I am not sure what possessed me to journey so to so quickly journey out of White Moon Cove again despite my last mission where I witnessed not only the pressing advance of the gnolls into the area but the death of one of my traveling companions as well. I wouldn’t call it overconfidence or an overextended sense of worth but reckless abandonment seeing death firsthand. In any case, I looked for another mission to partake in and found a small group of people willing to explore this strange land despite the looming threat of the gnolls. It was just three of us but to join me was:
- Jager – An elf of strange reddish hue that was obviously a ranger of sorts
- Zerdan – A gentle giant that was a Firbolg that was attuned to nature
Jager was confident that with his superior skills in the plains that we could journey through the dangerous lands unscathed. His proposal was to possible explore a cave nearby on the edge of the Ghostwood Marsh that supposed held elemental beings called mephits. I probably would have not gone if it were not the warm reassurances from our Firbolg companion.
Our trek toward Ghostwood march was uneventful for most part. We did decide to go directly into the storm. While I was a little fearful of this unnatural storm, I decided to follow them and much to my surprise there was nothing too harsh about this storm except it being exceedingly wet with lots of hail from cold weather pattern. So with the expertise of Jager we quickly made it to the area and were able to locate some tracks. With that we were able to find the entrance to the cave.
The cave entrance had steam rising from it like it was perhaps a thermal vent. Considering the springs we keep finding in the area I am to believe that perhaps this area is above some volcanic activity but who knows. In any case, as we ventured into the cave our way was blocked by portcullis that Zerdan was able to lift considering he was obviously giant-kin. Not only that but the ground was spongy and hard to transverse. Once deeper in did we find two doors. Both locked so we decided to force our way into the southern door leaving the eastern door alone for now.
Once through the doors, we did encounter a small hostile group of elemental fire beings that I have not seen the likes of before: a fire snake and humanoid fire elemental that looked like a small simpleton of a man. The battle was pressed as it was soon discovered these creatures could light us on fire but we did prevail to discover the room had a fountain of sorts but our investigations was interrupted before it begin as the eastern door revealed a small ground of kobolds in this lair as well!
Our battle with the kobolds turned into a game of cat and mouse as they would barricade themselves behind the door opening it up to throw swarms of insects at us to fight as they fled. I have heard of the cleverness of kobolds but I have not witnessed it now. We spent much of our effort to remove these swarms which included wasp, centipedes and rot grubs of all things. Yes, the small maggots that will burrow into your flesh and kill you as it seeks its way to your heart. Nasty little buggers for sure. From the attacks of insects and our previous encounter with the fire elemental creatures, Jager called for a retreat. As we started to exit the kobolds grew overconfident and much to their folly pressed their attack on us. Had they left us alone they would have been fine but we defended ourselves and killed them like dogs backed into a corner.
With our group being on our last leg we fled the now empty cave looking for shelter to rest before we pressed on to home. Overall I would say this was the most foolish of endeavors I ever did and will not make that mistake again.