Castle Naerytar

Last session ended with a brutal fight. Now we're stuck in a chilly swamp. Sounds like fun!

I manage to lead us to a relatively spot of dry land.

We pass the time with small talk. Luke mentions talks a little about the war he was in. I mention my childhood friend, Warwrick. Alissa talks about gold, and does some fancy trick with some of our money. Shale talks about how her training, and mentions her mentor's death.

Come morning, after some cold rations, we break camp, and head towards Castle Naerytar.

Travel is miserable, and the trail is little more than a raised bit of mud covered in lizardfolk tracks.

At one point, Luke spots a large group of crocodiles, which we decide to careful skirt around.

Finally, we rejoin the path and find ourselves at a small abandoned camp.

There are several raised platforms with tents and leantos on top off, and nearby are several dugout canoes. What resembles land turns into a lake, preventing us from walking the rest of the way.

It looks like we'll have to borrow a canoe or two. Shale and I take one canoe, leading the way, and Luke and Alissa get in another.

We are very near to the castle when we notice a rough path that rises barely out of the water. We investigate, and notice that there is a small village of mud huts near the castle, some being so far advanced that they could be called longhouses.

The castle itself has a muddy moat, and looked is if it might have had doors at one point, but surely would have rotted to nothingness long ago. There is a rusted iron portcullis, but it is currently open.

We notice a bullywog go to the front door, light two torches and then walk inside. In fact, all around the castle we see various lights and torches being lit up.

Luke puts Alissa and I under an invocation of invisibility, with the plan being that we (mostly Alissa) scout the building out. We'll leave enough chalk markings so that in another hour, Luke and Shale can follow in and we can meet up.

The barbican seems to be the primary defensive position. A large group of bullywogs and several giant frogs are milling around several barrels and crude benches inside. The floor is covered in mud, and a boardwalk leads into the keep. There are also stairs. They don't lead downward.

One of the bullywogs seems to hear as I move past, and makes some noise. Alissa and I run into the causeway, and fortunately, they don't follow.

The causeway leads across the moat into the castle proper. There is no roof here, but past the moat, the walls of the castle are lined with arrow slits.

We reach the wide open area inside. The ground has been churned to mud, and there are a few more bullywogs and lizardfolk here, as well as Cyanwrath He'd normally be dead by now, but uh...things went bad.

There is only a little light for the lit torches, and we can see several entrances leading into various buildings. We sneak through one of them, into a large room.

It appears the cultists eat most of their meals here, and at one end is what we can only assume is a kitchen of some sort. On the other end is where a large number of open crates, where the roadhouse goods look to have been inspected and repacked.

Through an archway we can also see three guard drakes sniffing around, as well as a large group of cultists, some of them of the dragonclaw variety.

We sneak back into the courtyard. As we leave, Cyanwrath notices the door we use opening and closing, and while the invisibility spell prevents him from seeing us, he does find the door open and closing by itself rather suspicious.

We make it into another room. It appears this room was once a place of worship to several gods, but now only has a shrine to Tiamat.

Connecting to the room is a hallway, which has arrow slits looking over the causeway we had come over before. This seems to be a good place for me to hide out, while Alissa looks around some more.

Alissa returns after a bit, not long after the invisibility had ended on both of us. She found a library down the hallway, and then went back through and noticed that Cyanwrath is looking for us, and had ordered Pharblex to have a bunch of bullywugs into the keep to help search.

I take a bit of chalk, and make a mark outside the arrow slit where we are hiding. Hopefully Shale and Luke see it...

Luke spots a large bullywug crawling out of a hut and makes a warbly noise. A bunch of other bullywugs come out of huts as well, and they all march into the keep.

Luke casts a invisibility spell on Shale and himself, and they follow the bullywugs into the keep.

They sneak around the front area, and Shale bumps into a bullywug. Luckily the bullywug blames another bullywug, and they continue.

Fortunately, they both spot the chalk marks near the arrow slit. Unfortunately, we completely failed to leave any chalk markings to tell how to get to us, but that should be enough where they can figure it out.

Alissa and I are forced to kill two bullywugs who stumble upon us, and shortly after Luke and Alissa arrive.

Behind them Cyanwrath arrives.

Alissa and I have ducked back into the hallway, and Luke and Shale are still invisible, so he can't see any of us, but he knows we're here.

Specifically, he calls out Shale by name.

He wants another duel. Shale leaves the invisibility to respond.

I don't give them the chance, as I can two spells into his stupid face. Luke looks about to attack as well, as he leaves his invisibility spell with a spell that wizzes past Cyanwrath's head.

Cyanwrath unleashes his lightning breath at Shale and I. I manage to avoid most of the lightning, and suddenly two cultists come down the hallway I was just in. I create some mirror images of myself to distract them.

Shale and Luke manage to inflict some heavy blows upon Cyanwrath, and Cyanwrath turns to flee. Alissa chops Cyanwrath's tail off with her rapier, who roars in pain.

Luke runs over to the shrine room exit to see Cyanwrath on the ground, prostrated in front of Pharblex. Luke unleashes a shadowy bolt of darkness into Cyanwrath, who makes a noise and then goes limp.

Pharblex smiles, and then points at us.