Arrival at Nurok

Finishing your meals and drinks, you all retire to your respective rooms for the night. While not exactly a king's establishment, the Grasmere Inn is warm and dry, providing you all with a relatively peaceful night of sleep. In the morning, you awaken to the sounds of a busy kitchen and breakfast consists of a pile of sausage links, cooked eggs, hot coffee, fruits, nuts and a thick porridge seasoned with spices to the point of making it palatable.

As you all exit to the horses and wagons, Elavain and the king's guard greet you with nods and salutes. "Looks like we been given a send off. Right nice o' them t' see us out t' maybe our last day." your guide says, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

At the edge of town the crowd has gathered on both sides of the road, Gaston in the middle astride a chestnut colored horse. Across his back is a bow, and a small pile of pelts are draped across the rear of the horse.

"'s a great day for hero work, eh, m'lords n lady?" he smiles, turning to head out along the western road.

"Exist it does. of that I assure you." Gaston replies, for once a bit of somberness creeping into his voice.

As your group continues to follow the road, winding through the edges of the forest, usually keeping within sight of the river save for the occasional wind along the base of a hill, you come to a long bend that drops into lower lands and closer to the river. From your vantage atop the hill, you can see that the land along the river in this valley is swampy, with thick groves of trees and reeds growing tall within the waters.

Gaston nods his head in that direction, replying to Hraefn "There be the land where most've seen th' thing. Sure's Istus weaves 'r Threads of Fate, it has a lair. Sickly green n brown it is, covered 'n mud 'n slime. Ya can smell it 'fore ya see it, wind bein' right 'n' all."

From your vantage, it looks like the river/swampy area is about a half-mile off of the road.

Gaston nods his agreement at the suggestion he remain behind. " Someone must remain t' tell th' tale, eh?" he halfheartedly jokes. He gathers up your mounts, bringing them to the wagons and tethering them.

Merriweather and Etna
Moving slowly into the grass, you find that for the most part the ground is firm. As you edge closer to the river though, the ground begins to soften. Your feet make slight sucking noises as they sink into the softer mud below, but the pace you move makes it barely noticeable outside of your own ears. Behind, the rest of you follow, making yourselves ready.

Hraefn
Finishing your spell, you see that the others have already moved some one hundred feet into the wild grasslands. A small, female rabbit comes hopping past and you catch her attention with a bit of leafy greens. "Giant lizards, with gaping maws are just down the river." (alligators) the creature replies to your question.

But no creature goes there. The evil one eats everything , so we stay away. she adds, nodding down the hillside, directly on the path your party is headed.

"Even the great lizards do not go there. It lives in the water, but walks like men."