8: A Watery Grave

 The party ventures south toward the logger camp, cart in tow. The worn path turns into thickening woods. After traveling a few hours, the party arrives at a clearing pockmarked with stumps and felled trees. There are about a dozen or so loggers cutting up wood and loading into carts. A few stand guard near the paths leading out, hand axes slung at their sides.

No one hails the party. Whatever they are looking for, it isn’t them.

A tall, bearded man in his early thirties stands on the deck of cabin at the far side of the clearing, a large double-sided battle axe glints in the sun. He beckons the party over and introduces himself as Rigdorf, the head lumberjack.

The party asks if they can stay in Lord Crellmount’s cabin. Rigdorf complies, remarking that he remembers when “Lord Crellmount was just a little boy.”

The party offloads their gear in the cabin and begins looting. Priest Almeric discovers letters between Crellmount and Duke Omer, apparently cousins. The letters go back several decades. Almeric gathers that the previous Duke died without a clear heir, and that both Crellmount and the (current) Omer were candidates. Omer and Crellmount’s relationship cooled after Omer was selected. Almeric detects jealousy from the one and insecurity from the other.

Back outside, Rigdorf offers the party 1,000 gp and his axe if stop the recent spate of fishmen raids. His lumberjacks have fought them back, but Rigdorf mentions he’ll “never get to retire if this keeps up.” The party learns that the fishmen almost certainly come from the Misty Lake to the west.

Though seemingly unrelated to the issue in the Illmire, the party sets out toward the lake, hiring a lumberjack guide (to avoid the traps). Bebin Bisk spots a team of fishmen (humanoids, 6f tall, spears in hard) moving through the bushes toward them. Seeing nothing, the fishmen turn back; the party follows their distinctive webbed-foot, soggy tracks to the edge of the Misty Lake. They note a break in the thick kelp that rings the lake edge near where the fishmen tracks hit the water.

As they investigate, an enormous fish briefly breaks the surface about a quarter-mile into the lake. Easily the size of a whale. The party spots some fishermen about a mile away who begin to pack up their rods. (Misty Lake is directly south of Illmire.)

The party decides to stake out this spot to see what they can learn about the fishmen.

During early night, seven fishmen surface from the break in the kelps. They make a strange sucking sound as they begin to breathe air. They pass directly through the party.

Thing sneaks up behind them and blows on the horn he got from the bandit watchtower. The horn let’s out a deafening blast that sends the fishmen flying forward. (Meanwhile, the party hears the giant fish from the lake break surface, jump, and crash back into the water.) The party charges to attack, Charles getting slightly ahead of the others.

The first three fall quickly, easily overwhelmed. The last four rally and surround Charles, who is nearly killed. The final two flee back toward the lake, Bijoux and Gaston hot on their heels. Thing blows his horn again to knock them down but also catches Gaston and Bijoux in the blast, who are launched into the lake. The party grabs the two fishmen knocked over on the beach.

Gaston feels webbed hands pulling his ankles. Gaston’s head is pulled beneath the surface.

Bijoux howls and thrashes in the water.