Session 5

As the team regained consciousness, coughing and rubbing their smoke-filled eyes, the sight of the cabin burning chilled them. Silf, dragging a mortally wounded Glowkindle, finished his rescue mission and took his place observing the cabin. The adventurers found that, although they did not feel rested in the slightest, their connection with magic and Essence had returned in full force. They guessed it had something to do with the Silence being broken and filed the information away for future use. All four YFPBers were dangerously wounded, with severe burns and smoke damage. Even so, Harlan’s first move was to use one of his restored spell slots to Cure Wounds the poor sheep.

As the damage healed, Glowkindle opened his eyes and his confusion was quickly replaced by alarm. After a short discussion with Silf about what to do, he made the executive decision to take the group underground rather than flee back the path they came. Glowkindle warned the party that the path will be dangerous because of an outbreak of a viral mushroom colony. Upon hearing this, Vireya immediately downed the beer she’d gotten from the tavern in Tomara to help steel her nerves. The group descended into the tunnel without much resistance, beaten down by the night they’ve had. Unfortunately, confrontation is not so unavoidable. As they entered the dim, moldy tunnel lit only by the glowing spores emanating from the dangerous mushroom, Silf stopped the group and demanded an explanation.

It was clear to all involved that Irene was at the center of the surprise visit, but she played coy for much of the discussion, arguing that she didn’t know who the soldiers were or what they wanted with her. She also pointed out that she had apparently committed two capital crimes, desertion and magic-use, and so was highly unlikely to be on their side. Despite the evidence and tacit admission, she denied being a Torvani soldier, and the group accepted this after some deliberation. Vireya then proposed sending Irene back with the Torvani soldiers to act as a spy, but Harlan and Lorien spent much time explaining all the reasons that wouldn’t work. Finally, Lorien expressed a distaste for the companions he’d chosen who always seem to somehow invite trouble.

Irene reaffirmed that her troublemaking was indeed not her fault, and it didn’t really matter because the Torvani Ascendancy had pledged to kill all of the magic users in Serulea anyway. She talked about her lack of memories: she was from the Ascendancy, certainly, and she had a sister, and she did something to gain her magical abilities, but the rest was a blur. Upon being pressed further, she did admit to training with the army, and admitted that at some point in her past, she was part of the invading forces. The argument devolved from there, and Silf, regretting ever asking for an explanation, turned to continue their dive into the mines. He didn’t make it far, however, and collapsed inside a mostly clear divot in the walls.

The party took this opportunity to rest themselves, gaining some much needed health back. Harlan’s constitution proved itself in his time of need, and he managed to cough out the infected mushroom pieces he’d inhaled during his battle with the Fungal Zombies.

The group made their way further into the mines, following old minecart tracks into a wide, pitch-black cavern. Both Vireya and Harlan were out of lantern oil, but Irene had her own torch to aid their vision. It wasn’t long before they came upon a dead body, infested with various fungal colonies. He wasn’t dressed like a miner, and Glowkindle guessed that he had been some thief who had mistakenly sought refuge underground. This assertion was further supported by the bags of copper coins at the body’s feet. Vireya, ever quick on the looting, was first to the scene. She was greatly disheartened to find that the bags contained only 280 copper pieces, with each copper being worth a mere 1/100 of a gold piece.

Lorien, ever cautious, checked the coins for spores before handling any. His caution proved fortuitous; 30 of the 280 coins were cursed with some sort of spore-spreading magic that remained invisible to the naked eye. The group carefully segregated the cursed coins, pocketing the rest by distributing the weight by strength. Their wealth slightly increased, the group began jogging down the tracks, racing ahead of even their guide. Silf called out a warning to be wary of the rushing water gurgling underneath a portion of the track, but not one of the four even stopped to consider the option of traveling via river. Across a few bridges, into a tight tunnel, past several variants of glowing mushrooms, until they reached an impasse.

Their path forward had been narrowing steadily as they walked, but in front of them was nothing more than a jagged crack in the stone, wide enough for barely one person at a time. More foreboding, the path inside the crack was so dark that neither light nor magical sight could penetrate it. For a short time, the group was nonplussed, curious but not particularly fearful of what lay beyond. As Glowkindle and Silf caught up to the group, however, the darkness moved. And opened a single eye. And then…chirped, before flying out from the crack with a louder shrill. It was a crow with a backpack!

The crow was very difficult to manage. After Harlan asked what she was doing, she accused the group of being quite mean to her, as well as questioning her competency. Vireya tried to trade some copper for the treasure in the crow’s backpack, but the crow quickly realized that she was hiding much more valuable gold. The crow then remembered that she was looking for a group of people to deliver a message to, and through some confusing descriptions she implied that YFPB might be the group that she’d been looking for. Before delivering the message, she reaffirmed her need for gold. Harlan gave her a single gold piece, which she immediately tucked into her bag. It was not enough. She asked to look closer at Harlan’s face, and he leaned in obligingly.

Springing her trap, the crow immediately stole 13 gold from Harlan and stuffed it in her backpack. She remarked that Harlan was not her target, and asked for the next adventurer to approach. Irene and Vireya, sensing danger to their wealth, backed away immediately. Playing dumb, the crow began flitting around the cave and arguing with Harlan about being able to talk. While the crow was distracted, Irene picked one of the less lethal mushrooms and tossed it. The crow immediately confronted Irene, and the two began arguing about her message. After facilitating a handshake, the crow successfully swiped 11 more gold, this time from Irene. She asked for even more gold to deliver her message. After Irene gave her 2 more gold, the crow was finally mollified.

The crow delivered her message: “There’s a wolf, I think, and somebody somewhere told me to give you a warning. I think something is coming. Maybe don’t go in the cave!”

Irate, Irene snatched the crow out of the air and slipped the backpack back. The crow fled, promising revenge and labeling the group evil thieves preying on an innocent crow. The group opened the tiny backpack, but discovered that it was empty! The bag was a magical one-way space, and the group had no way of knowing where their money had gone. In revenge, Irene returned to the dead corpse from before and shoveled in the 30 cursed copper coins, hoping to harm whatever was waiting on the other side of the bag.

Continuing onward, the group pushed through the crevice without incident to discover a spore-soaked section of the cave. Harlan and Lorien managed to cover their mouths or avoid inhaling most of the spores, but Irene and Vireya both choked on the toxic, airy mold and inhaled far too much for comfort. Staying on their feet, they began moving around slowly and assessing their options. Before continuing along the minecart tracks, they peered past a large boulder blocking the Southern route. They couldn’t see much in the shadows and glowing spore clouds, but they heard the sounds of groaning and heavy earth being moved. Vireya with her dark vision thought she saw a much larger creature roaming in the open cavern beyond, but wasn’t sure enough to mention it to the group.

Circling around the cavern, the group avoided the regular sprays of spores from the large red mushrooms, and eventually spotted a strange, dog-like Fungal creature. Stopping immediately, the group managed to avoid detection as the Fungal Canine began “sniffing” towards them with its multiple tongues. Lorien coordinated a ranged strike, viciously mocking the creature as the two girls blasted eldritch energy. Their combined ambush was wildly successful, killing the creature before it even had a chance to react. Unfortunately, as they continued down the outward path, another Fungal Canine spotted them and alerted its pack. The battle had begun.

What passed next was a bloody display of glass cannons. YFPB struck quickly and brutally, blasting holes in the fungal beasts while Harlan took pleasure in smashing one’s head in. One Canine managed to tackle Irene to the ground and burn her with its acidic tongues. Critically failing for the second time that night, she was infected with disgusting spore seeds where the tongues latched onto her skin. Irene quickly dispatched the Canine, but the damage was done. The commotion attracted a more humanoid figure, whom Harlan rushed to meet without fear. Lorien blasted the remaining Canines with a thunderwave, but something about their biology allowed them to push forward through the concussive blast. Harlan for his effort managed to evade a poisonous breath attack from the Bloated Fungalman, and killed him in retaliation.

By the time Harlan returned to his group, only one Fungal Canine remained. It also managed to tackle him to the ground, but with his armor and natural strength was able to avoid being infected with spore seeds like Vireya. The battle won, the weary fighters trudged on into the darkness. Their intended path (the tracks) continued directly through another massive boulder. The group got the feeling that these boulders were placed purposefully to block their path, and decided to explore the rest of what they could see. Turning towards the inside of the circular cavern, they were able to see what Vireya had spotted through the shadows: a massive, 10-foot tall Depthdweller directly several more Fungalman to clear a landslide. There were also several Fungal Zombies wandering aimlessly through the spore clouds.

The party was not unwilling to fight these creatures, but Glowkindle was adamant that they needed some protection before venturing into the thickest spore clouds. YFPB retraced their steps to a small clearing that they had ignored upon entering the cave. Inside, they found another Fungal Canine chewing on some humanoid bones. The group quickly dispatched the beast from afar, and began rooting through the mangled skeletons. They found several pieces of dirty cloth that, while gross, would provide adequate protection from oral infection. Lorien spent some time searching the other skeletons, but didn’t manage to find anything else of value.

They then began a pseudo-stealth mission to pick off the wandering Zombies before challenging the Depthdweller. In the center of the massive circular clearing was an unstable sinkhole, inside which Using an illusionary mushroom, they distracted one enough for Harlan to smash into pieces. On the other side of the hole, a series of comedy-esque shenanigans with an illusionary zombie, a mage hand, and some spinning resulted in Harlan punting the other zombie into the sinkhole. With the Depthdweller still unaware of their presence, the group took up long-range positions to prepare the first strike. Perhaps it was the spore clouds, perhaps it was their nerves at facing one of the most distorted creatures yet, but Irene, Vireya, and Harlan all missed their attacks. Harlan, unfamiliar with the javelin he’d been carrying, missed of his own accord, but Irene and Virey’s magical attacks seemed to almost bend around the creature, avoiding him entirely. Lorien’s gun, by contrast, had no such problems piercing the Depthdweller’s flesh.

In its rage, the creature began waving its large staff in the air and commanding its attendants to attack. Lorien, sidestepping the first Fungalman, sent another concussive blast through both of his opponents. The one nearest to him shuddered and belched bile, but the farther one was blasted into the sinkhole. Blue crystal balls of energy began to form around the Depthdweller, and every member of the party dove for cover. Vireya, on her third critical fail of the night, took an energy attack direct enough to almost dislodge her position at the edge of the sinkhole. Harlan managed to shield Lorien and take two of the five attacks, winging him. Lorien managed to hide near some larger mushrooms, but Irene was briefly concussed by the blast. In retaliation, both Irene and Vireya placed Hexes on the creatures, burning and melting its skin as they weakened its resolve.

The creature responded by leveling its staff at Lorien and Harlan, discharging a massive beam of bright blue energy. Lorien manages to slip away, but Harlan’s wounds and heavy armor cause him to trip as he jumps out of the way. Lorien’s inspiration pushed him just far enough to avoid a lethal blow, but nearly half his body was burnt by the blast. Rather than heal himself, Harlan charged headfirst at the enemy while the girls provided suppressing fire. He managed to get in close and, with the help of his god, shattered the Depthdweller’s magical defenses and dealt a mortal blow. Sensing blood in the water, the other three adventurers unleashed a volley of attacks that brought the fight to a close. The Dweller attempted one more time to summon balls of energy, targeting only Harlan, but a well-aimed shot from Vireya destroyed its hand, and it flopped to the floor, beaten and dead.

The group convened over the body, bloody and breathing heavily. Wounded, mushroom spores sticking ominously to their bodies, and Vireya’s clear infection dampened their enthusiasm. On the Depthdweller’s body were two strange white crystals, which upon further examination appeared to contain pure magical Essence, which when crushed could restore a spell slot. Harlan also claimed the 8-foot staff that the creature had been using to cast its spells, but didn’t seem to be able to channel anything through it. Lorien, less wounded than the rest, decided to celebrate their victory with his own beer, and clinked with Harlan before downing it.