Kosef asks, using Evendur as a translator (and assuming Kendes remains hidden), about the weed that walks. He works to convey his genuine concern and interest: "When did you see it? How big is it? Does it try to club its prey or use tentacles to pull things into its mouth? Does it stalk or ambush? Day and night?"

He also would be interesting in learning about combat from the lizardfolk if they are willing to teach him.

He's torn because he needs to act like a cultist and they treat people poorly. He doesn't want to treat people poorly, but he doesn't want the cultist to be thought of favorably. Worse, a long rest wouldn't hurt him (OOC: or did he have a chance between the frog folks and here to take a long rest?)

Kendes looks out from the water and wonders why the group isn't setting off immediately.  He's not looking forward to taking a long rest in the shallows of the river, away from the party.

A sudden thought strikes him.  "By Torm!  I hope Evendur doesn't think I'm *actually* dead!"

Also, just perception to see if from his vantage pointe Kendes ever spotted the amulet of Torm indicating that a lizardfolk had killed one of his People. XD

Perception: 23

Evendur is luckily too focused on his portrayal of loyal guard to the the evil wizard Kenny to even notice Kendes is gone, but he does think its a bit odd that one of the lizardfolk is a follower of the loyal fury. Not wanting to totally blow his rather weak cover he decides to leave it be. If Kenny decides they should rest before continuing he will help Kosef with translating but also point out that one of the lizardfolk speaks common.

(A couple of days since the bullywugs I think :-)

Kenny looks at Kosef and Evendur and barks his command.  “Learn what you can of the dangers of this marsh and then load the boats.  We have urgent business at the castle and cannot delay.  We leave now.”

Kenny is not thrilled about venturing out in this swampy wilderness in the dark… but we don’t truly know how far ahead of Ivor’s wagons we are.  As scary as the marsh is, getting caught from behind and exposed by Ivors cultists, alone in a swamp and surrounded by soon to be hostile lizardfolk… no.  We have to press on before our ruse is discovered.

Kosef moves toward the lizardfolk individual who speaks Common (thanks, Evendur!).

"Our masters will be pleased if you share all you can about the dangers of the marsh. Describe the walking weed. What are its habits? When is it most likely to attack? Quickly!" he says, glancing toward one of the canoes.

If Kendes peaks above the surface he can make out the etching on the stone pendant around the Common-speakers neck.

The lizardfolk answers Kosef's question. "The weed that walks is a terrible creature. It is a mound of plants which consumes every other living thing in its path, plants as well as animals. You can always tell where it has been and where it is by the silence. If there are no animals and vegetation is scarce, then it is likely near. It uses its vines to attack, and if it gets a good grip it pulls its targets inside its body. It is better avoided than fought."

When you are ready to go:

The mere is now fully dark. Kendes with his darkvision will likely come in useful, as very little light is provided by the moon. The dark shapes of trees can be made out in what little moonlight there is, and some of them seem to have long strips of fabric tied to their trunks. As the group canoes onward, three yellow lights start appearing in the darkness. They blink in and out of existence, and then start moving in a direction to the right of the way the lizardfolk and the marked trees directed.

Evendur will take a place in the back of a canoe, paddling it along. As he notices the moving lights he becomes wary of an ambush of some sort.
Perception: 17

Seeing the lights and Evendur's reaction, Kosef will ready his blade. He glances at the ribbons around the trees marking the way and back to the lights. "Are those torchlights?" he says.

(OOC Investigation? to try and see what kind of lights they are: 18)

Once they are out of earshot of the lizardfolk, Kenny looks to the other 3 (assuming we are split 2x2 in 2 canoes?), dropping his evil wizard affect.  "I have to be honest... part of me is eager to see how far I can push this.  Can I bluff us into an audience with Rezmir?  Of course, the first real Red Wizard we run into, I am getting polymorphed into a squirrel."  He fumbles around in his pocket.  "Speaking of magic, I forgot to mention, those frog-men from back on the road had a magic ring.  It's not much, it just magically cleans things... plus its kind of a jerk."

***

Once the strange lights appear, Kenny urges caution.  "We can't know who it is, but they cannot possibly be friendly.  Let's try to stay quiet and keep to the marked path.  If we run into them, let me do the talking...".

Kendes grits his teeth when he sees the symbol, but keeps his counsel to himself.  He's more than glad when the group finally leaves the company of the lizards, whom he could overheard talking amongst themselves in draconic.

Once the coast is clear, he climbs onto the boat with the others and dries himself off.  "The cult seems to have an ongoing problem with its subordinates.  I don't doubt for a minute that those lizards were happy to be serving the cause of evil.  Even so, their discontent echoed what Rizvik hinted at.  The ones in power are stepping on their subordinates, and the subordinates are noticing... and resentful.  There may be ways we can use that, in the future.  Even if you can't get an audience with the Red Wizard himself, you might be able to start something with his servants.  I would bet he wouldn't be beloved by the demihumans serving the cult.  Something to keep in mind."

Kendes stares at the lights, then shakes his head.  "I don't think those are people," he says quietly.  "We're on the river, and near the swamps...  and water collects, and remembers," Kendes tells the others.  "Its memory runs long and deep.  People lost upon the water are often said to have their souls trapped in the depths long after their bodies rot.  Those might be spirits, trying to lead us astray.  Perhaps they are souls of adventurers just like us once, who lost their way in the dark and succumbed to the depths.  Maybe they wink to plead to us for a help that we cannot give them."  He bows his head for a moment in quiet reflection.  When he raises it, he grimaces.  "At any rate, we cannot lose sight of our way.  Time is of the essence, and the dangers on this river aren't few to begin with."

Evendur cannot spot anything in the darkness. All he can see are the three yellow orbs of light blinking in and out. As far as Kosef can tell they are not torches. The light is very round, and yellow, unlike the usual yellow-orange of torches. They also change intensity every so often and keep disappearing and reappearing.

If no one engages, the lights disappear for a bit and then reappear about an hour later, once again in front of the boats. They try to lead the group back the way they came.

If the lights remain ignored: Nothing of interest happens for the rest of the night. The lights seem to give up and fade away into the darkness. Eventually the sun starts to rise and the group can see that they are near a large grey stone castle, with carefully constructed reed longhouse surrounding one side and poorly constructed mud and reed huts on the other side. There is still a little way to go before reaching the land the castle is built on. Kendes can smell a faint whiff of wood smoke.

If the lights are investigated, ignore the above section.

Feel free to insert activities before this part.

After some more paddling the group eventually comes to the castle's land. The ground is swampy and puddles are everywhere. A small dock has been constructed for canoes and six of them are tied there. A five foot tall pen made from logs has been constructed, and it sounds like some creatures are fighting inside of it. Many longhouses are to the left of the structure, and on the right are some dome-shaped mud and reed huts. The longhouses seem to be more carefully woven from reeds and doors have been placed on them. The huts are poorly constructed, have no doors, and the area the huts are situated in seems to be a large pool of swamp water. The castle is up ahead following a path between the two villages, and separated from the land the villages are on by a moat.

As they approach the castle Evendur perks up, seeing their long journey coming to and end and he strikes an epic pose.
"Nearytar. At long last the might of Torm will strike down these dragon cultists with his furious fist. Bring forth the siege machines." He says dramatically, pointing his blade to the castle, before remembering there are only the four of you there ready to storm the castle. "We have to get across that moat." He says, looking for any apparent ways into the castle.
Perception: 6

Listening to Kendes and feeling the lights are not torches, Kosef is happy to ignore them. The dead, if everything is right and orderly, remain dead. 

"Continuing in our disguises sounds like the best way to get across the moat to me," he says. "Is our plan to find and slay the leadership of the cult? How sure are we that they are here?"

Kosef will also try to see or tell from the sounds what animals are fighting in the the pen. He is curious about who inhabits the huts and the longhouses: Investigation 15

"Does anyone recognize those buildings? Do dragons house their servants in huts?" he whispers.

(OOC: Please let me know if a different roll makes more sense, Loosestrife!)

When the castle comes into sight, Kenny prepares to cast sending.  Targeting Leosin Erlanthar, he will send the following message:

Castle Naerytar located.  Half day by boat from Karnath Roadhouse, inside the Mere.  Roadhouse is complicit.  Cult is sending treasure to Castle.  We will infiltrate.

Assuming he is still on this plane of existence, Leosin can respond.  Otherwise, Kenny will then look to the other before we reach the dock.

"Kosef, as of right now my orders are complete.  I was to join you all and help you track the treasure and find the location of this 'Castle Naerytar.'  So from that perspective, congratulations.  The mission is complete."

"That said, our work is far from done.  We don't know what waits for us inside the castle, or whether we can bluff our way in, or must fight.  But I have no intention of stopping now.  I propose we continue to play out this ruse as far as it can take us.  We announce ourselves here and demand access to the castle.  If they buy it, we can continue one of two ways:  Either we keep bluffing until we get an audience with whomever is in charge here.  I suspect by then our luck will run out but if we can defeat or even capture the commander of this place, we will have dealt a blow to the cult of the dragon.  Or, as soon as we are inside we drop the act, seal off the castle from whoever is outside in these huts, and trust we can fight our way to the master of the castle."

"If I cannot bluff our way inside... then we fight our way in, likely to die in the process.  But we will be fighting for the Realms and that seems as good a thing to die fighting for as anything else."

"So... does that work for the three of you?  Are you ready for me to present 'Act Three: The Red Wizard Arrives as the Swamp Castle'?"

Evendur lets out a grunt of dissapointment over not getting to storm the castle, but he has some degree of self-awareness so he readily assumes the role of the blackhearted Sir Rudneve once more. "I am ready to follow you, Kenny of the Red Wizards, to whatever end we may face together within these castle walls." He says with determination in his voice.
Preemptive deception if needed: 24

OOC: Investigation is fine.

Evendur cannot see any other ways into the castle. It looks like the only way forward is across the narrow bridge of the moat. Kosef is able to remember a similar sound as he listens to the fighting animals. They make similar growls and snarls to the giant lizards the group fought at the cultist's camp near Greenest. The longhouses are well-designed and made from materials found in the swamp, suggesting that perhaps they were made by competent locals. The huts are far less competently built, and a giant frog poking its head out of the doorless entrances of one of the buildings suggests bullywugs may live there.

Leosin replies to Kenny. Good work. Be careful with infiltration. Will deal with roadhouse. If help needed Harpers will be at roadhouse in a few days.

Once the moat is crossed, there is a gate. The doors are mostly open, and the hinges seem to have been permanently damaged over time. Two lizardfolk, four bullywugs and a giant frog are standing menacingly on the other side of the gate. One of the lizardfolk (in Common) says, "Who are you and why are you trespassing?"

Kendes, upon nearing the castle with the others, would have already donned his full array of disguises - changing his clothing with the shiftweave into that of a guard for Kenny, disguising himself as a human with a vicious scar across his face, and changing his tracks with his boots to reflect that.  He also would have passed his amulet of Tiamat on to Kenny - "It could be a useful prop for your subterfuge."  He says nothing, but stands with his head lowered, trying to look both subservient to Kenny and intimidating at the same time.

Kosef will do his best to share what he has noticed about the lizards in the pen, the lizard people, and the bullywugs. Like Kendes and Everdur, he does his best to look intimidating. This includes standing as a bodyguard would, between Kenny and the lizardfolk asking questions.

He'll take the Help action as Kenny responds, hopefully helping him with Deception or Persuasion or similar skills.