DM-Darkhelm
The Plan
After gather together a season group, I began to discuss several options for our journey.
After some discussion, it was decided to procure the folding boat that was available from the Harbor Master and go by foot to the swamplands and then cross a relatively short distance to the Island. I preferred this route as it would give me the group a more significant opportunity to enjoy the wildlife along the way. This paid off for Lyric and me as we came across some Giant Crabs and I was able to learn the shapes and methods of these magnificent creatures. However, we did face a bit of a moral quandary as some of the group started to get hungry and wanted to try some crab meat that Lyric and my friend seemed to be made up of. With some quick thinking from Lyric and with some assistance from myself and others, we were able to rustle up enough seafood and veggies to relieve our new friend of any danger of being eaten.
The Swamp
We made it to the swamp area, and the weather was getting worse. We saw signs of paths snaking their way through some of the thick foliage of the swamp and wondered who had made them or possibly what creature. That night while we were resting strange light flicker in the distance and we began to investigate them when we noticed something weird going on. The lights were playing with our minds somehow and made several in the party sick and then filled with a compulsion to run off into the swamps. As it turns out, the urges were not random as we found out the lights were working, possibly in a symbiotic relationship with some very evil-looking trees. The effect ran straight to them and then the trees began lashing out at them with their branches. Some of the lights could shock you, I do not know if they were a different species or if somehow the previous lights transformed into them. There was also a strange five-armed Undead creature that came at us. Don’t know if it was a result of someone dying from the trees or just something that was passing by and got drawn to the commotion. Either way we did short work of all of them and then rested the best we could. The next morning, we noticed that the area we had camped in was in the middle of a larger circular area that had large wooden poles about every 50ft that said beware of the trees. So, after having a big laugh at the situation, we headed to the coast by deploying the folding boat into one of the swamp channels and headed east.
Reaching the Island
The sea voyage went very well as I steered the ship while Vraela tended to the rigging and kept a watchful eye out. The water was calm, and by evening, we had spotted the shoreline and made our way around the northern peninsula to a safe landing spot. We landed there, and I quickly folded the boat up for our inland journey. The land was well forested, and we did not spot any dangerous flora or fauna as we set up our camp. During the first watch, I heard someone approaching and was pleased to have spied three Tortles heading in our direction. I hailed and greeted them and took them back to our camp were our party made their introductions. The leader it seemed was a Druid named Scar, the two fellows with him were named Don, and Donny. It was hard to tell if they were joking as Don kept referring to Donny as Fat Don. They then informed us that they were headed to the coast to investigate a shipwreck that some of their scouts had spotted. We ask them if they wanted to stay at our camp for the night and all go there together in the morning, but they insisted on pushing on. Having just made a tiresome sea journey, I did not want to put the group in the risk of becoming exhausted and after getting a consensus from the group we told them we would meet them at the coast tomorrow. Sometime after the Tortles had left a group of Dimetrodons strolled by the camp and unfortunately, Lyric and I were not able to get them to stop and let us study them as they were intent on reaching the sea and munching down on seaweed and fish. Once morning came, we headed out to the northeast and found the Dimetrodons at the shoreline and Lyric, and I were able to observe them long enough to learn their form.
The Battle and Return
After this, we followed the coast to where Scar had indicated the wreck to be. We found the wreck, but there were no signs of the Tortles. Believing that the Tortles must have gone underwater to investigate the wreckage, we ventured down to the shoreline, where I took on the form of an octopus while Lyric took to the sky as an Owl. Kurl followed me into the water, and as we got close to the wreckage, a horde of Undead poured forth. Some were armed with hand crossbows, which were very useful in the water, as one of them quickly knocked me out of my wild shape. I then took that opportunity to wild shape into a shark and began attacking the ones closes to shore.
I was very concerned at that point, with the sheer amount of damage the Undead were doing, but I did not have a chance to reach the shore. A cross-bolt found its mark in my side, and the light began to fade, I was jolted back to the light only to feel another blow sending me back into the darkness. I was lost in a world of a cold night and found myself to be alone and unable to even feel my body until I began to sense a rhythmic sound. I struggle to reach out to it, and it slowly became louder until I was able to open my eyes. I found myself surrounded by Tortle priest and the smiling faces of my friends who had brought my body back to Ahoyhoy. Grateful to be back among the living I was slightly saddened that we could not spend more time with our Tortle friends, as there was a ship already in the harbor bound for white moon cove. I spent the journey back recovering and thinking about my future, plans that were made possible by good friends.