WEALDAY, 9 ARODUS, 4711 A.R.
Despite their pockets being full of fresh coin, the group decides to forego spending it just yet and return to Brinestump Marsh to investigate the locations marked on the fan's map. They gather at the Rusty Dragon for a hearty breakfast before they set out, and soon receive news of the attack on the watchmen the prior evening. Brixton and Hanzo decide to speak to Sheriff Hemlock about the incident, while Zaphkael and Molido head to the scene of the crime to investigate.They learn roughly the same set of facts: the guard had just crossed the bridge south of town and was walking along the Lost Coast Road. Two figures emerged from the forest. The guard called a challenge, but they kept approaching until they entered the ring of his lantern's light and were revealed to be animated human skeletons. The guard skirmished briefly with them, receiving a cut on his arm from one of the creatures' fleshless fingers, but found his simple short sword to be largely ineffective against enemies with no skin or blood. He retreated across the bridge, back into Sandpoint, and the skeletons did not pursue him.
Additionally, Zaphkael and Molido find the skeletons' tracks. After pacing up and down the river a few times, the undead turned and headed south along the Lost Coast Road, presumably back to Brinestump Marsh.
Sheriff Hemlock expresses no particular concern about the skeletons; he believes that they realized the two of them couldn't possibly take on an entire, prosperous town, and turned back to their home. To be safe, he's informed the priests of the local Temple of Desna of the incident, but he doesn't expect any further trouble.
Brixton and Hanzo walk to the southern bridge to find that Molido and Zaphkael have drawn a crowd of admirers, almost despite themselves, when they were recognized as two of the heroes who brought down the Licktoad goblins. A farmer has volunteered two bales of hay for Molido to use to demonstrate his skill with his massive axe, and the half-orc is chopping merrily away, demonstrating a variety of cuts and slashes and feats of raw strength. Brixton, concerned, asks who the hay belongs to, and volunteers to pay for the damages, but the farmer feels he's gotten his copper's worth in entertainment.
After sharing what they've learned, the adventurers once again embark along the Lost Coast Road towards Brinestump Marsh.
Their first stop is the closest location that was marked on the fan, a site along the swampy coastline roughly halfway between Proudstump's shack and the location he indicated as Old Megus' home. They decide not to impose on the halfling's hospitality, instead cutting a path through the marsh straight towards what turns out to be the burnt-out husk of a merchant ship. (Hanzo reveals that he had actually come across this while piloting Proudstump's rowboat the previous day, but hadn't thought it worth mentioning.)
A search of the ruined ship reveals nothing of value, though they do find evidence that some of the Licktoads' scavenged fireworks were used to set the vessel ablaze.
The next two marked spots from the map are a fair distance to the southwest, farther into the swamp than they have yet been. They decide to retrive Proudstump's rowboat and take it to check on Old Megus, as he requested. Navigating the channels crisscrossing the swamp is difficult, but Molido's sharp eyes again prove their worth. The only difficulty they meet is with a giant leech lurking beneath a bridge, using the low verticle space to try and ambush prey. It fails to fill its belly before it's split open by Hanzo, Molido, and Brixton.
They arrive at Old Megus' shack late in the afternoon to find it in an incredible state of disrepair. The walls and floors are dryrotted and sag beneath their feet. The doors are stuck fast, swollen with moisture. Tendrils and ropes of some unidentified moss hang from the ceiling, draped over decomposing furniture and slightly obscuring the myriad strange charms and fetishes sprinkled among them. Motes of dust hang in the air, shimmering slightly in the fading daylight. The whole place reeks of mildew and decay.
Concerned that the moss infesting the house might be poisonous, the adventurers decline to enter the building at first. Instead they call out to Old Megus and try and look through the few, grime-plastered windows present in the shack. Finally, lacking any response from inside, they enter the shack and begin exploring as much as they can, meeting resistance from every jammed door.
While Molido and Zaphkael take the most direct route, Hanzo circles around and finds a rear door which he manages to batter open. Meanwhile, Brixton opts to inspect a nearby outbuilding, its walls crumbled and roof collapse, to see if he can find any sign of Old Megus there.
The building is full of old crates and barrels stuffed with rotting foodstuffs, most of them chewed open at the base by rather large rats. Brixton enters carefully, looking for threats, and notices a rodent the size of a dog glaring at him from a sagging shelf, its red eyes flat with hatred and hostility. Before he can draw his sword, the dire rat and two of its companions rush the paladin, seeking to defend their home.
Brixton shouts for help, but soon finds he doesn't much need it. While Hanzo does manage to shoot one of the rats before the fight ends, Brix himself smites the other two without receiving a scratch.
Inside the main house, Zaphkael and Molido explore an entry hall, a dining area, and a bedroom, finding no sign of Old Megus nor of anything valuable. Brixton's fight with the dire rats draws them outside, but too late to contribute to the battle. Rather than continue their exploration of the shack, the group concludes that Old Megus is most probably dead, and that they've done enough to report this to Walthus in good faith. They travel a short ways to the northeast, seeking dry ground and a defensible location, and make camp for the night.
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