This time, Cricket's bolt finds its mark. Mal finishes off the mushroom monster with her teeth, ripping it apart. It falls limply to the ground, a light dusting of spores wafting from its inert corpse.
Uhe stows away his bow. The dwarf shyly meandering about the place pulling bolts from walls, removing talismans from necks, rolling a Boulder suspiciously, and preparing to deliver a well placed karate chop.....
"Let me see if I can do it," Brijetta says, concentrating on the boulder. "I can hear some metal in there. It wants to come out."
Brijetta uses her kinetic abilities to extract the cold iron from the boulder!
Uhe stares at the ore politely removing itself from the Boulder.
That was convenient.
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Mal somehow both rears up and leans back, dancing on her hind legs as she paws at her nose.
Then all of a sudden she sneezes so hard all the fur flies off of her...
And then there's Mal all back again. Her amusement at her own antics quickly ebbs though as she realizes what a profound beating Brijetta took from the mushroom creature.
"Ohhh, I reckon that might be a bit more'n arnica's good for... Let's keep things from grindin' around for now, but it'll need more tendin' soon."
Brijetta looks a little confused as Mal doesn't really help her ... though part of her seems resigned to that being her fate. She's not sure if Mal just wants to push on, though?
"I've got a little juice left, Brijetta." Gig weave his hands together in a shadow puppet of a nurse tending the kineticist.
After healing up, you head up the stairs into a nautral hollow inside the giant mushroom's cap. Each of the cap’s 10 membranes has a tall, narrow window carved into it, and the ceiling arches 15 feet overhead, where an assortment of glowing fungi fill the room with normal light. The room contains what looks like a living laboratory. A workbench in the chamber is clean, yet the rest of the room is littered with discarded fungi from failed experiments.
A small fungus leshy stands on the workbench, glaring angrily at you. Two more zombified mushroom-men stand in front of him, dead eyes glassy.
"I should have known you would come for me," the leshy declares. "I have watched for decades as humanoids like you kidnap and eat innocent fungi! I have worked tirelessly to put an end to such despicable practices! The restaurant in your city was just a warning. Once I perfect my sporeborn zombies, then all of you will know what it is like to be eaten for a change!"
"Look, sure we eat fungi, but we are careful to cultivate it, too! We help spread spores and make sure that species propagate."
Gig's not really an expert at horticulture, but he's pretty sure that no one sentient creatures are being kidnapped and fed to dwarves. Torag wold surely frown on that.
Uhe stares silently at the fungus leshy for a full minute, before shrugging.
The dwarf then begins searching under the counters, inside cabinets and even under a foot stool.
There's got to be a Scying device around here someplace.
"I reckon it's more a circle of life kinda thing though, right? Fungi an' all already get to eat us back if'n they wait for it. Sooner if you count whatever that smell is from Cricket's boots."
"Thank you," Brijetta says as Gig heals her, though she's a little confused about whether he wanted her to drink some of his juice or give her more (even though she doesn't have any juice with her).
In the mushroom cap, the young dwarf stays quiet, keeping to the back so she doesn't mess anything up.
"Enough! There can be no peace between mushroom and man! It's time for you to become fertilizer!" the leshy shrieks.
The leshy hurls spore pods at Gig to devastating effect! The zombified myceloids stagger towards Mal and attack, but the druid's shield deflects their attacks.
HP 46/46
AC 19
Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +8
Hero points: 2
Infused regents: 2
Effects:
Brijetta yelps in surprise as the mushroom man attacks, calling the forge elements to her with a blast of fire. She follows up with a spray of metal shards.
Mal hunkers beneath the weight of blows on her shield, then shifts her form once more. Remembering that teeth weren't the best weapon for these fungals, her shape is different this time. The fur that springs forth is grey and tangled instead of streaming red, the tail is stubby and abrupt. The claws are wickedly sharp.
"Ouch, my head!" Gig staggers on his feet and tries to wipe the poison out of his eyes. He conjures the last of his magic to heal himself, but manages to encourage his companions.
Uhe seems truly amazed by Gig's Resiliency! Truly the tales of dwarves endurance is understated....
The Investigator then thumbs his nose at the leshy with an attitude!
Uhe screams in frustration!
Uhe frowns, but still feebly fires his inept shot....
The determination builds as he attempts a second but not as sweet a shot at attitude muffin!
"You are clearly unhinged..." Cricket says as he aims and shoots.
Uhe's first attack misses. His scream greatly demoralizes the leshy, though, allowing his second arrow to strike true. Cricket fires a crossbow bolt directly into the leshy's body, piercing all the way through and out the other side! The creature shrieks in pain and fury but is still standing!
Brijetta's blast mises the leshy, but her shards tear through the zombified myceloids, the slashing damage proving super effective! Mal capitalizes on this weakness as well, her claws ripping through rotting fungoid flesh!
The leshy shifts its aim to Cricket, firing spore pods at the ranger!
The myceloid zombies attack Mal, bludgeoning her with their fists!
Gig keeps his distance, and fires small flecks of metal start into the fungal leshy.
for
Unfortunately, he's so distracted by his headache that his shot goes dar wide.
Cricket takes a deep breath just before getting hit by the spore and thus avoids the poison. He'd not risk dealing with spores again. He almost loses his breath when hit by the thing, though.
He shoots twice more in quick succession.
Uhe grins at the little piquant.
The Investigator again considers his choices!
Uhe smiles! He fires his fine shot....
The determination builds as he attempts a second but not as sweet a shot at attitude muffin!
The dwarf then Hides behind some table.
The gem whipping around Mal's head intercept's the first blow, shattering into a hail of lacerating shards. The blows smashing down into her fur echo dully against skin that is clearly denser than a normal cat's as well...
Streaking around the fungal zombies in a blur, Mal rakes her wicked talons across her foes as she flings herself onward.
HP 46/46
AC 19
Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +8
Hero points: 2
Infused regents: 2
Effects:
"Mal!" Brijetta cries as the cat gets pummeled, the young dwarf's heart skipping a beat until she sees the cat dart away.
She blasts the fungal zombies again, hoping they can destroy them quickly!
Cricket's bolts take out the leshy, then the rest of you team up to finish off the zombies! They crumple to the ground and lie still.
A tiny hourglass (a grim sandglass) sits atop the workbench amid various brushes that have been used to restore it. Nearby lies a knot of brittle hair held together by a metal clasp that resembles two hands clasped in friendship. This clasp functions as a diplomat’s badge, though Krohan regards it with puzzlement. "Strange. This object seems to pull at me in the same way that the distant clan dagger yet does. I feel this might have untold historical value."
The leshy's notes here consist of nearly a hundred sheets of mismatched parchment held together by a bone pin. Most pages contain field illustrations of various fungi, Sylvan rants about surface predators eating his “children,” and maps of other restaurants in Highhelm that the leshy planned to attack, but there are also two rituals recorded here. The first is create mycoguardian. The other is a variant of reincarnate whose randomly determined bodies depart from the typical odds.
"Oh!" Brijetta murmurs, mostly to herself. "My uncle cut off his long beard when he got in trouble. Maybe it's something like that."
"I wonder if that's what was pulling Krohan, and not the dagger..."
Uhe peers over the table to see that the leshy and its thralls were truly vanquished. The Investigator stands. He brushes off his pants, as he strides over to better look at the knot of brittle hair held together by a metal clasp that resembles two hands clasped in friendship.
I seem to recall that dwarves sometimes acknowledge wrongdoing by severing a beard or braid. Probably cursed.
Reviewing the leshy's notes, the Investigator figures out the precise mathematics of possible and most likely reincarnations.
Looks fine to me.
Mal winces at the braid/beard cutting discussion. "Yep. Reckon that sounds right."
Studying the druid's notes she quickly cheers. "Oh... This is kinda... Huh. Might have to use this some time. Not to kill surfacers or restauranters or nothin of course!"
"No doubt it memorializes some sort of infamous deed! I'll bear it with honor while we investigate." Gig looks over the clasp to see if he can pinpoint its historical era via the style or material.
Gig is unable to place what era the clasp might be from.
When you are ready, you proceed out of the giant mushroom and down the tunnel behind it. The fungus carpet here sags, covering a tunnel over 20 feet wide that descends steeply. The biomass supports your weight, requiring considerable slashing or burning to make a hole to the tunnel below.
"Here it is. This is where I dropped the clan dagger," Krohan says. "At the time, this was just a narrow crack. Even so, I can sense the dagger deep below us, but not too far away."
The thick hyphae have extended hundreds of feet down the tunnel, covering about half the distance you need to descend, and by tying ropes where the fungi end, you are able to descend the remaining 300 feet with relative ease. The shaft deposits you in a horizontal tunnel with a dry pool where rainwater once trickled down from above. The whole area has the lingering, unpleasant odor of xulgaths.
"Should we find a safe place to rest before proceeding, or are you all good to go?" Krohan asks.
"I wouldn't mind a rest, if we can spare the time. I'm pooped, and those mushrooms banged me up a bit." Gig rubs the tender goose-egg on his forehead where the seed hit him.
Brijetta wrinkles her nose, but agrees they could rest.
"But maybe we should climb back up? It might not smell quite as bad," she suggests quietly.
"Oh right, sorry 'bout that." Mal quickly busies herself tending to Gig's and her wounds.
"Hey I might keep this neat hourglass? If no one wants it?"
"Oh, that's much better Mal. Thanks!" Gig's headache fades under the druid's tender care.
Cricket nods to Brijetta. "That is smart. If we retreat and xulgaths come, we'll smell them from afar and we'll have the high ground."
Uhe climbs down lastly. The dwarf seems excited to not have to...
Back up, you say.
The dwarf sighs.
You climb back up and rest safely within the chambers inside the enormous mushroom. In the morning, you break camp, descend once more, and proceed along the tunnel. After walking for about half a mile, you come upon a massive cavern. The ceiling arches high overhead and stretches nearly a quarter of a mile across. The remains of a settlement can be seen within the cavern. The upper portion is semi-intact, but the lower portion is a mess of rubble, stalagmites, and the occasional ruin. Even from this distance, you can spot flickering lights around one massive stalagmite, as well as a dull fire burning in what appears to be a camp. Reptilian figures move about the camp.
Krohan concentrates on his armor shard for a moment before becoming worried. "This is strange. The clan dagger is here, but it seems to exist in two places—or two pieces. One is among the ruined buildings up here, and the other is inside that camp. We should proceed with caution."
"Let's checked the ruined buildings first, so we know what we are looking for." Gig bites his lip. "Perhaps we can just sneak around those...residents." He points toward the figures near the fire.
Brijetta nods, happy to sneak. The forge spirits will help defend her if necessary, but she'd rather not fight.
The morning is met with the Investigator doing inventory during a breakfast of mushrooms omelets and fungus coffee.
Viewing the multiple lights lit lazily like in and around the enormous cavern, the dwarf sighs.
2gp they don't be liking visitors.
At the mention of using Stealth, the Investigator smiles.
I have just enough Infusions to make four Quicksilver Mutagen (Item 3) ?
Mal waves Uhe off, calling on the spirits to lengthen her stride. "Mutagens don't really stick to me."
Mineral-rich water dripping upon the cavern’s eastern side slowly built up limestone pads, creating a series of pock-marked terraces. A stretch of shallow limestone pools and puddles in your path are choked with dust and gravel that's slightly moist from the dripping stalactites above.
You spot a pair of large puddles of thick, dark mud here, heaped at the center in slightly drier patches of loam. Looking closer, though, you can see vague facial features among the dried mud...
Gig is careful to pick his way among the unfamiliar terraces.
Brijetta looks a bit dubious at Uhe's mushroom breakfast. It seems in poor taste -- no pun intended -- after the events of the previous day. She'll stick with her dried rations for at least one day. She thanks him for the elixir, though .
As she spies the puddles, she stops a moment, coking her head as if she's hearing something.
"Oh, yes, they're mudwretches in their resting form. They do like blood, so we should avoid them."
Gig, about to step near one of the holes, pauses with foot in mid-step. "Oh! Thanks Brijetta." He catches his balance and gives the puddles a wide berth.
"You're very careful, Brijetta. It's really keeping us out of jams!" Gig compliments.
"You win all the fights you don't fight." Cricket mentions as they pass by. "Weird saying, but in the Darklands, always better being unseen."
Uhe smiles at Brijetta as the Investigator--quickly--mixes her a Quicksilver Mutagen.
Will last 10 minutes. No swimmingfor 1 half hour.
The dwarf then carefully steps where the others step.
This reminds me of tiptoeing through the tulips.
He steps on a sharp tulip with a sheepish grin.
The dwarf nods.
Yup. mudwretches. We used to place one inside a person's boot at summer camp. Good times! Unless it was your boot.