4.30.22 - Follow the Reaver

Once we all woke up, we made our way downstairs to have some breakfast where Rummy introduced himself to us. He explained how the town has sprung up from nothing, and while he is single he saw a business opportunity for his tavern so he settled here. Shortly he left to bring us some breakfast, at which point a burly man came charging at our table yelling about someone called Reaver needing to pay up. This man took a swing at me saying he knew it was me because all I ever turned into was an elf, even with that silly hat of mine, so Rhys waved her hand and turned him into a frog while we finished our meal. (How dare anyone interrupt our breakfast!)

   After we had finished, we grabbed our new froggy friend and took him outside to have a few words. He turned back in time for Cannon to reiterate that we were not aware of the issue he seemed to have with us. The man introduced himself as Bolluch and told us he was very sorry but there was this elf he delivers goats to who had not paid him the 10 gold for the last delivery. We told him we would look into the issue but warned him that he should not just assume someone’s identity.

   We made our way towards the house with the goats where both the hag and Bolluch had told us we should visit. Out front, there was a small pen of goats grazing peacefully. Rhys and I snuck to the front door while Cannon and She-rah snuck towards the back. While approaching, we noticed movement behind the curtains, and a few moments later, Cannon opened the door to let us in, seemingly having dragged the resident back into his own home after catching him trying to escape. Inside, the room was fairly bare with just necessities and a trough of mushrooms growing on one side of the main room. He said he was Reaver, and he would get Bolluch his money as soon as he could. Cannon explained we weren’t here for Bolluch but because we had been told by the Auntie of the island that he was related to me. She-rah stood us next to each other and looked between us and said we had similar features that could probably pass as family. At that, Reaver started asking me questions about where I was from and who my family was, but was just confused by my answers. He also said that he didn’t have family near here; however, he was here because he had been sent to investigate the strange dreams which had seeped into the Underdark, whatever that is. Reaver explained that he had been exploring the swampy area where he had found bullywugs and kua toa but he still didn't know anything about the creature he thought was creating the dreams. We began trying to approximate where we thought the location of it might be based on Cannon and my last visit here when Reaver spoke up that he could come with us to show us what he had found so far.

   Before setting out, She-rah spoke with a tree to find out there were lots of strange plants in the direction of the cave where I found the gold; there were no fiends for three miles; and there were lots of little strange creatures scattered throughout the area. We traveled for a few hours before coming into an area that felt more like the original forest that was here the last time we were on the island. That is when Cannon saw the figures in the trees seemingly getting ready for an ambush on us while we waited for Rhys to cast her water walking magic. They failed to catch us by surprise, but their giant froggy friends who hopped up from the surrounding marsh did. Neither force could distract Rhys from her spell and the situation was quickly under control. After that encounter, the way became gloomier the further we moved into the original growth.

   Some time later, a glowing blue trollish figure lunged out of the gloom and tried to stop us from progressing any further, but with more difficulty than it should have been, we took care of it. We stopped for a short rest after the troll attack before continuing forward towards the densely packed strange plants She-rah had sensed earlier. Cannon took the opportunity to give himself some extra glowing eyelids he said would let him see everything. The way forward became stickier with slime and the water around us became more gelatinous than liquidy. Reaver informed us he had yet to be this far into the swamp but none of this seemed normal. With his glowing eyes, Cannon looked around before telling us there was a rip in the sky that was leaking slime. As he said that, little snot-balls began creeping towards us herding us towards a large pulsing mound of mud and organic material.

With a few close calls, we managed to make our way into the original cave we had found where I took the gold. The area was much different than I remembered because there was a large eyeball blocking the entrance, that is, until Cannon walked right through it because it was just an illusion. He led us into a room with several pillars inside and two glowing figures who looked like adventurers. As we approached these adventurers, they aged rapidly until they were nothing but dust on the floor. These adventurers were standing before two doors. Examining each, the one on the right had a glowing golden light peeking out from behind it and the left door had the sounds of water and splashing coming from behind it. Cannon opened the left door and led us to a flooded room where he could just see there were some kua toa swimming around with rope at the bottom of the pool, and there were doors leading out of the room. He cast silence on them that allowed us to talk freely without the possibility of alerting them to our presence while we planned where we should go next.