Session 55

The Party continued their search of the area but was unable to find any conclusive tracks of where the hunter had come from. They continued heading eastward, ever deeper into The Mire of Turmeny. The day continued to grow hotter and hotter and seemingly more and more humid. Within hours, the Party soon found themselves surrounded by a thick, sticky fog. The ground turned various shades of grey and brown, while the vegetation became thick and twisted.   The Party was soon lost, so Typhon took the opportunity to send up his familiar, Hootie, to get a look around. Hootie soared into the sky and got above the fog in a few moments. He spotted a house located a few miles to the north, clear of the fog. The group headed in that direction hoping to get out of the depressing mire.   As they approached, they could hear a massive beast whipping its leathery, ball-like tail against the decrepit wooden structure. Unsure of the nature of the creature, Typhon cast fly on himself and floated over to get a better sense of its intentions. Meanwhile, Bloodbane readied his axe, just in case. Typhon could see the ferocity of the beast as it attempted to break down the wall of the house. Nevertheless, he approached the monstrosity and attempted to communicate. The creature, a large beast with a warthog head, elongated neck, and massive body was having none of it. It saw the floating wizard and began to charge, running headlong into Bloodbane and Sir Didymus.   The stench of the creature was overpowering, but Bloodbane barely batted an eyelash at it. It looked at its nearest target, the barbarian, and fired a death ray from its eyes at him. Bloodbane took a tremendous amount of damage, but managed to survive it. He threw his lightning-charged javelin at the creature and dealing enough pain to send the creature into a writhing scream. Sir Didymus sent several arrows flying at the beast, finishing it off.   A scared, yet relieved, looking man exited the building. He was clad in a set of half-plate and bore the same insignia as the dead man the group encountered earlier. He introduced himself as George, in his own chipper way, and expressed his gratitude to the Party for killing the beast that was attempting to break down the house. He informed the group that he was a part of Lord Kisar Grav's hunting party and that they had been attacked by some hags earlier. The rest of the party had become separated when they were set upon by zombies and the catoblepas. He had run into the house in an attempt to escape, but the beast was relentless. The Party agreed to help George find and rescue Lord Grav, since that's what had brought them to the swamp to begin with.   The group headed over to the water and reached into Typhon's bag of holding. He pulled out the foldable boat and spoke the command word, causing it to expand large enough to accommodate the growing group. They set off in the direction that George mentioned, off toward Graveford Top, a hill on the eastern edge of of the Mire of Turmeny.    As night fell, the group approached the shore. They could see a bonfire at the top of the tallest hill in the area, and assessed that that must be the location. They decided to pull up a little to the north, to attempt to mask their approach. As soon as they landed, the birds and other creatures around them fell silent. A chill filled the air and the hair on the back of their necks stood on end. At that moment, three bodaks wearing faded brown rags appeared in front of them in a rush of foul-smelling air. The Party attacked, but the bodaks were ready for them. The creatures resisted most attacks the group threw at them, and even emitted some kind of necrotic damage depending on how close they were. Typhon fired a fireball at the group which lit up the night sky and could be seen for quite a distance. The battle raged for what seemed like an eternity, and George fell nearly instantly. Typhon and Vigwalin ended up using nearly all their spell slots and Bloodbane and Sir Didymus were brough low in health, but the group prevailed.   The Party gathered themselves and cast a few instances of healing magic before proceeding up the hilltop to confront the witches...