It was not long afterwards that aided the centaur that I was able to join in another mission to assist White Moon Cove. This time we thought to travel south of settlement to a location called the Ghostwood Marsh. Our objective was to try to locate a gnoll encampment in the marsh and eradicate it if possible. A simple yet brutal objective but the prevalence of the gnolls in the area it would not be wise to all a forward camp not that far from White Moon Cove. Our team consisted of (besides me):
- Dec – A sneaky little goblin. More civilized than most his kin it seems.
- Gau – A human druid. Or I would assume so since he could talk with animals.
- Saoch – Same one as before. I am pretty sure now his blood fuels his wild magic.
- Shrieker – A strange Kenku who was a scout of some sort? Attuned to nature for sure.
- Twiks – Same witch who saved me before. Pretty sure a druid with strong ties to nature.
When we made our way out White Moon Cove, it was fairly clear that Saoch had not taken the advice from others to find aid and lift the curse we previously received from the looting of the mysterious sarcophagus. He seemed to not have as much energy and we were not sure if he was fit for travel but he insisted anyways. So we headed out and I hoped that the crazy halfling would not be a detriment.
Our journey was fairly uneventful except that it was blazing hot despite it being fall. We eventually did run across some track along the road that we headed directly west toward the crevice. It was a mix of animal, gnoll and booted tracks. We could not determine their intent or purpose but the thought that crossed my mind was these tracks were not necessarily together but one group hunting the other. In any case, we opted to stay on task and continue our journey toward the marsh.
Once we reached the Ghostwood Marsh, I can only say that I was not expecting it to be so…swampy. With heat and humidity, it was simply a miserable,slow trek but despite all that, we pressed on. Our journey through the marsh got sidetracked early on as we saw a structure peaking about the vegetation line. It appeared to be a ziggurat of sorts so with care we decided to scout out the place to ensure gnolls have not taken up residence there. An advanced party went ahead and what they saw was quite unusual. There were no gnolls there but some undead turtle creature along with some demonic two-headed dogs. We opted to not press further into the temple as there were too many unknown but we noted the location for further investigation after we reported it.
So with that we continued further into the swamp hoping not to alert the residents of the temple. It seemed that we were in the clear after a few hours of travel until we were met with heavy rumbling sounds. Heavy enough that the ground started to shake beneath our feet. Taking cover we were met with the site of several huge reptilian creatures that were a sight to behold. From what I was told by others, these were dinosaurs specifically ankylosaurs. At first we thought these creatures were being territorial and about to attack us but it became clear that there was another threat they were running. A huge reptilian beast came bursting through the rough foliage, a predator dinosaur called a Tyrannosaurus Rex! It was obvious this beast was an apex predator hunting the ankylosaurs.
Our first instinct was to hide from the beast but we were unsure if this monstrous beast would continue after its initial targets or change its mind and assault small (and easier) prey…us. So we pressed an assault on this beast. The kenku was able to befriend the ankylosaurs who immediately rode it into the battle as the rest of it attacked it from range. Despite the creatures size it moved very rapidly across the area immediately. I thought Saoch was gone for good as the maw of the beast snatched him up. He was quite lucky that we were able to fell the Tyrannosaurus Rex quickly before Soach was consumed. With some aid from others in the group he was revived no time.Â
We harvested what we could of the beast knowing that some of the meat and such would fetch a price for its exotic materials harvested. It was becoming clear at this point that Saoch was not faring well. The curse along with the battle had taken its toll so we decided to cut our losses and make our way back to White Moon Cove plus the Kenku had befriended the ankylosaurus and wanted to possibly keep him as a companion once fully tamed. So we began our journey back which was fairly uneventful. The exception was once we hit the plains, there were two wizards far off in the distance dueling over some sort of sordid affair with someone’s mother. We did not interfere with this duel but it appeared one did die in the process.  We were not sure who they were but we moved on in the morning making it back
So another mission in the books and this time with less problems. We did not achieve our objective but the exotic materials netted some coin for us and we had brought back the Ankylosaur which may provide benefit in the future. Hopefully we will discover what lies in the Ziggurat soon perhaps another trek is in order.