Mr. Whiskers POV

The raid splashed down after coming through the portal, finding ourselves in a swamp. The air wasn’t too warm, but the sheer humidity made it feel ten degrees warmer. Trees and reeds grew randomly, limiting our vision. The only saving grace was that most tree branches didn’t start until about 20 feet in the air. The landing we were on was under about an inch of water, and the mud was sucking at our boots with every step.

“Oh this is just great.” Grandelf complained. “First we get drenched in stuff that causes beasts to go berserk, then they drop us in the swamp? And just what the hell is up with the path? Everything is underwater!”

“You gonna try and see if we still have that breathing enchantment?” GotYerBack asked with a chuckle.

“Easy.” I cautioned. “Only one path?” I asked King, who was standing at the edge of what we assumed would be the safe zone.

“Yep. Seems to be completely underwater.”

“Brock! Looks like you’re up.” I called out. The mage walked over, sighing in annoyance. “Let me guess. Raise the pathway?”

“Got it in one. If you run out of mana, can you still use earth sense to find the path?”

“Yeah, but it will slow down my regen a bit. Better to let me meditate for a few minutes. I’m also going to need protection, as this is going to take a good bit of concentration.”

“King and Death will be right next to you, as will Dave for intercepting attacks. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you alive.” I said, patting him on the shoulder. As he got started on the path, I turned to everyone else. “Alright, Brock is going to be raising the path so we aren’t walking in water the whole time. Everyone else needs to keep an eye out for things that are hunting us. There are a lot of predators in the swamp, and they are likely all beasts.”

Warnings given, our meandering path through the swamps began. And all the annoyances that came with it. Stonejaw crocodiles, spiritsucker leeches, swarms of bloodthirsty insects and a multitude of venomous snakes all came calling, wanting their share of the raid. Nobody died, but we couldn’t go five feet without getting attacked by something.

“Goddamnit Ice Queen!” Brosef shouted. “You’re supposed to blast swarms of insects with a bit of cold, especially when they are swarming around your friends. Not incinerate the swarm in a ball of fire!” He patted his face a few times before continuing, “You’re lucky I still have my eyebrows after that.”

“Oh, like it’s my fault that the chaos blessing decided to switch ice and fire? Fuck off.” She snarled back.

*THUNK**THUNK**THUNK*

“AAAAAAAH!” Ice Queen screamed as three arrows appeared in the tree next to her, striking so close together it was almost one sound. The tail end of a snake that was perfectly hidden dropped down, only held up by the three arrows.

“Y’all need ta respect da swamp moe.” A cajun accent drawled as a scantily clad man jumped between a few trees to land next to Ice Queen. He was incredibly toned, without hardly any fat on him. He had a set of bracers and a pair of torn shorts, with a quiver full of differently fletched arrows and a bag on his hip. “Dis guy nearly got ‘im a nibble o pretty lil’ mage.” He said, pulling his arrows out of the tree and placing the snake body in his bag. “Damn. Lost a head.” He muttered, looking at one of his arrows.

“Um, thanks for the rescue?” Ice Queen stammered. “I’m Ice Queen.”

“DeLandre. Tee Roy DeLandre.” He answered, shaking her hand. “Pewwwwwiiieeee!” He cried, stepping back a bit. “No wonda dis guy wanted ‘im a bite, y’all smell like grandmama’s special croc bait!”

“I don’t suppose he comes with subtitles?” Lucy whispered next to me, making me fight to not snicker.

“So, what’s y’alls doin’ in de swamp?”

“Just passing through.” I answered, stepping forward. “Name’s Mr. Whiskers, I’m the raid leader.”

“Whiska’s? Like de catfish? Heh, nice ta meet’cha Mista Whiska’s.” He shook my hand too. “I don’ mean ta be mean, but y’all don’ look like ya belongs in da swamp. Needin’ a guide?”

“A guide would be wonderful if you don’t mind. I don’t know how we could repay you though.”

“Well, das not goan be a problem. We always help out in de swamp ya know?” He said. “Tell ya what. Help me with da huntin’, and I’ll help ya tru de swamp.”

“That’s fine. We’ve been getting a good bit of meat drops from the attacks so far. Tell me though, you mentioned earlier something about croc bait. What’s that?”

“Hehehehe, oh dat? Ol’ granny came up wit dat. She take de guts o’ de chicken and all dat juice and blood, an she put it in a bucket an leave it in de sun for a few days. Gotta let it get good and stinky, den you dunk your bait in dere before ya hang it, and dem ‘gators dey just can’ resist.”

“Sounds about like what we got blasted with.” Blackthumb chuckled.

“Now, step on back dere mista Earth man, an I’ll have you stop changin’ de level o de land in de swamp iffn ya can.”

“Sure, but why walk around in water when we don’t have to?”

“De swamp, she be alive.” He said. “We mark de paths as best we can, but we leave it be. If you block off de water, it like blockin’ de blood o’ a creature. Block enough blood, and de creature die. Block enough water, and de swamp die. Afore she die though, she get her revenge.” Walking while talking, our new guide led us on. It was a lot quieter, as almost everyone was hanging on to his words and trying to figure him out.

“How would the swamp get revenge? Breed a bunch of tough monsters?” Dave asked calmly as his shield blocked the lunge of a striking snake.

“Oh no, dese just da regula’ animals. No, when de swamp get mad, she summon de Loa. You don’ wanna mess with de Loa, dey’s got some bad JuJu.” He said, shaking his head. “De wily ones, dey lure you in ta de swamp with de witch lights. Y’all see a blue flame a’floatin’? Doan go anywhere near it. Run de otha way.”

“Sounds like a Will-o-Wisp.” Lucy spoke up.

“Aye, some folks dey call it dat.” Tee Roy nodded. “It lead you from de prop’r paths, den when you good an lost, dey disappear.”

“[Icebolt]. Thanks for the warning, anything we can do to please the swamp if we manage to anger it?” Ice Queen asked.

“I’s wond’rin’. Dere a reason why all y’all’s spell’s be off? Doan get me wrong, but dat wasn’t no icebolt lil missy.” Tee Roy asked, as Ice Queen’s spell had switched to electricity.

“Long story short? It’s a blessing from Tiamat.” I answered.

“Truly? A blessin’ from de mistress o’ chaos herself?” He turned to look at us, eyes wide. “What she like?”

“She had no love for those who follow Pelor.” Shocker chuckled. “Said she might even be ready to join in the fight against him.”

“Grandmama need ta hear dis.” He muttered. “We hurry now.” Turning, he started moving much faster. He cast some sort of spell that gave him a red aura, and it was strong enough to overcome the smell of our raid group as several creatures simply turned and swam away. “Uh oh.” He said, stopping suddenly. “See dat log dere?” We all looked, only to see it drop below the water.

“Yup. Dat ‘gator, him getting too big fer his britches. We goan have to take him down. Mista Earth, raise up a bit of a wall here, just above de water line. When he come out, he gonna lunge at you, so make sure you back a bit.” Tee Roy explained as he fashioned a noose from a vine he pulled from somewhere. “When he snap dem jaws down, I’ll get ‘im all tied up. One of y’all need to hit ‘im with de killshot.”

“Where’s the killshot?” King asked.

“Back of de head, between de eyes. It about de size of a silver coin. Hit dat spot? Gator dies. Git ready now, here he come!”

With a surge of water, the massive crock lunged at Brock. The nearby raid all shied back, as Tee Roy flicked his wrist and spun a lasso around the closing jaws of the gator. With a tug, it closed, holding the jaws shut as the gator started rolling.

“WHOOOOOIEEEEE!!!! LOOK AT ‘IM GO, DERE IT IS!” Tee Roy yelled out, fighting the gator with everything he had. King and Shocker separated, keeping the gator between them so that one would eventually get the shot. Seconds later, the gator half reared up, pulling backwards on the line. “CHOOT ‘IM!” At Tee Roy’s yell, King loosed a normal shot, not wanting the chaos curse to effect anything.

I knew a blow from a bow at less than ten feet would be powerful, especially with the raid using top tier equipment. What nobody expected was an instant kill without the use of a skill against a level 203 Stonejaw alligator. The arrow buried itself in the back of the skull, and the body just, dropped.

“Whoo, dat a good shot dere yessir! Quick, help me pull ‘im up outta de water.” Dave stepped forward and helped roll the gator onto the walkway we were using. “Ho HO! Eleven foot if he’s an inch, das a good gator right dere. Can y’all carry ‘im? We got the best skinners back at de village, dey goan love cuttin’ up dis big boy.”

“I think we can handle it.” Eric spoke up. Before he could do anything, Ice Queen placed a hand on his chest.

“Gimme a second, I have a better idea. [Ice manipulation].” Using her skills, she created a boat of ice around the gator, leaving a hole for it to be tied off to. “There’s water all the way there, right? Let’s just float the body.”

“Das de way yessir.” Tee Roy chuckled. “Work smarta’, not harder.” Tying his vine to the boat, he led the way once again. Before we could move, I felt something on my arm.

“Something’s not right here.” King said.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” I asked.

“We’re in a dungeon, and find someone so very helpful? And you aren’t suspecting a thing?” I blinked at him a few times, then shook my head. “He seemed awfully interested in Tiamat too. We’re just going to trust followers of the goddess of chaos?”

“I think we deserve a bit of good luck, don’t you?”

“I don’t think so. I could have sworn I’ve heard some singing on occasion, I think we’re all being charmed.”

“Seriously? What could charm a thirty-member raid?”

“Just. Here, put these in.” He said, handing me some enchanted earplugs. “Don’t say anything when things change, just be ready and see if you can work with the raid. I’ll try and get a few more on our side.” Humoring him, I put in the plugs but didn’t notice anything different. We kept up a rapid pace, though after a few minutes we slowed to a stop as Tee Roy held up a hand. I thought I saw a flash of webbed fingers, but shook my head when it was just a normal hand.

“Hold on now, ev’rybody see dis?” He said, pointing to two sets of flowers. There was a clump of blue ones near us and a clump of red ones a few feet away. “Dees mark jumps in de path. Between de blue and de red, is a giant hole. You step in dere, you get stung with the paralytic nettles growin’ in de bottom, and de swamp she take ya. Just make sure ya jump all de way to de red flowers, and y’all be fine.” Taking a step forward, he gave a half leap and easily cleared the distance before walking forward enough that the raid would be able to join him.

“I guess I’ll go first. If I can make it, everyone should.” Dave said, stepping forward and easily clearing the gap. “Not that bad now that we know what to look for.” He said, and we all swiftly followed suit. This continued six or seven more times, the gaps roughly being the same size.

“Slow down now, we comin’ up to de village.” Tee Roy said, holding up a hand. He gave an odd hooting sound, repeating it three times before getting one in return. “Ok. De guards be warned, dey know not to attack.” He led us past a stand of trees, and we got our first view of the village.

The entrance was two stone pillars set on each side of the path, marking a hole in an incredibly dense hedge that surrounded the village. The village was raised enough to not have to worry about water at the moment, but we did notice that the huts were all on stilts raising them ten to twelve inches off the ground. They were arranged in rings around a central bonfire, with a much more ornate hut immediately across the fire from the entrance to the village. Some villagers had spears, but most were unarmed as they walked around.

“Mistress Chloe.” Tee Roy gave a slight bow as a larger woman walked up to us.

“Tee Roy. Hunt go well?”

“Dat it did, dat it did. We got us a big gator!” He said with a grin, revealing the boat with the prize in it.

“O ho!” Chloe cried. “Taken down with one shot too! Your work?”

“Naw. De one named King, he did it. Didn’t use a skill neither.”

“Impressive.” She said, looking King over. “I’m sure the story of that will spread around while we clean it. Bring it to the dressing area, and we will start roasting it for the feast.” She kept talking, but I was starting to feel a very distracting headache, right between my eyes. Looking down as I rubbed my forehead, I immediately froze.

The ground, it didn’t look right. Sure, it was slightly muddy, but that was to be expected in a swamp. What was wrong was the tracks crossing through the road. The locals all went barefoot, but why were the tracks they left three toed? They were humans! Crushing my eyes closed, I took a few calming breaths before starting when someone patted my shoulder.

“Huh?”

“I said, we should take them up on the offer of food and a rest. An hour break wouldn’t hurt, and this might actually be a safe spot.” Lucy was saying. “Are you ok? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine.” I lied. The pressure was gone, but I could see through the illusion now. They weren’t human, they were some sort of lizardman. They dressed in a loincloth, and each wrist had their own sort of bracer made of thicker scales. Running down the middle of the lower arm were three spikes, and from how Tee Roy had taken down the snake that must be how they use their ranged attack. The huts they were going to let us relax in? They were cages. Their own personal huts were simple nests of mud and reeds in the ground, though the massive fire was real. Behind the fire was a priestess sitting on a throne of mud and bones, while off to one side was another female singing.

“Let’s take a few minutes to relax, we’ll see about the feast. I don’t want to impose on them.”

“Oh they insist! Swamp hospitality. A lot of the beasts we killed before meeting Tee Roy dropped meat, so we are paying our way with that.”

“Ok.” I said, giving her a nod. “I’ll be over in a second, need to stretch my muscles a bit.” She smiled and skipped away, and I saw King looking at me. I nodded at him, and with my left hand gave a signal our guild had worked out long ago. When we couldn’t discuss dangerous things, but knew we were in danger, the one who would start the attack extended the pinky, ring and middle fingers of their left hand three times in rapid succession. A double blink confirmed the response, and that they had a target as well.

Swamp hag

Level 225

Swamp hags are masters of nature and charm magic. Related to sirens, they are content living a simple, pampered life in the swamp. Using their voice to pacify and enthrall unknowing victims, they are far more subtle than their oceangoing cousins.

Marsh dweller

Level 215

Lizardlike humanoids that dwell in swamps. Experts at ambushing enemies, they prefer fights that are heavily weighted in their favor. If initially outnumbered, they will often trick their prey into walking into a trap where they can be easily overwhelmed.

Marsh dweller matriarch

Level 225

Upon reaching puberty, the females born to the marsh dwellers will set out from their home in search of a new nesting ground. Six to ten of the males born in her clutch will join her, becoming her protectors and fathers of her future offspring. Well versed in poisons, they almost never enter outright battle.

I switched weapons to my garrote, and started walking around like I was simply admiring everything. When I got within range, I struck. “[Blink][Garrote].” Appearing behind the swamp hag, she had no idea of the danger until the wire was cutting off her song. I didn’t want to let this go on long, so I kicked out the back of her knees. When she dropped down, I placed my foot on the back of her neck to boost my leverage, and pulled for all I was worth. Within seconds, the hag lost her head and all hell broke loose.

“Whiskers, what the hell?!” Several raid members yelled.

“[Elemental barrage: Frostbolt arrow].” Just as I had hoped, King targeted the matriarch. Hopefully she would be weak to ice attacks like most reptiles.

“Protect the matriarch!” The swamp dwellers shouted, half going to try and intercept the attack from King. The rest pointed their arms toward the raid and started launching bolts at them. Not expecting the attack, several members dropped to varying status effects, while the rest shook off the illusion before starting to counterattack.

“Mages, area attacks on the matriarch! Prioritize ice attacks. Berserkers triple up against individuals! Rangers and Cinderfy, take out those ranged attackers!” I called out, also moving forward to engage the enemy. Chaos reigned. Wherever she was, I was sure Tiamat was having an absolute blast watching this fight.

“Bloom, the icy flower of winter. [Ice lotus].”

“Burst forth, unleashing frigid death. [Frost nova].”

Ice Queen and PeppermintYork launched twin ice spells into the midst of the gathering marsh dwellers, slowing them down greatly. While that was happening, the berserkers were splitting up to blunt the charge of two marsh dwellers while King and the other rangers were attacking anyone using a ranged attack. King would call the target, and concentrated fire would slowly bring it down. They were avoiding using skills, something I wouldn’t have the liberty of as three marsh dwellers charged me with murder in their eyes.

“[Storm of blades].” I called forth a skill to slow them and bunch them up just a bit, as I needed them close for maximum damage. While the blades were slowing them, I pulled a vial of poison from my inventory and coated both of my daggers with it. Grinning, I charged forward just as the spell ended. “[Dance of death].”

I didn’t use the skill much while on raids, since it was basically an assassin’s berserk skill. For the next five seconds, attack speed and damage were tripled. Afterwards I would have next to no stamina, but that was a trade I was willing to make under the circumstances. Until that fucking blessing happened.

Chaos blessing activated!

[Dance of death] has been changed to [Winterlicht waltz]

Daggers glowing blue, my eyes widened as I moved at my normal speed towards the enemies. Blue guides appeared, showing me the best path for my daggers to take. With nothing else to go on, I followed the guides. Low belly slash as you move past the first target. Downslash then cross the second, spinning and raking daggers across the back of the first enemy. Plunge a dagger into a kidney, lowering my body and dodging a spear swipe towards my neck. Thrust forward into the second target, taking it in the heart as I pass and slash the throat of the third enemy. Miss! Duck under the grapple attempt and bury a dagger into the belly, savagely jerking it upward before twisting it and ripping it to the side. Kick the body away as the skill ends, gauging the enemy. First two enemies down, the third disemboweled and bleeding out swiftly.

“Light and sound herald thy doom, rain destruction upon my foes. [Thunderstorm]!” I heard Grandelf chanting, and put it out of my mind as I was downing a stamina potion. That quickly changed with his panicked warning. “GET TO COVER! SPELL WAS CHANGED TO METEOR!”

“[Foxhole].” Brock slammed both palms to the ground, taking the majority of the raid underground. “Ice Queen, freeze the sides so we don’t drown. I’ll cover the top.” I looked around, but there was no cover. The entire village was flat, open ground all the way to the giant hedge. I unequipped all my gear, and sat back to enjoy the show. The marsh dwellers had stopped to stare at me, and I simply smiled and pointed upward.

Breaking through the clouds, a ball of burning death was hurtling towards us. Burning white flames gave way to reds and oranges, highlighting the ominous black clouds. It was absolutely beautiful, and everyone was simply watching it descend. It seemed we all were happy to just accept our fate.

You have died.

NaughtyNurseJess is attempting to revive you.

Revive? Y/N

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Lucy said, giving me a hand up.

“Thanks.” I said. “What was our damage?” I asked as I took in the devastation. The crater was smaller than I imagined it would be, only about six feet deep. The entirety of the village, out past the hedge, was simply gone. The only thing left standing was a portal to the next floor. Swamp water was slowly trickling in from a few places, as the soil build up had broken under pressure.

“Counting you, we lost 7 with the blast. Had Brock not dropped that foxhole, and kept dropping it, we would have had a total wipe. Good thing for us it didn’t reverse itself thanks to that chaos magic buff.”

“Seven lost? Damn, we just burned 8 scrolls to get everyone back up.”

“Yeah. We have 33 left.” She agreed.

“Damn. That’s only 16 resurrections outside of healers and we still don’t know how many floors we have left to go.”

“Judging by the pattern, two more floors before a boss fight.”

“Let’s hope it’s the final boss.” I muttered, before turning and heading toward the portal. “Let’s get going everyone!” I called out, ready to finish this dungeon dive.

“Hey, sorry about that spell.” Grandelf apologized as he jogged over. “If I knew.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I interrupted. “It could have happened to anyone. I just wish this blasted chaos boost was a little more predictable.”

“That’s the chaos part though, no?” Grandelf chuckled. “Thanks for not holding it against me though.” He said, patting my shoulder before falling silent and heading toward the portal.