On the first day of Thaumont, in the year 1000 of the Thatian calendar, a small group of adventurers gathered together for the first time in the village of Westwind. They had answered the call of a local magic-user, Barglos Karatzas, to investigate the environs of the nearby Blight Swamp in search of certain ingredients the magic-use had need of for his various arcane research projects.
Those who answered the call included the sons of some of the oldest and best respected farming families.
Among these were Brother Gyles, an acolyte of the local faith, Davon Dembleton, a slim youth possessed of a certain set of skills.
Others who were not native to the village also attended the meeting— the distant elven cousins Caelthorn and Moradan and a stout dwarven lad named Thoradin who hailed from the hills outside of Miere village a day’s travel from Westwind.
When it was clear no others were responding, the magic-user made his offer to each of the attendees. In exchange for twenty gold pieces apiece and the acknowledgement that they could keep any treasure they should acquire free and clear, they would travel into the depths of the Blight Swamp in search of the petals of a flowering plant believed to be unique to the marshy terrain.
The group agreed and set off together then next day with little more than a rough set of directions and a great deal of ambition!
After a day’s hike, they reached a set of ruined standing stones, whereupon they would switch course northwesterly and into the swamp. At the ruins, they encountered a bedraggled hermit who offered to take them to the proper entrance to the swamp in exchange for a bit of spiked cider. As they arrived at the edge of the marshes, they were ambushed by two swamp cougars and then Caelthorn was backstabbed by the hermit, who turned out to be quite mad. The cougars, whom the mad hermit called Bunnyboo and Hunnydoo, were dispatched, and then the hermit himself was dealt with. A number of the party having been badly wounded, they camped for several days to rest and recuperate.
They then set off again into the swamp proper. In time they realized they would need to make rafts to travel, as patches of dry ground appeared further and further between. They decided to take the time necessary to fashion the rafts out of localized materials and each night, they were observed by three humanoid heads peeking at them slightly out of the nearby waterline. After a few nights, the concealed visitors would attempt to make contact and soon, the party responded and the two sides met.
The party accepted the offer and the lizardfolk gave them four gords filled with an antivenom that would be effective for warm blooded creatures, but not for more coldblooded creatures such as the lizardfolk.
The next morning they set off in the direction the lizardfolk sent them. Floating along on their rafts they came upon a growing number of webs strung between the cypresses. The further they went, the more numerous the webs became, until they realized they were traveling in a mazelike arrangement drawing them toward the predators the lizardfolk feared.
At the heart of the maze was a very large, webbed dome. The adventurers secured their rafts to a large cypress tree, only to be taunted by chittering, alien voices. “warm blood,” the voices taunted, “Warm blood for us to feast upon!”
When darkness descended, the predators attacked.
Two gigantic black widow spiders descended upon the adventurers and their rafts and battle was joined. After a harrowing confrontation, the party emerged victorious and took the carcasses of the deadly spiders as proof of their success.
The lizardfolk were true to their word and not only told the adventurers that they would guide them to their desired destination the following morning, the chief also gifted them with a large ingot of gold!
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