The session started up with the party making camp, the watch order having been decided at the end of last session. On the second watch, Humble Jack the Thief, excuse me, Independent Enterpriser, Meets an old woman named Medlyn. She was a haggard old woman in rags missing d6 teeth with a shrill voice and Buscemi eyes. I couldn't have predicted how involved the group would get with this NPC.
Jack Parleyed with her to gain a guide to the swamp in exchange for a place to cook her cat and sleep for the night.
Jack woke Ajax the Druid for his watch. Ajax didn't like her, the cooking of the cat, or any of it. But he was ignorant of the ways of the swamp, being from the frozen north, and so he parleyed with her, using his ignorant ramblings about swamp life, to gain information. He got more than he bargained for, though, as she unloaded the sordid details of her life, her shunning from society, her sexual discoveries. This was all glazed over, but Ajax can now spout lore about Medlyn in addition to the swamplands.
Ajax woke our Bard, Bengi, but did not inform him of the exchange. Bengi made some poor choices and bedded the Hag in exchange for a guide the group had already gained. I'm just not even going to get into that.
When Cylion, our Ranger, awoke for her shift, she caught a nearby danger just in the nick of time. An assassin vine lashed out and swallowed a deer nearly whole. She woke the group and engaged the deadly plant in combat. Clovis the Barbarian hacked back at the thing with his Axe, and was knocked clean on his ass in the process. Ajax morphed into a snow tiger and pounced upon the delicate roots. He tore and dug and clawed at it.
They found the soil surrounding the plant to be the types of soils that Kobolds would use to trap deadly plants.
A little searching by Humble Jack showed they had been camping on the entrance to Kobold Caverns this whole time. Clovis bullheadedly charged in, preparing to annihilate the first thing he found. He sprung a trap, surprise, and upon hearing the click of the trigger stone, he leapt over a spiked pit, but was slammed in the back by a heavy log intended to push him in. He rode the log to the other side, but found himself teetering at the edge of the pit, holding the log up.
Humble jack clambered up and managed to crank the gears back to set the log in place, then jammed one of his throwing knives into the gears to hold the log steady. The party used the log to climb over the pit and continued. Medlyn tagged along, feverishly insisting that Bengi was her "new boyfriend." Bengi was trying to be cool about it, but we all know what happened, Bengi.
Anyway, Humble Jack managed to detect the second trap, which contained some sort of blinding explosive material, and the group carefully stepped over the tripwire. They stepped into a large, more open cave with 6 or so tunnels leading out. One of the tunnels had the glowstones they recognized from the Gelatinous Cube they had barely escaped last session. As they walked into the cavern, Sounds of combat could be heard echoing down from one of the tunnels, but it was difficult to pinpoint which. The unmistakable sound of the frogmen could be heard amongs the hissing and snapping of the Kobolds, and they were sure the Priest they seeked held quarters not far from here.
Clovis stepped forth to attempt to discern which tunnel to venture through, but he stepped onto another trigger stone (his specialty, apparently) and boulders rolled out in front of all of the exits of the cave. Dust and rocks shook loose from the ceiling, as it started to lurch and grind down, menacing to crush them.
Medlyn's knowledge of the area and the habits of the monsters here proved useful, and she showed them which tunnel was the one to venture through (though it was now blocked). Clovis, not giving a fuck how heavy a boulder is, pushed it in and made an escape for everyone. The rest of the party scrambled through by the skin of their teeth, as Humble Jack spotted glint of gold from a false rock underneath.
Jack cussed Clovis out heartily, calling him tiny man, foolish, and "half-foot." They continued through a short tunnel into the next cavern. Here there was a pond, and the cavern swelled up around the pond with a narrow walk around, leading to an altar on the far side. There they found the Frog Priest, a particularly bulbous and warty frogmen wearing vestments of swamp weed and dragonfly wings. He had a protruding.. what do you call that big bubble a frog has in its throat? Well it was translucent, and swarming with tadpoles. The frogpriest was accompanied by 4 frogmen, and 2 dead. The party could see a kobold darting down the hallway. The frogpriest bellowed "After them, they have stolen my holy symbol!!!"
Jack the Thief tried to huck a knife at the kobold, but had to run to the mouth of the tunnel to line up his shot. He nailed the thing in the back of the head, and it twisted and dropped on the ground, pushing the kinfe through and out its gaping jaws. The Halfling Barbarian ran up to attempt to protect Jack from the 3 kobolds waiting at the far end of the tunnel with spears, but he failed and they both were barraged as the Kobolds tossed the things.
The frog priest was all fucking worked up, and he spewed forth tadpoles onto the cavern grown. The tadpoles bubbled and grew into 4 fresh, veiny and new Frogmen, fully capable albeit a little soft and new. 8 of the frogmen, weathered and newborn alike, charged down the tunnel, leaving the Priest in his cavern. The party followed after.
The frogmen were already clashing spears with the kobolds, and suddenly a blinding, glowing green stream of acid issued out from above and melted the frogmen into the cavern floor, leaving but one alive.
The party looked up, and perched on a stalagtite was a dragon whelp.
The battle was not pretty, there was much stabbing by the kobolds, and much acid breath by the whelp. Humble Jack shall remain Humble forever more, melted into the floor cave as he is. Clovis did a good number on the Kobolds, hacking up their spears and chopping off their arms. Ajax vainly attempted to bring his sheleighly to bear against the long and pointy spears of the kobolds, receiving many wounds. The Dragon was well pounded by the last frogman after the death of Jack, and crashed to the dungeon floor. Bengi was pinned by the thing, but it took an arrow to the eye from the ranger.
The sheer number of them caused the thing to attempt retreat, and the last of the kobolds attempted to follow with a large, heavy chest. Clovis decapitated them, and the Whelp clamped its jaws around the treasure and attempted to escape. Its greed was its undoing. Unable to turn its acid breath upon them, the thing was well covered in adventurers and did become stabbed and killed and such.
The chest was brought to the frog priest, who laid claim to all treasures within and refused to share.
Ajax recognized among the treasure a goblet carved of swampland roots, adorned with bone, tooth, and golden trim, inscribed with the symbol of Peldura the Swamp Goddess. When filled with swamp water, the goblet is known to have great healing properties. Bengi spoke frankly with the Frog Priest, asking how they could possibly leave this place with the Goblet of Peldura. The priest said the goblet must be returned, and that he would take it only if Bengi released his treasured horn. Bengi agreed, and the frogman asked what it was Bengi desired most. Bengi explained his understanding of trust of the frogmen was his greatest desire at current.
As the party took stock and prepared to navigate out of the tunnels, leaving their melted comrade behind, Celion discovered the last of Humble Jack's coins. She could almost hear him screaming jealously and protectively as she pocketed the golden thing. They went to step out, and the Frogman who had aided in their defeat of the whelp and its kobold foot soliders said unto them "take me with you."
Will our heroes embrace this strange monster as a companion? What lies in wait for Humble Jack beyond Death's imposing Black Gates? Will Bengi retrieve his magic horn? Will the swamp hag Medlyn Fuck Bengi again? These…. are questions!
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