As Plures expressed his displeasure overhead, the throgrin within the maze finally started to arrive. Two charged in from the entrance next to Kurt, one catching his foot in the concealed beartrap, while one more came from the entrance next to Bask. He immediately began to petrify as Bask focused its gaze on him. Kurt worked to block the only free Throgrin as Sylvester continued pulling out amber chunks. Karrank tried to fire his bolt, but his crossbow jammed, and he was forced to discard it as he charged in to help Kurt.

Two more throgrin arrived from both entrances as Neil began to chant a spell. The bear-trapped throgrin tried to free itself, but the process was slow going. The other fought back against Kurt while the petrifying throgrin completely turned to stone.

Sylvester finally finished removing all the amber as Kurt managed to slay the trapped throgrin and injure the other. Karrank tried to finish that one off, but the two newcomers blocked him.

As Bask turned to face the two throgrin near it, Neil finally finished his casting of Magic Missile. Three emerald green wisps of energy shot up, before arcing down to unerringly strike their targets. Two hit a throgrin next to Bask while the third struck the throgrin Kurt had injured, nearly killing it outright.

Neil didn’t rest, however, and immediately began to chant once more as yet another throgrin arrived, this time on Bask’s entrance. The two throgrin already there both attacked Bask, but it shrugged off their javelins without issue.

Karrank also ended up being double-teamed while Kurt faced the heavily injured throgrin. Kurt turned the situation around, however, by piercing straight through his throgrin and into one attacking Karrank. Karrank used this opportunity to cut deeply into the side of the other throgrin that had been attacking him.

Bask, feeling surrounded, began to wildly thrash about. All the throgrin were smacked by various appendages, but only one managed to stay on its feet. Sylvester arrived, trying to take advantage of the situation, but the downed throgrin managed to roll out of the way of his strikes.

And Neil, still safe from the throgrin, finished his second casting of Magic Missile. Two missiles speedily weaved past Bask’s thrashing to strike the standing throgrin while the third blew off the hand of Karrank’s.

Seeing the situation turning against them, the throgrin that Kurt had just skewered began to run, abandoning its brother to face Kurt and Karrank alone. The ones that Bask had knocked down managed to get back on their feet, though Sylvester still harried them.

Neil, finally out of Magic Missiles, ran out of his hole to assist Sylvester and Bask. There were only a few throgrin left in the fight, and they quickly started falling. Kurt and Karrank managed to take theirs down, while Bask bit one’s arm off and began to petrify another. Neil, surprisingly, was the one who managed to shatter that one and end the fight.

As everyone began to relax, however, one last throgrin charged into the clearing through Bask’s entrance. It quickly began to petrify as well, allowing Sylvester and Neil to easily take care of it.

Sylvester made sure to do a quick headcount this time before declaring that they could finally rest. Unlike the basket and the iron rose, the amber chunks were actually fairly easy to carry. Each was the size of someone’s head and weighed about 10 pounds, but there were only four of them and they easily fit into the empty bags that had originally held the party’s food.

Before they left, however, Sylvester took time to cast Remove Curse on himself. He had not been careful about removing the amber, causing him to touch the rainwater they had been lying in. This had been enough for Plures to curse him, though constant rain was more of an annoyance than a serious curse.

The four-and-a-half-day trip back to the Frog God was much easier than their previous trips had been, but it was not uneventful. On their third day, they began the morning with an encounter of what could only be bandits. There were only three, however, and they practically dived off the causeway on seeing Bask with the party.

Later that day, however, their trip was interrupted by rumbling and waves appearing in the swamp’s waters. Rising around the causeway, were a number of thick tentacles that began to attack.

Sylvester managed to quickly hack one apart, as well as Bask with some help from Neil. It wasn’t enough however, as Karrank and Neil both got caught by tentacles that started to drag them away from the causeway.

Bask started to petrify one, while Kurt and Sylvester worked to try and cut Karrank free. Instead of freeing them, they both ended up getting grabbed by tentacles as well, leaving Bask as the only one free to move.

Sylvester, however, managed to cut himself free before the tentacle could really start to squeeze down on him. He was, however, quickly caught again by a different tentacle.

Soon, Bask had been caught as well. The tentacles coiled around them like anacondas, slowly trying to squeeze the life out of them. Karrank managed to slip free, however, quickly followed by Neil who had been slowly sawing his way through the tentacle gripping him.

The last free tentacle whipped toward Neil, but he managed to avoid the blow that slammed into the causeway.

Bask managed to shatter the partially petrified tentacle holding it and Kurt managed to slice his into many pieces.

Sylvester was the last one still being dragged around but Bask managed to get a grip on the tentacle and fairly ripped it into shreds.

“That was the Fruum I take it?” Kurt asked while wiping slime off himself.

“Part of it at least.” Sylvester nodded.

“I do not want to go through that again. I feel like I may have bruised a rib.” Karrank complained.

“Here, let me take a look.” Sylvester called him over before continuing. “And there isn’t much we can do about it. By my estimation, there is a 1-in-4 chance any given day that we will be attacked by it.”

“Well, considering this is a four-day journey that should imply we won’t see it again?” Kurt tried to be optimistic.

“It just means it is less than likely. If I know my odds right, we still have 50-50 odds of seeing it again.” Karrank hissed as Sylvester pressed his glowing hands onto his ribs.

Everyone had taken a beating in that fight, and Sylvester nearly tapped out his internal energy patching up their largest issues.

Luckily, the rest of their journey was uneventful, and he had everyone back at their peak by the time they reached the Frog God once again.

Like before, the clearing was empty but for the large stone statue of the Frog God and the gifts that had already been collected. Troglodytes hid around the edges of the clearing, carefully watching them.

When they produced the amber from their bags, the statue did not animate. So, they put the chunks into the oversized wicker basket they had first collected.

“You have done well to collect my gifts.” The powerful rumbling voice of the Frog God echoed out across the clearing, startling the whole group.

“Tell me the knowledge you have sought, and I shall provide it to you.”

Sylvester turned to face the Frog God, the eyes of its idol glowing and turning to focus upon him.

“Thank you. I wish to ask about the nature of this world. I am aware that parts of it are constructed, placed like decorations in a music box. This swamp itself is one such location! But you come from beyond this plane, and I hope you have insight on this construction.” He carefully explained. After a few moments of silence, the Frog God spoke once more.

“You seek that which I do not know. To place this swamp, the minds and bodies of mortal men had to be turned to the task. The ties of fate are beyond my sight, ever more so now that my power wanes. Ask of me something else.” Its rumbling voice felt like a weight in the pit of Sylvester’s stomach.

“Then me!” Sylvester suddenly exclaimed. “I know these things, can see the patterns of fate! Am I marked? Is my soul unique?”

“Hmm.” The frog god hummed, as its eyes focused ever tighter onto Sylvester, peering through and into him. “No one claims you. Your soul is strong, but mundane. Your gifts lie not there.”

“I see.” Sylvester muttered, feeling like the wind had left his sails. Opportunities to ask questions of gods were few and far between, and he had gained nothing from it. He turned and made to leave the clearing. “Thank you for your help.”

“Halt.” The Frog God called out. “You have sought knowledge that I have not provided. A boon is still owed for your services. I cannot grant you the knowledge, but I can provide a tool to help your journey.”

“Really? What would it be?” Sylvester turned back, surprised by the Frog God’s generosity.

“You carry two weapons upon your person. The weapon you use, and one that holds your curiosity. Provide them both to me and I shall reforge them into one that shall aid you in your journey.”

Sylvester failed to hide his shock and turned to look at the rest of the group. They were as surprised as him, but they gestured for him to quickly comply with the instructions. Sylvester carefully approached the Frog God and placed his weapons on the ground. His kusarigama was first, and then he laid his sentient silver dagger on top of it before stepping away.

The Frog God turned its eyes away from him for the first time, to gaze upon the weapons he had placed at its feet. Deep within itself, it began a deep croak-like hum. The ground began to shake, and clouds began to gather above. The weapons before the statue began to float into the air, vibrating in resonance with its deep hum.

Everyone’s visions began to blur as the power of the hum intensified, the two weapons appearing to overlap and meld. Slowly, however, the noise began to fade away, though even when it was gone everyone could almost still hear it on the edge of their perception.

The new weapon lowered back down to the ground, and Sylvester stepped forward to inspect it. It was a Kusarigama, forged entirely from silver. Its weight was a delicately decorated censer, and its blade was a ritual blade as long as his forearm with a grip of delicately woven leather straps.

As he lifted it up, the censer began to glow from within and curl with smoke, as if it had been lit. Sylvester smiled and gave it a spin, testing the feel of the weapon is his hands. As it spun, the links of the chain seemed to come alive with lights of their own, giving the image of a swirling mass of sparks revolving around Sylvester’s hand.

He slowly stopped the spinning and simply held the weapon, looking it over.

“It needs a name to awaken.” Came the deep and rumbling voice of the Frog God.

Sylvester nodded, and began to speak.

“This is a wonderful weapon. It shall be known as the Luminous Tempest, Thyellaphos.” He declared. The entire weapon began to glow, and he could feel the magic within it connecting with him.

“Thank you.” Came a voice of wind chimes and clinking chains.

“A fitting name for this weapon. It has been born from the two you provided and shall have the purpose of investigating the structure of the world.” The Frog God decreed before its idol went still.

Sylvester thanked the Frog God once more before making his way back to the rest of the party.

“Well, that was something.” Karrank commented.

“Are you kidding?!” Neil exclaimed, his excitement overflowing. “That was amazing! That was Thyellaphos speaking at the end, right?”

“It was.” Sylvester nodded.

“A shame you didn’t get the answers you came here for.” Val added on, ignoring the new weapon.

“I think this is just as good, honestly.” Kurt said, slightly jealous.

“So, what can Thyellaphos do?” Neil asked, practically bouncing with excitement, though he carefully made sure not to try and grab it.

“Other than provide light and be generally better than a normal Kusarigama? I believe Detect Evil. I can see an aura of it around Val now. Detect Good too, the Frog God glows with an aura.” Sylvester answered.

“That could be handy if you want to hunt down some celestials or fiends for answers.” Val grudgingly admitted. Karrank and Sylvester both nodded at that idea.

“We should get going soon, though.” Karrank pointed out. “Now that we are done, I really want to take a long bath and get this muck out of my fur.”

“Agreed.” Kurt nodded.

“Yes, I do need to take some time and figure out where we should go now.” Sylvester agreed as well, so the group set off.

Thyellaphos's Stats:

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Thyellaphos, The Luminous Tempest

+1 Sentient Silver Kusarigama

Neutral Alignment

11 Intelligence, 11 egoism

Speaks Common, Neutral

Reads Magic

Locates Secret Doors

Detects Evil

Detects Good

Grants +1 to all saving throws, when in pursuit of its purpose

Purpose: Investigate the structure of the world

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