For the most part the swamp mire is firm underfoot and the inhabitants pose no problems that cannot be solved by a few shouts or well-placed weapon blows. But, as the sky darkens and you draw nearer to the plateau, the going becomes more difficult. A carpet of vines, thick with mould, covers a surface of muddy holes and hollows. Often a seeming puddle proves to be a bottomless fissure. Progress becomes so slow that you fear you will never reach the island before dark.
Paido is leading the way across a tangled mat of barbed vines when a wave disturbs the muddy ooze below. Suddenly the great head of a silver swamp python bursts through the rotting creepers and raises its tree-thick coils high in the air. Awesome jaws set with double-tiered fangs tower above you, glistening in the fading light. A drop of venom falls from the fangs and sets the quagmire boiling.
I am asked if I have Animal Control plus Primate rank. Yup. I mask my own scent but it likes Paido’s, but I manage to keep it away with a good roll of a 7. It frightened away the swamp denizens but they begin to return so let’s keep moving. More moss issues, and the sun is beginning to set. We discover an actual trail. I use Pathsmanship.
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Even in the failing light, you can see that this trail is frequently used: the spongy vegetation is crushed flat, and a profusion of tracks are imprinted on the loamy soil. The tracks were made by man-sized creatures, bare-footed and web-toed. Close to the main trail winds another, less obvious, track. For some reason someone or something has gone to great lengths to keep this trail secret.
I choose the secret trail. It comes across a Ghagrim settlement, a group of lizard-ish humanoids that are not always friendly, so I choose to continue along secret track. Yay Pathsmanship allowing me to skip an encounter. We find a rock and grab a few hours sleep before dawn.
Day breaks and we can finally see the temple. It’s pretty close, actually. We should be there soon. I pick a number and it’s 6. We stop at noon to check the Starguider and it still works. Another meal of love.