Labenda Swamp

The Labenda Swamp is a darkened, tangled, thick swamp that surrounds the lake of Ounterloch and the town of Berleben. It is at the base of the Silberquel Ridge and the Bromkiln Byway rus straight through it. At night, low, echoing howls can be heard coming out of it.

Description
The air in the Labenda Swamp is humid and stinks of stagnant water and decaying plant matter, and buzzing insects hum throughout. The edge of the lake is made up mainly of soggy dirt and sand, and tar-like pools of bog water deeper in the swamp often have giant alligators resting within. In the morning, a low fog lies across the surface of the water. If a hole is made in the soft ground, water begins to fill the space.

Flora and fauna
The swamp is inhabited by alligators, venom trolls, mountain trolls, and merrows. It's covered in twisted vines and plant matter. In the heart of the swamp, the Mighty Nein encountered a large, slow-moving fernlike plant that puffed a 30-foot wide cloud of pollen in the air. There are a number of tall banyan trees and other thick-trunked trees with heavy vine-covered canopies; however, light can still come through and open sky is still visible.

Points of interest
There is a small collapsed gatehouse off the path to Berleben, the stones of which are well covered with vines and roots from the swamp. Outside of the swamp at the northern peak of the lake, there is a path leading northward into the swamp to The Gentleman's safe house and storage facility. When the Mighty Nein sought the safe house, the path was marked with six daggers with pearl hilts that were stuck into the trees.

The troll's hideout
The troll's hideout was in a thick, partially rotted and easy to carve away tree that had broken and fallen over about ten feet from the base. The heavy roots rose up into a trunk that stood about nine or ten feet tall from the ground. At the base of the tree was a carved circular hollow and a slightly-decomposing curtain of a heavy scaled leathery material. The curtain was pressed, bolted, or nailed into the tree and was hanging down to partially block an opening inside. The troll had a collection of carved hollow bone chimes of varying age that textured the floor, and hanging from one of the branches, dangled from a piece of tanned or dried sinew, banging into each other occasionally when a breeze came through. A matted pile of something was lying in the corner.

The bulbous troll had deep green-blue skin and the edges of its shoulder and arm had pustules and boils that oozed thick green liquid. It had long fingers and long, stringy black hair going past the front of its chest, and its torso was swollen with a protruding belly. Hanging around its neck were hollowed pieces of bone similar to the chime.

Tunnels beneath the swamp
There are tunnels beneath the swamp leading to merrow lair. The entrance to these tunnels is located within the Gentleman's safehouse, and is a dug-out hole in the dirt, near the roots of a tree. It is about three feet wide. These tunnels run through several chambers. The first is kidney shaped, with a pool full of brackish water that hides the entrance to more tunnels leading further below the swamp. This tunnel, which is full of water, leads to a pool in a second chamber.

The second chamber is built from a mixture of natural stone and some that appears to have been worked long ago. It contains stalactites and stalagmites that meet in the middle, a platform, and a natural stair formation.

History
The Mighty Nein, joined by Calianna Mordsson, explored the tunnels after they found the safe house. After fighting with and dispatching some of the merrow beneath, they looted the first chamber and found a number of items, including jewelry, manacles, money, and several potions. They also found a marble bowl with a gold inlay, the edges of which were five dragon heads, each with tiny gemstones for eyes. They determined this was a means to commune with Tiamat, and Calianna's quarry. After a brief argument on how to proceed, Yasha ultimately destroyed the bowl using The Magician's Judge, and Calianna left.

Fjord, later followed by the rest of the party, explored the second chamber. They fought more merrow, some of whom appeared to be priests, and looted further. Among the items discovered were silverware; weapons, including the Summer's Dance, and a Cloven Crystal. Fjord focused on the crystal, and it melded both into his body and into the Sword of Fathoms. The Mighty Nein also found a huge number of holy symbols associated with deities outlawed by the Dwendalian Empire. They took the items they wanted before leaving and blowing up the tunnel to block the merrow's path to the safe house.