Kingmaker: Ep. 10 – Gongaii

The company quit the Stag Lord’s desecrated hill-fort under a thin winter sun and cut for the bogs strangling the river trade. In LeBrod the foresters muttered of toppled trees and missing flocks, of giants and ettins abroad, but the crew took the warning and kept marching.

Near dawn on a frostbitten night, Flemish spotted a pale, torchlike light weaving between trunks. He roused Ashla and pushed toward it, only to find himself teetering over a twenty‑foot bramble-choked drop. The light faded to nothing. They chose silence over pursuit, doubled the watch, and by day found a near-perfect round barrow split by a dark rent. Franz felt danger humming there; Flemish called it what it was—an old tomb—and they marked it for later.

The bog was a reek of cold water, reed and rot. Smoke spiraled two hundred feet ahead. Flemish climbed a cypress for a look and came eye-to-eye with a warty boggard scout, throat-sack bulging. Steel flashed, he backflipped into the muck, and Yohei hauled him out as spears thudded home. Ashla’s bow thrummed; Izzy’s strange tentacled benedictions coiled around blade and string. A warband pressed from the grasses with a bloated shaman brandishing a bone-spiked club slick with green venom, croaking to a malign power.

The mire frothed like bile. A red crab the size of a man erupted, each of its four limbs ending in some device of pain—screws, spikes, crushing plates. It grappled Eternal Warrior and injected a pulsing egg under his skin that gnawed at his mind. Ashla was tongued from a tree and splashed to her feet fighting, fever clawing at her later. Yohei’s gun cracked, dropped foes, and drew a tide of croaks before he was hammered under twice, each time dragged back by Izzy. Flemish clambered onto the crab’s shell and drove a bolt through a sentry’s throat-sack. Franz waded in to strike the beast and went down, later revived atop the crab itself.

The melee see-sawed. Eternal Warrior hacked to hold the horror off; Izzy’s morningstar shattered the shaman at last. With its summoner dead, the crab paused, hissed in a voice not of this world, then melted into boiling filth and sank from sight. The last brute fell in the water, and the swamp quieted to raven-caws and their own breathing.

They combed the village. On the shore, an island of clean-picked bones ringed with skulls stared north, and a many‑eyed frog idol loomed above the firepit until they toppled and smashed it. Several huts hid root-and-bone ladders plunging into black tunnels. In a barred lodge, a mantis-like captive pleaded in broken Common: Ka-Kett, Tok-Nakatt, so they cut its bonds and watched it bound south. They burned the huts, cut the ladders, and left the tunnels for another day.

Back in LeBrod, Ashla shook off the bog’s taint. On the road, Izzy’s whispered devotions to a darker god drove the parasite out of Eternal Warrior, though the wit it had stolen did not return. At Otto’s Trade Post, they produced skull helms and a cold iron torc studded with gems—taken from the shaman—and collected the bounty. In the revel that followed, Flemish won the greased pig and, with a saddle, a stout mount sized for a gnome. With coin in purse and a grim lantern now holding the shaman’s soul, the company stands at a crossroads: the barrow’s crack yawns, the boggards’ tunnels beckon, and rumors of giants claw at the timberline.

OUTLINE:

Road South: Warnings, Wandering Light, and a Barrow Marked

• Departed the Stag Lord’s desecrated hill-fort toward the northwest bogs
• In LeBrod, townsfolk warned of giants and ettins in the area
• Pre‑dawn, Flemish spotted a pale white light in the woods; he and Ashla investigated, nearly stumbling over a bramble-choked drop, then withdrew
• Found a near-perfect round barrow split by a dark gash; Franz sensed danger, Flemish recognized it as an old tomb; the party marked it for later

First Contact at the River: Scouts, Sentries, and Steel

• Entered the reeking bog and saw smoke from a riverside Boggard camp
• Flemish climbed a cypress, confronted a boggard scout, and leapt away as spears flew
• Ashla’s bow and Yohei’s pistol opened the fight; Izzy’s eerie blessings bolstered allies
• A bloated shaman and two brutish guards advanced from the reeds; a tongue dragged Ashla from a tree into the water

Chaos Unleashed: The Torture-Claw Crab and the Turning Point

• The shaman invoked primordial chaos, summoning a human-sized red crab with torture implements for arms
• The crab implanted an egg into Eternal Warrior, sapping his wits; Yohei was knocked out twice and revived
• Flemish clambered onto the crab’s back to fire; Franz fell and was later stabilized atop the shell
• Ashla battered the brutes; Izzy crushed the shaman with a morningstar; the crab dissolved back into the mire once the summoner fell

Sacking the Village: Idols, Tunnels, and a Prisoner Freed

• Izzy trapped the shaman’s soul in his grim lantern; the party gathered skull helms and a cold iron, gem‑studded torc
• Toppled a many‑eyed frog idol by the firepit
• Found multiple huts hiding root-and-bone ladders descending into black tunnels; chose not to descend
• Opened a barred lodge and freed a mantis-like captive who said Cockett, Tochnacat before fleeing south
• Burned the huts and cut the ladders to disrupt the tribe

Return, Rewards, and What Comes Next

• Ashla recovered from the bog’s taint in LeBrod; on the road, Izzy’s low rites purged Eternal Warrior’s parasite, though his lost wit remained
• At Otto’s Trade Post, the group presented proof, collected the bounty, and resupplied
• During revels, Flemish won the greased-pig contest, gaining a saddleable pig
• Open threads: the cracked barrow, the Boggard tunnels, and reports of giants and ettins near LeBrod

NPCs:

• Boggard Brutes: Skull‑helmed frog warriors who guarded the shaman and threw their weight at Ashla’s shield. Their makeshift axes shattered under the party’s counterattack.
• Boggard Shaman: A bloated frog‑priest who led the riverside warband, wielded a venomous bone‑spike club, and called a torture‑clawed crab from primordial muck. His soul now burns in Izzy’s lantern.
• Cockett: A mantis‑like humanoid prisoner who spoke broken Common. Named Cockett, claimed Tochnacat, and fled south the moment the bonds were cut.
• Lady Kremenko: An ambitious noble who issued the charter to claim and tame the Swordlands. She bankrolls expeditions and bounties that pull coin and blood into the frontier.
• Lana: Otto’s stalwart partner at the trade post. Keeps the ledgers straight and the hearth warm for hard‑won stories and harder bargains.
• LeBrod’s Cleric: A village priest who examined the strange afflictions from the bog and promised to research the parasite and its summoner’s rites.
• Otto: Master of the northern trade post and the one who pays when bandits or boggards stop paying their toll. Practical, fair, and eager for proof over promises.
• Torture-Claw Crab Demon: A red, human‑sized horror of the mire, each limb ending in a device of pain. It implanted a parasitic egg in Eternal Warrior and dissolved back into filth when its summoner fell.

ITEMS:

• Caltrops: A bag of wicked stars scattered in shallow water to slow a charge. Less use against horrors that do not feel pain.
• Cold Iron Torc of the Frog-Priest: A heavy black‑iron neck ring set with dark gems, worked in the eye‑and‑tentacle motif of a squamous god. Tempting and valuable, but tainted by its bearer’s rites.
• Flemish’s Pig Mount: A broad‑backed greased‑pig champion, now saddled for a small rider. Stubborn, swift in short bursts, and oddly proud.
• Grappling Hook and Line: A trusty hook that hauls climbers into the trees and out of trouble, and sometimes drags enemies’ ladders to ruin.
• Grim Lantern: A soul‑binding lantern that drinks the spirits of slain foes and burns with their light. Izzy fed it the shaman’s soul; its eyes shine with a baleful glow.
• Poisoned Bone-Spike War Club: A crude club bristling with jagged bone spikes slicked with venom. Brutal in close quarters and a grim trophy of the shaman’s fall.
• Skull Helmets: Snake‑skull war helms worn by the Boggard brutes, jaws framing the face and skulls leering above. Proof of battle and warning to their kin.

LOCATIONS:

• Boggard Village on the River: A cattail‑choked camp of round huts, a bone‑ringed boneyard, and a toppled idol of a many‑eyed frog. Several root‑and‑bone ladders vanish into black tunnels below.
• LeBrod: A forest town of 700–800 souls on a cold river, friendly to the company and wary of new shadows in the trees. Rumors of giants and ettins haunt its edges.
• Otto’s Trade Post: A palisaded waystation where bounties are paid, gear is bought, and word from the north meets tales from the wilds.
• Pohad Foothills: Ochre ridges that cradle the fort and give way to forest and bog, dusted with light snows that melt by noon.
• Round Barrow with the Split: A nearly perfect earthen mound in the woods, cracked open to a dark interior. Danger hummed in its stones; for now it remains sealed by restraint alone.
• Stag Lord’s Fort (Desecrated Abbey): A bald hill crowned by ruined walls and a blasphemed shrine that stirs the dead below. Safe approach lies only by the road; the ground itself rebels at intrusion.
• The River Through the Bog: A sluggish, merging channel that guided the party to smoke and ambush alike. Its reeds whisper with more than wind.

FACTIONS:

• Bog Idol Cult: The shaman’s frog‑eyed faith that calls on primordial chaos. Its idol is toppled, but its tunnels still breathe.
• Boggard Tribe of the Northern Bog: Frog‑folk reavers who worship a many‑eyed frog idol and raid the river for supplies. Broken at the shoreline but not yet rooted out below.
• Lady Kremenko’s Charter Company: The lawful arm behind the Swordlands push, issuing letters of marque, bounties, and supplies to would‑be rulers of the wild.
• Otto’s Traders and Teamsters: Merchants and guards who keep the road alive between fort and forest. They pay for proof and reward results.
• Restless Dead of the Abbey Hill: Graves stirred by sacrilege that scour the slopes around the fort. Best left undisturbed save by rite and road.

QUESTS:

• Clear the Boggards Threatening the River Trade: Track the Boggard tribe, break their warband, and end the raids on boats and goods along the Swordlands’ river.
• Explore the Round Barrow with the Split: Return to the perfect mound in the woods and discover what stirs behind the cracked earth and ominous hum.
• Investigate Giant and Ettin Sightings near LeBrod: Follow reports of toppled trees and missing flocks to learn what heavy feet stalk the borders.
• Lay the Abbey Hill to Rest: Find a way to quiet the dead around the Stag Lord’s fort so the company can expand in safety.
• Plumb the Boggard Tunnels: Descend the root‑and‑bone ladders beneath the village to learn where the stolen cargo and the tribe truly dwell.
• Research the Abyssal Egg Affliction: Understand the crab demon’s parasitic implant, its lasting toll on the mind, and how to prevent it.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Ashla: An Aasimar fighter and former city guard who refused to butcher centaurs and chose the wilds instead. Earth‑steady and loyal, she snatches victory from bad ground, whether dropping brutes at arm’s length or climbing out of a swamp to rain arrows from a tree.
• Eternal Warrior: A Tengu fighter forged by hardship and an old magical curse that left him anti‑mage to the core. He fights from the front with ruthless focus and paid for it in the bog when a demon crab implanted a mind‑gnawing egg. Izzy’s rites purged the parasite, but some of the wit it stole did not return.
• Flemish Leroc: A gnome rogue who is light on sense but quicker than breath, forever flipping into danger and somehow landing feet‑first. Charming enough to bluff fate, he turned a crab into a sniper’s perch and later won a greased‑pig mount to boot.
• Franz Bronze: An older human cleric with a cane, a keen eye, and a patient voice that steadies raw nerves. He wades in when it counts, even against horrors, and carries enough stubborn faith to drag friends back from the brink. Wisdom and a worn cloak are his constant companions.
• Izzy: An Oread with stone‑textured skin and a stark holy sign of an eye wreathed in tentacles. Izzy channels unnerving, abyss‑brushed blessings that twist around steel and soul alike. Pragmatic and unflinching, he wields a grim lantern to bind the spirits of fallen foes.
• Yohei: A kitsune gunslinger with a silvered tongue and a shadowy devotion to Stiletto Jack. First to shoot and often first to bleed, he breaks enemy lines with thunderous shots, trusting the crew to haul him back when the mire closes over his head.