“I told you she would be trouble!”

“Don’t lose her!”

“The Witch must burn!”

The shouts from the Crowd were getting closer, but I continued to run. It seemed no matter how much faster I would move my legs the Crowd moved quicker. It was so dark, so hard to see. I looked over my shoulder to see how close… Just a giants height away. I turned back around just in time to run directly into something. I fell to the ground and every thing went silent. I felt someone grab me and jerk me up. I stared with a sneer at my attacker. It was a tall Older Man with a sinister Grin on his face. He was holding me tight to him. No matter how much I struggled I was unable to move. He then opened his jaw wide to reveal razor sharp teeth. His mouth engulfed my head.

I quickly opened my eyes, sweat covering my body. Ling lay close to me. I am grateful for his friendship. It was that dream again. One of these days that dream will no longer scare me. One of these days that man will pay. After I communed with Ling, I sat brooding over the nightmare, and my frustrations grew. I needed to clear my mind. The Rusty Dragon was usually a great place to clear the mind and hear the tales of others.

I entered the Rusty Dragon and was relieved to find my favorite spot open. I sat in the dark corner watching and listening. There seemed to be a lot of talk about Caravans and Goblins with fireworks. Then someone, I believe it was Ameika, said the bounty for Goblin ears was reinstated. Then what looked like a freshly cleaned Qatana spoke up and said she could use the money and asked if anyone wanted to join her. As people started to speak up I decided that it may be a good way for me to clear my mind of last nights dreams.

I spoke up and I guess the soap did more than clean her body, for she did not seem to realize it was me. I guess that is understandable. She began to drill me about where I was from… Would a Nightmare work as an answer, probably not. I told her “North”. Shortly after I was welcomed into the mob of would be Goblin slayers. Ameika Gave us some advise including that we should share our talents with each other. There were 4 Warriors, 2 Clericy types, a wizard and me. The warriors were Sparna a Dwarf with a large weapon, Olmas a Half-elf with great ax and a horse, Anavaru a Human with a bow, and finally Radella with a sword. The “Healers” are Qatana a Human with her heavy flail and Ivan a Male Human with a bow. Kali is our Human Wizard and like me she has a Familiar which is a Raven. Ling didn’t seem to have a problem with them and surprisingly neither did I. We chose to meet at the southern bridge, and all went our separate ways to prepare.

I went straight to the bridge with Ling. If I am prepared I am prepared. If not, oops. I stood staring at the water, the movement, the strength, the adaptability. If something got in its way it would move it or change its path to go around it. If it were completely blocked it would wait and build up for the day it could over take the dam. In most cases it would prevail or work with what it is given. Adapt.

When everyone arrived we began our journey south to the foreboding Brinestone Swamp. It was a nice sunny day. Not my favorite weather but I guess it is good for this sort of thing. We walked for a while and it did not seem like there was much talking going on in the group, certainly not like the mob in my dream, Oh, yes, the dream had stopped bothering me at this time. I think it was focusing on the water that helped. As we entered the Swamp I took a middle position in the group as we walked single file down the Fisherman’s Path.

The Brinestone Swamp was just as I expected. There was a lot of plant growth as well as a lot of decay. It was a perfect contrast. Birth and Death. I spent my time threw the swamp looking paying attention to the foliage but mainly keeping an eye out for movement, specifically Goblins. Apparently these were the Licktoad Goblins. Fascinating name. There was no movement the whole time. We crossed several rickety bridges while following a trail of foot prints. Somewhere along our journey we heard a pig squeal. Must be Dinner time.

After we crossed the last bridge the foot prints changed from one set of human prints to a few sets of prints. One alien and another smaller like that of a child’s. We followed the path that took us to a broken down 2 story shack, which we figured belonged to the Warden that Ameiko told us about. Some of the group knocked on the door and engaged in conversation. I figured they had that under control, thankfully, so I kept an eye on the woods with Sparna. He looked a bit concerned about what was transpiring around in the shack but diligently kept an eye on our surroundings. I am not sure why he was concerned, from the sound of things, I thought every thing was going well. I was then requested to come in and see to a snake bite.

I came in and noticed that the little man seemed shaken up and was suffering from the effects of a poison. I was directed to a room which contained several, what seemed to be, non-agitated vipers. This got me questioning this little man’s situation. When I went back to talk to him to see if I was going to treat him, I noticed he wasn’t right. Something happened with his face. It kind of freaked me out. I tried to encourage a few of my associates to come out and create a plan, but after I created my excuse of getting ingredients for the remedy, things progressed quicker than I thought. I came back in and handed off my Long spear since the little man was in the stairwell and there was no room for me.

The villain was dispatched and we discovered it was a creature that inhabits the swamp, but hates snakes. Shortly after dispatching the creature a secret door was discovered and the actual warden rescued. He opened up his house to us for the night, for which we were grateful. He also gave us information that should help us in our hunt for the goblins. I am now laying down with hopes of a somewhat peaceful sleep.