The Beast of Bleakmarsh

A few weeks ago we finished the Tomb of the Lizard King in my Swords & Wizardry campaign and in the next session moved on to a rewriting of I7: Baltron's Beacon. Baltron's Beacon is an AD&D adventure released by TSR in 1985. Written by Phillip Meyers. I have made a number of changes to the plot but I have kept much of the locations the same. I have always wanted to run players through this adventure and now I finally get the chance.

First I added The Beast of Bleakmarsh to the start. This adventure is a 5th Edition Pocket Sized Perils adventure written and illustrated by Brendan Barnett. The style of these Pocket Sized Perils is a short flipbook of illustrations with notes for a short encounter. I fleshed it out a little and made some changes to fit my campaign. The village of Bleakmarsh, the tinker, and the were-toads was from this adventure.

Session 57: Welcome to Bleakmarsh

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alonso (human fighter), Domago (human cleric NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Vervork (human fighter NPC).

When last we left them, the heroes were spending the night on an island in the Cursed Marsh the guests of a group of "explorers". Accompanying them are a host of rescued humans from the Hillside villages.

The night spent on the island in the swamp is uneventful. The next day Aashdoshan tells his companions he is concerned about leaving Sakatha staked in his coffin. If a Lizard Man returned and removed the stake Sakatha would regenerate. Aashdoshan decides to return to the Tomb alone (sort of he has a few undead companions) to deal with Sakatha. The rest of the adventurers press on escorting the thirty or more villagers to Whetwhistle. Once they arrive they are greeted by Wexley and several mercenaries he has hired. The villagers are put up in the Mining Bunkhouse overnight. Many of them head south alone the next day. A few ask to travel with the adventurers to Edgerton. A few also decide to stay in Whetwhistle where there is available work.

It takes the heroes a little longer to get to Edgerton than normal as they are escorting some refugees on foot. Once in Edgerton, they part with the refugees and head to their Chapter House. Everyone takes a well-deserved rest. Later in the day Lakima, Eathwund, and Alonso head over to the Keep and speak with Lawlord Brightmoor. He is happy to hear they have rescued the people of the Hillside farms and killed the dragon. But he is concerned when Lakima mentions an undead Lizard Man and potions of human control. He feigns reluctance to hand over the deed to the Radu Manor house but relents when he gets a promise of another favor to the Earldom.

Alonso meets with Cromly the smith to commission another project. He hands over another bag of black dragon scales and requests a shield. He also shows Cromly the skull from the Demon and asks for a helmet. Cromly is doubtful stating it would only have decorative value but he agrees to do the project.

The heroes meet once more that evening and the loot from the venture into the Cursed Marshes is divided up. Lakima identifies the magic items - some of which are very powerful (hello - Ring of Wishes). Some items are placed in the vault.

A message arrives from Lord Brightmoor asking for a meeting. Lakima, Eathwund, Fenris, and Alonso set out again for the Keep. Brightmoor tells them his sage has transcribed the notes Lakima found in the Tomb. They detail a source for Potions of Human control in the Tower of the Green Flame in the Cursed Marshes. It is in an area near the Dolm River called the Bleakmarsh. He asks them to go to the Tower and destroy or secure the source.

Lakima goes to the docks and hires riverman Dunstan and some of his men to man some boats for them to take them to Bleakmarsh. Aashdoshan not having shown up yet, it is only Lakima, Eathwund, Alonso, Domago, Vervork, Lantosh, and Fenris.

Later in the day, Dunstan drops off the adventurers at a causeway in the swamp. He tells them that it heads through the swamp to the keep where the Tower of the Green Flame stands. He also tells them that there is a small, outlaw village in the swamp along the trail.

They set out on the causeway which rises a few feet above the surrounding mire. They do see plenty of signs that the causeway is in frequent use by travelers on foot and horseback.  After a few hours, they hear shouts of “Help! Help!” and come upon a woman stranded up in a dead tree over the swamp. Her wagon half-submerged nearby. The woman warns them that something under in the water devoured her horses. Lakima levitates over to the woman and manages to carry her back to the causeway (after she strips off her heavy equipment). She introduces herself as Petra, a tinker, merchant, and entertainer. She asks for help in recovering her wagon and equipment but there are no clever ideas to do this. So, she leads them to the nearby hamlet of Bleakmarsh.

There is no sign proclaiming that the name of the community is Bleakmarsh but Petra assures them that this is indeed the name the locals use. She leads them to the Mended Net Tavern where they can get some food and rest. The locals are a suspicious lot and direct a number of glares at the heroes. But once it begins to get dark and the cheap ale is flowing, they start to loosen up. They overhear talk of a monstrous beast from the swamp that has taken away three villagers in the last few days. Lakima strikes up a conversation with a local who gives his name as Jim who seems to have several contradictory stories about the beast. He suggests Glynda the witch might have something to do with it. Or maybe Old Yiss the local Lizard Man king. The barkeep tells Jim to keep his mouth shut when he starts talking about the residents of the nearby keep.

Eathwund and Lakima wander over to Glynda’s shack to see if the old witch knows anything. She turns out to be an old woman who knows a lot about local herbs and not a practitioner of magic. She does tell them some of the local gossip. Lakima casts a Circle of Protection for her so she can remain safe in her home. As they leave the shack they hear someone screaming. They run to the source of the noise and see a giant toad standing on its hind legs dragging off one of the locals. Eathwund and Lakima run after it. They are joined by Alonso who had stepped outside the Tavern to get some air.

They follow the creature to the edge of the swamp and see it bound across to the local cemetery and disappear. Eathwund curses, and decides to hop in the swamp to follow it. Luckily, the muddy water only comes up to his hips. The others follow. On the island, they find a dozen stone grave markers and a stone crypt. Pushing back the lid of the crypt they see a set of steps leading down. At the bottom, they can see swamp water. Alonso and Eathwund proceed down first followed by Lakima. They spot the giant toad-man in the center of a large stone chamber. Other villagers can be seen stuck to stone pillars with a clear gooey substance. On the far wall, they see an altar of a frog god. The toad-man tosses his captive aside and moves to attack. Alonso moves away from Eathwund to spread out and almost steps in a huge clutch of translucent eggs floating in the swamp water. Alonso strikes at the eggs with his sword and slices a dozen eggs open. Vicious giant pollywogs float out and attack him with mouths full of razor-sharp teeth. Meanwhile, Eathwund is attacked by the toad creature. A second toad creature steps out of the shadows to attack Alonso. The villager runs past Lakima for the stair.

Lakima casts sleep on the pollywogs and they go limp and stop attacking Alonso. Eathwund actives his ring spreading fire up his sword and he kills the toad creature with two swift blows. As the creature falls away, he watches in astonishment as it transforms into a portly, middle-aged man. Alonso kills the second toad creature and watches it transform into a middle-aged woman. 

Alonso and Eathwund free the three villagers from the gooey material that was keeping them bound to the pillars. One of them who tells them his name is Martin explains that the toad creatures were the villager friar Seaton and the woman is Marsha a local fisherwoman. They are helped back to the village.

There is quite an uproar as the heroes return to the tavern with four villagers in tow. Martin even whispers to them that some outlaws are holed up in the nearby Keep. The villagers trade with the outlaws so they keep quiet about them.