Zladark nodded silently, understanding the caution needed as he backed away from the fallen tree, keeping a careful distance of about ten feet. His senses were on high alert, every muscle tensed as he remained close enough to detect any unusual movements. His grip on his quarterstaff tightened instinctively, fingers wrapping around the worn wood with a firmness that betrayed his readiness.

Arti gripped her shield and hammer and mentally prepared to take defensive actions should any threat arise.

As he pulls back to swing his sword, Tarton gets a better vantage point on the gap under the log.  He estimates that it is at least large enough for himself to pass through with his head bowed; and he thinks a human could get through too if they bent over at the waist.   Before he can think much further about the matter, though, his attention is arrested by something much more pressing.  The reaction to his sword blow on the tree is immediate and dramatic.  As soon as the weight of the blow falls on the tree, before Tarton's sword can even cut through the loose bark, there is a sharp sound of whistling and chittering.  At the same time, a thick curtain of sticky weblike strands erupts  from beneath the bark (DEX save to pull the sword back in time to avoid its being caught).  Had the halfling been stepping on the trunk he would have been totally ensnared in them,

The fountaining strands pushed the concealing bark aside; and anyone within five feet can see what caused them.  A chain of strange-looking grubs have been placed in a shallow channel dug into the tree.  They have black spidery legs, reminding Tarton unpleasantly of the cetterspap he fought in the dream realm some time back; but their bodies are cylindrical rather than round, and covered with greyish-brown chitinous plates.  All the inch-long grubs were covered by a translucent, communal cocoon when their web shot up; they are now beginning to chew through it with their mandibles.  The hissing and chittering noises they are making aren't particularly loud, but they are sharp enough to carry to the spot where the scouts heard faint croaking.  Sure enough, the reeds rustle and four human-sized, biped froglike creatures emerge onto the path.  Three are mounted on giant frogs and carry two crude but vicious-looking spears each; the fourth is on foot and armed with a short bow.   When they see their trap has failed to ensnare anyone they croak out loudly and leap towards you at the top of their speed!

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(Initiative rolls please!  The froggies were lucky in the encounter builder; so you'll need to beat an init of 20 for the bipedals and 12 for the giant frogs.  Also please roll your choice of Arcana or Nature)

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Initiative: 15

Nature: 23 (a crit!)

Initiative 2 -1= 

Arcana 2

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All roles in log:

DEX save: 20

Arcana: 18

Initiative: 17

Artifex laughs, their tattoos begining to glow. "Missed me,missed me now you gotta kiss me" It says, blowing a taunting kiss towards the rapidly approaching enemies.

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Nature:9

Init:17

Gwrgi's initiative in log = 18

None of the party have seen anything like these grubs before.  And while Arti is too new to this world to know whether they are simply some naturally evolved species of insect she has not encountered before, the rest are fairly certain they are not natural creatures at all.  The approaching frog-things, on the other hand, are natural enough that Zladark has now placed them in his memory, and Artifex is fairly sure of theirs (bullywug).  And the giant frogs are, simply, giant frogs.  Their riders are goading them to charge you, but between their cold blood and their animal intelligence they are slower to react than the bullywugs.  Initiative breaks down as follows:

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20;  Bullywugs:

• (1) undamaged
• (2) undamaged
• (3) undamaged
• (4): undamaged

 18: Gwrgi: undamaged

17:

• Tarton: undamaged
• Artifex:  undamaged

15: Zladark/The Black Rose: undamaged

12: Giant frogs:

• (1) undamaged
• (2) undamaged
• (3) undamaged
• (4): undamaged

1: Arti: undamaged

And speaking of intelligence ... Zladark's extensive knowledge of creatures and peoples is making him wonder. 

Seeing that their frog steeds are not immediately charging you, the three mounted bullywugs draw back their arms and throw a volley of spears at the three closest characters (Tarton, Arti, and Zladark/TBR); while the fourth nocks an arrow to its bow and shoots it at Artifex, clearly determined to disprove the eladrin's taunt about missing them.

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Spear vs. Tarton: 19; damage if hits 7

Spear vs. Arti: 20; damage if hits 2

Spear vs. Zladark: 12; damage if hits 6

Arrow vs. Artifex: 23; damage if hits 6

Seeing the attack on her wards, Gwrgi cries out in anger and points at the lead bullywug rider.  She chants a brief prayer and calls out to Inveralwyn.  And the goddess responds: a bright radiance forms in the air above the bullywug, like the midsummer noonday sun a thousand times magnified, and then descends upon its head like veils of silk-spun fire (sacred flame, 7hp radiant damage in log unless target succeeds in DC12 DEX save).  The bullywug curses and twists to the left trying to dodge the flames.  Unfortunately for it, its mount sensed those flames too and tried to dodge them to the right (bullywug's save in encounter builder 5, frog's save 13).  So while the frog narrowly avoided the fire, it did so at the cost of whiplashing its rider right back into them.  The bullywug snarls and shrieks as its skin blisters, then its flesh.  It remains upright though, cuffing its frog angrily as it tries to goad it forward with even more vehemence than it had shown before.  "Granny Grampuswumpus will punish you bad for that!," it croaks in a furious gurgle.

From the sudden appearance and sound of the ugly grubs and their webs, Tarton squeaks, "HOLY beetle juices!" and jerks backwards, which helped him move out of the way of the spear aimed at him. "Well, that's not what I expected, but it did set off the trap." He adds looking embarrassed from his startled outburst.

He looks at the grubs as if he wants to squish them all before they get away for a moment, then after a shiver he decides he can't let these unnatural things escape even if they look harmless at the moment. After all, they did just spit webs at him just a moment ago and they might try it again once they get free. He moves over and swings his sword at the grubs. He looks at the damage he did to the grubs with his strike, then lays down, taking cover behind the fallen tree to hide (Cunning Action: Bonus Action hide) from the four frogmen and their three mounts.

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I'm assuming the DEX save was successful, if not he will drop the sword and pull out a dagger and use that to attack.

I doubt one attack would kill all the grubs, but if it does, he will sheath his sword before hiding (if possible) then use his movement to crawl towards the path under the log if he has any movement left (speed 25 ft). If there are any alive he will keep his sword out and stay where he's at.

I must have forgot to take the long rest as I still show 1 damage on the sheet. I have taken care of that now before Tarton gets hit.

Shortsword vs Grubs: 20; damage if hits 9

Stealth: 27

Artifex twirls out of the arrows path with ease. "Trying to penetrate me already? At least take me to dinner first." They throw a small vial towards the attackers, grease spilling out as the bottle shatters.

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A: Casting grease, centered wherever it'll catch the most frogs in its ten foot square. Any of them in that range has to make a DC 13 dex saving throw or fall prone, as well as any creature that enters that range or ends their turn there

Zladark tried to duck out of the way as a spear came thrusting toward him, but it struck him, drawing blood. He grimaced, feeling the sting as it sliced through his skin, but his resolve held firm. Ignoring the pain, he surged forward, guided by the noise of the enemies, his focus unbroken.

His feet glided over the slick grease Artifex had created, maintaining his balance with the ease and poise that came from years of rigorous training. As he neared the frog-like creatures and their riders, Zladark harnessed a technique he had seen his father use — one he had yet to attempt himself until now.

With a sudden burst of energy, he bent his knees and leapt into the air, gripping his quarterstaff with both hands. His yellow monk robe flared out around him as he swung the staff downward with a powerful, practiced arc, aiming directly at the frog rider in the middle. Even in mid-air, his stance remained guarded, his body instinctively assuming the defensive posture of his monk order.

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I use a Ki point to activate Patient Defense as my bonus action. I passed over the grease with a Dexterity saving throw of 15. Finally, I try to hit the frog rider in the middle. Attack roll: 12 to hit, and if it hits, 9 bludgeoning damage. In case the frog rider fell prone, I rolled a second attack roll in case I had advantage. It wasn’t a better roll (I got 10 to hit). I hope this was an okay way to handle it.

The marshy path, so quiet before, has become a scene of chaos and carnage!  Well, at least chaos.  Tarton responds viscerally to the ick factor of creatures that combine the worst features of spiders and slimy grubs, skilfully landing a hit with his shortsword that crushes several of the slow-moving creatures at once.    The neighboring grubs that are still connected to their cocoon respond to the blow with another web spray!  Fortunately for the halfling, this is much smaller and easier to dodge (DC10 DEX save with advantage to avoid sword arm being snared).

The slick of grease that Artifex summoned catches two giant frogs in its radius; the third (with the Gwrgi-toasted rider) was ahead of the others and escaped the grease just in time.  It croaks a guttural challenge as its rider goads it on.  Then there is a swirl of yellow in the air above it, and it has to swerve sharply to the side to save its rider from being brained by Zladark's staff.  Both frog and rider seem rather discombobulated by the monk's sudden appearance.  The bullywug simply gapes; while the frog tries to bite him in midair where he had been when he swung the staff.  By the time its jaws reach the spot, Zladark is already on the ground (attack roll in encounter builder 12).

Of the two remaining frogs, the one on the left manages to keep its feet and makes a Standing Leap of twenty feet to bring it and its rider safely over the grease and the log.  It lands just to the left of Tarton and quickly decides he looks tasty.   Unfortunately (for it) it is off balance from the leap; and its bite attack misses (7 in log)

Arti shouts “Have at ye, frog spawn!” and brings her warhammer down on the frog’s head spattering brains and blood on her armor. Then runs to Zladark, and chants a prayer in Dwarvish to Moradin who answers by restoring 6+3 hp to Zladark.

war hammer attack roll 18 +3 dmg 2+3=5

Arti shouts “Have at ye, frog spawn!” Brings her hammer down on the frog. Then runs over to Zladark, and asks, “Need help?” As her next action she chants a prayer in Dwarvish and Moradin responds by send a soft light around Zladark, who regains 8 hit points.

attack roll 18 + 3=21 dmg 2+3=5

Also the spear missed Arti by a few inches.

AC18

Arti's hammer impacts the head of the frog with a solid thunk.  It seems stunned for the moment by the blow, though it is not yet felled.  As she considers her next move,  she realizes she will need to cross the log with a running leap as Zladark did if her healing requires that she touch him. 

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(OOC: Not sure what ability or spell you're using for the healing, mxx9.  If it's one that requires an action, you'll have to wait for your next turn since the attack used up Arti's main action; but she still has a bonus action and reaction left, and there are some spells that are that quick.  Could you send me a link to your character sheet, and/or try again to join the on-site campaign manager with the link?  I'll send that as soon as I finish this post.

Following Arti's hammer attack, but before any bonus actions or reactions, the situation looks basically like this:

 )

Meanwhile: back at the boats Uz is drumming his fingers on the gunwale and wondering what is taking the rest so long, when he notices a line of bubbles out in the midst of the river.  He thinks nothing of it at first, until he notices that the line is veering towards him, and looking closer he sees a subtle pattern of ripples just behind it, as if some creature or large fish were swimming underwater towards the boats!