Trevor grunts as he is hits again and comments to the heavens far far above: "By Khors, I knew mushrooms didn't like the Light, but that... That is a dark obsession!"
That doesn't stop him though, and he continues his axe work in earnest.
Vrindel continues his nimble dodging of the fungus immediately attacking him, and send his flaming sphere towards the mushroom bothering Ibrox.
Fire Damage (5/10)
A bloodied Ibrox slips aside and away from the myconid attacking him. At the same time Trevor carves several chunks from his attacker, leaving it oozing a sticky yellow fluid from numerous places as it staggers under the onslaught.
Mushroom flesh is seared once again as Vrindel slams his flaming sphere into the blindside of the creature trying to scramble after Ibrox. Its high pitched screams fill the cavern.
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"Confound, Ibrox. I had thought for all your dark secrets you could handle at least one average vegetable in glorious combat. There are others that also require Thor's succor."
Aterro stalks to and behind Trevor. "It is time for you to stop playing around with them and begin to attack in earnest."
He extends an mailed gauntlet to the paladin's shoulder, and a warm light green light flows into the warrior of Khors, burning away the toxins.
Then, giving at least heed to the gnome's pleading, he sends the hammer to harass and beat upon Ibrox's pursuer.
"I felt His Thunder!" says Trevor in thanks.
With the electrifying tingle of Thor's aide Trevor feels the myconid's poison cleansed from his body. The cleric then focuses his god's hammer upon the mushroom man who had so bloodied Ibrox. The mighty weapon crashes down upon the creature, but ends up with only a glancing blow as it slides down the slick, fungal surface.
Finding themselves outnumbered and leaderless, the creatures finally start to break. The one harassing Vrindel is first. He slips away from the dodging druid and dashes out of the cavern through the open tunnel entrance. The second to flee is the one now being battered by Aterro's hammer.
Only one stands firm, continuing to trade blows with Trevor and holding the way open for his fellows to flee. This time though, none of the little mushrooms punches manages to land true.
While the enemy flees, Scramsax hurries over to the big mushroom, who is now nearly completely blackened. His face scrunches in disgust as he slides his hand into the slimy folds of the dead creatures head searching for the amber heart stone. After several attempts, he manages to find the stone and pulls it free with a look of triumph upon his halfling face.
"Get them! I'll manage here."
Breathing heavily to catch his breath, he abides Trevor's advice but thinks, wasn't Trevor supposed to block the shroom escape? Aterro is going to be so loudly disappointed.
"Ibrox" The gnome repeats in a nasally voice causing another bell to toll for the wounded and retreating shrooman.
If the 30' movement of Vrindel's flaming sphere can reach one of them, he'll send it in their direction.
Fire Damage (6/10)
Trevor slices and dices his fungal opponent turning it into large chunks with his axe. It falls to the floor dead. With the only fighting enemy gone, Aterro is forced to unleash his fury on the ones fleeing. He catches the one who attacked Ibrox before the creature can escape into the tunnel. Electricity flows, the smell of ozone and fried mushroom fills the air quickly followed by the tolling of Ibrox's spell which itself is following by the sizzling hiss and burning of Vrindel's sphere. The combined electro-necro-fiery onslaught is simply too much for the little shroom man to overcome and he falls to the ground quite dead.
Meanwhile the ever adventurous halfling continues to examine the heart sized and shaped glowing amber jewel he recovered from the still blackening myconid leader. The pulsing light from the huge gem causing a slight trickle of drool to slip down the corner of Scramsax's mouth as his eyes begin to water at the sight.
In the tank, the dryad's body begins to stir as fingers twitch and muscles spasm in her thighs and abdomen.
Catching a glimpse of something hidden deep within the stone, Scramsax brings it closer to his face to try and see what it is.
"Hey Trevor! Come take a look at....Eeerrppp!" The halfling is cut off midsentence. Moments later he disappears, the amber heart dropping to the floor with a thump. It rolls a few inches to land near the blackened hand of the big dead shroom. A blackened hand that suddenly twitches.
"Scramsacks!" The gnome calls out when the halfling disappears. On his way moving toward the heart jewel and the last location of the thief, the gnome warlock aims his Eldritch Blast at the glass prison of the dryad trying to hit it below the liquid line.
He reaches his mind toward the big shrooman and telepathically says, ::Stay down. Continue fighting or touch that jewel, and we'll make a soup out of you.::
Trevor, focused on the fleeing shroomanoid, uses his paladin voice to make it return: "Come!"
Trevor voice fills with the power of his god and for just a moment the creature pauses. But apparently the power of Khors is not quite as strong in this underworld lair where the light of the sun never shines because the little mushroom man shrugs off the knight's command and keeps running.
Ibrox blasts the glass prison. Although it is not enough to shatter the cage, several small spiderweb cracks form around the place where the eldritch power struck.
"Guys, I think the big shroom is coming back undead. Aterro, hit again if you can with holy fire." The gnome says with a bit a high-pitched concern in his voice, as he is closer to the undead than he wants to be.
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"Eh what?" Aterro blurts out as he eyes the last, fleeing mushroom-thing with hate and fury. "But he's getting away!" he says, his head now spinning between the running enemy and the blackened thing that Ibrox is gesticulating at.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Fine!" Aterro at last screams, -hating- letting an enemy go to warn comrades and prepare defenses. "Thor grant me strength." Exactly what Aterro needs strength against is left un-finished.
Unsure of what exactly Ibrox means, but also not really one to do things in a -not- over-compensated way, Aterro skips consideration of the mere sacred flame and instead points the spear in a two-handed grip at the large black mushroom.
And unleashes the power of the sun.
That the hammer should also descend upon it is simply a matter of course.
At Ibrox's warning Vrindel redirects his flaming sphere to the thought dead creature.
"Let's burn it till there is nothing to reanimate".
Flame Damage 7/10
A pulsing red glow flashes from beneath the rotted skin of the dead-but-not-quite-dead myconid. As Ibrox shouts his warning the creatures eyes flash open revealing the same eerie red glow. A crimson color surprisingly similar to the color of the crystals that still lay scattered about and that Scramsax used to bring the creature down.
Seeing the new threat, both Aterro and Vrindel react quickly. The war clerics scream of frustration is followed by a mighty burst of pure godly radiance that slams into the emerging undead horror. Rotted fungal skin bursts into an ash cloud that hangs in the air around the creature. Aterro's holy light is followed by the fiery retribution of nature as Vrindel's sphere slams into the creature.
The red eyes pulse brighter for an instant and a skeletal hand slides across the cavern floor scooping up a handful of the scattered crystals and stuffs then into its mouth. There's a loud crunching sound as it chews the necromantic candies. With each grinding crunch the creature grows blacker in color and its eyes glow with a brighter deeper red as it picks itself off of the floor glaring with undead hatred.
"I think that Shrooman used the soul of Scramsacks to come back as undead and the rocks to heal itself!" The gnome moving quickly away from the big shrooman trying to put a party member between himself and the undead myconid.
On his way retreating, the gnome warlock aims an Eldritch Blast at the glass prison of the dryad trying to hit it below the liquid line. "Ibrox!"
Trevor ignores the others and starts after the one making his escape. He runs and throws a javelin at it, then another.
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"Oh by Mjolnir and Grugnir," Aterro breaths, calling upon Thor's hammer and Odin's magic spear as a thing that should not even exist, and most certainly be dead, now moves and stands in the face of unceasing attack.
"Come Trevor! This is a foe to rival thy hydra! Let us stand shoulder to shoulder and engage in a battle worthy of song! The bards will sing of this day when brothers of STEEL did battle wage against a monster beyond the nightmare of man.
By the hammer of THOR let battle be joined!" he shouts, thrusting his lighting spear before him as the spectral hammer continues its smiting.
That Trevor has not only not joined combat but has even left the room does not, as yet, register in the WarCleric's factoring.
And Vrindel sighs as once again he must help slay what should already be dead.
"Ibrox... I don't know if it's the right thing to do, but perhaps freeing the Dryad may change things so continue... please"!
He then pounces his ball of flame upon the now undead monstrosity.
Fire damage 8/10
Aterro slams the spear into the rising undead mushroom man. Lightning arcs and sizzles along the shaft of the mighty spear momentarily drowning out the red aura of the creatures eyes and head. The electricity seems to acts as a draw for the magical hammer and it hits again with deadly accuracy pummeling the undead horror.
Vrindel takes advantage of the creatures distraction to slam his sphere of fire into the thing once again. Unable to avoid the blow, more of the things flesh turns to ash and falls away.
The creature roars and tries to strike back at the cleric, but its fist passes harmlessly past Aterro's head as he ducks the lumbering blow.
Ibrox scampers away from the rising undead mushroom man. The warlock focuses his efforts on the tank holding the dryad. His first blast strikes the exact same spot he hit before, but some fluke of the casting made the blow weak and mostly ineffective despite the precision shot. However, it did cause a vibration throughout the glass chamber that slightly weakened the internal strength of the glass for several precious moments. It is while in this weakened state that the gnome's second bolt hits with much more power. More cracks suddenly erupt in a cascade of spider webs across the surface of the chamber and liquid starts spraying from several of the larger breaks.
An ear piercing crackle overshadows the sounds and cries of battle for just a moment as the entire glass chamber weakens and cracks. Moments later the pressure inside simply overcomes the structural integrity of the glass and it bursts apart. Thousand of glass shards fly in every direction like thousands of tiny blades. Nearby mushrooms and other fungi hanging from the wall are shredded in moments. Following the glass is a cascade of necrotic crimson liquid from the chamber that sprays everything and everyone in the cavern. It washes across everyone in the room and continues to flow from the pipe leading back up to the well far above.
The dryad inside the chamber drops to the ground. At the same instant the amber stone flares to life, the golden light pulsing rapidly. The huge roots that make up the walls, ceiling, and presumably the floor of the cavern shudder violently in concert with both the pulsing amber and the convulsions of the dryad.
It starts to move back toward you, fingers curling into hard fists when suddenly the entire tunnel seems to twist and tumble in several violent convulsions.
DEX Save 1
DEX Save 2
CON Save
Vrindel continues to roll his ball of flame atop the big shroom.
CON (Concentration) Check if required.
"Whoa! Hold on"!
Trevor loses his bearings and falls on his knees. He curses himself, picks up his axe and hurries back on his feet, but the room doesn't seem to cooperate and he has a hard time getting his bearings right as he swings his axe clumsily and returns it with a quick backswing.
When the glass shatters, the gnome starts to think that his idea wasn't the greatest. Even if Vrindel supported it. He dodges the shattering glass but gets bowled over by the tsunami of necrotic superfluid. As he turns head over teakettle getting a mouthful of juice that he swallows with a cough.
AyEEEEEE
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"GraARGH!" Aterro wordlessly yelps as the veritable tsunami of ichor overwhelms him and collapses backwards in a sprawl. His great bulk is caught by a modicum of flying debris but it, like all material made of earth, finds little weakness in his double-layered chain, and he loses little more than his pride.
The liquid sloshes all about him, and he gets a face-full as he lumbers back up, but he has already quaffed of this aperitif, and his faith has made him inured against more evil than this drought can any longer muster.
"Do not think this will save you, evil-spawn!" he yops as hammer and spear maintain their deadly warbeat.
Vrindel and Ibrox both manage to avoid the flying shards of glass while Aterro's armor protects him from the worst of the damage. Vrindel rides the roiling floor like a sailor in a storm and slams his sphere once more into the undead foe across the way. Ibrox and Aterro are not quite so graceful and both go tumbling to the ground with a splash in the shallow liquid that continues to flow from the shattered chamber.
The war cleric manages to recover quickly enough and is able to sink his spear into the undead creature once again. But he notices the wound partially seal itself as he withdraws the blade. Wallowing in the liquid the creatures skin takes on a blood red glow that matches that of its eyes, the two crystals in its head and the liquid sloshing around the cavern.
The undead climbs back up onto its feet and throws another slow punch toward Aterro. The things aim is off once again and the floor shifts beneath its feet and the swing flies wide.
Covered by the initial spray of the bursting chamber and now standing in a inch of more of the odd red fluid, both Ibrox and Vrindel feel a sudden need and urge to try eating one of the many crystals now scattered all about the chamber. The red glimmer of the things drawing the two heroes like a flame to a pair of moths.
The dryad continues to convulse on the floor where she fell from the chamber while the amber stone pulses brighter and brighter. Slowly the stone begins to roll toward the dryad of its own accord. It travels about five feet, then suddenly stops and starts to roll the other direction only to reverse course yet again and start back toward the flopping, spasming dryad.
On his hands and knees, the gnome catches his breath while his head reels. Swirling vertigo precedes an overwhelming hunger. A hunger that only those red candy crystals can satiate. He finds some within his grasp and shovels them into his mouth with glee. Then, his wide, bloodshot eyes look for more candy around him.
Wisdom Save
Wisdom Save (Advantage)
Fire Damage 9/10
Vrindel tries to keep his crap together while retaining control.
"No Ibrox... don't eat that! It's not candy!.
"I think that liquid is somehow healing it"!
When his axe connects, Trevor implores Khors to bring down his foe. In response, his axe flashes with holy light.
The screams coming from back in the central cavern, grab much of your attention, but you can't help but notice something odd about the shuddering root walls of the tunnel. As you sway and rock with the various convulsions, you notice a narrow gap starting to appear between the once solid wall of intertwining roots. A gap here, a narrow crease there. All along the tunnel.
In the cavern Ibrox succumbs to the siren call of the crystal and snatching a couple from the floor pop them both into his mouth. Filled with a sudden rush of energy and euphoria never really experienced before the little gnome feels revitalized and reinvigorated. Moments later the gnomes nose stops bleeding and the swelling around his eye fades away.
Sensing the unnatural draw to try the crystals, Vrindel overcomes his desire and resists the need to consume any instead focusing all of his efforts on maintaining his sphere of fire and slowing the undead myconid monstrosity that continues to threaten Aterro and the rest of his companions. The trollkin's efforts are rewarded as the slow moving creature is unable to avoid the searing flames of the sphere.
The dryad continues to convulse on the floor. The roots growing from her hands and feet shivering and shaking with each body contorting spasm. This in turn causes the continuing violent convulsions of the walls, floor and ceiling of the cavern. One especially violent tremor flips the pulsating amber heart stone within five feet of the fae's fallen form.
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"Oh by Sleipnir and Fenrir, Ibrox what are..." Aterro stammers out as the gnome is overcome by madness.
Even as the undead mushroom harried him, he paid it less heed as it proved itself not quite up to par as the undulating waves gave it more than it coulod handle.
And so the WarCleric's attention wavered over to where his companions were battling...other demons.
'The druid holds fast while the gnome fralters,' he notes.
So too, he wonders where Trevor has gone off to.
But then he brings his focus back on his foe. He thinks of battle-cries, or some taunt or insult that would be relevant here, but none come. 'Tis surreal that he's fighting a mushroom, and doubly so that it is powered by necromantic energy.
How does that even work?
Aterro fights as if he was raised upon a ship constantly sailing through a hurricane. The roiling floor does little to hamper his spear or hammer and both slice and bludgeon the struggling necromantic mushroom. But even as unlife is taken away by the cleric, it is restored by the crystals it scoops with one hand and shoves into its mouth. Crunching the bright red blood crystals its eyes glow brighter and wounds rapidly close and it lashes out with its other fist to try and fight off the fierce cleric. But once again the churning of the floor, foils its lumbering punch as Thor's chosen dances away unscathed.
On the floor of the cavern, a small drama plays itself out. The glowing amber stone, its light pulsing like a beat heart rolls closer to the prone and convulsing dryad. It as if the very roots themselves are working to push the heart shaped gem to the fallen fae. Yet, somehow the stone itself seems to struggle against the constant push of the roots. It rolls itself left, right, whatever direction is away from the dryad, but whatever fuels the stones struggle is unable to overcome the dryad's draw. Eventually it is pushed close enough that a long fingered hand covered it root growths makes a grab for the stone. It slaps the ground with a sloppy splash causing the entire chamber to shake, rumble, and groan. But the grab just misses as the amber scoots out of the way at the last possible moment.
You step closer to the gaps and it doesn't appear that anything is giving away or suddenly collapsing like a mine cave in. Instead, and perhaps a little more disconcerting, it looks like the roots are simply shrinking. Even in the few moments you've taken to look closer, your eyes register the small, but significant growth in the gaps. Or rather the shrinkage of the roots.
Vrindel once again directs his flaming ball of death into the undead monstrosity, and it peters out as it deals it's final damage.
Flame Damage. (Bonus Action)
He then attempts to move the amber stone over to the prone Dryad.
I don't see how this might make things worse.
"I feel great! These candies are awesome!" The gnome exclaims while greedily grabbing for more. His eyes are wild and blood-shot. Necrotic candy dust cover his chinstrap beard, nose and mouth.
Trevor rushes back to the cave and looks at the terrifying scene.
Unclear on what exactly to do, since both Ibrox and the undead mushroom are both eating crystals, he stays in the cave's entrance and throws javelins at the mushroom, while he shoots at Vrindel: "The roots! Vrindel, the roots are receding like my uncle Garn's gums! Is this a good thing?!?"
He relies again on Khors to guide his hand: "By Khors' Light!"
Trevor runs back into the room shouting about the roots and laying into the undead myconid with his axe. The radiant light of Khors flashes brightly as the axe carves into the creature for the second time in so many minutes as much of the raving thing is turned to dusty ash.
The radiant light causes the creature to stagger back and away from the knight and Vrindel's flaming sphere. The surprise move by the fungal nightmare throws off the trollkins aim and the sphere just misses, slamming into an uprooted mushroom before it finally disappear back to the elemental plane of fire from whence it came.
Ibrox tries to push away the growing hunger that gnaws at his mind. The need to fill his belly with as many of the red crystals as possible to build and extend the growing euphoria that races through his system like wildfire across a dry windblown plain. At first his succeeds in pushing off the driving desire, but the double dose already running rampant in his veins is simply too much for even his gnomish mind to overcome. He reaches out yet again to grab and shove more of the sweet, delectable treats into his mouth.
While Ibrox feasts, Vrindel moves closer to the fallen, convulsing dryad. Carefully he nudges the glowing amber stone toward the reaching hand. With snake like quickness the dryad snatches the stone and pulls it close to her naked chest, where the trollkin notices a large scar where a persons heart would be. Although the stone appears to struggle, the dryad's grip is tight and sure as she places the stone onto the terrible wound.
You can't be completely certain, but you believe the amber stone may actually be the dryad's true heart. Likely removed by the witch to control the poor creature and bend her to the witches will. With the dryads magic and under her control the witch could have easily transformed the fae's willow into the horror on the surface and also created this underworld realm and its necrotic byproduct. Returning the heart to the dryad will put the creature back under its own control. Whether that is good or bad, only time will tell.
Although it is curious and you can't help but wonder what happened to Scramsax since he was touching the stone when he disappeared.
The gnome shakes his red, candy-covered head like a dog. He blinks heavily through the drug haze enough to focus a stern word at the undead myconid, "Ibrox" causing a massive bell to toll in the cavern.