The Convergence of the Bizarre and Unlikely

Our trek through the Mere of Dead Men, as we followed what I suppose passes for a trail, on the way to Castle Nayemer was quite possible the most bizarre series of events to have occurred in this journey yet, because things had not been strange enough apparently.
 
When the group awoke from the night’s rest, Grok was packing up. He informed us he’d received word that his tribe was in trouble and he intended to help them. And just like that, he left. Once the four of us remaining got over the initial shock of being left in the swamp without a toe-to-toe fighter amongst us, we struck out, determined to continue our path. As we trudged through the dismal surroundings I began to muse that I would likely get a great deal more practice in swordplay than I’d originally anticipated.
 
Shortly thereafter Conrad and Nuri spotted, or heard, another group of Lizardfolk in the distance. As they listened in on the conversation they heard the creatures discussing some strange tracks here in the swamp – cow tracks. Why is it always cows that are in the strangest of places? I was beginning to think some god somewhere had a bovine fixation. In any event, we continued trailing them, eventually approaching a rather large clearing that contained the answer to the riddle. There in the center of the clearing was a minotaur, surrounded by a large group of lizardfolk and more of the giant pack lizards. I’d never seen a (living) minotaur in the flesh before and was initially caught off guard by its sheer size. Easily standing over seven feet tall, heavily muscled, and wearing the most peculiar bleached white wooden armor, this massive thing was fully prepared to take on the entire pack of lizardfolk by itself. Whether or not that was a realistic expectation I cannot say, but we needed the lizardfolk gone either way, and perhaps the enemy of my enemy might be my friend.
 
We were able to get quite close before we were spotted. It did not take too long for us to clear them all out. The enormous minotaur attracted quite a few of the lizardfolk which Nuri used to her advantage and obliterated the creatures dumb enough to swarm close to each other. Rhumor sniped the giant lizards from… well, wherever he wanted to be, and that left just a few for Conrad and I to deal with.
Introductions were… awkward. The Minotaur, one Virgil by name, seemed reticent to reveal his purpose other than the fact that he was heading to the castle to search for a friend. Nuri managed to convince me this did not inherently mean he was associated with the cultist, or that his friend was necessarily associated with the cultists. Somewhat tentatively we headed out once again.
 
As we neared what was to be the end of the trail, we spotted a camp. The camp had quite a few lizardfolk at it, and was situated by several waterway edges, with a number of small boats pulled ashore. We figured that to find our way through the waterways we would need a guide. Fortunately there was one lizardfolk that was sitting apart from the main group. We would impress upon him how important it was to his health to help us out.
 
Virgil and I were able to snag him and knock him unconscious without the rest of his friends noticing. Then, in a brilliant display of druidic power, Conrad entangled the entire lizardfolk group with some sort of spell that caused all of the roots in the area to grow. They could barely move. Nuri and Rhumor picked them off at a distance and Virgil and I beating down the ones that got too close.

To my surprise the lizardfolk we had spared, who called himself Snapjaw, seemed very cooperative. Apparently he, and many of his tribe, were not very happy about the cultists taking over the castle and forcing them to work. Moreover there are some type of frogmen that the cult has also enlisted to help - and the lizardfolk do not get along at all with the frogmen ever since the head frogman killed the tribe leader. Confident with our newfound guide’s intentions, we forged onward.
 
At some point Snapjaw said he needed to relieve himself and wandered off into the swamp. Quite some time later when he still had not returned we elected to go in search of him. We found drag marks and began to follow the trail. Rhumor expertly snuck up on the entrance to what appeared to have been a hole dug into the side of a hill, spying a red capped gnome inside. Conrad indicated the entire abode blazed with magical power. Then, despite not having made a sound, the gnome looked right at Rhumor and bade him enter. My mind raced, my heart nearly stopped. Was it a dragon in disguise? The avatar of a god? Whatever the case, there did not seem to be any choice but to find out. We all entered the little abode and were offered steaming tea. I requested wine, because, well why not? Clearly this being had access to tremendous power. The cup in front of me shimmered, and then wafting from inside came the most fragrant mulled wine scent. I took a sip. I do not believe I shall ever have wine that good again. This cup of ambrosia almost made up for missing out on exploring Waterdeep and instead sludging through the Mere of Dead Men… almost.
 
The gnome identified himself as Sintos, but would give no more information about himself. He told us he had gifts for us all, but the sack he had them in was stuck in a giant spiders’ lair located in a nearby canyon. Wary of traps and deceit, we decided to investigate, and hope for the best. As we entered the canyon we could indeed see a large red sack at the far end. I took the lead, trying to entice the spiders out. I made it all the way to the webbing the sack was located in and still no spiders. Teleporting onto the sack, careful to avoid stepping on the webbing finally triggered the spiders arrival. There were only 3 of them. Shouldn’t be too bad, I thought to myself. Just before eliminating all of the spiders something else rumbled up from beneath the webbing where I stood. A huge mass of roots and limbs and brambles, and it was sentient. I immediately teleported away. Virgil then charged in and began hacking away at it. Nuri threw her lightning at it, and to our horror the already monstrous creature grew. It was feeding itself off of the lightning! Rhumor sprinted down, grabbed the sack, and then back up the hill. I began tossing eldritch blasts until Conrad rushed in. Terrified this massive creature would obliterate my strange druidic friend I teleported back down to flank it with Virgil, invoking the power of the radiant visages swirling around me. We continued hacking away at it as it tried smashing us repeatedly with its arms… limbs? Appendages? Virgil took a few nasty hits but did a truly remarkable job of shrugging off those powerful blows and landing more of his own. Eventually the wretched thing went down, though we had expended the bulk of our resources to secure that outcome.
 
Back at the gnome’s hole in the hill we were, in fact, rewarded. Each of us received a gift. Conrad a magical horn, Virgil a splendid battleaxe, Nuri a powerful elixir, Rhumor a peerless magical arrow, and I a magical amulet. Upon donning it I felt stamina course through me unlike anything I’d ever felt before – it was intoxicating. Lastly, Sintos gave a magical word (or phrase?) to Nuri with the cryptic clue that it would come in handy once we reached the basement of the castle. Perhaps that is where the treasure hoard is kept?
 
As I reflect back on the past day or so I am amazed at the many surprises, some bad and some good. We lost a comrade, but appear to have found a new one. We met a benevolent being of tremendous power who bestowed us with gifts, and we gained an ally to help us infiltrate the castle. This has led to some meditation on just how difficult it will be to get into the castle even with an ally, at which point we need to verify the treasure hoard is there and then figure out how to get that information back to the Harpers… All this while keeping up our end of the bargain with Snapjaw to help him rid the area of the frogmen, and at least make a dent in the presence of the cult. My head begins to spin as I consider the many contingencies we have to keep in mind. I do look forward to getting out of the swamp. Even with Conrad’s spell to help us skate along the surface of the muck, I grow tired of the stench and the slurping sound of the mud during times when the spell is not active.