Journal 3 - The Shambler's Cave

Today's journal will be a short one, on account of everything that has happened in the last few hours. After our party's fight with the ghouls, we decided to make our way to Lakecrest to learn more about the rumors of a mysterious bear creature terrorizing the town. About halfway there we encountered a harsh thunderstorm and, due to the sad relationship between our elves and water, were forced to take shelter in an abandoned barn. When we finally made it to Lakecrest we found several houses on the outskirts of the city in ruins, with signs of a harsh and recent battle. Most of the party opted to spend the night inside an inn, but I stayed with Myricacea outside to keep him company. During the night we were approached by some friendly kobold city guards, who were very willing to exchange information after I explained why I was sleeping outside. They were surprised by the rumors we had heard about a large bear, and told us the true nature of the beast harassing the town. It was a massive plant, and had been attacking the city during large storms. They told us that our help in defeating the beast would be much appreciated and that there was a reward in Amberlight for killing it. Our party rested up, and then set out to track the beast. After several hours we came upon a great cave, extremely lush in foliage with tracks leading into it. We entered the cave cautiously, which was good because it was extremely dark. Myricacea turned his weapon into a lamp, which helped a lot with vision. The cave opened into a large cavern, with a leafy mound in the center. This was the beginning of the battle, and was nearly our party's end. The beast was a massive shambler accompanied by several smaller plant creatures who were covered in thorns and adept at ripping and tearing skin away. I immediately ran into the center of the room to face the shambler head on, taking the brunt of the attacks in an attempt to stall the beast long enough for the others to get into position. In the end we found that we were grossly outmatched and resorted to using the narrow end of the cave as a choke point while employing hit and run tactics to assault the shambler. Despite our predicament, the party rose to the challenge, with Moonshadow and Castien performing admirably. The beast now lies dead on the floor as we attempt to recover from our wounds enough to make it back to Lakecrest.