As Nelio brings the bastard sword down, it takes with it a quarter of the creature from neck to armpit; cleaving it into two asymmetrical parts. The same green fluid seeps from the wound created, and inside the creature where flesh and bone should be there is a system of tube-like structures. They almost look like...roots? Nelio hasn't heard about or read of a creature such as this. His first impulse was to call it a zombie, but he knows that to be incorrect.
As the creatures body lay there, it continues to burn, adding credence to the presence of a root system beneath the surface. This leads both Nelio and the Halfling mage to the conclusion that fire is a particularly effective weapon against it.
The caravan guards show up soon after the commotion. Captain Smith says, "I knew this man. He was a guardsman named Erith. He was one of ten men sent to the swamp to find Josah's son. I thought they were still camped at the ferry landing north of the crossroads."
None of the guards have seen or heard of a creature such as this.