11: Seeking Tharasun

[fusion_dropcap boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”30px” class=”” id=”” color=”#ad2727″ hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” text_color=””]I[/fusion_dropcap]n order to save Gundren the group needs two magic users. Reidoth could unpetrify him but a high level cleric is required to remove the cursed amulet. Davron sends a request to the temple in Waterdeep for aid and several days later he receives a message: the temple has lost contact with the high cleric Tharasun One-Eye and he is long overdue; Davron is directed to lead a search for the cleric and his companions. As the group gathers gear for the journey, Embra informs Davron that she will remain in Phandalin to oversee the dwarven craftsmen who are due to arrive. The group departs the next day. It is full Spring and the group’s journey across the fields to the mining town of Leilon goes without incident. The town is a busy hub for miners who come out of the nearby Sword Mountains for supplies. The group visits the inn and are pleased to find their reputations precede them; many people buy them drinks and clap them on their backs. They leave soon and make for the Mere of Dead Men. It is common knowledge among men of the region that the ancient black dragon Voaraghamanthar lays claim to the Mere since time before man and is aware of all the goings on in his domain. They tread carefully.

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The Mere of Dead Men

Steve finds a dry spot to set camp in the swamp and the group rests for the night, setting watches as normal. Steve is on last watch shortly before sunrise when an unseen foe hurls a trident at him; the weapon flies past him and he shouts an alert to his companions. Karendil immediately rises and casts a spell to illuminate their surroundings to reveal their assailants to be a large lizard man. Their attacks glance off the creature until Karendil staggers him with a missile attack. He growls and hisses in Draconic, “Filthy interlopers—this is my land!” The group surrounds and beats him until Davron successfully casts Hold Person and he stands helpless before them. Karendil assures the creature they are not trying to steal his land, but instead they are looking for their friends.

“I make no deals with filthy humans. Kill me if you will; I will kill you if you don’t,” the lizard man hisses.

Davron cuts his throat. They loot him, eat breakfast and continue on their path. Around midday the see buzzards circling up ahead along the path and they see the corpse of a huge dead animal. Shiv sneaks up the path and sees several dead humanoid bodies and a massive crocodile scavenging among them. She reports back to them and they approach cautiously but their silent advance is thwarted when Karendil trips on a root and flails into the swamp. Steve launches himself at the crocodile and the others follow his lead and attack; they deal a great deal of damage and Steve finishes him off.

They inspect the scene and gather that although only two bodies are completely intact there were about five men who died on this spot. The men are dressed in the livery of the escort warrior-clerics from Waterdeep who accompany the high cleric. Steve can tell that these men were butchered so as to look as if they were savaged by wild animals. There is no sign of Tharasun. The party travels for the rest of the day and clumsily stumbles through the swamp until they arrive on drier ground the next day, closer to the Sword Mountains.

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Lizardfolk

The group comes out of the swamp and upon a gap in the range. Flanking the gap are men dressed in the familiar garb of the Cult of the Dragon, who clearly see them approaching. The group makes their way to the men and Shiv casts a spell that makes one of the cultists double over with laughter. Karendil launches a flurry of missiles, knocking the second foe dead. Shiv runs through the gap to get a look at what lies ahead and Jory binds the laughing cultist. As they make their way through the gap they see in the distance another cultist in fine regalia and three lizard men.

Shiv fires an arrow, piercing the shimmering shield of the cultist and wounding him. The cultist attacks her and gravely wounds her, doing necrotic damage. One of the lizard men clubs Jory and sends him reeling. The second clubs Steve. The third pierces Davron with a javelin and rushes at him with his shield. Jory slashes back at his foe, wounding him. Davron moves and casts Healing Word on Shiv and restores her a bit, then he casts Blindness on the cultist but she succeeds with such great effort that she is temporarily rendered unassailable by mind attacks. Karendil hurls a spell at the cultist that cooks her head in a gout of searing fire. Steve kills his foe, and Jory’s assailant strikes him again. Jory growls a curse and slashes back, killing his attacker. The third lizard man drops to his knees and says, “If you promise you’re here to kill the cult, I’ll help you!” At this Karendil turns on his heel and fires a volley at the subdued cultist, killing him, and asks, “How’s that for you?”

The lizard man is named Snapjaw and explains that everything was fine in the Mere until the cultists arrived and subjugated them, making them work together with the Bullywugs. Three days ago they captured two important men traveling the road and took them to a cave; this small party was meant to thwart any search missions in the area. Snapjaw says he can lead the party to the cave and avoid the patrols along the way. Snapjaw says there were many cultists in the area a few days ago investigating at the road house until Rezmir said everyone had to leave because something in the cave had to be tended to. He says there is another operation deep in the swamp that is the headquarters of the cult; the group stands on ground that up until a few days ago was a large camp before it was disbanded. The group camps at the gap and sets up a double watch.

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Snapjaw leads the group closer to the cave and on their way they arrive at the remnants of the great camp. He claims that once they caught Tharasun and his companion, Rezmir believed they were scouts and so ordered the lizard men to break camp and leave the area. The group approaches the large cave opening but Snapjaw does not want go in, saying the cultists cannot know he has betrayed them; he leaves the party at the edge of the campsite surrounding the cave. They attempt to sneak towards the entrance but Shiv makes noise and they immediately see something peer out of the cave and then quickly withdraw back into the darkness. Realizing that the element of surprise is lost, the group draw their weapons and race for the entrance. They run right past three men laying in wait to ambush them; one savagely strikes Davron and another slashes at Jory. Steve slashes one of the men with his massive claw, killing him instantly. Shiv kills another. Davron strikes his assailant and the others surround his foe and slay him.

Steve discovers a hidden entrance in the cave and the group enters. They take a few turns and arrive at a cave filled with bats. As they quietly move through Jory makes a noise that startles the bats and sends them flurrying in a thick mass; in the confusion a host of Stirges descend on the group and attack them. The group fights off the blood-sucking creatures and push forward through the cave. The make their way to a passage that forks and one direction is quiet and the other direction has movement; they move towards the quiet room and disable a trap and pass through into a magically chilled larder with meat stored inside. There they gather their strength and catch their collective breath.

MIA: Joe

3 lizard men
5 cultists
6 Stirges

12gp worth of gear from the lizard man
3gp worth of coins between the dead cultists

The Cultist Who Critted Her Save Vs. Mind Control
DM: She took 27 points of fire damage from Karendil.
Karendil: Yeah, she’s a smoking patch of fat on the ground.
Shiv: Bitch.
DM: But she’s very resistant to mind control.
Uh…What?
Jory: *inside a cave filled with bats* Is there a crapload of guano, because that shit is worth a lot of money.