She shakes her head "Jingle Jangle does not know how many, but more than 3 for sure. I do not know what leverage there is for Bavlorna. Poor Zybilna, Jingle Jangle don't think her palace is here and Jingle Jangle have never seen it as Jingle Jangle stay here and don't travel often. Yes the water flood enough to cover you all, best know how to swim." she gives Finley a glance with his armor "Maybe make raft."

Noticing how everyone thinks he can't swim he huffs and runs a finger over an arcane rune which causes all the runes along the armor to glow faintly in which the front opens up and he stands up out of it and sits next to it. "Dunnae ye worry about th' weight o' me armor. There's more to it than meets th' eye, aye?" He grins. "If'n th' bandits are ten or less ah'm sure we could manage it. Ah dunnae wantta sound overly enthusiastic about them, but ah'm not fond o' thieving brigands. They may assault us anyways, even if we choose to ignore them."

"Never underestimate Finley when it comes to arms and armour." Gan-Re says with a smile, as ever he is quick to excite and quick to calm. "I am keen to save the missing child and deliver justice to those brigends, however a tired warrior is not an effective warrior and I would be grateful to rest while we can.”

Everyone can take a Long Rest

Quote from Snievan >>

Noticing how everyone thinks he can't swim he huffs and runs a finger over an arcane rune which causes all the runes along the armor to glow faintly in which the front opens up and he stands up out of it and sits next to it. "Dunnae ye worry about th' weight o' me armor. There's more to it than meets th' eye, aye?" He grins. "If'n th' bandits are ten or less ah'm sure we could manage it. Ah dunnae wantta sound overly enthusiastic about them, but ah'm not fond o' thieving brigands. They may assault us anyways, even if we choose to ignore them."

Valrieth looks surprised and embarrassed: "Oh!  No, Finley.  I'm sure that I didn't mean to imply that it would only impact you.  I mean, I can swim a little, but I'm not a strong swimmer.  I definitely could not swim all the way from here to Downfall!  In a pinch, I could freeze a block of water to make a little raft of ice, but that would be a freezing and wet journey. If the swamp floods that much, we should probably think about making a boat or a raft that would hold the 3 of us."

Addressing Jingle Jangle again, Valrieth asks about food and drink.  "Jingle Jangle, does the hag's influence on Hither make all food and water go bad quickly?  Or is it just the food and water from the swamp itself that is often foul?  For example, if we had a pack full of good, fresh food, would it 'keep' as we travel through the swamps?  Or would it go bad all on its own?"

Once Jingle Jangle answers that question, Val asks, "Those keys that you have collected, are those keys from all over Hither?  Or even from elsewhere in Prismeer?  Do you know whether you have any keys here that could unlock important locations or objects elsewhere in Hither?  For example, do you have a key that would let us unlock and sneak into Bavlorna's cottage or some other location or chest?"

Jingle Jangle nods and spends some time organizing her keys obsessively then heads into her bedroom to sleep.

Nothing disturbs you and each of you have a peaceful night of sleep.

"The food will stay fresh as long as it is in you pack. Many things in swamp are deadly if eaten or drank. So be careful. Yes these keys are collected all around Hither." she then checks a bunch of keys and takes out a silver key "yes this key is not for Bavlorna's home, but for something within. I stole it when Jingle Jangle was there last. I am not sure what it unlocks, but Jingle Jangle is sure it will be of value to you" says Jingle Jangle

Gan-Re takes the key with a bow and says “Thank you Jingle Jangle, we will use it well. And thanks again for the water and a safe place to sleep” Gan-Re then goes outside to stretch his wings and inspect the rest of the area to see if there is anything else of note. He keeps to the path, aware of the advice from the night before.

There is nothing of note in the next next morning as it is very peaceful here on Telemy Hill

Quote from Weathervision >>

Everyone can take a Long Rest

(OOC: before the long rest...)

Once the party decides to stay and rest on Telemy Hill, Valrieth thanks Jingle Jangle for her hospitality and for sharing her water with them.  She asks whether Jingle Jangle has a big, clean barrel. Or a 10- or 20-gallon bucket.  (If not, she asks Finley to help fashion a bucket or trough if Yalendril and the trees will let them gather some fallen wood.)

Once they have a container of suitable size, Val casts Create or Destroy Water to fill the container. If they have a large enough vessel, Val casts it as a 2nd level spell to create 20 gallons. 

That way, the party can drink tonight and tomorrow morning and refill their waterskins before they head to the Brigands' Tollway, and they'll still leave Jingle Jangle with more fresh water than she had when the party first arrived.

"No offense taken, ah've got whatever tools we need if we were ta make a raft." He turns to Jingle Jangle, "Thank ye for your hospitality."

Gan-Re wanders back to Yalendril and says “Good morning Yalendril, I hope that your night was pleasant. I’m sure that you will be pleased to know that we have shared some of our food with Jingle Jangle. Her story was most alarming and we would like to help her achieve a longer term solution. Could you spare any small bits of wood that we could use to fashion arrows? They may be needed if we are to help end this threat.”

"I am sorry, but to offer wood like this is an affront to my people. I suggest searching down in the swamp" says Yalendril

Finley gets back into his armor and the runes glow to seal back around him, sans the helmet, he adjusts his longcoat over the armor and makes sure all his tools are in his belt. "Did ye find anything ta put th' water in, Lady Valrieth or Lady Jingle Jangle?"

"To put water in? Jingle Jangle is confused. what are you looking for? I mean I have my clay pitcher but I am quite fond of it" asks Jingle Jangle

Quote from Weathervision >>

"To put water in? Jingle Jangle is confused. what are you looking for? I mean I have my clay pitcher but I am quite fond of it" asks Jingle Jangle

Valrieth tries to explain more clearly.  "You shared your water with us, and we will want to fill our waterskins tomorrow before we head toward the Brigands' Tollway.  I just wanted to ensure that we leave you with plenty of fresh water.  If you do not have a freshwater spring or other source of clean water here on the hill, I can summon fresh, clear water before I go to sleep tonight.  I can fill a container with up to 20 gallons of pure water.  Your pitcher doesn't hold that much water, so most of it would be lost.  If you have a larger container, like a barrel or bucket that would hold more water, I could fill that, which would leave you with a larger store of fresh water."

(OOC: I was just trying not to meta-game it.  Since Val had 3 spell slots before the short rest, and the DM already said, "Nothing disturbs you and each of you have a peaceful night of sleep," I could just have Val fill the pitcher once so that the party can fill our water skins.  Then she could fill it again so that there's fresh water available for breakfast in the morning.  And she could could even fill another container to leave spare water for Jingle Jangle.  Of course, without the foresight that we have a peaceful night of sleep, Val would generally try to conserve spell slots even right before a long rest.  That way, she has some spell slots available in case something interrupts the rest, and she needs to cast spells before she has recovered her spell slots. 

Anyway, since I rewinded to before the long rest, I definitely don't want to create a whole side quest around going into the swamp to gather wood for creating a bucket.  I'm happy to say that Val cast the spell a couple of times using the largest clean container that Jingle Jangle had for water as long as that let us fill up our waterskins and leaves Jingle Jangle some store of water after we leave the next day.  After the long rest, Val neither wants to prepare this spell nor burn any spell slots on creating water for Jingle Jangle.)

"No there is no well on Telemy Hill. I have large clay pot where I store my water even though its not that much" says Jingle Jangle. She leads Val to the lidded clay pot where there  very little water in the pot. Its big enough to hold a lot of water

Quote from Weathervision >>

"No there is no well on Telemy Hill. I have large clay pot where I store my water even though its not that much" says Jingle Jangle. She leads Val to the lidded clay pot where there  very little water in the pot. Its big enough to hold a lot of water

Valrieth casts Create or Destroy Water to fill the clay pot with up to 20 gallons of water.  She thanks Jingle Jangle again for her hospitality and settles down to sleep. 

Quote from Weathervision >>

There is nothing of note in the next next morning as it is very peaceful here on Telemy Hill

After a good night's sleep, Val is initially confused when she wakes up in a cave.  Her first thoughts are of Hisa's stories of life in the tunnels, but with a swooping feeling in her stomach, the thought of Hisa reminds her of yesterday's events: the fight with the giant snakes around the leaning tower and the fact that Hisa is no longer with them in Prismeer.

She gets up and finds that Gan-Re has already left the cave.  Going outside, she's encouraged by the fresh, pleasant air up here on Telemy Hill.  She greets the morning and then waits for Gan-Re to return to the cave.  She asks Finley and Gan-Re for their thoughts on what to do next.  She feels like going to the Brigands' Tollway next is probably the best next step.  The Tollway is between them and Downfall, and she doubts that they could pass it without encountering Agdon Longscarf's gang.

In particular, Val needs to decide which spells to prepare, but that's going to depend on how the party plans to approach this problem.  Killing snakes that were attacking them was one thing, but Val thinks that it feels wrong just to show up and kill a bunch of harengon.  On the other hand, the brigands attacked Jingle Jangle, and Val heard their song.  Perhaps the Fates brought the party here to ensure that the brigands pay for their crimes?

"I say it's the leader which is the problem. Let us show them the error of their ways and the others will probably fall in line. Maybe we can apprehend the leader and givem them to Yalendril to look after for a while.”

"Ah've no love for bandits, they chose th' life they chose. Hurtin' and killin' others just for things instead of bein' productive. Ah could agree ta dealing with their leader, ah'm sure they rule by fear, but I won't promise to show mercy unless they surrender." Finley tugs at his beard, "'spose we should get a lay o' th' land when we get there and maybe get a head count. Ah dunnae what to do about th' flooding unless Lady Valrieth can make me smaller so that Gan-Re can carry both of us in th' air."