Perhaps I should explain, in case I ever come back to read this, having forgotten these events (as if I could ever do that!). We were poling our raft merrily (well, sort of merrily, anyways) down the river when a nasty cold wet fog sprang up out of nowhere. We couldn't even see a foot in front of us, and it was really eerie. Fog just doesn't do that! But this one did. When it cleared, we found the swamp subtly changed; it was darker, the trees were uglier (and I hadn't thought that possible!), the water was muckier (see comment about trees), and so on. We also noticed that we couldn't see much, since the sky had rapidly filled with the biggest blackest clouds I've ever seen: obviously, one hells of a storm was coming. Deciding that the time for seeking shelter for the night was upon us, we looked around for a warm, dry spot (or at least a warmer, dryer spot). Hope was all but gone, and we were prepared to settle down for a long, cold, wet, miserable night when Leighla, bless her pointy ears, saw a light off in the distance.

Hoping that we weren't following some legendary swamp creature, we moved as rapidly as possible towards the light. Thank the gods above, it proved to be a fire. This was indeed a good thing, since the fog had recently left me shivering with cold and damp, and the fire was a most welcome sight. Of course, around the fire, there were people. Also a few animals, but those aren't as important. Two humans and a half-elf; one woman, two men (lucky her - Mitsy was so jealous!). Only one of the men (the human - the other was the half-elf) carried any obvious weapons, and I suppose having a quartet of armed strangers approaching him at night gave him cause to be worried, but he was pretty unfriendly. Accused us of being thieves, of all things! As if highwaymen would venture into a swamp! What would they do, steal the mosquitoes? Oh well; humans as a rule aren't very bright, and this one was no exception.

After explaining that we were but weary travelers, hoping to share a fire and some shelter from the storm, the others accepted us, and the axe was reluctantly put away. Perhaps we would have exchanged more words (how DARE he call me a thief?), but before things could go anywhere, a few of the others heard something (I didn't hear a thing; I'm convinced they were jumping at shadows). We spread out, looking around the fire, and wouldn't you know it: they'd been scared of a bird. Such brave explorers these people are! Eventually, they decided to call it a night, and I joined Leighla on watch, where I'm writing this. But my shift is almost over, so I should stop now and get some much needed and much deserved rest.