The
party awoke a bit hungover, but anxious to set off into the Brinestump Marsh to
hunt down the Licktoads. They spent some time selling off the meager loot they’d
collected from the goblins who’d attacked them on the road, and bought some
simple adventuring supplies, then set off towards the New Fish Trail that the
locals had pointed out to them.
As
they reached the outskirts of town, Sandru intercepted them. “Since you’re
headed into the swamp, I wondered if you could do me a favor. I’ll make it worth
your while.” This got the party’s interest, so he continued. “I’m picking up
several loads of special trade goods here in Sandpoint. Ameiko owns a
glassworks that does really fine work, so she’s assembling a load of specialized
glass objects for me. I’m also getting a collection of woven rugs and wall
hangings featuring characteristic Sandpoint patterns and a shipment of smoked
and salted fish. I’d really love to also carry few crates of bog nuts – they’re
a local spice that adds a characteristic nutmeg-like flavor to Sandpoint
cuisine. However, the local spice merchant won’t sell me any – he’s trying to
corner the market for himself. Bog nut trees grow wild in the swamp – if you
come across a grove of them while you’re there, I can send a crew in to harvest
them and carry them out. If you help me find them, I’ll split the proceeds of
whatever I sell them for with you.” The party agreed, and Sandru described what
a bog nut tree looked like for them.
The
party headed south down the Lost Coast Road, and quickly came to the trail
leading down into the marsh. The ground dropped steeply down here into a large
basin; while the slope was merely steep here, the party could see that farther
south it turned into a bluff and then a low cliff marking the boundary of the
marsh. The aptly-named Soggy River drained into this bowl and split into
numerous small creeks and tributaries before draining into Sog’s Bay to the
west. As the party descended, they found themselves in an oppressive wetland
made up of a tangle of nettles, reeds, and other swamp plants interspersed with
cypress, eucalyptus, oak, and willow trees. The path, such as it was, was muddy
and overgrown; off the path, they saw that they would probably be wading. Wisps
of fog still clung to the ground in places, though it was almost mid-day and
the unmistakable odor of rotting vegetation and swamp gas filled their
nostrils. Moisture dripped from the trees, and they were often startled by
sudden movement in the underbrush or the tree canopy above them, or by low
growls and bellows from unknown creatures deeper in the swamp.
Where
the trail crossed one of the many streams, crude log bridges had been laid. They
crossed two, and as they neared a third, Zhustin noticed a strange, three-toed
footprint in the mud of the path, slowly filling with water as if whatever had
made it had only recently passed by. The print was crossing the path, leading
deeper into the swamp.
The
party continued on, and soon the path veered to the right, leading them to a
swampy lagoon. The open ocean was visible just beyond these shallow waters,
while an old two-story building, its walls soggy with moss and its roof sagging
with age, sat on the lagoon’s eastern shore. A 10-foot high brick wall extended
from the back of the house enclosing a large area.
This,
they concluded, must be the home of Walthus Proudstump,
self-proclaimed “warden” of the swamp. Sheriff Hemlock had suggested he was the
best source of information about the Brinestump, so Marie and Nicki knocked on
the front door. After a short pause, a small voice called out from inside. “No
one’s home! Go away!”
Confused,
Marie tried explaining their mission. “The sheriff sent us. He said you could
help us find the goblins.”
“No
goblins here! You’ve got the wrong place – go away!”
Remembering
that folks in town said that the halfling kept snakes for pets, Bella tried a
bluff: “We’ve got some snakes here that need help.”
“Snakes!”
the voice screeched. “I hate snakes! Get them away from here! GO AWAY!”
Suspecting
that something was wrong, Marie and Nicki kept pounding on the door and
insisting
“We’re
trying to find the goblin village,” Marie explained.
“Oh,
goblins, yes, the goblins live southeast of here. You’d better go kill them! I …
I … I heard them talking. Yes, that’s it! I heard them say they’re planning to
attack the town and kill all the humans! You’d better go quick, before they
kill everyone! Good-bye!” But Marie and Nicki weren’t in any mood to leave.
They offered to help clean up, but Walthus wasn’t interested. Finally he said, “If
I feed you, will you leave? I’ll make you stew, then you go, OK?” He rushed into
the kitchen and began throwing things into a large pot: a whole turnip, a handful
of rice, a handful of dried peppers. Nicki noticed that there was no fire in
the stove.
While
all this was going on, Shinjiro was investigating the enclosed area behind the
house. He climbed the wall and looked over. Inside was a small herb garden, but
the area was mostly filled with knee-high grass and weeds. He saw the weeds
rustling, and shuddered as he remembered the pets the halfling was rumored to
keep. However, he was interested in getting into the house by some means other
than the front door. There was one window on the second floor on this end of
the house, but it was over the enclosed space. Shinjiro climbed up the wall of the house,
and then began creeping along the eaves towards the window. As he reached for
the window sill, he lost his grip, and tumbled to the ground, finding himself
face to face with a very startled swamp viper. A lightning-fast chop from his
fists of death sent the snake flying against the wall, but he could hear dry
rustling sounds in the grass all around him.
 |
| Faceless Stalker |
Back
inside, Walthus proclaimed that his “stew” was ready, and encouraged Marie and
Nicki to sit down, eat, then leave. They moved into the small kitchen, but as he
moved past the halfling, Nicki pressed his hand against him, delivering a Corrupting Touch. A strange rippling
effect seemed to slither over Walthus' skin, and in an instant he was transformed.
In place of the harmless-looking halfling stood a wrinkled, hunch-backed
humanoid creature with mottled brown and red flesh and a spherical head with no
true face — only a crooked slit from which a rasplike tongue periodically
lashed. He slashed his claws at Nicki, and the battle was on.
Most
of the party had remained outside. Zhustin was standing by the front door, and as he
heard Marie calling for help, he let the rest of the group know that something
was wrong and rushed inside. Nicki backed away from the creature and fired a Magic Missile, while Zhustin let loose
an Acid Bolt; both apparently hit the
creature, but didn’t seem to do any real damage. Marie was wildly swinging her
mace, but wasn’t connecting with anything except the halfling’s good china.
Sandoval and Sawyer rushed in, and the creature was quickly surrounded in the
hut’s tiny kitchen; Bella stood in the next room firing arrows that were as
much a threat to her comrades as to the enemy. The creature grabbed Marie with
its claws, and she felt her blood begin to drain away.
Meanwhile
outside, Shinjiro had regained his feet, and tried to get in through the house’s
back door, only to find it barred from the inside. He began trying to batter it
down, but another viper emerged from the weeds and struck at his leg. He
dodged, and rather than fight the “innocent” snake, he kept kicking on the
door, which gave way before his attacks. He fell into the house, and tried to
shut what was left of the door against the snake, which soon lost interest and
slithered away.
Sawyer
and Sandoval brought their swords to bear on the creature, and its damage
resistance seemed to offer no protection against them. With a final bellow, it
fell. Zhustin examined the body, and declared that he thought this was a
Faceless Stalker, a creature that could take the form of anything it had seen.
Shinjiro
had crept upstairs, and was exploring the second floor. Most of the rooms were
storage or unused, but one was a clearly-used bedroom. As he looked around the
room, he heard a small muffled voice: “Is somebody there? Who’s there?”
Quietly, he let the others know they were still not alone in the house, and
Marie joined him upstairs. Again they heard the voice: “Who is it? Is that
creature gone?”
“It’s
OK,” they replied. “The creature is dead – we killed it.”
“Thank
goodness!” came the response from somewhere behind the wall. A secret door
swung open, and another halfling emerged, looking exactly like the one who had
greeted them downstairs. “Thank you so much! I was sure that thing was going to
find me and finish me off!”
Walthus
(the real one this time) explained that the faceless stalker had come out of
the swamp and attacked him the previous day. It had followed him into his
house, and as they fought, some of Walthus’ pets had bitten the creature. As he
turned to fight them off, Walthus had run upstairs to hide in his secret room.
Since then, they’d both been nursing their wounds. In gratitude for his rescue,
Walthus gave the party his Cloak of
Resistance +1.
Marie
determined that both she and Walthus would need to visit Father Zantus at the
cathedral to get a Lesser Restoration spell
to restore the constitution they’d lost from the stalker’s blood drain. In the
meantime, they asked Walthus about the Licktoad’s village. He told them that it
was southeast of here – they could get
there by trekking across the swamp, but it would be easier to return to the
Lost Coast Road and head down the Old Fish Trail, about a mile to the south of
the one they’d followed to get here. When asked, he also told them there was a
good sized grove of bog nut trees a ways to the east of the first bridge they’d
cross going back. They offered to let Walthus travel back to town with them,
but he was too exhausted from his ordeal to travel at the moment, so they set
off without him.
Heading
back towards the Lost Coast Road, they decided to detour to verify the location
of the bog nut grove. As they headed east, they came into a muddy clearing. At
the far end was a ten-foot-high mound of branches, logs, and reeds. Flies buzzed
and swarmed around the foul-smelling mound of rotting vegetation, which at
first glance looked like it had been left behind by floodwaters. A second look
revealed it had been artificially constructed, and a narrow opening could be
seen leading into the murky interior.
 |
| Soggy River Monster |
A
hideous creature crouched outside the mound, arranging a pile of bones beside
the door. It was roughly humanoid in shape, although its legs bent backward
like those of a dog. Its pallid skin was crisscrossed by a network of visible
veins, and its jaws split down the middle into tiny grasping claws. The group
immediately remembered the townsfolk’s stories about the Soggy River Monster –
this must be it! Without giving any warning, the group rushed to attack.
Sawyer
was the first to reach the creature, but before he could swing, it lunged
forward and bit him. He was immediately overcome by waves of sinful thoughts,
so powerful and shameful that he was physically sickened by them. Sandoval
began singing an inspiring song as he rushed forward, and everyone felt braver
and more capable as they listened. Swords, spells, and arrows flew, and unlike
the faceless stalker’s damage resistance, this creature’s spell resistance
offered it little protection. Just as it fell, two more smaller creatures
emerged from the hut. They appeared to be its mate and offspring, but they
quickly fell. Once again, Zhustin examined the bodies; based on the affect the
creature’s bite had had on Sawyer, he decided they must be Sinspawn.
There
were two mounds of bones outside the hut: one were animal skulls and the other
were goblin skulls. But the true horrors lay inside. The walls of the stinking,
dripping structure were decorated with nearly two dozen articles of shredded
and bloodstained clothing, from smallclothes to jackets — all trophies
collected by the sinspawn from their victims. In the center of the room were a
pile of what appeared to be spheres of mud. But as Marie wiped away some of the
mud, she found to her horror that they were actually human heads, coated with
mud by the sinspawn (whether to preserve them, enhance their flavor, or as some
religious rite, no one could say). Most were badly decayed, little more than
bone and scraps of hair, but four were very fresh. Likewise, some of the
clothing and gear was very new, and the party concluded that these were the
remains of the previous group of adventurers who had set out looking for the
Licktoads.
Searching
through the late adventurers’ gear, the party found a few potions, a Ring of Protection +1, and a spellbook,
along with some armor, swords, and other miscellaneous equipment. Since they
were going to have to go almost all the way back to town on their way to the
Old Fish Trail, they decided to spend the night there and drop off their new
loot, then head back to the marsh in the morning.
The
mood was lighthearted on the way back to town, with the group revisiting each
of the day’s battles. As they were crossing the last bridge, a giant
constrictor snake suddenly struck from beneath the surface of the murky water.
It sank its teeth into Zhustin and began wrapping its coils around him. As the
youth screamed in terror, the rest of the group began hacking at it with their
swords, but it squeezed tighter and Zhustin’s screams faded, his eyes rolled up
into his head, and his body went limp. Luckily, the group was able to kill it
before it pulled its prey back into the muddy water, but Zhustin was left lying
limp and unbreathing on the wooden bridge. Saying a prayer to Desna, Marie cast
a Cure Light Wounds, and everyone was
relieved to see Zhustin’s eyes flutter back open as he began to gasp for
breath.
Sobered
by Zhustin’s brush with death, they traveled the rest of the way back to town
without incident. They took the sinspawns’ victims’ heads directly to Father
Zantus at the cathedral. He summoned Sheriff Hemlock, and together they agreed
that many of the community’s recent missing persons would likely be able to be
tied to one of these skulls.
The
party returned to the Rusty Dragon for a much needed dinner and rest, and in a
more somber mood than they’d been just one night earlier. They would be going
back into the Brinestump in the morning – who knew what might be waiting for
them this time?
The
party gained 628 XP for the day’s actions, putting them at 839 XP with 2000
required for Level 2. We’ll be at Joette & Rich’s next Sunday.
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