To the Council of Grognards,
This series of events includes the guild masters, Kastor, Manawa, Thag, Rhys, and a newcomer to the guild whom didn't catch his name. (Note this was Jordan's character, an Elf Fighter Sorry didn't catch his character name).
We set about the hot springs island once more in the hopes of finding some of the people said to live on the island. Perhaps we could find some useful resources to trade for or even some information vital to our campaign. This conversation was quite short lived as our initial pass over revealed a different theme to camp than we expected.
Nestled in a northern part of the island, laid a defensively set up camp. From our vantage, we could more out more than a couple dozen huts and size of the people at least a 100 strong. What we didn't expect was that the people appeared more akin to a larger thuggish race than human. From the guidebook, we were able to discern that these Ogres were from the clan Night Axe and were said to wield obsidian weapons they could shape with just their hands. This short insert made us reconsider our plans and after much discussion, we decided we would investigate a nearby clearing with a large tree instead.
While little else seemed of much interest, we did notice the tree sprouted many peppers said to be quite tasty and useful in local cooking contest among those in the local settlements. Thinking of Selma and with little else to do, we thought these would make for a nice bounty to bring back to the ship and began the careful process of pepper picking. The tree sprang to life and moved in to grab at our party before relenting and instead took upon itself the shape of a ogre skeleton. The tree spoke and said much treasure it would give us if we could discover the shell of lament and bring it to the tree. To find such a shell we must go where the water runs fastest and there we were find the Nereid.
Fortunately for us, a Waterfall was readily apparent on the Map and upon investigation there, we found several large crystalline objects smoothed over from the running water. We were able to collect a rather large crystal for the shop I am having build back home. Our movement did cause a stir and an unseen being began to call us to a whirlpool that had formed nearby. With the temporary ability to breath under water, we followed the calling down to the base of the water where we found an underwater cave.
A water imp, who goes by the name bubbles, blocked our path and questioned our motives for seeking out the Nereid. Satisfied, we passed into the lair to the beautiful sound of a chorus from the water beings. After much discussions to the ongoing trials that the island has, we discover our search for the shell will be more difficult than it seems and we must prove our intentions to the them. They lay out several avenues in which we can gain their loyalty. We can help the ogre tribe prosper, rescue their queen, or we can take a head from the magma hydra in the middle of the island in the volcano. For some reason we decide it would be easiest to attempt to get a head of the magma hydra.
The trip into the volcano proved to not too much of a challenge and even the lavafall itself will have a gap in the flowing lava that allows entrance to the caves beyond. Once inside, we devised a plan to take out the hydra and poured all of our magic items onto Thag who would tank the great beast while the rest of us wailed on the creature. Thankfully, the creature proved to be weak to mind influencing magic and much of the fight was against a prone foe unable to defend itself. We knew that time was ticking and that we couldn't keep this up for long. After several rounds a head was cut from the beast and we were able to make our escape. Though we gained an ally in the Nereid with the gift, I worry that we made a great enemy in the hydra and next time we will not be so lucky