Hello again. Today was fun!

We got to the swamps of the Fensfell family mid-morning.

The mist rising from the marsh wreathed the area in a quiet beauty. Reeds and occasional bushes broke the white surface like isolated islands drifting amongst the clouds. Chirping birds and croaking frogs played a steady and insistent tune. Overlaying the still lands with a sense of urgency and life.

It was a beautiful scene.

Gentle winds swept into the swamp and lifted the veil. Temporarily letting us see the horror masked by the beauty. Crumpled bodies and bloodied war banners lay strewn across the few semi solid mudflats we could see. Charred rafts coated in dead bodies drifted idly with the current. Bloated corpses trailed behind them. Occasionally one of the bodies would twitch or shudder as a passing fish or critter stopped for a bite to eat.

The smell was cloying, clinging, and disgusting. The typical scent of rotting vegetation and filthy water underpinned the heavy musk of rot and decay that wafted from the bodies to our location. A line of spears in the sand held the heads of the unfortunate prisoners of House Fensfell. Their vacant gazes glaring accusingly at us for living while they died. The rictuses of the damned held onto the forgotten emotions of fear and pain long after death. Demanding recompense for their loss and ruin.

We ignored all that and had a late breakfast. Fen was nice enough to create a wind buffer to stop the smell from putting us off our feed.

After a hearty breakfast we headed into the swamp, since Lena was in charge we were all riding in or on Sibyll. As her serpent lazily swept through the yucky water Lena stood on its head. Her posture rigid and quivering with excitement. It wasn't long before we had our first catch of the day. 

A boat, woven out of the reeds that were so common here paddled out of the dissapating mist and right into our path. Lena stood even straighter than before, which I didn't think was even possible, and Sibyll shot towards the unlucky craft at full speed.

Panicked cries and rushed orders erupted from the boat as swarthy and wiry men and women in light cloth garb rushed to propel their craft out of our way. The water itself seized their oars, and shattered them. Leaving them dead in the water. Soon enough that was more literal than figurative.

Sibyll crashed directly into the middle of the flimsy craft. Shattering it and dumping the crew not immediately reduced to giblets into the death tainted waters. The boatmen were strong swimmers though. They immediately struck out for safety in all directions. Cutting smoothly through the troubled waters in an attempt to escape their doom.

But they were in the water. And in the water, Lena is Queen.

One by one, they were sucked to their deaths in the depths. Unseen hands dragging them to their unwilling demise. Thrashing water and streams of desperate bubbles stirred the surface for a time. But finally, the water was still, and silence once again reigned.

Her first action ending in success Lena finally relaxed. Her face, once screwed up in concentration, now slack and faintly smiling. Now that that was over, she could relax, plot, and scheme. As was her wont to do. The next boat she found was smashed much the same as the first, and the next, and the next. But she let the survivors swim away. She was careful not to show any of her water control and we all were hiding inside of Sibyll. As far as the survivors were concerned they had been attacked by a giant blue snake, and nothing more.

Lena had decided it would be more efficient to let them gather, and then come to her rather than trying to hunt them down herself. 

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the first 'snake hunting party' came skulking around. Five reed boats, filled with masked and spear toting people came difting smoothly through the swamps. Lena evaded them and instead headed towards where they came from.

She figured that they might have gathered at some kind of central area before heading off on their hunt. Hopefully that area was the House Fensfell compound.

The swamps didn't allow them to build the typical fortifications one would expect from a family of their standing. Instead they lived on large rafts. Their homes always on the move and temporary settlements forming wherever necessary.

This was one of the reasons the poor Rottaxus forces had so much trouble. They couldn't reach any sot of target before it just upped anchor and drifted away. In times of war or invasion the House Fensfell dispersed. So as to not give any opportunity for a decisive blow against their industry and infrastructure. It's hard to crush something you can't find after all.

A dispersed foe may not hit as hard, but with their poisons they just needed to break the skin. Then they would drift away like smoke in the breeze and let the poison do its deadly work.

But, as far as they knew. We were just a monstrous serpent. A creature who would be more than happy to sniff out any lone home-raft and gobble up the residents, and was perfectly capable of doing so. Lena hoped that would reverse their strategy. They would gather together. Seeking safety in numbers, and the parties they sent out to hunt us would lead us directly to them.

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And she was right.

Floating in the center of a large open space in the marsh was a ramshackle collection of hundreds of rafts. All sizes and styles. Tied together with ropes and narrow bridges. Small children hopped gleefully in shrieking packs from one raft to the next as grimfaced elders gathered to consider what manner of beast they were dealing with. As we watched, cloaked under a mat of grass and muddy water, more rafts were poled into the steadily growing floating city. 

Individuals with large wooden masks with horrifying visages carved on them wandered the perimeter of the raft city. Sprinkling powders into the waters and followed by cadres of goons in smaller masks armed with blowguns, poisoned darts, and short wicked spears. Pouches and small flasks of unknown liquids hung from their belts and bandoliers.

Poisons probably. 

On the largest most central raft a group that shared a strong family resemblance were meeting and partying. Relishing in their victory over the Rottaxus brutes and unconcerned about a little snake infestation. Those must be the Fensfell family members themselves we figured.

So Lena made her move. The water level in the area dropped sharply as high walls of ice rose to surround the lively gathering. Silence fell for a solid second before shrieks and screams of fear began ringing out. Lena guided Sibyll up the glacial palisade she had made and more pronounced shrieks of horror erupted when the poor locals noticed a giant icy blue serpent had crested their newly formed prison walls.

As soon as her presence became known a shower of darts and javelins coated in all manner of interesting concoctions rained down upon Sibyll. We were all safe inside and cheering Lena on as she returned fire on the pesky patrols with a shattering hail of ice shards from the wall.

Broken bodies and splintered rafts sunk into the murky waters they had been poisoning so thoroughly only moments before. More troops rushed towards us and Lena met their charge with her own. The sheer bulk of Sibyll smiting an unfortunate raft as we plunged from the wall into their midst and pelting the would be defender with poisoned water and splinters.

She swept aside the futile efforts of the hapless soldiers and slithered towards the center raft. Creeping over the edge Sibyll was met with a blast of purple water, launched from the hands of a wrinkled old man in a massive wooden mask carved with a truly horrific face.

As Lena paused to consider the oddness of what just transpired. The confidence leaked into elders wrinkled frame and he stood taller. Waving his arms and a great knobby staff in the air grandly more water rushed from the swamps to his hands. It turned a virulent green shade and was launched into the face of the wooden snake Sibyll.

It's not very effective.

The use of what could only be described as magic was rare enough to cause us pause. For about three seconds. Then the mighty blue tail of Sibyll came crushing through the deck under him and smashed the old man in the face.

Gently, of course.

Sibyll opened her mouth and proceeded to gobble up the old man and the three most fancily dressed individuals on the center raft.

After we had them tied up and stored in a seperate chamber inside SIbyll where any poisons they used would only affect themselves. We recalled the trouble we had last time we had grabbed people without knowing who was actually the leader. So we asked them who was the Head of House Fensfell. They pointed at the unconcious old man.

Since we had what we came for, and Lena was satisfied with her fighting opportunity we headed off.

Streaking through the swamp and past the fortified hill towns as fast as we could slither. Lena took great delight in smashing through any obstacles that arose. The odd boat or patrol. Some trees. A small hill. By the end there though she had satisfied her daily carnage quota so we just coasted lightly into Morana's camp.

It had grown quite a bit since we left. The original fifty-ish troops had burgeoned to three hundred or so. Fed with the produce of the Bosvarum, and shielded by the sturdy walls the Rottaxus built so well. 

The Somursa domain was the smallest of the Houses, and very sparsely populated. So three hundred men and women was a significant investment, and not one she could afford to lose lightly. When she had been all but certain that her death was imminent she had refused to throw away her peoples lives to futiley try and save her own.

But now that she stood a real chance of winning? She pulled out all the stops. She couldn't trust the armies of her newly subordinated lands to fight for her, but she did have drill sergeants from the Rottaxus lands training her loyal troops and Bosvarum wagons to haul supplies for her army. 

Her domain primarily dealt in beeswax and honey from their apiaries. Mead from the same, and smoked fish from the mountain lakes and streams. There were a few odd mines here and there but for the most part Morana's lands were largely undeveloped. 

Making it the ideal place to hide a training army and gather her strength. Obviously she knew we were not going to be sticking around to protect her throne for her. So she needed a strong and more importantly loyal force to do so. 

Is my guess. Maybe she just likes hiding in the woods and training soldiers? Who knows, everyone needs a hobby.

Anyway, she was very happy to see the Fensfell family. In a kind of morbid fashion. I guess House Rottaxus had been very incensed by the tales of the survivors of their ill fated campaign. They promised utter servitude and loyalty in return for justice. The old man we had grabbed was the one they wanted dead the most. Seems his conjured poisons had wreaked havoc on their forces.

I don't think that will make House Fensfell very happy, but it is a war. People are gonna die.

Anyway, none of our business what she does. We threw a party to celebrate Lenas' first ever solo war victory. I dragged out a bunch of those mead barrels from the pirate fortress so long ago. The off duty soldiers joined us at our invitation and we made a huge bonfire. I made Lenas favorite foods and she regaled us with her stories of battle and victory.

They grew grander and more legendary with each retelling. From a fairly close rendition to a tale of utmost fiction, including swamp warrior riding on giant frogs. The fight with the old man became a half hour long epic involving mythical beasts and wretched plagues. Her victories became the stuff of legend. From how the drunk soldiers hung on her every word they were eating it up.

The look on the Fensfell family members faces when they learned it was a little girl who had stomped them was priceless!

The party ran deep into the night. Soldiers need little reason to drink, and when celebrating a victory in which none of them died? They can get pretty crazy!

I am going to bed, Lena, Julius, and Fen are already asleep. Onica is in the middle of challenging a whole platoon to a drinking contest. I haven't seen her let loose like this before. 

It's nice to see she can have fun with other things than fighting.

Goodnight.