Festering Fields

The party arrived at the village of Zingfield just before sundown. The village was surrounded by a wooden fence, meant to keep most larger animals from roaming into the village and farmland. Massive stretches of fields as far as the eye could see were filled with a huge assortment of both plants and animals. As the party walked into town they were met by many locals going about their evening business. However, it was immediately apparent that something wasn't quite right about them. Many of the townsfolk seem to be holding their stomachs or heads, rubbing their eyes, or coughing and vomiting.

The party walked further into the village towards the market square when they noticed an old acquaintance. Laeney Blackcrag was browsing the wares of a nearby vendor when she noticed the party. They approached one another and spoke for a few minutes. Laeney explained she was just visiting the town to stock up on supplies and only arrived about an hour before. She apologized to Viggo for shooting him in the leg the last time they met. Viggo accepted the apology and stated his leg is better than ever. Their conversation was interrupted when the door to the Herbal Hospice building burst open. Stumbling out into the streets was a woman, whose face was horribly disfigured by some kind of disease or mutation. Her eyes were glazed over as she rushed towards the first person she saw, which happened to be a young woman filling up her bucket at the water well. Viggo was quick to react and had just enough time to cast a spell upon the disfigured woman, causing her to collapse at the base of the well, in a deep state of magical slumber. Ongim Boldkind rushed out of the Herbal Hospice and screamed for everyone to get clear of the woman, and not to touch her.

The party kept everyone away from the sleeping woman while they spoke with Ongim. They asked Ongim why are so many people sick and what was going on with that woman. Ongim informed them that recently the villagers have started to become ill which may have been a result of the contamination to the food produced from the local farms. Ongim told them that this woman is too far gone and that he has done everything he can for her but the infection has affected her brain. With that Viggo said he would do what needs to be done. Viggo walked over to the slumbering woman and knelt beside her. Mia knew what was coming and shouted for all the onlookers to avert the eyes of the children. Viggo drew a dagger and sliced the infected woman across her throat, rendering a mercy killing. Witnessing this, Ongim ordered a few of the workers within the Hospice to come to retrieve the body. The workers arrived with large sack-like bags that they used to hide and transport the corpse away. Ongim invited them into the Herbal Hospice. Once inside the party noticed about a dozen people around with various illnesses, moaning and groaning. Staff members were complaining by saying "We have been having a hard time tending to the ill due to the lack of medicinal herbs. The fields just stopped producing the herbs. Now we have to outsource and we have had to increase the price of treatment, and the even sadder thing is we can’t get the supply in quick enough." The party asked Ongim if he knew where they could find the Lightbringer Tara Essentia. Ongim responded by saying Ms. Essentia arrived a couple of weeks ago, met with the town elder Lyver Duskrain and was last seen heading out farm side. After a few minutes of further discussion, the party departed.

The party made their way over to the Zingfield Hall and requested to speak with the elder. Several minutes later they were invited to Elder Duskrain's office on the top floor. Lyver Duskrain was a Kaldorei male who met them with a smile and firm handshake. After the introductions the party asked what is happening with the villagers and why is everyone so sick. Lyver replied “As of the last few weeks many of our people have been showing signs of sickness. Although it doesn’t appear to be fatal so far, it is a major problem. We are not sure if this is a contagion that can be spread, or if it is something else. That being said.. the Zingfield folk are hearty people, it will take more than an illness to hold them down.” The party proceeded to ask about the Lightbringer Tara Essentia. Lyver answered by saying “You are here seeking Tara Essentia? I regret to inform you that I haven’t seen her as of late. I requested her aid as per the plea of the Shining Bethel in response to the local farmers. She was to help with the issues we have been having over the last year and to bless the land. Well, I’m not sure what happened to her, it’s been nearly two weeks. Since our conversation, there has been no sign of her… or an improvement to the fields. The farmers seemed to believe that we could count on the Pantheon of Light. I guess not.” The party asked where she was staying during her visit, to which Lyver stated that he had reserved a room for her at the The Harvest Inn. The party made a little more chit chat with the elder before bidding him farewell. As the party departed the room Lyver said “Even though Zingfield is not what it used to be, please enjoy your stay… and if you have any spare coin check out the local shops as they could use the business.”

The party discussed it over among themselves and decided they would visit the two places Tara was mentioned to have gone. Their first stop was the The Harvest Inn. Upon entering the establishment they noticed it was of a higher quality than they expected for such a small community. Most everything looked new or refurbished, however, the place had only two patrons off drinking in the corner. A human woman by the name of Wendeline Tattersall was behind the bar dusting off the win bottles on the shelf. The party spoke with Wendeline discovering that a room has been reserved for Tara since about a week ago, she checked in but hasn't used it. Wendeline went on to vent her frustration of the situation stating that with the farms affected there has been a drastic decline in travelers, and how it’s hurting her business right after spending a fortune on renovations. The party bid Wendeline farewell and walked to the Shining Bethel.

Upon arriving at the Bethal they spoke with a human man named Vilmos Abram about the missing Lightbringer. Vilmos stated "The four main farm owners requested divine intervention due to all their natural ways of tending to the land have failed. The farms are all having issues growing crops or producing livestock.... maybe you should speak to the four farm owners if you want more information on that. Nevertheless, we have not heard from Tara Essentia since she arrived over a week ago." The party asked what he knew of the spreading sickness. "We have no idea what is causing the illness around town, our prayers seem to help some folk cope with the pain, though, it is not a long term solution." For several minutes they continued the conversation before leaving to head out to the farms.

Maple Leaf Meadows

As the party left the village and walked out towards the farms, the first one they crossed was the Maple Leaf Meadows. The archway leading into the meadow was a beautifully painted sign with the symbol of two fancy written letter M’s connected with an L. Upon walking through the archway, the path they tread on was surrounded by a variety of flower gardens with long lines of them laid out to run adjacent with the path. The party looked out over the field and noticed the flowers were struggling to survive and they didn't appear to be healthy. The meadow itself was filled with trees of all shapes and sizes, bearing a variety of fruit such as apples, oranges, cherries, lemons, limes, mangos, grapefruits, peaches, pears, and grapes. Once again they couldn't help but notice the fruit appeared shriveled and deformed. Mixed amongst all these types of trees were many maple trees. The parties nostrils were stuck with the strong scent of various fruits with each breeze, though, the smell even seemed to be slightly off from what they were used to. Off in the far distance, they saw a large house at the edge of the field. Many workers tended to the trees, atop ladders plucking the fruit, or carried baskets going about their business. The party approached the workers and started asking questions, but were quickly directed to speak with the owner Miss Martha Mae. They found the human woman named Martha out tending to a lemon tree in which the lemons had black splotches on them.

The party introduced themselves to Martha and struck up a conversation. They asked her about the fruit and what is happening to her farm. Martha replied “Honestly, I have no idea. It’s just not right. I’ve been farming fruit my whole life… I come from a long line of fruit farmers… it’s in our blood. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this. I can’t explain it… it started happening about a year ago. Slight defects at first, but it slowly got worse. I’m getting close to having to shut down all production here… that means no fruit for eastern Perfectus. I’m at a loss as to what to do… I was hoping the Lightbringer would be our salvation. Doesn’t seem so.” The party asked about the Lightbringer situation. Martha stopped working and spoke to the party in a serious tone. “Well, it’s like this… the four of the farm owners in Zingfield got together to discuss the goings-on. You see it’s not just my farm that is having the issues. It seems like two of the other farms… Big Zeke’s Sweet Root Range and Crazy Cooter’s Dragontooth Ranch are having similar problems, yet for some damn reason, Ole' Lum’s Moonshine Pastures is doing just fine. Either way, we agreed it’s not natural… it’s like our land is cursed or something. Lum is afraid the corruption is going to spread into his fields soon. Anyways... so we sent word to the Sanctum of Light in the city of Silverstone requesting they send clergy to come to pray over the land and remove whatever curse has befallen us. They sent Tara Essentia who arrived over a week ago. She spoke with me awhile and made her way around to the other three farmsteads to investigate into the matter. Well, that’s the last I seen of her... But yet, here I stand, plucking foul fruit from my meadow. You can talk to the others to see if they know where Tara Essentia is… if you hear anything please let me know.” The party thanked her for her time and started to head off to the other farm when Alvyn noticed Martha looked like she was about to say something and then stops herself. Alvyn asked her if she had another else to say, to which she replied: “Ohh it’s probably nothing.” Alvyn pressed the issue convincing her to speak up. "Well, I’ve had several people over the last year tell me they have seen someone or something in my fields in the middle of the night. I’ve tried staying up late on occasion looking into the fields myself with no luck. However, it does make me wonder.” Alvyn said they would look into it as well.

Sweet Root Range

Looking off into the distance the party could see four other farms. Three appeared active with signage that reads Sweet Root Range, Moonshine Pastures, and Dragontooth Ranch. The fourth was an old field with run down farmhouse and barn named Day Break Fields that looked as if it had not been used in at least fifty years.

The party decided to start with Sweet Root Range. A large sign sticking out of the ground had a weathered painting of vegetables and the words Sweet Root Range. The fields had long lines of vegetables that included carrots, beets, potatoes, radishes, and turnips. A farmhouse and another large building were off in the center of the fields. Unlike the previous farm, no workers were to be seen, however, a lone man pushing a plow was off in the distance. The party approached the massive human man named Ezekiel Fulton. The big man saw the party approaching but didn't stop his work and made them follow him while he pushed the plow. He asked the party what they were doing on his farm, to which they replied they were looking for Tara Essentia. Big Zeke replied “Ahh that useless bitch. Just as useless as the pointless gods she worships.” The party was taken back by the response but continued to walk and keep up with the man. They asked why he was so upset with Tara. He replied: "I went with the others, and figured, what the hell. I’m a godless man but I’ll take a leap a faith and let the clergy come to town… to have her Sun god bless our crops….” He stopped pushing the plow, dropped to a knee, and ripped up a carrot. The carrot was covered with dark green and yellow slime coating. “Real blessed these crops are huh?!”. Big Zeke looked at the party with anger in his eyes before he kept talking. “Da hell is this slimy shit anyways?” He took a whiff of it, turned his head away in disgust and threw it to the ground. “All the god damn hard work I put into these lands over the years… I’m not going to let it slip away. But I tell you one thing. If I find the gods are responsible for this… I swear I’ll find a way to make every last one of those pieces of shit pay.” The party could see this mans rage and frustration at the situation but dared to ask another question. They asked if he knew where Tara was gone missing. Big Zeke snapped back in response “Hell if I know, probably off asking for more donations before she can.. you know… pray the curse away! …. Listen I got work to do, anything else you need to waste my time with?” Big Zeke stormed off continuing with his work.

Dragontooth Ranch

The party made their way over to the Dragontooth Ranch. The ranch was pretty typical of what to expect from livestock farming. Pens, fences, and cages throughout the fields filled with chickens, turkeys, cattle, goats, yaks, and hogs. They walked over to a farmhouse near the center of the field that was adjacent to two smaller buildings. Several workers tended to the animals, gathering eggs, milking cows and so on. As they approached they saw a skinny looking man wrestling with a hog to get it back in the pen. The man managed to pin the hog to the ground as he looked up to the party. “Hot damn, who yous fine lookin’ bunch be?” The party introduced themselves and asked the man his name. “Well people round des parts call me Crazy Cooter - Hoyt Cootonious -, probably cause I’m nuttier than a squirrel turd!... huh huh huh…” The party asked if he knew of Tara Essentia. Cooter replied “Ahh dat sweet thang, I’s really taut she be da answer to all we’z troubles. Guess not huh?” The party asked if he had seen her recently. Cooter replied: “She came by, lookin’ more cute den a sack full of puppies. I’m telling ya fellas she’s so purdy she could make a hound dog smile!... anywayyyys… She came by, I told her bout all the troubles I’s been havin’.. she said she gon take care of eat…. Nuttin’s changed… I haven’t see her in a coon’s age!” Just as Cooter finished his sentence the hog began to buck wildly, as Cooter tried to keep it pinned. “Holt steal ya son bitch!” A moment passed before he wrestled the hog into submission. Cooter then managed to push the hog into the pen and slam the gate.

The party then asked Cooter what kind of troubles he has been having. “Dang ole’ man… nuttin but heaps o problems… some of da animals been getting sick and croakin’…. Some are givin birt to dead deformed babae’s… and some mo have been getting slaughtered! It started bout one every few days. I gots lots of cattle so wudden’t so bad, but an noiance for sure. Den it came be to be one every night. I figured it be wolves or suptin. So then I gone done got me some of dem deer blood hounds ta keep watch at night. I’ll be damn if da first night I add em I didn’t ear commotions and such. I ran out ta see what bloomin’ noise was all bout. Well it be horrible sights I tell ya… all dem deer new hounds of mine ere' slaughtered. Torn apart in chucks like a drunk butcher went ape shiat on their guts!... I took off runnin’ faster than a hot knife through butter! Since den it’s been several or so cattle a night. It’s getting real bad. At dis rate I’s be having no cattle left by da end of da year. You best be sure dat would mean all the eastern settlements gone be goin wit out beef and dairy. Shiat… I couldn’t jump over a gold to save a platinum.” Cooter interrupted his spiel and said. “Hang on sec fellers.” He shouted off in the distance. “Come on’ kids time ta grab a bit ta eat… get yer arse in ear Coady, Rumor, Hunter, Cubert, Tiffnay, Lourin. Come on now!”

Cooter paced back to the party. Mialee asked Cooter if any of the animals may have seen something. Cooter looked at her dumbfounded and told her that the cows may have since they were the ones being attacked. Mia made her way over to the cows, cast one of her nature cleric's spells to communicate with the animal. After a brief conversation that only sounded like the two creatures saying "Moo" to one another, Mia returned to the party. Mia stated that the cow stated that the scary creatures that attack them came from and go back in the direction of the old Day Break Fields farmhouse.

Cooter looked at Mia in shock before he said "You made friends wit da cow? Well hell little lady, if you ever be wantin' sum good compnay, I could always use a new friend too… dat is if you have lest discriminatin’ tastes.” He was grinning from ear to ear. Mia quickly declined his invitation. Cooter said, "Suit yerself" before yelling out to his nearby house. "Hey Earlene we should celebrate, some new folks r er lookin’ into the sick animals… empty out da tub we makes some rum” The voice of Earlene replied from the second level of the nearby farmhouse. “Ya can’t use da tub… I’m drowning rats in it!” Cooter replied “Still!?... are ya drowning em.. or making love to em!” With that, Cooter stomped off and into the house.

Moonshine Pasture

The party made their way over to the Moonshine Pasture. The pastures seem to farm a variety of everything from wheat, turkey, sheep, goat, rabbit, peanuts, chicken, beans, plums, strawberries, cattle, hogs, and much more. Several workers throughout the fields were tending to the various duties. The party went to the main farmhouse to find the owner. An old human man answered the door named Lumo Winslow and asked: “What brings you folks to my pasture?” He sized up the party and seemed a little put off by all the armor and weapons they were wielding. The party introduced themselves and asked if he had any news of the Lightbringer. Lum replied: “Yeah she came by a while back, asking questions, and saying she was going to do what she could to help bless the farmsteads. Seems to me she realized the problems were above her divine ability and probably split town. Haven’t seen her since, and the other farms are still infected or cursed or whatever is going on with them. So she obviously didn’t do her job.” The party inquired as to why his land doesn't seem as bad as the others. Lum replied: “Well I ain’t been having any major problems. That don’t surprise me though.” The party asked what he meant by that statement. Lum answered: “Cause I’m the better farmer than these other fools. I’ve been alive three times as long, so I know what I’m doing. Big Zeke works the grounds too hard, Martha Mae is a brainless twit that is ruining her father's farm more each year, and Crazy Cooter is too busy probably stickin’ his willy into all the livestock to get anything done. I tell you what, if the plague that they got going on spreads into my fields, I’m going to sue them for everything they are worth.” The party found it odd that this mans fields were not affected, but through their insight, they felt he was telling the truth. They thanked Lum for his time and decided to walk over towards Day Break Fields.

Day Break Fields

The pushed through the tall grasses towards the old farmhouse that looked like it has not been used in half a century. They approached the house cautiously listening for anyone in the interior. Hearing nothing but silence the party made their way inside. The stepped into the main room of the old house that served as both a crude kitchen and dining room. There was a small bedroom in the back of the building, as well as a large storage room. A tight hallway led to an attached small horse stable. The area appears to have seen a lot of foot traffic and the furniture appeared to have been used recently. They searched the house, not revealing must out of the ordinary, except Alvyn spotted a hatched door under the bed in one of the rooms. They moved the bed and opened the hatched door which led down into a dark cellar. The stone steps leading down were covered in blood that was not much more than a few days old. They proceeded with caution and snuck into the cellar. The dark damp area had a few old rotten barrels and a large wine rack resting on the north wall. They could clearly see the trail of dried blood led beneath the wine rack, therefore, they pushed the wine rack to the side. It revealed the wall behind it to be broken away which led into a short dug out cave. The dried blood path led to about the center of the cave and vanished. The party discussed how this could make sense, but couldn't come up with much at the time. They decided they would hide in the attached stables and wait until night to see if anyone shows up.

The hours passed by and sure enough, late into the night, they heard the front door to the house open and the sounds of several voices having a conversation. The details of what they were saying were muffled and uncomprehensible through the walls. Viggo tried to sneak out the interior stable door and down the tight hallway to get closer. Unfortunately, the old door made a creaking sound when opened causing the chatting in the main room to suddenly go quiet. A moment later the door at the end of the hallway swung open to reveal six men dressed in dark cultist-like clothing wearing plague doctor masks. With that, the battle was on.

Four of the cultists that had green lens reflecting in their masks rushed forward drawing daggers from their robes and blocking the party's way into the main room. The tight hallway was only big enough for one person at a time and that was being blocked by Viggo. Therefore, the two cultists that could get close enough to the rogue began to stab at Viggo with their daggers. One missed, while the other sunk his dagger into Viggo's lower abdomen. The two cultists that remained in the main room wore slightly different colored robes and the lenses of their masks were red. The red lenses cultists were spell casters and targeted the only target they could see at that time which was Viggo. They hurled a flickering stream of dark green magical gas through the air, one striking Viggo in his leg causing it to burn in pain while the other missed and hit the wall behind him. Mia cast her Wrath spell projecting a swirling ball of nature energy to burst over Viggo's shoulders striking the green lensed cultist in the chest causing him to wince in pain. Mia's spell triggered again as she fired the second blast into the cultists head causing him to stumble backward. Viggo jumped at that opportunity and finished the cultists off with quick dagger thrust before advancing into the room to allow more of his allies to pile out of the stable. Alvyn stepped into the tight hallway and began firing at the nearby green lensed cultist and dealing notable damage. Laeney realized she would be until to cram into the tight hallway so she made her way out the stable doors and was able to get a line of sight on the red lensed cultist through the window. She fired her arrow, it shattered the glass, but unfortunately knocked her arrow off course. ??? wolf rushed out of the stable and began to make his way to the main entrance of the farmhouse.

Two green lensed cultists rushed Viggo, while the other rushed into the tight hallway towards Mia. Viggo was able to dodge both the dagger attacks, while Mia suffers a small wound to her left arm from a thrusting dagger. The two red lensed cultists began to cast spells once again. The first one summoned a cloud of gas to appear next to Viggo that continued to swoop towards him burning away at his face and neck. The second cultist extended his hand and attempted to hold Alvyn in place, but the gnome was able to shrug off the effects. Mia and Alvyn continued to blast away with spell and pistol towards the cultist keeping them trapped in the hallways. The combination of both caused the cultist to drop dead on the spot freeing Mia and Alvyn to advance into the main room. Laeney now had a clear shot towards a red lensed cultist. She took a moment to aim and fired an arrow through the window striking the cultist hard in the chest causing him to stumble back into the table. Nymeria rushed around the front of the farmhouse and into the main room.

The remaining two cultists once again attacked Viggo with their daggers. One landed a slicing cut along the side of Viggo's head while the other missed. The magical green gas cloud continued to burn away Viggo who was now looking pretty rough from suffering so much damage. One of the red lensed cultist attention switched to the wolf that rushed in the door to engage him in close range. This cultist summoned his own gas cloud similar to what the other did a few seconds ago. He controlled the gas cloud to spiral around the wolf causing it to burn it with poison damage. The other red lensed cultist rushed towards Mia and placed his hand on her shoulder casting the inflicting wounds spell. Mia's flesh began to bubble and burn in agony. Mia was now out in the open area and despite the heavy damage, she had just received she could see Viggo in worse condition. Mia cast a healing spell to recover a significant amount of the damage he received. Viggo felt rejuvenated by the clerics healing powers mustered up enough strength to spin around and finish off another cultist adjacent to him. Alvyn noticed the red lensed cultists were the biggest threat here so he took aim and fired a bullet right through the neck of the red lensed cultist near Mia and that had previously been damaged by Laeney. Laeney fired through the window again sinking an arrow deep into the red lensed cultist. Nymeria attacked into the same cultist delivering a deep bite into his chest.

The red lensed cultist was severely wounded and knew he was outmatched. He disengaged from the wolf and ran out the door towards the fields. The lone remaining cultist in the main room made a desperate dagger attack towards Mia, but Mia was able to sidestep it with ease. Mia finished off this last cultist with a spinning attack from her staff, knocking him to the ground. Viggo ran after fleeing cultist alongside Nymeria. The wolf easily caught up to the cultist and pinned him to the ground. When Viggo caught up to the scene, he dragged the cultist back into the house, sat him on an old wooden chair and began interrogating him.

Despite Viggo's threats to kill the man, he did not reveal any information. Alyvn, Laeney, and Mia continued to search around the house and throughout the rooms during this time. The man tied to the charge became bold enough to slam the old chair on the floor, breaking the legs off and struggled to get free. Viggo had seen enough and quickly dispatched of him. As the party discussed their next course of action in the main room they noticed another one of the masked men step out of the tall grass and stop at the sight of the battle's aftermath. The man immediately ran back into over six-foot-tall grass, fleeing from the party. The party gave chase and struggled to keep up following the man through the fields. Laeney had her wolf companion Nymeria sprint and give chase as well. The wolf was much faster than anyone involved and her hunting instincts took over, and within a minute was able to track down and tackle the fleeing masked man. The party caught up to see the man badly wounded from the wolf and pinned to the ground. The party stood above the defeated man and began to interrogate him with several questions about what the cult is up to. Finally, the man gave in and spoke up: “You fools, you are far too late to interfere now. We are at the final stage now.. the Denomination of Dominus will haunt you for the remainder of your pathetic days!” As he threw out the insult the cultist dove over to his plague spreader. Alvyn attempted to react quick enough by drawing his pistol to shoot the spreader but was a second too late. The cultist inhaled a deep breath of the green gas that was released. The man flopped to the ground with a mad hackle before convulsing and shaking violently before his body stopped moving. Immediately as the man passed away, Mialee cast Spare the Dying on the cultist. The cultist tried to resist this divine magic used against him, but Mia's will was too strong as she pulled him back to life. They continued to question the man, however, at this point after just trying to kill himself he was delirious. He shouted at the party: "You idiots want a taste of what's in store for Odeon? Well, here it comes!" As he pointed off in the direction of the old farmhouse revealing a large group of shambling creatures exiting the building and heading in their direction. The cultist used this distraction to dive over to his plague spreader, in an attempt to kill himself once again. This time the party did not stop the man and allowed him to crawl over to his toxin-filled lantern. Once again the man took a deep breath, inhaling the fumes and died on the old farm ground.

The approaching creatures resembled humanoid races, yet were bloated and festering with tumors and sickness. They shambled their way towards the direction of the other farms in which the party just so happened to in their path. The party was unsure if the Plague Walker had seen them in the tall dead grass so they walked out of their path and remained quiet as the creatures approached. They whispered to each other and concluded that they couldn't let these things make their way to the undefended farms. As the mob of nine plague walkers was within range Mia stood up and cast a spike growth spell which made the ground and vegetation twist and sprout hard spikes and thorns.

The party sprung into action as Viggo flanked off to the side, while Alvyn and Laeney fired off their ranged weapons. As the fowl creatures forced their way through the twisted vines, heavily damaging and shredding their body in the process, the party heard the galloping of a horse approaching fast from the west. A half-orc rode into the fray, jumped off his horse and begun attacking the foul creatures with an ax. A few of the plague walkers bodies were so badly maimed from the spiked growth spell that they collapsed to their death, entangled in the twisting roots. The several that made it out of the twisted vines began to rush towards the party. Mia fired off blasts of nature-based magic, while Laeney and Alvyn continued to shoot at each creature that stepped out from the thorns. All these ranged attacks caused a few plague walkers to crumpled over to their knees before falling dead.

These disgusting creatures were covered in large growths and sacks all over their body. With every other attack that damaged the plague walkers, the growths popped spraying contagion and slime in all directions, similar to popping a pimple. The sprayed contagion erupted with such force and poison that it damaged all those nearby. Viggo became surrounded by three of these nasty creatures and he was only able to bring down one of them before the other two had gotten the best of him, knocking him to the ground near death.

The remaining plague walkers rushed towards the party where they were able to surround the Laeney and the half-orc. Mia tossed out a Rejuvenation spell on Viggo to help stabilize him and get him back in the fight. Within a few more moments the party was able to bring down the last of disgusting creatures, but not without the party suffering wounds and being covered in filth.

The party tended to their wounds as they asked the half-orc who is was and what he was doing out here. The half-orc stated his name is Desden Kendel and that Zingfield is his home town. He had been away for a long while and just returned about an hour before. He was informed about the problems the farmlands have been having and that a group of adventurers from Silverstone were out investigating into the matter. He was out investigating the fields himself when he heard the commotion and rushed towards the gunfire.

After that brief introduction with Desden, the party was curious as to how all these plague walkers came from within the old farmhouse. They made their way over to the old house and down into the secret cellar to notice a swirling green portal in the dugout area behind the wine rack. After a few minutes of debating as to what could be on the other end, Alvyn became impatient and stepped into the portal and disappeared. A few moments later the rest of the party made their way through as well.

The Swampy Zalmol Turf

Upon passing through the portal the party appeared into a dark damp cave. The air and temperature were humid, hot and sticky. Not far off they could see the outside light shining into the cave. Through the darkness, they could just make out a path of entrails and gore on the cave floor. Stepping out of the cave they were hit with a barrage of green and brown swamp foliage. The ground was moist with water pools throughout the area. The constant buzzing of millions of insects surrounds them as they heard a variety of other strange unidentifiable sounds. The collection of natural algae, bacteria, fungus, the decaying animal matter created a rather unpleasant and unfamiliar smell.

With Laeney taking point, they were able to follow the well-beaten path from the cave entrance and into the swamp. The terrain was thick and would normally be difficult to traverse through, would it have not been for the obvious path. They came across an area where the trail seems to disappear into the deep swamp water. They paused for a moment to decide whether to go around the swamp water or find a way across it. As far as they could see the water continued in both directions, so they decided to craft a raft to get across. Laeney's survival skills combined Alyvns knowledge of water vessels was enough to craft a crude, but a functioning raft of fallen trees and vegetation. They party all stood on the shaky and unstable raft and used rough paddles to push themselves across. A few minutes into crossing the water the raft bumped into something sticking out of the water causing it to suddenly shift. Each party member barely managed to stay on the raft, except for Mia who flew from the raft and into the dark sludge swamp water. Mia disappeared into the dark water, her vision clouded, as she sunk to the bottom and struck her head on something. She remained conscious, and tried to get her sense of direction or which way to swim and struggled to fight the pain and swim. The raft settled and the party waited a moment for Mia to emerge from the water, however, she did not. Both Desden and Alvyn immediately dove into the water themselves in search for their comrade. A few moments passed by as Laeney and Viggo watched from the raft before the three of them emerged from the water before making their way back to the raft.

Several minutes later the party crossed the water and traveled on land once again. Shortly thereafter they heard an unnatural sound for the swamplands, almost as if chimes were blowing in the wind off to the right of the trail. They decided to go off the trail to investigate. It led the party to a bizarre treehouse high in the trees. The treehouse appeared of rather unstable design and it was clear whoever built it had very limited carpentry skills. An odd-looking red door appeared to give entry into the house. A small window had the flickering of light coming from within. A set of spiral stairs led up to the house and across to two separate wooden walkways, however, the stairs did start until about eight feet off the ground. Hanging from many branches and above the staircase were dozens of wooden and metal wind chimes. The two walkways led off to two other trees that had small crude shacks.

The party spent a few minutes sizing up the treehouse and deciding how they would go about getting up to it. Once again Alvyn's patience wore thin and had Desden boost him to the bottom step. He then began to ascend the steps, carefully weaving to avoid the chimes that blew back and forth in the wind. Alvyn made it about halfway up the staircase before the wind shifted direction and he was struck by one of the chimes, immediately Alvyn felt his body seize up and turned to stone. The party looked to each other in shock and couldn't believe what had just happened. Desden decided to take action. Using his grappling hook and rope he tossed it to the highest point of the treehouses walkway. Desden climbed up and carefully made his way over to the red door. He knocked on the door when suddenly there was a blast of arcane energy from the door. The arcane blast did significant damage to Desden and had enough force to blow a normal man soaring through the air to fall to their death, however, due to Desden raw strength from his years of working a farm, blacksmithing and fighting he was able to resist the knockback.

A gnarled voice from inside the house spoke. “Tressspassers, leave here if you know what isss good for you.” Desden spoke up in response stating they don't mean him any harm and just want to talk. The voice from within replied: “Grrr... ssstand back... move to the opposssite ssshack acrossss the bridge” Desden complied with the request. A moment later a green-scaled Vashino emerged from the hut, standing just under 6 feet tall. His clawed hand extended in Desdens direction. “Who are you...why have you come here?” Desden responded stated that they are looking for the source of a foul corruption that has reached its way to their land. As Desden spoke he noticed the vashino's eyes widen and his head tilted slightly sideways before he replied: “All of you, blesssssed by the Godssss of Odeon... how sssstrange to find you together.. and in this sssswamp of all places." There was a pause of thought before the vashino spoke up again. "I am Kinjazk. Would you like to ssstep inside before ssssomething from this place consssumes you for sssubssstance?” Desden motioned for the rest of the party to make their way up the rope and into Kinjazk's hut.

Upon entering the small single room cabin, the party noticed everything was tightly crammed with little room for any of them to move. Two chairs and a small table with a mixture of eating utensils were in one area. A messy bed that was missing a leg lid in the corner next to a dresser. Otherwise, the place was a cluster of books, scrolls, and vials. So much so, and so unorganized the party had no idea how Kinjazk would know where anything is. Kinjazk watched as they all crammed into the hut and as soon as they shut the door something strange happened. Kinjazk suddenly changed in the blink of an eye becoming a Tabaxi. The tabaxi's eyes were glowing a magical golden color as he spoke: "I have many names you may now call me Lurr Halcyonic."

Lurr picked up on Viggo's shifting eyes and quickly spoke to the rogue. “In case you are anything like your goddess, keep your hands off my belongings, or else you’ll spend the rest of your short life span as a bumbling idiot. Do I make myself clear?” Viggo stated he wasn't going to touch anything and seemed puzzled by the comments. The party asked if he knew anything about the disgusting green plague walkers in the area. Lurr replied: “Yes those abominations have been trekking past my residence for quite a while now, dragging cattle from a portal in a nearby cave off to a pair of giants. The portal is a uniquely powerfully spell, from what I've gathered is that it only appears after sunset, and requires daily maintenance to maintain. Those abominations then seem to head into the underground cavern. From what I’ve gathered is those giants are guarding whatever is going on in that cavern… as they are always on watch. They have no reason to leave if they are being brought cattle to feast on so often." The party asked why Lurr hasn't done anything about them? To which Lurr replied: “I have enough issues of my own, that far outweighs whatever that arrangement is about. Keeping myself hidden from prying eyes is drastically more important than any of that nonsense. I’m wasting time here now just speaking to you.” The party informed Lurr that his wind chime trap turned their friend into stone, and asked if there was anything that could cure it. Lurr replied: "Maybe you should think twice before poking your nose into other peoples business... but yes I will restore him if you'll be on your way." Lurr shifted back into the Vashino form and led the party outside. Kinjazk performed an elegant hand gesture dispelling the petrification on Alvyn before stepping back into the hut and closing the door.

The Swamp Giant

The party left the strange tabaxi tree hut and continued on their journey of following the beaten path. A few minutes later they approached a massive clearing in the foliage. What would have been a soft swamp ground was not soft at all, but rather packed down by massive footprints throughout the area. Countless bones of all shapes and sizes scattered throughout the area, many protruding from the swamp. A small hill of dense vegetation resided in the area, which appeared to have a cavern entrance. Sitting in the swamp they saw an overweight Swamp Giant who was covered in sludge, vegetation, and filth.

The swamp giant was clearly bored out of his mind as he was trying to balance a large bone of some creature in the palm of his hand. The bone kept tipping over and falling flat on his palm. He tried again, however, this time he fumbled the bone into the swamp beside him. The giant blundered for a moment looking for it. Next to the giant was a massive club with a handle formed out of a tree and a boulder tied to the tip with vines. The party discussed for a few moments on what they should do. They debated between sneaking past the giant, speaking with it, or fighting it. They decided the party would remain hidden in the tree line while Desden approached and tried to talk to it. Desden stepped out from the foliage with his hands up in an attempt for peace. The swamp giant saw the half-orc approach and grabbed his club off the ground. The giant stood to his feet with a sinister grin on its face. Desden shouted out that he came in peace and just wanted to talk. The giant slowly stomped towards the fighter dragging his club with a menacing look in his eyes. The giant spoke something towards Desden, though, it was in the Giantese language that none of the party understood. It was at that moment, the party realized, communicating was not the answer.

The battle was on, Mia, Alvyn, and Laeney stepped out from their hidden position and began firing their Wrath spell, Pepperbox, and Longbow arrows into the giant, the attacks striking true but only lightly damaging the massive creature. Laeney decided to keep Nymeria out of the fight, and had the wolf remain hidden in the foliage. Desden called upon a gift granted by his god allowing to switch to a defensive stance in preparation for the giant's attacks which greatly helped his reflexes to avoid being hit but sacrificing his offense capabilities in the process. The swamp giant rushed towards the only target within range and swung his massive club at Desden. Desden side stepped just in time as the maul swung by. The giant used the momentum of the swing to bring the club up and around his head to deliver another attack. The second attack would have struck true, if not for Desdens defensive awareness which allowed him to raise his shield and roll with the impact.

Desden lunged forward with his hand ax, chopping into the blubbery flesh of the giant causing a spray of blood across the swamp ground. The remaining three party members continued to unleash more ranged attacks causing significant damage to the giant who responded with a roar of pain. The giant performed two sweeping attacks with his club at Desden, yet, once again was able to avoid suffering any damage. The party continued their assault toward the giant, the attacks striking hard and causing heavy damage. The giant realizing he is in critical condition stumbled forward to make one last attack to crush the puny half-orc near his feat, the attack missed completely. The next volley of attacks struck the giant, causing it to let out a gurgled sound as it dropped to his knees before falling forward face-first into the swamp.

The Murky Cavern

The party made their way into the cavern entrance in the hill. Inside the cavern was dark, damp, and carried a rotten smell that was making it hard for them to breathe. Immediately upon entering within the cavern, the path has a steep descent causing everyone to take their time and watch their footing. About every dozen feet a stick protruded from the soft muddy walls. Attached to the sticks were small dirty sacks that were putting off a flickering glow as tiny spots of light scatter around inside the sack. They continued to travel for about half a minute before Desden lost his footing on the slippery floor and found himself sliding out of control down the tunnel. The fighters heavy armor scraped along with the stone as he slid causing a loud echo throughout the tunnel. The rest of the party realized that there was no point in remaining quiet from here out so they sat and slid their way down the path trying to catch up to Desden.

The path descended for only a few seconds before the party came to a stop, dogpiling at the bottom. They stood up, trying to wipe the weird sticky substance off themselves as they looked around. It opened into a wide area with large tree roots acting as support beams for the cave above. Off to one side, there was a pile of the lanterns filled with the same toxic green substance they had previously seen the cultists wielding in the old farmhouse. Several of those same type lanterns were scattered on the ground in the sludge with the swirling green gas within. The cavern was almost oval-shaped with a dead-end along the far wall. Near the far wall, they spotted a human woman in what was once white robes. She was strung up to the cavern wall with thick roots. A root crossed her mouth preventing her from speaking. Her eyes were closed as she remained motionless.

Sitting in the mud at the far end was a strange toad looking creature - Oz'goch - with several fungi filled shells around it. He had a broken open turtle shell in his lap as he swirled his hand over it, mumbling some type of ritual incantation. The party slowly approached with caution as Desden led the way with his shield at the ready. They shouted out to the toad-like creature, but it did not indicate that he heard their shouts. As they crept closer and stepped past the first massive root pillar a clawed hand came out from the darkness behind it striking Desden with tremendous force. Hitting Desden harder than he's ever been hit before, causing him to wince in pain. With that, the battle was on.

Before the party could react to what had hit Desden, Oz'goch spun around and hopped up to face his intruders. He quickly made some hand gestures and cast a spell that fired a ball of plague towards the party. It struck the ground near the party and erupted into a blast of poison in all directions. The damage to the party was immense, yet washed harmlessly off the large slug-like Brulveg that was hiding behind the root. This plague ball dropped Desden to his knees, causing enough damage that would have knocked him unconscious if not for his half-orc relentless endurance allowing him to barely hang on. After that brutal attack, the party yelled to spread out. Alvyn rushed forward into the area between the two root pillars and fired off his pistol, striking Oz'goch in the shoulder. Mia cast a Cure Wounds spell on Desden to try and help him get back into the fight. Viggo rushed forward to engage the Brulveg attempting to lock him down in melee. Laeney decided she would get into position to shoot Oz'goch, so she rushed up ahead just past Alvyn and near the other root pillar. Before she was able to raise her longbow to fire the shot, a clawed hand struck out from behind this pillar as well. The attack struck her in the torso, causing heavy wounds across her body. Laeney barely remained standing from the attack and fired her bow point-blank into the big hideous Brulveg, causing the arrow to sink deep. Desden got back to his feet and chopped into Brulveg near him, causing a disgusting mucus to spray out instead of blood.

Oz'goch didn't like being shot by the tiny gnome, so he retaliated by casting another spell. As the creature looked intently into Alvyn's eyes a hypnotic pattern began to form. Alvyn tried desperately to resist, however, was unable to do so. Alvyns vision and mind was filled with a psychedelic barrage of colors causing him to fall to the ground prone, staring up at the ceiling and hypnotized by the effects. Mia frantically continued to cast healing spells to her critically wounded teammate. Viggo ducked flanked around the Brulveg stabbing it in the back doing heavy damage to the creature. In retaliation, that Brulveg spun around with a vicious swipe of its clawed hand striking Viggo hard enough to send him collapsing to the slimy cavern ground. The other Brulveg near Laeney swung his clawed hand towards the ranger missing by a few inches. The attack would have surely ended it for Laeney. The ranger responded by charging up an arrow with arcane energy, firing point-blank again and sinking another arrow deep into the creature's flesh causing heavy damage. Desden switched his stance to be more aggressive and seeking revenge against the Brulveg he swung his hand ax down hard, embedding itself in the skull of the creature. The Brulveg's body crumpled to the ground. Desden then began to rush towards Oz'goch.

Oz'goch cast a spell that projected a smaller blast of poison across the cavern towards the approaching fighter, but Desden was able to raise his shield to block the attack. Alvyn continued to roll around the floor laughing at the bizarre sights he witnessed under the effect of the spell. Mia cast a rejuvenation spell on Laeney to heal her wounds and keep her in the fight. The remaining Brulveg attacked at Laeney who once again narrowly evaded the attack. Laeney responded by firing an arrow point-blank through the creature skull. Desden rushed forward and hacked into Oz'goch with his ax.

Oz'goch began to panic as this fierce half-orc had him pinned in the corner. He attempted to cast a mind-control spell on Desden, who was able to shrug off the effects, however, this new spell cast caused Oz'goch to lose concentration on the spell he had on Alvyn. Alvyn sprung to his feet, near death, grabbed his pepperbox and fired a bullet across the cavern, grazing past Desdens torso, and straight through Oz'goch's skull. The toad-like creature dropped to the ground instantly. Mia rushed around and spent the next several minutes tending to grievous wounds of her allies.

A minute went by, as Desden and Alvyn worked to cut the Lightbringer free from the roots that shackled her to the cavern wall. This was most certainly Tara Essentia the missing priestess who appeared to be sick, frail and malnourished. Laeney and Mia tended to Viggo and managed to revive him from near death. Just as the Lightbringer was freed and being held up by Desden everyone heard a weird bone popping sound. They looked towards the sound which was coming from Oz'goch's body. The party witnessed eyes of the toad creature open, its head snapped towards the party's direction as its mouth began to speak in a strange deep voice. “Every step I take… the pathetic gods have their chosen hinder me… well enough! It’s time I start doing the same… I will see your land covered with my blessing. Keep your ear to the ground mortals… when you hear songs of bards or town cryers speaking of your precious civilizations falling under the banner of Saggorok know that it was your actions on this day that forced my hand!” With that, the creature's head snapped violently in the opposite direction creating a sick cracking sound.

The party decided to get out of this cavern and clear of the area before the second swamp giant that Lurr mentioned returned as they were in no condition to fight such a foe. The party traveled back the way they came, crossed the water and went back to the original cave they arrived in. The party felt a sick sinking feeling in their stomachs when they entered the cave and the portal was no longer there. They rested there for a few hours before heading back to Lurr's tree hut to ask for help.

Return to Lurr

The party returned to Lurr's residence and yelled out for him to step outside to speak with them. He emerged as Kinjazk the vashino and made his way down to the party. The party stated they were sorry to bother him again but they had q few more questions. They asked where in the world where they. Kinjazk replied: “Of what do you ssspeak? Sssurely you know where you are?” After a brief paused he realized they indeed had no clue. Kinjazk stated: "Peculiar… You are in the ssswamplands of the Zalmol Turf.” The party asked why Kinjazk was out here in the middle of nowhere to which he replied: “I'm hiding from the gaze of dark forcesss until I complete my decryption.” They asked what he was decrypting to which he replied: “That isss a topic I do not care to sssshare at this time.” The party then asked how long he had been here? Kinjazk stated: “I have no idea, monthsss, yearsss maybe… time is irrelevant to me.” The party seemed shocked by that comment and asked how is time irrelevant? Kinjazk affirmed “Yesss well… I’ve been alive sssince the Age of Conflict…. Prolonged life is an assset for membersss of the Axevian Council.” The party asked who are the Axevian Council, to which he replied: “There isss little you need to know about that… other than to be thankful we have been sssafeguarding Odeon sssince the birth of your godsss.”

The party explained that the portal they came here with is closed and they have no idea how to return to the Perfectus Nation Wilderness. Kinjazk paused for a moment to think something over before informing the party the safest and quickest way back is through the use of the nearby Axevia Gateway: Zalmol Turf. Kinjazk told the party to follow him as he headed off into the swamp. As they traveled they encountered an attack from a massive crocalisk but it was quickly dispatched by Kinjazk with a high-level lightning bolt spell. After the brief encounter, Kinjazk stated to the party: “Mmm we may have need of your kind in the coming daysss…take thessse.” He handed a satchel to the party that contained potions of healing and a potion of heroism.

They walked for several more minutes when Kinjazk spoke up. "When you leave the gateway, to find your way back to Zingfield, you'll need to head eassst until you hit the road, and continue to head north along the road. I am glad to sssee that there are ssstill decent heroesss and people willing to do the right thing. People like you will be needed in the near future... don't lossse thossse virtuesss." The party asked why they will be needed. Kinjazk replied: "That isss a matter that is far out of your reach at the moment. But ssstay true to your courssse, listen to your godsss, and your time will come... ahh we are here!" The party was shocked to see as if suddenly appearing out of nowhere, the vegetation warped away like an illusion. They were about forty feet from a stone archway that stood thirty feet tall and twenty feet wide. It was nearly completely covered in swamp growth and vegetation. The small section that was not covered appeared to have symbols and magic wards etched into the stone. It was obvious whatever this was, it had not been used in a long time.

Kinjazk stated: "Ahh we are finally here, pleassse give me a moment." He stepped in front of the massive archway and began to channel some arcane energy, with each passing moment his hands began to glow more and more, as did the swinging motions and unique hand gestures of his arms. About a minute of went by when suddenly the symbols etched in the stone began to glow a dull red. Beneath the vegiation that covered the majority of the archway, the party saw a glow as if the rune light tried to shine through the vegetation. The archway was then filled with a dull red rippling effect that drew back revealing the slight glimpse of the familiar-looking trees of Perfectus. With that Kinjazk, while still channeling the portal looked to the party. "Well don't just ssstand there, go through!" Startled the party began to rush towards the portal as Kinjazk yelled out. "Keep sssafe heroesss... I may call upon you ssssoon."

The party emerged from the massive Axevia Gateway: Perfectus Nation in the forests of the Perfectus Nation just north of the city of Llorn at the base of the mountain range. The archway was of identical design as the one they just stepped through, except overgrown with moss, and vegitation native to these lands. Following the verbal directions from Kinjazk, the party found the road and made their north to Zingfield.