Entering the Marsh

Currently anyone who obtained the rank of Archmage in the kingdom was highly praised and supported by the kingdom. But centuries ago Archmages tended to be powers unto themselves. They often formed their own small fiefdoms that lasted as long as they lived and then collapsed afterwards. Many of them would build towers or underground labyrinths to protect themselves and their knowledge. When they died these places became areas that adventurers liked to explore for treasure and experience. Thelora let us know that the Orvat Marsh is one of those places.

The entire marsh was created by the Archmage Orvat to protect his research. Before that it had been a lightly forested plain. He had purposely lured monsters to the area and set up strong wards to protect the path and where he lived in the center. The fact that the wards were still functioning several centuries after his death showed how powerful he was.

Torfredr had been working for the Bandit Queen since the end of the Years of Sorrow. When she had announced her retirement, he and a few other old timers threw their support behind Wassa. Many saw this as the Bandit Queen giving Wassa her support since they were her loyal followers.

His image as a bandit was brutal but not because of how he treated civilians. He didn't tolerate dissent or weakness among those that worked under him. From what Thelora was telling us he killed more of his own people than outsiders. This led him to having a small but loyal group around him. They would go after very high profile targets, often targeting nobles themselves. This meant that the reward for his capture or death was higher than most B ranked quests. Most of his time was spent in the Marsh because of this. It was a shame that Lariss and I couldn't get the quest before we set out.

Thorarinn kept asking the older bandits questions about Torfredr. The kid seemed like a fanboy, eating up any bit of information. I suspected that most of the stories that Feadr was telling were fabrications since Hrothgar kept giving him side glances and Cedric was having trouble holding back his laughter.

We traveled south for three more days, the last day of off established roads, before coming to a drastic change in terrain. Rolling hills and grassland with the occasional small forest gave way to a dense collection of thick trees. The ground was wet with large pockets of standing water. It was an unnatural change caused by the Archmages magic.

Thelora led us to a small collection of huts near the edge of the marsh. The place was manned by followers of the Bandit Queen and they weren't allowed to take a side in the succession. The marsh itself was supposed to be neutral ground. Their job was to keep our horses safe while we traveled by foot.

The people that lived in the huts were mostly retired bandits that couldn't live in normal society, either because they couldn't adjust to life outside of being on the run or because they had bounties that were too high and no other means to hide for the rest of their lives.

They also acted as guides through the marsh. Thelora hired a man named Ilibert to lead us to the center. It took about two days to get to the center of the marsh and we'd have to stay in a safe area half way through. Before we set out the next morning I asked Lariss if she'd have a problem memorizing the safe path and she just gave me a smile.

As we ventured further in, I began to realize how difficult it would be for someone that wasn't familiar with the marsh to make the journey. The outer area was mostly soft ground with large pools of water. That transitioned into smaller and smaller patches of 'dry' ground. We were soon stepping between small patches of ground just large enough to place a foot on. I looked at Lariss and she just gave me a smile.

In addition to the miniscule ground, there was an over abundance of bugs. Our guide was burning a bundle of herbs to help keep them away but I still was constantly having to smack away mosquitoes. The temperature also fluctuated widely from near freezing to near boiling. After a few hours the amount of solid ground we had to walk on started to increase. It was at this time that Lariss whispered into my ear.

"I think somethings wrong. I was starting to pick up on the trial markers they use and I don't see them any more." She had spoken just loud enough that Thelora in front of me could hear.

"Ilibert. How much longer until we get to the resting place?" Thelora asked.

"Oh, we still have a long way to go. We'll get there just a few hours before sunset. Which is good since it's not good to travel too long at night, even the safe path will have an occasional monster wander over it at night." He replied in a rambling way.

"Is that so. And what about the unsafe path we're currently on? How long until we encounter a monster?" Thelora asked.

Our guide stopped and slowly turned to us with a scowl and turned into an evil grin. "Well, well, well, look who caught on? I thought you said you'd never been to the marsh before."

"Cut the crap. Guides are supposed to be neutral, if you're working for Wassa or Bornhilda, there's going to be serious consequences." She said.

"Hahaha, serious consequences. Those whores don't know what's coming for them. Too blinded by their competition to even see real threats growing. Them and our so-called queen are about to get a rude awakening. No longer will we…" He was in full rant mode and I knew that Thelora was just letting him give her any information he was stupid enough to tell.

But I felt something was off as the chill in my heart was starting to fluctuate. Ever since we had left Torinheim it had been increasing. It was at the point that I no longer fully trusted it. If I constantly felt under threat, I wasn't going to be able to see when a true threat came. However, right now it was going crazy.

I ended up having just enough time to pull Thelora behind me and get my shield ready as a blast of water shot at us from a nearby pool of water. With my Osgar Lineage circulating through the enchantment meant to boost its power, I was able to easily resist the force of the water.

Out of the water a giant serpent raised its head. Ganmudr were common in the west lake district of the northern province. Orvat must have brought some over when he created the swamp. Hrothgar let out a single swear, while Feadr and Thorarinn seemed to be competing to see who could say the most in the shortest amount of time.

They were mentioned in the book of common monsters that Raginhard had given me but I had only skimmed the book enough to know that they could use water magic. Thankfully Lariss had read a bit more on them.

"Try to avoid its Waterbolts but if you're hit, remove the leeches right away. No one but Wilmaer should look it in the eyes. It'll use it's tail as a whip if you get close. And keep an eye out for a mate." She kept up a continuous stream of arrows as she said this.

The snake's head had risen out of the water twice as high as my height and it still had a decent amount of body in the water. It was still a ways from the little island we were standing on so we could only use ranged attacks without the risk of sinking into the dark water. Thelora had two throwing daggers that returned to her hand after she threw them, Feadr was pelting it with Firebolts and Hrothgar had his own bow out. Thorarinn eventually pulled out a bow but wildly missed every shot. A surprise came from Cedric who was mumbling a chant and firing off Bolts of Holy Light.

Following Lariss' advice I made sure to make eye contact. This seemed to enrage the monster and it kept its focus on me. After it fired off a few Waterbolts, it started to lunge at me. I used my shield to deflect the blow and countered with my improved Moonlight Lightning Slash. While its hide was as tough as steel and deflected most of our attacks, it was starting to show some wear when we heard a scream from behind us.

Another Ganmudr had come up from behind us and had sprayed Ilibert with water. He had been trying to sneak around us back the way we had come. Dozens of purple leeches the size of my thumbs were stuck to his face and other exposed skin. Oddly his screams turned to laughter as the second Ganmudr bit into him and began to swallow him.

With a target now on land, Hrothgar put away his bow and pulled out a small shield and a warhammer. He charged the second one and was joined by Cedric who had a great sword that was glowing bright with his spiritual energy.

The two of them were joined by Thorarinn who took a few swings before screaming. "Shit I looked it in the eyes." The second one slammed him with its head before wrapping him with its tail around him and tossing him into the water near the first.

He was soon blasted with a Waterbolt from the first one and was covered in leeches that he started to frantically remove. In only a few moments his fear went away and as his eyes glazed over he began to laugh hysterically. The first Ganmudr was moving to swallow him as I leapt from the ground and slammed my shield into its head.

With Thorarinn in the water I could see that it would just go up to my knees and I didn't have a fear of having to swim while trying to fight. Even then my feet sunk into the muck and my movements became limited. I wasn't able to completely block the next Waterbolt and I could feel a few leeches bite into the right side of my face. Lightning immediately arced across my body killing them instantly. While contact was limited I still felt a slight sense of euphoria that was similar to when I tried LSD in college.

Thinking that I was under the influence of the leeches, it unhinged its jaw and bent down to swallow me. Once it was close enough I sent out a Moonlight Lightning Slash into its mouth. Its lower jaw was sliced off and it flung itself backwards. As it thrashed in pain, I pulled Thorarinn back to solid ground.

The second Ganmudr let out some kind of angry hiss but since it had Ilibert in its throat it wasn't that intimidating. After a few more strikes from the others, it fled back into the marsh.

We were now off the safe path in a deadly marsh.