Hexcrawl 28 - The Dangers of Highstar Lake

Jhank, Sly Zib Uppercut, and Sir Parrik take their keelboat on an exploration of the eastern portion of Highstar Lake, where they first discover a swamp witch who mainly just wants to be left alone. She warns them of several dangers but offers a quest for some magical mushrooms away up a river to the northeast. They begin to explore the northern coastline and one of their sailors is lost in the night to a vicious bear attack. They eventually spot the river she referred to but are chased away from it by a hydra.  The boat is attacked by a giant gar which swallows another sailor whole and tries to eat the blink dog Glint, but a combination of Sly Zib crashing the boat into it, Jhank charming it and then attacking it while enlarged, and Sir Parrik diving into it lance-first finishes off the beast and they tow its enormous carcass back to the fort to provide copious food and a cool looking skull. On foot, they explore north into the forest and save the wagons of some gnome explorers, who sell them an expensive map to a place called the Cave of Beauty.