Session 3: Camp Righteous

"You can win this Halveer!" Lucas tells the ranger. "We're counting on you mate! And I have a fair amount of gold riding on you to win it."
 
The citizens of Port Nyanzaru line the city street cheering the careening dinosaurs on as they race through the streets. Halveer, riding an Allosaurus named Nasty Boy, takes an early lead. He's helped by the fact that one of the T-rex racers named Scarback goes berserk after a good lashing by its rider. The wild Rex cuts off the favorite to win, Big Honker as he makes his own way off the course. Big Honk tries to catch up. He gets even with Bone Cruncher but they are unable to catch Halveer and Nasty Boy before they cross the finish line. I just made 80 gold! I may have to take up this gambling bit after all.
 
After the race we head over to the shrines of the gods and meet the Cleric of Torm, Undril Silvertusk, a half-orc female from Baldur's Gate. Apparently she's a member of some combined religious order called The Gauntlet. They also abhor the undead and are searching for the root cause of the Death Curse. We tell her we will escort her to Fort Vengeance down the river. She states she is to meet with the Fort's Commander, Niles Breakbone. She says it took all her coin to get to Port Nyanzaru, but that Breakbone will pay us when we arrive at the Fort.
 
Next we purchase a canoe for the journey as we will need two to carry everyone. We also pick up some additional supplies such as bug repellant and a rain catcher for Undril. We tell Flask and River that we will meet them in the morning.
 
The first day is uneventful and the River Soshenstar is slow and calm. The guides warn us all is not as serene beneath the murky waters. Flesh eating fish called Quippers swim in schools and of course snakes and crocodiles also lie in wait for prey to wander by. The second day we notice shadowy figures among the trees along the shore are following our boats. Perhaps some indigenous form of fish like people wanting to see what we are about.
 
Later that day we come upon three people seemingly in distress. They have a busted canoe on the shoreline and are calling for our aid. I tell the others that this seems suspicious to me and we should perhaps pass on by. But the goodly nature of Halveer and Kasimir win out and they convince me we should stop. "But be wary," Kasimir whispers. "It's probably a trap."
 
Indeed it proves to be an ambush by three River Hags. They cast a frightening wave across us keeping us from engaging them. All I am able to do is fire me crossbow. The Echo knight, Nihle is able to make to shore and is rewarded with a blinding bolt of lightning. Undril also proves her worth and engages the hag. I am finally able to will myself ashore and help to defeat the evil hags.
 
On day 4 we finally arrive at the ruins of Camp Righteous on the eastern shore of the river. We pick our way through ruined tents and burnt buildings. There are signs of dinos and even zombies passing through the area. There is a fledgling Axebeak trapped in a makeshift pen. It seems in distress and may start making noise, so we set it free before Nihle decides to eat it.
 
Lastly we find the open entrance to some sort of temple. Above the entrance is a statue of a man with a croc riding his back. It may be related to a ancient tale. We suspect the entry hall is trapped and Kasimir detects some divine magics. I should have know things would go poorly when only five of us planned to enter. I was fooled by Nihle's echo thinking that might count as a sixth person. But as he pointed out, it's more of a magical object. The guides knew better than to tempt an ancient temple and even Undril had no desire to explore the dusty ruins. But as we were hired and compelled to locate the source of the Deathcurse, we had to go in. Things went poorly from there. A pit trap opened up swallowing myself and Kasimir. It was a painful fall but we were able to climb out. Then sharp blades sprang from the walls and sliced me like a hot blade through a block of butter cream.
 
Bleeding profusely, I crawled back out of the ruins and sought healing from Undril. She closed the wounds back up but I had no stomach for returning to the trapped temple. It clearly wanted no visitors. We rested and recovered and talked about the temple. Taban reminded us that the key part of the ancient tale about the man and the crocodile was that the croc carried the man safely across the river. He and Halveer decided to give that a go. Sure enough they entered the temple unmolested. They made it all the way to the back and stepping on some glowing stones allowed them entrance to the back chamber. There they climbed a central pillar and retrieved a magical jug.
 
They returned and he studied the jug determining it could produce a variety of liquids and condiments once per day. We then headed back to the canoes, deciding to cross the river and look for the lost construct known as Vorn. Unfortunately we see that our little boats are gone and the two row boats have been smashed.
 
At that moment about a score of goblin kind erupts from the ruined tents to attack!
 
"All right cat folk!" I shouted to the guides. "Time to get off your tails and earn your keep!"