As the caravan trundled along the increasingly muddy trail, the party encountered several problems with their wagons. Shifting ground caused them to veer off-course multiple times, causing broken wagon wheels and axles; thankfully, Rudolph van Richten was able to fix them with minor spellcraft. Shakti briefly cleared the way using her earth magic, but the process proved plodding. Atlas' Planar Compass showed that their direction was sound, especially when they found an unmarked grave containing Muriel's clothing, but they worried that this pace was too slow to rescue her in time.
The Pack eventually elected to abandon the wagons and head to Berez on horseback. Shakti enhanced her party member's strength to easily move the wagons off-road and into the more-protected swampland, where they covered the semi-visible cart tops with branches, reeds, and ivy. Worried for her safety, they left Lydia behind with a smattering of holy components for self defense. Ghalwin assigned Lancelot to protect the noblewoman, trusting his hound to guard her from any threats, and the four left their companions behind.
They raced through the night until their horses became exhausted, and set up a short camp. Ghalwin ignored the goading of a will-o-wisp past midnight, and in the morning, they galloped further into thick, foggy marshland. Suddenly, the mist took on the form of hundreds of soldiers, colliding in a storm of screams and clashing metal. This battle long past was interrupted by a massive dragon of silver mist, who's wingbeats carved a swath through the fog and gave a fleeting glimpse of Argynvosholt overlooking the swamp. The Pack placed an indicator for a potential shortcut to the mansion before continuing on to Berez.
Mid-day, Atlas overheard laughter coming from off-road, and the party slowed their pace to find a witches' cottage in the mire. He invisibly entered as its three occupants cackled over their cauldron, and overheard that one's augury foretold a visitor. When Ghalwin knocked on the door, they answered with delight, and took a liking to the respectful young knight. Atlas used the opportunity to explore, but lost concentration on his invisibility after smelling their foul brew. His re-appearance shocked the witches into attack; however, their sleep spells had nowhere near the potency to affect the powerful cleric. The three calmed down, and over a short chat, informed that they were each from Vallaki. Cast from the town at different times by Vargas, they had joined a large coven of witches headed by Baba Lysaga; they warned of her danger, but venerated her all the same.
The Pack finally arrived in Berez shortly before nightfall. The road, already mired in ankle-high water, occasionally broke into dingy pools, so The Pack tied up their horses near Berez's entrance. At a fork, they took an interior road away from the large river that divided the ruined town from the swamp fane. Through the mist, they noticed occasional humanoid figures standing stock-still in the bog, which they assumed to be scarecrows, but could not get close enough to confirm. Eventually, they had to wade into deeper wetland themselves. Like a scene from Anaconda, they were ambushed by four giant Constrictor Snakes while caught in waist-high waters!
Every member was coiled and restrained below-water by these hungry serpents, despite Ghalwin politely asking the predators to back off. Shakti wildshaped into a red constrictor snake herself, constricting the snake that was constricting her. Through a series of squeezes, smites, and spirit guardians, they sliced through the serpentine scare and struggled out of the swamp. Back on the road, the passed flooded and abandoned cottages, attempting to stay out of eyeline from the witches that occasionally occupied them. Shakti was accidentally noticed by one, but she played it off cool, and her bright-red snake form was interpreted as an omen for the witch who spotted her.
On the other side of the ruins, they passed a rotting graveyard to the side of an abandoned mansion, where Goats were kept in a pen staked by human skulls. Outside its walls, they encountered the ghost of Zann Ulrich. The former Burgomaster of Berez was not hostile, but rather anguished, pointing perpetually to Marina's monument in the cemetery. Shakti determined that he needed to see Ireena to pass on, so Ghalwin produced Izek's doll in response; this just gave Zann further torment and he disappeared. Close to this point, The Pack noticed that Baba Lysaga's cottage was in the center of the bog, but only ankle-high embankment to approach was from the east.
They decided to split; stealthily, Shakti slithered below-water as Atlas flew above the swamp. They reached the hut first, which had been built from a giant tree stump with massive spider-like roots. They overheard Lysaga singing a haunting song to an unseen baby inside, threatening to "take a paladin's eye", and waited a short distance away. Ghalwin and van Richten took the land route, and the latter provided them with freedom of movement through magic, which allowed them to quickly slosh forward. Their sounds, however, were noticed by an unkindness of caged ravens bolted to the hut's front roots. Their excited caws alerted Lysaga, who stopped singing and went out to "greet" the interlopers.
She approached with a cackling hostility, and Ghalwin provided it right back, invoking the language of the Ladies' poems. She was immediately enraged, and began to cast a horrible spell!