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• Aros – Lightfoot Halfling, Rogue
  • Rubber Ducky of Inspiration
• Galiena Erenaeth – Half Elf, Celestial Warlock / Druid
  • Dearbhán – NPC, Fairy Dragon (Galiena’s pet)
  • NPCs:
    • Waesyn Oakenpath – Human (Fighter)
    • Balgun Sternrest – Elf (Ranger)
    • Darko Wintersage – NPC, Undead Wizard (Flame Skull)

• The party sees movement on the other side of the lake, that seems to indicate the “stinky fish people” that the Duergar warned about

• As the party discusses various options to lure the “stinky fish people” towards them to try and take them out along the edges, Galiena observes the cave, the height, the width, and immediately calls upon a spell from deep within and calls down lightning on the stinky fish people village

• Most of the stinky fish people die from the lightning strike; those who survive, averting their eyes from the bright flash; the bright flash however, (Waesyn critical fail on stealth) reveals the party on the other side of the lake for those that do see them

• As combat starts, Aros throws down his Snowball Terrain Changer which proves to be beneficial, as the “stinky fish people” now identified as Troglodytes by Balgun use their chameleon like abilities to blend into the surroundings; they’re leaving footprints in the snow making them easier to identify where they’re standing
• During the battle, the troglodytes prove to be quite effective in battle, striking quite frequently with their multiattack, as well as landing an occasional critical. Aros, who cut one from beneath Waesyn’s legs, seems to think the battle is going well, however, Waesyn slips in the beasts entrails and falls into the water, pulling Aros with him into the water (Critical fail on an attack from Waesyn)

• The duo are able to eventually get out of the water and continue the fight, having left Galiena to resort to her Primal Savagery ability to try and defend herself and fight, while Balgun shoots arrows at them from behind her and the fight comes to an end; the party heads over to the Troglodyte village and discovers the charred remains, and the few others who had survived and not attacked had fled into the depths of the lake. The party decides to take a short rest here.
• During Aros’ watch, a beast slumbers out of the cavern exit near them, and seems more interested in the dead Troglodyte corpses the heroes had just finished slaying earlier, as it devours the remains

• The party decides that it will probably head for the village next and look for more remains and that it’s best to get out of there. Waesyn mentions it’s best to hide their scent and rubs guano on his body. As they try to stealth – Galiena makes a sound and Waesyn quickly rubs quano all over her body and tells her to stand still. She checks again, and this time is a critical success.
• She drops some coins – and draws the creature’s attention and she hears Waesyn whisper, “Be one with the wall.” Galiena freezes (Natural 20) – then moves again (Critical Fail, burns a Necklace Inspiration and succeeds!)

• They move further down – and enter a cave, and there Aros spots a number of stirges clinging to the ceiling
• Aros whispers, “Please stop talking. They’re all over the cave.”
• Galiena who had just had Waesyn rub guano all over her to avoid the other beast, can’t see anything…

• Aros whispers, “Waesyn, can you carry her to make sure she doesn’t trip and alert the stirges to us?”
• Waesyn smiles and nods, “Gladly. I have strong arms, unlike your puny halfling arms.” He then picks up Galiena and slings her over his shoulder, firmly place his hand on her rump to hold her – and undoubtedly just to have his hands there.
• “I do not like this,” Galiena growls in a soft whisper
• “That’s what we’re trying to tell you,” Waesyn’s loud whisper replies. “You’ve only got one volume and it’s: Ah! I’m falling! Ah! I’m falling!“
• Galiena elbows Waesyn on the back of the head, while being held up, “Oh, sorry,” she replies in a snarky voice. “My elbow slipped because I am trying to wipe guano out of my eyes.”
• The party quietly moves through the stirge cave and comes to see who they have been tracking…

• Hundreds of stirges are in this cave with him
• The bat-boy lands on the branch, “What do you want?”
• “We’ve come to help you,” Aros explains, pulling out the vial.
• “Are you trying to poison me? I’ve done no harm! I’ve fed on rats and wild animals! No humans! Go away before I make the stirges attack you!” the boy growls
• “We helped one of your friends with a cure,” Aros explains
• “The Satyr, Ossis,” Galiena adds
• At this the boy’s expression softens
• “You know Ossis?” he asks
• “Yes, we found him high up in the cave and saw he’d been cursed,” Aros and Galiena explain, “and a friend of ours found a way to cure him. When he did, he told us about you – how, even while he was cursed you came and gave him food and offerings at the base of the mountain – until one day, he said you too were cursed. He asked us to find you and try to save you. Our friend believes that the potion she’s devised will counteract your lycanthropy. She believes one of the stirges may have bitten someone who was infected with lycanthropy then bit you later; and the unique way that the stirges devour and process blood, change the lycanthropy and changed you into what you are now. But this potion can help you.”
• The party convinces the boy to quaff the potion – and after much screaming and vomiting, the boy is finally restored and his first words are, “I can’t hear the stirges’ voices anymore,” and he sounds a little sad about it.

• “What do you mean?” Aros asks, still hearing the stirges clittering about on the cave ceiling
• “I used to be able to speak with them,” Grotte explains. “Now I don’t feel that connection anymore. We should be careful,” he advises, “they will no longer listen to me.”
• Aros asks Grotte, “Do you know of another way out of here? To get down here we had to pass by some … questionable dwarves.”
• “The dark dwarves,” he nods. “Yes, they are not good people. They often go raid the beaches and find people who have washed ashore Eaglerock and drag them into their slave pit to mine for metals. Since finding them a week ago, I have tried to do something to help the people – but most will not flee, even when my stirges and I were distracting and attacking the dark dwarves… they would shoot and kill many of the stirges, and managed to hurt me a few times with their crossbow bolts…”
• He then adds, “By the sea-lake, they often make their slaves mine for copper, nickel, silver, platinum, gold, and even gemstones that are on the lake’s bottom floor, washing in from a hole deep beneath the lake and into the sea-lake through sheer force of the rivers.”
• The party makes it back to the Troglodyte village – and see that the Otyugh has moved on to the village and devouring the charred remains of the Troglodyte. Seeing the creature, Waesyn, without asking begins rubbing mud on Galiena. “You make so much noise,” he whispers. “Be one with the mud.”
• “It’s not mud, Waesyn,” Galiena growls. “It’s guano.”
• The party manages to stealth past the Otyugh successfully
• Further down – near the Divide, the party feels it’s safer to take the longer route and go down to the Sea-Lake rather than go through the Duergar village again
• As they veer off down that path, as they’re walking – voices come from up ahead, speaking of another fine mining session – and the party leaps into the nearby shrubbery of plants and mushrooms as four Duergar slavers walk by with four humanoids shackled in chains….

To Be Continued…