It wasn't long before the invaders clashed with the Jade Ravens, another adventuring party employed by Lavinia. Further, Lavinia herself had taken up her interest in fencing and had honed her skill as a swashbuckler. But the bullywugs eventually defeated them, capturing most before they settled into wait for Vanthus' arrival.
A bullywug is a froglike humanoid with green, gray, or mottled yellow skin. They have long, flicking tongues and typically speak with thick, sloppy accents. They stand four to seven feet tall, weigh 100 to 300 pounds, and reek of the swamp. Bullywugs are fanatic creatures loyal to their tribe; they fight to the death. The encountered bullywugs had already taken some damage in the fight to wrestle the manor away from the Jade Ravens and Lavinia. Some bullywugs were at full health, as they held back from the initial fights or had already been healed by their shaman, Bua Gorg.
The bullywugs had posted no guards outside Vanderboren Manor so as not to draw any attention to the grounds during their invasion, making it relatively simple for the Tropic Thunder to approach the manor. They approached openly shouting Lavinia's name, and a bullywug noticed them through one of the manor's windows and raised the alarm.
The Tropic Thunder had been to the mansion numerous times by now, and while they had not visited every room in the building, they were familiar with its layout. The manor itself was a well-made structure. The bullywugs had lit the manor's numerous wall-mounted lamps at night. Doors were made of wood and were unlocked.
Although many of these rooms had valuable objects, the honorable Tropic Thunder haven't looted their employer's home yet.
The Tropic Thunder entered the manor through the atrium. This enormous great hall's marble stonework was smooth and white. Two oak stairwells with burnished brass railing ascended to an open first-floor landing. Tapestries depicting a beautiful and savage frontier of sprawling jungle landscapes and an eerie shoreline hung from the upper landing. A glass chandelier hung form the atrium's ceiling.
Three bullywugs hid behind tapestries and prepared to ambush anyone who moved through the atrium.
During the fight, Quarion went around the manor and entered the kennels. Four locked cage-stalls filled one portion of this room. The air reeked of unkempt dogs.
Three mastiff hounds named Leshton, Ealia, and Kurz, diligently raised as hunting dogs by Lavinia's father, were kept here. Normally, the dogs had free run of the estate most of the time. The dogs were agitated and whimpered with fear - they could smell the bullywugs in the mansion. The fight with the bullywugs ended before Quarion released the hounds.
The Tropic Thunder ran up to the second floor, where the bedrooms were. Once there, they heard noise coming in from the master bedroom. This room was dark and cloying; the shutters were closed, and the air smelled of a rank combination of body odor and swamp mud. The desk, chairs, and most other furniture in this room had been draped with white canvas dust covers, giving this room the eerie feeling of a tomb. Only the large four-poster bed in one corner of the room had been uncovered, its dust covers lying in a heap at the side.
Having secured the manor as best he could, Drevoraz claimed this room as a place to wait for Vanthus to return to the manor. After she was captured, Lavinia managed to convince Drevoraz that she'd heard from Vanthus, that he was en route to Sasserine and that he was arriving home by the end of the day. Her plan to delay Drevoraz worked. Drevoraz relaxed on the bed, passing the time reading a racy novel he swiped form the library and tormenting the prisoners to fight off boredom before Vanthus' arrival. Also present in the room was the disgusting spiritual leader of the bullywugs - a cleric named Bua Gorg. This bloated bullywug had soaked one of the dustsheets in water and sat on an overstuffed chair in one corner of the room, swaddled in the soaking sheet for comfort as he offered prayers to his patron, Dagon.Four hostages were tied to chairs, back to back, in the center of the room. The hostages included Lavinia, two of the Jade Ravens (Tolin Kientai and Zan Oldavin), and Kora Whistlegap, Lavinia's one remaining house servant. Of the four, only Lavinia was conscious, regarding her captors silently with eyes narrowed in fury. Tolin and Zan were both stable but unconscious. Poor Kora was dead, her throat cut by Drevoraz in a brutal display of power intended to cower the other three prisoners into compliance.
Drevoraz was a muscular half-orc dressed in studded leather and decorated with numerous tattoos.
Bua Gorg was the most grotesque bullywug, with sickly yellowy skin and sagging throat pouch, disgustingly deflated. Now when the priest breathed heavily in delighted anticipation of bloodshed, his ruptured throat pouch sucked and dribbled noisily. He worshiped an entity called Dagon.
When the alarm was raised, Bua Gorg moved to a position near Drevoraz and prepared to start casting as soon as he saw intruders. Drevoraz stood near Lavinia, his scimitar at the ready to strike the woman at a moment's notice. When the Tropic Thunder entered the room, Drevoraz demanded the heroes lay down their arms or he'd hack off their pretty employer's head.
The Tropic Thunder failed to bargain with the half-orc and he tried to strike Lavinia down. Unknown to him, Zan had already managed to work Lavinia free from her bonds and as soon as he started to approach, she lunged free. Drevoraz moved up to her and made a single attack against her. When Drevoraz took lots of damage, the bullywug moved in to use a stick to heal the half-orc.
Drevoraz attempted to flee when severely injured. The Tropic Thunder prevented him from doing so and he fought till he was knocked unconscious. Bua Gorg fought till he was knocked unconscious as well.
Drevoraz had stacked all of the gear he'd taken from Lavinia, Tolin, and Zan in a heap next to the bed.
Lavinia begged the Tropic Thunder to help rescue Liamae and Kaskus; none of them knew where the other two had been taken, but the basement was the first place she suggested checking.
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