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Adventures in the Eastern Provinces
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 5005802" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>The ankheg gives a shrill screech. Dust and earth are flying through the air around it. Still assailed by the drakes, Cavemouth gives a yell of surprise as the ground beneath him collapses towards the ankheg, and then he screams in pain as its great mandibles close on his leg. He flails his arms in the air as blood sprays everywhere from his wounded thigh.</p><p></p><p>The mudmen, meanwhile, hurl globs of mud at our heroes. Sepia and Hammhokk struggle to break out of the hardening shells of muck, their movements slowed by its thick weight. Shifty keeps his distance, trying to avoid being a target himself by keeping his friends between himself and the mudmen, and hurls shuriken back at them. They sink into the creatures’ muddy forms, clearly not doing much damage. <em>Of course,</em> he thinks, <em>they’re made of mud. My weapons are only going to sink into them with minimal damage! Time to change targets.</em> He hurls another shuriken, this one at a drake, and catches it in the eye. It howls in pain and springs towards him; its companion follows.</p><p></p><p>Karl fires a <em>scorching burst</em> at the drakes, distracting them again, and Sepia- finally breaking free of the mud- springs forward and cuts one of the lizard things with her knife. It bares its teeth, growling like a guard dog, and snaps at her, but she spins away, avoiding the blow. </p><p></p><p>The drakes close on Hammhokk. “Help!” the little halfling cries, trying desperately to free his legs and get some distance- but the mud clinging to him will not relinquish its grip. The halfling shrieks as long, dagger-sharp teeth tear into him from both sides.</p><p></p><p>Karl grimaces as the beasts dance around the bard. <em>They’re too close to Hammhokk for another </em>scorching burst, he thinks, and aims a <em>magic missile</em> at one of the creatures.</p><p></p><p>”HELP!” cries Cavemouth hoarsely. He struggles to free himself, but the ankheg’s mandibles grip him ever tighter. The bug-like creature begins backing its way down into its hole- taking Cavemouth with it! “HELP!!” the goliath repeats, even louder. </p><p></p><p>Sepia rushes in on one side, jabbing the ankheg with her dagger. Shifty hurls shuriken from the other. And although Cavemouth’s struggles cease, the ankheg squeals- and releases him, withdrawing to under the ground!</p><p></p><p>“He’s dead, isn’t he?” cries Shifty. “Oh, why did I try to save him?? He’s not worth it!”</p><p></p><p>“No,” Sepia answers. “He’s alive!” She shakes him, trying to bring him around. “Cavemouth! Wake up! We need your help!!”</p><p></p><p>Hammhokk finally breaks free of the mud and tumbles away from the drakes. “Ha!” he cries, firing an arrow from his shortbow into one of the drakes’ flank. The beast looks momentarily confused, and then refocuses on Sepia. “It was her, not me!” the bard squeals.* Then he spies his unconscious warrior friend- and cries, “Oh no! Wake up, Cavemouth, you can do it! You’re my best friend!”**</p><p></p><p>The goliath’s grey eyelids flutter- and then open. He groans. Takes a quick look around at the situation- and struggles to his feet, axe in hand. With a roar, he leaps forward, up out of the ankheg hole- and swings, striking a telling blow to one of the drakes. It shakes its head, looking slightly dazed. </p><p></p><p>The ground erupts again, this time underneath Shifty, but the gnome is too quick, darting away- and in to flank the badly-wounded drake. His dagger slips in to the thing’s neck, and the drake collapses in a great gout of blood. </p><p></p><p>The ankheg rears up and flows forward, following him. Shifty cries out and flings another shuriken at it, and Sepia stabs it in the side. Bug juice flows out and the thing jerks back, bloodied- and burrows back under the ground.</p><p></p><p>Hammhokk feels something (a ball of mud, to be exact) slam into the back of his head, and he falls unconscious. Karl starts blasting the mudmen with <em>scorching bursts</em> while Sepia, Shifty and Cavemouth engage the remaining drake. All of our heroes are wounded, as is the drake and one of the mudmen. Karl now turns his attention to the other, noting with satisfaction that his <em>scorching bursts</em> work significantly better than weapon attacks. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, the drake fells Cavemouth again before the two rogues manage to slay it.</p><p></p><p>“We have to save Hammhokk and Cavemouth!” cries Sepia. </p><p></p><p>“They’re not worth it!” replies Shifty, but he springs forward to try nonetheless. </p><p></p><p>Another <em>scorching burst</em> damages both mudmen, but neither one drops. Looking at the shape everyone is in, Karl cries, “Let’s get out of here!”</p><p></p><p>Shifty reaches Hammhokk and grabs him by the collar. He drags the diminutive bard back a few paces, even as the mudmen keep firing on him. Sepia and Karl, meanwhile, manage to get to their fallen goliath ally.</p><p></p><p><em>No way can we lift him,</em> thinks Karl. He and Sepia start shaking and slapping him to bring him around, and after a moment, the goliath’s eyes open yet again. With a groan, he staggers up and looks around. </p><p></p><p>“I was too late!” cries Shifty, abandoning Hammhokk’s body as another ball of mud strikes him. He staggers away, slowed by the mud already hardening on his body. “Oh no! Why did I try to save him? He wasn’t worth it!!”</p><p></p><p>Karl shouts, “Go! Everyone, run!!” He fires another <em>scorching burst</em> to cover the party’s retreat and prepares to go help Shifty, but the gnome manages to shake the mud off. </p><p></p><p>The four remaining would-be heroes run for their lives as mud balls keep pelting them from behind. They don’t slow until they are well out of range.</p><p></p><p>”Damn it!” curses Karl. “We need reinforcements.”</p><p></p><p>“Especially a healer,” agrees Shifty. “Maybe some kind of priest.”</p><p></p><p>Cavemouth snorts. “More muscle will do the trick.” He pauses thoughtfully. “You know, there is a group of mercenaries that encamps not far from here. I have a friend that works with them- maybe he can help us.”</p><p></p><p>“We need someone, that’s for sure,” replies Sepia.</p><p></p><p>The party strikes out, heading south along the creek for a mile or two before turning more or less west for a few miles. Before long, a group of tents comes into view- a haphazard collection, disorganized and loose. There are pickets of guards around it, but it is very clear that this group of mercenaries (who are probably really closer to being bandits than a traditional mercenary company) lacks any kind of professional discipline. <em>Then again,</em> thinks Karl, <em>when was the last time there was real work for mercenaries around here?</em> </p><p></p><p>The party keeps their guard up as they approach the pickets. When the party gets within about twenty yards, the guards raise crossbows and one calls out, “That’s close enough!”</p><p></p><p>Cavemouth steps forward. “Hail,” he calls, his hands empty and raised.</p><p></p><p>“What do you want?” the guards’ speaker hollers. </p><p></p><p>“I am looking for one of my friends,” Cavemouth responds. “Kane. You may have seen me before- I dragged him here one night after, uh, some drinking.”</p><p></p><p>The guard squints at him for a moment, then says, “Oh, it’s you! Okay, come on in.” He turns and exchanges some words with the other guards, who laugh. Cavemouth lets out a deep breath and the party moves into the messy camp. Garbage litters the paths between the sprawls of tents. Before long, the group reaches a small, grease-stained tent with many patches and tears in it. </p><p></p><p>“Kane!” calls the goliath. “It’s me, Cavemouth.”</p><p></p><p>“Ah, big one!” comes a voice from within, and the man inside steps out into the light. He is wearing thick hide armor, replete with sewn cuts. A broadsword is strapped at his side, its pommel well-worn and stained by the salty sweat of a dozen battles. Black hair falls straight to his shoulders. Beneath his heavy brow, dark eyes stare out. </p><p></p><p>“We have come seeking your aid,” Cavemouth says as the two grip forearms. “Frog men have taken over the mudbaths and kidnapped a wealthy damsel...”</p><p></p><p>“Bullywugs,” puts in Kane.</p><p></p><p>“The damsel is rich,” adds Shifty.</p><p></p><p>“...and we’re trying to rescue her.”</p><p></p><p>“Is there a reward?” asks the mercenary.</p><p></p><p>“We hope so,” Sepia quips.</p><p></p><p>Shifty says, “The woman is rich, and she has a reputation for fair play. We think we can trust that we’ll be rewarded.”</p><p></p><p>“But there is no guarantee,” adds Sepia. </p><p></p><p>Kane rubs his chin. Although the party cannot tell, he is attempting the difficult mental feat of calculating how long his money will last. Given the expense of hiring multiple whores in the same night, he is pretty sure that it won’t be too long. <em>Besides, the big one is good in a fight, and he did pull me out of that tavern after I killed a bunch of people before the watch could get me.</em> “Who else goes with you?”</p><p></p><p>“These folk behind me,” Cavemouth replies.</p><p></p><p>“You travel with child, a demon and a librarian?” exclaims Kane.*** “No wonder you need a strong arm! Very well, I will help you- for a fair share of the money.”</p><p></p><p>“Of course,” Shifty says. “We’re also looking for a priest or healer of some kind. Is there, perhaps, someone in your band that might be able to help?”</p><p></p><p>“We are a free company, not a band,” Kane corrects. Then he shrugs. “There is Shar. She is a priest, but I hold no truck with magic.” Disdainfully, he adds, “We can go to see if she is interested if you wish.” </p><p></p><p>“Yes,” the other four say in unison.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The cult of the Sword Emperor has existed for as long as the Empire has, in its present form. Of course, it predates its present form, but whatever its ancestor was, whatever faiths it held to, are no longer relevant. </p><p></p><p>The cult is found amongst warriors of all kinds, from brigands to generals. Not all soldiers follow its path, but those who seek true excellence with their skill at arms respect its tenets. To turn the martial into the spiritual- to be one with one’s weapon- to fight. They are values held by those who not only live by the sword, but <em>enjoy</em> living by the sword. </p><p></p><p>Thus, even such a small mercenary group as the Twin Javelins- who have between fifty and eight swords at any given time- has a small shrine to the Emperor within it. Weapons left as sacrifices in the Sword Emperor’s name hang on lines above a greatsword that has been driven, point first, into the ground. On the ground before it is a circle 30’ in diameter, big enough for a duel between two small groups of fighters, for the challenge is always a distinct possibility in a shrine of the cult. </p><p></p><p>The party arrives to find the shrine tended by a slight female elf. “Shar,” greets Kane. “This big one is my friend. We are going to kill frog men and rescue rich damsels.” </p><p></p><p>The elf looks the group over.</p><p></p><p>”Bullywugs,” explains Shifty, “have captured a wealthy landowner from Gumbleford in the mud baths. If we rescue her, she will reward us.”</p><p></p><p>“Where there is battle, I follow,” the elf says.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Our heroes, their ranks swollen with their two new recruits, head back to the site of their ignominious defeat by the mudmen. Although the bodies of the drakes are still present, along with the corpses of the bullywugs that first drew their attention. Mud is splattered everywhere from the previous fight. But the mudmen do not rise from their pool to attack- at least, not yet. </p><p></p><p>“Where is this missing woman at?” asks Shar.</p><p></p><p>”We don’t exactly know,” Sepia replies. “The bullywugs took her, and we think that those bodies there are the ones that had her. Obviously, however, something went wrong when they got to here.”</p><p></p><p>Shifty suggests, “Let’s analyze the scene. We can try to reconstruct the ambush on the bullywugs as best we can. Maybe we can figure out what happened.”</p><p></p><p>The party’s battle in the area didn’t spill over to where the bullywug corpses are, so it is relatively easy for the party tell that the bullywugs were attacked by mudmen. They cannot, however, discern the fate of the woman that they allegedly had been carrying.</p><p></p><p>Then Shifty examines the pool of mud itself. It is recessed into the ground- and as the gnome looks it over, he notices that there is a narrow passage that leads behind the bath into some kind of cave beyond. He alerts his companions, and they spread out and prepare to enter. Cavemouth squirms through first. He reports a slope beyond to another passage big enough for the party to follow. </p><p></p><p>The others follow Cavemouth into the chamber that he has found, and then the party advances through passage and emerges into a cathedral of mud. Small islands of land dot a lake of hot-looking mud that pops and bubbles. On the far side of the great chamber is a huge stone figure, crudely sculpted into a pregnant Earth Mother type figure with enormous breasts. Before it, between its legs, is a large formation of mud, out of which stick a hand and part of a face.</p><p></p><p>“There is someone in there!” exclaims Shar, shaken.</p><p></p><p>“Yeah, but how do we get over there?” wonders Shifty. He eyes the islands, gauging the distance between them, trying to see an easy path. “I could probably make it from island to island, but it would be risky...”</p><p></p><p>“I wonder how hot the mud is,” says Karl.</p><p></p><p>”There’s an easy way to find out,” replies Sepia, and she hops in. “As a tiefling,” she explains, “my people are resistant to fire.” She smiles. “It feels nice, actually. I don’t think it would burn you, either. And it feels <em>very</em> restorative.”**** She starts to move forward. </p><p></p><p>With a shrug, Cavemouth jumps to one of the closer islands. His powerful legs easily clear the distance. The others start to consider their options, and suddenly half a dozen mudmen rise up, out of the pool all around them. </p><p></p><p>Immediately, it is obvious that something is wrong with most of them. Black goop leaks from them, and they reek of foulness. <em>They are corrupted. Something terrible is going on here,</em> realizes the wizard. </p><p></p><p>While the two uncorrupted mudmen hang back and throw balls of mud, the corrupted ones swarm in at our heroes.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes fight for their lives in the Mud Cathedral!</p><p></p><p>*<em>Misdirected mark.</em> I love that power!</p><p></p><p>**”You’re my best friend” rapidly became Hammhokk’s <em>magnificent word</em>. </p><p></p><p>***He refers to the gnome (Shifty), tiefling (Sepia) and wizard (Karl).</p><p></p><p>****Once she was in it for an entire round, I told Sepia that if she was in the mud for an entire round, she could spend a healing surge as a standard action while in it. The healing power of the mud baths!</p><p></p><p><strong>EDIT:</strong> I added the map, since there is no secret stuff on it. The round dots are tree trunks, which give cover to those in a tree square; the letters are various monsters (bullywugs, mudmen, corrupted mudmen, etc).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 5005802, member: 1210"] The ankheg gives a shrill screech. Dust and earth are flying through the air around it. Still assailed by the drakes, Cavemouth gives a yell of surprise as the ground beneath him collapses towards the ankheg, and then he screams in pain as its great mandibles close on his leg. He flails his arms in the air as blood sprays everywhere from his wounded thigh. The mudmen, meanwhile, hurl globs of mud at our heroes. Sepia and Hammhokk struggle to break out of the hardening shells of muck, their movements slowed by its thick weight. Shifty keeps his distance, trying to avoid being a target himself by keeping his friends between himself and the mudmen, and hurls shuriken back at them. They sink into the creatures’ muddy forms, clearly not doing much damage. [i]Of course,[/i] he thinks, [i]they’re made of mud. My weapons are only going to sink into them with minimal damage! Time to change targets.[/i] He hurls another shuriken, this one at a drake, and catches it in the eye. It howls in pain and springs towards him; its companion follows. Karl fires a [i]scorching burst[/i] at the drakes, distracting them again, and Sepia- finally breaking free of the mud- springs forward and cuts one of the lizard things with her knife. It bares its teeth, growling like a guard dog, and snaps at her, but she spins away, avoiding the blow. The drakes close on Hammhokk. “Help!” the little halfling cries, trying desperately to free his legs and get some distance- but the mud clinging to him will not relinquish its grip. The halfling shrieks as long, dagger-sharp teeth tear into him from both sides. Karl grimaces as the beasts dance around the bard. [i]They’re too close to Hammhokk for another [/i]scorching burst, he thinks, and aims a [i]magic missile[/i] at one of the creatures. ”HELP!” cries Cavemouth hoarsely. He struggles to free himself, but the ankheg’s mandibles grip him ever tighter. The bug-like creature begins backing its way down into its hole- taking Cavemouth with it! “HELP!!” the goliath repeats, even louder. Sepia rushes in on one side, jabbing the ankheg with her dagger. Shifty hurls shuriken from the other. And although Cavemouth’s struggles cease, the ankheg squeals- and releases him, withdrawing to under the ground! “He’s dead, isn’t he?” cries Shifty. “Oh, why did I try to save him?? He’s not worth it!” “No,” Sepia answers. “He’s alive!” She shakes him, trying to bring him around. “Cavemouth! Wake up! We need your help!!” Hammhokk finally breaks free of the mud and tumbles away from the drakes. “Ha!” he cries, firing an arrow from his shortbow into one of the drakes’ flank. The beast looks momentarily confused, and then refocuses on Sepia. “It was her, not me!” the bard squeals.* Then he spies his unconscious warrior friend- and cries, “Oh no! Wake up, Cavemouth, you can do it! You’re my best friend!”** The goliath’s grey eyelids flutter- and then open. He groans. Takes a quick look around at the situation- and struggles to his feet, axe in hand. With a roar, he leaps forward, up out of the ankheg hole- and swings, striking a telling blow to one of the drakes. It shakes its head, looking slightly dazed. The ground erupts again, this time underneath Shifty, but the gnome is too quick, darting away- and in to flank the badly-wounded drake. His dagger slips in to the thing’s neck, and the drake collapses in a great gout of blood. The ankheg rears up and flows forward, following him. Shifty cries out and flings another shuriken at it, and Sepia stabs it in the side. Bug juice flows out and the thing jerks back, bloodied- and burrows back under the ground. Hammhokk feels something (a ball of mud, to be exact) slam into the back of his head, and he falls unconscious. Karl starts blasting the mudmen with [i]scorching bursts[/i] while Sepia, Shifty and Cavemouth engage the remaining drake. All of our heroes are wounded, as is the drake and one of the mudmen. Karl now turns his attention to the other, noting with satisfaction that his [i]scorching bursts[/i] work significantly better than weapon attacks. Unfortunately, the drake fells Cavemouth again before the two rogues manage to slay it. “We have to save Hammhokk and Cavemouth!” cries Sepia. “They’re not worth it!” replies Shifty, but he springs forward to try nonetheless. Another [i]scorching burst[/i] damages both mudmen, but neither one drops. Looking at the shape everyone is in, Karl cries, “Let’s get out of here!” Shifty reaches Hammhokk and grabs him by the collar. He drags the diminutive bard back a few paces, even as the mudmen keep firing on him. Sepia and Karl, meanwhile, manage to get to their fallen goliath ally. [i]No way can we lift him,[/i] thinks Karl. He and Sepia start shaking and slapping him to bring him around, and after a moment, the goliath’s eyes open yet again. With a groan, he staggers up and looks around. “I was too late!” cries Shifty, abandoning Hammhokk’s body as another ball of mud strikes him. He staggers away, slowed by the mud already hardening on his body. “Oh no! Why did I try to save him? He wasn’t worth it!!” Karl shouts, “Go! Everyone, run!!” He fires another [i]scorching burst[/i] to cover the party’s retreat and prepares to go help Shifty, but the gnome manages to shake the mud off. The four remaining would-be heroes run for their lives as mud balls keep pelting them from behind. They don’t slow until they are well out of range. ”Damn it!” curses Karl. “We need reinforcements.” “Especially a healer,” agrees Shifty. “Maybe some kind of priest.” Cavemouth snorts. “More muscle will do the trick.” He pauses thoughtfully. “You know, there is a group of mercenaries that encamps not far from here. I have a friend that works with them- maybe he can help us.” “We need someone, that’s for sure,” replies Sepia. The party strikes out, heading south along the creek for a mile or two before turning more or less west for a few miles. Before long, a group of tents comes into view- a haphazard collection, disorganized and loose. There are pickets of guards around it, but it is very clear that this group of mercenaries (who are probably really closer to being bandits than a traditional mercenary company) lacks any kind of professional discipline. [i]Then again,[/i] thinks Karl, [i]when was the last time there was real work for mercenaries around here?[/i] The party keeps their guard up as they approach the pickets. When the party gets within about twenty yards, the guards raise crossbows and one calls out, “That’s close enough!” Cavemouth steps forward. “Hail,” he calls, his hands empty and raised. “What do you want?” the guards’ speaker hollers. “I am looking for one of my friends,” Cavemouth responds. “Kane. You may have seen me before- I dragged him here one night after, uh, some drinking.” The guard squints at him for a moment, then says, “Oh, it’s you! Okay, come on in.” He turns and exchanges some words with the other guards, who laugh. Cavemouth lets out a deep breath and the party moves into the messy camp. Garbage litters the paths between the sprawls of tents. Before long, the group reaches a small, grease-stained tent with many patches and tears in it. “Kane!” calls the goliath. “It’s me, Cavemouth.” “Ah, big one!” comes a voice from within, and the man inside steps out into the light. He is wearing thick hide armor, replete with sewn cuts. A broadsword is strapped at his side, its pommel well-worn and stained by the salty sweat of a dozen battles. Black hair falls straight to his shoulders. Beneath his heavy brow, dark eyes stare out. “We have come seeking your aid,” Cavemouth says as the two grip forearms. “Frog men have taken over the mudbaths and kidnapped a wealthy damsel...” “Bullywugs,” puts in Kane. “The damsel is rich,” adds Shifty. “...and we’re trying to rescue her.” “Is there a reward?” asks the mercenary. “We hope so,” Sepia quips. Shifty says, “The woman is rich, and she has a reputation for fair play. We think we can trust that we’ll be rewarded.” “But there is no guarantee,” adds Sepia. Kane rubs his chin. Although the party cannot tell, he is attempting the difficult mental feat of calculating how long his money will last. Given the expense of hiring multiple whores in the same night, he is pretty sure that it won’t be too long. [i]Besides, the big one is good in a fight, and he did pull me out of that tavern after I killed a bunch of people before the watch could get me.[/i] “Who else goes with you?” “These folk behind me,” Cavemouth replies. “You travel with child, a demon and a librarian?” exclaims Kane.*** “No wonder you need a strong arm! Very well, I will help you- for a fair share of the money.” “Of course,” Shifty says. “We’re also looking for a priest or healer of some kind. Is there, perhaps, someone in your band that might be able to help?” “We are a free company, not a band,” Kane corrects. Then he shrugs. “There is Shar. She is a priest, but I hold no truck with magic.” Disdainfully, he adds, “We can go to see if she is interested if you wish.” “Yes,” the other four say in unison. *** The cult of the Sword Emperor has existed for as long as the Empire has, in its present form. Of course, it predates its present form, but whatever its ancestor was, whatever faiths it held to, are no longer relevant. The cult is found amongst warriors of all kinds, from brigands to generals. Not all soldiers follow its path, but those who seek true excellence with their skill at arms respect its tenets. To turn the martial into the spiritual- to be one with one’s weapon- to fight. They are values held by those who not only live by the sword, but [i]enjoy[/i] living by the sword. Thus, even such a small mercenary group as the Twin Javelins- who have between fifty and eight swords at any given time- has a small shrine to the Emperor within it. Weapons left as sacrifices in the Sword Emperor’s name hang on lines above a greatsword that has been driven, point first, into the ground. On the ground before it is a circle 30’ in diameter, big enough for a duel between two small groups of fighters, for the challenge is always a distinct possibility in a shrine of the cult. The party arrives to find the shrine tended by a slight female elf. “Shar,” greets Kane. “This big one is my friend. We are going to kill frog men and rescue rich damsels.” The elf looks the group over. ”Bullywugs,” explains Shifty, “have captured a wealthy landowner from Gumbleford in the mud baths. If we rescue her, she will reward us.” “Where there is battle, I follow,” the elf says. *** Our heroes, their ranks swollen with their two new recruits, head back to the site of their ignominious defeat by the mudmen. Although the bodies of the drakes are still present, along with the corpses of the bullywugs that first drew their attention. Mud is splattered everywhere from the previous fight. But the mudmen do not rise from their pool to attack- at least, not yet. “Where is this missing woman at?” asks Shar. ”We don’t exactly know,” Sepia replies. “The bullywugs took her, and we think that those bodies there are the ones that had her. Obviously, however, something went wrong when they got to here.” Shifty suggests, “Let’s analyze the scene. We can try to reconstruct the ambush on the bullywugs as best we can. Maybe we can figure out what happened.” The party’s battle in the area didn’t spill over to where the bullywug corpses are, so it is relatively easy for the party tell that the bullywugs were attacked by mudmen. They cannot, however, discern the fate of the woman that they allegedly had been carrying. Then Shifty examines the pool of mud itself. It is recessed into the ground- and as the gnome looks it over, he notices that there is a narrow passage that leads behind the bath into some kind of cave beyond. He alerts his companions, and they spread out and prepare to enter. Cavemouth squirms through first. He reports a slope beyond to another passage big enough for the party to follow. The others follow Cavemouth into the chamber that he has found, and then the party advances through passage and emerges into a cathedral of mud. Small islands of land dot a lake of hot-looking mud that pops and bubbles. On the far side of the great chamber is a huge stone figure, crudely sculpted into a pregnant Earth Mother type figure with enormous breasts. Before it, between its legs, is a large formation of mud, out of which stick a hand and part of a face. “There is someone in there!” exclaims Shar, shaken. “Yeah, but how do we get over there?” wonders Shifty. He eyes the islands, gauging the distance between them, trying to see an easy path. “I could probably make it from island to island, but it would be risky...” “I wonder how hot the mud is,” says Karl. ”There’s an easy way to find out,” replies Sepia, and she hops in. “As a tiefling,” she explains, “my people are resistant to fire.” She smiles. “It feels nice, actually. I don’t think it would burn you, either. And it feels [i]very[/i] restorative.”**** She starts to move forward. With a shrug, Cavemouth jumps to one of the closer islands. His powerful legs easily clear the distance. The others start to consider their options, and suddenly half a dozen mudmen rise up, out of the pool all around them. Immediately, it is obvious that something is wrong with most of them. Black goop leaks from them, and they reek of foulness. [i]They are corrupted. Something terrible is going on here,[/i] realizes the wizard. While the two uncorrupted mudmen hang back and throw balls of mud, the corrupted ones swarm in at our heroes. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes fight for their lives in the Mud Cathedral! *[i]Misdirected mark.[/i] I love that power! **”You’re my best friend” rapidly became Hammhokk’s [i]magnificent word[/i]. ***He refers to the gnome (Shifty), tiefling (Sepia) and wizard (Karl). ****Once she was in it for an entire round, I told Sepia that if she was in the mud for an entire round, she could spend a healing surge as a standard action while in it. The healing power of the mud baths! [b]EDIT:[/B] I added the map, since there is no secret stuff on it. The round dots are tree trunks, which give cover to those in a tree square; the letters are various monsters (bullywugs, mudmen, corrupted mudmen, etc). [/QUOTE]
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