Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amaroq" data-source="post: 1306444" data-attributes="member: 15470">Issue #6. Episode 4 of 5We regroup beside the cart, at the side of the quicksand and marsh. Miriel tends to the injured, cleansing wounds and bandaging as best as she can. The rest of us wrestle the wagon back onto the path. It takes several minutes, even with Chuck and Paks lending their full strength. We’re lucky it didn’t get any deeper into the fen, or it might have been permanently mired.Milo and Chuck are covered in muck, and both have numerous leeches. Goldpetal and Miriel help pull the leeches off, while Paks and Delonia keep watch. While they work, Miriel asks, “What is our point in going to the trading post?”Paks says, “We’re trying to stop the trading in slaves.”“We’re battered, and tired,” Miriel says, “And we’ve lost Jim. Can we really do it?”“We should try,” Paks answers, firm with her conviction. “Do you think we should we rest for a while?”“We haven’t seen anywhere safe,” Miriel says, shaking her head. “I don’t want to rest here in the swamp, that’s for sure.”“We’re still being watched,” Goldpetal says ominously, though he doesn’t mention the panther.“How many ratmen are there at the post?” Miriel asks Delonia. “I’ve seen maybe ten or so,” Delonia says. She hasn’t mentioned any of the things she found on the bodies, and doesn’t tell us now. “But I’ve never been underground, and there are probably more there. I think there’s a warren underneath.”Chuck, who has said little in his grief, suggests, “We can subdue SySy, and get information from her.” He winces Miriel pulls off another leech.Paks growls, “We’re going to kill SySy.”Miriel shakes her head. “Can we do this alone? Remember, we have to get out of the swamp again. We left our other two horses, and Jim’s horse Star, at the camp, and these two horses aren’t going to let us move very fast through the swamp.”Milo says, “Our only chance is to do it now.”Paks asks, “Are you sure we shouldn’t spend the night in the swamp, to rest and recover?” “We don’t have time to recover today,” Miriel says. “We’d need to spend the night in the swamp to be well rested.”“I don’t want to spend the night in the swamp,” Chuck says. “Nor I,” Miriel adds. “It isn’t safe.” “We could find a place as far from the water as possible,” Paks says. “If we set watches, I think we can survive a night in the swamp, and regain our strength.”“How are we doing on food?” Miriel asks, considering the insistent warrior’s suggestion.“I can find fish and waterfowl,” Chuck says. “Jim…” At the mention of his mentor’s name, he breaks off with a sigh. After several seconds of silence, he finishes his sentence, “Pointed out some mushrooms we could possibly eat.”“We could just camp here,” Milo suggests brightly.Paks looks surprised, but as she looks around, she sees that the ground that the Twilight Warden first accosted us on is a small hillock, up out of the water.  It’s large enough to camp, and could even provide a small grazing spot for the two horses. “Actually, yes,” she says. “This area seems fine. Chuck, what do you think?”“Whatever,” he says, glumly.“We have a long time to wait for dawn,” Miriel says, shaking her head, and plucking another leech off of Chuck’s back.“Also,” Milo says, “I think we’re being watched by that panther.” The halfling points at the black panther which Goldpetal had noticed earlier. We all stare at the panther. It blinks, and yawns lazily, but stares back unabashed. “Jim mentioned a connection between the hag and panthers,” Chuck reminds us. “Remember how we saw all those Slytherin pelts on the crossed poles as we came along the path? Her domain is probably fairly near by.” “Whatever,” Milo says, “We’re still being watched. Hey! Ow, watch it!” This last, as Goldpetal plucks one last leech off his calf.“I think that’s the last of them,” Goldpetal says, and Miriel concurs.Chuck begins the long process of cleaning his armor. “This close to the trading post,” he asks, “Isn’t it likely that we’ll be spotted?”“Delonia,” Miriel asks, “What kinds of patrols did you encounter on trips before?”“I’d never seen a ratman patrol before,” Delonia answers. “We never met much other intelligent life. We usually just ran into a giant snake or spider or something.”Goldpetal says, “The Twilight Warden might come after us...”Delonia laughs. “The guy who we just saw drown in the swamp?” she asks derisively.After a bit more discussion, we decide to rest where we are for the night, and continue to SySy’s in the morning. Miriel uses Madriel’s blessing to heal Paks and Chuck. Milo searches the bodies and takes five full waterskins. Delonia detects for poison in the water and finds none, though it’s not very pure. Milo starts washing with the water from the waterskins. Milo sniffs the ratmen’s clothing; it smells musky. Chuck and Paks stand watch, while Miriel, Goldpetal, and Delonia settle in the cart and start to meditate. Milo tries to clean his armor in the cart, but Miriel asks him to move, because of the smell. “Hey, Paks,” Milo calls, “What was in that pouch?”She looks in the pouch. “Just this vial,” she says.Milo takes the vial and examines it. “It looks really similar to the potion of neutralize poison we found earlier,” he says. We rest and meditate for about four hours. When he is finished with his meditation, Goldpetal scans the brush for plants with healing properties, poisonous plants, or anything edible. Paks settles down to sleep. When Goldpetal returns, Chuck asks, “Did you find anything good, Goldpetal?” “No,” the elf says, looking down. “I’m out of my element.”“Let me look,” says Chuck. He and Miriel both check all of the plants on our little island, but neither of them can find anything useful, either. Goldpetal climbs a nearby tree for his watch. He looks around, and sees nothing but swamp, as far as he can see. There are lots of trees, ponds, and birds. “Yuck, these bodies are starting to smell pretty bad,” Milo says, looking at the corpses of the ratmen. “Let’s throw them in the quicksand.”Milo and Chuck dump the bodies. Milo keeps a cloak, and they toss all the scimitars into the cart. We discuss the watch order.  Goldpetal says he can watch all night, and Chuck doesn’t trust Milo to stand a watch, so the other three take turns. Since she just finished meditating, Miriel draws the first watch with the druid. Milo goes to sleep in a tree, hanging a Slytherin cloak in a tree further away, while Paks and Chuck sleep in the cart. Goldpetal stands watch from a tree, while Miriel sits on the cart. The night passes slowly, quietly, and although we hear insects and occasional hunting noises when a predator finds prey, we are not disturbed.Dawn breaks on the 3rd Corday of Charder, the 17th day of the month, and we prepare to break camp. We refill the waterskins, and Miriel asks her goddess to purify the water. “Is it too early to show up at the trading post?” Paks asks.Delonia looks dubious. “I’m not sure,” she says. “We always showed up sometime after noon.”  Miriel says, “We can tell them a story of how we were attacked by frogs. Several of the slaves died, and we had to rest before finishing the trip.”“Delonia, what is the trading post like?” Milo asks. “Is it a stockade?”“It’s a small compound,” she tells us, “In a little U-shaped clearing, with hills on three sides. There are a couple of little buildings, which I don’t think they live in, given how they talk about the warrens. SySy’s representative usually meets me in one of these.”“Wait,” Paks says. “We don’t get to meet SySy?”Delonia shrugs. “Not usually.” “I can sneak up on the outpost,” Milo offers brightly.“They might just see you and get their guard up,” Goldpetal says. As Milo shakes his head vigorously, Goldpetal stares at him sternly. “We saw you when you were following us,” he reminds the halfling.Paks doesn’t like the idea. “It would be more suspicious to come in with two slaves than with three,” she points out.“Maybe he could go in just a little way,” Chuck offers, “And then come back?” Miriel vetoes the idea. “We should just stick to the original plan,” she decides.“But I like Chuck’s plan!” the halfling exclaims.Paks admonishes, “We should just go straight in, slowly.”“Yes,” Miriel agrees, and that settles it. With Jim dead, we defer to Miriel, and there is no further debate.Chuck and Goldpetal search for breakfast in the swamp. They find some edible snails and drinkable water.  The rest of the group looks dubious about having snails for breakfast, but when Miriel cooks them, she turns them into something which smells so good, everyone winds up trying them.Before we leave, Miriel meditates for an hour to learn a spell which she says will cause fear in our enemies. Goldpetal also meditates. While they meditate, Paks and Delonia discuss ways to ensure that SySy meets with Delonia. They finally agree upon a plan. They also decide that Chuck should take over Jim’s role as the second “guard”, even though that leaves us with only three “slaves”.</blockquote>

Verification