"The Fetid Wedding" - Out of the Abyss, Chapter 43

Zuggtmoy was prepared. The demon queen had already conquered the mushroom kingdom known as Neverlight Grove, its myconid inhabitants now served her as obedient thralls. Soon she would merge with the great Araumycos, a single fungal life form whose tendrils reached for hundreds of miles in all directions. She already infected the great entity with her poison spores. The spores grew quickly and would soon completely dominate Araumycos' vast consciousness. That moment quickly approached.

Zuggtmoy's vanity would never allow her to simply dominate great Araumycos. She had to make a show of it. She would be joined with the entity in an elaborate public display with a grand wedding ceremony. She had to be seen becoming the ruler of a new world.

She strode forth confidently trailing a lacy train of delicate fungal strands. She was accompanied by her loyal handmaidens who now served as bridesmaids. A throng of her converts lined her procession, dancing and swaying to some inaudible music.

She entered the great chamber at the center of Araumycos. Her "high priest" stood atop a giant mushroom watching as she slowly approached. She saw the thousands of witnesses. A sly grin crept across her rubbery face.

Then she noticed it. Something was wrong. Someone was in contact with her betrothed. Someone was trying to wake Araumycos and warn it! Someone was trying to stop her!

No! Not when she was so close! She halted her procession. The bridesmaids looked at each other, confused. Zuggtmoy closed her eyes. She made telepathic contact with Araumycos. She would have to stop the interlopers herself!

OUT OF THE ABYSS, CHAPTER 43

"THE FETID WEDDING"

Five heroes scour the Underdark
in order to find the ingredients
of an arcane ritual
that will banish the Demon-Lords
back to the Abyss
from which they escaped.

Thus far the expedition has managed to acquire
all the components save for the tinmask mushrooms
from the footsteps of a demon.

But first they must wake Araumycos
a massive fungus the size of several nations
with the mind of a sleeping god,
before it falls under the control
of Zuggtmoy, the demon-queen of fungi, 
in a bizarre wedding ceremony...

THE LEADERS OF THE EXPEDITION

Sir Valerius Adeques - (PC, human paladin 11, male) Defender and champion of the old gods of nature, commander of the forces from the Order of the Gauntlet.

Willow - (PC, human wizard 11, female) "the solution is always fireball!"

Ront - (PC, half-orc barbarian 11, male) Savage orc of the Iron-Thews tribe seeking redemption for his failures.

Pain Grille' - (PC, halfling rogue 11, male) Wily street urchin from Waterdeep, was turned to stone in Blingdenstone but got better, commander of the Lord's Alliance forces.

Cordon - (PC, human cleric 11, male) Morninglord, Holy Radiant of Lathandor the Sun God, on a holy quest to activate the Maze Engine.

THE SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION

Thora Nabal - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet)

Sylrien Havennor - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet)

Elias Drako - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet)

Tamryn Tharke - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet) Gravelly voiced amazon with the hots for Feral.

Olaf Renghyi - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet)

The Shield Guardian - (NPC, shield guardian) a contribution from Lord Zelraun Roaringhorn of the Harpers.

Phwee-toop - (NPC, owl) Willow's familiar.

THE GUARDIANS OF ARAUMYCOS
The overworlders moved cautiously into the great cavern at the center of Araumycos. They were bearing the rapport spores of Sovereign Basidia, the true leader of the myconids, which would allow them to make telepathic contact with the ancient fungal entity. They had been warned that while Araumycos slept he was protected by guardians.

The great cavern was vast, larger than any arena or hippodrome, and filled with fungal life of gigantic proportion. There were side chambers that were hundreds of feet across. Every surface was covered in mushrooms that grew waist to shoulder high with the occasional zurkhwood towering to a hundred feet tall. They all emitted a dim glow which gave the dark chamber a soft luminescence.

They could feel the presence of Araumycos all around them.

In response to their intrusion a giant zurkhwood began to shift and move. It began shambling towards them. With it came seven small zurkhwoods.

Pain stepped forward and attempted to communicate with the larger one. It made no reaction and continued its mindless advance towards them.

Cordon cast a radiant fireball which was directed at the larger defender. Willow followed up with an arcane fireball directed at the zurkhwoods to the left. The larger zurkhwood defender caught fire and collapsed. Its mushroom head expanded with gas and exploded, spraying the area with spores. The defender expired, falling into a burning mass. The other animated zurkhwoods returned to their immobile state.

As the spores descended upon the expedition, they began to feel drowsy. The rapport spores of Sovereign Basidia were communicating with the spores of the dying defender. The overworlders swayed and fell unconscious to the soft spongy ground.

The warriors of the Order of the Gauntlet formed ranks around the unconscious heroes with the myconid allies of Sovereign Basidia forming a defensive outer ring.

The Overworlders found themselves floating in a grey void. All around them floated far away mountains or nearby pebbles, it was impossible to tell distance or scale.

Distinct from the other floating rocks was what appeared to be a smooth white marble hemisphere. They were drawn towards it. As they flew through the void they began to realize that the white marble hemisphere was as large as a mountain. It rotated to reveal a blank human face. The hemisphere was the head of an ancient marble statue. The head was broken and cracked and was missing its jaw. The head revealed itself to be hollow. Mushrooms and lichens grew on the rough interior surface.

At the center of the hollow space inside the marble head was a colossal round mass. The spherical mass was covered with tentacle-like cilia. The cilia waved slowly like undersea grass under gently rolling waves. Willow sensed that this was the "brain" of Araumycos, the center of its being.

On one spot of the spherical mass grew a black patch like cancerous mold, a tumescent corruption with tendrils that reached into the core of the mass. It was the corruption of Zuggtmoy, slowly taking over Araumycos.

The Overworlders began moving towards the spherical core.

There suddenly appeared in their way a humanoid form with wrinkly ochre-yellow skin covered in fungus and lichens. Ront shouted, "Zuggtmoy!"

AGAINST ZUGGTMOY

Several of the Overworlders collapsed in fear and madness. Ront screamed and flew towards the demon queen in a blind rage.

Valerius used his magic sword Dawnbringer to cure the madness afflicting Cordon. Cordon then helped Valerius remove the madness from Willow and Pain.

Ront and Zuggtmoy flew towards each other. The two clashed in mid-air as the sky exploded from Willow's fireball.

Zuggtmoy shrugged off the fireball and laughed. Pain sped quickly through space, making his way towards the black patch afflicting Araumycos' mind. Willow turned invisible and followed but much more slowly.

Cordon created an angelic spirit warrior to aid Ront against Zuggtmoy.

Zuggtmoy moved away from Ront and attacked Willow.

DM Note - Willow's player interrupted, "Don't forget! I'm invisible!" and I replied, gravely, "Yes. I know." She deflated, "Oh...Shit."

Willow disengaged and joined Pain.

Cordon moved forward and healed the injured Ront. Valerius rushed to aid Willow.

Dark tendrils shot out from the black patch attempting to ensnare Pain. Pain nimbly dodged the tentacles and began slicing them away from Araumycos' core.

Zuggtmoy screamed, "NO!" She made one final attack against Willow, lashing at her with a long whip-like tendril.Willow cried out in terror and disappeared!

DM Note- I took Willow's player out of the room and told her she woke up back in the cavern, alive and well. I told her she saw myconids and spore servants and bridesmaids fleeing from a large passage. From the passage emerged a colossal black formless mass! The oozing mass slithered towards Zuggtmoy and began enveloping her.

Pain continued cutting away at the black patch.

Zuggtmoy seemed momentarily distracted. She looked away into the distance and hissed, "Juiblex!"

Zuggtmoy winched as if struck by an invisible blow.

Pain finished cutting the black patch from the mind of Araumycos as yelled "Araumycos! Wake up!". As the severed black tendrils drifted free, the slowly waving strands of Araymycos bolted to attention. A deafening bass thrum crashed through the interior of the hollow marble head.

Zuggtmoy screamed in pain and disappeared as if wrenched away from the dreamworld of Araumycos' mind.

A sudden gust of wind blew Pain, Cordon, Valerius, and Ront. Pain was able to right himself and flee the interior of the hollow head but the others were knocked around within the interior. They exited the head stunned and disoriented.

Pain caught a glimpse of the massive marble head, its eyes beginning to glow. The light from the eyes consumed Pain's vision, blinding him.

Pain woke up in the cavern to the sound of giants fighting. He leaped to his bare halfling feet. The others were still lying on the ground disoriented.

Across the cavern he could see two massive entities locked in mortal combat - Juiblex, demon-lord of slimes and oozes, trying to kill its mortal enemy Zuggtmoy, demon-queen of fungi and lichens!


ENTER JUIBLEX
Pain and Willow stood guard over the party as they lay stunned on the ground. Any wounds they suffered in Araumycos' dream seemed to be purely illusory for they were uninjured. Minutes passed while they lay helpless watching Juiblex fight and defeat Zuggtmoy. The giant black oily mass of Juiblex continued to lash Zuggtmoy until the demon queen fell to the ground. Her last act as she lay defeated was to turn her head to face the demon-lord. Juiblex then moved over Zuggtmoy's fallen form, consuming her. Her hideous scream became a sick gurgle as she was absorbed into the mass of Juiblex's formless interior.

Valerius quipped, "Well, that's another one down. Time to go! We can take care of Juiblex once we've performed the ritual."

Ront pointed towards Juiblex, "No! Look! Jooblix is not done! Jooblix eating Armicus!"

Juiblex had moved over towards the center of Araumycos and had begun dissolving the fungal entity. All around Juiblex the fungus was dying then dissolving, exposing bare rock.

Valerius shrugged, "So?"

Ront spun to face the paladin, "That bad! Armicus is the size of entire country. It lie underneath elven forest. Armicus is tied to surface, which is why Zugma wanted control. If Armicus die, so will surface! We not done! We must Armicus kill!"

Ront charged off through the high fungal growth, screaming an orcish battle cry.

Valerius sighed and summoned forth his celestial lion, "Alright! Wait up!" The paladin, astride his leonine mount, had soon caught up with and had passed the orc barbarian.

"Me too!" shouted Pain as he activated his magic boots and shot past.

Willow hopped onto her magic flying broom and zoomed over the tops of the tall mushrooms. As she drew near she cast a fireball spell at Juiblex. The fiery explosion had little effect on the protean demon-lord.

Valerius and Pain outpaced Ront and reached Juiblex first. They quickly learned that the smell emanating from the oily fiend caused them to wretch and heave with nausea. Pain, as a halfling, had an easier time than the others.

Juiblex finally took notice of the insects attacking it. The demon-lord hurled a blob of mucus at Valerius, covering the paladin and his mount with disgusting slime and impeding his ability to fight. Valerius was forced to stop fighting and scrape the slime away from his face and hands.

Juiblex then threw a blob of acid at Willow. The wizardess screamed in pain and retreated out of range.

Cordon created a giant wall of radiant fire directly behind the demon-lord. Juiblex became gaseous and simply moved away from the fiery wall. The demon-lord reformed and kept attacking Valerius. Now Ront, Pain, and Valerius were trapped between Juiblex and the wall of fire.

Juiblex deemed Valerius the greatest threat and kept focusing its attacks on the paladin. Ront pulled forth a magical amulet of protection against demons given to him by Vizerian, pressed it against Valerius, and activated it. The amulet kept Valerius alive a few moments longer but, eventually, Valerius could take no more and fell to the demon-lord's repeated acid lash attacks.

Cordon dismissed the fiery wall and switched to more dangerous holy prayers. These prayers had little effect. Willow, back on her broom, would fly into range and cast a spell of banishment before flying back again. She repeated this tactic several times hoping to send Juiblex back to the Abyss.

Ront and Pain, meanwhile, kept up their assault on Juiblex. The pair were wounded and their chances were beginning to look grim.

Willow successfully banished Juiblex on her fourth attempt. The demon-lord disappeared!

Cordon quickly saw to the injured, reviving the dying Valerius. Willow, meanwhile, concentrated. She had to maintain her concentration for a full minute for the banishment to be permanent.

After a minute passed, she let out her breath and collapsed with exhaustion!

Juiblex and Zuggtmoy had both been defeated!

DM Notes - Willow and Cordon had worked out the strategy. They had caught on that Juiblex had free successful saving throws. I was an idiot and let slip that he had two more! They used that information to form a tactic whereby I would use up my saving throws on Cordon's spells. Then, once they were gone, Willow would start trying Banish. It was a little meta-gamey but it was a great tactic. I still had advantage on those saves and it took Willow four tries before I failed a saving throw. She was just about out of spell slots. 

After the battle, the myconids infected with Zuggtmoy's spores slowly reverted to normal. Sovereign Basidia was restored as the rightful ruler of Neverlight Grove. The myconids gave their eternal thanks to the heroes from the Overworld.

DM Note - My players joke that most of the rewards in this campaign come in the form of two thumbs up and a "Heyyyyy!"

In addition, there was a message of thanks from Araumycos. The vast entity also bestowed upon the heroes a magical charm of heroism that would grant them extra vitality in a single battle. Finally, Araumycos offered to answer any one question posed to it. The entity was vast and its knowledge was fathomless. Valerius inquired about the location of the spellbook of Gromph Baenre. Araumycos provided Valerius with a vision of the drow city of Menzoberranzan. The vision zoomed in on the tower Sorcere and into the sanctuary of its occupant, Gromph Baenre.

Afterward, Ront and Valerius located some tinmask mushrooms that had sprouted in Zuggtmoy's footsteps. They had obtained the penultimate ingredient for the ritual.

After a long rest, the Overworlders began their long journey back to the Tower of Vengeance.

Their mission was nearing its end.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"The Wrath of Baphomet" - Out of the Abyss, Chapter 42

Zilna Oakshadow, the only female spy of the Lord's Alliance to accompany the expedition, huddled with her companions along the wall as the demon-lord Baphomet appeared in the chamber of the Maze Engine.  Of the two other spies, Feral was unconscious and bleeding and Hilvius was barely conscious.

The sight of the bestial monstrosity that was Baphomet struck fear into her soul. The beast was over twenty feet tall and covered in reddish black shaggy fur. Its head was like a goat and adorned with a rack of massive metallic growths that could be horns or could be antlers. A brilliant ball of flame magically burned just above the top of its head. Its eyes glowed like embers. Glowing yellow drool hung from its tusks. It carried in its massive clawed hands a mighty glaive. 

Despite her best effots, Zilna could not help but scream in terror at the sight of the hideous demon!

Baphomet turned its head away from the Maze Engine and glared at the three spies. 

Zilna stood over her fallen comrade Feral, shielding his body. Hilvius managed to drag himself to a standing position. Both spies took aim at the demon lord with their crossbows.

Baphomet brought the glaive Heartcleaver down upon Hilvius, killing the bookish spy instantly. Baphomet let go of his glaive with one hand and grabbed Zilna. He picked her up, bit off her head, and threw her body into the lake of fire at the bottom of the cavern.

Feral lay on the ground, his breathing becoming shallower, shallower. With his last ounce of strength, Feral managed to open his eyes. Baphomet glowered at the dying human. With his last breath Feral hissed, "Pass...." 

Feral went limp and died. 

Baphomet turned and charged the Maze Engine. 

OUT OF THE ABYSS, CHAPTER 42

"THE WRATH OF BAPHOMET"

Five heroes scour the Underdark
in order to find the ingredients
of an arcane ritual
that will banish the Demon-Lords
back to the Abyss
from which they escaped.

Thus far the expedition has managed to acquire
all the components save for the tinmask mushrooms
from the footsteps of a demon.

Before that, they must activate 
the Maze Engine, an ancient modron device
before it is found and destroyed
by the Demon-Lord Baphomet

THE LEADERS OF THE EXPEDITION

Sir Valerius Adeques - (PC, human paladin 11, male) Defender and champion of the old gods of nature, commander of the forces from the Order of the Gauntlet.

Willow - (PC, human wizard 11, female) "the solution is always fireball!"

Ront - (PC, half-orc barbarian 11, male) Savage orc of the Iron-Thews tribe seeking redemption for his failures.

Pain Grille' - (PC, halfling rogue 11, male) Wily street urchin from Waterdeep, was turned to stone in Blingdenstone but got better, commander of the Lord's Alliance forces.

Cordon - (PC, human cleric 11, male) Morninglord, Holy Radiant of Lathandor the Sun God, on a holy quest to activate the Maze Engine.

THE SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION

Thora Nabal - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet)

Sylrien Havennor - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet)

Elias Drako - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet)

Tamryn Tharke - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet) Gravelly voiced amazon with the hots for Feral.

Olaf Renghyi - (NPC, human veteran, Order of the Gauntlet)

Feral Killmander - (NPC, human spy, Lord's Alliance) Raspy-voiced killer with a hare-lip. Killed by Vrocks.

Zilna Oakshadow- (NPC, human spy, Lord's Alliance) Killed by Baphomet.

Hilvius Haever  - (NPC, human spy, Lord's Alliance) Bookish spy with an off-putting voice and manner. Killed by Baphomet.

The Shield Guardian - (NPC, shield guardian) a contribution from Lord Zelraun Roaringhorn of the Harpers.

Phwee-toop - (NPC, owl) Willow's familiar.

DM Note - Pain and Cordon were absent this week. 

ESCAPE

Willow, Pain, and Ront had taken shelter on the far side of the Maze Engine and watched in horror as Baphomet killed the spies cowering by the entrance. Pain had fainted from fright at the sight of the Baphomet teleporting into the room. Willow asked Ront how he was doing. 

"Ront knows not fear!" was his defiant reply.

Willow grabbed the unconscious Pain by the arm and mounted her magical flying broom. She carried the halfling down towards the side tunnel Slaughtertusk had used to escape located thirty feet below the Maze Engine. The Shield Guardian retreated past the machine and was climbing down the side of the sinkhole in search of the escape tunnel.

Ront started pulling levers and pushing buttons in an attempt to operate the Maze Engine.  Despite his lack of training in the arcane arts, his random actions caused the device to begin to spin. Suddenly, a purple shockwave flashed from the device, buffeting Ront. Ront managed to hold on and nearly collapsed. He fell to one knee and took a deep panting breath.

DM Note - Ront took 10d6+40 force damage! If the damage reduced the character to zero hit points, the character is distegrated. Altough Ront was reduced to zero hit points, being a half-orc barbarian, he was instead reduced to one hit point! 

Willow reached the tunnel and found, to her amazement, Valerius and the mercenaries from the Order of the Gauntlet, "How did you get here?"

"We were trying to follow your clues and got lost. Are we close to the Maze Engine?"

"It's right there," she yelled, pointing up out of the tunnel's exit, "But we've got to go! Baphomet's here! Can you help Ront?"

Valerius moved to the tunnel's exit and saw Ront up above. The paladin of nature disappeared in a puff of silver fog and immediately reappeared next to Ront. He laid his hands upon the orc and reinvorated the barbarian's will to live.

Baphomet charged the Maze Engine, slamming into it and knocking it from its precarious perch at the top of the hour-glass shaped sinkhole that fell away into a lake of lava. The entire device, wedged between both walls, began sliding slowly down towards the fiery lake.

Ront lost his footing on the device and began to fall. Valerius dropped his shield and managed to grab the falling orc but the paladin lost his own footing and the two plummeted into the lake of lava a hundred feet below. 

Baphomet stood on the edge of the sinkhole and watched the device slide slowly down towards the lake of lava. It was out of his reach but he knew its fate was sealed. The Maze Engine would be destroyed soon enough.

The two warriors hit the viscous lava. The pudding-like consistency of the lava cushioned their fall but their lightweight bodies failed to break the surface tension of the lava's skin. Ronts unconscious body began to burn. Valerius screamed in pain as he, too, caught fire. He heroically grabbed his companion and cast a spell of healing. The spell triggered the chaotic faerzress and teleported Valerius and Ront out of the lava. Valerius quickly grabbed Ront and held onto the side of the rock wall, dangling twenty feet over the lava lake. 

Willow flew down on her broom and took Ront from Valerius. The Maze Engine continued its slide down the sinkhole. Valerius prayed for the spirits of nature for aid but to no avail. The faerzress, however, once again teleported him. Valerius found himself standing in the mouth of the escape tunnel waiting for Willow and Ront to join him.

Willow carried Ront into the tunnel and all three watched as the Maze Engine continued its descent, eventually sinking into the lava with a hissing popping mechanical explosion of screws, cogs, gears, pistons, and compressed gases. 

Baphomet released a howl of victory that shook the chamber and echoed for many minutes through the many tunnels of the Labyrinth. 

Baphomet had won. The Maze Engine was destroyed.

CLEAN UP

Having completed what he came to do, Baphomet beat his chest a few times and left the chamber, returning to the maze of the Labyrinth.

The party waited below in the escape tunnel. Once they were confident the demon-lord had left, Willow hopped on her flying broom and explored what was left of the cavern of the Maze Engine. She retrieved what was left of the bodies of Feral, Hilvius, and Zilna, as well as the remains of the modrons. Their bodies were ceremoniously cremated in the lava below.

Willow retrieved the wand that was summoned forth by the Maze Engine. She later determined it was a Wand of Fear.

Once they were done, the party retreated to the camp where Valerius had left Cordon. He explained that Cordon had come down with crypt cough and needed to rest so he left Cordon and the pack lizards in a safe defensible location.

A VISION FROM BASIDIA

The party rested. Ront had reached the limit of his physical endurance.

While he rested, Ront received a vision. He was standing in a massive cavern filled with softly glowing moss and fungi. He saw Sovereign Basidia, leader of the myconid renegades that had fled Neverlight Grove. Ront had no body, he was not really there.

Sovereign Basidia had established a long-range rapport with Ront, Kettle, and Angolwen, the only surviving members of the party that helped the renegades escape Neverlight Grove.

Basidia explained that the demon-queen Zuggtmoy had left Neverlight Grove and was making her way to the center of the sleeping kingdon-sized fungal entity known as Auromycos. She was planning to join herself to Auromycos in a demonic "wedding" ritual. If she were to do so, she would be able to turn the entire world into a land of fungus and decay.

Basidia needed their help. The myconid needed them to journey to Auromycos and rapport with the entity themselves before Zuggtmoy did. If they could awaken Auromycos, they might be able to convince it to resist Zuggtmoy.

Ront agreed to help. Kettle and Angolwen would have helped but they were too far away.

Basidia thanked Ront and implanted within the orc's mind the location of their next meeting. Ront had to hurry. Zuggtmoy was already en route.

JOURNEY TO AUROMYCOS

The journey from the Maze Engine to the heart of Auromycos comprised a distance of about 360 miles. The tablet of Garmin provided some assistance and allowed the party to cover about twelve miles before needing to rest.

A quarter into their journey, they left the straight mine shafts of the Labyrinth and entered the more natural lava tubes, dry riverbeds, caverns, and grottos of the natural Underdark. A short while later they began to notice yellow slime dripping from the walls. Soon after they they could tell that the walls and floors of the passages were carpeted in lichens, molds, and fungi. The surfaces were covered in mushrooms and fungal growths of all sorts. Valerius felt the presence of an immense life form. Every mushroom and fungus they saw was an extension of a single entity - Auromycos!

Soon after entering Auromycos' domain Ront, who was scouting ahead, returned to report that he had seen a quivering mass of air ahead - a gelatinous cube was blocking the passage before them. It was moving away from them.

They followed the cube for several hours. Like most gelatinous cubes, it moved very slowly. They hoped the cube would take an alternate route. To their dismay, they noticed that it was taking the exact same route as they.

Willow rolled her eyes and cast a fireball spell at the transparent mass. It exploded within the creature causing bubbles of hot gases to boil out of it. It turned and advanced on Ront. Ront slashed at the creature but was able to avoid its attacks. Willow threw small attack spells at the creature and it eventually dissolved into goo.

They advanced and found another gelatinous cube behind it. They sighed and proceeded to destroy the second cube. This continued five more times. It was unprecedented to see seven gelatinous cubes in so tight a formation and curious that they all seemed to be traveling towards a common goal - in the same direction as their destination.

Just over halfway to their destination, the expedition's rest was interrupted by the approach of three hook horrors. Each of the hook horrors shambled slowly. Mushrooms sprouted from their brains. Behind them were a contingent of dancing myconids and sprouts. The myconids offered to share the gift of the Lady with the expedition. They politely refused. The myconids continued on their way.

After resting, the expedition came across three black puddings feeding on Auromycos. The cavern was stripped bare, exposing the naked rock. The party carefully avoided disturbing the puddings.

A few rests later, they encountered a myconid camp, this time accompanied by drow spore servants. The party pretended to be spore servants, shambling and swaying to unheard music. Only Ront failed to convince the myconids of his infection. One of the myconids sprayed its spores onto Ront. Ront sputtered but moved on with the others. Ront was relieved to later learn that he had not contracted the myconid brain spores. 

BASIDIA'S PLAN

After a long journey over hundreds of miles, the expedition arrived at the location indicated by Basidia. There they found Basidia waiting for them. Next to Basidia stood old friends Stool and Rumpadump.

Basidia reiterated the plan. The myconid said that the heart of Auromycos was near, less than a two leagues away. But Zuggtmoy had arrived also and was preparing her ritual. They would have to hurry. Basidia would spray them with his special rapport spores, allowing them to communicate telepathically with the sleeping Auromycos. They had to wake the entity and warn it of Zuggtmoy's treachery. Basidia warned them, however, that while he slept Auromycos was protected by guardians. They would have to be wary!

Before they could continue, the expedition was suddenly attacked by four black puddings! 

Ront charged left, cleaving a pudding into two smaller puddings. Valerius followed him and cut the second pudding into two. 

The other two puddings converged onto Willow. She cast an attack spell, blasting them with a cone of cold and ice, but with no effect. Once Ront and Valerius finished chopping their puddings into tiny bits, they ran to help Willow. 

Soon all the puddings were destroyed.  Basidia commented on the strangeness of so many puddings so close to Auromycos. Valerius told the myconid sovereign of their earlier encounters. The paladin believed that the same demon-lord that created the Pudding King in Blingdenstone was at work here, perhaps in an effort to disrupt the coming union. 

With no time left to lose, the expedition rushed headlong towards Auromycos. 

They entered into a large cavern, larger than the greatest coliseum or arena. The cavern was filled with mushrooms of all sizes and dominated by a great forest of zurkhwoods ahead of them.

They were in the chamber of Auromycos!

Before they could act, tentacles fungal monsters arose out of the spongy floor. They were the guardians of Auromycos that protected him while he slept. 

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Treachery on the Darklake" - Out of the Abyss, Chapter 15

What follows is an illustrated dramatic retelling of my group's play through of the D&D campaign setting, "Out of the Abyss". SPOILERS for anyone wishing to play in this campaign.

CHAPTER 15

"TREACHERY ON THE DARKLAKE"

A rag-tag group of survivors

escaped the drow prison at Velkenvelve,

witnessed the razing of a kuo-toa village

by the demon-lord Demogorgon,

survived weeks of travel in the Underdark,

thwarted a secret demonic cult

in Gracklstugh, the city of the Duergar,

and made a hasty exit from the city

leaving it on the brink of civil war.

They travelled across the dangerous Darklake

to return they myconids Stool and Rumpadump

to their home in Neverlight Grove

where they discovered a sinister secret!

Neverlight Grove had been taken over

by Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Decay,

who was on the verge of converting

the population of the grove into

her loyal minions.

They helped the remaining unconverted myconids escape

and made their own plans for the next leg of their journey,

taking Jimjar to Blingdenstone

and returning to the Overworld...

THE PLAYER CHARACTERS
Angolwen - Wizard of mixed human/elven parentage.
Kettle Bearclaw - Halfling baker living among dwarves.
Pain Grille' - Halfling street urchin from Waterdeep.
Ficus Asëa - a lost eladrin traveller, alone in the Underdark

THEIR FELLOW FUGITIVES
Jimjar - a roguish deep gnome who likes to wager on everything.
Ront - Thuggish orc from the surface world. Follows Talorean's commands.
Prince Derendil - Elven prince in the body of a brutish quaggoth.
Starshine - A mute female moon elf, an escaped slave with no name.
Mister Floop - a friendly flumph.

NOT APPEARING THIS WEEK
Virtue - Tiefling paladin and a mysterious wild card.
Santaka - a baby red dragon.

RETURN TO YGGMORGUS

Fugitives camped in an alcove several hours away from Neverlight Grove. There they set a watch and rested.

Angolwen, Kettle, Pain, and Ficus awoke in the Garden of Welcome, groggy as if emerging from a dream. They had returned to the moment following their vision of Zuggtmoy, the Queen of Decay. Was this a dream? Was it reality? Was the evacuation of Neverlight Grove all a fantasy? Angolwe, Pain, and Ficus all felt the altered reality of a dream while Kettle felt the reality of the situation. There was no consensus.

They heard the sound of moaning and revelry coming from the nearby cavern of Yggmorgus. They investigated. The ground descended into a bowl forming a swampy moat around the towering mushroom. The slope was covered by a forest of giant mushrooms. All along the spongy ground were large blisters. Within each blister was the dark silhouette of a being. Some contained humanoids, others were occupied by strange creatures of the Underdark: gricks, hook horrors, nothics, etc. Found too were many open craters, the site of former blisters.

Angolwen was inspecting a nearby blister when it explosively burst, covering her with pus and slime. Within the crater was a writhing being, an abominable fusion of drow and fungus. It thrashed and convulsed and cried out in agony before going limp, surrendering to a euphoric bliss.

The cries of the hybrid were met by hundreds more throughout the mushroom forest, like wolves howling in the night. The entire towering body of Yggmorgus shuddered in ecstasy in response to the howls. The howls died and became a chanting drone.

Soon, a throng of hybrid entities of all shape, size, and origin gathered in the swampy lowlands surrounding Yggmorgus. All moaning in chorus as they danced and marched to a silent tune.

To his horror, Pain could hear the melody. He clutched his head in a vain attempt to force it out and resisted the urge to join the dance.

The revelers ignored the fugitives. They began dancing around a mound that had newly risen in the soft ground. Angolwen saw the newly "hatched" hybrid disappear into the crater beneath him only to rise, erect, from the top of the mound at the center of the revelry a few seconds later. At the creatures ascension, the revelers threw up their hands and shuddered an ecstatic welcome.

The fugitives felt a call, an urge, as if summoned into Yggmorgus. As they silently approached the towering fungus, Angolwen and Pain's minds slipped into madness.

The revelers parted to allow the fugitives to enter. They passed through an antechamber dug into the base of Yggmorgus' mighty stalk and entered into a central chamber.

They saw Zuggtmoy hovering in deep meditation, attended by a dozen or more hybrid handmaidens. The handmaidens floated around their queen like grotesque cherubs, singing as they wove her bridal gown out of strands of fibrous lichens. One of the handmaidens tried to shoo the interlopers away.

Zuggtmoy, Demon Queen of Decay

The fugitives ignored the warning. Instead, as if in a dream, they charged to attack! The assault had little effect on the demon queen. Only when Kettle struck with Dawnbringer did the horrible entity open her eyes in annoyance. With a wave of her hand the party were instantly ensorcelled by a powerful charm. Another flick of her long spindly fingers put them into a deep sleep.

BEARINGS

After being put to sleep by Zuggtmoy's magic, the fugitives wake up at their camp. They shared their experiences of the vision which all remember save Kettle.

Yestabrod, in case you forgot

Pain, Jimjar, and Ront were still infected by Yestabrod's spores. Other than hearing the haunting silent music and a slight desire to return to Neverlight Grove, Pain and Ront showed no signs of infection. Jimjar, however, began to experience moments of impaired intelligence and judgement. This greatly concerned Pain, who worried that unless the disease was treated, he might eventually die.

The fugitives continued traversing the river passage to the Darklake. When they reached the waterfall where they hid their lakeboat, they asked Jimjar how to travel to Blingdenstone. Jimjar admitted that he was lost. He only knew how to return to his home city from certain locations and this was not one of them. The party would have to return to Gracklstugh and hire a navigator to take them to a location where Jimjar could take over.

Pain likewise expressed his desire to return to Gracklstugh, citing his urgency to remove himself and others of Yestabrod's spores lest they expire.

DM Note- Although this was true, this was also a way to get Virtue back into the story. Virtue's player has reassured me he would return this week. 

The party decided to rest again before embarking onto the lake. Watches were set and the fugitives curled up to sleep on their stolen boat. Pain nervously bit his nails worrying what would become of his health.

DM Note- Pain's player did a great job. I couldn't tell where role-playing ended and where genuine concern over the character's future began. 

IT'S A TRAP! 
Late into the rest, Kettle spied a shadowy figure navigating the rocks along the shore. He called out and woke up his companions. The figure paused and, in a female voice, returned the call in a language no one could understand. Kettle tried again, the figure called back in Draconic, which Ficus could understand.

A Mysterious Stranger

The stranger identified herself as Maven Delve, priestess of Vindislane, and asked for permission to approach the boat. Permission was granted and she came forward slowly.

She was a moon elf from the Overworld. She had light blue skin and purple hair. She carried an ornate staff of zurkhwood and bore a red diamond painted on her forehead. She explained that she was trying to return to her home, a temple on an island in the Darklake, but became stranded on the shore when her previous transport was destroyed. She sought passage and offered her services as a priestess as payment. Pain asked if she could cure diseases. She said that she could but would have to pray to her earth god in her temple.

The fugitives suspected treachery but could detect no malice or deception on the part of the priestess. Nor could they confirm or verify her tale. Pain, seeing the effect of the spores on Jimjar, was desperate to be cured and convinced the rest of the fugitives to take her on.

Once on board, the mysterious passenger cast a spell on the boat and it suddenly moved itself at high speed through the water. She said that the journey would take some time but that they would not have to sleep again before they arrived. Kettle kept a wary eye on the passenger the entire time. He was always at her side and had his hand on his hilt. Ficus engaged the passenger in conversation, asking probing questions in an attempt to get her to trip up and reveal a falsehood. Like Prince Derendil, no one had ever heard of her homeland or of the god "Vindislane", but that was not evidence of falsehood. 

Late into the journey, Ficus noticed that the priestess' arms were not smooth but were in fact bumpy and wrinkled. When asked, she explained that she was polymorphed by an evil wizard.

Prince Derendil

Prince Derendil took immediate interest, asking, "Was it the fiend Terrestor?"

"The very same," answered the priestess.

"But you said you came from a different homeland than Derendil!" said Kettle.

"Indeed, for Terrestor has expanded his reach beyond Nelrindenvane and has conquered other elven kingdoms. Your people need you during this time of trouble, Prince Derendil."

Derendil looked morose while Kettle and Ficus looked on in shock and disbelief!

She said that she was forced to cast an illusion upon herself to hide the frightening appearance forced upon her.

Ficus asked her to drop the illusion, promising to respect her and tolerate her hideous appearance. She complied, revealing her form to be that of a foul withered old crone with green skin, stringy hair, and long claws. Her voice became coarse, wet, and guttural.

Ficus and Kettle looked on with narrowed eyes of suspicion, but since her story thus far had been so convincing and she had made no effort to cause harm to the party, they continued to their mysterious destination.

DM Note- The players, now wise that intelligent monsters could lead to treasure, followed the obvious trap back to the monster's lair. Very clever, those players.

THE TEMPLE OF VINDISLANE
A while later, the boat begins to slow. Soon after, the ruins of an ancient temple come into view at the edge of Dawnbringer's illumination. The temple rises directly out of the lake, the steps leading to the entrance descend into the water. The entire structure is stained with age and moss.

Maven Delve was the first out of the boat, climbing the stairs into the temple antechamber. She signaled the others to follow. She then turned and called into the darkened temple, "Sisters! Sisters! Come quickly! I have brought you a gift!"

"Sisters! Sisters! Come quickly! I have brought you a gift!"

Another wrinkled green creature emerged from shadowed passages deep within the temple, "What have you brought us, sister? Is it tasty?" Only later did they learn that the second sister's name was Nanny Plunk. Plunk's face broke into an evil grin of sharpened teeth when she saw the strangers at her door. "Yes! Yes! Tasty!"

The fugitives immediately attacked Maven Delve. She was overwhelmed by blade and Angolwen's firebolt. She tried to become invisible so that she could retreat but was cut down by Kettle's sun-blade.

Nanny Plunk was joined by a third sister named Dame Spiderwort, but when she saw that Maven was dead, she became enraged and attacked! Nanny Plunk was surrounded became invisible in order to flee. The fugitives directed their attacks at the third sister by the deep well in the back of the temple.

Dame Spiderwort shoved Ront into the well, who fell to the bottom with a thud, then moved towards the rear corner of the chamber by two large rear doors. She was soon surrounded by Pain, Kettle, and Prince Derendil. Pain and Derendil attacked with notable ferocity since their hopes were dashed by the lies of the old crones. Dame Spiderwort then kicked Derendil into the pit, but the quaggoth caught himself on the ledge. Dame Spiderwort was cut down soon afterwards.

Nanny Plunk then re-emerged from invisibility and attacked but was killed by Angolwen's chromatic orb spell which doused the old hag in poison.

DM Note- I was so disappointed that Maven Delve was killed on the second round before I could get all three hags in the same room. The players didn't know it at the time, but had all three gotten together, they could have cast some serious spells! Multiple Hold Persons, Lightning Bolts, Eyebite! I told them later how close they came and they all high fived and were so proud of their good fortune!

After the battle, they checked on Ront. The pit wasn't too deep and Ront was fine.

DM Note- I rolled 2d10 x 10ft to determine the depth of the well. 30 ft. Pfft. What a waste. Ront took only 7 points of damage from the fall.

Ront reported finding treasure at the bottom of the well. Along with a pile of coins and gems, they found a potion of extra healing and a silver arrow.

The fugitives decided to rest in the ruins of the ancient temple. Kettle and Angolwen studied the arrow and determined that it was magic. Simply state the name of a place that you have been to and the arrow would point the way.

DM Note- As far as I know I just made that up. I'm sure its in the DMG or some sourcebook somewhere. As rolled, it was a +1 arrow. Big whoop. I changed it when I learned that Virtue's player had just texted us, telling us he couldn't make it after all. The whole reason for returning to Gracklstugh was gone so I gave them the arrow in case they wanted to go straight to Blingdenstone instead.  Not knowing how far away Blingdenstone was, Pain's player lobbied to return to Gracklstugh anyway so he could be cured of the infestation spores. 

PAIN BECOMES ANXIOUS
After resting, it beccame evident that Ront had succumbed to the madness of the spores. Ront began to momentarily loose awareness, as if drifting away to a faraway place. Pain's desperation to be rid of the spores became acute.

Desperate for a cure, the party risked exhaustion by taking no rests and pushing themselves to Gracklstugh. 

On the way, they were attacked by four Darkmantles. The octopus-like creatures dropped from the ceiling onto their heads, smothering the victim until they were removed. They darkmantles were soon killed and their skins were harvested for later.

Darkmantles!

A TIGHT SQUEEZE

Halfway to  Gracklstugh, they were forced to pass through a tiny passage. They got stuck and could not free their lakeboat. There they sat, worried about what to do. A little while later, another smaller lakeboat approached from behind. The boat was unmanned but obviously under some kind of control. A voice called out to inquire their circumstances. 

Stuck in a small passage

The boat was a small cargo craft belonging to Captain "Bareback Assbreaker" (DM Note- obviously, I allowed the players to make up the name), an obese Duergar wearing no shirt. Captain Assbreaker and his crew of four duergar were returning to Gracklstugh with a cargo of five piles of milled zurkhwood lumber from Menzoberranzan. Since Assbreaker needed to pass through the same passage, he helped them free their boat and accompanied them to Gracklstugh.

Captain (sigh...) Bareback Assbreaker
May or may not be a bear leather daddy.

RETURN TO GRACKLSTUGH

The fugitives from Velkenvelve, exhausted from constant rowing with no rest, arrived in Gracklstugh in their stolen lakeboat. They were met at the quay by the dockmaster. The dockmaster immediately recognized the craft and notified them that it was the property of the Merchant Council. He asked how they came by it and they said they found the boat adrift in the lake and wished to claim salvage rights. The dockmaster shrugged and told them to take it up with the Merchant Council. In the meantime, he had to confiscate the boat and remove their belongings to the quay. Starshine and Derendil were assigned to oversee the offloading while the rest attended to business in the Darklake District.

There was a visible change in Gracklstugh. No longer did they see evidence of madness and insanity creeping in on the common folk. No longer was there a pervasive sense of dread and foreboding.

Pain Grille'

Pain was desperate to find a priest that could cure him of his disease. They found a holy man of Laduguer. The holy man examined Pain and told him that he was not diseased and neither were Jimjar or Ront.

Pain, shocked, looked at Jimjar.

Jimjar

"Had you goin!"

Pain's expression turned to anger.

"I got out of rowing for two whole days! Ront got out of it for only today."

Ront laughed a deep menacing laugh which unnerved Kettle. 

Ront

DM Note- I misread the way the infestation spores worked. I thought he had to keep making saves until he died or was cured. But if he made any of the saves, he was cured. We spent several minutes trying to find "Cure Disease" which apparently isn't a spell anymore in 5th edition. We looked everywhere (almost, more on that in a minute). I re-read the infestation effect and finally found the missing sentence. I was embarrassed. Pain's player was visibly relieved! He liked playing Pain and didn't want to die to a disease. That's when Kettle's player stepped in, playing Jimjar, "Had you going!" and that became the story! It was perfect and hilarious and everyone laughed! My only regret was that I didn't plan it that way from the beginning.

RECENT EVENTS

After resting in Grohlbrorn's Lair for a shift, the fugitives went to meet Ylsa Henstak of the Merchant Council so they could discuss their salvage fee. Ylsa was surprised to see them return to Gracklstugh given what their companion Virtue did.

"What did she do?"

Ylsa Henstak of the Merchant Council

Ylsa told them of the events of Gracklstugh since she'd last seen them.

"Since you left, it was discovered that there was a derro cult of demogorgon. The cult was using magic to affect the people of Gracklstugh, driving them insane. When they were destroyed, the cityh returned to normal. However, their destruction led to a derro uprising which had to be put down by the Stone Guard.

"During the uprising, there was a confrontation between the agents of Themberchaud, the wyrmsmith of Gracklstugh, and the Keepers of the Flame, those assigned to protect and control him. Themberchaud himself intervened and turned on his keepers to aid his agents.  The Keepers of the Flame suffered severe losses and Themberchaud became restless, demanding that the Deep King see him in his lair.

"At the same time, your friend Virtue, with the help of the Deep King's agents, the Darkhafts, had exposed the king's consort as a succubus. There was a terrific battle in the throne room and the former consort was forced to flee into the Underdark.

"The Deep King then met with Themberchaud, accompanied by the stone giants of Clan Cairngorm. Themberchaud demanded that the king abdicate his throne and turn control of Gracklstugh over to the himself. The Deep King refused, of course. There was a moment of high tension. The Deep King knew he could not kill the dragon. Gracklstugh needs him to light the forges and without the forges Gracklstugh is nothing. Yet Themberchaud knew that if he pressed the matter and truly threatened the Deep King, the stone giants would fight to defend their ruler and possibly win. The two sides were at an impasse.

"Eventually, they were able to negotiate a settlement whereby the city taxes would be increased to appease Themberchaud's desire for gold. In addition, the Deep King would turn over the baby dragon that Virtue had acquired so that it could be killed. Unsuprisingly, Virtue disappeared with the dragon before the next shift.

"The Merchant Council is very unhappy with this arrangement but we would have been more unhappy had Themberchaud been killed. The current arrangement is temporary and will not stand for long. The answer is a new younger dragon that we could better control. We would pay handsomely for that dragon. If you find Virtue, kill her, and return the dragon to us. You would be rewarded.

"In addition, and hopefully completely unrelated, there has also been a recent outbreak of arouranthropy - wererats - among the derro. We'd pay to have that taken care of also." The party, aware that the wererats Topsy and Turvy were last seen fleeing into the derro enclave, sheepishly declined.

Ylsa then paid the fugitives their salvage prize, 300 gold pieces.

In addition, they asked Ysla for their earlier promised reward - passage on a trade boat to Blingdenstone. She agreed and assigned them passage on a boat - their boat, under the command of its new captain, Flintstone Buttcrunch (sigh).

Before they left, they converted their sacks and barrels of gold and silver into jewels for easy transport. Their boat now had a new captain and a new crew, two Duergar and six human slaves. The fugitives secretly discussed the possibility of freeing the slaves but were concerned what would happen to them alone in the Underdark and were unwilling to protect them if they accompanied their adventures. They reluctantly decided that slavery was the best situation for them, under the circumstances.

Topsy

Turvy

While Angolwen rested on a sack of food, she was surprised to discover that the sack wriggled under her head. Upon examining the contents of the sack, she found Topsy and Turvy hiding within. They shusshed her to silence. She whispered to them, asking how they got here. They replied that they were being hunted in the city and didn't know why, so they had to sneak out. Also, the city was full of were-rats!

A tridon passed without incident and everyone was settling into a leisurely passage across the Darklake when, suddenly, one of the human rowers was harpooned and dragged into the water, only to be stopped by the chains securing them to the boat! 

TO BE CONTINUED!!

"Neverlight Grove" - Out of the Abyss, Chapter 14

What follows is an illustrated dramatic retelling of my group's play through of the D&D campaign setting, "Out of the Abyss". SPOILERS for anyone wishing to play in this campaign.

CHAPTER 14

"NEVERLIGHT GROVE"

A rag-tag group of survivors
escaped the drow prison at Velkenvelve,
witnessed the razing of a kuo-toa village
by the demon-lord Demogorgon, 
survived weeks of travel in the Underdark,
thwarted a secret demonic cult
in Gracklstugh, the city of the Duergar,
and made a hasty exit from the city
leaving it on the brink of civil war.

They traversed the Darklake
and were attacked by Merrow,
where they lost the paladin Talorean.
After exploring a lost tomb
and finding a magic sword
they approach the entrance to
Neverlight Grove, fabled homeland
of the mushroom men known as Myconids...

THE PLAYER CHARACTERS
Angolwen - Wizard of mixed human/elven parentage.
Kettle Bearclaw - Halfling baker living among dwarves.
Pain Grille' - Halfling street urchin from Waterdeep.

INTRODUCING
Ficus Asëa - a lost eladrin traveller, alone in the Underdark

THEIR FELLOW TRAVELLERS
Jimjar - a roguish deep gnome who likes to wager on everything.
Ront - Thuggish orc from the surface world. Follows Talorean's commands.
Rumpadump - A shy and laconic myconid adult.
Stool - A myconid sprout that follows Kettle like a pet follows its owner.
Prince Derendil - Elven prince in the body of a brutish quaggoth.
Starshine - A mute female moon elf, an escaped slave with no name.
Mister Floop - a friendly flumph.

NOT APPEARING THIS WEEK
Virtue - Tiefling paladin and a mysterious wild card.
Santaka - a baby red dragon.

A LOST TRAVELER
The fugitives from Velkenvelve were a few miles away from Neverlight Grove when they heard the sound of eerie cackling.  Sensing the need for caution, Kettle dimmed the light of his new sword, Dawnbringer. Dawnbringer objected, asking that she never again be cast into darkness. Kettle argued with his sword. Since the sword spoke to Kettle telepathically, the rest of the fugitives could only see Kettle having an imaginary conversation with his sword. Eventually, Dawnbringer allowed herself to be dimmed.
They stealthily approached and found an eladrin warrior surrounded by three strange hunched-back creatures, each with a single large eye in the center of their heads. They cackled and taunted the lone high elf, circling him.  "Poor lost traveler! All alone! No one to protect him! No one to save him!"  The creatures turned when they noticed the approach of the fugitives. They leered, laughing an evil high-pitched laugh, "The escapees from the drow prison! We know why you are here! You will never succeed! We will kill you first, then we will kill the eladrin!" The two sides charged into battle!

The creatures, identified by Angolwen as nothics, were soon defeated. The eladrin traveler introduced himself as Ficus Asëa. He had been tasked with escorting a group of Underdark inhabitants who were lost in the Overworld back to their homelands. After completing his mission he, himself, had become lost. He had heard that Neverlight Grove may possess a passage to the Overworld and was thus headed there. The fugitives offered to allow Ficus to join their band for mutual protection and safety as they made their way back to the Overworld. He agreed and they continued their journey to Neverlight Grove.

Ficus Asëa

ARRIVAL

The path left the underground river and followed an ancient dry riverbed higher and higher. They emerged into a massive chamber, nearly half-a-mile wide and over a mile long. The chamber was warm and humid and lit with an eerie phosphorescence. They stood upon a precipice overlooking a vast bowl filled with giant mushrooms, many the size of the largest trees of the Overworld. A lake could be seen to the lower left. Marshy swamps and mushroom forests to the lower right. To the rear of the bowl were clearings and hills and large mushrooms the size of domed buildings. Terraces rose to the left and right, stepping up the walls of the massive cavern. On the far side, a rift in the cavern wall could be barely discerned through the glowing mist, hinting at another chamber beyond.

Rumpadump suggested they go report to Sovereign Basidia and pointed to one of the larger mushrooms on the far side of the lake. They agreed and the myconid led the fugitives down a path into the mushroom forest below.

THE FUNGAL WILDS

The fugitives carefully followed the narrow winding path that descended to the forest below leading their train of four pack lizards. Rumpadump led the way as they entered the dense undergrowth of what he called the Fungal Wild.

They passed through a dense area of growth and emerged into a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a mound surrounded by a dozen man-sized mushrooms. One of the mushrooms came to life and approached the party. Rumpadump stepped forward and the two began silently exchanging communication spores. Rumpadump signalled the rest of the fugitives to approach so that they can be exposed to rapport spores. They were introduced to Loobamub, the leader of the circle of hunters.

Loobamub welcomed the fugitives. The hunter answered what questions he could about the "Lady", of whom the myconid had never met, and suggested they meet with Sovereign Phylo in the inner circle.

"Wait, I thought Basidia was the sovereign?" someone asked.

"They both are." was Loobamub's reply.

Loobamub also warned the fugitives that the hunters have been tracking several intruders into the fungwal wilds and to watch out for a grick alpha a "mound monster".

DM Note- I asked the players if they wished to actively hunt the monsters, actively avoid the monsters, or ignore the monsters. If they hunted, I would have asked for a nature check to track it down. If they ignored them, I'd roll a fifty percent chance of a random encounter. They chose to actively avoid the monsters, so I asked for a nature check. It failed, so I then rolled for a random encounter.

GRICK AMBUSH

As the fugitives made their way through the swampy forest, Pain and Angolwen noticed an upwelling in the spongy terrain. They warned their fellows and prepared for an attack. Suddenly, the ground erupted underneath Kettle's pack lizard. The largest grick anyone had ever seen burst forth, its tentacles flailing around the hapless animal, its beak sinking into its flesh and dragging it underground. The party attacked!

Angolwen cast attack spells which, to her surprise, produced unexpected and chaotic effects. She suddenly found herself teleporting!

The fugitives maneuvered to surround the worm-like monstrosity. Kettle held aloft the new sword, Dawnbringer, and allowed it to flare to full prominence, attacking the foul worm with burning sun-flame.

The newcomer Ficus cast his own attack spells and, to everyone's amazement, somehow summoned a unicorn from the land of faerie!

The unicorn reared up in a flare of magical light! Pain was immobilized with awe, muttering, "It's magnificient!" to which the unicorn boldly replied, "THAT'S RIGHT! I AM MAGNIFICIENT!"

The unicorn surveyed the scene, "I say! Is that beast causing you distress? I, Magnificient the unicorn, will dispatch it forthwith!" and charged the monster.

Meanwhile, Angolwen's next spell created an unwanted cloud of magical fog while the rest of the fugitives, with the help of Magnificient the unicorn, fought and killed the monstrous grick.

After the battle, Pain cautiously approached the shining unicorn, trembling with nervous excitement, "Uh..uh.. mister unicorn?"

"Yes, my diminutive friend?"

"M..m..may I touch you?"

The unicorn considered the young halfling street urchin, "Yes. Yes, of course you may!"

Pain reached out to stroke the shining beast's fur when it began to fade, "Oh no! I'm retuuuurrrrnnnniiinngggg...!" The unicorn faded into a quietly tinkling cloud of glitter.  Pain caught as much glitter as he could and held it to his heart, smiling. The glitter, too, eventually faded. Pain looked at his hands, which were now empty, and sighed with contentment.

DM Note- I have been playing D&D for 35 years, and in all that time I can't remember EVER encountering a unicorn in the game. No one else could either except for Scott (Ficus), who had encountered one once before twenty years ago.

The party continued through the wildes, unassaulted by further threats. Kettle was having a one-way debate with his sword.

THE INNER CIRCLE
The fugitives cleared the wilds and entered a kind of clearing on the far side of the lake. There were two building-sized mushrooms and a tall cliff beyond. Near one of the larger mushrooms was a mound surrounded by dozens of man-sized mushrooms and a ring of zurkhwoods. As the fugitives approached, the tree-sized zurkwhoods came to life and took a defensive posture.

Someone asked Rumpadump if those were myconids. Rumpadump replied, "No. They're more like.. those things," indicating the pack lizards, "to you. They do what we say but they are not myconids."

The zurkhwoods separated and allowed two tall myconids to approach. One was animated and friendly while the other was reserved. The outgoing myconid sprayed his rapport spores all over the newcomers and introduced itself as Sovereign Phylo. Phylo welcomed the fugitives as guests of Neverlight Grove. "You are safe, frienly meat-people. 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!"

DM Note- Whenever a myconid sprays his rapport spores, I would make an expansive gesture with my hands and go "Splplplple!" with my tongue and lips like a balloon deflating. It got the point across and the players started wiping the imaginary spores from their faces each time they met a new myconid.

Phylo told the fugitives that they were guests and could stay as long as they wished, inviting them to explore and enjoy Neverlight Grove, so long as they avoid the plateau and the chamber beyond. "The circle of masters is preparing a glorious surprise in the Garden of Welcome.. oh, but I have said too much!" Phylo covered his lower "face" as if to hide a mischievous grin. "Oh, I do hope you can stay for the surprise!"

Phylo was unwilling to answer too many questions about the surprise or the Great Lady they had heard about, saying only, "The Great Lady lives in the chamber beyond the garden. Soon she will answer ALL questions! For you see, that is part of the surprise! Oh! Once again, I have said too much! Tee hee!"

DM Note- My players immediately picked up on the fact that Phylo said "she", using a gender specific pronoun that was inapplicable to the myconids. I'm so proud of my players sometimes. 

Sovereign Basidia

The other myconid was Sovereign Basidia. Basidia was laconic, reserved, and looked embarassed by Phylo's gregariousness. Basidia offered to take the fugitives on a guided tour of the five circles...

"SEVEN! Seven circles!" interrupted Phylo.

Basidia made a gesture like a deep breath and a sigh.

...the seven circles of Neverlight Grove, an invitation that the fugitives enthusiastically accepted.

THE TOUR

Sovereign Basidia led the fugitives away from the mound of the inner circle and towards a nearby small marshy pond. Basidia didn't say much but honestly, if somewhat reservedly, answered any questions put to him.

When asked why there were two sovereigns, Basidia explained that he used to be the only sovereign, but Phylo offered to help share some of the sovereign duties, an offer that made sense at the time. Basidia explained that he had come to regret that decision as Phylo has introduced lots of new ideas.

There used to be five circles in Neverlight Grove: the hunters, the growers, the sowers, the builders, and the explorers. Phylo had introduced two new circles: the inner circle and the circle of the masters.

Phylo has also introduced a new concept to the myconids, something called a "see-krit", the withholding of information. Before Phylo, all myconids would meld together, exchanging their rapport spores in a mass meld. Phylo has restricted meldings to each circle and the leader of each circle now melds in the newly created inner circle. On top of that, a few select leaders now meld in an even more exclusive circle of masters, which has been planning this so-called "surprise".

Basidia was not in the circle of masters and had no idea what the surprise was. Basidia had heard of this "Lady" but hadn't met her, nor did he know who she was. As far as Basidia knew, the Lady spoke only to Phylo and the circle of masters.

Basidia didn't say it, but the fugitives could tell that the old sovereign was uncomfortable with Phylo's innovations.

CIRCLE OF SOWERS
The fugitives were led to the swampy pond. There they saw over a dozen myconids tending to hundreds of small wriggling sprouts, each the size of a potato. Many of the myconids in the circle were constantly swaying and dancing to a silent song. The circle leader sprayed its spores on the group and introduced itself as Yrberop.

Yrberop explained the purpose of the pool to the newcomers. This is where myconid sprouts were spored. Yrberop bragged that under Phylo's direction the circle had begun a program of rapid population growth.

"Hundreds of newly spored sprouts would soon be ready to join the grove in time for the coming joyous surprise. Oh, but I've said too much! Tee hee!"

Yrberop happily greeted Stool, saying that the sprout had grown so big in the past few months! Yrberop explained that Stool was taken from the grove, along with other sprouts, by a drow raiding party looking for a source of slaves. They had harvested dozens of tiny sprouts when they were little more than puff-balls and taken them away.

Throughout the story, Yrberop was constantly interrupted by the tiny wriggling potato-like sprouts wanting attention. The sower would calm them with the spore equivalent of a tune. Yrberop eventually ignored the newcomers entirely, trailing off into a kind of lullaby song.

"Soon the Great Seeder will come
She will wed the Great Body
Every little sprout is invited
She will bring joy to all in the world
below and above"

Basidia led the party away and up a path that climbed the walls of the cavern to one of the terraces high above.

CIRCLE OF BUILDERS

The tour ascended the path to one of the terraces. The terrace featured crude structures made of stones arranged in an imitation of walls and buildings.

The leader of the circle approached Basidia and sprayed his spores all over the tour group.

DM Note- "Splplplple!" 

The circle leader's name was Gasbide. Gasbide was excited to meet the fugitives. Gasbide deduced from their appearance that they were Overworlders and immediately began asking questions about the mythical land above. Gasbide showed a level of enthusiasm for a subject that was atypical for a myconid. The leader asked if anyone of the guests had ever seen a "building". He urgently requested details such as shapes, dimensions, uses, etc. Gasbide boasted that someday he would construct a tower larger and taller than even the mighty Yggmorgus, the massive towering mushroom in the chamber beyond. Gasbide mentioned that with the help fo Araumycos, the tower might reach all the way to the Overworld!

When asked about Araumycos, Gasbide admitted that it was but a name it had overheard. Something to do with the upcoming surprise. "Oh, but I have perhaps said too much! Tee hee!"

Basidia led the tour to a higher terrace.

CIRCLE OF GROWERS
The highest terrace was home to the circle of growers. The leader of the growers reluctantly sprayed its spores in order to meet the guests.

DM Note- "Splplplple!" 

The leader was named Hebopbe. Hebopbe was taciturn and grumpily dismissed all questions about the recent events in the grove, saying that was none of its business.

Basidia led the tour along a path around the grove. The path passed over the tunnel entrance to the grove and looped all the way around to the other side of the cavern.

CIRCLE OF EXPLORERS
The tour was introduced to Rasharoo, the leader of the circle of explorers.

DM Note- "Splplplple!"  By this time, the player characters were miming being annoyed at being sprayed in the face with rapport spores, wiping it away and out of their eyes and spitting it out of their mouths.

Rasharoo was wary of the newcomers but was happy to see Rumpadump. The two melded and Rasharoo's wariness turned into warm trust. Rasharoo explains that Rumpadump was one of the explorers sent out into the Underdark with Voosbur. When Voosbur returned alone, Rasharoo feared that Rumpadump was lost.

Rasharoo was highly suspicious of Phylo and has not joined in any of the meldings with the inner circle. Instead, it appeared that Voosbur had become good friends with Phylo and Rasharoo expected to be soon replaced as circle leader.

Rasharoo had grave doubts about this upcoming surprise. Strange things were happening in the Underdark. The explorer had heard stories of demon lords and evil cults, stories that were corroborated by the fugitives. Rasharoo said that it believed that the grove had fallen under the influence of one of these demon lords and that it had been preparing an escape plan in case anything should befall the grove.

A SUBTLE REQUEST

Basidia added that it suspected Phylo of spreading a diseased spore during melding and that this spore originated from the Garden of Welcome. Basidia had not visited the Garden of Welcome and was very curious about what was going on up there with the circle of masters. Very curious. Basidia reiterated that the garden of welcome was forbidden to the guests, but a subtle nod indicated a path that led up the cliff face.

THE GARDEN OF WELCOME

Kettle, Angolwen, Pain, Ficus, Jimjar, Ront, and Mister Floop (who could not be persuaded to stay behind with Prince Derendil and Starshine) reached the top of the path and found a wide plateau, higher than the terraces in the cavern behind them. Soaring zurkhwoods screened the area beyond. They moved through the forest of tree-sized mushrooms and entered a clearing containing a mound similar to those found with each circle. Unlike the other mounds, which were made of soil, rocks, and lichens, this mound was composed of half-buried bodies, some humanoid, some monstrous. The bodies were covered in lichens, molds, and mushrooms. There were no myconids or man-sized mushrooms in sight.

As they neared the mound of horror, they could make out the sound of moaning. The bodies half-buried in the mound were alive! Some of their limbs feebly moved and their heads turned! One of the heads was that of a female drow, calling out in Undercommon. When no one replied, she tried elven, "You... I was... looking for you... Please... for your Overworld gods... kill me!"

The fugitives cautiously moved closer. The drow held out her hand, clutching a spider medallion in the bloated limb that was once her hand, "The Great Seeder... trap... she's here... the Lady of Decay... Zuggtmoy... "

YESTABROD
Suddenly, a massive shape burst into the clearing. It was the heaving bulk of what was once a myconid, a disgusting fusion of flesh and fungus covered in fat pustules that burst and emitted clouds of yellow, green, and purple spores. It spoke in a gutteral disgusting croak.

Yestabrod!

"Welcome travelers! I am Yestabrod! 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 massive bulk was joined by four myconids, all members of the circle of masters, and the bodies of four of the half-buried drow, great mushrooms and lichens sprouting from their decaying heads.

"If you refuse, you will become sustenance for the circle of masters!"

The fugitives did battle with Yestabrod and its (his?) minions. Ficus cast an attack spell at a nearby drow spore servant with the side effect of causing lightning to strike three of them, destroying them instantly!

Yestabrod countered by causing one of the dead spore servants to explosde, spraying all around it with acid, then spraying a cloud of acidic spores over the fugitives.

With the spore servants gone, the fugitives directed their attacks at Yestabrod. Although the monstrous thing tried to delay the inevitable by absorbing another nearby corpse, the behemoth soon fell. As it did so, its corpulent mass exploded into a cloud of spores that caused everyone nearby to begin coughing.

With the defeat of their grotesque master, the remaining myconids fled in terror.

DM Note- I upgraded the encounter, adding two additional spore servants and two additional myconids. I also made Yestabrod's Infestation Spores attack be triggered by his reaching 0 hit points. It made for a nice "F-you" to the party as he died. 

The fugitives paused to search through the half-buried remains on the mound. They were able to remove a suit of studded leather armor, a fine shortsword - the only weapon not affected by rust, and a bag of holding containing two spell scrolls - remove curse and spider climb, forty days rations, and 320 silver pieces.

DM Note- Long after we finished this encounter, I realized a major missed opportunity. I should have had Voosbur from the Whorlstone Tunnels be one of Yestabrod's henchmen! Unless he shows up somewhere else later on that I haven't read yet. 

THE REHEARSAL
The fugitives then advanced through a winding defile that separated the plateau of the Garden of Welcome and the chamber beyond. From here they could finally get a sense of the enormity of Yggmorgus, the gargantuan mushroom tower, in the adjoining chamber. They were forced to retreat, however, when they heard the sound of singing and marching coming towards them. They backed out of the defile and hid amongst the fungal growth in the Garden to watch.

They observed a procession of vaguely humanoid creatures - drow, duergar, deep gnomes, orcs, orogs, and other unknown species, all transformed into twisted hybrids of mushroom and decaying flesh. They were all dressed in finery. The twelve females wore long yellow gowns made of lichen, the six males wore dark purple suits with long tentacle-like tails. They all paraded side-by-side, arms locked, in high-stepping fashion, singing the same song in unison:

From rocky bed the toadstool rose
From chaos dark, her love She shows
Wish! Yearn! Laugh! Ha Ha!
The Lady will be wed!
Crave! Hunger! Dance! Ha Ha!
Her joyous spores will spread!
Youth is gone and beauty rots,
Araumycos and Zuggtmoy!
Joined together, heart to heart,
Becoming one ’til death do part!
Hail! Hail! Ha Ha Ha!
The Lady will be wed!

When they reached the Garden of Welcome, the males peeled off to the right while the females to the left, forming a circle around the mound.

A handful of the half-alive drow buried in the mound became animated and awkwardly retrieved Yestabrod's nearby corpse. The corpse was dragged to the summit and held there like a puppet.

The last of the males climbed to the summit of the mound and stood waiting. Soon afterwards, the singing stopped, leaving only the eerie music emanating from no discernable source. The last female, holding a bouquet of mushrooms and lichen, slowly climbed the mound and stood next to the male.

VISION OF THE LADY

Suddenly, all of the fugitives, observing in secret nearby, experienced a shared vision. 

They were suddenly bodiless and rushing towards Yggmorgus. Below them they could see a moat of ooze surrounding the massive mushroom tower. The ooze was filled with lumps and shapeless masses, the remains of thousands of corpses. On the other side of the moat was a cacophonous dance of thousands of twisted mutated flesh-mushroom hybrids. Among them was Sovereign Phylo, gyrating madly at the insane noiseless music.

They passed into Yggmorgus itself, spiralling up tunnels dug into its fibrous interior. They flashed past more of the strange hybrid creatures they saw in the mock wedding, eventually reaching a massive chamber located inside the cap of Yggmorgus.

There they saw a vision of a huge creature with the form resembling that of a humanoid female. Her hair was a large cap of lichen, her skin the color and texture of fungus, her lower torso appeared to be a massive mushroom with a split cap, from which her upper torso emerged. The monstrous being was wearing a yellow dress and veil composed of delicately woven lichens. She was attended by twelve female flesh-mushroom hybrid creatures.

The foul creature could only be the demon lord Zuggtmoy. She appeared to be in a trance while her thralls fretted over her. Then, as if she could sense their presence, she turned her gnarled brownish-yellow head and faced the intruders. She opened her eyes which flashed with evil. The fugitives experienced a sense of falling and suddenly woke up, as if from a nightmare, back in the dense growth of the Garden of Welcome.

A FRUSTRATING INTERROGATION
The rehearsal party was gone. They had left the body of Yestabrod to rot on the mound of decay. Angolwen produced the Stonespeaker Crystal and used it to communicate with Yestabrod's spirit, asking it for details of the wedding.

Angolwen

Yestabrod was unable to tell Angolwen when the wedding was scheduled for there was no reckoning of hours, days, weeks, or months in Neverlight Grove. He could only say that the wedding was planned for a future time... later.

DM Note- I had difficulty answering this question. A) Myconids have no concept of hours or days. I had no way of answering this question. B) I couldn't find anything in the module that gives any sort of actual schedule for the wedding, so I had to break the game and say, "I honestly don't know. You're in chapter 5. The wedding is planned for chapter 16. You've got some time."

When asked about Araumycos, Yestrabod said simply that he was the Great Body, the Groom, a king that ruled a region of the Underdark far away, and that he had never met him and knew nothing about him.

Yestabrod did provide the following useful information - very soon the remaining myconids would be rounded up and brought into the Garden of Rot where they, too, brought under the Lady's influence. The plan was, in fact, imminent!

Upon completing the interrogation, the fugitives decided to leave the Garden of Welcome and warn Sovereign Basidia and Rasharoo.

FLIGHT FROM NEVERLIGHT GROVE

Upon warning Basidia and Rasharoo of the imminent danger, Rasharoo decided to put its escape plan into action. The remaining two dozen uninfected myconids fled Neverlight Grove, passing through fissures in the rock too small for the fugitive's pack animals and equipment.

Kettle bid a touching farewell to Stool, instructing the sprout to follow Rumpadump's example and to stay out of trouble. Stool promised that it would someday mature and become an explorer and an adventurer like its role model Kettle. Kettle wished the sprout well and said goodbye.

My home-made minis for Stool (2nd and 1st)

Basidia then presented the fugitives with a gift of gratitude. The gift was an old chest containing several vaulable gemstones and provided each of them with a gourd filled with healing potions.

My home-made mini for Rumpadump

Kettle then shook hands with Rumpadump and the two groups then parted ways.

Later, once they had reached a safe distance from Neverlight Grove, Angolwen was examining the items they had obtained, including the amulet. The process of examining the amulet caused it to activate. Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice - it was Mistress Ilvara!

"Xinaya? Xinaya, where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for days! I believe the escapees are headed towards Neverlight Grove! Be prepared for their arrival! I am sending forces to reinforce you."

"Warlord Kettleborn"

Kettle's eyes got wide. He grabbed the amulet away from Angolwen.

"Ilvara? Ha ha! This is Warlord Kettleborn!"

"Who? I don't know who that is! I've never heard of you! Where is Xinaya?"

"Xinaya is dead! You'll never catch us! And the next time I see you, you will regret ever enslaving us!"

Ilvara cut the connection. Kettle looked smug.

The chase is back on!

TO BE CONTINUED...

DM Note- I should have been more subtle about not facing Zuggtmoy. The players were all gung ho to storm Yggmorgus and take on Zuggtmoy. I didn't want a TPK so I flat out told the players they weren't ready to confront her. Based on my advice, they left Yggmorgus alone and fled. The entire chapter then felt anti-climactic and it cast a major pall over having to leave with the refugees.

After the session, I re-read the Yggmorgus section and realized that there was a more subtle way to confronting Zuggtmoy without a TPK. I kicked myself over this missed opportunity! I have plans on reincorporating it in an organic way next week.