Session 140: I'll Collect My Rapiers (9/26/20)

Varony, Martenin the 15th, 888 ID

A pair of bizarre hounds comprised of mud and branches and other swamp stuff rise out of the murk behind Lester, and they attack the dwarf before Indrid and Finian are able to get near and assist. The dwarf takes enough damage to go unconscious, but the halflings manage to bring down the creatures. Since they have no obvious way to mend Cretch, they decide to leave him on the ledge where they found the corpse of the smuggler and the bottles of alcohol. They attempt to scale the ledge in the southwest but find its too slippery to get a good purchase, so they head back to the north and other caverns they noticed. En route, they are surprised to find a lizard man trying to hide in one of the pools on the floor!

The creature can speak, and announces that he's been following them ever since he noticed Finian outside the Anglers' Guild, checking the stolen bait, which it had stolen to eat. The lizard man, Zarzess, a local scamp from the Tooth Marsh, thinks he might be able to help out the Sheriff in exchange for some food. After some communications, and after deeming him harmless, the halflings agree to bring Zarzess along. They head northwest to a huge cavern, but find as they proceed through that they feel unease, and then eventually start taking damage from some gas or force within the area. They then turn to another cave to the north where they encounter a nest of stirges, which they manage to destroy with the lizard man's help. They also find some treasure among some refuse, and a locket containing a key to #247 in HH, whatever that may be.

They decide that they are damaged enough to return to Hobfast and rest, but when they head outside of Stumptown they discover that their rowboat has been destroyed, and the corpses they had dragged out from the lake had been chewed on! There are some sunken footprints nearby but too muddy to really track. They instead decide to rest inside Stumptown, on the ledge where the stirges made their nest. They relocate the unconscious Lester Cretch, and then Zarzess watches while they all sleep, trying his best to repair the boat with wood from other the scuttled boats outside, but failing miserably. At some point in the night, there are wet footsteps heard nearby, but nothing approaches the cave.

Verne, Martenin the 16th, 888 ID

After a day's worth of rest and healing up slightly, even risking a few draughts of the potions they found, the PCs decide to head back to the slick ledge and see if they can make it up with Zarzess' help. Zarzess finds a rusted cutlass in the pond beneath. After some struggling, and a few nasty falls, the trio makes it up to find another ledge with an old, ruined campsite. They find a sheaf of old letters from a girl named Enja to her father Elebard Getty, and some other curiosities, like some loose coins, and a strange grappling hook with a miniature gargoyle attached to it. After rummaging about the place for a few moments, objects begin to fly randomly at them, sometimes harmlessly striking them, and they come to the conclusion the place must be haunted. Indrid decides to climb up and out of Stumptown through one of the small openings on the ceiling here, and he is surprised to find that when he hurls the grappling hook, the gargoyle comes to life and flies the hook up to attach it safely!

The trio climbs up to the top of the Stumptown caverns, where they notice a large clump of rootfall and rotted timbers. The halflings deduce this must cover an area they haven't been able to access through the large leeching cavern, but can't manage to dig down below it. They decide to go back to the huge cavern, and slowly creep their way around the edges when they realize that there are a number of large insects and lizards scuttling around an alcove in the north of the room. They safely navigate much of the cave, but on the far side, before they can get around to the ledge in the south, they start to feel the same pain from earlier! Out of desperation, they decide to throw the gargoyle hook to the ledge in the south, and then rush through as fast as possible. They do so with minimal damage...

The next ledge has a natural lattice of creeper vines with an armored skeleton caught within, but before they can examine that the party is attacked by a pair of large poisonous snakes! Fortunately they can dispatch one with ease, and the other flees off to wherever it lairs. The skeleton's armor is useless but they find a jade hornet necklace. They manage to climb their way up past one more ledge to the south, and finally find what they seek...an ancient barge of strange construction that must have been left here when the Well waters receded in the past. The barge is half-smashed up, but there are lots of obsidian urns lying about with their caps on, and several coffins within, containing the ancient remains of dwarves. One of the dwarves has a hunched form, elongated jaw and strange protrusions from its back, and this one wears a shimmering green garment which they believe is what Cretch is looking for.

One of the two rooms in the ancient, intact cabin of the vessel also contains spare boating supplies, like oars, crates and even a lifeboat! The PCs gather up the urns, the garment and a lifeboat to replace their own ruptured vessel, and slowly make their way back to the mouth of Stumptown, so they can show Cretch once he's awake.

PCs: Finian Redfoot, Indrid Hosspotch, Zarzess

XP Rewarded: 1300