"Right."
"Left?"
"Right.""Left?"
"It's a straight line all the way down.", Zareth says with disdain. "There isn't even a left or right- oh forget it."
"Now, since any chance of stealth just flew out the window, a bit more light seems to be in order." Zareth snaps his fingers, and Tenja's sheild begins to softly glow.
The door creaks open and the party find themselves at the top of another stairwell leading down. Like the first, it will accommodate two of you at a time. The air in the stairwell is damp and smells of forest rot. After descending steeply twenty feet, the stairs end at a door, unevenly covered in slightly phosphorescent fungus.
"Let's start the next party." Kith says and the pushes the door open (unless it's locked.)
The door is not locked.
Upon opening it, it is clear that the group are looking at a former wine cellar and food store. In the absence of anything else, bioluminescent fungi coat the walls and ceiling of the cool, moist chamber. Tiny mushrooms and other fungal stalks carpet the floor and the detritus of barrels, crates and shelves littering the chamber's corners. Slimy water pools in the middle of the room.
To the sides, you see that the room opens out into two rougher alcoves hacked into the natural rock - or possibly the original cave shape.
On the far wall right across the door, grows a particularly large fungus stalk.
Holding his shield up high to expand the light out, Tenja looks at the mushrooms.
Tenja
"Watch out guys we have company. These are not normal mushrooms, and the one across from us is looking at me."
"We may have a fight on our hands, because this looks like it could be a colony. However diplomacy is not out the window on them unless we threaten them. Any thoughts?"
"Maybe a dumb question, but is there anything we need here?"
"Only safe passage through and back." Andrus says, then lowers his voice so that only his friends can hear. "Unless we plan on taking Lord Padraig's offer and moving in. Then we might have to clear them out so we can use the space. Unless we can come to some sort of agreement. How intelligent are these fungi? Are they Myrmoids or whatever they are called? I have stories of the mushroom men who live in the dark caves of the Underdark."
"If were're planing on moving in some guard dogs would be usefull, let's talk."
"Let's try and negotiate."
"Agreed, these are called myconid and are not overly aggressive, but are on the territorial side."
"Parley? Sure, why not." Zareth squeezes past the dwarves and returns his orb to the air behind him. Then, with his hands raised he enters the room. "Myconids! Greetings! We mean you no harm! We only wish to pass through your den."
"Very smooth Zareth." Tenja comments dryly.
Init =
"I guess where’re having sautéed mushrooms for dinner."
Andrus quickly steps forward as his friend puts his foot in his mouth. He bows deeply to show respect and calmly announces, "Excuse my friend here, but he is right. We mean you no harm and wish to bargain with you if we can."
Zareth's attempts to negotiate are not entirely pointless. From the side galleries, a quarterstaff wielding myconid emerges, followed shortly after by two myconid guards from the other side. The fungi engage in a moment of silent communion, noting Zareth's empty and open hands.
Edit: 1 fail from Andrus, 1 success from Zareth.
Tenja seems to have an uncanny affinity with the myconids and makes his meaning plain.
Kith tries to look friendly...
Diplomacy =
Kel manages to keep most of his thoughts away from mushroom soup.
Kith discovers an unexpected level of empathy. Kel does his best, but can't quite mask all his culinary desires. For Andrus, the myconid mind remains a mystery.
Negotiations seem to have reached a stalemate. The myconids are clearly uneasy, but are making no overt moves to attack. The quarterstaff wielder looks to the Sovereign on the wall for further guidance.
There is moment's pause and the gigantic fungus detaches itself from the wall and moves towards the party, spores trailing behind it. Close to, it is no more attractive and considerably more menacing. Zareth, Kith and Tenja feel a faint alien thought in their heads.
Zareth/Kith/Tenja
"Ah, we are in some trouble, I think."
Andrus asks Tenja, "Why? What did you see? Is he communicating with you?"
Andrus again attempts to convey his message of peace and non-aggression. "We're not here to distrub YOU. We are here for the Stormcrows." And he makes crow noises while he flaps his arms in what he hopes is an imitation of a crow. "We are here to destroy THEM." And he pantomimes a mace being smashed on the crow.
"You... dislike the kenku? Good. because we're only here to deal with the Storm Crows, as my companion put so... simply. We'll probably clear the kenku out of here too, if only because they attacked us when we came in. But you? We have no reason to fight you. Please, just let us pass through here."
"We could drag one of the bodies down here to show them." "They could use it for fertilizer."
"Good idea on dragging a Kenku down here."
"Andrus, it is giving off emotions of dislike and distrust towards Kenku's, and I am not sure if it is associating us with them or not."
"Too bad the cubes ate most of the ones we've encountered." Andrus says over his shoulder to Tenja. He turns back to the mushroom men. "We're not like them. We want only to pass through your domain, in peace." He says as he spreads his arms wide to show the entire area.
The combination of Andrus's pantomime and Zareth and Tenja's words turn the tide. The Sovereign communes with the smaller myconids and they retreat back into the side galleries. Everyone in the party has a blurry vision of the pool in front of them and a sense of warning as the Sovereign itself moves away.
Your path is clear and you seem to have established some kind of truce with the little colony.
"Thank you." Kith says to the mushroom men, and then walks through the room to the next door.
Bows to the noble creatures, and cautiously walks to the opposite door.
"May Avandra bless you and your colony." Andrus says as he follows, although carefully staying clear of the pool.
"I got a sense of foreboding from the mushroom people about the pool. Don't disturb it or move too close. There may be something else here." Andrus tells his friends.
"No swiming in the pool, got it."
Kel follows.
Easing their way past the pool, Kel notices fungal growths just below the surface.
The iron door is unlocked and the party shortly find themselves in a stretch of corridor leading to another door. Like all the others, it does not seem to be locked and the faint smell of burning wood emerges.
Ever impulsive, Kith pushes the door open!
Kith pushes the door open and reveals a mausoleum.
Four stone coffins, two sealed and two cracked open adorn the room. At the north end rests a fossilised skeleton of a dragon, half-chiseled out of a block of stone and free of clutter. Between the coffins, is a smokey cook-fire, clear evidence of occupation. Remnants of fires, past meals, bedding, crude implements for spear making and other rubbish are scattered everywhere. Black feathers are prominent among the debris.
To the east, stands a small cistern containing a glowing pool of water.
Perception =
Kel is drawn by the pretty lights and wanders towards the cistern.
"Yep that is a mausoleum all right."