16. A camp in the middle of a marsh

Still in Heart's Hollow, we plan what to do next. We can either go with Clistrin to visit the dragonelles, or follow up on the dwarves, or head towards Sky's Tears, where we hope to rescue captives. While I think we should go see the dragonelles, some people are not too happy with the idea of leaving captives waiting any longer. When we tell Clistins, he says that he'll go ahead without us this time. Then he asks us if we will lay a stone in the morning, and I ask him what that means. He says that the mosaic was created because of a tradition. Anyone who visits may find a stone by the entrance is welcome to lay it as part of the mosaic. I think that sounds like a fun idea. For the night, we are given space at the Salt Lick, and we rest.
 
We wake up to the sound of people coming in to the Salt Lick and cleaning. It is time to go, so we get ready to leave. Before we leave Heart's Hollow, we stop by Lavender's first. The shop is at the lower level of a 2-story house. Lavender himself asks us if he can help, and is able to sell Thalassa some ointment that will help with her sun burns. She ends up buying a few more healing supplies. Then we stop by an area with some tents, where they are selling spices they have scavenged from around the area. One of them they say is a powder that is tasty, but it can also hurt people's eyes. I buy 2 pouches, which can help me make my food tastier 20 times, or I can use to blind an enemy twice. With our shopping out of the way, we go to the town entrance, and I find a black rock to place as an accent in a colorful part of the mosaic. We say our goodbyes and head towards Sky's Tears.
 
The weather is a lot more dusty and sandy than we've seen so far. Its even hard to see very far. Soon, we notice a group that will cross paths with us a little ways ahead. It looks like 8 draconians and 2 large hobgoblins who are marching together. They all wear the same black and red armor, with the symbol of the evil goddess. None of us want this patrol to keep going, so we decide to attack. We fight them valiantly, and Mal even shows me that he can help me not get him by switching places with me. Unfortunately, its not great if you kill a draconian who then decides to fart on you and tries to turn you into stone. Something to keep in mind for later. Poor Thalassa had it even worse - she was actually turned into stone, and we had to wait for her to get better. It is a good thing that it did get better!
 
After dispatching some of those horrid monsters, we end continue our travel. When we are a few miles from the plateau that is Sky's tears, we have a little chat. We can rest today, and wait for our army, or we can go scout today, and maybe stay up a little later than usual. We decide to rest a little now, and then go scout it out. I tell Mal that if we do this, he'll have to take his armor off, since last time it creaked so much that it alerted everyone that we were there. He agrees, and Sterling, ever gallant, gives him the magical armor. We climb up to the plateau without much trouble, and notice that the terrain is very different here. For one, it is much more muddy and icky, so even our blessing won't help us. I don't want to be covered in mud up to my waist. Ugh.
 
We make our way towards the lake, and see that it is low, mostly muddy. Without the wash, it just stays this marsh. We approach the encampment from the southeast, and see a crude structure with 15 ft walls full of spikes. Leading to the entrance is a boardwalk, where 4 soldiers stand. At the gate there are 3 sentries. Most of these have wings, even though they cannot all fly. Arinona sends her familiar to scout ahead, and she sees 3 people on the tower. Inside there are about 8 tents, which seem to fit 1-2 humans, but only 1 draconian. The inside of the camp is a little dreary. We assume there are about 12 guards total. There is a training area, and a larger, likely command, tent. The area where the prisoners are at has 4 cages. In these are 4 prisoners, a kender and 3 sea elves. Last, on the southernmost cage there is a large beast.
 
Time to make a plan! our army backup is about 1 day away from here. Should we wait? Mal recognizes the monster a a bulette, which can burrow in the sand and eats things after it kills anything in the vicinity. That could be used to our advantage in the camp. It can't escape its cage, which means that the prisoners are safe there for a little while. If they see our army, will they try and get rid of the prisoners? How do we distract the guards so I can release the bulette? Thalassa asks if we can deceive the guards, pretending to be dragon army soldiers, too. We discuss all these options as we head back to where Dalamar made camp. When we get there, we ask for his opinion. He says that we have some people among us who speak draconic, and that will help us look like guards. The tower is tall, and this is a plateau, so they will be able to see us coming, or an army coming, from a long way away. Also, they have flyers, which means a marching army can be harassed all the way to the encampment. We agree that the plan is to deceive. Thalassa, Arinona, and Sterling are all guards, and Mal and I will be the prisoners. I use my disguises and tools to make us look the part. Thalassa will bring me in, and as I am escorted to my cage, I'll lift my tools from her pack. As soon as I can, I'll pick the locks, and go about freeing the monster who will hopefully help us with the guards. I make myself and Mal both look like prisoners with dirt and bruises, etc.
 
Our dragon army soldiers walk us there, manacled and tied. Their leader meets our party half way up the boardwalk, and talks to them in draconic. He has a splint mail armor (not a half plate like most people here, a footman's lance, and a heavy crossbow.) I assume it goes something like this:
"Who are you?"
"We are a patrol and we found some prisoners"
Grunts of approval. Go put them in cages. A roar of approval from somewhere inside, congratulating them on a job well done. "If you keep this up, you will get a promotion and get cooler armor like the one I have. Har har har."
 
They then turn away, and we are escorted into the camp. When no one is watching, I lift my tools from Thalassa. Then one of the guards in the prison area puts me in the cage with the 2 sea elves. I await a good moment, and make a illusion, so that the people around here will hear the calls of another bulette, and hopefully panic. This gives me the opportunity to pick the lock, but it is hard to reach from inside the cave. There is a guard standing right here, distracted by the noise, so I pick his pocket and get me a key. I unlock the cage, and toss the key to Mal in the cage beside mine. Ha!
 
The guards notice what is going on, and they battle. The guard then tries to open this cage, but I won't let him open the door. Mal unlocks his cage, and has to mind the kender who tries to climb the cage. Then he passes the key to Arinona, but she, Thalassa, and Sterling are busy fighting the guards. Thalassa makes it harder for anyone to come into the area, which helps. Finally, we get Sterling to get into the cage, and Arinona lets the bulette lose. It starts devouring some guards! Inside the cage, I notice that flying our way is a large black bird.