((This session took place around a table. The session can't be interacted with, but the location can be visited.))
My wife wrote a great piece about
our adventure in The Bittermarsh from last night.
Four PCs entered --
Strong Bard (gnome bard),
Flattop (dwarf cleric of Moradin),
Grimer (halfling rogue), and
"The Elf" / "The Wizard" (elf generalist). Along with them were three familiar mercenaries:
Bifur, Bofur, and
Bombur (dwarf warriors).
The party approached a thick part of the marsh ("Bog of Eternal Stench") but could find no way around. As they investigated the area,
Strong Bard noticed a droning sound behind the ambient noise of the marsh which turned out to be a
hypnotism effect. S/he began a
countersong and a swarm of evil midges attacked the party.
Bifur, Bofur, and
Bombur stood at the front of the party while the PCs attacked the swam. They soon realized that not only was the swarm invulnerable to their weapon attacks, but it was deadly. The swarm descended upon the dwarf mercenaries -- smothering them and stripping flesh from them in a matter of seconds.
Despite attacking the swarm with fire, the party was forced to flee before the midges.
Grimer fell behind in their flight, and dove into the marsh to avoid the swarm. The rest of the party barely escaped with their lives. Grimer held his breath as long as he could until the midges move on -- but was ultimately separated from the party.
---
Meanwhile the party searched for another entrance to the Bittermarsh and discovered a tree radiating evil and malevolence.
The Wizard tried to discern the nature of the evil, and decided that it was extraplanar in nature. A bitter argument erupted between
Flattop and
The Wizard as to the true nature of the force -- whatever it was, it was malevolent and somehow possessing the tree.
The party was soon rejoined by Grimer (who acquired his name from the muck he dove into, and the horrible stench that followed) and collectively decided to abandon the tree and the argument about what was possessing it.
---
Making their way around to yet another part of the Bittermarsh, the PCs found an area shallow enough to wade but decided against it due to the lurking threat of crocodiles. They decided to return to the possessed tree and build a raft from it.
Realizing they had no tools with which to build a raft,
Grimer returned to the midge-infested area of the swamp to recover the axes of the fallen dwarves. He narrowly avoided the midges a second time -- acquiring two axes for the party's use.
---
After a few fruitless minutes of chopping at the tree, the party realized the possessing spirit was preventing them from making any progress. They collectively decided to exorcise the spirit by creating an image of a false tree (through a trick of the light) and convincing the spirit to enter the facsimile of a tree.
This appeared to work initially, however the exorcism backfired and released the spirit -- which possessed the illusory tree. Incorporeal as it was, the spirit presented a dire threat to the party, who decided to stand and fight.
Grimer was ultimately drained of all personality and willpower (Charisma drained to zero) and slipped into a coma.
Strong Bard invoked a powerful supernatural entity through the power of song, and became an earthly manifestation of its power.
In addition to securing the material they would need for a raft, the party uncovered a cache of valuables, which included a handsome sum of gold, several precious gems, and a magic rope fashioned of intestines.
---
They carried the comatose halfling and their makeshift raft back to the water, where they were joined by
Chum, a half-orc barbarian.
Making their way across the water, the party failed to notice a crocodile until it was close enough to snap
Strong Bard off the raft. The ensuing struggle involved
Chum sacrificing himself to save Strong Bard, and the party abandoning his corpse to the crocodile.
When they reached the edge of the crocodile's domain, they found a half-submerged (and mostly digested) corpse of a dwarf cleric, from which they retrieved a coin purse, a silver holy symbol, and a magic wand.
---
From there, the party was joined by
Another Halfling Rogue.
Poling their raft along, the party maneuvered in between a number of acid-moss trees. Several burns were sustained in the journey, which ultimately brought the party safely to the other side.
Taking stock of their encounters thus far, they decided to cut their losses and left
The Bittermarsh.
---
Pooling their assets, the party elected to advance
The Wizard's training.
((The Wizard is now level 2!))
