Chapter Nine: the Ragged Man (the journey begins)

On the morning of April 25 the Starborn set out to find the lost Temple of Kharad in the Hogglepot Marshes. Having spent two weeks in Crescent City the heroes have tasted a bit of what the city had to offer and managed to get in a bit of rest and relaxation. They also learned a great deal about what was going on in the city. Rumus, Neil and Rygorh spent the time a bit more industriously working at their magic.

Greenroot, a swamp elf slave, his sister Autumn and about a dozen of their relatives meet the heroes at the eastern docks of the city early in the morning. They demand one copper piece each for each day that they will accompany the heroes. Neil gives them each a gold piece and they are instantly happy to help.

The swamp elves provide a veritable fleet of tiny skiffs that each hold three people. The heroes spread out among the boats with a single swamp elf poler in each. Laden with tents and camping gear, the party sets out at a snail's pace up the Sappent River.

The first day of the journey is uneventful. The lands just east of the city are still mostly civilized. Monstrous manor houses overlook wide ranging plantations and orchards. Dozens of swamp elf slaves tend the fields and trees throughout the area.

On the next day on the edge of the civilized part of the river the party is ambushed by pair of chuuls. Things were going quite badly for a while as the beasts used their massive claws and slimly tentacles to squeeze anyone they could touch. Eventually the might and magic of the Starborn overcame the creatures, but not before Seebo was nearly lost. Had it not been for Neil's healing magic the halfling would surely have been eaten.

Another night of camping in the wilderness is uneventful. On the next day, April 27, the party comes upon the River Fort. The stone edifice on an island in the middle of the river is the last bastion of civilization in the swamps. The heroes submit to a search of their boats by the guards and Neil manages to convince them that he is rightfully in the swamp on a slaving expedition.

Late in the afternoon the party arrives at one of the many swamp elf villages scattered around the swamp. Prominently displayed throughout the village are totem poles of the swamp elves' pagan spirits; each has a macaw head on top, followed by a monkey, then a snake, then a crayfish. Greenroot tells the adventurers that this is his home village and the elves will go no farther with the heroes. The heroes rest here overnight. Around midnight the Starborn are set upbon by a dozen vargouilles. The heroes make quick work of the creatures as most of them manage to resist the paralyzing effects of the beasts' screams.

Early in the morning, before sunrise, Greenroot tells the heroes of the dangers to expect in the marshes. He says a dragon prowls the lands farther east. He also gives them directions to the temple. They should take the first major fork in the river to the south. Some way south they will come upon "the Dead God" in the river. They should make east from the dead god and they will find the abandoned temple there.

On April 28 the heroes leave the swamp elf village. They make plans to return to deal with the vargouille mance that comes from the Valjean plantation nearby. Early into the journey that day the come upon a pair of swamp elves working a breakign through a dam in river. As the heroes approach they see a massive crocodile. As the Starborn prepare for battle the "crocodile" begins using mental control magic on the heroes and the "swamp elves" attack. Again the heroes make quick work of their enemies. They were lucky as no one succumbed to the enslave ability of the aboleth that had laid this ambush for them. His skum followers were disguised as swamp elves in an effort to draw in the unwary.

Seebo managed to spot the aboleth's treasure horde under the surface of the water, and the heroes looted the beast's lair. They then continued east to find the temple . . .

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