A Long, Rocky, Bloody Path…

Sometimes when you venture into unknown territory it gets dangerous.

The party rested well for the first time out of the cavern system. Fresh air and open sky above, the forest to their north as they headed east. Extra rest meant a welcomed late start to the day. The walking was easy under a high sky and they made good time. As the day waned, off in the distance, birds could be seen circling a spot. It was not possible to discern what type of bird but it was definitely the behavior of scavengers. The day ended and another night under the stars awaited.

The next day brought drier air and the sight of a shimmering or movement on the horizon under the birds that were still present. As they walked there looked as if there were more birds than they saw the previous day. As they neared the movement they could see there was a large number of creatures moving about. Not wanting to walk into danger they veered south east to avoid the mass. When they were a little more than half a mile away they could tell the creatures were a mix of huge black, brown and red ant like things. Realizing the raw numbers they turned further south, put more distance between them and then stopped for the night.

Day three saw the ground becoming more stony. Grass more patchy. And the path ahead strewn with holes and crevices. The ground was changing to a very sandstone dominated formation, the ground eroded in many places forming those gaps. Picking a path through became slowly more challenging as they attempted to stay on top when Lilliane called a stop, spotting a strange difference in a patch of the ground before her. She called for the group to skirt around this more loose dirt like area. Cord brought the wagon to a halt and dismounted for a better look. There he saw water bubbling up from under the dirt surface. He stepped back, picked up a rock and tossed it at the odd area missing it wildly. His second attempt hit the mark and saw the rock slowly sink in to the dirt. The decision was now certain, skirt around and avoid. And they would need to avoid another spot a little further ahead that looked to be identical.

Around they went but as the cart passed the spot Halrfond noticed there looked to be arm-like extensions reaching out of the muddy area. This was followed by a pack of mud-man creatures erupting from the surface. Cord stopped the wagon and Jade fired a bow shot from atop horse. The arrow sunk in to the creature appearing to do no harm. The mud-men began flinging mud at the party members hitting Rennala, Lilli and Erik but missing Gwyn. The mud hardened on contact and slowed the movement of those struck. Halrfond cast a Faerie Fire on the creatures to make them easier to hit as Rispin used an Aganaver’s Scorcher that did appear to harm the one he hit. Gwyn followed with a Bless and Jade with a Nimbleness to help her avoid the mudslinging. A second wave of mud followed striking Lilli and Erik a second time and Cord a first while missing Halrfond. Lilli and Erik were now moving extremely slowly.

The Aganaver’s Scorcher finished off the first, falling in to a puddle, proving animated mud could be killed. Erik still attempted to strike it with his weapon with no effect beyond a splashing of mud from the thing. With very little mobility, Lilli struggled to get atop her horse hoping to be able to escape. Jade tried a Sleep spell to no avail. But then Halrfond dipped in to his Psionic bag and blasted one in to a splat stain on the ground. Gwyn brought out a Spiritual Whip. It had become obvious normal physical attacks were not effective but some magical attacks were. The situation turned dramatically as one of the mud men leaped at Lilli, covering her from head to toe in the mud that composed its body, hardening in an unusually quick fashion. Rennala called out for help to get to Lilli, whose screams were muffled inside her mud cocoon.

Rispin used a Magic Missile to destroy one and Halrfond finished off a second with his Psionics. The number of distinct mud men was dropping but Lilli was still engulfed. Screaming for help only hurt more. The remaining creatures tried slinging mud at Cord and Rennala but missed. Jade tried to shoot the one covering Lilli with a Magic Missile only to find the damage only affected Lilli. Lilli forced herself to fall from her horse hoping to break the hardening mud, causing some chunks to break off. Jade whipped off her pack and began rummaging for her waterskins. Lilli was suffocating. She reacted by trying to scrape and rip the mud from her face, luckily able to grab enough to emerge from under enough to enable her to gasp for breath. Jade, having located her waterskin used it to wash away what she could from Lilli’s face. While still encased in mud she was now at least able to breathe.

The remaining mud men were still a problem. Gwyn loosed another Spiritual Whip as Cord and Rennala were hit by slung mud again. Erik was undeterred continuing to attack with a variety of his weapons, all with no effect. Frustrated, he began calling out for help from his deity, with no apparent effect. Halrfond, unable to use any more Psionics, began using the Holy Dart spell on his weapons which when thrown appeared to have an effect on the creatures. The mud man responded with a pile of mud that sailed past him. Halrfond responded with another volley. There were only two remaining. The first leaped at Cord, engulfing him in the same way Lilli had been. The second was dispatched by a Magic Missile from Rispin. Cord quickly made to scrape off as much as he could as fast as he could aided by Gwyn.

The battle now ended time was needed to chip away and free Lilli and Cord. Scraping was needed by a number of others too. Gwyn and Eric had pick tools they were able to use to free the mud from bodies. Once freed they moved on a bit to put some distance from the mud holes and then camped. The morning brought another sunny day. Even drier yet than before. The decision was made to look for water, knowing there was a river somewhere to the north. But to the north they saw another line of the ant-like creatures they had seen days before. The line stretched out north of them heading east. Going directly north was not an option so east it was again. Day four passed uneventfully and led in to day five where they spotted a volcano like mound in the distance, the line of ants heading towards it.

Day six was like the others until a blast of dirt shot up around Jade. She spurred on her horse who struggled but found a way to escape the roiling area. As she escaped the direct spot five starfish like arms burst forth from the ground flailing abouts swatting at her. Gwyn let out a Bless to offer aid. Jade charged on her horse away from the arms but further ahead more burst forth. The party had to pick its way through this mine field of whatever these things were but were successful escaping the area.

Later that day, as the sandstone formations swayed in creative formations under them they were set upon from below by a pack of giant scorpions. Rennala hit the first with a bow shot and Halrfond made another puddle with his Psionics. Lilli was caught in the pincer of one while Erik was caught by both pincers of another. Swinging down at it, Lilli dropped her sword, breaking it. Cord fired a bow shot that caught the creature in the eyes. Rispin followed with a Magic Missile and struck with her hammer as Ben scored a big hit with his sword.

Lilli, in the grasp, was caught by a stinger attack, poisoning her and dropping her. Halrfond used his second attack killing another as Gwyn stunned one with a hammer attack causing one of the claws on Erik to lose its grip. But in her next attack the hammer slipped from her hand and broke. Rispin now found a path to use Aganaver’s Scorcher as Erik chopped down killing one. Cord rushed to Lilli and forced a healing potion down her throat, reviving her. Two left Gwyn attacked with a Spiritual Hammer as the scorpion attacked Jade, hitting her and stubbing itself. The Scorcher killed the third and the last broke to escape running away back down to the crevice it crawled from.

Healing was performed, they party geared up and started off again. Looming to the south they spotted a large rock formation jutting up from the rock floor. North was the ant volcano and somewhere north east is their destination.

And now.... another Halrfond original bardic tale.....

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