XXXVI. The Mistmarsh

The Mistmarsh lay between Greyhawk to the west and the Cairn Hills to the east. A broad, shallow swamp, dotted with islets and copses of trees, teeming with reptiles, home of wandering packs of ghouls, the Mistmarsh was avoided by civilized beings. And thus, it was a haven for criminals, madmen and monsters.

The party entered the marsh by way an an area of heavy undergrowth, full of sedges and vines. Mice and lizards skittered about, while birds chirped among the vegetation or winged overhead. After about three hours, the terrain turned to a wide expanse of shallow bog. Shrubs and small trees gave way to bullrushes, iris, marsh thistles and sawgrass. Frogs croaked, while midges and mosquitoes annoyed the party. Another two hours’ march and the party reached a small islet, relatively dry. They stopped for lunch and rested briefly, then proceeded on back into the bog.

Four hours later, the party reached another islet, this time relatively large and wooded. The sun was going down, and Merovech decided this was as good a place as any to make camp. They had made about twelve miles.

Childeric was on watch in the small hours of the next day when the sound of movement alerted him. Approaching the camp was a large group of shambling figures! Immediately, the cleric alerted the rest of the party. They sprang up and readied for battle as the dark figures came into view. A mob of ghouls and ghasts!

But the undead creatures proved no match for even a mid-level cleric like Childeric, to say nothing of the remainder of the party. They were quickly driven off. "Let them go," said Merovech. "They won’t be back. Get what rest you can, until the dawn comes." The rest of the group was happy to do so.

Next morning, the party continued its pursuit of Bragi. Clothilde was able to identify tracks belonging to the fleeing felon. The terrain turned to light undergrowth, making tracking quite a bit easier. Midday rest was followed by several more hours, once again through shallow bogs. Late in the afternoon, the party came to a relatively dry patch of land, not exactly an island. They looked about. Remains of a camp, including ashes of a fire, were visible. The ground bore numerous boot prints, as well as gouges and slashes. Stains in the ground had dried to a dark red.

Some kind of battle had taken place here!

"Search this place!" ordered Merovech. The party began to examine the area. A few moments later, Isembard called out, "Look! A grave! Fresh, too, by the look of it!" Immediately the rest of the party ran over to where the young paladin was indicating. They found him standing over a patch of newly turned earth, without marker. Something appeared to protrude slightly above the surface.

Clothilde retrieved a small shovel from her pack and began to dig. It wasn’t long before the protrusion shaped up into a boot, connected to the rest of a corpse, still fully clothed and equipped. Kenric detected magic. Merovech brushed the dirt from the face of the corpse, and whistled.

"So! A thief meets a thief’s end," observed the knight. "It’s Bragi."

Childeric looked at the corpse, then said, "Let’s see what he knew!" Without further ado, he cast speak with dead.  "I have three questions," he told the party, "so let's make them good ones."  Merovech made a couple of suggestions, and the cleric then began to question the dead Bragi.

"Who killed you?" asked Childeric.

"Ravagers," whispered the corpse. Ravagers! Isembard recognized the name and hissed.

"Why did they kill you?"

"Failure is punished by death."

"Where is their headquarters?"

"Hate appears throughout the world," the corpse answered, then fell silent.

"Too general a question. Sorry, friends," Childeric apologized. "Worry not," Merovech assured his follower. "You did well." He began to search the corpse, but found only Bragi’s gear, magic and mundane, the valuable items of which he confiscated. No documents provided any further information.

"I think," Merovech declared, "that it is time to report to Edward. This matter may be more difficult than we first believed." With that, the party re-buried Bragi’s remains, then mounted up and headed back to Codsall. Two days later, they returned to Greyhawk to report.

"Ravagers?!" cried Edward when his cohort informed him of his findings. "This is disturbing."

"Who are these "Ravagers"?" asked Childeric.

"Some of the most violent and evil individuals this world has ever known," replied Edward. "Briefly, they are agents of the god Erythnul. Their purpose in life is destruction. They are evil beyond any hope of redemption. This must be reported to higher church authority."  He paused in thought, then continued.  "It seems that Bragi wanted to become a Ravager.  To do so, he would have been required to defeat one of them in single combat, without magic.  To the death.  He failed, and paid the price for his failure.  Good riddance."

Several hours later, Edward returned, having conferred with his superiors in the Church of Hieroneous. He announced a new mission to the party. "We are ordered to find the band of Ravagers responsible for the destruction of Midley, and likely other acts of violence in the same region. Having found them, we are to take them out. Destroy them utterly. No quarter is to be given." Isembard gave a loud whoop, excited by the prospect.

The party quickly made preparations for the mission. Edward introduced two additional followers to the group: Yvonne, a fighter, and Liulf, a sorcerer.

Edward mounted his griffon, the rest of the posse mounted their horses, and the party rode out to Midley, reaching the village in the evening. They once again took quarters at The Pleasant Pheasant and rested up. Next morning, they made their way back into the Mistmarsh, following the same trail as they had the first time. At the end of the day they reached the battle site and made camp.

Rising at dawn the next day, the party began searching for tracks. Edward flew up on his griffon, but saw nothing noteworthy in the vicinity. Most of the tracks were scattered, but the most visible track led off southeast. These the party followed. The undergrowth through which they passed grew thicker as they continued. At last, they reached a small wooded islet, where they rested.

The track continued southeast from the islet. Clothilde spotted broken branches nearby, as well as other signs of a large creature apparently heading east from the trail. "Looks like some reptile or other has been here," she observed. "May be draconic, even."

The eastward trail proved irresistible to the party. Edward prepared himself with shield and holy sword, while Liulf and Childeric also cast defensive spells on themselves.

They followed the path east, into a swampy area with many trees. Clothilde listened carefully. There was a sound like moving water, a rustling noise as of vegetation being moved. Edward immediately cast death ward on himself. The swamp became darker. Childeric cast light on his longsword.

Edward advanced further, then suddenly was neck-deep in the dark water of the swamp.

A sudden roar came from behind them. Something had circled round unheard and was attacking the party. The group turned round just in time to see an old black dragon, and then it was upon them. Battle ensued!

The party proved far more powerful than the dragon had expected. After a brief but violent struggle, the party managed to subdue the dragon, which surrendered to the party and began to bargain for its life.

"Tell us who has passed this way recently, and we will spare your life," said Merovech to the dragon. "Who have you seen, and who have you heard?"

The dragon told Merovech about the passage south along the path of a group of heavily armed, ill-favored fighter types, all of whom had heavy facial tattooing. "Ravagers!" thought Merovech to himself. "When did you see this?" demanded the knight. "A few days ago," answered the dragon.

Satisfied, Merovech freed the dragon and ordered it to leave the area and never return. The monster duly withdrew. The party likewise returned to the path. The sun was about to set, so the group sought a dry area in which to camp. Soon an islet was found, and the party settled in for the night.

The next morning, the party continued south, leaving the islet to enter another boggy, marshy area. The terrain didn’t change much until sunset, when they reached another dry islet, larger than the others they had previously made camp on. They set up camp at the islet’s edge.

The sun set. A heavy mist rolled in. Through the mist, looking inward toward the center of the islet, the party saw movement. Strange vines seemed to sway. Far off, in the midst of the islet, they saw a very strange looking tree.