the sea: first a water mephit, who flew to the top of a hut and called out battlefield updates to the bullywugs, then a water elemental, and finally a fiendish crocodile. Telgrane quickly figured out that there must be a hidden spellcaster somewhere in the area, and he sent Infernia out to help him find the bullywug mage. In the meantime, those who ended up fighting the bullywugs quickly learned that these were disciplined fighters, well trained in the use of the halfspears they wielded. Still, three of the adventurers the bullywugs were fighting had spell usage on their side, and that eventually turned the tide of battle - soon, only the hidden bullywug spellcaster was left of the abductors. His relative position having been deduced, Delphyne and Telgrane blanketed the area with area-effect spells, <em>fireball</em> being particularly useful in that regard. The bullywug spellcaster, one <strong>Mud Lord Bloggleborp</strong>, was eventually located, captured, and interrogated. He refused to tell the group anything more than that he was honored to have been selected as a "harvester" for the <strong>Swamp King</strong>. Once it became apparent that the Mud Lord wasn't going to be of any further use to the group, Rale executed him on the spot, slicing through the many wattles at his neck and spilling his blood down his chest. Bloggleborp collapsed like a punctured balloon.</p><p></p><p>"So now what?" asked Delphyne, a little aghast at the cold-blooded killing.</p><p></p><p>"We'll just have to go out into the swamps ourselves and see what we can find," replied Rale, as he wiped the bullywug blood from his blade using the Mud Lord's own robes. "You guys said something about a boat we could borrow?"</p><p></p><p>The boat was gathered up, and the four adventurers - five, if you counted Old Clem - climbed in, promising to try to find the bullywugs' lair and rescue any of the captured villagers who were still alive. Nobody wanted to speculate on just who the Swamp King might refer to.</p><p></p><p>Old Clem, with his years of expertise handling a fishing boat and his general knowledge of the area, took up the rowing duties, supported on the other side by Chalkan. They made slow going, what with the darkness of the night and the many low-hanging creepers and vines, but within a few hours the sun started its slow climb into the sky, and the group got assistance from an unexpected source.</p><p></p><p>"Hello!" called a voice from the trees. "Hello! Can you help me save my master?"</p><p></p><p>The voice belonged to <strong>Stormwing</strong>, the raven familiar of one <strong>Thulian Flamewand</strong>, a sorcerer from an adventuring party that recently ran afoul of <strong>Zarzabond</strong>, an adult black dragon. During the battle in the dragon's lair, it apparently used some foul magics to make Thulian turn against his friends, for he suddenly betrayed them and killed the dwarf and halfling before anyone could react. Together, Thulian and the dragon then slew the other two members of the adventuring band. Stormwing escaped from the dragon's cave and has been hanging around in the area, unsure of what to do. He said he could still feel the empathic link between sorcerer and familiar, but it was very faint, almost as if his master’s mind were being submerged. Upon interrogation, the raven was able to confirm that the dragon has met almost daily with a small band of bullywugs, often dragging human captives with them. Best of all, Stormwing could not only show the group where Zarzabond's lair was located, but also warn them about some of his allies.</p><p></p><p>Chief among this group was a small tribe of lizardfolk who worshiped the dragon as their god. This tribe was led by a much larger lizardman with a much darker scale coloration than the others. There was also something the raven refered to as a "bat-snake" that was often seen in the area around the lair. Finally, there was his master, Thulian, who was often seen riding on Zarzabond's back, doing whatever it was the two did together. The raven testified that the sorcerer was apparently more powerful in recent days than he'd been, and that he'd been seen giving the lizardfolk orders which they obeyed without question.</p><p></p><p>As for the lair itself, the passageway that Stormwing had used to escape Zarzabond's lair was much too small to permit entry by any of the adventurers. The main entrance was via an underwater passageway, constantly guarded by lizardfolk, although the lair itself was on dry land. The raven eagerly took flight, flitting from tree to tree as Old Clem and Chalkan paddled their small watercraft in pursuit.</p><p></p><p>The lair took the form of a small hill rising up from the murky waters of the swamp. The group tied their boat up to a tree some distance away and scanned the area from the safety of the shadows of the trees. One side of the hill had a small cave opening which was probably the main entrance; upon careful examination, it looked like there were several "bumps" floating in the water there that could be the eyes of mostly-submerged lizardfolk sentries. Talking it over, the group decided on a two-pronged attack: Delphyne and Rale would use the witch's broom to fly around to the back of the hill. Once they were in place, Chalkan, Telgrane, and Old Clem would paddle their boat blatantly up to the entry cave and draw out the lizardfolk sentries, where they could be ambushed from above by Rale and Delphyne.</p><p></p><p>The plan worked like a charm - at first. Four lizardfolk sentries swam towards the group's approaching boat, ready to do battle with their longspears. However, they had backup in the form of two crocodiles and <strong>Skessthissk</strong>, a half-dragon lizardman, waiting further back in the cave's recesses. Worse yet, Delphyne and Rale had no sooner started attacking the lizardfolk below (with spells and a shortbow, respectively) when a large divot of earth popped up behind them and the "bat-snake" emerged from a vertical tunnel; this was <strong>Hissk</strong>, a half-dragon water naga, sired by none other than Zarzabond himself. Hissk kept Rale and Delphyne busy at the top of the hill, leaving the others to deal with the lizardfolk and crocodiles by themselves.</p><p></p><p>Fortunately, Chalkan put his bow to good use and Telgrane did likewise with his spells, opting for a barrage of <em>magic missiles</em> that he knew couldn't miss. Seeing the others in trouble up at the top of the hill, Telgrane took the time to summon a trio of celestial hippogriffs and sent them after the naga; that turned the tide up at the top of the hill, allowing Rale and Delphyne in turn to assist in cleaning up the lizardfolk sentries and crocodiles down below. Eventually, the path was clear to enter Zarzabond's lair, and Delphyne flew Rale and herself down to meet up with the others.</p><p></p><p>After Chalkan healed up the others with his staff, the spellcasters applied their various buffing spells before they each took as big a breath as they could and submerged under the water's surface. A sunrod lit the murky water, showing the aquatic passageway leading deeper into the hill, and everyone was pleased to be back into an air-filled passageway again. Telgrane popped open his tinder box and let Infernia out; she had adamantly insisted on remaining inside its waterproof confines while surrounded by swamplands.</p><p></p><p>The group didn't get too far before they were in combat again, this time by a pair of female lizardfolk druids, <em>spider climb</em>ing along the ceiling and dropping down gouts of fire from <em>produce flame</em> spells upon the group. But the two were outmatched in spellpower and were quickly dispatched.</p><p></p><p>Moving deeper into the cavern system, the group next found a wooden cage almost completely submerged in a pool of water. Pulling it out, they found it was inhabited by <strong>Erma Kettle</strong>, the latest member of Old Clem's village to have been taken captive by the bullywugs. She was covered in leeches, leaving her at such a weakened state she could hardly keep her head above water in the cage. Chalkan smashed the cage open and the others pulled the leeches from her (Delphyne shivering in revulsion all the while). Old Clem took it upon himself to help Erma along, holding her arm across his shoulders, and Chalkan's healing staff was used to restore some of the villager's vitality. Then the group moved on, Old Clem and Erma safely in the rear of the formation.</p><p></p><p>Another pool showed the corpses of two more villagers. A quick examination showed that each had been stabbed through the heart by a sword, then dumped here to float lifelessly, probably for several days at least.</p><p></p><p>However, there wasn't time for further examination of the corpses, for a deep roar from across the cavern told the group they'd been discovered by Zarzabond, and he was none too happy to learn that his lair had been penetrated. The group only got a quick glimpse of him - being ridden into battle by a young human sorcerer who could only be Thulian Flamewand - as he entered the radius of their illumination before a caustic gout of acid was spewed their way.</p><p></p><p>Rale dodged around a corner, avoiding the dragon's breath entirely. Likewise, Old Clem and Erma were far enough in back to miss out on the action, although once Old Clem realized what was going on her steered Erma into a side passage and stayed put out of sight. The others weren't so lucky, and got to experience the burning sensation of an acid bath for the first time in their adventuring careers.</p><p></p><p>That wasn't the worst of it, either, for an all-too-familiar marble of flame came whizzing past their heads to explode into a <em>fireball</em>, engulfing Chalkan, Telgrane, and Delphyne - and Infernia, too, for that matter, although the fire elemental wasn't in the least bit discomfitted. Telgrane responded with an immediate <em>magic missile</em> barrage at the enemy spellcaster, and was amazed when his foolproof spell was finally fooled. Then he took a better look at the human dragonrider with his <em>arcane sight</em>-enhanced eyes, and called out to the others, "The sorcerer's an illusion! We're only facing the dragon!"</p><p></p><p>Sadly, that wasn't entirely accurate, for Thulian was indeed there in the cavern with them. He had stayed behind at the far side of the dragon's treasure cave, casting a series of spells upon himself before committing himself to battle (although he did cast a <em>fireball</em> spell to make it appear as if the illusory version of himself seated on the saddle on Zarzabond's back was actively engaging the enemy). Now, his preparations complete, he strode fearlessly into combat, an ebony-bladed longsword in one hand.</p><p></p><p>Fearing another acidic breath weapon from the dragon, the group scattered. This allowed them all to get in ranged attacks - arrows in the case of Chalkan and Rale, and spells in the case of Delphyne and Telgrane - without all being targeted by Zarzabond. However, that only meant the dragon focused his physical attacks on one target at a time, and it was only the fortunate preparatory casting of <em>stoneskin</em> that kept Delphyne alive after being ravaged by a draconic flurry of attacks. She staggered away from his ripping teeth and claws and buffeting wings, hanging onto her <em>broom of flying</em> with one hand and using it to speed her away from the dragon's immediate reach.</p><p></p><p>Rale realized that "dragonslayer" was not a title he had any particular interest in applying for, and thus crept along the edges of the shadows of the cavern, slowly making his way towards Thulian. This was much more his speed: a single human opponent. After all, even those who could fling spells left and right (as Thulian was demonstrating was well within his power) definitely felt it when you thrust a blade into their liver. Rale did just that; the sorcerer cried out in pain and spun around, ebon blade raised to fend off the attack; and Rale swatted it away with the blade in his other hand. The black sword fell with a clatter amongst a pile of loose coins.</p><p></p><p>This had a profound effect upon the young sorcerer: his eyes glazed over, he looked down at the wound in his side, he managed to blurt out "What...?" and then keeled over. Rale checked to see that he was out for the count, then gave a quick mental sigh and steeled himself to go fight that damned dragon after all. Fortunately, he was a bit late to the fight: Delphyne and Telgrane had, between the two of them, summoned in a host of temporary allies to help not only assault the dragon but shield them from some of its worst attacks, and they had whittled Zarzabond down to a shell of his former self. They had even taken a moment of respite provided by their summoned allies to cast protective spells upon themselves, so even if they got caught up in another acid bath the worst of the effects would be diminished. Zarzabond roared, Zarzabond screamed curses, Zarzabond bellowed defiance -- but Zarzabond eventually died at the hands of the adventurers.</p><p></p><p>The dragon slain, the group headed over to the vast pile of treasure laying strewn about the cavern floor. Among the loose coins and gems they found a few scrolls and potions and the partially-eaten remains of the four adventurers from Thulian's original party. Rale was about to pick up the ebony sword that he had knocked from Thulian's hand when Telgrane stopped him with a shout.</p><p></p><p>"Don't touch that!" he yelled. "It's got a really powerful aura, and it's radiating enchantment magic practically off the scale!" Nobody wanted to touch the sword after that, and once Telgrane started wrapping it up in a scrap of canvas (being careful not to actually touch it himself), the sword started calling out telepathically to select members of the group. "Chalkan," it called, "just think of the power you'll have by wielding the mighty <strong>Jezaroth</strong> in battle!" When that didn't work out, it tried again: "Rale, I can tell you appreciate a fine blade! We can carve up your enemies together, you and I!" In desperation, it tried a final time: "Clement, I can give you the power you need to be a real adventurer! You could easily lead this group, instead of tending to horses and cooking dinner!" Old Clem, after seeing that Erma was okay, walked over to the sword (making the others nervous as he did so); Chalkan made to block his way but the elderly hireling dodged around him, to get just close enough to the sword to present it with his own version of a breath weapon: a gob of phlegm, which he expertly targeted on the sword's fine ebon blade. "That fer you and yer promises - now get outta my head!" he declared.</p><p></p><p>Delphyne noticed that Thulian, though unmoving and with an ever-increasing bloodstain pooling around the ground by his waist, was still breathing. "I'll take care of that," promised Rale, advancing upon the sorcerer.</p><p></p><p>"No! Wait! Stop!" called out a familiar voice - and it was indeed the voice of a familiar. Stormwing came flying into the cavern. "The link with my master has been fully restored! He's heavily wounded, but he's back to himself again! What did you do to break the curse?"</p><p></p><p>Over Rale's objections, Delphyne sat Thulian up and poured healing droughts down his throat until he regained consciousness and the gash in his side knitted itself back together. Then, together, they patched the whole story together: Thulian and his band had stormed Zarzabond's lair, hoping to slay the dragon and make off with his loot. In the midst of a fierce battle, with his most powerful spells depleted, Thulian grabbed up an ebon sword from the dragon's hoard - and was instantly made a thrall to the intelligent blade. Jezaroth the Swamp King was a "deathcheater" - it had the evil mind and intellect of its original creator, and attempted to control those who touched it. Unable to regain its spells through rest like a normal spellcaster, it did so by absorbing the life energy of good-aligned victims - but only good-aligned victims, which is why the bullywug fighters were always accompanied by a wizard on their attacks on the fishing village, who could cast <em>detect good</em> upon potential victims to see if they were worthy of feeding the Swamp King. Thulian and Stormwing were thus allowed to go free.</p><p></p><p>The trip back to the village was uneventful, although since none of the adventurers had any means of extradimensional storage with them they had to make several trips in the boat to gather up all the dragon's treasure, and return the bodies of the slain villagers - and those of Thulian's adventuring partners - back to Old Clem's village for burial. Thulian had allowed the adventurers who saved him to have all of his former band's gear, in gratitude for their having saved him from a lifetime as Jezaroth's thrall. The group decided to give several hundred gold pieces to the village as a whole, and Chalkan gave another several hundred to Old Clem's grand-niece and her betrothed as a wedding gift. The ceremony was a simple one, as befitted a small fishing village, but it was a much-needed positive event after weeks of abductions and deaths. The adventurers didn't even give Old Clem too much grief about their alleged status as his "assistants," allowing the elderly hireling his moment in the spotlight among the people he grew up with. (Erma Kettle fed those flames with her first-hand account of being saved from the dragon by Old Clem.) But eventually, it was time to head back to Greyhawk City and whatever adventures waited in store for the group next.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>One of Thulian's former adventuring partners was a dwarven cleric of Moradin. He had a holy symbol of Moradin, which the group took with them and gave to Aerik when they got back, as he was a follower of Moradin even as a fighter. I later used that as a plot hook for another adventure a bit down the road.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 6072049, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 45 - THE SWAMP KING[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Chalkan, half-elf ranger/cleric of Corellon Larethian/sorcerer/arcane archer Delphyne Babelberi, human witch (wizard) Rale Bodkin, human rogue Telgrane, human conjurer[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Old Clem, human commoner/expert (fisherman)[/INDENT] Having just fleshed out the respective backstories of Galrich and Delphyne, I was in the mood to do more of the same. However, just to be different (and to keep the players on their toes), I decided to be sneaky and make it Old Clem, their hireling, who was the focus of the adventure for once. This whole adventure was written around one of Logan's D&D Miniatures, a sorcerer riding a Large black dragon. They became my main bad guys for the adventure, which suggested a swampy locale, which tied in nicely with Old Clem's fishing village. - - - Old Clem enetered the common living area of Wing Three, holding a folded letter in his hand. "Beggin' yer pardon, milords," he said, "but I was wonderin' if I might take some time off to visit my old fishin' village? Y'see, my little niece is gettin' herself married and all...." He passed the letter over to be read by the group. It was a wedding invitation from his niece, and Old Clem being her oldest living male relative, she was asking if he would mind giving her away at the ceremony. The letter also stated that Old Clem's "adventuring assistants" were welcome to attend if they'd like; they'd be honored guests at the wedding, bringing much prestige and good fortune to the newlyweds. In addition, the letter mentioned some mysterious disappearances by members of the fishing village that the group might be able to look into while they were there. Chalkan, the one responsible for originally hiring on Old Clem to tend to the horses and cook the meals while the group was out in the field, took it upon himself as the "leave granting authority." He stated his intentions of going with Old Clem, and Delphyne, Rale, and Telgrane all decided likewise. That settled, the fishing village was about three days south of Greyhawk City, and while the wedding was still a week away, the group decided to head out in the morning. After all, one never knew what hazards would be met on the road, and if they got there days in advance they could always check into the disappearances. The three days of travel were surprisingly uneventful, and the group arrived in Old Clem’s remote fishing village, where he was greeted by the villagers, both old and young. Rale and Chalkan, the only two to have visited the place before, noticed one difference right away: there were fishermen on patrol along the outskirts of the village, armed with gaffs and fishing implements. They by no means gave the appearance of hardened warriors, but they looked like they were willing to put up a fight if they had to. It turned out that since the wedding invitation had been written and sent to Old Clem via courier, there had been six more abductions of village members. Only with the most recent attack were the perpetrators identified: a small band of bullywugs who snuck into the village at night and made off with a fisherman’s wife. The other victims had been of all ages and both sexes; there seemed to be no real rhyme or reason for the abductions, nor did the victims seem to have anything in common other than the fact they all lived in the same village. There was apparently some kind of a specific selection process going on, though, because on two separate incidents in the past week the bullywugs knocked out or killed one or more villagers on guard, only to capture someone else from the fishing village rather than abduct the already-unconscious guardsmen. The fishermen knew of a tribe of bullywugs living somewhere deep in the swamps beyond the town, but they had never caused any trouble before; they'd stayed in their hidden swamp dwellings while the fishing village had always focused its attention on the coast and the schools of fish to be found in the sea. Nobody knew why the bullywugs had suddenly started making off with the fisherfolk, and while some of the younger men wanted to make a foray into the swamp to rescue their kidnapped kin, the wiser heads of the village counseled patience, knowing that Old Clem the Adventurer and his band of assistants would soon be here. (Apparently, Old Clem had been embellishing his "adventures" with the group, and his role in their heroics, just a bit in letters back home.) Tracking the bullywugs would be problematic, as the creatures lived in the marshlands and had the ability to travel across the top surface of the bogs without leaving any trace. The fishermen of the village had several small boats they were willing to lend to the group if they wanted to try to navigate through the swamps, but they warned the odds of them stumbling upon the bullywug encampment were virtually nil. However, since there had been abductions nearly every night of late, there was a good chance that the adventurers might be able to capture a bullywug in the coming night’s raid and interrogate him, or follow the bullywugs to wherever it is they’d been taking the captured villagers. So that was the plan eventually decided upon. That night, the group spread out among different huts in the small fishing village, and gathered the majority of the remaining fisherfolk into two of the larger huts for their own protection. Old Clem, with a reputation as a "powerful adventurer" to uphold, opted to gear up and stand guard with the rest of Wing Three. They didn't have long to wait, for shortly after midnight the group heard a croaking noise coming from the swamplands behind the village. This was apparently a signal, for several squat figures were soon thereafter spotted creeping between the huts of the village. The adventurers crept out of their own huts as quietly as possible, and the first one to get a good shot at one of the bullywugs was Chalkan. He shot a [i]scorching ray[/i] at the bullywug in front of him but the toad-man, acting on some unknown instinct, ducked and crouched at the last moment and the spell went whizzing by his head to strike another - fortunately unoccupied - hut, setting it quickly ablaze. With that, the bullywugs dropped all pretense of subtlety. There were apparently only four of them, but they were being accompanied by an ever-increasing line of creatures coming up out of the sea: first a water mephit, who flew to the top of a hut and called out battlefield updates to the bullywugs, then a water elemental, and finally a fiendish crocodile. Telgrane quickly figured out that there must be a hidden spellcaster somewhere in the area, and he sent Infernia out to help him find the bullywug mage. In the meantime, those who ended up fighting the bullywugs quickly learned that these were disciplined fighters, well trained in the use of the halfspears they wielded. Still, three of the adventurers the bullywugs were fighting had spell usage on their side, and that eventually turned the tide of battle - soon, only the hidden bullywug spellcaster was left of the abductors. His relative position having been deduced, Delphyne and Telgrane blanketed the area with area-effect spells, [i]fireball[/i] being particularly useful in that regard. The bullywug spellcaster, one [b]Mud Lord Bloggleborp[/b], was eventually located, captured, and interrogated. He refused to tell the group anything more than that he was honored to have been selected as a "harvester" for the [b]Swamp King[/b]. Once it became apparent that the Mud Lord wasn't going to be of any further use to the group, Rale executed him on the spot, slicing through the many wattles at his neck and spilling his blood down his chest. Bloggleborp collapsed like a punctured balloon. "So now what?" asked Delphyne, a little aghast at the cold-blooded killing. "We'll just have to go out into the swamps ourselves and see what we can find," replied Rale, as he wiped the bullywug blood from his blade using the Mud Lord's own robes. "You guys said something about a boat we could borrow?" The boat was gathered up, and the four adventurers - five, if you counted Old Clem - climbed in, promising to try to find the bullywugs' lair and rescue any of the captured villagers who were still alive. Nobody wanted to speculate on just who the Swamp King might refer to. Old Clem, with his years of expertise handling a fishing boat and his general knowledge of the area, took up the rowing duties, supported on the other side by Chalkan. They made slow going, what with the darkness of the night and the many low-hanging creepers and vines, but within a few hours the sun started its slow climb into the sky, and the group got assistance from an unexpected source. "Hello!" called a voice from the trees. "Hello! Can you help me save my master?" The voice belonged to [b]Stormwing[/b], the raven familiar of one [b]Thulian Flamewand[/b], a sorcerer from an adventuring party that recently ran afoul of [b]Zarzabond[/b], an adult black dragon. During the battle in the dragon's lair, it apparently used some foul magics to make Thulian turn against his friends, for he suddenly betrayed them and killed the dwarf and halfling before anyone could react. Together, Thulian and the dragon then slew the other two members of the adventuring band. Stormwing escaped from the dragon's cave and has been hanging around in the area, unsure of what to do. He said he could still feel the empathic link between sorcerer and familiar, but it was very faint, almost as if his master’s mind were being submerged. Upon interrogation, the raven was able to confirm that the dragon has met almost daily with a small band of bullywugs, often dragging human captives with them. Best of all, Stormwing could not only show the group where Zarzabond's lair was located, but also warn them about some of his allies. Chief among this group was a small tribe of lizardfolk who worshiped the dragon as their god. This tribe was led by a much larger lizardman with a much darker scale coloration than the others. There was also something the raven refered to as a "bat-snake" that was often seen in the area around the lair. Finally, there was his master, Thulian, who was often seen riding on Zarzabond's back, doing whatever it was the two did together. The raven testified that the sorcerer was apparently more powerful in recent days than he'd been, and that he'd been seen giving the lizardfolk orders which they obeyed without question. As for the lair itself, the passageway that Stormwing had used to escape Zarzabond's lair was much too small to permit entry by any of the adventurers. The main entrance was via an underwater passageway, constantly guarded by lizardfolk, although the lair itself was on dry land. The raven eagerly took flight, flitting from tree to tree as Old Clem and Chalkan paddled their small watercraft in pursuit. The lair took the form of a small hill rising up from the murky waters of the swamp. The group tied their boat up to a tree some distance away and scanned the area from the safety of the shadows of the trees. One side of the hill had a small cave opening which was probably the main entrance; upon careful examination, it looked like there were several "bumps" floating in the water there that could be the eyes of mostly-submerged lizardfolk sentries. Talking it over, the group decided on a two-pronged attack: Delphyne and Rale would use the witch's broom to fly around to the back of the hill. Once they were in place, Chalkan, Telgrane, and Old Clem would paddle their boat blatantly up to the entry cave and draw out the lizardfolk sentries, where they could be ambushed from above by Rale and Delphyne. The plan worked like a charm - at first. Four lizardfolk sentries swam towards the group's approaching boat, ready to do battle with their longspears. However, they had backup in the form of two crocodiles and [b]Skessthissk[/b], a half-dragon lizardman, waiting further back in the cave's recesses. Worse yet, Delphyne and Rale had no sooner started attacking the lizardfolk below (with spells and a shortbow, respectively) when a large divot of earth popped up behind them and the "bat-snake" emerged from a vertical tunnel; this was [b]Hissk[/b], a half-dragon water naga, sired by none other than Zarzabond himself. Hissk kept Rale and Delphyne busy at the top of the hill, leaving the others to deal with the lizardfolk and crocodiles by themselves. Fortunately, Chalkan put his bow to good use and Telgrane did likewise with his spells, opting for a barrage of [i]magic missiles[/i] that he knew couldn't miss. Seeing the others in trouble up at the top of the hill, Telgrane took the time to summon a trio of celestial hippogriffs and sent them after the naga; that turned the tide up at the top of the hill, allowing Rale and Delphyne in turn to assist in cleaning up the lizardfolk sentries and crocodiles down below. Eventually, the path was clear to enter Zarzabond's lair, and Delphyne flew Rale and herself down to meet up with the others. After Chalkan healed up the others with his staff, the spellcasters applied their various buffing spells before they each took as big a breath as they could and submerged under the water's surface. A sunrod lit the murky water, showing the aquatic passageway leading deeper into the hill, and everyone was pleased to be back into an air-filled passageway again. Telgrane popped open his tinder box and let Infernia out; she had adamantly insisted on remaining inside its waterproof confines while surrounded by swamplands. The group didn't get too far before they were in combat again, this time by a pair of female lizardfolk druids, [i]spider climb[/i]ing along the ceiling and dropping down gouts of fire from [i]produce flame[/i] spells upon the group. But the two were outmatched in spellpower and were quickly dispatched. Moving deeper into the cavern system, the group next found a wooden cage almost completely submerged in a pool of water. Pulling it out, they found it was inhabited by [b]Erma Kettle[/b], the latest member of Old Clem's village to have been taken captive by the bullywugs. She was covered in leeches, leaving her at such a weakened state she could hardly keep her head above water in the cage. Chalkan smashed the cage open and the others pulled the leeches from her (Delphyne shivering in revulsion all the while). Old Clem took it upon himself to help Erma along, holding her arm across his shoulders, and Chalkan's healing staff was used to restore some of the villager's vitality. Then the group moved on, Old Clem and Erma safely in the rear of the formation. Another pool showed the corpses of two more villagers. A quick examination showed that each had been stabbed through the heart by a sword, then dumped here to float lifelessly, probably for several days at least. However, there wasn't time for further examination of the corpses, for a deep roar from across the cavern told the group they'd been discovered by Zarzabond, and he was none too happy to learn that his lair had been penetrated. The group only got a quick glimpse of him - being ridden into battle by a young human sorcerer who could only be Thulian Flamewand - as he entered the radius of their illumination before a caustic gout of acid was spewed their way. Rale dodged around a corner, avoiding the dragon's breath entirely. Likewise, Old Clem and Erma were far enough in back to miss out on the action, although once Old Clem realized what was going on her steered Erma into a side passage and stayed put out of sight. The others weren't so lucky, and got to experience the burning sensation of an acid bath for the first time in their adventuring careers. That wasn't the worst of it, either, for an all-too-familiar marble of flame came whizzing past their heads to explode into a [i]fireball[/i], engulfing Chalkan, Telgrane, and Delphyne - and Infernia, too, for that matter, although the fire elemental wasn't in the least bit discomfitted. Telgrane responded with an immediate [i]magic missile[/i] barrage at the enemy spellcaster, and was amazed when his foolproof spell was finally fooled. Then he took a better look at the human dragonrider with his [i]arcane sight[/i]-enhanced eyes, and called out to the others, "The sorcerer's an illusion! We're only facing the dragon!" Sadly, that wasn't entirely accurate, for Thulian was indeed there in the cavern with them. He had stayed behind at the far side of the dragon's treasure cave, casting a series of spells upon himself before committing himself to battle (although he did cast a [i]fireball[/i] spell to make it appear as if the illusory version of himself seated on the saddle on Zarzabond's back was actively engaging the enemy). Now, his preparations complete, he strode fearlessly into combat, an ebony-bladed longsword in one hand. Fearing another acidic breath weapon from the dragon, the group scattered. This allowed them all to get in ranged attacks - arrows in the case of Chalkan and Rale, and spells in the case of Delphyne and Telgrane - without all being targeted by Zarzabond. However, that only meant the dragon focused his physical attacks on one target at a time, and it was only the fortunate preparatory casting of [i]stoneskin[/i] that kept Delphyne alive after being ravaged by a draconic flurry of attacks. She staggered away from his ripping teeth and claws and buffeting wings, hanging onto her [i]broom of flying[/i] with one hand and using it to speed her away from the dragon's immediate reach. Rale realized that "dragonslayer" was not a title he had any particular interest in applying for, and thus crept along the edges of the shadows of the cavern, slowly making his way towards Thulian. This was much more his speed: a single human opponent. After all, even those who could fling spells left and right (as Thulian was demonstrating was well within his power) definitely felt it when you thrust a blade into their liver. Rale did just that; the sorcerer cried out in pain and spun around, ebon blade raised to fend off the attack; and Rale swatted it away with the blade in his other hand. The black sword fell with a clatter amongst a pile of loose coins. This had a profound effect upon the young sorcerer: his eyes glazed over, he looked down at the wound in his side, he managed to blurt out "What...?" and then keeled over. Rale checked to see that he was out for the count, then gave a quick mental sigh and steeled himself to go fight that damned dragon after all. Fortunately, he was a bit late to the fight: Delphyne and Telgrane had, between the two of them, summoned in a host of temporary allies to help not only assault the dragon but shield them from some of its worst attacks, and they had whittled Zarzabond down to a shell of his former self. They had even taken a moment of respite provided by their summoned allies to cast protective spells upon themselves, so even if they got caught up in another acid bath the worst of the effects would be diminished. Zarzabond roared, Zarzabond screamed curses, Zarzabond bellowed defiance -- but Zarzabond eventually died at the hands of the adventurers. The dragon slain, the group headed over to the vast pile of treasure laying strewn about the cavern floor. Among the loose coins and gems they found a few scrolls and potions and the partially-eaten remains of the four adventurers from Thulian's original party. Rale was about to pick up the ebony sword that he had knocked from Thulian's hand when Telgrane stopped him with a shout. "Don't touch that!" he yelled. "It's got a really powerful aura, and it's radiating enchantment magic practically off the scale!" Nobody wanted to touch the sword after that, and once Telgrane started wrapping it up in a scrap of canvas (being careful not to actually touch it himself), the sword started calling out telepathically to select members of the group. "Chalkan," it called, "just think of the power you'll have by wielding the mighty [b]Jezaroth[/b] in battle!" When that didn't work out, it tried again: "Rale, I can tell you appreciate a fine blade! We can carve up your enemies together, you and I!" In desperation, it tried a final time: "Clement, I can give you the power you need to be a real adventurer! You could easily lead this group, instead of tending to horses and cooking dinner!" Old Clem, after seeing that Erma was okay, walked over to the sword (making the others nervous as he did so); Chalkan made to block his way but the elderly hireling dodged around him, to get just close enough to the sword to present it with his own version of a breath weapon: a gob of phlegm, which he expertly targeted on the sword's fine ebon blade. "That fer you and yer promises - now get outta my head!" he declared. Delphyne noticed that Thulian, though unmoving and with an ever-increasing bloodstain pooling around the ground by his waist, was still breathing. "I'll take care of that," promised Rale, advancing upon the sorcerer. "No! Wait! Stop!" called out a familiar voice - and it was indeed the voice of a familiar. Stormwing came flying into the cavern. "The link with my master has been fully restored! He's heavily wounded, but he's back to himself again! What did you do to break the curse?" Over Rale's objections, Delphyne sat Thulian up and poured healing droughts down his throat until he regained consciousness and the gash in his side knitted itself back together. Then, together, they patched the whole story together: Thulian and his band had stormed Zarzabond's lair, hoping to slay the dragon and make off with his loot. In the midst of a fierce battle, with his most powerful spells depleted, Thulian grabbed up an ebon sword from the dragon's hoard - and was instantly made a thrall to the intelligent blade. Jezaroth the Swamp King was a "deathcheater" - it had the evil mind and intellect of its original creator, and attempted to control those who touched it. Unable to regain its spells through rest like a normal spellcaster, it did so by absorbing the life energy of good-aligned victims - but only good-aligned victims, which is why the bullywug fighters were always accompanied by a wizard on their attacks on the fishing village, who could cast [i]detect good[/i] upon potential victims to see if they were worthy of feeding the Swamp King. Thulian and Stormwing were thus allowed to go free. The trip back to the village was uneventful, although since none of the adventurers had any means of extradimensional storage with them they had to make several trips in the boat to gather up all the dragon's treasure, and return the bodies of the slain villagers - and those of Thulian's adventuring partners - back to Old Clem's village for burial. Thulian had allowed the adventurers who saved him to have all of his former band's gear, in gratitude for their having saved him from a lifetime as Jezaroth's thrall. The group decided to give several hundred gold pieces to the village as a whole, and Chalkan gave another several hundred to Old Clem's grand-niece and her betrothed as a wedding gift. The ceremony was a simple one, as befitted a small fishing village, but it was a much-needed positive event after weeks of abductions and deaths. The adventurers didn't even give Old Clem too much grief about their alleged status as his "assistants," allowing the elderly hireling his moment in the spotlight among the people he grew up with. (Erma Kettle fed those flames with her first-hand account of being saved from the dragon by Old Clem.) But eventually, it was time to head back to Greyhawk City and whatever adventures waited in store for the group next. - - - One of Thulian's former adventuring partners was a dwarven cleric of Moradin. He had a holy symbol of Moradin, which the group took with them and gave to Aerik when they got back, as he was a follower of Moradin even as a fighter. I later used that as a plot hook for another adventure a bit down the road. [/QUOTE]
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