Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1061581" data-attributes="member: 6294">Kull's Fourth Report - Part 1SaltmarshFirst MoonTo:  Bishop-General Kartrak VisehartReport from Kull RedfistSir,It has become evident that the danger hanging over Saltmarsh is far more serious than a simple tribe of bestial Lizardfolk.  It is incredible that these blinkered fools have survived for so long, so oblivious are they to their own surroundings.After browbeating the village council into takes measures to defend themselves, I conducted a review of the locals and tested the skills of each with spear, club and sling.  The best in each were made provisional sergeants, and assigned others to train.  The most skilled are not always the best teachers, but there was not time before my departure to vet their skills any more carefully.  I was resolved to undertake a more thorough evaluation as soon as I returned, however.This done, I set out for the lizardfolk lair.  As agreed, Saltmarsh had made their customs ship available for the journey, though the crew complement was clearly less than was usual: no doubt an effort to reduce costs.  You would think they would attach more value to their own skins.Though short-handed, the ship's captain made good time, and landed us in the agreed place.  From there, we had only a march of a few miles to reach our destination.  With the death of the druid, and the departure of Troilan to the town of Mellin, the band of castaways who followed me had been reduced from five to three.  But, with the halfling's spells and the strong arms of Brodnak and Julianne, I thought we could bloody the nose of the lizardfolk and keep them from open attacks on the town.I have come to expect incompetence from the locals in Saltmarsh: I did not expect it from those who had travelled with me.  Perhaps the blight of apathy that afflicts the town is contagious:.For a short time, things progressed as planned.  I located the lizardfolk camp - a set of damp and marshy caverns - and led the others into it through a rear entrance.  This was probably a stable or livestock area, as we came across three giant lizards in the first cave.  These proved aggressive, but were quickly despatched.  An encounter with dumb beasts such as these is more truly termed a slaughter, than a battle.I led on, heading further into the complex, and we soon encountered a lizardfolk patrol: a dozen armed warriors, led by a shaman.  Truly, these are a people who are prepared for war!  Calling on Hextor's strength to aid me, I led the charge against them.Perhaps the ease with which the lizards were overcome led the others to become complacent, or perhaps their feelings about the people of Saltmarsh robbed them of their purpose.  I do not know the reason for their failure in this battle.  Whatever the cause, however, I found myself battling the lizardfolk all but single-handedly.  If Brodnak laid his sword against flesh at any time in the fight, I did not see it, while Julianne succumbed almost immediately to the magic of the shaman, suffering the delusion that he was her life-long friend.Zalich, it is true, struggled as best he could to assist me, but a halfling with a makeshift club is no compensation for the failure of true warriors.  Had not Hextor seen fit to bless me with his favour in all its might, I do not doubt that we would have fallen to the lizardfolk.As it was, by the time I had crushed the skull of the last creature, there was not a single one of us who was not wounded close to death.  Even after I used every scrap of curative magic I possessed, it was clear that to press on would be folly: we had bloodied the foe, but we were too few to prevail.  Already the sounds of an alert were echoing through the caverns: the lizardfolk, at least, were not slow to respond to danger.  The people of Saltmarsh could learn much from them.I ordered the retreat, though the word was bitter in my mouth.  The sound of scaled feet was already loud in the tunnels, and as I harried the others back toward the exit, I began to suspect that I had already left the retreat too late.</blockquote>

Verification