Harrowing Humidity, Virulent Vegetation and a Ravenous River

## Aftermath of Serpent battle

* As many useful materials as possible were harvested from the corpse of the massive ancient serpentine creature
* Leo put his head in the pool and Bayul yanked him back out when he remembered that they’d been explicitly warned against doing that
* Azurial, being an absolute mad-lad, went down into the pool attached to a rope but didn’t find anything magical

## In Fishguard

* Met up with the chief again and the bodies of the guards were returned to the town
* A few people stocked up on supplies from the herbalist again
* Went to the bar and met Khiaxi, who explained some of the perils of the swamp and gave some advice about what they might experience
* When alone, Bayul and Kunai discussed the stranger that Kunai had met that day, establishing trust around the situation
* Before midnight Kunai headed out to the Temple — on his return many hours later he slammed the door in anger, but Bayul didn’t stir from slumber

## Into the Mires Proper

* Setting out, Khiaxi says don’t brush into many things
* Leo and Azurial healed Bayul’s broken rib, and Belgaer said she was willing to solider on despite of her wound
* As they ventured into the wild, Khiaxi pointed out many hazards along the way to Kunai, including a poison ant hill
* Lysander and Bayul carelessly wandered into the vegetation at various points, though the extra moisture they accumulated also kept them both cool
* Meanwhile, Kunai began to flag under the heat and humidity

## Setting up camp

* The tents were pitched, as was Bayul’s patchwork blanket that rapidly unfolded into a separate tent
* Multiple watches went by without a hitch, but Tamsin and Belgae were just getting relaxed into their time when they began to notice unusual bats fluttering above the camp
* As the wizard made a b-line for Khiaxi’s tent, she was beset by several of the critters that began to suck her blood — they looked much like bats except each had two pairs of wings, a sharp snout and little pincer arms
* Everyone else was woken by the commotion and rushed out as a massive cloud of these stirges descended
* Lysandre incinerated a massive swathe of them with a well-placed fireball and the rest were dealt with swiftly — the final few fluttered open-eyed towards a shiny gem held up by Leo, then were unceremoniously cut down

## Raging Torrent

* At the river’s edge, Khiaxi deftly demonstrated her route across — a pair of rope swings from one bank to an island and then to the far bank
* She also showed the implications of falling into the water using a stick that lasted only seconds before being hungrily devoured
* Kunai and Bayul followed her example while the mages began to misty step across
* Azurial stood straight, unfurled his golden wings and began to carry Leo across — unfortunately he lost grip 3/4 of the way and dropped him in
* Swarms of ferocious quitters immediately boiled up around him, digging into the spaces between his plate armour, and he began bleeding profusely
* Azurial, Kunai and Bayul all fired bows and crossbows into the predatory mass and Tamsin obliterated several with Toll the dead
* In the frenzy, Leo created 45 pounds of bloody meat downstream, successfully distracting several swarms before hauling himself partially out
* Lysander made threatening crocodile noises in an attempt to frighten the remaining fish but
* Kunai fired one last bolt into the water, utterly filleting several fish on its deadly arc as Leo was finally pulled free from the water’s edge

## Lunch a la Jungle

* After the rumours of the river and the inescapable heat, most people were flagging so stopped for a rest
* Belgaer disappeared into a small bottle carried by Lysandre

* Just after resuming, Khiaxi called an immediate halt to the path through the jungle
* She pointed out fine webs stretching across the path and then navigated them acrobatically, swiftly followed by Kunai
* Azurial attempted to climb a tree above them but slipped and hit one with his foot — 3 enormous spider snakes suddenly reared from the underbrush