Smokeseer

We came across a small township named Reedling and stayed a night before following the trail of a gnome Max has been hunting. The hope was that finding him would bring answers to Maxwell regarding his creation and those behind it. The gnome, we've been told, has been studying the ancient elven race who we believe created the vessel which now houses that lovely radiant soul we call Maxwell.
 
Of course, nothing is ever so easy. Not to say that traversing the swamplands is any simplicity in of itself, but it is at least a challenge I am familiar with. When we caught up to the gnome's whereabouts, all we managed to find was an Alsied tribe down one of their numbers, and tell of the gnome entering into a magical darkness.
We inspected that darkness, of course, and found two drake-like creatures of some icy affinity. They were swiftly dealt with, and soon after we found additional company; two "Shadar-kai" and their wolf, looting the larder of the umbral drakes.
Unfortunately, the trinket they keenly gathered was something we had promised to the Alsied, and we made chase.
It was a poor decision; we were easily outclassed and I was the idiot to discover that first hand. Variel, with her infallible charm, was able to negotiate a trade, and thanks to that, the rest of the day played out as smoothly as it could have.
After confirming that the gnome's remains were not among the corpses in the larder, I afforded the dignity of a cremation to the remaining bodies.
We returned to the Alsied, delivered the item, and met with an unexpected assistant to the gnome we had been in search of. She had more questions for Maxwell than she had answers. At this point, I would not have expected otherwise.
As for her story; she had gone with the gnomish professor to inspect a dormant portal to the shadowfell which stood where we encountered the umbral drakes. It was there that they too had met with the
Shadar-kai who took the professor as a gift to their nameless, unknown king.
 
We spoke among ourselves about our course of action come the morning and it was decided that I would scry upon the missing gnome and try to verify his location that way.
Unfortunately, I was requested to use the dormant portal as the scrying surface. A dreadful idea but, having no better alternative to offer, I kept my fear to myself. After all, staring into a medium of misery is decidedly *less* miserable than being made to prove my own redundancy. So I did it.
 
And just as soon as I did, I found myself ankle deep in murky waters. Bodies floated there. I felt the flesh burn off my back; the searing heat of a fire I could not see.
And a cold laughter that shook my bones.
This was where I had gone when I died. I loathed to see it again. It confirmed to me that nothing good existed there. Nothing good would ever find itself there.
There, I stood.
 
The spell did eventually show me what I needed to see; it showed me the gnome. North of the Tanglewood, at the foot of the mountains there; a city in the mountain teeming with creatures as unsightly as I.
I was unaware that a city was there...but I do know where it is and I can lead the group to it if they wish to go. We'll take the safest route through the Tanglewood, through the westernmost passages.
But first, we're on the way back to Reedling. I suppose we still have some dead elves to deliver before we can say we're done with the swamp.