In the aftermath of their rite of passage, the band of adventurers, each unique in their powers and appearance, found themselves at the precipice of a new journey. Dust’s inquisitive nature led him to Jasper, a knowledgeable yet elusive figure, who spoke of a city of ancients hidden within the Ridgeback Mountains, south of the Skyreach Forest—a name penned by the party themselves, signifying the importance they placed on the act of naming.

Seeking guidance, they turned to the village shaman, Sherman, and their own Prodigy. The latter, having merged his consciousness with the deity Adeona, discovered an ability to extend his sight beyond the physical realm. His newfound power offered him glimpses of the land from afar, though the city Jasper sought remained shrouded in mystery, elusive to even Prodigy’s enhanced vision.

Undaunted, the group learned from Jasper of a market in the perilous Muckmire Swamp, a place of ancient trade, yet now a breeding ground for a yellow fungus that turned the dead into aggressive, fungal-infested zombies. The tribe had a solemn custom of burning their dead to stave off this blight, and the party knew the risk of entering such a place.

Armed with this knowledge, they, along with fellow tribespeople, set forth to the swamp. The Muckmire was a realm of damp soil, shallow waterways, and a dimly lit canopy that stretched as far as the eye could see. Prodigy, guided by his vision from Adeona, led the party along a river, its path crystal clear in his mind’s eye.

It wasn’t long before they were set upon by four humanoid figures that rose from the swamp’s murky depths. These zombies, with gray rotting flesh and yellow fungal protrusions, advanced with an unyielding hunger. Smokey, encased in armor, was first to face their assault, but stood unharmed. Flattus watched from a distance, ready to offer his healing touch, while the rest of the party braced for the onslaught.

The zombies, relentless in their pursuit, clawed at Smokey, Elsewhere, and the towering Jeffries without success. The battle had begun. Elsewhere, embracing his heightened strength, cleaved through his assailant with an axe. Dust, with his dual-brained ingenuity, summoned a searing blast of ionizing radiation, scorching the undead without delivering a fatal blow. Prodigy unleashed the void itself upon the horde, while Jasper activated an ancient artifact, burning a hole through one of the undead, and Bucks and Jeffrey dealt their own crushing blows.

After the fray, the group assessed their wounds and capabilities. Jeffries, the only one to sustain injury, was left with a gash from a zombie’s critical strike. Flattus, the healer, explained the limits of his abilities, opting not to exhaust his healing just yet. In the wake of the battle, Jasper remarked on their success, despite the grim scene around them.

The suggestion to burn the defeated zombies to prevent their return was met with logistical challenges—their bodies were drenched. Smokey, with his pyrokinesis, chose not to waste his powers, and the group resorted to more mundane methods. After laborious effort, they ignited a fire and burned the corpses, ensuring no resurgence of the fungal menace.

An intelligence check led them to discover the yellow fungus, particularly concentrated on the zombies’ fingertips. Jeffries had fragments in his wound. Flattus attended to him, cleaning and sealing the wound with his natural healing abilities.

Venturing deeper into the swamp, they encountered glowing beings perched in the trees, their telepathic voices promising safety amid danger. The party was divided—some were drawn by the beings’ allure, while others resisted. Jeffries, using his immense strength, attempted to secure Paulo, who had succumbed to the call of the swamp, but the latter escaped his grasp. Smokey and Elsewhere managed to restrain the other affected members, Jasper and Flattus, as the party contemplated the veracity of the beings’ intentions.

The confusion led to the binding of Jasper, Flattus, and Paulo with ropes, taking inspiration from the tale of Ulysses and the Sirens. After some time, the affected regained their senses, and the party continued their search for the ancient market.

As they journeyed, Smokey and Dust discerned an oddity ahead—a patch of earth that writhed and shifted of its own accord. With Jeffries’ aid, Smokey gained a better vantage and the party chose to circumvent the potential threat. They threw a rock into the patch, provoking a reaction, but no creature emerged. They cautiously gave the area a wide berth, joking about the possibility of an irritable, rock-hating creature beneath.

The way forward grew increasingly dense, but eventually, they stumbled upon a clearing with an abandoned campsite. It bore signs of another tribe, with a ring of stones, shelters, and supplies. Investigation revealed tracks of humans, a single hoof, and a large predator. Amid the debris, they found an ancient metal breastplate and a glove—artifacts from the Ancients. The breastplate would offer protection, while the glove held the power to electrify.

The group debated their course of action, opting to avoid confrontation with the predator as night fell. They set up camp, with thoughts of their next adventure milling in their minds as they settled into the night.

Key Events
  • Dust questioned Jasper about the city of the ancients he was seeking.
  • Jasper believes the city is in the mountains south of the Skyreach Forest, in the Ridgeback Mountains, but does not know the exact location.
  • The party named the Skyreach Forest themselves, emphasizing the importance of names.
  • The adventurers sought the village shaman, Sherman, and Prodigy for help in locating the city.
  • Prodigy discovered new abilities from merging his mind with Adeona, allowing him to cast his mind out to see the surrounding area.
  • Prodigy’s power was adjusted to provide broad information about a wide area and detailed information about a smaller area.
  • Despite Prodigy’s efforts, no city matching Jasper’s description was seen in the mountains.
  • Jasper mentioned a market or meeting place in the Muckmire Swamp where ancients would trade food, which he planned to investigate for clues about the city of Notu.
  • The Muckmire Swamp is distant, dangerous, and associated with an epidemic in the village, where corpses rise with aggressive behavior and yellow fungus growth after death.
  • The tribe has a custom of burning the bodies of the dead to prevent the spread of the fungus.
  • The group, including other tribe members from their rite of passage, journeyed to the edge of the Muckmire Swamp to seek the ancient market.
  • The swamp is described as mucky, damp, with shallow water channels, brightly colored lily pads, large mushrooms, and a dimly lit canopy.
  • The adventurers aim to follow a river flowing through the swamp, which Prodigy has a clearer picture of due to his vision from Adeona.
  • The party encounters four humanoid figures rising from the water, with gray, rotting flesh, sunken eye sockets, exposed bones, and yellow fungus growth.
  • The figures, identified as zombies, move aggressively towards the party.
  • Smokey, in the front, is attacked but his armor protects him.
  • Flatus, the healer, stays back, waiting to assist.
  • The party prepares to engage in combat with the zombies, with some characters like Jeffries and Elsewhere in the front, and others like Bucks and Jasper in the back.
  • The zombies continue to attack, targeting Smokey, Elsewhere, and Jeffries, but miss their attacks.
  • The session ends with the party facing the threat of the aggressive zombies in the Muckmire Swamp.
  • A zombie attacks Jeffrey’s ankles, causing 2 points of damage and reducing his initiative to 1 due to a critical hit effect.
  • Elsewhere retaliates against the zombie that attacked him, using an axe to deal damage.
  • There is a discussion about adding strength bonuses to damage rolls, and it’s clarified that strength should be added to melee weapon damage.
  • Elsewhere successfully adjusts his weapon stats to include his strength bonus and deals 7 points of damage to the attacking zombie.
  • Dust uses his mutation to generate a blast of ionizing radiation, dealing 7 points of damage to a zombie at Jeffrey’s feet, leaving a smoking hole but not killing it.
  • Prodigy uses his ability to weaponize nil space, creating a small black hole that pulls pieces off of zombies, dealing damage to three zombies within 10 feet of each other.
  • Two zombies are torn apart by Prodigy’s attack, but one survives.
  • A remaining zombie attempts to attack Elsewhere but fails to penetrate his armor.
  • Jasper, an NPC, uses an artifact to unleash an attack on the last zombie in front of Smokey, burning a hole through it and causing it to fall into the water.
  • Bucks attacks the last standing zombie with a Dura alloy knife, dealing 4 points of damage.
  • Jeffrey’s attacks the same zombie with a Bone Club, rolling a natural 20 and dealing a total of 12 points of damage, obliterating the zombie.
  • The group discusses Jeffrey’s size and the need for appropriately sized weapons and armor, settling on a bone club made from a megafauna femur.
  • The session ends with the group having handily defeated the zombies, with Jeffrey’s being the only one to sustain minor damage.
  • Jeffrey’s has 17 out of 19 hit points remaining after the encounter.
  • The group discussed the potential lethality of damage to characters Paolo and Prodigy, noting that most of the party would be at risk from similar harm.
  • A question was raised about Flattus’s ability to resurrect, which was clarified as being limited to healing rather than true resurrection.
  • Flattus, played by Alex, explained his ability to heal, which allows him to roll 1d3 twice a day to restore hit points at level one, with the potential to increase at higher levels.
  • The party decided not to use Flattus’s healing ability on Jeffries immediately, as his condition was not critical.
  • Jasper, an NPC, commented on the outcome of a recent battle, suggesting it went well despite the presence of burned and broken bodies in the water.
  • Paolo suggested burning the bodies of their enemies to prevent them from returning as zombies, but the task was complicated by the bodies being soaked.
  • Smokey revealed having pyrokinesis but chose not to use it due to the cost associated with mutant powers.
  • The party struggled to find a way to burn the bodies, eventually deciding to drag them out of the water, stack them, and attempt to start a fire with the limited dry materials available.
  • After about an hour and several failed attempts, they managed to get a fire going strong enough to burn the bodies, which showed no signs of reanimation during this time.
  • An intelligence check was made by the characters, leading to the discovery of a yellow fungus on the zombies, particularly in their fingertips, which could be a source of infection.
  • Jeffries was found to have fragments of this fungus in a wound he had sustained.
  • Flattus was called over to examine Jeffries’s wound, and it was decided to clean it with clean water from a water skin and then heal it using Flattus’s naturopathy ability.
  • Flattus successfully healed Jeffries, sealing the wound and potentially the fungus inside.
  • The party then continued deeper into the swamp, where they encountered glowing beings in the trees that communicated telepathically, warning of danger and offering to lead them to safety.
  • The beings’ convincing message required the party to make will saves, with some characters failing and considering following the beings, while others resisted or were undecided.
  • The session ended with the party contemplating whether to trust the beings and follow them to the promised safe place.
  • Jeffries successfully uses his abilities.
  • The group discusses the safety of staying near Jeffries.
  • Bucks is influenced to move towards Jeffries but must make a willpower check to resist an unknown command.
  • Bucks succeeds in the willpower check and moves to stand by Jeffries.
  • Jasper, Flattus, and Paulo start wandering towards the swamp, following glowing beings.
  • Elsewhere grabs Flattus to prevent him from following the beings, identifying them as potentially dangerous.
  • Jeffries attempts to grab Paulo but fails, and Paulo runs towards the swamp.
  • Smokey successfully restrains Jasper.
  • The glowing beings continue to lure the group, but their voices fade as they move away.
  • The group discusses using ropes to restrain the affected members, referencing the story of Ulysses and the Sirens.
  • Dust uses a teleportation ability to bring the fleeing Paulo and Flattus back to the group.
  • The group ties up Jasper, Flattus, and Paulo with ropes to prevent them from running off again.
  • After about an hour, the affected members calm down and claim to feel better.
  • The group debates whether to release them, eventually deciding to do so.
  • The group continues their journey, searching for a marketplace in the swamp.
  • Smokey and Dust notice something strange ahead on the path and signal the group to stop.
  • Dust, from a higher vantage point, sees a patch of earth that moves and swirls unnaturally.
  • Jeffries lifts Smokey up to get a better look, and they decide to avoid the patch by walking around it.
  • The group throws a rock into the patch, which is then pulled below the surface by the moving earth.
  • The group discusses a creature that hates rocks, concluding that it’s not intelligent but still dangerous.
  • They decide to avoid the creature by taking a wide detour, staying out of its reach.
  • The party navigates around the creature without incident, joking about the possibility of it being an old creature annoyed by rocks thrown on its lawn.
  • After a couple more hours of travel, the underbrush becomes thick, limiting visibility, and the party cautiously makes their way through.
  • They emerge into a clearing with a campsite that appears abandoned, featuring a ring of stones with burned wood, simple shelters, bedrolls, and scattered supplies.
  • The campsite is not from the Ancients but from another tribe, raising questions about why it was abandoned.
  • The party searches the campsite, with Smokey and Dust finding tracks: human footprints, a single hoof print, and fresher, large tracks with webbed feet and claws, indicating a large four-legged predator with a long tail.
  • Amidst the camp debris, they find a metal breastplate with a big orange triangle painted on it, which Jasper recognizes as a symbol from the sites of the Ancients.
  • The breastplate can be worn for a +1 AC bonus.
  • They also discover an ancient glove with metal circles and lines, which Smokey, with heightened intelligence, identifies as a zap glove that can electrify opponents.
  • The glove has a nearly depleted C cell, and Smokey considers whether to ask for another C cell from another character.
  • The group debates whether to ambush the predator or avoid it, ultimately deciding to avoid it as they did with a previous creature.
  • As the sun sets and visibility decreases, the party decides it’s time to make camp and concludes the session there.
  • The session ends with a discussion about a character idea for the next game, Rintra the Minotaur.