Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Thirty-Three

Rehearsal Interrupted

Dramatis Personae:

Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Wererat Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights
Riddle, Claire's baby Basilisk
Hans, Claire's Basalt Wolf Figurine
Urthstripe. Claire's Alabaster Badger Figurine
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut who plots the murder of anyone who slights her
Lit, Mezzem's baby Basilisk
Rosebud Goldenrod Petunia, the Halfling/Shetland Pony "Centaur" Wererat Berserker, "The Destroyer;" who sees magic where there is none and collects things that aren't there
Lily Trillium Petunia, the Green Dragonborn Lore Bard, and Rosebud and Geophry's "Momma;" champion of the Living Dungeon
Vadania Nailaza, the Wild Elf Oakroot of Rillifane Rallathil
Barkbeak, Vadania's Hippogriff Steed

Seluna, the Moon Elf Drow Totem Warrior Circle of the Moon Druid and Silverstar of Selûne
Flimflam Pebblehead, the Deep Gnome Arcanist who really likes killing things, thinks he has powerful enemies out to get him that are telling him what to do, he has a voice giving him directions in his head, and is enamored with every beautiful voice he hears, and periodically slips into a catatonic state, his mind is slipping and his intelligence is waxing and waning
Smoothpalm, the Deep Gnome Monk of Smoothhands
Niles Rubusthorn, the Moon Elf Shadow Dancer
Twyla Alderleaf, the Moon Elf Scout
Geophry Cherry Blossom Petunia, the chair that used to be a boy
Stool, the Myconid Child was raised from the grave by Mezzem
Galothel Nightbreeze, the Moon Elf Alchemist
Amin of Citadel Adbar, the Shield Dwarf Alchemist
Mithrilye, the Sun Elf Entertainer who will do anything to achieve her goals, and believes that anything that can bring her pleasure should be enjoyed immediately, not saved until later
Lith, the Bronze Dragonborn Scholar
Fitzzle, Lith's violet faerie dragon familiar

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh met group briefly on route to Mantol Derith for trade
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy last seen in Bahamutsville under Zin-carla
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter- abandoned the party because Orvald died last seen in Bahamutsville
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Ol' Sparky, the Deep Dragon- last seen thrown into a portal to the Abyss by a glabrezu
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout- vaporized by a jackass

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor- big badda boom 

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon- bigger badda boom
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut- skull caved in by another rock from Fidget
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube- stayed with the kobolds
Kara Reginleif, the Half-Valkyrie Wererat Champion from the Zhentarim- vorpaled to pieces by demon Easter bunnies

Rumpadump, the Myconid Child- frozen by demon Easter bunny was raised by Mezzem and went missing
Sajin Silvertongue, the Deep Gnome Wererat Assassin- got stoned and kissed a pretty Medusa
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut- retired in Blingdenstone
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins- stayed in Blingdenstone
Yklwa, Tali's Deinonychus animal companion- devoured by corbies
Natali, the Tiger Therinthrope Beastmaster- wished herself home
Roswyn Darkshooter, the Deep Gnome Delver from the Miner's Guild- grick kibble

Friendly Fire: 206
Party members killed: 23
Overall party members lost: 33

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.

***** Marpenoth 16, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess), Neverlight Grove

       Rosebud charged in, as Lily had ordered, and bashed one with his maul, splattering bits of fungus all over himself. I followed him and skewered another one with my spear, while he turned his maul onto two more, dropping them too.

       Vadania and Barkbeak flew in and dropped the biggest one, but they were hit with the spore cloud in the process. I hate the damn spore clouds. Mezzem sent her spiritual blade and a pillar of radiance at one of them, dropping it, while Lily summoned his Hand to grab and squeeze another one- I suppressed a shudder at the memory. The fungi began swarming us, badly injuring Barkbeak in their assault. Flimflam sent a ball of acid at a cluster of them- without hitting any of us! As he did, a puddle of grease appeared under Lith, Mezzem, and Mithrilye, and Flimflam seemed to get a little shorter; magic is fucking weird. His sphere killed all but one of the mushrooms he'd attacked.

       A group of the little guys stepped through a nearby mushroom and appeared in front of Vadania and I. Rosebud, Vadania, and I killed one each of the little ones, and hacked into the big myconid, with Vadania getting the killing blow. Mezzem dropped the last little one that was near me.

       Lily slammed his Hand- that was still squeezing the myconid in its grasp- into one of the big guys near Vadania; I shuddered at yet another unpleasant memory of that damn Hand. He then pulled out a wand, unleashed a volley of missiles at the big one, and then the wand exploded finishing it off. I don't think he meant to do that. There was only one big myconid left, and it slammed into Rosebud, seeming to hurt the halftaur a little; Flimflam and Geophry each unleashed bolts at it, finishing it off.

       The spore cloud Rosebud had been hit with earlier, by the larva, made it so he was no longer capable of taking anything seriously. The more serious a situation, the more hilarious it is to the halftaur.

       All that was left to do was dispose of the heads, and Rosebud thought it would be fun to smash them- except with his first swing he hit Vadania in the face with one... She was pissed, but it was so funny. Flimflam and Geophry decided to just blow them up instead, it was a much quicker way of dealing with this. I was a little surprised that none of the insane myconids had caught us up here yet.

       Once the heads were dealt with we headed to the creepy mushroom tower. "We had no clear reference to judge the towering mushroom's size at this distance. Thousands of smaller fungi cling to the mam stalk, which itself splits into several lesser stalks, each long enough with a cap big enough to be the top of a great tower. The cavern floor surrounding the stalk is covered by a carpet fungi.

       "An eerie luminescence pours through slitted windows carved into the trunk, with the same cacophony of atonal music heard earlier echoing within. A stench of rot and decay wrapped around us, seemingly threatening to penetrate my flesh and pervade my soul."*

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

       A huge ledge hugged the cavern wall behind it, and we could see writhing lumps within it. We quickly realized those lumps were people, and one of them opened, revealing a fungal drow who was screaming. As it locked its eyes on us, the screams were silenced, and its eyes rolled into the back of its head, as it sunk back into the ground.

       For the next few minutes, Rosebud was convinced Mezzem was his lucky charm, and he was suffering from vivid hallucinations. Flimflam's mind is now slipping, and his intelligence is waxing and waning. 

       Rosebud began freaking out, saying zombies were attacking- there were no fucking zombies. His freak out caused Flimflam to launch a bolt of flame at the tower. Lily cast something to calm everyone down, making Flimflam, Geophry, and Barkbeak lethargic. He summoned his Hand to scoop up Rosebud and Mezzem.

       We decided we needed to go tell Basidia what was happening up here, we would need help if we were to attempt to take this tower down.

       Basidia decided we needed to evacuate all of the sane myconids in the Grove, and the easiest way to do that was to load up all of them into our Tower and take them back to Blingdenstone with us. We kept a few out in one of our carts to help guide us back to the city. Mezzem told Turvy we were doing it, and he told us not to; of course she ignored him, since we didn't have any other options for these poor mushrooms.

       As we began to leave we noticed that Phylo had gathered a group near the Garden of Welcome, and they were moving toward us. We were going to just ignore them, since they move much slower than we do, but Lily decided to deal with it. He told us to just keep moving, and he'd catch up, then he used the spell that lets him go through dimensions to appear next to Phylo.

       Phylo told Lily that the Garden of Welcome had been burned, and asked if he knew who the vandal was. The bard told him that the party had gone up there to investigate the fire, but that they didn't see anyone up there. He told Phylo that he would help with the investigation if he wasn't called back to his college- then he teleported away and turned invisible.

       Rosebud completely flipped out when Lily vanished, but we managed to calm him, assuring him that the myconids didn't do anything to him, that it was all part of Lily's plan. With that taken care of we left Neverlight Grove, to return to Blingdenstone.

       Before we left Mezzem had used a spell to remove some of Flimflam's insanity, taking the GPS out of his head. She then left him in the Tower because his catatonic states and his mind slipping were liabilities to us.

       Several hours later we arrived at a freshwater stream that had six water orbs. Rosebud and Geophry decided to harvest them, both messed up one each, getting themselves drenched, but the chair managed to gather the rest of them with no issue.

***** Marpenoth 17, Underdark Wilds

       Without Roswyn to do our scouting, Rosebud and Niles decided to do it; though really it should have been Twyla since Roswyn taught her to be a scout.

       Rosebud and Niles came upon a carrion crawler and decided to take care of it on their own without telling the rest of the group. By the time the rest of the party caught up they had finished the beast off.

       Later the pair encountered a group of drow and quaggoths, and again decided to handle it without telling the group. They snuck up to the group, and dropped one each before the drow knew they were there. The quaggoths began to surround Rosebud after he dropped another drow. 

       We walked into a cavern to find Rosebud killing a quaggoth and a drow, and Niles shooting at them from the sidelines. Lily instantly began insulting the drow, while Mezzem and Smoothpalm moved up to finish off the remaining quaggoths.

***** Marpenoth 18, Underdark Wilds

       We finally found a place to set up the Tower and check on everyone today. Mezzem went to Flimflam to cure his madnesses, but he was pissed about having to spend all of yesterday in the Tower. He refused to let her help him, and took off running. Mezzem chased him around and out of the Tower, before she finally caught him and cured a large part of his madnesses, but not the catatonic state or the mind slipping... the two we actually needed him to be cured of. He elected to stay in the Tower the next day too.

***** Marpenoth 19, Underdark Wilds

       When we got the Tower set up tonight, Mithrilye charmed Flimflam into going to see Mezzem to get his madnesses cured; Flimflam was finally sane.

***** Marpenoth 20, Underdark Wilds

       We came upon a tunnel that had been filled completely with webs, and Flimflam shot a bolt of flame into it, destroying them webs. We heard some screams from up the tunnel before six fire beetles came running out of it at us- Rosebud killed them all in a single shot. The rest of our day was peaceful.

***** Marpenoth 24, Underdark Wilds

       We came upon some ruins of buildings that looked like they were better suited on the surface than out here. We began to search the area, and in the very first building we entered, there was evidence of a recent fire.

       Outside the building, Flimflam, Geophry, Niles, Twyla, and Smoothpalm heard a stone fall, right before a foghorn echoed through the cavern. A group of orcs appeared and began attacking, badly injuring Smoothpalm and killing Barkbeak.

       We heard what sounded like a foghorn being blown, echoing throughout the cavern, and rushed outside to find a badly injured Smoothpalm. Rosebud blew his horn and summoned a group of gargoyles to aid us in this fight. Most of the fucking orcs were attacking from the roof, wonderful.

       Flimflam launched a fireball at a group of them, dropping three in the process; then he was enveloped in darkness... his magic is so damned confusing. Vadania appeared on the roof behind one of them, slashing it with her battleaxe. One of the bastards dropped Smoothpalm as Lily summoned his Hand and punched one in the back. I slashed at one with my Rod, and saw Niles and Twyla shooting ones on the roof. The gargoyles Rosebud summoned converged on the orcs and began pummeling them.

       Flimflam, still wrapped in darkness, blindly shot a fireball at the roof Vadania was on... hitting her and killing the two orcs up there with her. Vadania dropped a beam that looked like moonlight on one of them, and I noticed Mezzem revive Smoothpalm before sending her radiant pillar at another. Lily and his Hand finished off another orc, as a bolt of acid came out of Flimflam's darkness- Geophry... he hit the ceiling of the cavern instead. Flimflam followed up with a bolt of fire, which completely missed everything. I'd had enough of that darkness, so I activated my Driftglobe to light up the roof. Geophry decided the globe needed to die and hit both it and I with a bolt of acid. My globe fell to the ground, it was off but not dead.

       One of the orcs began to run away from us, but Lily sent his Hand after it, it grabbed and pinned the orc. I hate that Hand. Vadania noticed a small cave in the cavern wall and pointed it out to all of us. Niles tried and failed to climb it, and Twyla showed off by succeeding at climbing it. I used the ladder function on my Rod to climb up there myself, and Geophry flew up with Flimflam- who then sent a lightning bolt into the cave, killing the two that were hiding up there, but missing Twyla and I.

       With everyone else dead, Lily released the Hand's grip on the orc, and demanded to know if there were more. Once he said we'd killed them all, he slit the orc's throat.

***** Marpenoth 25, Blingdenstone

       By the time we got back to Blingdenstone, Mezzem was convinced something horrible had happened to Turvy, because he hadn't been responding to her through the rings. The kobold ran straight for their house the moment we arrived, with Vadania on her heels. It turns out Topsy had stolen Turvy's ring and hidden it from him.

       Lily and I went to the Rockblight District to set up the Tower, since it was the only place in the city big enough for it. It was also the best place for the myconids to live until we cleared out the oozes near the refuse pile. Of course Rosebud had to set up Fort Awesome in the little garden above the waterfall, since there wasn't enough room for him to put it on top of the Tower.

       We had gathered everything needed to take on the Pudding King, or so we hoped. There was nothing left to do except strategize for the Battle of Blingdenstone.

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*Author's note: Many of the events, locations and characters that occur in this story are from the Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast. Anything with an asterisk next to it is a quote from the book.

Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Thirty-Two

Myconid Madness

Dramatis Personae:

Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Wererat Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights
Riddle, Claire's baby Basilisk
Hans, Claire's Basalt Wolf Figurine
Urthstripe. Claire's Alabaster Badger Figurine
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut who plots the murder of anyone who slights her
Lit, Mezzem's baby Basilisk
Rosebud Goldenrod Petunia, the Halfling/Shetland Pony "Centaur" Wererat Berserker, "The Destroyer;" who sees magic where there is none
Lily Trillium Petunia, the Green Dragonborn Lore Bard, and Rosebud and Geophry's "Momma;" champion of the Living Dungeon
Vadania Nailaza, the Wild Elf Oakroot of Rillifane Rallathil
Barkbeak, Vadania's Hippogriff Steed

Seluna, the Moon Elf Drow Totem Warrior Circle of the Moon Druid and Silverstar of Selûne
Flimflam Pebblehead, the Deep Gnome Arcanist who really likes killing things, thinks he has powerful enemies out to get him that are telling him what to do, he has a voice giving him directions in his head, and is enamored with every beautiful voice he hears
Roswyn Darkshooter, the Deep Gnome Delver from the Miner's Guild
Smoothpalm, the Deep Gnome Monk of Smoothhands
Niles Rubusthorn, the Moon Elf Shadow Dancer
Twyla Alderleaf, the Moon Elf Scout
Geophry Cherry Blossom Petunia, the chair that used to be a boy
Stool, the Myconid Child was raised from the grave by Mezzem
Galothel Nightbreeze, the Moon Elf Alchemist
Amin of Citadel Adbar, the Shield Dwarf Alchemist
Mithrilye, the Sun Elf Entertainer who will do anything to achieve her goals, and believes that anything that can bring her pleasure should be enjoyed immediately, not saved until later
Lith, the Bronze Dragonborn Scholar
Fitzzle, Lith's violet faerie dragon familiar

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh met group briefly on route to Mantol Derith to trade
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy last seen in Bahamutsville under Zin-carla
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter- abandoned the party because Orvald died last seen in Bahamutsville
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Ol' Sparky, the Deep Dragon- last seen thrown into a portal to the Abyss by a glabrezu
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout- vaporized by a jackass

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor- big badda boom 

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon- bigger badda boom
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut- skull caved in by another rock from Fidget
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube- stayed with the kobolds
Kara Reginleif, the Half-Valkyrie Wererat Champion from the Zhentarim- vorpaled to pieces by demon Easter bunnies

Rumpadump, the Myconid Child- frozen by demon Easter bunny was raised by Mezzem and went missing
Sajin Silvertongue, the Deep Gnome Wererat Assassin- got stoned and kissed a pretty Medusa
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut- retired in Blingdenstone
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins- stayed in Blingdenstone
Yklwa, Tali's Deinonychus animal companion- devoured by corbies
Natali, the Tiger Therinthrope Beastmaster- wished herself home

Friendly Fire: 203
Party members killed: 22
Overall party members lost: 32

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.

***** Marpenoth 14, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess), somewhere outside Neverlight Grove

       We decided to leave Amin and Galothel in the Tower for research today, Lily was hoping we'd find something that would help us face Zuggtmoy in one of the long dead wizard's library. I wanted to leave Stool in the Tower with them, since I hate putting the lad in danger, but we needed him to help guide us to the Grove. He said there was a riverbed that marked the path, and once we found that we'd be really close.

       For some reason, Rosebud woke up feeling sickly this morning, but Vadania was able to mostly fix it. He was feeling well enough to carry Stool ahead of us to scout out the path.

       Before long we'd found the riverbed, which didn't have any water in it, but it looked swampy. We'd have to slide in the mud to cross- yuck. Twyla fell right on her ass, and Lith stumbled, but used her whip to catch herself. Vadania decided to show off by flying over it all. Stool said we needed to go downstream, he could almost hear the other myconids.

       We all began moving downstream, when suddenly the ground rumbled and a giant crab burst out of the bed, snapping its enormous claws at Smoothpalm and Twyla. It snipped Twyla's leg so badly that I could tell it was badly broken; she'd need some serious healing time before she could walk again- and to make matter worse, she was stuck in the claw. Smoothpalm had dodged it, and was completely fine. Rosebud charged at the beast and whacked it with his maul, causing hundreds of tiny crabs to swarm out of it, covering him, me, Lith, Stool, Seluna, and Niles- Rosebud looked really messed up after that, he seemed to have taken the bulk of the damage.

       Lily tossed one of his beads of force at it, while it dodged, Twyla, Smoothpalm, and a couple hundred of the tiny crabs got stuck in it. They were both swarmed to the point where we saw nothing at first- then a lone hand rose out of the chaos, it was mostly bone, with flesh hanging limply off of it. They wouldn't survive this...

       Mithrilye wove her baton in the direction of the bubble, and suddenly the horrible slurping sounds coming from inside of it were swirling around Lily's blade. Vadania flew up to the crab and began hacking at it with her axe, while Roswyn began helping me squash the swarm of crabs that were covering me. Most of them seemed to be dead when we were done, but Flimflam didn't notice, and launched a fireball at us, Mithrilye, Lith, Niles, and Mezzem- Lith and Niles dropped from the jackass's flames. Lith's scales were covered in severe burns and blisters, if she wasn't dead, she was going to kill that insane gnome. At least the fireball got rid of the fucking tiny crabs, but at what cost? Sometimes I think he does more damage to us than our enemies. I looked at the jackass to discover he was naked, again, and a new bag was at his feet; what some people wouldn't give for magic making them randomly naked. I saw Seluna rush to Niles and Lith to revive them, and then felt my flesh knit together as Mezzem healed all of us.

       The giant crab grabbed hold of Rosebud and seemed to be trying to snap the halftaur in half, but since he's stronger than Twyla he'd probably be fine. Lily lost it seeing his boy in the crab's clutches and slammed his Hand on top of it. Vadania kept beating on the crab from the air, while I unleashed several blows on the damn thing with my Rod- and it died!

       With the large foe dead, Niles ran for the sphere, attempting to break it open. When Mezzem saw what he was doing, she dispelled the magic of the sphere and the crabs swarmed all over herself and Niles- a fresh meal. Lily used his Hand to smack the crabs that were on them, and when it was done Niles was unconscious again. Our healers worked together to revive Niles, Twyla, and Smoothpalm- for a moment I thought Smoothpalm and Twyla weren't savable, but somehow they did it.

       Flimflam took the opportunity to cook the crab, and it was delicious. With so many of us so badly injured, Lily dropped the Tower so we could rest and better see to our wounded.

       It was to full moon, so Mezzem and Rosebud shifted- thanks to the charm Seluna gave me I was able to stay in my natural form. Rosebud decided it would be funny to make Geophry a werechair, so he bit him. Then he jumped out of the window to demonstrate how hard it is to harm us. Vadania seemed uncomfortable with the entire scene.

***** Marpenoth 15, Chateau Petunia, somewhere outside Neverlight Grove

       Rosebud woke feeling sick again this morning, something was wrong with the boy, but nobody seemed to know what.

       Since Lith was still in pretty bad shape from Flimflam's fireball, we decided to spend the day in the Tower resting and researching, to let her heal some. I decided to hang out in my room in the dungeon with Stool and Riddle, and just relax. Research isn't really my thing, and there wasn't really anything else for me to do.

       Rosebud decided to jump out the window again, just for fun, and Geophry cast hold person on him in midair, causing him to twist his ankle. Lily heard Geophry giggle to him that since Rosebud had broken his leg, didn't that mean Lily needed to put him down? Of course the bard ignored the chair. 

       Rosebud later discovered his bagpipes were broken, from the fall, and Flimflam decided he needed them to turn them into bagpipes of holding. The pair began fighting over them, and with Geophry acting as Flimflam's mount, they began chasing each other around the Tower. Rosebud used one of his cards from the Deck of Illusions to summon a kobold, which Flimflam chucked a fireball at. Flimflam turned into an air elemental to better chase Rosebud, and grabbed his bag of holding- Rosebud responded by bashing him with his maul. 

       Mezzem tried to help by casting hold person on Flimflam, but he was an elemental so it didn't do anything. At this point Lily got so fed up with them that he closed up the Tower, and everyone who wasn't in the dungeon was expelled from it. The boys continued fighting outside, without really registering the change of venue, so Lily turned his anger on them and made them stop fighting. When they were done he put the Tower back up. 

       Then Rosebud asked Flimflam if he could watch him have sex with Mithrilye, which started up the fighting anew. This time Rosebud was invisible for some reason, and Flimflam managed to actually kill him. Lily couldn't see his boy, but thanks to the Tower, he was able to get a general idea of where Rosebud was, and he revived him. Lily then dropped the Tower again to threaten Flimflam, making it clear that he was never to hurt his son again. 

       Everything was calm after that, and the rest of the day proceeded as usual- and Flimflam never got to hook up with Mithrilye. 

***** Marpenoth 16, Chateau Petunia, somewhere outside Neverlight Grove

       We decided to leave Amin and Galothel in the Tower again today for more research, and as we were preparing to leave Flimflam blew himself up being a jackass. I don't know the specifics, just that he covered himself so badly in burns that his legs were really screwed up, and had to spend the day in the Tower. For some reason no one was willing to heal him.

       As we traveled we came upon a patch of violent fungus, which Rosebud charged and began beating on. Geophry flew up to help his brother, and melted them somehow. I think there may be more to meets the eye with that chair.

       We could hear what sounded like a much larger chamber in the tunnel ahead of us, and Stool grew excited, thinking it may be the Grove. Entering the Grove was like walking into a whole new world. The horrors of the Underdark Wilds were left behind the moment we entered the chamber, and we had a panoramic view of the odd, but serenely beautiful forest. Mushrooms of all kinds covered every surface of the Grove, and it was illuminated with bioluminescent mushrooms in brilliantly colorful patterns. On the other side of this forest, the cavern narrowed into a ravine, where we could just make out a huge mushroom tower, but the poor lighting and the swirling mists made it so we couldn't see it clearly. The sight of the tower seemed to confuse Stool, since it wasn't there when he left, and myconids in general don't build structures.

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

       Overall though, our little friend was relieved and ecstatic to be home at long last, and he began giving us a bit of a tour. "Pale cream and beige stalks grew thick and tall, resembling a surface world forest. Fungi grow in profusion everywhere. and it's hard to find anything resembling a path between them. The giant caps of zurkhwood mushrooms obscured our view of the cavern's ceiling, but luminescent fungi there give off a shimmering aura. With each step taken on the soggy ground, a rank scent decay rose around us."*

       We saw a pile of decaying Underdark beasts near a group that Stool called the Circle of Hunters- the group he always wanted to join when he got old enough. A large myconid broke off from that group and introduced himself to us as Loobamub, the leader of this Circle. He thanked us for bringing Stool home, and shared in our disappointment of losing Rumpadump when he was so close to home. Loobamub told us to take Stool to see Sovereign Basidia, not Sovereign Phylo- I guess there was an issue with the other Sovereign since he stressed that we not bring Stool to him- and to return to him later; he had a task he needed our assistance with.

       As we moved further through this wonderful landscape, we came to what Stool called the Central Basin. "Beyond the mud and mushrooms that spread across the cavern, a large, clear pool sat in the midst of the fungal grove. A central mound seems to be the only dry spot in sight, though a small cliff rose above the cavern floor far across the clearing, with giant mushrooms visible in the distance. Bioluminescent fungi traced strange constellations along the cavern’s ceiling and walls, showing the darkness of the ravine and a mist-shrouded smaller cavern beyond."*

       A massive myconid that towered above the others greeted us, "You are safe, friendly softers. You arrive at a wondrous time, for Neverlight Grove is on the verge of something great, something marvelous! Celebrate, as the day of joy is nigh!"* The myconid speaking to us was Sovereign Phylo, the one Loobamub had just told us not to talk to. He was extremely cheerful, which isn't normal for myconids, at least from what I've seen of Stool and Rumpadump. Phylo told us we could stay as long as we wished, and were welcome to explore the Grove, except for the Eastern Plateau. He explained that the Circle of Masters was preparing "a wondrous and glorious surprise"* in the Garden of Welcome, and we couldn't spoil it by going there early. He offered to show it to us tomorrow if we so wished.

       Phylo started going on about the Great Seeder, who could answer any of our questions; using "she" and "her" in his descriptions, which was beyond odd, since myconids don't really have any concept of gender. Even Stool seemed uncomfortable around this myconid. He wouldn't actually tell us what this Great Seeder was though, only that was had to experience her for ourselves.

       As Phylo was prattling on, another massive myconid came up to join us, introducing himself as Sovereign Basidia- the one Loobamub told us to bring Stool to. Basidia was clearly uncomfortable around Phylo, which it was a little unnerving that even he was disturbed by this myconid, I had thought it was just us not understanding his odd ways. Basidia told Stool to go to Loobamub, and then he sent Phylo off to do something, offering to show us around the Grove.

       Once we were alone with Basidia, he began to confide in us. He warned us not to stay in the Grove for too long, because another group of "softers" recently came here, and Phylo took them up to the Garden of Welcome; they were never seen again, and Phylo never mentioned them again. Basidia also told us that for several cycles the Circle of Masters has been acting strangely. They've been taking most of the carcasses gathered by the Hunters, and have been sending groups out of the Grove without telling anybody.

       The first place Basidia took us was the Northern Terrace, where we were introduced to Gasbide, the leader of the Circle of Builders. Gasbide started peppering us with questions about buildings and structures, saying he wanted to build a tower that goes all the way to the surface. To shut him up so that we could continue on our way, Lily gave him a book on architecture.

       Next we went to the Circle of Growers and were introduced to Hebophe. We gave him the list of herbs that we needed, and he said he'd gather them for us. He didn't really interact with us much, just took down what we needed and said he'd get to work on it.

       Basidia told us that he thought Phylo had contracted some sort of diseased spore, probably from the Garden of Welcome. He told us he was afraid to investigate on his own, fearing he'd be afflicted with whatever had affected Phylo. Basidia offered us a scroll in exchange for investigating the garden for him, and hopefully helping him solve whatever was wrong with his counterpart. Of course we said yes, since we always help those in need.

       When we arrived at the Circle of Spores, their leader, Yrberop, was dancing to himself. We could faintly hear some internal music through the psychic communication, but not enough to really make out the tune. Yrberop said he wanted to spread the happiness of the Great Seeder throughout the Underdark, and even to the surface.

       Basidia next led us to the Circle of Explorers on the Southern Terrace. "These terraces are quiet and calm. The only sounds here are soft, 'ploopy' splashes as water drips from stalactites above onto the caps over sized mushrooms sprouting from mushy earth."* It was peaceful, in an odd sort of way. Rasharoo was the leader of this circle, and we got a general sense of distrust from him. After a moment of conversation though, Rasharoo told us he had escape plans if Basidia was willing to abandon the Grove completely. He even mentioned that he had little nutrient caches hidden in exit tunnels to allow them to escape quickly if need be. Basidia told us he could only trust Rasharoo and Loobamub, that everyone else seemed to have been compromised by whatever had afflicted Phylo.

       We asked if either of them had heard of Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungus, that we believed to be here, and neither of them had. They told us that the Great Seeder was to be joined with the Great Body- it was the wedding we'd heard rumors of in Blingdenstone.

       Eventually we made our way back to Loobamub, where Stool excitedly told us he would be a hunter, just like he'd always wanted. Loobamub asked for our help with a couple of creatures that had been running amok in the wilds lately, a grick and a shambling mound. We agreed to help them, but we first wanted a place to set up our Tower. After getting that taken care of, Lily, Rosebud, Mezzem, Vadania, Roswyn, Geophry, and I went out in search of it. We told the others to be prepared for anything, and which of the leaders were actually trustworthy.

       We decided to go for the grick first, and Roswyn got a good idea of where it might be from Loobamub. It sounded like it would be near the shambling mound we'd also been asked to kill, making things easier on us. As we walked, Roswyn carefully scouting for tracks, a mound popped out of the ground and swallowed the scout! It swiped at me too, but thankfully missed me completely.

       Roswyn couldn't breathe at all in the mound, and felt herself slowly suffocating. The svirfneblin began trying to wiggle her way out of the beast, a task that was proving even more difficult without being able to draw a breath. 

       Rosebud growled in anger and began to grow- one of the features of the Dao's maul. Vadania and Barkbeak swooped at it, but the pair missed the mound entirely. I heard Lily finish an incantation and a wall of fire surrounded it- but the fucking thing wasn't burning at all! Lily swore in frustration about it being immune and dropped the spell. We all worked to hack the damned thing to pieces, and after a nasty looking blow from Rosebud, it stopped moving- we think we killed it, though it's hard to tell with something like this.

       We all began cutting Roswyn free, praying we'd get to her before reviving her was no longer possible. Once she was free and breathing- that was a close call- Vadania pointed out that the roots of the mound might still be alive. Geophry dropped a sphere of acid on it- and killed Barkbeak in the process! He and Vadania started arguing, while Lily and I began to dig for the roots.

       Suddenly a grick burst out of the ground, right behind Rosebud- who instantly swung his maul at it. Roswyn was still sitting on the ground, recovering from the mound, and it went for the easy target she made. Another grick popped up right next to her and grabbed her, spraying us with her blood as it ripped her apart.

       Lily summoned his Hand to grab and squeeze one of them- I shuddered briefly at the memory- as Rosebud landed a nasty blow on it; I came in and finished that one off. The other grick was on Mezzem and she dropped it with a bolt of radiance. Suddenly the mound- which Vadania had been right about not being dead- grabbed me and sucked me in, but I managed to take a very deep breath first.

       Vadania and Lily both pounced on the mound, hacking into it to save Claire. Mezzem grabbed it and cast inflict wounds- melting it and badly injuring Claire. Searing pain lanced through my body as the mound melted around me, and I was pulled free by my friends. As Mezzem and Vadania set to work healing me, Rosebud began beating the ground into a small crater in his rage about losing Roswyn.

       Once he'd vented his anger, he began gathering pieces of her body in hopes that Mezzem could revive her, but she was beyond Mezzem's magics. Instead he asked her to use the body preservation spell she'd used on Stool and Rumpadump on Roswyn's heart, hoping someday he'd be able to bring her back. I guess he cared more about Roswyn than we realized. Poor kid.

       We gathered the grick remains and brought them back to Basidia, who gave us a pouch with potions inside. We decided to go rest in the Tower before we looked into the Garden of Welcoming, and found Gasbide measuring the entry hall... Apparently he'd been in there for a while, examining our portable home.

       After we had rested for an hour or so, Lily, Rosebud, Mezzem, Vadania, Mithrilye, Flimflam, and I set out to the Garden of Welcoming. I had a feeling the place wasn't as welcoming as the name implied.

       "This plateau rose higher than the other terraces. screened by a natural fence of soaring zurkhwood stalks. Muffled murmuring can be heard from atop the plateau."* Already this was more than a little creepy. "The low muttering grew louder as we reached the top, turning into a symphony of moans, cries, and hisses. The only light comes from a few glowing mushrooms along the edge, but even in the gloom, I couldn't miss the source of the sounds. The heads of creatures of a dozen humanoid Underdark races peek from the ground, mold and fungi growing around them.

       "One voice called out loudly in Undercommon—a female drow fighting to speak. 'Please for your gods of light, kill me!' She managed to stir within her living grave, raising a spider medallion half-embedded in the bloated growth that was once her hand. Hall her face is rotten and pustulate, a bed for the sprouting of scores of tiny mushrooms. 'The Great Seeder ... trap she's here .,. the Lady of Decay ... Zuggtmoy ...'"*

       Before we could do anything, "The moans of the gardens victims suddenly took on at new tone of fear as something moved across the foul ground. A disgusting larval creature rose up before us, showing only vestigial fungal growths that hint that it might once have been a myconid.

       “'Welcome, travelers.' The aberrant myconid's voice gurgled and spat as it spoke both aloud and in our minds at once. 'Are you here for the wedding rehearsal? Friends of the bride or her intended? No matter! Let the love of the Great Seeder embrace you as you become one with her chosen. the Great Body!'"*

       The Garden seemed to come alive as the planted heads writhed and moaned. Two drow spore servants rose up to flank the larva thing, and two adult myconids rushed in to join its attack on us. I attempted to terrify them all with my Rod- but nothing happened. I suppose I should have expected that, considering how horrifying the scene before me was. Rosebud charged in with Flimflam on his back and hit the former myconid hard- causing a cloud of spores to erupt from the creature, hitting both of them. Flimflam now periodically slips into catatonic states. 

       One of the creatures charged at Lily, who unleashed a volley of missiles at it. Two came up to Rosebud and spewed spores at him, they were apparently protecting their leader. Mithrilye channeled the sounds of the fight to Lily's blade, at which point he pointed out to her that the effect wasn't terribly useful for him.

       Flimflam unleashed his fire breath over Rosebud's shoulder- without hitting Rosebud- killing one of the spore servants and leaving the larva thingy writhing in pain. Vadania and Barkbeak swooped down at one of them, and even though it also got a hit on her, the pair managed to drop the beast. Another one of the damned things spewed spores at Rosebud, and seemed to do something to him, though it wasn't clear what it did. Barkbeak cried in pain as one hit him and Vadania, grappling both of them.

       A thick spore cloud was hovering in the air above us now, as the spores these things kept spewing rose. I killed two more of the things, and moved up to the larva's flank to help Rosebud. Rosebud killed another spore thing, instead of going for the larva. Lily swiped his blade at the myconid on him and completely missed- Mithrilye then gave him shit for not protecting the damsel. I reminded her that it's my job as the knight to protect damsels, and she pointed out I don't put out; I said I might if she asked, instead of constantly chasing Flimflam's flaccid member. This probably wasn't the best place to have this conversation, but it made battle a little more interesting. Mithrilye then stabbed the mushroom Lily had missed- the damsel really doesn't need protecting in this matter.

       The larva swiped at me and completely missed, and Flimflam used his fire breath to cook the spore cloud out of the air- thankfully it didn't turn into a gas that could harm us more. Geophry had apparently followed us, and the little chair flew in to shoot acid at the myconid attacking Lily.

       Vadania and Barkbeak both struggled to get free, but only Barkbeak succeeded- though his success wasn't too great since his rider was still trapped. Mezzem and her spirit blade began stabbing one of the spore things, and I pummeled the larva into nothingness; as soon as it dropped lifeless to the ground, so did all of the little spore things. The only enemies left were the large myconids- one holding Vadania, and the other attacking Lily.

       Rosebud charged the myconid on Lily and dropped it. Lily was now free to summon his Hand to start squeezing the one holding Vadania. Mithrilye moved to attack it, and stabbed Vadania instead... Flimflam shot a bolt of fire at it, which apparently loosened its grasp on Vadania enough for her to finally break out. Mezzem sent a pillar of radiant flame at it; Rosebud and I hacked into it, finishing it off.

       We heard some movement and noise further in the cavern, and of course we had to investigate it. "Echoes spilled from the misty cavern beyond, a cacophony of wheezing voices that wrapped together like some kind of discordant music. The remaining heads planted in the Garden of Welcome begin to croak and groan, joining the horrible song.

       "Through the mist that shrouds the smaller cavern, we saw the parade creatures responsible for the melody. Their bodies are only vaguely humanoid, with clusters of bioluminescent lichen and tumescent growths forming chaotic patterns on their decaying flesh, their voices stabbing into our minds, both insane and gleeful in equal parts:

"From rocky bed the toadstool rose,

From chaos dark, her love She shows.

Wish! Yearn! Laugh!

The Lady will be wed!

Crave! Hunger! Dance!

Her joyous spores will spread!

Youth is gone, beauty rots,

Araumycos and Zuggtmoy!

Joined together, heart to heart,

Becoming one ‘til death do part!

Hail! Hail! Hail!"*

       The creatures looked like they were humanoids at one point, twelve that seemed to be bridesmaids, and another six that resembled chamberlains. They were conducting some obscene ritual that seemed to be modeled after a wedding ceremony. All of them made their way back to the head garden we'd just walked out of, apparently continuing the mock ceremony there. Three spore servants appeared and grabbed the larva's corpse, moving it like a puppet to enact the role of a priest. 

       Lily offered to perform the ceremony, but the creatures seemed to be off in their own little world, completely oblivious to our presence. He ordered Rosebud to attack them for ignoring his momma, but before he could, we had one of the most bizarre visions I've ever seen.

       "The tableau of the muck wedding was replaced by a vision of the inside of a great tower. Spiraling stairs and balconies are carved into its walls, with the interior lit by phosphorescent patches of mold growing in whorls. In the center of the open space floats a humanoid figure, womanlike in form, but made entirely of fungi and mold. She is easily three times the height of the fungal bridesmaids that move up and down the spiraling stairs, tending to their giant mistress. They croon a strange, soothing song as they weave the substance of the giant figure into delicate lichen veils and a long, mycelium train like a bridal gown."* 

       When the vision ended, the ceremony seemed to end with it, and the wedding party turned to start filing back into the fungal tower. 

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*Author's note: Many of the events, locations and characters that occur in this story are from the Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast. Anything with an asterisk next to it is a quote from the book.

Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lily's Wish and Mushroom Madness

Dramatis Personae:

Lady Claire Thundersword, the Human Wererat Swordcaptain of the Purple Dragon Knights
Hans, Claire's Basalt Wolf Figurine
Riddle, Claire's baby Basilisk
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut who plots the murder of anyone who slights her
Lit, Mezzem's baby Basilisk
Natali, the Tiger Therinthrope Beastmaster
Osaw, Tali's baby Basilisk
Rosebud Goldenrod Petunia, the Halfling/Shetland Pony "Halftaur" Wererat Berserker; who sees magic where there is none
Lily Trillium Petunia, the Green Dragonborn Lore Bard, and Rosebud's "Momma"

Seluna, the Moon Elf Drow Totem Warrior Circle of the Moon Druid and Silverstar of Selûne
Flimflam Pebblehead, the Deep Gnome Arcanist who really likes killing things, thinks he has powerful enemies out to get him that are telling him what to do, he has a voice giving him directions in his head, and is enamored with every beautiful voice he hears
Roswyn Darkshooter, the Deep Gnome Delver from the Miner's Guild
Medic Stonebandage, the Deep Gnome Priest of Smoothhands from the Stoneheart Enclave who can't take a joke, and often reacts violently, if not murderously, to them
Smoothpalm, the Deep Gnome Monk of Smoothhands
Terrik Stoneshot, the Deep Gnome Gunslinger from the Bounty Hunter's Guild
Niles Rubusthorn, the Moon Elf Shadow Dancer
Twyla Alderleaf, the Moon Elf Scout
Geophry Cherry Blossom Petunia, the chair that used to be a boy

Lily's Summoned Allies:
Gimli, the Gnome Scholar
Umund, the Dwarf Scholar
Elyn, the Halfling Artist
Galothel Nightbreeze, the Moon Elf Alchemist
Ukal of Citadel Adbar, the Dwarf Aristocrat
Boada, the Elf Scholar
Lith, the Bronze Dragonborn Scholar
Arwenel, the Elf Scholar
Amin of Citadel Adbar, the Shield Dwarf Alchemist
Mithrilye, the Sun Elf Entertainer
Sabel, the Halfling Servant

Blingdenstone Contacts Summoned:
Dorbo and Seni Diggermattock
Dwarvenforge
Tappy Foamstrap
Yornik Greenpaw
Glyphic Shroomlight
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- smashed by Orvald

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh met group briefly on route to Mantol Derith to trade
Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian- turned into dog food
Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian- became a squeaky toy last seen in Bahamutsville under Zin-carla
Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter- abandoned the party because Orvald died last seen in Bahamutsville
Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee- sacrificed to Demogorgon
Codsworth, the polite Flumph- shredded by crossbow
Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished during gnoll fight
Ol' Sparky, the Deep Dragon- last seen thrown into a portal to the Abyss by a glabrezu
Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress- accidental self-vaporization (bitch blew herself up)
Kyri, the Minotaur Scout- vaporized by a jackass

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor- big badda boom 

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon- bigger badda boom
Kazul, the Copper Dragonborn Shadow Monk of Bahamut- skull caved in by another rock from Fidget
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube- stayed with the kobolds
Kara Reginleif, the Half-Valkyrie Wererat Champion from the Zhentarim- vorpaled to pieces by demon Easter bunnies

Stool, the Myconid Child- unwilling dance partner to drunk stone giant

Rumpadump, the Myconid Child- frozen by demon Easter bunny
Sajin Silvertongue, the Deep Gnome Wererat Assassin- got stoned and kissed a pretty Medusa
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut- retired in Blingdenstone
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins- stayed in Blingdenstone
Yklwa, Tali's Deinonychus animal companion- devoured by corbies

Friendly fire overall: 166
Party members killed: 23
Overall party members lost: 32

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Claire's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the knight can't be everywhere at once.

***** Marpenoth 1, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess)
THE CARAVAN

       As the group was looting the demons they'd slain, they heard a screech coming from the direction of the tower. They looked up to see a vrock circling the tower, and heard sounds of battle. Before they could process any of this, their ears began to ring in a high pitched whine, and suddenly they were in a room filled with books. 

       Confused, they began to look around, and a voice rang out "Narwall." They felt as if the ground had dropped out from under them, and suddenly they were sitting in an empty cavern, surrounded by the rest of the group and many strangers; the tower seemed to have vanished.

*****

       In the blink of an eye, we went from standing in the circle in the tower to standing on a plateau. Lily was holding a chess piece in his hand, which I think is what the tower turned into. Our friends from Blingdenstone were there, looking confused, as were many strangers. I think Lily's wish may have backfired a little bit.

       I heard the ear-piercing and all too familiar screech from above- the damn vrock was still there. Before any of us could do anything, three more of the damned things burst out of portals. Thecker was the first of us to respond, and she attempted to taunt one- which didn't work, as usual. Frustrated, my friend pulled out her gun and shot it.

       Seluna drew her blade and turned into some feathered beast, she flew straight for one. Tali shot at one and her arrows hit true; I followed suit and drew my crossbow. Suddenly, a fucking door stood up and attacked one of the strangers- that damn mimic door apparently came back after the wish. Dwarvenforge swung his hammer at the door, and it got stuck to the damn thing. The twins killed the mimic quickly.

       One of the beasts came into my range and I stabbed it with my spear. The damn thing grabbed my spear and took flight, then attacked me since I was still hanging on- the spear was a function on my Rod, and was chained to my wrist. Somehow I managed to hang on to the vrock and not plunge to my doom. In the heat of the moment, I didn't realize exactly how high up I was, and so I morphed my Rod so I could get out of the vrock's grasp. Once I began falling, I realized what a dumb idea that was, and quickly morphed the Rod into a ladder, hoping that would help when I hit the ground.

       Below Claire, the fight continued with the other vrocks. Tali dropped one of the fiends, leaving only three more for them to contend with. Rosebud was pounding on one of the demons. Amin, one of Lily's accidentally summoned allies, saw Mezzem, screamed and ran away. Amin is a coward, and the sight of the kobold terrified him. Thecker and Terrik were both shooting a constant stream of bullets, and Tali was shooting arrow after arrow. With their combined efforts, Tali managed to polish another one off.

       Before I was able to test my theory on if I'd survive the fall with my ladder hitting first, the damn vrock swooped to attack me- it missed, and decided to instead grab my ladder, then fly even higher. Shit. Suddenly two lightning bolts hit the vrock and I- I bet it was Flimflam- causing me to lose my grip on my ladder. Fortunately I was still attached to it, but I was now flailing limply in midair, in the clutches of the vrock. I managed to get my hands around my ladder again and morphed it back into a spear, then I attempted the life drain ability my Rod has- it didn't seem to do anything though. The fucker then flew even higher up, dropped me, and then swooped at me to attack.

       Rosebud managed to finish off the last vrock within their reach, leaving only the one Claire was battling with midair. Amin, gripped in terror, tried to attack Mezzem and failed miserably; Turvy, being homicidally possessive, hit Amin for his attempt, and accidentally cracked his skull open, killing him. Medic was able to revive the dwarf before he died permanently. As one, the group began firing at the vrock Claire was locked in combat with, hoping to save their friend before she crashed to her doom.

       I swiped at the vrock with my spear, and missed. The bastard responded with a hit of its own, and I felt myself lose consciousness. With Claire in hand, the vrock dived straight at Lily, hoping to kill both of them. Lily cast Feather Fall at the vrock, but it was able to avoid his spell. It landed on top of Lily, crushing Claire in the process. The vrock died, but Claire managed to just barely survive the landing. 

       I came to with Tali standing over me, and my entire body hurt. She told me we'd won, and at the news that we were done fighting for the day, I passed out.

       Sabel, a halfing woman with a mop of red hair that looked exactly like Rosebud's, took one look at the halftaur, screamed, and passed out. She was the mother to the halfling half of Rosebud, and she sold him to Lily. Sabel had spent her life searching for her long lost boy, and finally found him as a halftaur. Her mind just couldn't take it.

      Lily and Rosebud entertained his accidentally summoned allies, telling them his entire story, from the point he was revived by Mezzem up until the battle they'd just fought. 

       When I awoke a couple hours later, Rosebud was trying to convince Tali to help him shrink the vrock's armor down to a size one of us could actually wear. She did, and it fused to her flesh; Mezzem removed the curse that held it there, but we still had to literally peel it off of her. I gave her a bottle of Gresyl Wine to knock her out so Rosebud and I could do this without her being aware of the excruciating pain we were causing. After watching that, Twyla decided to stay in a similar set of armor that she'd gotten during their demon fight. I don't blame her.

***** Marpenoth 2

       The next morning we decided to send the weapons crates back to Blingdenstone with the friends Lily had called. There was no need to tote them to Neverlight Grove since we now had the option not to. In addition to our Blingdenstone friends, we also sent back Terrik and Medic to help guard the weapons carts. Gimli, Umund, Elyn, Ukal of Citadel Adbar, Boada, Arwenel, and Sabel were also going back to Blingdenstone, since they didn't really want to be here anyways. Mithrilye, Lith, Amin, and Galothel decided to stay with us, this was an opportunity they didn't want to pass up.

***** Marpenoth 6

       As we traveled, we heard a cry of surprise coming from up ahead in the tunnel. Roswyn saw darkness bloom in her path, a giant rocktopus. Both she and Flimflam moved into the darkness, and he used his fire breath at it. 

       I saw the darkness clear, there were seven small, charred figures, a very charred and dead giant rocktopus, and one small, charred figure who was still alive. Lily and Roswyn rushed to the side of the living creature- a svirfneblin, I think- and healed it. Before passing out it whispered "bandits." Lily decided to give it Gresyl Wine to keep it unconscious for longer.

       When this was done, Lily, Tali, and Flimflam decided to eat the charred gnomes... disgusting! I permitted Riddle to eat them, Mezzem and Tali also let their babies do it. The sight of this made Roswyn, Smoothpalm, and Rosebud follow suit. The rest of us were completely horrified by this, it was just wrong! You'd never see a Cormyrean doing something like that, especially with a giant rocktopus to eat.

***** Marpenoth 7

       Since we were only a couple of days away from Neverlight Grove, Mezzem decided it was time to try to bring Stool and Rumpadump back from the grave. Bringing them back was an ordeal, and both sprouts now saw visions all around them, viewed reality in an altered way, periodically slipped into catatonic states, and their intelligence was constantly slipping. For some reason, it didn't occur to her to fix those. But it took her forever to even consider bringing them back in the first place, so I suppose we shouldn't have been surprised. I really need to learn not to expect from Mezzem the same caliber of priestess that I would have in Cormyr.

***** Marpenoth 8

       Today we reached the point on the map that marked the Grove as being somewhere near us. The exact location wasn't known, but we were getting closer. If the sprouts were sane, they could probably help us.

***** Marpenoth 9

       We entered a cavern that was carpeted in brown fungus, and the temperature was noticeably colder, which was odd since there were a couple of steam vents in the room. I would have thought they'd make the room warmer. Lily said he'd heard stories about this fungus being bad for someone's health, and that this was really a brown mold.

       Upon hearing that, Flimflam used an ice spell and the fungus blackened. Rosebud hit it with the fire mace, and it seemed to feed on the flames, it thickened and grew in the area he'd hit. Flimflam then used his dragon breath in ice form on the mold, blackening it enough for us to get through it; the spell temporarily blinded him.

***** Marpenoth 10

       When we reached the area where we'd camp for the night, we found some torch stalks. Rosebud started throwing the damned things, then tried to hand Geophry one to throw... which resulted in him dropping it. This began a torch stalk fight, with Rosebud and Geophry throwing them at each other. Then Mezzem said she was immune to fire, so they both turned their torches on her. It was ridiculous, but hilarious.

***** Marpenoth 11

       As we traveled, suddenly we heard in our heads that Lily stole the pony too, that I secretly had loved Kazul, and that Tali had tried to kill her sister. Then a claw slashed at Lily.

       Another claw swiped at me and hit, as did one that targeted Mezzem. A fourth one slashed at Tali, but it missed her. Rosebud reared back, dropping Geophry- who had been on his back- and began pounding on one of our attackers. We learned they were nothics, creepy little monsters with one large eye, talons, and spikes on its torso- there were four of the little fuckers.

       Lith unleashed her lightning breath on them, hitting the one that was attacking Mezzem. Twyla moved up and stabbed the one that was attacking me- she's learning quickly, she actually managed to hit him. Geophry got to his feet and rammed into the one attacking Lily, while Tali clawed at and bit the one on her- she announced it tasted like tainted magic.

       The nothic on Lily missed a swipe at her, and tried to move away- Geophry and Rosebud pounced on it, and the little chair killed it. Apparently he isn't as helpless and innocent as we had thought. Lily and I were both hit again with new attacks. With a slash of her blade, Seluna cut the nothic that was attacking Mezzem in half. Smoothpalm and Rosebud went for the one Tali, and dropped it easily. An arrow from Niles sank into the final nothic- the one attacking me. Flimflam stood and began dragging Geophry- he'd been tied to the chair- and shot a bolt of fire at the nothic. Roswyn finished it off with a whirl of her scimitars.

       Lily used a spell that brings someone back from the grave, if they've been gone for a minute or less. Rosebud held it for him, and Lily tried to compel it to give him its secrets. The beast was terrified and shat all over Rosebud... Rosebud then turned it around and rubbed its nose in the shit. This was the most ridiculous interrogation I've ever seen! The nothic retaliated by announcing that Rosebud had wet the bed until he was six. It then started saying something about Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungus. At that, Lily gave Rosebud permission to hit it- which killed it again... and it shat on the halftaur a second time.

       Shortly after that, Stool began talking to Fidget and someone named Orvald. The twins had mentioned that name before, they said he was a mousefolk they escaped the drow prison camp with.

       Lily decided he needed time in the tower to go through all of the long dead wizard's books for information on Zuggtmoy. Rosebud quickly located a spot where we could set it up. Rosebud, Geophry, and Mezzem spent all night cataloging books for Lily to go through. Geophry spent much of the night complaining that he wanted to do something else. 

       Mezzem decided to start helping Stool, but she could only remove two of his insanities at a time, so she still didn't help much this night. 

***** Marpenoth 12

       Lily spent time the circle in the top floor, and learned there was a dungeon with occupants in it, there was a shield we could put over the roof, that the chasm we'd crossed was part off the tower's defenses, and that we could have spectral servants.

       Seemingly on whim, Lily decided to adopt Geophry, naming him Geophry Cherry Blossom Petunia.

       We went to check out this dungeon, and find out who our prisoners were. There were ten corbies in there total- we could only see five of them, but Lily knew there were five other invisible ones. The disgusting beasts were throwing bones at the cell doors- Yklwa's bones. We proceeded to kill all of the little fuckers, and collect Yklwa's remains. In the process, Flimflam set off a thunderwave, and managed to somehow set Geophry on fire. Lily kicked the insane gnome out of the room at that. Instead of leaving though, Flimflam used his dragon fire breath and killed two corbies- hitting Tali and I in the process. Tali and I finished off the remaining corbies, and gathered the rest of Yklwa's remains.

       We took Yklwa outside and buried him. Tali said he was at peace, and with their God Ubtao. It was a sad ceremony, I wish we could have saved him. My heart is heavy with sorrow at the loss of him.

       Since we learned that we could leave people in the dungeon, we decided to keep our lizards, Galothel, Amin, Mithrilye, Stool, Rumpadump, and Geophry in there to protect them. Lily shaped the cells into bedrooms for all of us who wished them. When I went upstairs to go get our poor, insane little myconids, Rumpadump was nowhere to be seen. Lily used the circle and learned that he never left the tower, somehow he vanished. None of us have any idea how that had happened. Someone suggested Stool ate him, but there's no way he would have eaten his best friend. Mezzem finished removing Stool's madnesses tonight, the poor boy was finally back to himself.

The entire layout of the tower now known as Chateau Petunia

Tales from Toril- The Underdark Escapees: Book One, Chapter Eight

Gracklstugh, the City of Blades Part 2:
The Whorlstone Tunnels: Buppido's Shrine and the Massacre of the Myconids

Dramatis Personae:

Aura, the Air Genasi Storm Sorceress who injures the party almost as much as the enemies

Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian

Fidget Stonegear, the Deep Gnome Inventor

Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon

Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee who has another presence in her head

Topsy and Turvy, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins

Zenit 'Dracon, the Drow Fighter and Orvald's wife

Thimblepwent Battlehammer, the Dwarven Battlerager Barbarian who can't take anything seriously

Stool, the Myconid Child

Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube
Ol' Sparky, the "blind" Derro Beggar with a magic cane
Codsworth, the polite Flumph
Rumpadump, the Myconid Child

Contacts in Gracklstugh:

Ylsa Henstak, duergar merchant

Errde Blackskull, the captain of the Stone Guard

Gartokkar Xundorn, the leader of the Keepers of the Flame

Themberchaud the Wyrmsmith, the adult red dragon who keeps the forges burning

Comrades we have lost:

Ront, the Orc Fighter- turned into hamburger by Pwent

Buppido, the Derro- left with duergar merchants

Eldeth Feldrun, the Shield Dwarf- killed during escape

Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress- swept away

Luna Trelawny, the Human Divination Wizard- skull caved in by rock thrown by Fidget, then finished off by black pudding

Sarith Zekarit, the Drow Scout- drowned

Phillip Johnson, the Human Cleric- in a seemingly irreversible coma, left in Hemeth's care

Jim Jar, the Deep Gnome- eaten by grell

Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth- killed by sea troll

Shuushar, the "Awakened" Kuo-toa- turned into shuushi by sea troll

Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto- vanished in a puff of smoke and brimstone

Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer- parted with group in Gracklstugh

Quests in Gracklstugh:
Find out how the derro are getting surface coin and jewelry for Ylsa in exchange for directions to Blingdenstone.
Meet with Errde as soon as business with the Keepers of the Flame is concluded.
Comply with whatever the Keepers of the Flame ask, but report everything to Themberchaud first.
Find the Gray Ghosts, confirm their involvement in the disturbance, and bring their magic to Gartokkar.
Find Pelek's hand and lay it to rest in Blingdenstone.

Friendly fire overall: 38
Friendly fire dealt by Aura: 16
Party members killed: 8
Overall party members lost: 12

Derro killed: 41

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Lythana's perspective, anything with italics is from a third party, since the hunter can't be everywhere at once.

***** Kythorn 11, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess)

     After spending several days collecting debts owed to Mephisto, Zarrus was sent to an empty room in Ghohlbrorn's Lair in Gracklstugh- the inn the rest of the party had been lodging in.

       I woke up to the sounds of fighting coming from the common room, and hurried out with swords in hand to see what the fuss was about. There was a group of derro tearing up the common room, likely in retaliation for the airhead killing Droki. Orvald came up to the room and shouted at them to stop, which resulted in three of the fuckers charging at him- one of them was instantly killed by the mouse. Aura turned the other two into ice statues- without hitting Orvald. Another pair of derro killed a patron of the inn, who had the misfortune of choosing to have breakfast shortly before the attack; Orvald and Pwent were on it in a second, and the barbarians made short work of him. I saw a couple of them hurl bottles at Elle, which thankfully missed, and before either of us could respond, Aura killed them off.

       Turns out there was a full scale riot in the streets, with derro everywhere. Before we could sort out anything, we heard "a thundering roar and the sound of crumbling rock."* We turned to see "a two-headed, gray-skinned giant burst through a gate, howling madly and lashing out left and right, littering the plaza with rock and stone debris. As he bellowed, one of his swings connected with a duergar soldier, whose broken body flew through the air and crashed near us with a sickening crunch."* Orvald embedded his dagger in the giant's chest, while I rushed forward, slashing my palm to activate a blood rite as I went. Just as I reached the giant, his fist slammed into me, knocking the breath from my lungs momentarily. Aura threw a bolt of electricity at the giant, hitting Orvald too- fucking airhead. the blast knocked the giant unconscious, and it died quickly.

       Another giant came through the gates as the first fell, and hurriedly conferred with the guards about what the fuck had just happened. He gathered the heads of his fallen brethren, and left the way he'd come, shaking his head sadly. Orvald heard the giant muttering to himself about the Stonespeaker not being happy that another giant had died.

       With the insane giant disposed of, we were able to turn our attention back to the riot, which seemed to have paused during the giant's assault. The derro swarmed out of the buildings, all of them seemed to be coming right for us. We hacked through the little bastards in a matter of seconds, they provided no challenge for us whatsoever; I killed twice the number Pwent did, he challenged me so of course I had to win. After we surveyed the carnage of that mess, we decided it was time to get back to the West Cleft District, and see what was beyond the fissure Sparky had shown us yesterday.

       The gate to West Cleft was slightly ajar, and the area was eerily quiet- it seemed deserted. We couldn't have possibly killed all of the derro that lived in this district. Elle asked the twins to check the gates for traps, the pregnant silence made it feel like we were walking into our doom. The jackasses set off a bunch of firecrackers at Elle's feet- didn't hurt her, but my Sister was not pleased- especially when I started laughing along with them. As we walked through the open gate, we saw the bodies from last night were still strewn about the street, but they had all been stripped, and their entrails were hanging out- the derro had salvaged what they could of their fallen kin, and eaten the rest. I fucking hate derro.

       Sparky was not waiting for us at the entrance to the tunnels like he was supposed to be, so we went in blindly without him. We walked into a cavern that was lined with stalagmites and stalactites, with water dripping from them to form small pools. "The glow of faerzress casts an eerie soft light across this cavern, swirling into spiral patterns lining the walls. The air smells and tastes slightly metallic, and the sound around us is strangely muted. The dripping of water makes no echo, as if we stood in open air."* This place was fucking creepy. We decided to fan out to explore.

       I spotted three yellow quaggoths- I've never seen them come in yellow before- in a small trench which I promptly fell into. I landed on my feet, which would have made me feel better if yellow spores hadn't ballooned out of them on collision- poisoning Elle. One of them made a swipe at me, while another tripped, and the third lashed out at Elle. With each move they released more of those stupid yellow spores, and I saw Elle fall.

       Aura threw one of her stupid ice knives at them, and more spores erupted, hitting both Elle and I. The spider kisser dumped a potion down Elle's throat and drug my Sister away from the toxic quaggoths. Orvald leapt into the trench, and another cloud went up- this one poisoning poor Stool. Pwent followed him into the fray. Zarrus threw a bolt of flames at one of them, and all of the mold on it burned up- we had to set the assholes on fire. Fidget took Stool to safety, and discovered the myconid was on the brink of death, he quickly healed the sprout. 

       I tore into one with my blades and it fell, but the cloud that erupted from it hit me hard- I felt myself falling, then I knew darkness. Zenit frantically tried to set one of them on fire with her flint and steel- she failed, so Orvald took it from her and managed to get that one burning. I felt the warmth of Elle's healing course through me as I came to my senses. I saw a rock cave in the head of one of the quaggoths, and it knocked its friend over as it went down- the cloud hit me hard again, and down I went- though I don't think I was out for long, since I came to in time to watch Orvald set the dead one on fire... those fucking spores hit me again, and I felt myself slip back into blackness. The next time I came to they were all dead and Fidget had wandered off.

       Fidget found Sparky just around the corner, filthier than ever; while derro was using an illusion to appear sparkly clean, the svirfneblin saw right through it- though he didn't bother to tell anyone. Fidget decided he needed to harvest some of that fucking mold for bombs, and asked Aura to create a breeze that would push them into a bedroll that was inside of a tent- that was his version of containment. That backfired, and the spores hurt not just Fidget, but also Aura and Orvald. The mouse snapped and completely went off on the inventor- it was really funny. He told the gnome that if he wanted the spores, he had to harvest them himself, then he stormed off in anger.

       While Fidget worked on his stupid spore collecting, the rest of us moved a little further into the cavern to rest, and get the fuck away from any accidents he would create. The glowing patterns of the faerzress crystals made me dizzy, and I couldn't quite keep my balance. Pwent suddenly started laughing hysterically at nothing- I think the poor dwarf lost his mind. He lost the ability to take anything seriously, and the more serious something is, the more hilarious it is to him.

       Fidget rigged up the spore pack with a grapple hook so it could be moved without anyone touching it directly. There was a small patch left on the ground, and he called for someone to burn it away- the twins quickly obliged. Somehow, even though Orvald had just told Fidget he wouldn't help, the svirfneblin got Orvald to carry the venomous bundle. We all made sure to get clear of that. Of course I wasn't surprised when the mouse dropped the stupid pack, and it exploded- badly injuring himself. After that nonsense, we all decided we needed to rest in the cavern- but Orvald wandered off to explore instead.

       Orvald found a small, narrow crack in the wall of the cavern, with a ton of mushrooms surrounding it. The crack was the one that the party had just come through, but the mousefolk had gotten turned around in his anger, and didn't realize it until he slipped through it. He looked around a bit more, and found something shiny sitting in the spore patch- a buckler that was completely intact. After a moment it shrunk to fit the mousefolk.

       Aura randomly decided it would be a good idea to eat some mushrooms we couldn't identify- the one that looks like a human tongue- and as soon as she swallowed began talking to herself. After she finished rambling to herself, Sparky demanded his promised reward- sex. Aura went back and forth with the derro for a couple of minutes on the subject, before she finally decided that she would go through with it. Eew. They started walking away and completely vanished. After an hour they came back, and while Aura's memory was hazy, she was pleasantly surprised by the encounter.

       We began heading into the next cavern, and were greeted to "a stench of rotting meat... The floor was carpeted with humanoid remains in varying stages of decomposition, arranged in a spiral pattern around the cave's center. An off-key humming came from a hunched humanoid figure working busily at something on the floor.

       'Oh, there you are!' The figure is Buppido, [I learned later that he was someone who had escaped the drow camp with the others]. He wiped his hands on his vest and smiled viciously. 'I didn't expect you to find me here, with my shrine nearly finished! And power! My faithful are finally honoring me! Are you...? Yes. Yes, I sense that you are ready to receive my truth into your hearts!'"* Orvald decided to play along with this insane derro, the others seemed to know. Every corpse in the room had been a sacrifice he made to gain power. The spiral pattern in the room looked similar to the pattern the faerzress produced in the room we had just come from.

       Orvald told him we were just going to get him some more sacrifices, and turned to leave when the room flared with power. The mouse leapt across the room and knocked Buppido out instantly. Sparky whirled his cane around and a spectral mule-like creature landed on the derro's body. It looked like Orvald had killed Buppido, but the spiral was still glowing with power. I watched in horror as the derro stood up, and sprouted another head. All around us zombies rose with him, and they all had two heads- one of them was a fucking ogre. When Orvald killed Buppido the first time, he provided the last sacrifice the derro needed to increase his power. 

       As one, the zombies swarmed Orvald, trying to protect their God. He dropped one zombie quickly, but it kept getting back up. I ran forward and hacked one of the nasty undead to pieces, while Orvald made Buppido fall again- though knocking the derro down didn't stop the zombies. Sparky whirled his cane around and all of Buppido's wounds dried out- he had cast a blight on the derro to keep him down. The zombies kept coming at Orvald, while in front of me the ogre ripped its own arm off and attempted to use it to club Pwent- its hand slipped and I got hit with the arm instead. Zarrus launched a fireball at Orvald, and killed all of the zombies around him- the mouse didn't seem to be phased by it. Pwent and I hacked laboriously at the damned ogre while the others finished off the rest of the brood. Pwent and I got trapped in a web that Sparky loosed from his stupid cane, and the ogre's fucking arm animated and grabbed my thigh... That fucking hurt. The spider kisser finished off the ogre, but the severed arm kept squeezing me. Zarrus loosed some magic that ended that. Ow.

       Before we were able to really collect ourselves from that battle- have I mentioned ow?- a fucking ghost popped up in the middle of the spiral. He said his name was Pelek, and that he had been traveling from Blingdenstone when Buppido came across him. The derro had killed the svirfneblin not terribly long ago, and hacked him into pieces to become part of the shrine. Pelek asked us to take one or more pieces of him to Blingdenstone, and lay them to rest so his soul could move on; the problem was that there were so many parts of various creatures we couldn't tell what was his. He recalled a strange magic that animated his hand and it wandered off- but he couldn't tell us which way the hand went. Pelek asked us to look for his hand- which we would know was his because of an obsidian ring. We told the poor soul that we would try to find his hand. I looked around a bit, but there was too much gore for me to find the prints of one tiny gnome hand.

       As we left the carnage behind, a voice rang out in all of our heads, saying "You can help!" A flumph emerged from the shadows beyond, and introduced himself to us as Codsworth. He told us he had been following the telepathic energies of derro cultists in the cavern system, and wanted our help to stop them from whatever it was they were doing. "They must be stopped," he told us- I'm not sure what they were up to, but we seemed to be here to kill derro anyways. We asked if he'd seen Pelek's hand, and Codsworth said he had, it was near where the cultists were. He asked if he could accompany us, which we agreed to, though he tended to stick closer to myself, Aura, and Elle- the others were too douchey for him I guess.

       With that settled we continued on "the tunnel opened into a natural cave, wherein we saw several fungal creatures dancing to a silent tune. Three of them stood five feet tall, while the others were half as tall. One of the small ones from the rest, its movements not nearly as frantic. Hunched nearby were two larger creatures that resembled apes covered with mushroom growths and yellow mold."* Great, more fucking moldy quaggoths. Stool pointed out to us that myconids don't dance, and said the one who wasn't dancing was his friend, Rumpadump, from the Neverlight Grove. The sprout was completely mortified that his kin was dancing. Codsworth told us they were his associates. Fidget heard the silent tune the myconids danced to, and began resisting the urge to join them. 

       They all seemed too caught up in their dancing to notice us, until Fidget announced he needed to save them from the music, and shot Rumpadump with his grappling hook- knocking him unconscious- Elle revived him instantly. Of course they responded to our attack with violence of their own- and telepathically projected the pain of their fallen friend onto Fidget as punishment- Stool was close enough to feel it too, and the poor boy winced in pain. One of the quaggoths slammed into Fidget, releasing a cloud of yellow mold- which hurt poor Stool badly enough that he fell unconscious as well.

       A wisp of light came from the tip of Sparky's cane, and Zenit crumbled to the ground- I think he just killed the bitch. At the sight of this, Orvald's mind cracked, and he became revolved by Sparky for the next 9 hours, and was compelled to run away from him whenever he could see him. The twins were nowhere to be seen, and Zarrus set fire to the mold on one of the quaggoths. Aura, Elle, and I were yelling at the others to stop, but no one would listen to us. Fidget froze, stunned by one of the myconids, while Orvald threw himself at Sparky. This was becoming a fucking madhouse. I killed one of the quaggoths, since they weren't victims in this like the mushrooms were.

       Aura revived poor Stool, and just as he came to, another spore cloud knocked him out again; Elle revived him that time. Zarrus burned away more spores, and I got hit by a psychic blast that stopped me in my tracks. Sparky woke the spider kisser up- apparently he had only hit her with a spell that fakes death- dammit. Orvald, seeing his love revived, slayed one of the myconids. For some fucking reason, the airhead decided to attack the shrooms, even though they only seemed to be attacking those of us who had harmed them, and screamed "stop!" Of course they reciprocated her assault, while a spectral horse came out of Sparky's cane... He's fucking weird. Elle finished off the last quaggoth, while Orvald and Pwent killed the last two adult myconids. The sprouts began running away, even Rumpadump. Elle went after Rumpadump, and Sparky hit him with a spell to hold him in place until she could get to him.

       The rest of the sprouts ran into the small mushroom patch in the room, and Fidget felt compelled to follow them. They vanished as they reached the patch, and the moment Fidget got there, I heard him chant something and vanish too. Fidget had transported through the mushroom into another cavern where the sprouts had escaped to. That was a really weird fight.

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*Author's note: Many of the events, locations and characters that occur in this story are from the Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast. Anything with an asterisk next to it is a quote from the book.