Aziza, Bouchard, Rhinoghu, and Svein left the tavern and immediately stumbled into a massive town square ballyhoo. The local puppet, Sultan Berecco, was arguing with a merchant from inside his palanquin, until a Gnoll guard turned the argument into a full blown riot by ripping the merchant's throat out with his teeth. Slipping away as soldiers arrived to crush the riot, the party headed to the docks to meet Sultan Throx, the Gnoll who actually runs the area. Throx introduced them to Zephra, the courier they were hired to escort from Zelra to Benrokbira, before rushing off to deal with the market chaos.
The team set out along their way, briefly waylaid by a group of bandits who were quickly scared off by Rhinoghu. That night the bandits tried again, hoping to catch the party off their guard. One attacker got caught in a hunting trap, and Rhinoghu ripped him out of it, tearing his leg completely off. They then interrogated the surviving bandit while Rhinoghu feasted on the late bandit leader. The prisoner knew little of value, and after some discussion Zephra let the man leave to become a fisherman.
The next day, the party reported the bandit threat to Fort Z2, and decided to continue on instead of staying at the fort. Thanks to Aziza picking a flawless campsite, they enjoyed a peaceful night. But morning brought disaster: Zephra was nowhere to be found.
Aziza tracked her footprints west into a treacherous and uncharted swamp. While hot on her trail, the party ran into and killed a dragon wyrmling. Deep in the marsh, they discovered Zephra had defected to a group of rebels, with the party too badly outnumbered by rebels to try to recover the mace she had been entrusted with.
Aziza covertly arranged a midnight meeting with Zephra, but things went pear shaped when Aziza and Bouchard got lost in the dark swamp. Instead of the courier, they walked right into an Arachnir. They fled until they were slowed by heavy brush and forced to fight. Bouchard was taken down and paralyzed by venom, but Aziza managed to finish off the beast alone and hunkered down to guard him until the poison wore off.
Once reunited, the party took a short rest and decided to follow the dead wyrmling's tracks to find its lair. On the way, they crossed paths with two escaped prisoners fleeing from The Maw, a former castle turned brutal prison for rebels. Nearing the fortress, they found an area with the air choked with fog and the swamp water heavily fouled. Rhinoghu deduced the pollution was caused by an adult dragon in the vicinity. Deciding not to commit suicide by dragon, they abandoned the hunt.
Arriving at Benrokbira, they were brought before an upset General Driss Akujhan. Angered by the failure of the party, he dismissed their intel about Zephra's location, assuming the rebels had already moved on. He slashed their promised 100 gp reward down to just 50 gp. However, Driss offered Aziza and Bouchard a potential source of further rewards: infiltrate the rebel scum as double agents and report back. The matter is left to their discretion.
