Dhamoril Swampland

Therendor 24th, Zol, 998 Y.K.

8 a.m.

The following morning the group are awakened by the morning sun and the smell of freshly prepared breakfast. Banaba rests close by, obviously hung-over. They bid him farewell and he wishes them the best of luck in their endeavour, assuring them that should they be successful then he will endeavour to make sure that the hamlet of Turvin is no longer disturbed by fey presence.

For a few moments Katerina looks puzzled without cause, when asked about it she claims that there is a voice in her head asking for a "status report". The group assume that it is their employer, and due to the unfortunate events that have stripped Katerina of her memory she does not recognise the voice.

The group head out into the woods once more, this time with a map and an idea of what to expect.

1.00 p.m.

The land begins to creep downhill, and there are breaks in the trees, allowing sunlight to filter through. Suddenly the dense forest gives way, revealing a wide glade running down the hillside. A thick mist hangs over a vast stretch of lowland to the northeast. Two huge fir trees dominate the centre of the clearing, with countless mushrooms growing in their shade.

Kapek approaches one of the trees, intent on studying the mushrooms around it's base. As he does so, the huge fir tree grows a thick branch which rapidly becomes the form of a shapely female with leafy hair and skin like burnished wood, she looks at Kapek with large almond-shaped eyes and immediately attempts to cast a spell upon him.

The group have no desire to enter combat and try to talk, but the dryad has other ideas. With the appearance of a second from the other great fir, the ground erupts with entangling vines and combat begins. The dryad's tree-stride ability seems to cause the party the most problems, combined with the entangling terrain they have trouble reaching the elusive fey. One is killed quickly, but the other continues to pepper the group with arrows and jumping from tree to tree. Eventually she is killed and Kapek resumes his study of the mushrooms. He finds several strangely magically infused fungi that have the power to either cause the eater to grow or shrink, he also finds several striped toadstools, which are poisonous.

The group press onwards.

3.00 p.m.

The thinning forest gives way to a blasted region of swampland. This region may have once been a very mossy, wetland glen, full of sprites and darting creatures. Now greasy smoke hangs over everything, and the once prevalent trees have been hacked down.

A large post made of rotting wood stands forlornly against the backdrop of the swamps. A dead pixies hangs from the post by its wings, fixed there with a pair of cold iron spikes. Apparently it was nailed alive, as its tiny hands are torn from its attempts to remove itself.

A small sign is attached to the top of the post with the word "Deceiver" written in jagged sylvan script.

The party head into the swamp with the realisation that the foe they are up against is a particularly cruel enemy.

5.00 p.m.

As the sun grows low in the sky, hanging like a pale golden disc in the smokey sky the group encounter a patrol. Judging by their flame tattoos and the fact that their leader is riding a huge toad covered in the same fearsome tattoos, they rightly assume that these are hobgoblins of the Hellfire Militia.

They order the group to leave the swamps, the group respond by launching in a ranged assault.

There are 10 hobgoblins and their leader who is riding a fiendish dire toad, he is also accompanied by a shaman.

The militia advance on the group, peppering them with arrows as they proceed. Anvil imbues his shield with the arrow-catching property and the rest of the group stay close to him. One by one the advancing hobgoblins fall to the party's onslaught and their numbers are several less by the time they engage in melee.

The militia fall one by one by one to the ferocious might of Ajax in his shifting form and Lorric's lightning fists, Kapek and Reaver hack and chew their way through Hobgoblin flesh as Anvil moves forward like an indomitable wall of adamantine slamming a path to the toad riding leader with his shield.

Once the grunts are despatched all attention is turned towards the leader and his giant toad. The rider is quickly despatched and in the fray Kapek is grappled by the tongue of the toad and dragged into its gaping maw before being swallowed whole. Crushed and acid burned he fails to break free.

Killing the toad becomes priority as the party realise that Kapek will not last long in its gizzard. With a frenzied assault the final blow is struck by Ajax and Kapek spills out of the huge wound and into the murky blood-filled swamp water.

The shaman looks around in fear and tries to flee but is quickly brought down.

The group find that the hobgoblins were, unsuprisingly, carrying several cold-iron swords and arrows.

As they press on through the swamp the group come across a small island, some 15 minutes later, that they presume is the source of the excessively thick fog, a huge pyre stands in the middle of the rise surrounded by piles of damp and rotting wood, the pyre smoulders with a thick plume of smoke that rises about fifty feet before seamlessly dispersing into the surrounding swamp. Anvil begins to douse the fire and the rest soon join in. They find tracks of what they presume to be the patrol they just encountered on the island.

They continue on through the murky swamp.

It is not long before another island comes into sight through the fog, this one has tents pitched and several hobgoblins can be seen busying themselves with camp duties, to the far side another dire toad can be seen tethered to a post, the group begin to open fire, catching the hobgoblins by surprise.

They gradually push forwards to the island, protected by Anvil's arrow catching infused shield, and with an efficient tactical surge they defeat the hobgoblins and their giant toad with relative ease. Searching the camp and the fallen bodies they discover several more cold iron weapons.

The group feel that they are getting close to their destination and so they become more careful, they slow their pace while looking for traps and snares in the murky waters.

As the sky begins to darken the Crimson Fist finally aproach a ruined keep.

A ruined keep looms theough the smokey haze. The entire east side of the keep has collapsed, and the west side has begun to sink into the muck. The south face of the keep is surrounded by two feet of water, where moss and debris float in the fetid muck. the top floors of the ruin fell into the swamp long ago, and a series of flat rocky surfaces jut out at intervals from the waters surface.

 

The group head towards the eastern opening in the building, as they do so a toad-riding hobgoblin opens fire from the western opening, the group hurriedly enter the building to escape the arrows, and find themselves in some kind of toad stables.

This room is partially collapsed, and the entire south wall has fallen into the swamp. It is drafty and dense with moisture, and the crumbling walls are covered with a layer of dark blue mold. Several cubicles have swinging doors of rotting wood.

 

Ajax takes a more direct appraoch through the water towards the western entrance and in doing so he disturbs a grey ooze in the shallow waters, he heads for the toad rider and begins attacking despite the acidic assault of the ooze.

The rest of the party head through the structure to out-flank the rider.

He and the ooze are soon brought down and the group move on, Ajax in a ferocious haze charges upstairs soon followed by the others who have taken a quick glance into the western-most room, all except Kapek who decides to take a look in the room by the foot of the stairs.

Steam rises from the earthen floor of this dark, moist room. The sweet smell of incense overshadows the fainter smell of rotting meat. The area is decorated with archery equipment and atrisans tools, which line th walls and small workbenches. In the centre of the south wall, a small altar glows with two braziers on either side of a cold iron statue dedicated to the Keeper.

As he enters the room, Kapek is attacked by vines that grow on the ceiling, yelling in alarm he attracts the attention of Ajax who charges back down the stairs to his companion's aid. The vines are destroyed with several swift blows.

Heading back upstairs the pair find Anvil sourrounded by two-foot long centipedes that have burst from a rotten log between the two rooms.

The stairs end in a domed room with crumbling walls. the west wall has fallen, and portions of the fifteen-foot-high ceiling have given way, revealing open sky and the tip of a broken tower above. A large rotted log completely blocks the far door. Growing on and around the log are several plants and fungi giving off the faint smell of decay.

The centipedes are a mere hinderance for the group as they move into the next room.

This large space was once two seperate rooms, but the central wall has been removed and the rubble cleared out. Odds and ends of wooden furniture litter the room, ill-used and and in need of repair. Dangling from the wall and on desks are a number of grim trophies: a centaurs tail, two dessicated spriggan heads, and the preserved corpses of grigs floating in jars of brine. A rusted ladder ascends through a trapdoor in the northeast corner.

Anvil is the first to climb the stairs and as he emerges into the cool evening light he yells to his companions that he has found Wingclipper.

This open air roof was once just another floor in a tall keep, before the elements destroyed everything above it. the north-west portion is strewn with remnants of a broken tower, it's ruins still rising twenty feet above the landing. A hole has been carved into one of the tower walls, providing a usable entrance. A pallet and a few personal items lie against the south wall, and a hooked ladder rests against the broken west wall.

The rest of the group quickly head up the ladder to find Wingclipper with an arrow levelled at Anvil, one hazel and one of purest white, both filled with anticipation .

Despite Wingclipper's attempts to parley Lorric and Ajax simply chrge into combat, Wingclipper drops his bow and draws two shortswords, cutting viscious blows across Lorric's chest. Several blows are struck at Wingclipper and he desperately tries to surrender, but the bloodlust has caught Lorric and he makes short work of the ranger.

Searching his body, Anvil finds a broken satyr horn on a chain around the fallen ranger's neck, along with a locket containing the picture of a young woman, a secret latch on the locket opens a compartment with the words "Medley Starkson" etched into it, it also holds a note:

"I swear by the sun, the moons, and all the things that crawl upon the world, you will be avenged for your wrongful death."

*Anvil comments
Anvil then pushes hard against the side of the ranger's broken skull and without expression as neither disgust or contempt stirs within him, his goal is to simply pry the pearl from the oyster he removes the magical orb from the Wingclipper's eye socket.

Lorric and Ajax search the ruined tower to find a stash of gold protected by a viper.

As they do so they hear stumbling steps coming up the ladder on the west wall. Moments later the grinning face of Banaba peers over the wall. He seems pleased that his horn has been found, Anvil gladly hands it back, and Banaba informs the group that with Wingclipper's death the fey will once more return to the northern woods and will not disturb the hamlet of Turvin again.

He leaves quickly, not wishing to remain in such close proximity of all the cold iron that the keep holds.

The group head inside once more to study the cold iron armoury downstairs, where the shrine to the Keeper is housed.

They search for anything that they can use in crafting and come across a trapdoor in the floor. Heading down they find a room.

This large area has been dug out and drained, though there are still moist places along the earthen walls. The air is oppresive and stagnant, and smokey heat radiates from two braziers at opposite ends of the room. Four straw pallets are set up here, as well as two large chests. There is no light source other than a dim red glowing at either end.

Anvil is the first down here and he is immediately set upon by two wolf skeletons. Two dark-skinned halflings move to attack. Ajax heads into the room and kills the first with a single blow, the second infuses his hands with negative energy and delivers a death touch to Ajax, filling him with excruciating pain. This second halfling falls as Kapek moves in to aid his companion. Lorric and Anvil make short work of the skeletons.

8 p.m.

Confident that they are safe, the group make camp for the night. Anvil finishes crafting an item he promised to make for Loric, a magical beer dispensing item in the shape of a breast...

The next day the group head back to Turvin.

"Wingclippers Revenge", Dungeon Magazine 132.
Written by Christopher Wissel