Storm Island Expedition

The Great Bog

I decided to head east into the bog the apprentices seemed reluctant to go to.  To pass the time, I read over the notes from the hunter about what he had seen:

Swamps on Island provide no interesting creatures to hunt.   Several species of common swamp lizard located in Eastern and Western Swamps.  Some strange giant moth, can be caught bare handed or with net plus jar; no known uses, but is edible.  Giant species of feral cat around area with several shaped pits.  Ground barely suited to making pit traps and feral cats very difficult to trap.  Teasing should be done with extreme caution.

When I finally arrived at the bog, the stench was overpowering.  I had to put on a nose peg just to enter a few feet in.  Even after a few minutes, the tears in my eyes made seeing more than twenty feet an issue.  Still, I pressed on.
I carefully poked into the ground along the way.  Seems the bog was so dense that you could safely walk anywhere as long as there wasn't already water.
As I steadily progressed, I thought I saw movements in the distance, but with my blurred sight, I couldn't tell what it was.
Finally, I reached what appeared to be the center of the bog.  By then, I had gotten somewhat used to the stench and could see clearly again.  In front of my, were the rusted remains of some armor, a pack, a Runite halberd, and number of Runite throwing knives, and a cape indicating a Slayer skill master. Seems I found the master who went this way. What confused me was that I found the equipment, yet no body.
In the corner of my left eye, I saw something moving in the bog. I grabbed the halberd and spun around to see a shape rise from the bog. It was covered in mud and muck of the bog, and emanated a stench far worse than anything I could remember ... except an aberrant specter.  When it finally reached its full height, it towered over me.  I was barely to its shoulder height.  It then pointed to the cape, as if it was trying to tell me something.

I turned around, half expecting someone to appear, only to see more shapes rise from the bog, and several more closing in.  Seems they had already been moving around out there.
I nearly kicked myself for missing them sooner, as I was now surrounded.
One of the smaller bog creatures closed in on me.  I jabbed at it with the halberd, but between the layer of mud and plants, and the creature being practically a ghost, I didn't hit anything solid.
The larger creature hurled a number of projectiles at me and the smaller creatures.   Some of the shots hit me.  I felt some were solid, like rocks.  But the others were a mix of the bog slush and something else that burned on contact.  It almost felt magical in nature.
I grabbed the throwing knives and started hurling them at anything that approached. I wasn't sure why, but a few knives were more than enough to bring down a creature.
After several of the smaller creatures fell, the rest retreated.  But the larger one came towards me.
Once more on instinct, I turned and started unloading knives into the creature with both hands.  Many of my throws connected, but it was barely phased by the barrage.   I then grabbed the halberd and jabbed at it, and the force of the jab went clean through it.  The creature reeled, but more from shock than injury.
The bog creature then seemed to calm down some and backed away.   I followed suit, and cautiously took a few steps back too, but my hand on the throwing knives just in case.
It pointed to the rusted armor and cape once again, and then let out a wail as if it was trying to talk. But the sounds were incomprehensible.  I did get the feeling that it was connected to the Slayer master.  At first I wondered if this creature had killed the Master, but from the gesturing, I quickly realized he was the Master.

I tried to talk to the creature, to explain everything that I finally understood and began making gestures of my own.  But with each minute that passed, the creature seemed to lose itself or lose interest.
After a few more futile minutes, the creature turned to me.   It let out one last wail, tossed a small barrage of rocks and magics at me that fell short, and then sunk back into the bog.
I gathered what was left of the Master's gear and quickly made my way out of the bog.  I stopped briefly to chop some branches and bark, then fashioned some crude warning signs along some of the visible entrances to the bog.

When I returned to the Slayer Camp, the apprentices could tell very quickly that I had bad news.   After I handed everything over, they solemnly bowed their heads.
They briefly offered to let me keep most of the gear I had borrowed and returned, but I was already feeling overloaded, and still had a lot of ground to cover.   I only kept the throwing knives for my own use.
They simply offered me a receipt for the rest of the items I had brought back, plus some additional items for my own future use.  They stated that they would remain at the camp, at least until they confirmed what happened to the other two masters.

After resting up for the night, I headed out again at dawn to continue my own journey.