2024-02-28 SLAG 001
Notebook
The Swamp
Awakening
I awoke in a swamp.
...and I don't remember anything.
I don't appear to have been robbed, but I was definitely... something-ed.
I found myself as wet as a hungry Toss'Em... or maybe as wet a fat-bellied Lorgenfish, I suppose...
Nearby, a three other souls came to in seemingly similar circumstances:
- Zelda, strong-willed and impulsive, cleric of Nix (a cat god)
- Pim, disturbingly friendly, but has shown nothing but actual kindness and generosity.
- Aldric, a priest of Tempus, a very capable fellow... and a hard-lined zealot with a bellicose demeanor
How did we wind up in this swamp?
Gaining our Bearings
I remember I was heading to a rural town... but the name escapes me now. Troubling.
I can taste the brackish water and these broken-glass trees and grey mosses tell me we're in a coastal swamp. It's a little hard to say, maybe we are between tide cycles, but I feel pretty confident that the ocean lies eastward.
Of note, no marshlands were on my route to the coast.
Zelda took to a tree and found a small village lies to our west, a little past a ruined stone tower.
The Pond at the Tower
We tried to stay dry as we moved towards the ruined tower. It was blocked off by a large, still-water pond - lilly pads and clumps of algae, bugs everywhere. Maybe this was a lighthouse? I don't know, but it's broken in half now.
Pim tried to manifest a land bridge, but there was no compaction and he took a tumble into the mud and, for a moment at least, lost his boot.
Zelda used the step magic to spirit herself across the pond. Our priestly Harengon bounded it nearly the whole way, and the friendly guy rafted over on a block of ice he formed from the swamp itself. I lacked the magic and the rompin' skills to find my way across, but sweet Pim was kind enough to ferry me as he had himself.
A faded and broken sign on the tower read Slaglight... yet that name means nothing to me.
The Tower
We found a set of spiral stairs go down and it's dark
20ft down and the stairs end in hallway with ankle deep water about 5ft wide and surrounded by mossy stones
Zelda sniffed at the air for something, but found nothing amiss. What in Simsa's name did she hope to find with her nose?
She is headstrong and impatient... and for some reason, though it is far from practical and I fear will continue to make for rough going, I do find I am drawn to her energy.
...Also drawn to her energy? The poison darts she activated by accidentally tripping a trap - but she proved herself deft enough and avoided them.
We reached a "T" at the end of the hallway and found a sturdy steel door ahead. No ordinary door, this.
- To our Left, about 10ft away the path is collapsed upon itself.
- To our Right, about 20 ft away is a wooden door, bound with iron
The wooden door is not quite right, but I can't tell what's up with it... until it disintegrated upon a simple bit of Thaumaturgy by Zelda. I think it was just weak from age... and rot.
With the door gone, Man in Rags was revealed sitting in rags by a fire who jumped up in alarm.
Man in Rags
He was understandably wary of us - our introduction was... explosive. He wears two daggers at his hip but does not seem to be a threat in this moment.
Zelda and Nix enamor the man - but perhaps too much... he approached too closely and she slapped his hand away from touching Nix. And Nix... reacted. A darkness overcame the space, different from a lack of light... almost a palpable thing - and then, just as quickly, it burst into light.
Traveling with a god, or even an avatar, is strange business.
Aldric threatens the man. Deuce tells him to knock it off.
Pim tried to detect magic on the steel door but got too distracted being chatty.
Zelda, impetuous at the delay, got zapped by the steel door.
Zelda steals this man's two daggers, Pim replaces one for the man from his own kit.
Questions
Where are we?
- This is Slaglight Tower
- The swamp is call The Shadows and that dark business(?) pervades.
- Somewhere south of Karthan.
- not Telemon (? Not sure what this note means)
What's nearby?
- Copmora, a small village up on the hill, hour or so away
Why are you in the swamp?
- Collecting something valuable. Wouldn't say what it was.
Metal Door
- Has a keyhole area with a complex shape, roughly hexagonal
- The door is sentient, but not a ton of personality...
- loaded with magic protections of all types
- Pim tries to trick the door into opening up. No luck.
Mission/Task
We head westward, toward the town
Trek to the Village
The Croc
After about 20min... movement! A croc! The group leapt into action and bested it quickly.
I actually don't think Pim killed it, but rather sort of zapped the will out of it. Strange.
It convulsed and, out of its mouth, it produced a coin purse and a hand clutching a vial
Pim, who landed the "killing" blow, and, might I add who took a terrible beating from the foul beast's tail in the process, was awarded the main prize.
Aldric picked up the vial, and with it the clutching hand. He keeps hand and vial in his alms box. An oddfellow to keep the hand. I am confused by this one.
Loot
The Village of Copmora
We emerged from the shallows onto a small rise covered in soggy grasses and we saw a small path with the a sleepy little village just ahead.
A young girl with a basket was heading down the path towards us and... seemed terrified to see us, dropped her basket and ran back into town yelling
"Wanderers! Wanderers!"
Our entrance was more of an event than I'd hoped it would be.
In the town, there was a single two-story building and a smattering of other buildings. Only this main structure, we later learned is The Wayward Wanderer, had some stone to reinforce it, all else and others being of wood.
Everyone stopped and stared at us, but only for a moment... then they all ran screaming to little hidey spots. Zelda sought to return the lost basket, but the woman behind the door was completely terrified of us.
In short order, we found ourselves flanked by a rag-tag militia of sorts, led by a woman we would learn was named Helga.
They pleaded "we've already given" but we were initially unable to persuade them that we're not these Wanderers they mistook us for.
In a show of good faith, we allowed them to inspect us, and they took extra time to look us all over, even the backs of our necks... they were looking for a mark which, thankfully, they did not find.
The Copmora Militia
- a woman with a rusty sword appears to be in charge, her name: Helga
- A man in a blacksmith apron
- 3 younger gents, all with crossbows
- a boy, with a crossbow
The Wayward Wanderer
The Wayward Wanderer
Is the nice building we saw. Inside, a handful of tables, only one occupied. Not a happening joint
Barkeeper, Fiona
Fiona
a room each
quoted at 1gp apiece... Pim happily paid using the loot from the croc, but Zelda felt we were being fleeced and refused the room. For myself, I don't know this place and I wasn't paying, so I stayed quiet. I think Aldric was on the same page.
3gp from Pim for 3 rooms... negotiated to be for the week (I think). No food though.
A Chat with Helga
Who are these Wanderers?
- brigands that raid the town about once a month
- 6 or more at a time, reinforcements all around, west, north
Our lost memory was interesting to her, but she didn't offer much else... except a bargain.
If we help them get rid of wanderers, she will make it right for us. Ambiguous... but we don't have much else to go on...
Mission/Task
A New Marking
a startled cry and a villager came in to let Helga know that Lilithene has been marked
What does it mean to be Marked?
gone within a week
A question to ask next time:
"What day is, how long has it been since we remember"
to try to get an idea the amount of time since we lost our memories.