Expedition Into the Swamp

The expedition into the swamp

Notes of conquest, Zane Coldwell

We set off towards the swamp on some boats we bought (2x50gp each), which brought us to the other side of the river. Zane and Deocar can therefore now be referred to as the proud captains of the seafaring vessels “Discovery” and “Heroism”.

On the other side, we found a rather large frog that looked at us quizically while we sailed and jumped closer when we reached shore. Therens knowledge of frogs told us that they could be dangerous, and before we could avoid it, we heard a clear whistle. This encouraged the frog to jump us, and after quickly dealing with it we met with a bullywog. Turns out we killed his frog mount, but since he didn’t seem too sad at this, we followed him towards his village. On the way to the bullywog’s village we encountered some rather nasty venomous snakes and their constrictor snake pals. Apparently living in the swamp is so horrible that the wildlife has developed group hunting tactics. Additionally, any others from the guild should take great care to avoid the plant-beings, that are usually only distinguishable while they’re moving. How did we avoid them? Who knows, but Theren is apparently all-knowing when it comes to nature. The bullywog was of no use. Obviously the larger frog we killed (the mount) is way more versed in finding the safe way in the swamp. We also managed to avoid some nasty prickly plants that grew in the swamp, but the details of their ecology and ways of avoiding them escapes me. Who even discovers these mundane things?

Hailed in the bullywog village, apparently we’re their “champions”. Through ‘Comprehend Languages’ we learned of a tyrant named “Hobblegunk” they expect us to slay (Gobbledunk? Flobblemunk? Frog accents are hard) We agreed to dispose of this tyrant, and followed the ecstatic bullywogs to his lair.

“Bubbleflomp” was a giant frog that spoke when he saw us, but upon discovering we were being applauded by the bullywogs he attacked. First. We were defending ourselves.. He also ate Carsten, our frog friend!

We killed the frog tyrant Froggledump. – Saved Carsten!

Babbelglumb (I give up) wielded a ring that raises int to 19, fits any wielder and grants 60 ft. of heatvision. Upon trying on the ring, Deocar finds out the ring will now only fit him. Whoops. Explained the talking frog? Again, nature is a fickle thing, who knows what lurks there. Much better to trust in good old dependable magic.

The ring looks like two snakes eating each other, and history reveals a civilization that devoted themselves so much to snakes they eventually turned their bodies into snakelike abominations.

We decided to check the frog’s cave for additional treasure, and the heat vision from the ring revealed a section of the frog’s cave to have mushrooms. Deadly mushrooms. With very deadly spores. Why, nature? Why?

Of course, as the brave and curious adventurers we are, we decided to take some back for the alchemists in the guild. Through severely hurting our max health and risking death we got a single mushroom! (Because Deocar is immune to disease. The rest of us nearly died to reduction in max health...)

We went back to the bullywog village, where we slept and ate a glorious feast! If you could call what bullywogs eat and drink glorious. Or plentiful. In any case, they provided us with some sort of shelter and information on undeads lurking in the swamp. They seem to be searching for something, but as great as the bullywog intelligence network is, they couldn’t tell us much more.

Additionally in the celebration, they told us we’re supposed to be their champions and therefore meant to go on a righteous crusade for them. Through conquest in the name of their god we will make the others see the way of the bullywogs!

We decided not to.

Instead we went on our merry own way and decided to check out a significantly larger hill than the others that we could see. By doing so we left the swampier part of the swamp.

On our way up the hill, we got lured in by alluring ladies with wine(?) that charmed several of our team. The rest of us got mauled by snakemen. Thrice. Consider your attachment to the mortal coil before attempting the swamp, 18AC means nothing and 30hp is quickly 5. Through a combination of luck, strength of will and new unheard of teamwork we beat the snakes. Surprise, the ladies were also sneks.

We then climbed the rest of the hill and discovered a secret entrance into the hill. It turned out the snakemen were stationed as lookouts with ledgers of sightings, meaning they are most likely organized.  [DM’s note: én af disse nævner blandt andet en kamp mellem sneks og undeads ved “The Stargazer’s Cliff”]

Climbing the hill, we can see several points of interest. The pointy cliff, the huge ruins, the crumbled watchtower and an old shack

Deciding we haven’t had enough of the wonderful place that is “the swamp”, we press on to what looked like an old shack, braving the more open plains. However we didn’t get far before running into a group of undead being led by another slightly more intelligent undead. Being the brave and noble adventurers we are, we continued to smite the wicked creatures for the good of Heroni..- the good of the land, I mean.

The undead had another group of slightly intelligent undead we promptly dealt with, and then decided enough had been enough, and journeyed home.