The Bog of Questionable Decisions
Well, we made it back to the village in one piece. Gail was waiting for us at the tavern with an envelope containing a Walknut. Not sure what cosmic force decided we needed more mysterious objects in our lives, but here we are. After what I'd generously call a "good night's rest" - though Uthai's snoring would suggest otherwise - we headed to Worlis with our golciorne pieces. All ten of them. He paid us decently enough, though I noticed he's selling spell scrolls at prices that would make a dragon weep. Mental note: those scrolls might be worth liberating later. I'll need to work out the finer details of that plan.
Speaking of Worlis, he still hasn't made headway on Uthai's... condition. I made sure to mention what I saw before the golem knocked him out - his eyes went dark. And I don't mean the normal "lights are out" dark when someone goes unconscious. This was something else entirely. Something wrong. But Worlis has no answers yet. Fantastic.
Next stop was Jann's place to offload the makabat. Got some coin for it, which I promptly left for the peasants. Meanwhile, Olga and Jann had another one of their deeply uncomfortable flirting sessions. I've seen a lot of things in my travels, but those two are a special kind of weird.
Jann mentioned another flower he could use - Villeurge. Purple things that grow in the Bog, and apparently the bark helps with depression. So... drugs. Basically drugs. But at 15 silvers per flower, we naturally decided to march straight into a swamp known for wolves, spiders, hags, and "a lot of other shit" according to Jann. Because that's what reasonable people do.
Before we left town, Uthai stopped at the general store for alcohol, petrol, and cloth. The man's shopping list raises more questions than I care to ask. Then came the sword debacle. Uthai had practically sealed the deal when Chin decided to get greedy and started talking about how it's magical. Serelle - who apparently has a thing about magical items - immediately shut down. Trade ruined. Though she did mention the "Elves of the South Vale" might know about "Mehen Amash", so it wasn't a total loss.
Finally, we set off for the Bog. We were making decent time when we heard loud music approaching. The four of us dove into the bushes. Well, "dove" is generous - it was more like "crashed". I know stealth when I see it, and this wasn't even in the same realm. A goblin-sized bat creature appeared next to us. Olga recalled they're called Woodgrue - apparently cheerful little things that live for music and song. Instead of letting them pass, Chin stood up and started dancing with them. They loved it and gave him some powder as a gift. Turned out to be powdered shit. Actual shit. And the mad bastard put it on himself because it masks scent. It did that, sure, but it also added about fifty other scents. Walking downwind of him has been an experience.
Further down the path, a massive stone suddenly appeared behind us, blocking our route. Just materialized out of nowhere. I tried climbing it - failed spectacularly. We were stumped until Uthai walked up, touched it, said "found you!" and the damn thing vanished. I'm not even going to ask.
When we spotted the Villeurge flowers, they were naturally in the middle of the swamp. Chin decided the direct approach was best and promptly got stuck in the mud, sinking slowly like the tactical genius he is. Olga and Uthai pulled him out with a rope. I helped by... holding the rope. Then Olga transformed into a glorious beast - a monkey... - and collected the flowers.
At the second flower site, Olga beat Chin to it and monkeyed them before he could get stuck again. That's when we heard the screeching.
Three hags - no, harpies - flew at us, and one started singing. Beautiful, enchanting singing. I fell completely under its spell, as did Olga. By the time we snapped out of it, we'd walked thirty feet closer to her without realizing it. Apparently, they charm you and either lead you to their lair or off a cliff, whichever's more convenient. We (not Uthai, we) managed to kill one and badly wound another before they tried to flee. I was not letting them escape. I drew my crossbow, loaded a bolt, and put everything I had into one last shot. The bolt flew, and the second harpy exploded. There wasn't much left of her after that. I'll admit - it was a damn good shot.
Satisfied we had enough flowers, we headed back. The four of us found a clearing and decided to camp. Watch order: Olga, Chin, me, then Uthai. We woke up in the morning feeling surprisingly refreshed, which was quite weird after sleeping in the woods. Turns out Olga fell asleep on the watch and never woke anyone else up. We're extraordinarily lucky we weren't murdered, robbed, or abducted in our sleep. Truly, fortune smiles upon fools.
After breakfast, the five of us packed up camp and, as always, Geoffrey insisted he'd lead us back to the village. Good old Geoffrey the Ranger with his tracking skills. Where would we be without him?