Rise of The Runelords 1 - Burnt Offerings

Shara is apparently a natural-born swimmer, but Shathys is beginning to feel the effects of the cold water. What do you do?

"Do you want to turn back? I'm not sure i can keep going for long"

There is a hint of fatigue in Shara's voice. Osmus is still resting on her head, he seems to have fallen asleep.

"Let's carry forward a little longer, and hope we reach a shore soon." Shathys says, starting to go numb.

"Starting to wonder if we even can go back. Let's hope we're at least halfway across."

You continue swimming in a straight line away from the torch, which is now nothing more than a faint pin-prick of light in the distance. Roll an endurance check.

Jack and Shathys are barely keeping themselves above water. Leg-cramps, freezing coldness and the weight of your packs all cause you to become extremely exhausted.

Shara is a little better off, but it won't take much for her to become just as exhausted as the others.

Spoiler:

"Let's just hurry forward and hope we reach something shore-like. I wont last much longer and the two of you aren't looking too sharp either".

Shara pushes herself as hard as she can. She swims forward, really hoping to find some solid ground.

Time for another Endurance check.

Shara's endurance finally gives out, and she accidentally swallows a mouthful of water.

Spoiler:

Despite being exhausted Shara continues forward. She is still hoping to reach some kind of shore soon. Osmus got wet when Shara went underwater for a sec and is now very much awake, cursing and spitting, while trying to walk in circles on Shara's head.

"Please let there be no more water. Please."

Your prayers fall on deaf or uncaring ears. You are struggling to keep afloat in water black as ink, cold as ice and still as glass. Jack can just make out a very faint sound, growing in volume as you swim.

Endurance check.

You hear a faint splash somewhere ahead. Then another. And another. As you get closer, you see a rain of something dark and feathery. Thousands and thousands of dead crows are falling out of the darkness. The rain of birds eventually form a platform of sorts on top of the water. A feathery and beaky platform. You're treading water next to the platform.

"what the..." Jack frowns at the platform. "Whatever, we can't stay in the water." He says and climbs up.

Shathys follows after Jack. "Rather die by thousands of creepy, supernatural birds, than die by freezing or drowning, whichever comes first."

Shathys climbs on the platform and promptly collapses, trying to catch his breath.

The crow platform seems solid beneath you, but you can feel beaks and frail bones snap and break under your feet. The platform continues into the darkness ahead of you.