High: 81 Low: 57
The following morning, the characters got up early and returned to the ruins of the keep, eager to finish the bullywugs (and collect the bounty offered by the lecherous mayor) and find the staff of earthen might. Once back at the ruined remains of the keep's first floor, the characters uncovered a trapdoor that led into the subteranean levels of the keep.
The characters found themselves in a stone chamber lit by smoldering braziers; toppled bookshelves, tables, and other furniture littered the floor, jutting up through the layer of mud that covered the floor. Once again, the characters were able to surprise the inattentive bullywugs in the room. Panfalcon attempted to charge the bullywugs, but found that one section of the mud was deeper and thicker than the rest, and he was stuck fast. The muckers here used their longspears to harass characters stuck in the mud, while the twitcher threw javelins. Once aware of the quagmire, the characters were able to avoid it (and eventually free themselves) and dealt with the four bullywugs quickly and efficiently. Once the battle was concluded, the characters' search of the ruined study turned up a +1 vicious dagger, a sack containing 100 gold pieces in gemstones, and a scroll case containing a scroll with a silence ritual. Feeling the rush of their decisive victory, the characters proceeded through the doors to the south....
They came upon a room with large L-shaped tables and tall bookshelves drawn up from the stone of the earth, and a large pit of mud occupying the majority of the room. Here they found four bullywug croakers, and a fat bullywug bearing a twisted wooden branch of a staff, and two pony-sized frogs wallowing in the mud. The bullywugs and frogs were prepared for an attack, and the frogs promptly attacked ; the croakers moved in, but were quickly cut down. The real danger came from the bullywug mud lord in the corner of the room, who wielded powerful magic, including his ability to croak out balls of fire at his foes. One of the giant frogs quickly swallowed Panfalcon, another used its tongue to draw Regdar close before swallowing him as well. The mud lord, meanwhile, rained fire on Z and Daveth; the wizard and bard tried to blast the frogs, but the mud lord's constant assault and the characters' inability to move through the mud to match the speed of the frogs proved to be their undoing.
It was only by the very narrowest margins that the characters managed to survive. Panfalcon managed to wrench himself free from the gut of one of the frogs and kill it. Daveth and Panfalcon pinned the mud lord down and managed to kill him before he could get off an electric reflux attack, then finally killed the frog that had swallowed Regdar. Z and Regdar appeared to be dead.
Daveth and Panfalcon raced back to Tira's Gift, and went to the House of Healing, an infirmary run by the halfling Taskar Jenkin (as temple priests rarely sell their services). Taskar, a physician trained at the famed Academy of Medicine at Galenamon in the Bello-Darnor Empire, evaluated both Z and Regdar and that both were "mostly" dead. He had the medical knowledge to try and bring them back, but it was costly--500 gold pieces...each. A decision had to be made quickly, as any delay would tip them over into the "completely" dead category, where Taskar's skills would not avail them. After a lengthy debate, Panfalcon and Daveth agreed to try and raise money to have Z raised; Panfalcon ran to Torrak's Bank and cashed in the gems they had discovered for their monetary value of 100 gp. Taskar made arrangements for Regdar's body to be taken to the local cemetery, and he and his assistants began ministering to Z. Taskar said it would be at least two days before Z would be up again.
With nothing else to do, Panfalcon and Daveth retired to rest...and wait....
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