Ruins of Azlant Gameplay I

”I got back in control after climbing out of the pit and killed the tree,” Kaimana answers, tilting his head to the massive gashes in the tree. ”And then Aisha healed you.”

"I...see. Thanks." The world was becoming clearer, and the headache has dulled to a throbbing ache. "Is there anything else we're interested in here, or should we keep looking for the shade?"

”There’s more stuff we could look at,” Kaimana answers, shooting looks of concern to Aisha and Amissa at Jax’s state, ”and I’m sure you could say better if this seems right or not, but as far as the shade goes, we could probably stop for the night and be just as likely to find it tomorrow.”

"No," Jax waves his hand of as he straightens out, "I'm fine. If you're all ready, we can keep going."

”If you’re sure,” Kaimana answers, still looking unsure himself. ”I’m going to look around a bit.”

Scattered amid the bones littering the crimson musk willow’s roots are the possessions of its many victims over the centuries. These objects include numerous ruined suits of leather and chainmail armor, rusted and decayed nearly beyond recognition. A +1 mithral breastplate emblazoned with a red, five-pointed star stands out among the detritus. Alongside the armor is also a +1 longspear and a handy haversack containing a dose of dust of dryness, an elixir of swimming, three potions of cure moderate wounds, a potion of water breathing, and a wand of freedom of movement (17 charges).

"Far as I know you shouldn't have any side effects, but let me know if that headache gets worse or your thoughts get weird," Aisha cautions Jax. "That said, I'm okay on spells to push forwards for a little bit, maybe one more fight, but then we'll need to make camp. What we could do is scan this area for tracks - reportedly the hag's allies were seen in the area. Though that may have been the scrag we saved, it's a shame we didn't speak its language."

They check the area a little further for any sign of other allies of the hag, but find no indication of anyone besides the scrag from earlier. After conferring, Lyra's report of potentially seeing humanoids in a nearby place that had a bunch of whale bones, near a marsh that appeared to be smokin is brought up, and the group decides to look for that area.

A little before sundown, jutting off the north coast of Ancorato is a jumble of massive whale bones, stretching up like columns from the rocky shore. Tattered remnants of tarps, tangled nets, and the collapsed domes of underwater structures are all that remains of what may have been a community of sea-dwelling creatures. The small settlement is deserted, containing fewer than a dozen structures, all built with frames of whale bone. The structures, similar to yurts, originally had canvas, hide, or some manner of woven material stretched across their bone frames. A well-trodden path leads from the settlement into a nearby marsh. It's difficult to tell if the damage was from weather effects or from a fight, but there's no certain sign of violence. The trail doesn't look to have been used recently, but the group decides to follow it for further clues anyway. However, they don't get far before realizing the sun is going down, and it would be more prudent to make camp than to go forth when it's dark and magic ability is low.

They secure an area to camp, and Kaimana considers as he gets his section ready for the evening. It doesn't take long, due to the minimal supplies, and he looks back to Jax. When Jax finishes setting up, Kaimana walks over to him. "Hey, let's scout around a little bit to make sure we'll be good for the night," Kaimana says, not particularly as a question, and waves Jax over as he starts to walk off.

Jax frowns for a moment, then grabs his spear and follows without a word.

Kaimana waits until they're a bit out of earshot, looking around for this or that. "So, I noticed you've been kind of on edge today," he comments, glancing over to Jax. "Everything all right?"

"I'm fine." Jax glances to the side, hoping to hide the lie with the scouting they were ostensibly doing.

Kaimana considers, and decides to follow example. ”Are you? I don’t want to be pushy, so if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay. But if you’re not okay and you do want to talk about it, I’m here to listen. If it’s related to the fighting, who better to talk to, right?” he adds with a smile.

Jax pauses for a moment, considering. "I'm...we're all under a lot of stress. I can handle it." He is willing to concede that much.

Kaimana nods, and waits as they walk, hoping Jax will add more. He doesn’t, and Kaimana knows better than to push, so they finish their “scouting” loop and head back.

On returning to the camp, Kaimana remembers something else. ”Hey, Aisha, do you have a second?” he asks, sitting down by her spot. ”I was hoping to bounce something off you.”

Aisha looks up from her setting up and nods to Kaimana. ”Sure, what’s up?” she asks, putting on a cheerful smile.

”Okay, so,” Kaimana starts, thinking while circling a hand, ”I’ve been thinking about some of the recent conversations at the colony, and how they seem to be focused on the dangers of the island? And whenever we’re there, that’s what we talk about too, how we’re beating the dangers. I’m wondering if we bring cool stuff back, do you think people will start talking about being here differently?”

”Like the holidays?” Aisha asks, considering the idea. ”I’d like to, my only worry would be people not wanting to participate, because if something like that backfires then everything gets worse right away.”

”No, I mean like...” Kaimana considers. ”Like, Lyra’s not a good example because she’s not been super worried, but if she was, if we brought her a leaf from a cool plant or something like that.”

”Oh! Maybe, that might help get people more excited about living here. I know every time we make a big discovery we get kinda amped up, but only we actually get to see it. It might not help with everyone, but it couldn’t hurt,” Aisha nods, her smile turning more real.

"Yeah, exactly!" Kaimana answers, brightening as Aisha understands what he means. "I'm not sure what kind of stuff would be best to bring back, but maybe we can just keep an eye out for stuff like that while we're out and about. Don't think leaves from the murder-plants would bring much excitement, but maybe something else will come up."

"Definitely," Aisha agrees with a cheerful nod. "I'll definitely think about what people like and what we could reasonably take home and we should all keep our eyes open. Can't hurt!"

[Placeholder for magical examination of necklaces. It makes aquatic creatures able to breath and deal with air and also lets them move around better, and it's got something similar to an arcane mark on it, but more of an inherent quality of it rather than an additional spell. Based on prior knowledge, the arcane mark simply allows the wearer to bypass a trap the hag made, but doesn't provide any benefit in and of itself.]

Morning comes, and the party continues following the path. As they walk, the groiund begins to change from a lush, vibrant jungle to a soggy, dark marsh.
Patchy, boggy wetlands wind their way through drier and firmer ground, though the terrain is unusual in appearance. The soil is darker than that of normal bogs and marshes, vegetation is brittle, and lifeless trees scratch at the sky like skeletal fingers. Tendrils of smoke curl from bubbling patches of the marsh, and the temperature rises noticeably. Across the marsh, a thin gray haze hangs in the air, stinking of pitch and coal. A thin haze of smoke shrouds the moor at all times.
While the obvious trail ends at the marsh, Jax's trained eyes are able to follow a path twisting through the drier portions of the marsh.

"Hm." Amissa frowns. "The smoke was likely caused by an underground fire. It's almost certainly toxic." She pauses. "To you, at least. I doubt it would have much effect on me, but the rest of you would find it sapping your strength if you stayed in it for too long."

The party continues onwards, until they see that amid the fog and stick-bare trees rises a mound of an island bearing an old, gnarled tree that died long ago. Its leafless, twisted branches stretch into the air, and it stands taller than all the surrounding vegetation. Above the island shines a light, and the party moves to investigate. When they reach twenty feet from the island, the light winks out and disappears, but the party forges onwards, still intent on exploring the island. When the group is only five feet from the island, a mass of tangled vines and dripping slime rises on two trunk-like legs, reeking of rot and freshly turned earth. It lashes out at Kaimana with a thorned vine, leaving behind wounds that begin to ooze blood and attract the attention of buzzing stirges, which fly out from nests in the nooks and crannies of the island.

As the stirges approach, Amissa begins chanting the words to a spell. Kaimana swings first, his blade disintigrating two of the blood-sucking insects before they latch on and begin draining his blood. Jax tears into the swarm, killing stirge after stirge even as they latch onto him, Kaimana, and Amissa. Seeing Kaimana's injuries, Aisha casts a spell to help fortify Kaimana just as the thorned mound lashes out, tearing into Kaimana and causing severe bleeding. Aisha casts a spell to heal Kaimana and close his wounds while Amissa's spell finishes, growing Jax to enormous size. Jax leaps at the thorny mass, trading blows with it as Aisha helped stem his bleeding. Meanwhile, the glowing light reappeared, now close enough that a faint skull could be seen within the fire, and shocked Aisha before going invisible again. Amissa cast another spell, causing a burst of glittering powder to envelop where the will o' wisp had been; the glitter shows the outline fleeing the area. With a loud screech, Jax tears into the mound again, which collapses into a pile of unmoving brush.

After the fight is over, the party looks at the remains that littered the island. Amid heaps of animal bones and numerous humanoid skeletons (primarily gillmen and at least two locathahs) are suits of rotten leather and hide armor and other gear that has decayed to the point of uselessness, as well as two sunrods, an amulet of natural armor +1, a masterwork handaxe, a masterwork light wooden shield, a potion of enlarge person, a wand of chill touch (26 charges remaining), a suit of enchanted eelskin, and assorted coins in moldering pouches totaling 670 gp and 80 sp.

Shortly after moving deeper into the swamp, the group is accosted by a smoky creature with dull red eyes, claws, and leathery wings. It swiftly turns to smoke completely and moves over Aisha, forcing her to breathe in the choking fumes. Its immateriality briefly gives Kaimana pause, but Amissa directs him and Jax to just attack the creature, and it swiftly falls but not before further choking and burning Aisha's throat.