Episode 4: Bogged Down (Part 1)

Game date: 1/28/2015

Quest Information

 * Date: 19th-21st Tammuz, 837
 * Title: Bogged Down
 * Special note: this adventure was based on "Bogged Down", by Terry Edwards, originally published in Dungeon Magazine #91. It was modified to fit this campaign." If anyone knows Terry, feel free to point him to this Wiki. The moderator would love to provide a link to any current works, blogs, etc. as a token of appreciation.
 * Level: 3
 * Location: Bearden's Crossing

Primary Cast

 * Dylan Minglewood, halfling bard
 * Ket-Ramat, human fighter-rogue
 * Lugal, human Mage of Learning
 * Shoklen, human ranger and hunter

Supporting Cast

 * Rethnik, young halfling and cousin to Dylan
 * Jaiman, halfling cranberry farmer, father of Rethnik and uncle of Dylan
 * Father Denethan, halfling cleric of Yondalla, the Provider
 * Eural Dunaman, halfling mayor of Bearden's Landing
 * Haiman Gaith, halfling constable of Bearden's landing
 * Human town guards
 * Ualeyn, lizard man
 * Nebel, lizard man (recently deceased)
 * The Bog Mummy

Summary
Ket, Lugal, and Shoklen, having just finished clearing Ag-Rakade's crypts of the necromancer, are approached by Dylan and his young cousin, Rethnik. Apparently, Rethnik rode for two days on a turnip cart from their home village of Bearden's Crossing, just to find them. It seems three days ago, after a particularly nasty storm blew from the southwest, some bodies floated from the nearby Sapannu Swamp in to his uncle's cranberry bogs. It appears the storm disturbed the cemetery from the old village that was consumed by the swamp fifty years or more ago. The local cleric, Father Denethan, has sent the boy for help. He'd like the party to enter the nearby swamp, and investigate the old cemetery. There may be nothing wrong, but you can never be too careful when trying to avoid an undead infestation.

Borrowing a draft horse and wagon, the party takes the two days to travel to Bearden's Crossing. The first thing they come across is the cranberry bog and, sure enough, they see halflings poking at the bog with sticks, and four corpses covered and laying on the grass. Overseeing the work is the farmer, Jaiman, and the cleric, Father Denethan. Rethnik's tale is true: a storm hit the village five days ago, and since then, bodies have been floating in to the bog. The village has been salvaging them, and giving them proper reburials. However, something more disturbing happened the prior night. The farmer was attacked by something that exited the swamp near his farm. Whatever it was didn't linger, it was dark and the farmer didn't get the best look at it. Father Denethan tended his wound, it will heal in time.

Following the farmer's direction, Shoklen tracked the beast. Apparently, the creature went to the mayor's house. The party, after being granted an audience by his human guards, had a short conversation with the friendly mayor, Eural Dunaman. He laughed off the notion of an attack, and also laughed off the notion that something nefarious lives in the swamp (other than maybe some lizardmen). He thinks the party is wasting their time, chasing superstitions, but he does wish them well.

Shoklen leads the party in the opposite direction, tracing the beast back to where it came. Fortunately, Shoklen spent a great deal of time in this swampland when he served his mentor, a lizardman shaman, in his youth, and had no trouble following the trail of ... whatever it was that made it. Barely an hour in, they encountered the old town cemetery. Bearden's Crossing has historically been a town on the move: the swamp migrates northward, and the village migrates northward to escape it. Erosion seemed to get the better of the old cemetery, but for now, it seems the worst the storm could muster has been done. The remaining stones, and the contents underneath, are solid and not at risk.

After a few hours more, still following the trail of whatever creature attacked Jaiman, the party encountered a lizard man named Ualeyn. He had just discovered his missing brother, Nebel, dead in the swamp water. Apparently Nebel was killed by something short: the arteries in his legs were severed by claws, or perhaps fingers. Shoklen helped Ualeyn retrieve the body and, in return, the lizard man gave him a little information. He does not know what creature stalks the swamp, but he does know of a harmless white witch who lives there. Otherwise, he thanked Shoklen for his help, promised to be on the lookout for the creature, and returned to his own village, deep in the swamp.

The party continues onward, and follows the muddled trail through the swamp. It criss-crossed other trails, but Shoklen kept the party on-point, heading further west. Eventually, late in the day, the party came across some very old buildings, apparently the remnants of a much older version of Bearden's Crossing. After a dicey encounter with some large centipedes -- whose poison almost killed Ket -- they found the beast of the swamp. The bog mummy, the size of a halfling, jumped out at Shoklen and attacked the party. After some effort, the party was able to defeat the creature, but not before they discerned words from its snarling: "murder", and "Eural".

Dylan was curious about this creature: a long-dead halfling, wearing old leather armor, living in the old village. He remembered an old story: about 20 years ago, then-mayor Sethellen and his wife, Irewyn, disappeared one night. They were never found, the tale was some rogue lizard men kidnapped them and murdered them. This doesn't jive with the knowledge Shoklen has of those creatures, they are harmless unless attacked, and the halflings are too wise to provoke them. Something doesn't quite make sense here: why would a long-dead halfling speak of Eural? If this is the former mayor, Sethellen, then where is his wife? Could it be the white witch the lizard man spoke of? One other little tidbit: around the neck of the bog mummy rested a vial, a vial identical to the vial Dylan has worn around his neck for over a decade. Could the capricious songwriter be tied to the mysteries of Bearden's Crossing?

[To be continued]

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