Pressing onwards after slaying the pair of lurking frogs, the group searches the towers and finds evidence of a wholesale – evacuation? – slaughter? – judging from the appearance of the contents, it would appear that it was inhabited by a contingent of troops. Perhaps they were slain by the frog folk?
Departing the towers, the group wanders on down the causeway. After a few miles, they hear the beat of a large drum drawing closer. The mage goes airborne and scouts, returning quickly to report the presence of a large troop of orcs, ungern, giants and trolls heading towards the towers they just vacated.
Opting for discretion over valor, the group goes over the side of the causeway and hides out in the swampy waters while the troop of reinforcements passes by. After a while, the group returns to the causeway and proceeds onward to the next set of towers. These towers are in good repair, though all the windows and openings are draped from the inside by a heavy cloth or leather of some sort.
Opting to enter from the top, the mage and company levitate to the top of one tower, open up the trap door and peer into a darkened room festooned with white paper streamers. A quick detect magic from the mage reveals magic is approaching the open trapdoor with great rapidity…also, that isn’t paper – those are strips of dried skin. Eeeew! In go two fireballs and the door is slammed shut.
When it is reopened, the occupant exits with a hurry and lands amidst the group members. No eyes, no nose, no ears, but a bulbous head festooned with tiny ear trumpets, the beats springs into action with a flensing knife and attempts to peel the skin off the party members after blasting the mage over the side of the tower and into the much below.
After a short, pitched battle the offending creature is slain and the group prepares to resume the quest. Either by investigating the towers, or by heading straight towards the great gates that guard the entrance to the capital city of the evil empire.
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