Book 1: Souragne Session 2

Chapter 2: Of Rabbits and Frogs

General Summary

Frog Folk Camp

Agreeing to Bouki's deal of a safe place to stay for the evening and guidance through the swamp to the nearest human settlement, the group follows Bouki's vague directions in an attempt to rescue his cousin Longears from some "frogs".
Norikami sneaks ahead, telling the group that he's a "ninja" but then doesn't realize they expected him to come back and inform them of what he saw at the camp. Eventually, everyone goes to the camp and sneaks up on a number of frog humanoids that have captured Longears and placed him in a cage. The frog folk were gathered around a large campfire in front of a straw hut.
Amoeity attempts to speak with the frog people but they did not appear to understand what he was saying nor did they appear to make any move towards letting Longears go. They were able to defeat the frog humanoids, let Longears go, and put one within the cage Longears had just occupied. Longears did not express any gratitude for the rescue and took off towards Bouki and Bushtail.
Within the straw hut the group found 13 fetishes of various animals and people hanging from the ceiling, a shrunken corpse with an oversized head with its chest cavity cut open, and a small woven basket that contained a number of venomous snakes. They thought that perhaps the frog people were making the strange undead creatures that attacked them earlier that day. They also find a driftglobe floating in the hut, providing illumination.

Lastly, the frogs carried 5 gold on their persons. This gold was not like anything any of the group had seen before. On one side was a picture of two wheat branches and on the other side was a profile of a man wearing a brimmed hat.

Two Rabbits and a Fox

Back at their camp, Bouki served them gumbo and thanked them over and over for rescuing his cousin, though Longears seemed unimpressed himself.
The animals tell the group how they are on an island surrounded by Mists and cannot leave, but this matters little to the animals who call themselves the "spirits" of the land. Bushtail tells them out the Lord of the Dead is considered the death and decay of the swamp and the lord of all of the undead within and that the Maiden of the Swamp represents all life and growth within. These things are very natural to Bushtail.
Bouki tells them, proudly, that the people worship them and they cannot die. As long as the swamp survives, they live on. The people leave them offerings in exchange for favors and the favors exchanged varies based on the cost of what they want.

Sempornia

The next morning, good to his word, Bouki summons a glowing ball and tells them if they follow it, it will lead them to the nearest human settlement. The group followed the ball, which took them to a single treehouse with a rather stern looking woman in front of it stirring the contents of a cauldron as she read from a book.
The woman introduced herself as Sempronia Sornatis  and asked them where they were from. When Kass mentioned she was from Darkon , Sempornia said she was as well. She was also unsurprised when Victor said hew as from Lamordia . She did not, however, recognize the names of the realms Norikami or Amoiety mentioned.
The woman was a bit abrupt, but factual. She tells the group that she purposefully went through the Mists but was guided by a powerful person; she's uncertain if one can pass through them intentionally nor if it is possible for them to return to their own lands.
The informs them that there is a town nearby called Marais d'Tarascon. She has been staying, on occasion, at the Crescent Moon Inn and says its "simple but decent". She has only been in Souragne  (what she refers to the land as) for about a week and has been focusing on studying the various flora and fauna of the swamp. She offers to join them in town and the group agrees to let her come with them.

Report Date

06 Nov 2021