Return to the Tomb - Ghost of Saltmarsh, Chapter 36

Bruma had finished interrogating the two bandits-turned-cultists. Their vacant mental state produced little useful information. Bruma and Baylore debated what to do with them. If they let them go, they'll continue try to lead people to their deaths in the swamp. They couldn't take them with them. Baylore said, "Do you want me to take care of them? Just say the word. I do not care."

Both Bruma, who worked with and for smugglers, and Baylore, a pirate, recognized these brigands. They knew them - not personally or even necessarily by name - but they were not strangers.

Bruma considered his options, "I don't know."

These brigands had tried to lead Bruma to his death but he had little interest in vengeance. He was more concerned that they might do it again to someone else. But he didn't want to kill them in cold blood. Maybe if they killed Sakatha first, they'd be released from their psychic bondage.

Bruma let them go. The two pale ashen brigands shambled off through the trees and undergrowth.

However, Bruma asked Baylore, "Why are they offering sacrifices to this shrine?"

Baylore replied, "Aella and Alot say they worship the black dragon as some kind of god. They said it guarded Sakatha's lair."

Bruma pondered this, "I know this swamp, and I think I know where this is. There's a big island near here where a black dragon lived. I always avoided that place because - you know - black dragon."

"Could you find it?"

"Absolutely. We'll need a boat or a raft."

CHAPTER 36

"RETURN TO THE TOMB"

The B-Team:

• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
• Captain Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk), Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Brenna "The Sea Witch" Myrasdottir - Chaotic Good Human Sailor and Divine Soul Sorceress, long-lost daughter of Whaler, First Mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), exiled from his clan, Ballast of the Sea Ghost.
• Bruma - Neutral Good Human Swamp Guide (Ranger) for the smuggling cartel known as "the Organization", given a mission to find and kill Sakatha the Lizard King.

Back Again

It was mid-morning. Bruma led the party around the island of the hag and onto a finger of flooded trees. A large hill was visible across a stretch of one thousand feet of fetid water. 

"We need to get across." said Bruma, "The dragon's lair is on that island with the big hill. So how do you want to do this?"

Baylore said, "We swim."

"Swim??"

Baylore looked around, "Anybody got a problem with that?"

Brenna held up her magic harpoon tip, "Anyone who can't breathe underwater, talk to me." She cast a spell of water breathing on herself, Aella, Baylore, Bruma, and Bordar. Alot was already adapted to underwater life. 

They crossed the dark-brown channel and emerged before the steps leading into the tomb. 

DM Note-

I thought about dissuading this with some crocodiles and quippers or worse, but I was antsy to finally get to the tomb so I skipped ahead.

They emerged onto the stairs leading to the stone foundation of an ancient structure. Ten massive columns once supported a roof that had long ago collapsed, the masonry having been scavenged in ages passed. One of the ten massive columns had fallen and lay broken on its side.

There was no sign of any remains of Aulicus the dragon. Aella was disappointed. She had hopes to retrieve a souvenir.

Aella, the only member of the party who remembered the last time she visited this place, pointed out the false wall in the side of the hill. The false wall was composed of shells suspended on hundreds of strings like a beaded curtain. She warned everyone of the three water pools located in the chamber within. The pools were home to some creature composed of pure water.

"Got it," said Baylore, "No one go near the pools of water, got that?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The party passed through the beaded curtain and stayed close to the wall. Bordar immediately walked over to the pool of water and looked within.

DM Note-
Seriously, Aella's character had JSUT warned everyone about the water weird and Baylore laid out the strategy of staying close to the wall and avoiding the fountains. I asked, "What do you do?"

On Bordar's turn, Bordar walked right up to the fountain.

I said, "Okay, roll initiative."

Bordar's player sounded genuinely surprised.

Baylore's player shouted, "SERIOUSLY, [Bordar's Player]?! WHAT DID WE JUST SAY?!"  

Bordar's player said, "What? I wasn't listening!"

Brenna's player said, "In Bordar's defense, he has a passive perception of 9."

The water began to froth and boil. The water formed a liquid shape like a dragon's head that reared out of the fountain.

Bordar entered a fighting stance. He slashed at the watery guardian using his magical axes "Smite" and "Fury".  The water creature darted at Bordar in an attempt to engulf the dwarf but missed. The rest of the party unleashed on the water creature with fire bolt spells, magical bonfires, magical floating hands with chilled touches, and arrows. The water weird was no match for the onslaught and collapsed into inanimate water.

The Puzzle

The party reached the back of the cavernous chamber and entered through another false wall into the former lair of Aulicus. The lair was empty, picked clean of all treasure. 

Baylore asked Aella, "So, you said something about a secret entrance?"

She looked at the altar adorned with the statue of a black dragon, "They moved that aside."

The altar was a massive slab of granite twenty feet long by ten feet wide and five feet tall. It would not budge. The black dragon on top of it, however, pivoted one hundred eighty degrees. The mouth of the dragon was open revealing a hollow tube down the dragon's throat. The tube was a few inches wide, not wide enough for a human hand to fit within. The curvature of the dragon's neck made inserting a long object impossible. 

Brenna filled her waterskin with water from the pool and poured it down the dragon's mouth. The water disappeared but nothing happened. She started inserting silver coins. Nothing happened. She shoved dozens of silver coins into the mouth but nothing happened. She inserted rocks but nothing happened. Everything dropped into the dragon's mouth simply fell down its throat and disappeared. Brenna gave up, "Well, I got nothing."

Baylore considered the dragon, "What about gems? Have you tried a gem?"

Brenna said, "I don't have any gems."

"What about that jewelry we got on Leper Island?"

Brenna hooked a thumb at Aella, "We used that to bring her back from the dead. Captain, the only gems we have are the ruby earrings you're wearing."

Baylore's eyes narrowed in defiance, "No. Come on. We don't have ANY other gems?"

Everyone rummaged through their backpacks and turned out their pockets. There were no gems.

Baylore became annoyed, "Look, I KNOW we've got some gems? There was some in the hag's treasure! That was just yesterday!"

Brenna pinched her lips in deep thought. Her eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. She gave Baylore a menacing glare, "YOU have them!"

"What? I do not!"

"Check your bag of holding!"

Baylore stared at her in defiant silence. He pointed at her and couldn't think of anything better to say. "Shut up!"

He reached into his bag of holding and rummaged around. He pulled out a moss agate the size of a man's thumb. 

"Shut up."

Baylore dropped it into the dragon's mouth. The entire altar slid backwards revealing a set of stairs leading down.

"Shut up."

DM Note-

Man, the frustration the players felt during that segment was PALPABLE! They HATE puzzles! Part of the problem is that they're not trying to figure out how to solve the puzzle logically but how to TRICK the puzzle with cheap or easy alternatives. So we waste a lot of time trying to feed it rocks or worthless coins or sticks instead of actually thinking logically about what the puzzle wants. Then they get all frustrated and angry that none of their tricks work. I found myself drolly saying, "Yes, rocks. THAT'S what a dragon wants!" as a way of trying to point them in the right direction. I become torn between enforcing "Nope, you have to solve the puzzle as written. Figure it out!" and "Well this is no fun, Here's some more obvious hints." which I feel is a bad precedent and expectation for me as a Dungeon Master to set.

Ambush

The B-Team formed up and descended the stairs. They passed through a set of doors into a vestibule with a large set of double doors to the right. Baylore did a quick check, "Who can't see in the dark?" He pressed his palm against the faces of Brenna and Bruma. 

"What about Alot?" inquired Aella.

"Eh, he's got brain jellies. I'm not wasting that on brain jellies."

Bordar opened the door. He and Bruma were standing in some kind of spotlight in a large dark chamber. There were dozens of armed and armored warriors. Spearmen, halberdiers, and swordsmen stood close to the left and right walls. A dozen crossbowmen stood along the rear wall. Near them was a leader and some kind of mage waving his hands and casting a spell. The warriors were standing in the dark and would have been unseen were it not for Baylore giving everyone darkvision. Crossbow bolts arced through the air and struck the door and wall and floor around Baordar and Bruma. Before they could act the vestibule exploded in a fireball of destruction. 

Bordar, enraged, began frothing at the mouth and ran towards the spearmen along the wall to the left. He cleaved into them and kept running, one after the next. The darkness that would have given them cover was now to their detriment!

Brenna looked around the vestibule, "Is everyone all right?" Bruma was lying on the floor, badly burned and not breathing. Brenna knelt down and a sparrow landed on her hand. The sparrow hopped from her hand onto Bruma's body. The sparrow glowed with a celestial light and Bruma's burns were healed. 

DM Note-

I had Bruma's player whisper his death save roll to me. Bruma rolled a 1. That's an automatic two failed saves!  I said, "Yikes!" Brenna's player said "Nice poker voice, Chris!"

Baylore engaged the right flank, laying spearmen and halberdiers low with spinning back fists and rapid-fire punches and kicks. 

Another fireball exploded in the vestibule!

Brenna shouted, "We gotta do something about that guy!" She lobbed a magical fireball towards the back of the room. The fiery explosion took out most of the crossbowmen. The leader ordered his remaining men to spread out and moved over towards the right corner. 

Aella ran into center of the room. Aella pointed her magic wand at the wizard and an arc of lightning streaked towards him. The wizard smiled and dismissed the spell with a wave of his hand. 

DM Note-

Brenna's player, who loves wizard duels, yelled, "Yeah!" in approval.

 Alot followed Aella into the center of the room but stopped, "Hey! I can't see anything! What's going on?" Alot's brain jellies had just worn off and he was standing in a large dark room surrounded by fighting.

DM Note-

Alot's player had finally showed up. He was looking at a token in a black screen and honestly had no idea what was going on other than he could hear the others fighting.

Brenna ran after Bruma and Aella, sending celestial sparrows of healing darting at both as they pushed forward. When she saw the wizard counter Aella's spell, Brenna said, "That's enough of that!" and cast another fireball at the wizard. The wizard died in a blazing explosion.

Bruma moved swiftly through the room killing one opponent then quickly moving to the next. Alot was fighting blindly with three brigands. He heard a series of swift cutting and stabbing sounds followed by all three brigands collapsing in the dark. Bruma had slipped between them and killed all three then silently darted across the room. Alot was standing alone in the dark. He called out, "Thanks!"

Baylore eliminated three brigands and moved over to Alot. He granted Alot the ability to see in the dark, saying "There. Go kill something!"

By now there were a mere handful of brigands left against the back wall. Their leader had been killed and they were attempting to flee through the exits. Two managed to escape while Aella and Alot chased down and eliminated the remainder.

Bordar and Baylore followed the two escapees through the door and into a well lit hallway. Bordar checked around the far corner but found no one. "They must have gone through that door!" he said, pointing to the door on the right.

Bordar opened the door and was met with nearly a dozen brigands in their barracks - including the two that ran away. Bordar closed the door and retreated to the entrance to the large dark room, "Here come reinforcements! Alot, I could use your help holding the door!"

"Got it!"

Brenna and Bruma exited a door on the right wall of the large dark room and found themselves in a different well-lit hall. They prepared to cover that flank.

Spearmen poured out of the barracks via multiple exits and stormed the entrance to the large room. Bordar held the line while Baylore and Alot counterattacked. Baylore and Alot pressed several of the spearmen back to the barracks and chased them down to the other exit.

Bordar found himself fighting the remainder of the spearmen - skilled veterans who held their own against the raging dwarf. Eventually Bordar won the day and the veterans fell before his twin axes of doom.

Baylore circumnavigated the hallway outside the barracks and found two more spearmen. Brenna and Bruma ran to help. They were soon eliminated.

One spearman managed to break off and flee. He darted into a nearby room and closed the door.

The B-Team prepared themselves for the next wave.

To be Continued...

DM Note-
Man that's a lot of carnage! But it seemed like the players felt challenged and had a lot of fun. The bad guys had some magic items that I couldn't figure out how to use in the battle - boots of levitation? Also, I kept forgetting that the Lieutenant granted +1d4 to the saving throws of his subordinates. Didn't matter though, even if they had made their saves they couldn't survive Brenna's fireballs. 

I had set up the brigands whole ambush based on the idea that they were hidden by darkness. What the brigands didn't know is that everybody (save Alot) had darkvision. So what would have been to their advantage turned into a major disadvantage as the PCs hunted the panicked and fleeing brigands in the dark like Buffalo Bill with nigh vision goggles hunting Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs. It was kind of an awesome turnaround. 

Also Brenna's fireballs were devastating to both Gormundel the Mage and the crossbowmen.

Bruma the Tracker - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 35

Bruma knelt and examined the tracks in the mud. There were five humanoids - the party he had been tracking since entering the Drowned Forest. The tracks led away from a nearby shrine and into a tunnel dug into the side of a low hill surrounded by trees and rocks - very uncommon for the swampy Drowned Forest.

Bruma was a swamp guide. He was a hunter and a tracker and he was very familiar with both the Hool Marsh and the Drowned Forest. For years he led smugglers from upriver and inland through the Drowned Forest to the base camp in the Hool Marsh and down to one of the several drop sites on the coast - either at the abandoned house, the old lizardfolk lair, or the sea caves beneath the Tower of Zenopus. Several months ago, the smugglers and bandits abandoned the base camp. All smuggling stopped.

The leaders of the Organization had learned that the smugglers and bandits had joined the growing army of someone named Sakatha. Sakatha was the name of a lizard-king who had united all the tribes of the Hool Marsh and, with the help of a black dragon named Aulicus, fought a war against the knights of Keoland over a hundred years ago. All they knew was that Sakatha had a secret base somewhere in the Drowned Forest.

The Organization hired Bruma to locate the secret base and kill Sakatha.

Bruma managed to find two former smugglers who now served Sakatha. They each had a pallid complexion and a glazed vacant look similar to someone suffering brain jellies. When interrogated about the location of Sakatha's lair, they offered to lead Bruma to a secret entrance.

They led Bruma down a spit of land. Right away Bruma noticed another group had traveled this same route ahead of him. There were five humanoids - four humans and a dwarf. He found a campsite - two days old - where they had fought off four animated trees. He passed through an area that had been scoured by a tidal wave the day before. He followed their tracks to a stone platform - a shrine to a black dragon - where they had camped the night previous. Now their tracks led into a tunnel and descended stone stairs. He dismissed his guides.

He descended the stairs into an underground grotto - a cave and waterfall. He heard fighting down a nearby passage. The passage descended sharply. He carefully climbed down the slope. He was in a stone room built by intelligent hands. The smell of rotting flesh and decay was oppressive. Bruma covered his nose with his gloved hand. He hid behind a nearby wall and covertly observed those who entered before him. The fighting was over. The party was discussing what to do next. He heard them open a door.

There was more fighting. Something was alive - or at least active - in these stone rooms. Bruma knew not if these people were potentially allies or enemies. He decided to watch for now.

CHAPTER 35

"BRUMA THE TRACKER"

The B-Team:

• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
• Captain Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk), Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Brenna "The Sea Witch" Myrasdottir - Chaotic Good Human Sailor and Divine Soul Sorceress, long-lost daughter of Whaler, First Mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), exiled from his clan, Ballast of the Sea Ghost.

Introducing:

• Bruma - Neutral Good Human Swamp Guide (Ranger) for the smuggling cartel known as "the Organization", given a mission to find and kill Sakatha the Lizard King.

Ghouls in the Dark

The B-Team was standing in a subterranean room flooded shin-deep in fetid water. Three dead ghouls were piled in a corner. There were three ancient doors. The B-Team gathered in front of one of the doors and prepared to open it.

Baylore grabbed Alot, "Hold still." The pirate captain held his palm over the automaton's visual sensors. Suddenly Alot could see through the gloom of the chamber. Objects hidden within deep shadows were now dimly visible.  Baylore pointed at Alot's face, "Stop complaining about it being dark."

Alot turned back around and opened the door. He was immediately met with a slavering ghoul. Several more ghouls could be seen in the dark room beyond. Alot stabbed the ghoul and moved into the room followed by Bordar the dwarf and Baylore.

The room beyond was likewise flooded. It was small, fifteen feet by twenty feet at most, with a hallway in the far corner and two doors on the right wall. The left wall looked collapsed and the floor was covered in a pile of rubble, as if the ghouls had been digging through the walls.

One ghoul turned and fled down the short hall and around a corner, sloshing through the shallow water.

Bordar said, "It's running away! They can't do that! Can they do that?" He gave chase around the corner.

Baylore shouted, "Bordar, wait!" but it was too late.

Bordar followed the ghoul past some more collapsed rubble, across another smaller flooded chamber around the corner, and through a doorway. He was immediately attacked by two ghouls waiting on either side of the door as well as a larger humanoid, similar to the ghouls but whose skin was covered in fine tattoos. The creature emitted a foul odor that could curdle milk. Bordar held his arm before his nose and cursed.

Baylore and Alot arrived in the room behind Bordar. Baylore pointed into the room and caused a magical bonfire to appear under the feet of the tattooed creature.

Bordar dispatched a ghoul next to him and the pallid stench creature immediately moved out of the fire and stood atop his fallen comrade.

Bordar and Alot, fighting from the entrance to the small alcove, soon defeated both creatures. Baylore allowed the bonfire to disappear.

Bordar emerged victorious while Alot stopped to investigate the excavated wall. Baylore heard talking back in the original room. He heard an unknown voice.

He called out, "Everything okay back there?"

An Introduction
Aella and Brenna remained in the original room. They watched through the doorway as the others cut a viscous swatch through the ghouls and disappeared around the corner.

Bruma cautiously emerged from his hiding place behind the corner near the entrance, "Hello."

Aella looked confused by this new intruder. Brenna spun around. Upon seeing the human she stood straight and glowered, "Who the feck are yew?"

The intruder held up his hands and introduced himself, "I am Bruma."

Brenna said, "Aella, keep me covered." She pointed Hearthspoon at the newcomer, "YOU! You're here to kill the Lizard King?"

Bruma replied, "That's my plan. Why are you here?"

Brenna said, "We're here to do the same and avenge my fallen brothers, who were killed by an agent of the Lizard King. You know he might be a lich, correct?"

"Ye-ssss?" lied Bruma, unconvincingly.

Brenna walked uncomfortably close to Bruma, "If you're here to help, then move ahead and get in the fight." She pointed Hearthspoon in his face, "You make any sudden moves, I will burn you down!"

Bruma smiled, "As you wish, mi-lady."

One of the two other doors slowly opened behind them. A pale gaunt humanoid with sharpened teeth and skin covered in fine tattoos emerged and attacked! The humanoid emitted a foul stench that turned the stomach.

Baylore called out from the far room, "Everything okay back there?"

Aella replied that they were under attack.

Brenna and Aella immediately turned and cast their signature spells at their attacker - chill touch and chaos bolt! It lunged for Brenna and its smell caused her to dry heave but she quickly recovered.

Bruna swung a massive sword and cut down the pallid creature.

Brenna stood up and straightened her coat, "Well, I guess you're okay then."

Baylore came running around the corner only to see that the battle was already concluded. "Who's that?"

Brenna informed him, "That's Bruma. He's here to kill the Lizard King."

Baylore looked at Bruma, assessing him, "Huh. Okay. Come on. Quit farting around back here."

Siren Diabla
They opened the door and were met with a terrible stench, worse than that of the tattooed ghouls. Beyond the door was a short set of stairs that ascended into a dry room.  The chamber was fifteen feet wide and 35 feet long with an alcove on the left wall with an elevated platform like a kind of stage. The room had a tall vaulted ceiling supported by four columns. In the center of the stage was a throne made of human bones and skulls. Sitting on the throne was a gruesome female humanoid with waxy greenish skin. She had the gaunt body and bloated stomach of a victim of famine. Her face was covered in leathery wrinkles. Her yellow eyes bulged out. Her hair was like long white strands of corn silk. Her massive hands and feet ended in long bony fingers and toes with talon-like claws.  She smiled, revealing a mouth with jagged teeth, many missing. Black drool dripped from her mirthless grin.

She laughed a rasping dry laugh.

"Welcome. Come in, come in. You are guests of Siren Diabla. Might I offer you a meal? Or have you come for some of Siren Diabla's special elixir? Be not shy, there is plenty to share."

Alot walked forward slowly, cautiously, "Hello. We don't want any elixir, but thank you." The others entered the room behind him.

"Oh!" the creature rasped, "Then you were sent to me by the servants of Sakatha. A gift from the Lizard King. How nice of him. His servants send me so many tasty gifts. Please, come in. Are you hungry? I have a table prepared. Please, join me for dinner."

Alot paused, "May.. be? Listen, what do you mean by 'offerings'?"

Bruma said, "Enough talk!" and stormed the stage.

Siren Diabla smiled and disappeared!

Bruma stopped short, "Where'd she go?"

Everyone scanned the room carefully. Baylore closed his eyes and listened. He could feel the air disturbances of everyone in the room. "She's over there! She's by that stairway over there!"

Bordar and Alot swarmed that spot and swung wildly, hoping to hit the invisible target. Bordar felt one of his attacks strike flesh!

Baylore asked, "Did you get her?"

Bordar moved into the empty space, "Where'd she go?"

DM Note- 
Per ordinary rules, Baylore used an action to make a Perception check compared to the Hag's Stealth check made with Advantage. That allowed him to locate the space she occupied, so he pointed it out to the others. They attacked that space with Disadvantage. 

HOWEVER - I re-read the hag's invisibility and it says she can only be detected using magical means. I told this to the players and said "You got one round. From now on, she's totally invisible." I also boosted her hit points a smidge to make up for the mistake. 

Siren Diabla reappeared on the stage. She pointed her long bony clawed finger at Alot, "You! You should become a tiny mouse!" Alot's body began to warp and contort. Alot fought back and threw off her spell. She spat at him! "Curses!"

Aella cast a Witch Bolt spell at the hag and missed. The electric arc shot across the room and exploded against the wall.

Bordar stamped his magical boots and bounded across the room. He ricocheted from the wall and propelled himself onto the skeletal throne. He brought his axes down onto the hag. Baylore rushed over and pummeled her with a rapid fire assault of fists. Bruma charged at her with his greatsword. He ran her through, pinning her against the wall.

The hag gasped in pain. Her eyes closed and her face drooped. She then smiled and looked up at the three warriors surrounding her. She began to laugh.

"You- you are all fools! You think defeating me will lead you to the Lizard King. You are so mistaken! You will not find what you seek here. Only I knew the truth! Now you'll never find the Lizard King!" With a final laugh that trailed off into echo, she disintegrated into a mix of mud and dust and black ichor.

"Everybody okay?" asked Baylore, looking around at the others.

"I think so. What is that SMELL?" replied Bordar.

"It's coming from the room down those stairs. Alot, you take point. Everybody ready?"

DM Note-
In retrospect, I should have went with Lightning Bolt. For some reason, I thought Lightning Bolt was a ranged attack. It turned out that it's a Dexterity Save. I regret my choice.

The Catoblepas
Alot descended the short set of stairs into another flooded chamber. This chamber was supported by four columns. Another alcove on the left wall contained a raised stage. The stage was covered in coins, gems, and fancy art objects.

Baylore directed Alot to step back. Baylore created a minor illusion of Alot to walk across the room to the stage, hoping anyone hiding would attack the illusion. The illusion walked across the water and onto the stage without incident.

Alot reentered the room and walked a few feet through the flooded water before he felt his foot on the edge of a drop-off. He paused. The water was black and covered in floating detritus. He knelt down and looked under the water.

He saw a ten foot wide by fifteen foot long pit dug into the floor. Two thirds of the pit was occupied by a massive body like that of a hippo. A long tail ending in a heavy club was coiled against the body. The long whip-like neck terminated in a massive head of what looked like a gruesome wildebeest with curled tusks like a warthog.  The hideous head lay heavy on the floor of the pit, its  thin neck looked incapable of lifting it. The head struggled to turn over and cast a glowing eye at Alot.

Alot pulled his head out of the water and shouted, "NOPE!"

Baylore stood against the wall to let the others past, "Go! Go! Go! Get in there and surround it. I've got a plan!"

Baylore, Brenna, and Aella ran in and positioned themselves around the pit in the center of the room. The smell in the room was atrocious. They fought back the urge to vomit.

Baylore made a gesture with his hands and threw a ball of inky blackness into the room. The entire chamber was cast in darkness. Nothing could be seen!

DM Note-
I turned off everyone's vision in Roll20. All players were staring at a black screen. They players were actually impressed and said it added to the epic feel of the fight.

Alot shouted, "We can't see!"

"That's a catoblepas! If it looks at you you're toast! That thing's huge and can't move! You don't have to see it to attack it! Kill it while it can't see you!"

Everyone heard the water slosh as the catoblepas raised its heavy head from the water. Its long tail lifted the massive club and slammed it down next to Baylore.

Baylore shouted, "Did you hear that? You could hear that thing smash the stone! That barely  missed me!"

Bruma, still upstairs in the previous room, looked down the stairs, "What's going on? Why is it so dark?"

Baylore's voice called back, "Just get down here and kill this thing!"

Alot dropped to one knee and stabbed his short sword into the hippo-like torso in the water. He then used his shield to try to shove it back.

Bordar brought his axes Smite and Fury down onto the creature's neck.

Bruma fired his bow blindly into the center of all the thrashing water, hoping to hit - whatever it was. He never saw his target.

Brenna jumped onto the catoblepas' back, riding it like a bucking horse. She magically electrified her hands and tried to touch the creature but managed only to grasp at darkness.

Aella created a magical snowstorm of ice and pellets to batter the catoblepas. She heard Brenna cry in pain and annoyance. She had unknowingly included her teammate in the attack!

Baylore punched blindly into the water. Bordar chopped at what he hoped with either the tail or the neck.

The tail swung around again and slammed into Bordar, knocking him against the wall. Bordar grunted with an "oof!"

Bruma loosed more arrows. Two hit stone, one landed in flesh, "Did I hit it?"

Baylore unleashed several punched into the side of what he hoped was the creature's head. He heard bone crack and the head and tail fall heavily to the floor. The body slumped and the water ceased to froth.

Bruma asked, "Was it me? Did I kill it?"

Baylore dispelled his magical darkness. The catoblepas lay motionless in the middle of the room. "Sure. Why not."

The Treasure

To Baylore's horror, in the light of Brenna's torch the vast majority of the coins turned out to be copper. "Forget that crap here."

Aella said, "Yeah, but look!" She held up a coin of white metal, "There's platinum mixed in. We've got to separate it out."

Baylore groaned and rolled his eyes.

The party spent the next hour moving the treasure out of the flooded chamber and back up to the hag's throne room where it was dry and the horrid stench of dead catoblepas was less offensive.

They separated the platinum coins from the copper, dug out the gemstones, and assessed their other findings.

• In all they had acquired:
• 90 platinum coins
• an Alexandrite gemstone worth 800 gp
• a Jasper gemstone worth 70 gp
• a Jet  gemstone worth 110 gp
• a Moss Agate  worth 12 gp
• a Banded Agate Statue of a Chimera worth 1900 gp
• a decorative Silver Shield  worth 1000 gp
• a Magic Wand that looked like a small arrow

Baylore placed all the treasure within his magical bag of holding.

The Realization
Baylore returned to the treasure room. He searched the back wall of the raised platform for a secret door or false wall but found none.

Bruma pondered, "What did the hag mean when she said only she knew the truth and that we'd never find the Lizard King?"

Baylore replied, "I have no idea and I don't care. There's no secret entrance in here, lets try the next room. Everybody form up!"

Alot once again assumed his position on point. He opened the door that led into the next chamber.

The chamber beyond was another long flooded room with a high vaulted ceiling supported by four columns. There was a breach in the wall near the ceiling across the room to the left through which water poured. The far corner of the room was covered in rubble from a collapsed part of the ceiling.  The smell of death and decay was oppressive. Piled in the center of the room were the half-eaten remains of dozens of dead bodies - mostly human. Bits of cloth indicated the livery of the knights of the Kingdom of Keoland - specifically from the keep at Burle.

Baylore examined the remains, "Who are these guys?"

Alot said, "They're from an expeditionary force sent from Burle a few months ago."

Baylore found a journal that detailed the expedition. The journal revealed that they were sent to find the camp of the brigands that were raiding caravans on the road. They tracked the brigands to the town of Waycombe. They found a guide who said he knew where the brigands camped and offered to lead them through the Drowned Forest. The final entry said that the expedition followed a long strip of boggy land to a rocky island and found an entrance to a subterranean lair.

Upon hearing this Bruma pondered, "I don't think there is a secret entrance."

Baylore looked annoyed, "Why?"

Bruma explained, "I was led here by two guides also. I think its a misdirect. How did you find this place?"

Alot said, "I made myself a map. Aella and I found Sakatha's lair and defeated the dragon Aulicus. We were captured but escaped. I assume."

"You assume?"

"Well, I had pretty bad brain jellies at the time. I don't have any memory of escaping or drawing this map."

"The two guides who led me here had brain jellies. I think these so-called helpful maps and guides were actually leading people to the hag instead of the Lizard King! I don't think there IS a secret entrance!"

Baylore seemed perturbed, "Well, we're going to check every inch of this gods-damned place just in case!"

Baylore stepped into a shadow and reappeared through the breach in the chamber at the top of the waterfall. The chamber was tall  and natural, covered in stalactites and stalagmites. He looked around and saw a stream that flowed from a waterfall to the right to over another waterfall to the left and disappeared. He deduced that the water flowed from the chamber through which they had entered the catacombs. He returned and reported his findings.

Bruma climbed a steep bank near the rubble. The ceiling collapse exposed a hole through which the party crawled. They found themselves back in the cave entrance to the catacombs.

Aella said, "We've been here."  She consulted the map she'd been making, "There's still these two unexplored spaces which are probably rooms. Lets go back and check them out."

DM Note-
I said, "Wait, have you been mapping??"

Aella's player said "Yep" and quickly uploaded a picture of her map to Discord.

I said, "<<sniff>> I'm so proud of you!"

They returned to the room of half-eaten corpses and opened the door.

They entered into a room with a collapsed wall covered in fungi and lichen. As they entered one of the larger mushrooms began wailing like an injured child. The scream was deafening.

Baylore quickly shredded the mushroom and the wailing stopped. They passed through the door on the wall to the left and found themselves back in the second ghoul chamber.

Aella said, "Right. I think there's a room here and one here."

The first room was a small chamber from which emerged the tattooed ghoul. It was empty.

The next room contained some more trapped ghouls. The hideous creatures were quickly dispatched.

Baylore sighed with resignation, "I don't think there's a secret entrance. What do we do now?"

Bruma said, "The two guys who led me here can't be far. I say we track them down."

The Confirmation
While the rest of the party made a camp in the lair of the hag, Baylore and Bruma followed the tracks of the two guides.

They quickly found them only a quarter of a mile away burning an animal sacrifice to the altar of Aulicus.

Bruma and Baylore captured and interrogated them. Like the other human servants of Sakatha, they had the vacant look of someone with brain jellies. The prisoners could offered no information.

However, Bruma asked Baylore, "Why are they offering sacrifices to this shrine?"

Baylore replied, "Aella and Alot say they worship the black dragon as some kind of god. They said it guarded Sakatha's lair."

Bruma pondered this, "I know this swamp, and I think I know where this is. There's a big island near here where a black dragon lived. I always avoided that place because - you know - black dragon."

"Could you find it?"

"Absolutely. We'll need a boat or a raft."

To be Continued...

DM Note-
I retconned the ending from the original. In the actual game, the captured prisoners spilled the beans and revealed the location of the hideout. Bruma then cut the ham-strings of one of the prisoners and kept the other to lead them.

I looked at Bruma's character sheet and said, "Neutral GOOD? Mutilating a helpless captive is not the act of a good character!"
Bruma's player said, "It's justified if the enemy serves evil."

I called BS, but I try not to get into debates about the philosophy of D&D alignment DURING D&D, so I let it go.

The reason I retconned it had nothing to do with that however - I forgot the brigands had brain jellies and wouldn't be able to respond to interrogation even if they wanted.

Anyway, What do YOU think, Internet? The prisoner was a brigand who's being mind-controlled. Is it okay for a "Good" aligned character to assume he's evil and cut his hamstrings and leave him to die in a dangerous swamp?

The Vengeance of the Drowned Forest - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 34

It was dark in the Drowned Forest. The air was thick and humid. The night was alive with the sounds of birds, insects, and reptiles. Alot and Bordar sat watch while the others slept. A campfire cast a warm glow.

Suddenly a nearby tree twisted and slammed its heavy branches down onto the sleeping form of Baylore the pirate. The branch missed. Baylore woke with a start. The pirate rolled onto his side and was on his feet in a flash. Without hesitation he punched the tree that attacked him as hard as he could!

CHAPTER 34

"THE VENGEANCE OF THE DROWNED FOREST"

The B-Team:

• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
• Captain Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk), Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Brenna "The Sea Witch" Myrasdottir - Chaotic Good Human Sailor and Divine Soul Sorceress, long-lost daughter of Whaler, First Mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), exiled from his clan, Ballast of the Sea Ghost.

Trees in the Night
Soon Brenna was awake and helping Baylore, Bordar, and Alot fight off the four animated trees that has shambled into their campsite in the dark. Aella rolled over and continued dozing.

Alot stabbed the tree with his short sword but had little effect on its woody trunk. Bordar swung his two magic axes in a flashing arc and chopped the trees into firewood!  Brenna cast spells of acid and cold at the trees.

The sound of battle around her finally woke Aella from her slumber. Baylore pointed at the ground beneath a tree close to him and a massive bonfire magically erupted at its roots. The tree shuffled away but Aella quickly followed up with a bonfire of her own.

Soon all four animated trees were destroyed and on fire. It was still early in the evening and the team returned to their rest.

The Effigy of Excrement
When dawn came the B-Team gathered up their gear and continued down the path illustrated on Alot's hand-drawn map. From Baylore's reconnaissance the previous day they knew that the source of the terrible smell ahead was a massive effigy of the black dragon Aulicus made of animal feces. As they approached the effigy they could see that the path narrowed to a series of small islands connected by primitive bridges and fallen trees. On the largest island was the effigy of excrement. The smell was terrible and Aella fought back the urge to gag. The sky was dark with swarms of fat black biting flies.

Brenna asked, "Well, should we swim around or go up the middle?"

The team conferred and Baylore summarized, "Up the middle."

Aella put up her hand, "Wait, I have an idea."

Aella cast a spell and summoned forth a massive wave of water. The magical tidal wave washed over the effigy, washing it away and scattering the swarm of flies into a dozen smaller swarms.

Baylore said, "Okay, everybody run. Don't stop unless you have to."

The team sprinted across the primitive bridge and across the island. They flies warmed around their heads, biting them and slowing them down. Baylore, Aella, and Bordar were preparing to run through a large group of flies when Brenna shouted, "Stop!"

They paused while Brenna cast a spell from her magical harpoon "Hearth spoon". A mote of fire flew out and exploded into a sphere of flame directly in front of the trio, singing their faces but eliminating many of the flies.

DM Note- If a swarm of flies was within twenty feet of a player character, the swarm would move towards that player character. If there were no targets within twenty feet, I rolled 1d8 and randomly moved the swarm twenty feet in that direction. 

A mass of flies swarmed Baylore. Aella shouted, "Do you need me to help?"

Baylore replied, "No! You're already injured and still recovering from being dead. I'm attracting them to me. You run and don't stop!"

Brenna was covered by a heavy swarm of biting flies and was falling behind. Alot offered to help her but she said, "I've got a plan! Go!" She dove into the murky water of the Drowned Forest and began to swim. She hoped to avoid the flies by staying under the water. Unfortunately she felt some small fish begin to swim around her, "Dammit!" she thought, "flesh-eating quippers!"

She quickly climbed out of the water to avoid the quippers. She saw Bordar covered in flies. Baylore, Alot and Aella had already escaped the area. The dwarf shouted, "I'm keeping them off you! Go!"

Aella paused in her flight. She asked Baylore, "Should I help?"

Baylore shouted, "No! They! Are! Fine! Just go!"

Once all the others were a safe distance away, Bordar used his magical boots to run at a surprising speed for a dwarf and escape the flies.

The Interrupted Rest
Once they were a quarter mile away the team decided to stop and rest. As they sat down for a breather they failed to notice the spongy heads of large mushrooms the size of children that surrounded them. The mushrooms began emitting a sound, at first like the crying of a child, then a loud wail like the bleating of a small animal in distress.

Baylore said, "Shit, it's not safe here. We should move on."

They aborted their rest and continued on their journey.

The Stone Idol
The party followed the map through the Flooded Forest. The going was difficult. The terrain was flooded and difficult to navigate. It took an hour to advance a mere quarter of a mile.

As they neared what the map told them was their destination, they spotted some smoke over the trees to the southwest. It was on the edge of a large island with a few dozen feet of elevation at its center - hardly a hill  but a veritable mountain in this lowland flooded terrain.

They arrived at the site of the smoke two hours later. It was a large stone platform. At the center was a stone shrine to Aulicus - built by human hands! A nearby stone bowl contained the ashen remains of a burned offering given up in sacrifice to the draconic god.

The party searched for an entrance to a subterranean lair but found nothing. The platform had a solid foundation. They searched the surrounding terrain within a few dozen feet of the platform but found only human footprints.

They concluded that an offering must be given to the god so they set about hunting and fishing the nearby area. They brought back game and fish and burned them in the stone brazier but nothing happened.

The sun was setting so they decided to camp on the stone platform. Baylore said, "Well, this was a waste of time. We're heading back tomorrow."

DM Note-
The platform was an unfortunately placed random encounter. I rolled random encounters for the day ahead of the game and got #3 on the Drowned Forest Oddity table.

Visible from half a mile away, smoke rises from a shrine built on large stones and dedicated to Semuanya, god of the lizardfolk. 

I just swapped out Semuanya for Aulicus. I thought my players would think its nothing and move on. I even said, "It's not important, I don't even need a map for it."

But my mistake was in placing it too near the actual destination which was in the next hex over. They were CERTAIN the entrance was within the platform. I tried to play it cool and roll with it but I could hear the frustration in their voices.

When Baylore's player suggested heading back, I nearly panicked. I was asking so many leading questions!

Brenna's player said she went hunting. So I asked specifically, "Where do you go hunting? How far away do you go?" But the player got paranoid and said she stayed closed to camp. UGH! 

I eventually gave sufficient hints, "The island is bigger than the other islands and rises a few dozen feet towards the center." that Brenna's player finally said, "Hey, I have an idea. Let me go check out the surrounding area before we leave."

Brenna's player later told me that he didn't think the destination on the map lined up with the platform, so he had his suspicions. 

The Secret Entrance
The night passed uneventfully. The next morning everyone packed up for the return trip to Waycombe. Brenna looked towards the rise at the center of the large island on which they stood.

"I've got an idea. Wait here. I'll be back in a little bit."

She headed west. The ground became dryer and easier to navigate. A quarter of a mile inland she found a small entrance into the side of a forested rocky slope.

"Ah-HAH!" she proclaimed, "I thought so!"

She returned to report her finding to the others. Instead of returning to Waycombe they went went towards the entrance.

The B-Team descended the stairs. They found themselves standing in a dark cave. The sound of rushing water from a nearby subterranean waterfall was deafening. Water dripped from stalactites onto the rocky ground. It was completely dark beyond the bottom of the stairs.

Baylore looked around. He, Aella, and Bordar could see well enough in the gloom but Alot and Brenna would be blind. "Alot, can you hold a torch?"

Alot held up his shield and his magical short sword, "Nope. I need them both."

He asked Brenna and Aella, "Do either of you know any light spells?"

They both shook their heads. Aella said, "No way. That would be useful."

Brenna added, "What do you think we are, wizards? We're sorcerers! We can't cast utility spells!"

Baylore sighed in frustration.

Brenna said, "Okay, fine! Alot, light a torch and give it to me. I'll carry it."

DM Note-
I made Brenna's token a source of light in Roll20.

The party cautiously explored the cave. They estimated the danger of the waterfall and the swiftness of the current. Aella said, "Hey, there's a passage over here that slopes down sharply!"

They descended the slope and entered a flooded room supported by four pillars. The water was ankle deep and smelled like rotting meat. In the corner of the room Alot saw a pallid misshapen humanoid with waxy skin, fangs, and long claws.

"Ghoul!" said Bordar, "We'd sometimes find them in the deep parts of abandoned mines!"

Before the ghoul even noticed their approach Brenna had sent the icy hand of a Chill Touch spell to freeze the ghoul. Baylore pointed a finger at the undead creature and a mote of fire shot across the room, striking the ghoul. The ghoul was quickly dispatched.

To their horror two additional ghouls were lurking in the far corners of the room. The ghouls rushed towards Alot and Bordar in the front. Alot dispatched one and moved around the second. Bordar attacked the second with his axes Smite and Fury. Aella, Baylore, and Brenna finished off the final ghoul with fire bolts and chilled touches.

They were in a flooded subterranean room with three doors.

To Be Continued...

Bloodshed in Burle - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 33

After surviving the ambush at the Robin's Breast Inn, the B-Team continued to Burle on their way to the Drowned Forest.

They arrived in Burle in the late afternoon. Burle is a small farming community built around a fortified keep. The community represents an alliance between the knights of Keoland and the elves and fey of the Dreadwood known as the Wild Flame Pact. Together the alliance defends the region against the incursions of the cults of elemental evil as well as the bandits of the Hool marsh. The keep of Burle sits atop a hill with a commanding view of the nearby Silverstand forest, the Janustream river, and the miles of farmland  that separate it from the Dreadwood. At the center of town is a massive oak tree, hundreds of feet tall, named Wander Root. Wander Root is the subject of veneration by a group of druids. Indeed, unlike many walled cities, Burle encourages the growth of trees and undergrowth within its walls. As a result the interior of Burle resembles a wooded park.

The sun was setting as the B-Team approached Burle. The first thing they noticed was that the buildings outside the city walls were abandoned and several of them had been burned down to the foundation. The crops were left in the field. No one was outside the walls. The town still appeared to be inhabited. Indeed the town appeared to be locked down for a siege, yet no besieging forces could be seen and no evidence of one having had existed could be found. 

The B-Team passed by the abandoned Tree Maiden Inn and arrived outside the East Gate. The gate was closed. Elven guards stood atop the walls. No one called to greet them.

Alot called out and requested entry. No one answered.

A voice called to them from the nearby Tree Maiden Inn, "Hey. Hey. Over here. They're not going to let you in. Its getting dark. It's not safe out here. Come inside. Alot, I have something to give you."

It was Busby, the last refugee from Waycombe. 

CHAPTER 33

"BLOODSHED IN BURLE"

The B-Team:

• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
• Captain Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk), Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Brenna "The Sea Witch" Myrasdottir - Chaotic Good Human Sailor and Divine Soul Sorceress, long-lost daughter of Whaler, First Mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), exiled from his clan, Ballast of the Sea Ghost.

Busby

"Alot, Aella, it is good to see you again," said the innkeeper from Waycombe, "Come in. Here, let me get you a drink."

Aella asked for a cider while Alot declined. Brenna ordered a rum, Baylore a whisky, and Bordar an ale. 

Aella apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't remember you." 

"No surprise," replied Busby, "When we first met you had a bad case of the brain jellies. I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Busby. I was the last one out of Waycombe. I met you and Alot and your other companions the day I left. That was a little over two months ago now. You were headed into the Drowned Forest looking for Sakatha. I'm sorry about what happened to your companions."

Busby answered what questions he could about Burle. He said that people started disappearing about a month ago. Entire households just vanished, both within and outside the town walls. Watches were increased but then the night watch-men began disappearing! Farmers and villagers retreated into the town gates and the town was locked up. Those who tried to shelter in their homes were burned out. A few witnesses said they saw humans - some were bandits from the Hool Marsh, some were soldiers from the first expedition from Burle, some were those who had been recently kidnapped! All had pallid ashen skin and this glazed look on their faces. It was Waycombe all over again! 

"So far I've managed to stay hidden and safe." Busby said, "You're welcome to stay here tonight. But you best set a watch."

Alot said, "No need to set a watch. I'll stand sentinel."

"That reminds me!" said Busby, "You gave me something the last time you and Aella came through Burle."

"We did WHAT?" said Aella.

"Yeah, about a week after you went into the Drowned Forest in fact. You and Alot came out. You BOTH had the brain jellies! You didn't talk much. You were on your way back to Saltmarsh. But you gave me something, Alot. Hold on." Busby went to a cupboard and retrieved a folded piece of parchment. "Here, you gave me this. It's addressed to YOU!"

He handed Alot the folded parchment. Indeed, it said "TO ALOT" in Alot's own handwriting. Alot opened it. It was a map, drawn by his own hand, with notes in his own handwriting. He had no memory of having made it. The map indicated a route from Waycombe to something called the "Secret Entrance". 

DM Note-

I had the map uploaded as a handout in Roll20 but only I could see it. When Busby handed it to Alot, I changed its visibility to Alot. When Alot decided to share it with everyone, I changed the visibility to All Players.

Killers in the Night

That night the B-Team took rest in the abandoned Tree Maiden Inn. Busby took the room of the former innkeeper. Bordar took a room and Aella took another room. Baylore and Brenna dozed in chairs by the fireplace in the dining hall. Alot lit several candles in the dining hall and stood in silent watch. 

Several hours before dawn, dark figures crept through the bushes outside the inn. One carefully opened a window into Bordar's room and silently climbed inside. Two opened the main entrance and crept up behind Alot. A fourth entered through the rear entrance and silently moved in on Brenna. A fifth went around the building towards Aella's window. 

The dark figure in Bordar's room stood over the sleeping dwarf, raised its short sword, and brought it down twice! The viscous stabbing failed to kill Bordar outright. The dwarf cried out in pain and quickly rolled off his bed. He called out the alarm and grabbed his two magic axes from their position on a table on the other side of the room. 

Alot spun around just in time to see the two assailants. they were clad in dark clothing and had long scarves wrapped around their heads and necks to conceal their faces. Their eyes had a glazed lifeless quality. The two intruders attacked the automaton but failed to penetrate his durable armor. Alot eliminated one foe while the other fled down a darkened hallway. 

Baylore sprang from his chair and ran to Bordar's aid. Baylore threw open the door to Bordar's room. Bordar's attacker wore similar clothing to the ones in the dining room. Bordar and Baylore cornered and quickly defeated the intruder. 

Alot followed his fleeting attacker into a darkened room. He stood their in the darkness, unable to see any target, waiting for his opponent to reveal himself by attacking in the dark. The attack never came. His opponent had fled into the night. He returned to the main room. 

Despite the fighting around her, Brenna remained asleep in her chair. She eventually heard the clamor of battle and jumped out of her chair. However, she was alone in the room. All the fighting seemed to be in other rooms. Before she could rush to join her allies, an unnoticed intruder sneaked up behind her and stabbed her in the side. 

DM Note-

Sleeping PCs must make a Perception skill check vs. 10 to wake up. If they're asleep in a dark room with the doors closed, the roll is made with Disadvantage. If someone called out the alarm, nudges them awake, or if they're in a room surrounded by combat, the roll is made with Advantage. 

Brenna screamed and turned. She cast a spell and the room reverberated with the gonging of a massive bell. The intruder covered his ears but was still shaken to his core.  Hearing the bell, Baylore and Bordar came running into the room. Likewise did Alot return. The intruder, realizing he had failed and was not outnumbered, turned and fled through the rear exit. Bordar threw both his axes at the fleeing intruder but missed. His axes lodged themselves in the wall behind the bar. 

Meanwhile, Aella continued to sleep in her room. Unbeknownst to her, an intruder had climbed into her room through the window. The intruder stabbed her in her bed! Before she knew what was happening, the intruder had retreated back out through the window. 

Aella burst out of bed, covered in her own blood. She took a deep breath and surveyed her surroundings. She was still alive but badly injured. She looked out the open window in order to see her intruder. 

The intruder had been waiting for this! The intruder stabbed her again in the neck. She fell down limp onto the window sill. The intruder grabbed her hair and sliced her throat. The intruder turned and saw one of his brethren emerge from a back door with Baylore close behind.

DM Note-

Aella's player said "I'm down" and I was prepared for my assassin to let go and move away. But Baylore's player demands a harder edge to his games. He knew my assassin had one attack left. He said, "Don't you dare move away! Finish the job! He's a killer! He'd finish the job!" and I said, "You're absolutely right." (roll with Advantage against a helpless enemy) "Aella, take some more damage and automatically fail two death saves!" 

Baylore's player was pleased.

Baylore chased the intruder out of the back door. He caught up to the intruder and punched him several times. The intruder fell to the ground unconscious. 

Baylore thought he heard another over by the window to Aella's room. Although Baylore had excellent night vision, it was too far away to make out clearly. He ran forward and saw Aella lying lifeless in the windowsill. There was no sign of her killer.

Back inside, Alot inspected one of the dead intruders. His eyes had been smeared with some kind of magical salve - no doubt some alchemical ointment that allowed the intruders to see in the dark.

Brenna checked on Busby. Busby was still asleep in the innkeeper's room. The room was designed to be insulated from the noise of a rowdy inn. Brenna woke Busby and told him what happened.

Baylore dragged his prisoner into the inn and tied him to a chair. To his dismay, the prisoner had the same vacant stare as someone with the brain jellies - just like their attackers at the Robin's Breast Inn. 

Baylore asked Busby if the other attackers that harassed Burle dressed or acted like these. Busby said they did not. Busby said that those were run of the mill bandits and farmers. Not trained assassins like these. 

Baylore looked at the others.

"This was not random. This was a hit. We're still being targeted."

Aella's Body
No one could go back to sleep. They all sat in the main room until dawn. No one spoke. Aella's body lay on the floor nearby.

Baylore broke the silence, "What are we going to do with Aella's body?"

Brenna said, "I have heard that some priests can bring murder victims back from the dead. But they have to be very powerful priests. The priests in Seaton couldn't even perform a divination. I doubt there's anyone in Burle would could do it."

Busby shook his head, "You're right. There are a few local priests but nothing like that."

Baylore suggested, "Maybe not a priests, but I think druids can bring people back to life."

Brenna said, "Well, they can reincarnate people, bring their souls back into new bodies. You don't have to be a very powerful druid to do that I think."

Busby said, "There's a whole circle of druids in Burle. It's part of that town's whole tree thing."

Baylore said, "Then maybe there's a druid in  Burle who can reincarnate her."

Alot said, "If we can get in."

Baylore agreed, "If we can get in."

Wander Root
At dawn they took Aella's corpse to the gates of Burle. They were once again met by elven guards atop the walls. The elven guards expressed condolences for their loss but once again denied the party entry.

Alot tried to persuade them, explaining that Aella was on a quest to stop Sakatha. The guards remained unconvinced.

Baylore stepped forward, holding Aella's body, and shouted at the guards, demanding to be let in.

"If you want this to stop, you'll help us! Let us in!"

The guard was shaken and began to reiterate his orders but was interrupted by a booming voice like the sound of thunder from the center of the town. The voice was like the breaking of a tree trunk accented by the wind through the leaves. It spoke an elvish word with a bass tenor that shook the ground and vibrated the bones. The elvish guard froze and looked back. The guard quivered in his chastisement.

The voice continued, more measured but still thunderous.

The guard nodded and issued commands to those around him. Moments later the gate was open and the portcullis raised.

The guard said, "The great Wander Root has spoken on your behalf and has granted you entry. He requests your presence."

The team was led into the village of Burle. Inside the walls were huddled families living in tents on the street - refugees from the farms outside the walls. Dozens of people lined the street to watch the newcomers. The team walked to a park in the center of town which was dominated by a mountainous oak tree. The oak tree was surrounded by robed druids, aspirants, and ovates.

The oak tree twisted and presented a wooden face that resembled an wizened human male.

The oak tree spoke in heavily accented common speech. Its voice was deep and sonorous with an edge that sounded like wind through a leafy canopy. "Welcome to Burle. I am Wander Oak. I am Archdruid of the Circle of the Flame Pact. Aella's mission and her sacrifice is known to me. Place your fallen comrade before me."

Brenna asked, "Can you reincarnate her?"

The face on the tree looked bemused, "Yes. But I can also return her to life. Which would you prefer?"

Baylore responded, "We wish to return her to life, please."

Brenna muttered under her breath, "I was really hoping to see what she'd return as."

Alot shushed her.

Wander Oak informed the team that a sacrifice was required. They would need to provide the druids with a diamond of great value. They searched through their belongings and found a necklace taken from the vault on Leper Island. "Will this do?"

They gave the necklace to Wander Oak who took it in one of the spindly ends of a long thick branch. The great animated oak tree closed its wooden eyes and began chanting a ritual. The ring of druids joined him. The long branch reached down and the spindly ends touched Aella's body like tiny fingers. The ends began to glow.

The ritual lasted for an hour. And its end the glow became a blinding flash. The chanting abruptly stopped. The diamond necklace was gone. Aella took a deep desperate inhalation as if she just emerged from the water. Her wounds were healed. She was alive.

Alot, Baylore, and Brenna rushed to her side and helped her up.

Alot asked, "How are you feeling?"

Aella replied that she felt weak and tired, not all there.

Brenna asked, "Are you able to travel?"

Alot suggested, "No! We should rest a few days."

Brenna glared at Alot, "We may not HAVE a few days!"

Aella assured them, "No, I can travel. Lets go. I'll probably be fine by the time we get to Waycombe."

Baylore addressed Wander Root, "Thank you!"

The gargantuan tree twisted back to its original position and once again became a mighty oak.

The Drowned Forest
The B-Team set off immediately towards Waycombe, the village on the edge of the Drowned Forest that was destroyed by Sakatha's thugs over two months ago.

The four hour hike from Burle to Waycobe was uneventful. They arrived in the ruins of Waycombe just after noon.

DM Note-
The PCs were placed onto a map at the edge of the Drowned Forest with "Fog of War" turned on. From their vantage point in Waycombe they could see the forests around them. 

Aella looked around and looked at the map, "I think we should go this way. Those trees over there correspond with this part of the map."

DM Note-
I was so proud of Aella's player for spotting that (sniff). 

Alot said, "Okay, let's go."

Baylore cautioned, "Wait, you don't remember drawing this map. What if it points to a trap?"

Alot paused, "Is there any other alternative?"

Brenna said, "What about this Stephen DeMannis guy you two keep talking about? Who's he?"

Aella said, "He's a crazy guy who led us there the first time. I don't even know if he's still alive."

Brenna replied, "Well, let's go see?"

Aella said, "I- really don't think he'd be much help. His route was basically backtracking the route he used when he escaped Sakatha. It went all over the place and took us several days. Plus he eats bugs. He's really not very reliable."

Alot added, "I say we see where this map goes."

Brenna shrugged, "Okay."

After hiking two miles through the forest on dry land for an hour the team reached the edge of the drowned forest. Ahead of them the forest narrowed into a thin finger of muddy land covered in trees.

The Drowned Forest was a maze of muddy strips of land covered in thickets and trees separated by narrow channels of murky brown water. The route they took last time used a raft to navigate through the water-ways. The route outlined on the map led the team down the narrow forested islands. The ground was at best muddy and submerged under up to three feet of fetid water at worst. The going was slow. They were barely able to manage a quarter-mile of progress for every hour of arduous hiking through sticky mud and dense overgrowth.

DM Note-
Each hex represented a quarter mile. As they moved from hex to hex, I would reveal every hex around them on Roll20. I pre-rolled random encounters and when they would occur. It was simply a matter of where would they occur.

Late in the afternoon the party encountered an atrocious smell. The smell seemed to come from the strip of land before them.

Baylore told the others to wait here while he scouted it out.

Baylore struck out on his own to reconnoiter. He cautiously crept through the thickets and trees. He could hear a strange buzzing that permeated the air like bass electricity. He finally reached an clearing. The trees had been torn out of the mud by the roots creating an open area sixty feet in diameter. At the center of the clearing was a massive pile of animal dung. The skies were dark with clouds of flies.

The pile of animal dung was at least twenty feet high and twenty feet around.

It was shaped into the crude form of a black dragon!

Baylore returned to the others and reported what he saw. There was no way around it. They would have to go past the giant effigy of dung or they'd have to swim.

But first, the sun was going down. They'd set camp and tackle it in the morning.

To be Continued...