Zeg looks at the pile of items around the wooden throne.  He calls to Jonozul and asks about them. "If I understand correctly the Rule of Ownership states that you don't take something that doesn't belong to you - not even from an enemy.  So these items belong to Agdon as I assume this is his throne.  So how does that work, is this Faelan's throne now?  Do these items belong to him now?"

Rolled on the sheet for 11 hp (in game log)

Faelan looks weird to Zeg, but he does have a point. He is curious for the response, while the updates helps Navi update her map with Farwarin's information.

(Faelan uses 2 HD for 6 + 6 HP)

The harengon brigands shrug noncommittally to Zeg's interpretation of the RUle of Ownership, claiming that since Zybilna's absence, the rules have become more like loose guidelines, and very loosely interpreted by Agdon especially. They readily agree with the interpretation that favours ownership falling to Faelan, but also don't oppose a general finders-keepers policy.

After a sufficient time resting, the group prepare to continue their journey toward Downfall, the village where Bavlorna Blightstraw is said to reside. Faelan's small army accompany the group along the wooden walkways, providing direction for which path to follow, and also (with Flynn's help) attempting to compose a fresh anthem to honour their new Captain, although it tends to follow much the same formula as the old one. Eventually the walkways thin out and finally cease altogether, and the brigands beg to be dismissed, not wanting to provoke the bullywugs of the Soggy Court by arriving in great numbers. Bidding farewall, they reverse direction and head back toward the Big Stump.

Without the aid of the boardwalks, the group resort again to squelching through the sodden landscape, and indeed it isn't long before once again, with a slurping sound, the water levels again begin to rise and the mists again thicken. As the water surface rises to waist height, a strangely familiar object floats into view: it is an 8-foot square raft, spinning in the eddies of the current, and appears to be the exact same raft that Navi briefly pitter-pattered on soon after arrival in Hither.

(It's your choice if you wish to take advantage of the raft, or continue on foot/wing)

Continuing onward, it isn't long before the airborne travellers are able to catch brief random glimpses of the village through the mist. One large peaked roof is most easily spotted, which dominates the center of a small ring of earthen mounds. Beside that, snatches of vision catch a few relatively large trees, buildings or large spheres that appear to be more balloons. A strange storm cloud also sits low just beyond one building, while a plume of smoke rises from another. All else is perpetually shrouded in thick mist.

The current guides the group along through a narrow passage, then slows considerably, giving the impression (through the thick obscuring mist) that the group have entered a lake. Croaking voices penetrate the fog, through which dark shapes appear, resolving into two rowboats, the oars of each being manned by two bullywugs. As they draw nearer to view, it is evident they are dressed in some kind of fine clothing, including vests or waistcoats, ruffles, lace cuffs, and fine hats. One bullywug even sports a monocle which looks particularly odd perched atop one bulbous eye, while another holds a parasol. The effect however is diminished by the fact that the clothing is soiled and somewhat tattered.

The indecipherable croaking gives way to greetings and conversation in Common as one of the bullywugs addresses the group and the others discuss the new arrivals with heavily exaggerated aristocratic accents...

1ST VOICE: I say, I say, <brrt> who goes thaa? h-Welcome, travellahs, to Downfall!
2ND VOICE: Who aah they, Splort? h-Emissaries from foreign courts, no doubt come to pay tribute to His h-Royal Majesty?
3RD VOICE: h-Ambassadors from distant lands, perhaps, to h-importune for vassalship.
2ND VOICE: Ah, quite right, quite right. They h-aren't dressed h-as nobles, though, h-are they?
4TH VOICE: Well, some of these provincial types, the low-borns, h-you know, they don't have quite the same concepts of finery as h-we.
2ND VOICE: Yes, yes, I see, I see. Very h-wisely spoken, Buglump. And very chivalrous of you Splort, to h-overlook their vulgarity and h-admit them an h-audience with the king.
1ST VOICE: Of course, of course. It's the very least. I say, diplomats! The maritime h-arrival terminal is just over h-that way. h-You may disembark thaa. Cheerio!

Faelan looks for a long branch, and hops onto the raft. "Ah would rather keep mah fur dry. Who know what's in the water." He pushes the raft with the branch, trying to keep up with the airborne friends.

"Hey fellahs. Greetings! Whadaya know? We do come to meet ya 'Royal Majesty'!" Faelan moves the raft towards the 'maritime arrival terminal'. "Nice to meet ya'll." He says with a low bow.

"Diplomats eh?  I like the sound of that.  I suppose we are diplomats of a sort." Zeg says,  a bit amused by the situation. He then flies over to the area as indicated.

Navi totally would have had been buzzing with interest over the unicorn cookie cutter; wondered whether the emerald chess piece was missing it's home board; that empty paper bag of 'candy' was sus, but there were truffles! And she wondered if Cinderella was missing her shoe. After staring at the items as a whole, she started to wonder if they needed returning to people in general. This has her tilting her head this way and that. The moment it's agreed that the possessions fall under Faelan's ownership, Navi swoops down, scooping up all the 'lost and to be found' pile of items and deposits all of them into Flynn's bag.

Although Navi could effortlessly fly, she had taken up her perch on Flynn's head for a ride while they wound their way through the boardwalks. She hums some terrible and out of tune melodies that would stop as abruptly as they start. She also decides to make popping sounds with her lips to go with the foot squelching when they reach the soggier parts of their travel.

GASP. Bapbapbapbapbap. Navi baps Flynn repeatedly on the head in her excitement. "I PITTER PATTERED THAT RAFT!" She exclaims as she recognizes it. The little fairy takes hold of Flynn's hair and tries to steer him that way to get on.

GASP. Bapbapbapbapbap. Navi baps Flynn repeatedly on the head in her excitement over the top hatted frogs. Her mouth hangs agape. The little fairy inhales a visibly large breath, puffing out her frame before she exclaims once again. "OH MY GODS, I LOVE THEIR HATS!" Bapbapbap. "Flynn lookit their hats. I dare say, those are some dapper frogs!"

"I wonder if they're missing anything... Can you lift your arm for me? " Without getting off of Flynn's head, Navi leans to grab his arm and then proceeds to shake it enthusiastically to wave. "Yooohoo! Big summer blow out."

Flynn moves along still in a partial daze after almost dying allows Navi to pilot him without resistance

Thinking on the pile of small treasures, Navi recalls vaguely that Jingle-Jangle the goblin claimed to have had a bag of truffles stolen from him by the harengon brigands, but doesn't recall anything regarding the other items.

Mercion the fairy dragon hunkers down to hide between Flynn and Faelan as the bullywugs greet the group. She explains that she absconded from Downfall in a stolen balloon, and so might not be a welcome sight here. One of her co-conspirators, a bullywug named Wigglewog, died in the balloon when it crashed into the Slanty Tower, but another, known as Sir Morgort the Knight of Warts, didn't make it to the balloon. Mercion wonders out loud what happened to him.

The bullywugs in the boats wave back weakly at NaviFlynn, without even looking or responding verbally to the fairy, nor to the harengon's bow and greeting, so Faelan instead paddles over to the 'maritime arrival terminal'. Despite the glorious name, all that can be seen is a ramshackle wooden pier with three short jetties in a poor state of repair. There is no-one at the pier to greet new arrivals.

Looming above the pier is a balloon anchored by four thick ropes tied around wooden posts driven deep into the mire. The balloon’s bladder expands and sags at irregular intervals as swamp gas fills it briefly before leaking out through various tears in its patchwork fabric. At the shoreline is a ten-foot-high raised wooden platform accessed by two short ladders, the purpose of which seems to be for boarding the balloon's gondola. A well-dressed bullywug stands on the platform, at the foot of another ladder to steady it, while a second bullywug stands at the top of the ladder and is using a long silver needle and a spool of catgut to sew up one of the openings. Below the platform are huddled three giant frogs whose long tongues snap up passing insects.

A short distance to the right, Zeg can see that dotted across another stretch of water are a series of stepping stones. Although the far shore is still shrouded in fog, a strong smell of wood smoke wafts over from that direction.

"So, uh, I suppose no one has greeted us so we just make our way into town and figure things out?" Zeg is feeling a little out of sort.  "We need to find Bavlorna. She is supposed to reside in a rambling cottage on stilts somewhere around here.  I guess we go that way," Pointing towards the stepping stone "unless someone stops us."

“Sorry to hear your story Mercion.” Faelan tells the fairy dragon hiding behind him. He motions with hands for Zerg and Navi to get closer. “Ah think Mercion here has a good point. Maybe we could go check out that ballon out. In case we need to gettouta here in a hurry. Ya never know.” He shrugs.

Zeg scouts ahead through the fog, flying over the stretch of water that is bridged by stepping stones, to see what is beyond. A wooden structure stands on stilts by the edge of the lake. It is topped by a steep, conical roof made of thatch. Smoke curls up from a hole at its apex. Its windows are blacked out, and the air carries the smell of burned wood. A clothesline attached to one corner of the building’s exterior is hung with a variety of frayed, patchwork garments, and disappears off into the fog over the lake.

Faelan moves toward the platform from which the bullywugs are repairing the balloon. It seems to be a fairly simple contraption, but it's difficult to tell whether it is currently serviceable, or how to operate it.

(Anyone can make an Investigation check to learn more about the balloon.)

Mercion offers to remain with the raft in case the group need to return and leave in a hurry.

Investigation. 14 

Flynn give the balloon a glance over then turns to Mercion.   "In your current condition that might be a good idea"

Faelan rubs his chin, and looks at what appears to be a sorry excuse for a balloon.

Investigation: 19

With one glance, Faelan is certain that the sorry excuse for a balloon is beyond repair - and besides, surely swamp methane is not a reliable lifting gas for balloon flight. Flynn on the other hand is more optimistic - despite a few remaining leaks, the canvas is sturdy, the ropes are intact, and the gondola is strong enough to hold the four of them at least. He's heard enough tales of balloon rides that he is even confident enough that he would know how to pilot it, at least well enough to get away if required...

With Mercion staying behind at the jetty with the raft, the others pass by the balloon mooring and cross the stepping-stone walkway. Zeg and Flynn simply fly over the gap, and Faelan's hops only require him to step on one or two stones; Flynn however picks his way across the stepping stones one by one: it isn't difficult, but he is a little surprised to hear one of the stones complain loudly about being stepped on, and the lack of manners in people these days...

The building on the other side of the stepping stones is now visible to all. Smoke rises not only from the hole in the roof but from some of the windows as well, and clattering noises accompanied by loud croaking indicate that a bullywug is inside the building. Peeking through the door, the visitors see a charred mess of a room. Hazy smoke hangs over scattered piles of burned and broken shelves intermixed with whatever those shelves contained. Wisps of smoke snake into the air from several spots where smoldering wreckage threatens to ignite. A distressed bullywug in a leather smock scurries around the room with a bucket of water whose contents spill out over the sides in his haste. Noticing the newcomers, the bullyway croaks out in Sylvan, pointing to a low workbench with three water-filled wooden buckets sitting underneath:

Come on then! Grab a bucket! We have to make sure the fires are out!"

Faelan blinks his eyes a couple of times, then turns to the others and shrug. "Sure thing boss." He runs to one of the buckets and tries to help the very frazzled fellow.

Flynn follows grabbing a bucket filling and following

Navi gives Mercion a big clinging hug. "I'll keep a look out for Sir Morgort the Knight of Warts!" She doesn't like leaving the fairy dragon, but understands that not all of these ones are nice and sometimes are real bullies. "You stay safe." The little fairy blooms some flowers and daisy chains them together to lay it over Mercion like a necklace. "So I can find you if we ever get lost." She smiles. And with a boop of forehead to forehead, she zips off as if on an under cover mission.

The little fairy mission impossibles her way about. She zips and dives, and rolls and climbs. Eventually she starts to loop de loop and maybe even dance. It takes a moment, but Navi eventually realizes that her rain dance will be ineffective. She's not one of those clerics that can make it rain. Or at least not ready for it today. So, the little fairy rolls up her sleeves, and gets to heaves! She flutters off to assist with the bucket brigade.

Zeg, a bit taken aback, gets his bearings and quickly jumps in to help.

It takes a few moments for the newcomers with their fresh eyes to notice something that the stressed-out bullywug has not yet observed: the reason that new fires keep popping up is that there are several small flaming balls zipping about inside the building, almost too fast to see and often hiding in the walls or behind broken furniture, and wherever they stop they ignite some new part of the building or a piece of wooden debris. Perhaps rather than dousing the flames, the source of the fires could be dealt with...

OK, so I thought it might be fun to make this into a kind of encounter. It probably works better as an in-person encounter, where players can discuss ideas, but we'll see what we can do with it in PbP:

There are six "live coals" in the cottage. You can use any means you wish to neutralise them, but you have only one minute (ten rounds) to do so before they cause irreparable damage. The coals have AC 18, 6 hp, and DEX 20 (as well as other stats - ask if you need to). Throwing water from the bucket requires an "improvised" ranged attack (so DEX mod only), and does 1d6 damage. Each bucket can only be used once per round, and then requires another round to refill (although two buckets can be refilled per round), so on average one person can throw two buckets every three rounds. Of course you aren't limited to only throwing water from buckets, and are welcome to suggest any other means at your disposal.

Faelan realizes what is causing the fires in the cottage. "Oh boy. Oh boy." Says the Haregon looking around, then he realizes that he's holding on to a bucket full of water. "Hey fellas, looks like we got some troublemakers here!" He tries to toss water on one of the coals.

Attack: 13 Damage: 4