Healed and recovered, we decided to go talk with Ramne and see if he had any knowledge about the extent of the charm effect by a Naga. Could the villagers be freed from it or would they be permanently controlled by evil? Lhoss, Chiki, and I (Gnorcia) had some theories from our studies in magic, but we weren’t sure.
Ramne was expecting us and knew something had happened because he had seen a flurry of activity at the Golden Grain Inn and around the town, and it appears the cultists have prepared themselves against us. It would not be safe to go south into the center of town, he said, but he was willing to help us if we wanted to go against the Naga before the cultists had a chance to warn the creature, and we were happy to accept his help. It seems that Whiskers is an excellent tracker and should be able to find the scent of the trail the cultists and Troglodytes were taking to the Naga.
Lhoss left a message for the Mayor with the Innkeeper, Bilba, telling what had happened at the temple and what we found there, and we all gathered our things and went out to meet Ramne down the road to the north.
We were surprised to hear Ramne’s voice when we arrived at the meeting point, though we could not see him. Apparently he has a cloak of invisibility! That’s really exciting and I would look for some way to "appropriate" it from him, but he’s a nice old man who can’t even walk well on his own, so I am restraining myself. Lhoss has to walk alongside him and support him, and we have to stop every hour so he can rest. But maybe he’ll let me borrow that cloak some time! I’d at least like to use it to play a trick on Chiki.
We were able to stop for the night in a comfortable field of soft grass, each of us taking turns on watch every hour. The next day we continued down the road and eventually the trail led us into the Dim Forest. There were no sounds of animals or birds and as we walked further in it started to get more and more spooky. We found a safe spot for lunch and then carried on down the trail, but before long Whiskers led us off on a smaller trail eastward and we followed him down and farther through the forest.
Calbach found us a safe place to sleep again that night and on the second full day of our travels we began to notice more and more moss on the trees and the forest became even darker, more drab, and eerie. Calbach again found us a daytime spot to rest and eat, and again that night a place to sleep, though it was an uncomfortable sleep on damp ground.
The next morning we soon left the forest and found ourselves in a marsh full of scummy water, with the path tramped down through it across the reeds. We spent the day swatting at insects as we walked and there was nowhere comfortable to rest while we ate our lunch, but we continued through the marsh for the rest of the day and evening and Calbach eventually found a spot on relatively dry ground where we could sleep.
Late that night, near morning on Chalkboi’s watch, he heard a sound. Something was coming toward us, humanoid figures traveling down the path where we had come, still a distance away. He woke Lhoss and I and we were able to move silently through the dark night toward them and the path to see who or what they were. Troglodytes! Lhoss cast a sleep spell on them and slit their throats, and we left them to sink deep in a scummy pool of water.
As morning broke, we continued cautiously but as quickly as we could down the trail, knowing more troglodytes could be coming. We soon found a dike across the marsh, about 50 feet around, and discovered a hole with stairs leading downward! Could this be the lair of the Naga??
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