Planks Letters to the Captain. (Mouth Of Doom 3)

Dear Captain Frasolus Partifiway III

The landlubber expedition has not gone as hoped – I have settled down into a town called hope and I can tell you that its name is clearly someone’s ironic joke. My only hope is to complete the job and get back to filling my lungs with the bracing sea water air and the delicate creaking of a strong ocean bound ship. I had recently heard some muttering about a local caves that was packed to the rafters with treasures beyond comparison, and so joined a team of ...mostly short... adventurers to head off in search of a valuable prize.

The expedition begins by heading due south -an ill omen in itself-, Trekking through dense marshland which seemed have a earnest desire to bog us down and impede our progress, But the swamp wasn’t the only malevolent force in the world today as multiple Bullywogs attacked the group. The battle wasn’t terribly long lived (well from my perspective anyway as I took a heavy blows to the side of the head and was rendered unconscious) However Pixili  -A tenacious gnome artificer who I had dealings with before- came to my aid with a healing spell to bring me back into the fight. When I came to the group were busy rifling through the downed reptilians extracting items of value such as a particularly grizzly hunting trap made from the head of a crocodile.

We then resumed our voyage across these wretched lands and came upon a familiar site, The mouth of doom which me and a previous expedition had accidently stumbled upon. Taking the lead on navigating was Trym, Who seemed to have had previously dealings in this place, Though after this encounter I find it hard to believe someone would come back to this place willingly. She quickly regaled us all with pinpoint accurate details about her previous time in the mouth of doom which proved to be an invaluable resource given the caves relatively complexity, I am extremely glad for her help.

We made a decision as a group to settle down on the descending steps to catch our breaths and steel our resolves, However it appears this place does not permit those with a stout heart a moments respite as from a nearby pit packs of ravenous -dare I say rabid?- looking rats quickly swarmed the party and began to chew and gnaw at our flesh, Perhaps mistaking us for a easy meal. The true hero of the moment being Burglekutt who casted some form of sonorous wave energy at the vermin causing them to be blasted into smithereens.

Moving along after realising that the rats probably had nothing of value to us, The group did spend some time fiddling around with a nearby mechanism of some description which once triggered lowered a portcullis, limiting our options somewhat in terms of direction. Our progress found us heading northward and while Trym acted as our guide in terms of direction and local knowledge - I seemed to find myself at the front of the group acting as the frontline defence, A job I was more than happy to fufill.... That was until we encountered a vey unpleased encampment of what can best be described as bandits. Very quickly I found myself back in the void between this world and the next as the orcs landed a direct swing across my abdomen, Spilling out a lot of my somewhat important blood and rendering me out cold.

Coming to was the strangest occurrence as I found myself under some kind of miasmic spell? Or other worldly influences as I found myself rather fond of our supposed enemies and decided to fight them would be a direct insult to the friendship we had forged moments ago through mutual sword swings. I decided to spend the rest of the...disagreement between my friends sat in a corner just shielding myself from any potential harm, However it turns out that one of my fellow adventurers got a rougher deal than me when they were held hostage by the bandit leaders resulting in both sides deciding to back down from a all out blood bath.

As my mind cleared of whatever pernicious curse had befell me, I grow concerned for the relative ease which I had become bewitched. I must learn to resist such controlling spells If I am to succeed in my mission.

After investing in a extended rest to tend to any wounds and recharge assorted arcane energies we continued to search through various chambers and antechambers, encountering a group of rat people who seemed rather quite friendly once one of our group decided to impale a arrow directly into the eye sockets of one of their own, They divulged some further details about some local treasure past a water room, and some information about a machine that lets you gamble with the ultimate price - You can either end up very rich or very dead.

Following the directions of the ratfolk we encountered some undead- they proved a poultry foe and were quickly cut down, Continuing on we followed the long pathway round and I encountered a treasure room, It seemed mostly harmless with a few charred bodies but with no obvious source of danger I bravely strode into the room, Apparently one of the group found it extremely funny to... expel some gas as I smelled a most pungent odour that can only be described as a cross between midshipman Breckleys feet and the breath of a sea hag. They did try to explain it away as some kind of fuel and ignition type trap designed to lure in unsuspecting folk and incinerate them - But after spending numerous years at sea I can see straight through a liars teeth and kindly asked that they refrain from such behaviour while adventuring.

The final room was filled to the cobblestone ceiling with a familiar foe - giant rats. Having faced such trivial enemies before I forced my way into the room to take the bounders head on, I stood my ground and despite numerous wounds the rest of the group managed to destroy the swarms of pestilence leaving us to claim the treasure that laid within. Sensing that the groups energy reserve were running low and time was short it was decided to head back to the town with our rewards in our pockets and a hope in our hearts that the next visit will prove to be a more...financially rewarding experience.

Yours faithfully,

Land Advancement Officer
-Plank