The morning mist had yet to fully lift over Newborn Town.
A motley expedition had assembled outside the camp, ready to venture deep into the perilous swamp.
Weilin Klein stood at the head of the party, with seventeen members behind him.
Leo, the apprentice mage, stayed close beside him, clutching a white ash staff to his chest, his expression tense.
Three elite fighters who had once belonged to the Grey Wolf Mercenary Company now formed the core of the Newborn Town Guard. They silently checked their studded leather armor and short swords with practiced movements.
Two dark-skinned hunters in their prime carried shortbows on their backs and skinning knives at their waists. They were the guides for this expedition, and no one knew the swamp better.
Ten rugged subordinates followed Ora Stonebeard, their equipment just as crude. They were responsible for escorting the supplies and also served as the party's reserve fighting force.
Nor were all the expedition's guards human. Veylin carried the insect queen Sarah with him, while fifty Baldur Dung Beetles spread silently through the grass and tunnels around the party.
The swamp in July was like an enormous steamer.
The sweltering air was thick enough to wring water from, and the stench of rotting vegetation seeped into everything.
Swarms of mosquitoes hurled themselves at any exposed skin.
But the expedition suffered little harassment. Everyone had smeared a pungent green ointment around their collars and cuffs.
This was the Insect Repellent Veylin had prepared especially for the journey, and it worked far better than the smokewort the hunters had used for generations.
The party strictly followed another of Veylin's orders: drink only water that had been boiled.
Several former Shatterrock Knights grumbled about this, but under the guards' stern gazes, no one dared disobey.
By the third day