Elessaria
Degar
Duncan
Routunious
Tick-A-Tick
Fink
The passage returns them to the large, domed cavern with the circle of mushrooms. There is an earthy subterranean smell, is is dank and warm, and dominating the center of the cavern is a mushroom ring.
The little Friendly Fungus is walking with Elessaria now, farting in consternation at the missing Stago.
Routunious examines the mushrooms, in quiet calm now that there are no more wood woses to disturb them. His proficiency with herbalism allows him to make some conjecture about the fungi in the ring. His knowldege is limited though.
Degar steps up next to him and says, "Ye know where them mushrooms grow, son?"
Routunious, perterbed, says without looking up, "Obviously they grow underground."
The dwarf continues to pester him, "Do ye know what else grows underground?"
"Do tell."
"Dwarves do. They get born, they grow, and they die underground. If I was wondering about something that lived underground, I might ask a dwarf about it, but that's just me."
Routunious sighs, "Do you know anything about these mushrooms?"
"No, but I like to be asked." The dwarf roars with laughter and Routunious turns back to his study of the fungi. Degar taps him on the back, saying, "I was just joking...Yea, I know a thing or two about 'em. That tall one, with the twin caps, that's got healing properties. A magic mushroom and a lucky omen when you find it in the wild. A fresh one, eaten right off the stalk, that will heal ye complete. It's like a potion of heal. If you pick it, it stays fresh for about a day. After that, it starts to rot a bit and that spoils it. You can dry them, though, and though they aren't as effective as when they're fresh, they're still pretty good medicine and they keep forever that way."
Routunious is intrigued, "Can I dry them here?"
"Nah, not in a dank and drippy cave like this. You need drying rocks and heat, an oven, that sort of thing."
Routunious takes out a bottle and begins collecting spores from the mushroom, for possible later cultivation. He fills an entire bottle and then cuts off a steak-sized chunk that is good for around 20 bites or so.
2:15 pm
The Friendly Fungus keeps walking back to the pool and looking into it while making obnoxious noises. He seems to have gotten very attached to Stago and misses him.
Degar and Routunious go around the circle of mushrooms looking to see if there are any shriekers, and they find none. Then they move over to examine the wall of brambles and thorns that blocks the passage leading off to the right.
Elessaria also walks the perimeter of the mushroom circle, examining it very closely. She notices that there are thirteen growths which look less like mushrooms than they do young, tiny nightshades. These things are mossy and soft, with shoots that have just burst through the ground. They have unnervingly human-like faces.
The elf calls Degar and Routunious over. She says, "You're the experts, what are those things?"
Routunious says, "They could be baby wood woses, I suppose."
Degar shouts, "Let's kill them!"
Elessaria stops him, shouting as he lifts his boot to stomp on one, "No!"
"Why does she have to spoil all the fun?"
"We don't know what they are," Elessaria says, "and until we do, we aren't going to kill them."
"Have you looked inside the ring yet?" Fink asks.
No one is willing to go inside the mushroom ring, until Fink volunteers to climb up on the shoulders of Tick-a-Tick and look inside the ring. They all agree this is a good idea, and he does so.
"There's a glint, a reflection, in the middle of the mushroom circle," he says, "let's go in!"
Elessaria attempts to dissuade further investigation of the mushroom circle. "We have many tasks and all are vital...we have to stay focused. There's the over-arching goal of finding Shandar's Staff of Negation. There's the political situation of Constable Tren versus Randall Morn. And Degar's quest, of course. Clearing Duncan's name and also getting Fink out of debt...and not least of all, releasing Stago from the nixie."
"That is a lot for a To Do list," agrees Fink, "but something shiny might be money and that could help with some of those goals."
"Alright, but if you're going in, we need a plan," Elessaria says.
The decide to tie a rope to Fink who, will creep in between the mushroom stalks to the center. He does so and spends twenty minutes searching. All he finds is a broken potion bottle, an intact and full potion bottle filled with a blue liquid, and four pieces of amber that are worth about 20 gold pieces.
When he emerges from the ring, Routunious barks out, "What did you find?"
Fink tosses the potion bottle to him. Routunious catches it and examines it.
"It's a blue liquid," Fink offers, helpfully.
"I can see that. It must be a potion of some kind," Routunious says.
Fink pokes at one of the tiny bark creatures. He says, "There were many footprints
of bark creatures. Or wood woses, whatever you want to call them."
"Keep searching the area," Elessaria commands. Routunious and Duncan go around the room and look down a narrow corridor.
Elessaria, Degar and Fink go to the bramble-blocked corridor. They hear a rustling, and bend in to take a closer look. Suddenly, the rustling increases and a bark creature pokes out it's wooden head. The party is just as surprised as the wood wose, who quickly pulls its head back through the brambles.As the party recovers from the shock of seeing another bark creature, portions of the wall of thorns begin move. Tendrils of vines and sharp thorns shoot out. Degar
and Fink are caught in the vines which encircle them and begin to constrict like pythons. Each tendril of vine is covered in iron hard thorns that cut deeply into the flesh causing a great deal of damage.
Fink quickly collapses from blood loss and slips out of consiousness. It is like being entangled in a rope of daggers.
Duncan and Routunious see what's happening and try to determine some means of helping the halfling. Elessaria hacks away at the vines with her sword.
Degar relaizes that the more he thrashes, the more damage he takes, and he attempts to stand as still as possible, despite the pain.
2:20 pm
Elessaria again hacks away at the vines, but now they fight back! The elf takes a very serious wound from the whipping motion of the vine.
"Don't move!" yells Routunious.
Degar adds to the warning, "Take another thrashing like that and you're unconscious!"
Fink moves frantically in an effort to escape and dies a grisly death. Elessaria suffers additional damage, though minor, as she has taken the advice she was given and is trying to remain motionless. She continues to bleed.
Degar slips into a battle rage, but in a tremendous effort of will he manages to suppress the rage and stop it. He realizes that in a rage he would tear himself to ribbons under the current conditions.
2:31 pm
Finally, the branches and tendrils withdraw into the wall of thorns.
Elessaria has taken damage as the vines retreat and she falls to her knees. Routunious runs over to her and attempts to stop Elessaria's
many bleeding wounds. He fails!
He cries out, "Oh, my God!"
Elessaria continues to slide toward death.
Routunious gives the elf an entire bottle of Potion of Extra Healing , and although it doesn't restore her completely, she does regain conciousness.
Routunions examines the tattered body of Fink, lying in the blood that is pooling from hundreds of punctures. The priest removes a scroll tube from his pack and unscrews the cap. He removes a scroll and reads it over the body.
The priest finishes with the command, "Arise!"
Fink has been successfully raised from the dead. Routunious cradles the disoriented thief and gets him to eat a bite of the mushroom.
The flood of health released by the fungus is miraculous, and Fink smiles up at Routunious.
Routunious says, "You're indebted to me."
Fink replies, "Get in line."
3:00 pm
The party ponders what to do now, after recovering from the battle they fought with the vines. Clearly there are more wood woses in the area, just behind the wall of thorns. It seems as though they also have the ability to use an entangle spell to cause the wall of thorns to deal horrific damage to anyone trying to get through the wall.
Fink suggests, "Let's burn it!"
Elessaria shouts, "NO FIRES!" She has a very strong aversion to any sort of open flame in this area, though she can't explain why.
She forces calm into her voice, and says, "Let's go forward, through the other passageway, but with new battle order."
Degar
Elessaria
Fink
Duncan
Routunious
Tik-A-Tik
The party moves to the only unexplored opening off of the mushroom cave. They discover, however, that Tick-a-Tick is too big to fit through it without major excavation.
They look a short ways beyond the opening, and see a tunnel, with floors descending deeply in steps. On the first step below them is the dessicated exoskeleton of another male hook horror. Far below they hear the sound of roaring water.
Elessaria says, "This seems like the most defensable position available. We should sleep here. Once we've slept we can replenish your spells and prayers to prepare for the next set of challenges."
Routunious makes a primitive alarm. by stringing pots and pans on a rope near the lip of the cliff. Tick-a-Tick stands watch completely blocking entrance into the tunnel. Everyone sleeps for eight hours.
11:00 pm
After awaking from their sleep, the party divides up. Routunious goes to a private area to commune with Gond and make his prayers known. Duncan goes to a private area and studies his spell book, memorizing th spells that he believes will be most useful this day.
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