Kingmaker+Session+21

**Session 21** **10-15-2016** **Continuing on the Riverboat to Find the Vault of Thorns**

 Vorst had been whipping a militia of townspeople into shape over the past few months, and a barracks had been recently built to house them... and the soldiers were also enjoying Midnight Sonata, the new brothel in town, led by Lady Serenade. She employed a skilled man known only as Master Soloist who ensured any rough customers found their way out the door. A new pier extended out to dock local fishing boats who brought trade and passing skills. Having been gifted the money to do so, Lyssa seen a shrine built to Tempus.

Kesson Plumb from Trunau had come to call on the aid of Jade Hill once again. Trunau was about a week's travel to the northeast along the mountains with a high population of half-orcs despite the hope knife philosophy the town held in high priority. They were rebuilding their town after a horrible recent orc attack and offered lumber to aid the building of Jade Hill in return for their aid to seek out Grenseldek, the female hill giant responsible for the recent orc attack. She was reported to have moved to Red Fort.

Having accepted the quest, Lorwyn, Naahir , Lyssa , and Thrice traveled the river on a boat with a half-orc captain called Rag Bloodtusk along with his female half-orc first mate coxswain, Helrach. They were traveling to the Vault of Thorns, a dimensional pocket belonging to the druidic circle known as the Council of Thorns, where they could supposedly use a special lantern to show them the way. An older elven townsfolk had gifted them the lantern and told them they would need a dead willowisp to power it.

During their travel up river, the boat was attacked by mutineers working for Malira (picture in locket), a woman who sought vengeance for her lover who had been killed by the companions. Having survived the endeavor, the following morning Vorst joined the traveling river boat by way of a barrel. The companions quickly helped him on board. Naahir fell ill to a bad carp and stayed below deck.

The group told the gnome the exciting tale of their adventure rescuing one of the crew who had fallen into the river due to a sabotaged railing! Naahir had dove in after her, fighting off vicious crocodiles! Then there was the rescue of the captain's favorite horse taken by river drakes! Then there was the four-armed gorilla who had been set loose from a cage below decks! The companions had nearly all perished with only Naahir barely standing as his three female companions laid unconscious in the muck below decks as Malira made her escape. She had told the catfolk that she wanted him to suffer by losing his loved ones like she had. "It sounds like I missed all the fun!" Vorst exclaimed after hearing the tale. "You certainly did," Thrice agreed.

The following day traveling up river was uneventful, giving the companions a much needed rest, but they continued to aid the crew with fishing for food, looking out, and calling out for any trouble in the low parts of the river. With a low fish count, dinner was stretched out with the leftover drake and crocodile meat.

Thrice was relaxing on deck, taking in the night air when she heard a familiar squeaky voice, "Wow! You almost died there!" The young tiefling's shoulders sank. "It's me!" the voice continued, as the little red imp leapt up beside her, "The Little Fucker. Did you miss me?" "Oh, yes," she sighed, "Please go away so that I can miss you some more." "But I'm here to help!" he proclaimed defensively. "Oh you're help is always welcome... to somebody, I'm sure," sarcasm dripped from her less than enthused lips. "But I can help YOU!" he insisted. "How can you help me, Little Fucker?" Thrice finally turned to look at him with a sigh. "I know of a special place," he leaned in to whisper to her. A threatening scowl came over the tiefling's face, "Don't touch me in my special place." "Oh... well I know that special place too..." the little imp nodded, "But this one is different." "What's so special about this 'special place'," the young alchemist raised an eyebrow. "It's a place where you can make potions," he leaned in close. "Okay... you have my attention," Thrice turned to look at him directly, "Of course you knew that would get my attention." "One of the best things about this place is it's not exactly... here... it's elsewhere," he explained. The blue skinned tiefling didn't miss his purposeful vagueness. She raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean it's not here? Like... Fourth layer of the abyss not here?" "Well... not the fourth layer," he shook his head, "But the thing about this place is time passes differently there. You could spend days there, but hardly any time at all would pass here. Doesn't that sound interesting?" Thrice nodded, "Just think of all of the healing potions I could make... that my comrades would drink up in one day... Is that what you're getting at, Little Fucker?" "Well... I know you like them," he nodded, "And it wounds me to see you in anguish when they get hurt... and I know if you could just make a few more potions... it could be the difference of life or death." She nodded, "It very well could... so tell me, Little Fucker... how exactly do I get to this 'away' location? And can I get back?" "Well that's a good question, but it wouldn't be very useful if you couldn't get back," the little imp assured her, "Over there on the barrel..." Thrice walked over to find a small black case. Inside was a piece of black chalk and piece of paper with an arcane symbol on it. "You just need to draw that symbol with that chalk and it will open up a door," he nodded. Still not trusting the tiny demon, Thrice stared at him with her red eyes, "Will anything on the other side of this 'door' come through?" "Just you," the little imp assured her. "Can I do this multiple times?" Thrice asked, "Or is this a one time trip?" "What is it they say in my circles," the imp tapped his head in thought, "Ahh the first time is free." Thrice sighed heavily, "I'm intrigued enough to try it."

The black haired tiefling headed down to the bilge under the deck where it would be less likely for anyone else to stumble upon the symbol. She turned to the imp following her, "You mentioned time traveled differently... How differently?" "For every day that passes there, only an hour passes here," he assured her. Thrice nodded to him, pausing for a long time, "Umm... thanks." "I'm here for you!" the little imp seemed pleased. Thrice drew the symbol carefully and glanced back at the imp, "You're not coming with me, are you?" "Maybe," Little Fucker smiled. Thrice mumbled grumpily to herself as she stepped through the door.

 She sank through the symbol in the floor... feeling like she was falling down... down... down... until she appeared in a circular room with a full alchemy lab. She was, however, naked... all of her stuff left behind. The floor was cool on her feet, but plenty of warm air was coming from the large windows. She bravely moved up to gaze out of one of the windows to see that she was in a very tall tower. Far below was a river of fire and several demons walking around. Screams or howls could be heard in the distance, but it was hard to tell which. Thrice moved to the table of volcanic glass vials and tubes, lighting fires and getting to work creating potions. She frowned as she realized she forgot to tell anyone where she was going. She shrugged... it seemed too late now... she should use the time she had here.

As the others walked their patrol of watches through the night, they noticed that Thrice never showed up to go to sleep. Curious, Lorwyn wandered below decks to look for her and found a magical rune drawn in black chalk with a pile of the alchemist's stuff in the middle of it... including her black lace panties custom made with a hole for her tail. It had to belong to Thrice. Frowning, she studied the symbol to recognize it as some sort of diabolic symbol of hell with some sort of transporting arcane magic to it. It seemed like a dangerous mark, but she felt to disturb it if Thrice was within it could ruin any chance of getting her back, so the young arcanist sought out the aid of her war priest companion. The red-haired elven woman led the war priest down to see the pile, "I don't know if she went through willingly... but surely she wouldn't have left her stuff behind." "We should wait and keep watch," Lyssa nodded to her. Lorwyn retrieved Vorst as well, one of them always keeping watch over the rune and one of them walking a patrol... allowing one to sleep at a time.

Late in the morning, Thrice came through the symbol naked with several volcanic glass vials gathered in her arms. Sulfur wafted off of her bluish skin and black hair. She had spent 10 days creating several healing potions. "Where have you been?" Lorwyn blinked at the young tiefling. "A workshop," the young alchemist answered, looking healthy and well rested. "We were all worried," the young elf nodded to her. "Sorry! This was all a little unexpected," She gestured to her clothes and stuff as she gathered them, getting dressed. Lorwyn tilted her head, looking over the week's worth of potions, "Did you find a magic cauldron?" "Yes, there was one there... among other stuff," Thrice nodded. The young arcanist gestured at the fine black volcanic glass vials, "Are those safe for non-demonic blood?" "Yes. Yes they are," Thrice attempted to assure her, uncertain herself. The vials didn't seem evil at all. Each of the companions gave the alchemist gold as they divided up the potions.

A half-orc lookout came down calling, "Captain, Captain! There's an obstruction ahead!" The four horses rode along the river banks, ropes tied to the boat to help pull it up river. Captain Rag called them to a stop as he seen boulders and carcasses strewn like a dam in the river. Standing on the rocks was a 12' tall humanoid creature with green scaled skin and webbed feet and hands... It looked like some kind of aquatic ogre. Vorst recognized it as a merrow. The merrow pointed at them, "Stop boat! You pay toll!" He laughed with delight at his achievement. "What's the toll?" Lyssa folded her arms. "Gold! Flesh!" the aquatic ogre licked it's lips. "How much gold?" the young war priest demanded. "Lots!" the merrow answered with a hearty chuckle. "Will you take river drake meat?" the brown haired half elf continued to try diplomacy. "We like river drake, but want man thing... or elf thing," he replied. Thrice looked around... there was no gate to lower or any way past the dam in the water without moving all of the stuff... she started to wonder if the merrow was just stalling and before she could say anything aloud to her companions she seen green scaled hands boarding the deck of the ship, "We're being boarded!"

Thrice tossed an alchemical fire vial to explode over one of the merrow climbing onto the boat. It charged toward her with a deep raking of his claws to grab onto the tiefling! Clarion Blix, a cavalier of the Knights of Azrim who was traveling with them, rushed to meet another of the advancing aquatic ogres as it took a wild swing over her. She called out strategy direction to aid her companions as she struck the beast mightily in front of her. A third merrow, still in the river, threw a thick and heavy javelin to impale Lorwyn in the chest! Blood sprayed from her lips as she screamed! Vorst charged forward to impale his new magic pick deeply into the back of the ogre that was clutching Thrice. Lyssa slid on the water of the deck to send her arrow flying askew through the air. Lorwyn brought her pain back under her control to throw magic missiles back at the merrow in the river.

Still held by the claws of a merrow, Thrice ignored the threat to herself as she threw an explosive alchemical vial over him! He roared in pain as he caught fire and clawed her with his other hand! Some of the flames burned the tiefling's own flesh. Vorst pierced his magic pick into the back of the aquatic ogre's knee cap, dropping his corpse to the deck of the boat! Thrice fell to the floor, but was released from it's clawed grasp. She got to her feet and quickly swallowed a healing potion to mend some of her wounds. Another giant javelin soared through the air to just barely rush through Lorwyn's red hair! Lyssa stepped up behind her, laying her hands on the arcanist to heal some of her wounds. Thanking her war priestess companion, Lorwyn sent another burst of magic missiles into the one in the river. It roared in pain, but still gasped in air.

With Thrice freed and safe, Vorst dashed across the deck, heading for another of the merrows. Blix continued to battle with one of the aquatic ogres, gashing it across the abdomen and blocking its claws. Another javelin sailed in from the river to impale into the red haired elf! She returned another barrage of magic missiles to take down the merrow in the river. Lyssa took a step over to mend some of Blix's wounds. Thrice quickly moved across the deck behind Vorst. The young gnome warrior lunged forward with his pick to pierce into the merrow fighting Blix, finishing him off! With the threat gone, Lyssa pulsed out a surging warmth of invigoration to heal the wounds of her companions.

Captain Bloodtusk and his coxswain directed the horses and moved the boat back while Thrice launched several alchemical explosions into the boulder dam that broke it up enough for the boat to go through. The rest of the day passed uneventfully sailing on the river as the companions lended their aid to the crew. Thrice helped with the cooking while Lyssa and Vorst spent their time fishing for more food. Lorwynelle called out for sandbars.

Lyssa walked the deck on patrol overnight, and the marshy smell of the nearby swamp hung heavily in the air. The coxswain came up to the war priest, "Miss Blix is a good friend of mine. I appreciate you healing her up and saving her life." "It's the right and decent thing to do... so, of course we would," the brown haired half elven woman nodded to her, "but you're welcome." "I appreciate it... and I'm s...sor...sorry... about those things that I said about you," the half-orc woman gruffly tripped on her own words. Lyssa flashbacked to the first day on the boat when she had had difficulty rowing and the whole crew teased her about being a girly girl... the first mate must have started it, "It was my first time on a boat... I'm sorry." "Well you certainly proved that you weren't a girly girl when you saved my friend. You have the thanks of me and my crew," Coxwain Halbrachs nodded to her. "Well thank you," the war priest nodded, shaking the first mate's hand. In the morning of the sixth day, everyone was rejuvenated from a good night's sleep. The terrain was marshy around them, and by the afternoon they could see the circle of thorns described to them. Watching the reeds around the circle of thorns, Thrice noticed a glint of metal as Captain Rag called the horses to a halt. The young tiefling warned her companions to make ready and handed a potion to speed up her gnome friend's feet to Vorst. Lorwynelle wove a magical armor around herself before she followed the others off of the boat. As Lyssa disembarked, flanked by Thrice and Vorst with bows at the ready, orcs brandishing bows and blades leapt out of the reeds! Blix followed the companions, protecting their backs as she moved into the water. One of the orcs charged through the water to slash a blade across Lyssa's shoulder! Thrice brought up her crossbow to pierce a bolt straight through the neck of another orc, dropping him instantly into the water. Vorst followed her lead, using his longbow to shoot an arrow, but chest deep in the water he found it difficult to shoot and the arrow went zooming through the sky. Waist deep in the water, Lyssa wove her magic to hold one of the orcs firmly in place as though it was paralyzed! The cavalier knight charged through the water giving strategic directions to her companions as she headed for an orc. A scorching ray whipped out from Lorwyn's fingertips to strike into one of the orcs, charring his flesh to drop him in the river. Three orcs surrounded Blix. slashing and gashing into her violently! The other who could still move near Lyssa swung his blade over the war priest's head. Thrice called out to her companions, "Behind us!" as she noticed a larger orc approaching quietly through the reeds with a big glowing sword. She tossed one of her exploding alchemical vials into the three orcs surrounding the cavalier, killing two of them and horribly burning the third! Vorst shot another arrow, this time more prepared with the river, and impaled one of the orcs in the back. Lyssa whipped the spiked ball of her flail to thump an orc in the head. Fire washed off of Lorwyn's hands to engulf two of the orcs, toppling them charred to the reeds. The large orc grumbled as he was spotted, charging in in a full rage to slash Thrice across the chest with his falchion! Blix finished off the last orc next to her as Thrice slashed the large orc with her sickle. Vorst pulled out his pickhammer to try and smash into the large orc, but the orc slid across the slimy rock bottom of the swamp out of the way. An arc of flame shot from the red-haired arcanist to wash over the large orc, breaking him out of his rage as he screamed in pain! Angry, the orc charged toward Lorwyn, slashing two deep gashes across her chest and abdomen with his falchion, nearly cutting her in half as she screamed! The swampy water around her ran red. Seeing his arcanist companion gasping for breath through bubbles of blood, Vorst charged in, slashing his hook into the back of the large orc! Lorwyn took the moment to step back and drink one of her healing potions to stop the bleeding and start to close her wounds. Lyssa struggled in her heavy armor through the water to get back to the boat. Blix splashed through the water, following the war priest. The large orc ignored the gnome behind him and stepped forward to drive his falchion through the arcanist's chest, leaving her body to float unconscious in the water. The magic in Lorwyn's veins used the spell around her to to stop her bleeding and stabilize her body. Thrice snarled at the orc, "You son of a bitch! You killed my friend!" She threw one of her fiery exploding vials directly into the large orc, releasing a violent wave of flames to burn his flesh and catch him on fire! Vorst, still behind the large orc, clipped his back again with the hook of his hammer. Lyssa leapt off of the boat, smashing the spiked ball of her flail into the head of the large orc making him wobble. The large orc took off running, taking a slash from Thrice's sickle and eventually falling into the river with blackened skin from the fire! The war priest rushed to Lorwyn, healing up some of her wounds to bring her back to conscious. Thanking her companion, the young elven woman managed to stand back up.

 The group found about 50 gold worth of stuff from the orcs. They also found a partially burnt note, 2 potions of cure light, fire ward gel, a +2 dexterity belt, and a +1 falchion (18-20 crit) from the large orc. Among the recent burn wounds, while looting the body the companions found several old burn scars that told a story of a violent mishap with fire. The note read... //Tark -// //Screed has been murdered, and I seek revenge on his killers!//  //Help me with this and I will give you Screed's alchemical formula for the bomb that soothes your burns.//  //I have heard that they are traveling to the ghost like marsh by river boat.//  //Don't worry, there's no need for you to set foot in the swamp itself.//  //There is a marker on the bank of the northern river...//  //Look for a stone with a circle of thorns. This is where Screed's killers will dock.// //Board the boat and unleash your fury upon them!//  //With luck, I will be on board as well and I will join you.//  //Together we shall avenge Screed! Do this and the formula is yours.// <span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">//- Malira//

The group recognized the name Screed as the half-orc alchemist they had killed in Trunau. He had worn the locket with Malira's picture in it, and Thrice had picked up several alchemical recipes from his book. Lorwynelle put on the belt to aid her in dodging attacks. Thrice set aside the 2 doses of fire ward gel to gift to Naahir since she always seemed to catch him in her bombs. They set the falchion aside to be used for Jade Hill or someone who could use it.

Everyone moved deeper into the swampy marsh, muck and mud clung to them everywhere! Mosquitoes were ever buzzing around them, biting them. Thrice led the way, moving quietly through the water and testing its depth. They walked for nearly three hours when she started to hear noises coming from ahead. There was a dryer island with reeds around it where a ragged tent stood next to a small campfire. A hunched figure sat near the campfire. She spoke in a mix of dwarven and common, seemingly to herself, "Well, my old brother, in the morning we will set off again. I know we will find the resting place of our kin. ...yes, yes, I know. This god forsaken swamp. ...Alright." The young tiefling watched the figure for a few extra minutes, motioning for the others to wait. The figure cooked up some sort of swamp rat, and as she ate it she offered some to "someone" whom she obviously thought was sitting next to her. She continued to mutter to herself mentioning the name Umlo several times. Thrice went back to tell the others.

The group approached her casually. The dwarven woman didn't seem to notice them at first as she ate her swamp rat. Thorn waved to her, "Hail." The woman looked up in shock, and jumped to her feet shouting, "Filthy green skins!" She charged toward Vorst with a battle cry! "Easy!" Lorwnelle held up her hands, "Easy, our skin is not green." "Halt, companion!" Thrice spoke in dwarven, "We do not mean you any harm." The woman turned toward the tiefling with confusion on her face, "You must be some kind of shaman! Casting a spell on me!" She started to charge toward the alchemist with another battle cry. Lyssa looked over the woman, "She's crazy!" Lorwynelle swung her arm around nothing, holding her longsword in the other hand, "Stop! Or I'll kill Umlo!" The dwarven woman stopped in her tracks, "Whoa! Let's not be too hasty now." Vorst wove magical ghost sounds, "This is Umlo... Put down your weapon. They mean you no harm." "But they're orcs!" she protested. "We're not orcs," Thrice disagreed. "Then what are you?" she asked. The group each answered her one by one, "Half-elf, Tiefling, Elf, Gnome." "You have been fighting orcs for too long. Everyone looks like an orc to you," Thrice tried to explain. "You're wearing orc disguises!" she accused them. "No," Lyssa disagreed, "We killed orcs on the way in." "Then why did you take my brother hostage," she gestured toward the arcanist. "I will gladly release him as long as you're calm," Lorwynelle assured her, lowering her arms.

"What do you want?" the dwarven woman looked at them warily. "We were just saying hi as we were passing through," Lyssa answered, "We didn't want to startle you." "You want some rat?" the dwarven woman held up part of her dinner in offering. "Maybe she's crazy from the rats," Lorwynelle whispered quietly to her companions and then smiled at the woman, answering cheerfully, "No, but thank you." "We ate just before we got here," Lyssa assured her. "Thank you though," Thrice agreed, "Save your rations for you and Umlo." The dwarven woman nodded, "Me and Umlo here came to look for our ancestor, Nargum Steelhand - Giant Slayer. We were looking for his burial place. We'd heard that there were some standing stones around here... we, we found them... but there was... these... green women there. They were bad... really bad! We chopped into them, my brother and I. We sure gave it to them, didn't we Umlo?" Lorwynelle looked her over warily, she'd accused them of having green skin too... she detected a strange magical aura around the woman and noticed a couple of magical potions and axe on her belt. Lyssa tried to remove disease from the woman, but nothing happened. Discussing it, the two women decided the dwarf must have a curse... The arcanist introduced herself, "My name is Lorwynelle Thaldain. What is your name?" "Ingra Hilde," she answered, "And this is my brother, Umlo. Nargrymkin is our clan."

The companions invited Ingra to join them, assuring her there was safety in numbers. She wandered off several times, and they always had to reintroduce themselves. They rested for the night, keeping watch especially over the crazy dwarf. They could see wisp lights in the distance. During her watch, Thrice looked over the potions on Ingra's belt to recognize a cure moderate wounds and a remove curse. She took her time, carefully removing the remove curse potion to replace it with a cure light. The baroness was chosen to be diplomatic the following day, attempting to convince Ingra to drink the potion, "You should really keep up your drinking. You don't want to get dehydrated here... and the mosquitoes are terrible! This will help keep them away." "Oh! I really hate the mosquitoes," the dwarven woman agreed, drinking down the potion. She shook her head several times, "Whoa!" "How are you feeling, Ingra?" the young arcanist asked. "I... I feel better... my mind is clearing. Thank you... whoever you are," the dwarven woman answered, nodding. The group introduced themselves yet again. "You're not orcs..." Ingra looked them over. "Nope... How's your brother?" Lorwyn asked her. "My... my brother... we had come to find our clan's resting place... there were some standing stones in the area. When we got there, it wasn't what we were looking for. It had a circle of thorns on it. That was not what we were told to look for," she shook her head, "We had traveled with a couple of mercenaries. The stones were guarded by hags... green hags... swamp witches. We managed to kill two of them, but they killed the mercenaries. The last one cast some sort of spell on my brother and I. All I can remember is wandering around this swamp. It's all disjointed. Flashes of orcs and swamp." "Perhaps he is befuddled and wandering the swamp as well," Vorst offered. "I hope she didn't see him as an orc and kill him," Lorwyn whispered to Lyssa. The war priest nodded her agreement.

"Why are you here?" Ingra asked them. "We have to find a wisp to light a lantern to find items inside a druidic circle here," Lorwyn answered. "I know where the wisps are. My brother and I found a place heavy with them," Ingra nodded, "I could lead you there and I can also show you where the circle of stones is." "We would be most appreciative," the young arcanist nodded. "If I run into my brother... I'll have to save him," the dwarven woman explained. "Of course. Hopefully he has a remove curse potion too," Lorwyn nodded. "I can't believe I just never thought about using it," Ingra went on. "Well when you're curse..." Thrice nodded.

They traveled on to a clearing where wisps were floating. Lorwyn was carrying the lantern... One of the wisps flew up to her glowing with a skull face, "Where did you get that? Your theft will not go unpunished! Give that back to us!" The arcanist nodded, "It was a gift from Silvermane. He sent us here to enter the Vault of Thorns." The skull wisp disappeared. An elderly human faded in, "You are friends with Silvermane?" "Yes. I am Lorwynelle Thaldain," the young red haired elf nodded. He looked her over nodding, and proceeded to look over each of the companions in turn, He paused on Thrice, "I'm not sure what you are..." His gaze fell on Lyssa, "But you are a priest." He nodded to Vorst, "And you are a warrior."

"You are here why?" he asked them. "Because we need special items and weapons within the vault," Lorwyn explained. "For what purpose?" he inquired further. "To combat evil," Lyssa explained, "We have to go to Red Fort to destroy Grenseldek... She is a hill giant sending orcs to attack Trunau." "You seek vengeance on the orcs that killed us?" the spirit asked. "We are trying to right the wrongs," Lyssa nodded. "My name is Mossmoon," the druidic spirit introduced himself. He floated over to a more well tended area of the clearing where a hallowed out trunk held a half dozen wilted wisps, "These are my fallen brothers." Lorwyn looked ill, "I... I really don't want to use one of you to light this lantern." "Their spirits have moved on. This is just their shell. It will suffice to fuel your lantern," he assured her. The group nodded their thanks. Lorwyn handed the lantern to Thrice, "I still can't do it. Even using a dead wisp seems sad to me. You can be in charge of the lantern." "Okay," the young tiefling shrugged, accepting the lantern, "Look there are six of them. We have extra." "I hope that you kill every last one of those filthy orcs," the spirit nodded, "You have my blessing. I wish you well." He faded back into the swamp as the group thanked him.

Ingra led them an hour further into the swamp where a ring of eight stones were covered in muck and a thick layer of vegetation. They formed a circle around a central stone. Of the eight, 5 were still intact ranging from 12 to 15 feet tall. The other 3 had been broken and sunken into the swampy floor. A large pool gently bubbled to the northwest of the standing stones. Covered in mossy vegetation in the pool was the top half of some kind of creature well hidden. Lorwyn whispered to the others that they had company.

Thrice recognized it as a marsh giant, "They are sometimes used as bodyguards for hags... I think we're in the right place." Ingra pointed at the central stone, "When we killed the two, the last disappeared into that stone." Everyone readied their weapons, and buffed with spells. Vorst flanked Lorwyn as she stepped forward, "Hail, guardian of the hag!" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> The marsh giant rose slightly out of the water, "What do you want, elf-meat?" "We seek to enter the stones. Where is your mistress?" Lorwyn asked. "She has gone within to plunder this old place for power. You may not enter. Leave," he replied. "We will be entering. Step aside," the arcanist declared. He rose out of the water, twice her height and weighing a ton. Lyssa prayed to her god, calling upon the power of Tempus to hold the beast in place. Everyone moved quickly, Thrice holding up the lantern to shrivel away the thorns covering the stones. It revealed a green portal within the stones, and everyone ran to enter inside.

Feeling disoriented as they came to the other side, the circle of stones was now surrounded by a thick verdant forest. Exotic flowers hung over the stones, pulsing with a brilliant chartreuse. A pathway of petals in a bright coral blue led to a pair of ornate doors carved into the giant flower. An overpowering scent of flowers and grass permeated the air, and a bright sun basked them in warmth. Above the doors written in elven was a simple warning, "If you seek peace in nature, welcome. If you seek anything else, beware the wrath of thorns." The companions opened the doors...

800 xp each to Vorst, Thrice, Lyssa, and Lorwyn.