"Does anyone have any idea what that infernal beast was and how we might be able to kill it next time? When I was able to strike it, my blows seemed to be less than effective."
(can continue the above conversation, but in the meantime, travel continues after the short rest.)
After taking a short rest, the party picks up and continues to move on. The flora here continues to remain thick with fungus and lichens, glowing brightly relative to the bioluminescence you have been used to seeing before this change.
Exhausted from the battle and the travel, the party settles down for a long rest, but the mood is tense and every drip and noise increases the party's anxiety as they expect the demon to return. Yet the party manages to sleep enough to continue. The demon had promised a day of respite for leaving the corpse of Wolena behind. That day will soon expire.
The party travels at a normal pace, wary of what may be stalking them from behind. They continue to forage for food and water, navigate and watch for dangers, but none appear. Weary from the travel, the party settles down for another long rest.
Stool ejects its communication spores and excitedly informs everyone Neverlight Grove is really close. He can feel it. That raises the mood slightly, and the members wonder to themselves... being that close would mean fewer dangers?
It is not until the third shift, watched over by Eldeth and Rodolfo that an odd horrid loud droning sound suddenly starts nearby towards the ceiling. The noise wakes everyone...
At the start of every round, everyone rolls a DC 12 CON saving throw or fall unconscious for 10 minutes. A character becomes immune on a success or if the effect is removed.
Beegred wakes several hours later, rested if not a bit disturbed by a strange nightmare where the familiar droning noise was particularly prominent. Coming to alertness, he realizes no one is awake on watch and leaps to action, waking everyone.
After a counting of heads, you realize three of your party members are missing, and there's a huge puddle of blood. Tozer, Xilyrah and Krizzibond are all missing. Krizzibond's pack and shield are next to the blood. Following the blood spatter, it is obvious that a body was hauled away, but without dragging on the ground, back in the direction you came from.
Beegred (in cold anger): "Tozer and Xilyrah have been acting strangely, but that they became so twisted that they would attack another party member like Kriz... Eldath, can you track where Toz & Xil took Krizz ? If so, I can help. Maybe we can stop them before they hurt Krizz more."
(Beegred has Underdark skills, but he is a dumb-ass. If Eldath is able to pick up the trail, then this ranger ability might be useful: While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Eldeth Survival: 9
Eldeth looks at Beegred and then starts to track, but following the blood trail she can only find the tracks the party made prior to the long rest. As far as she can tell, there are no tracks going back the way you came, yet the blood can be easily seen going in that direction. Looking confused and maybe a bit abashed, she says, "I be not understanding this. If they be carrying Krizzibond that way, it should be easy to be finding some tracks, and deep ones, next to the blood...but I be finding none."
The loss of three party members, especially with no apparent trace, hits Narstin hard, but he recognizes there is little he can do at this point and focuses himself on making sure everyone else makes it to safety instead.
Beegred is upset, but getting to a haven like Mushroomville will make things safer for the remaining people in the party. (OOC: Ha hah ha ha!!)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Numb from shock, a month's worth of daily routine kicks in and the party moves onward even though some vital tasks do not get someone's full attention. Rodolfo continues to follow the directions he'd written down and the party continues to forage. Every now and then, a fresh boot imprint can be found in mud. Beegred knows with certainty that they are following a pair of medium creatures who are maybe 4 to 8 hours ahead, going in the same direction.
Miles go by until everyone is snapped out of their reverie by Jimjar whistling in appreciation. You all turn to see him standing next to and pointing at two ugly looking mushrooms that resemble giant tongues.
Jimjar says in undercommon, "That's a Tongue of Madness. Rare to find one and here there are two! I'll wager this is a sign of changing fortunes. Anyone want to wager a gold?"
Beegred reaches into his mouth and pulls out the gold coin that he hid back at the Drow prison cell. He wipes it off a bit, then flips it to Jimjar. "Are you wagering that fortunes will improve, or get worse? I win if it goes the other way, or our luck remains at its current craptastic level."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Jimjar spells out his wager to Beegred, "I'd say the death of Wolena, the murder of Krizzibond last night and the disappearance of Tozer and Xilyrah was definitely a run of bad luck. Finding these Tongues of Madness, two of them, is fortunate. I'll wager we're due a run of good luck, and these mark it's beginning."
Jimjar answers Narstin, "If you feed a Tongue of Madness to an intelligent creature, there's a chance that creature will fall into a form of madness where they speak aloud every single thought that crosses their mind."
Jimjar cultivates the two peculiar mushrooms and places them in someone's backpack (someone add to their inventory). The party continues to move onward.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As you near the limit of your energy reserves, the tunnel narrows significantly and the taller and larger members of the party find themselves almost crawling on hands and knees. Beegred stops at an apparent dead end. Water trickles out from between the mushrooms of the wall in front into a muddy pool.
Rodolfo reads over his directions once again and tells the rest of the party that 'it should be here'. Stool ejects his spores and tells everyone, "We have arrived." He hops out of Derendil's arms, walks to the wall of mushrooms and attempts to shove his way through, but doesn't have the strength to do so.
Catching on, the rest of the party assist the little myconid and the mushroom curtain yields allowing the members of the party to push through, like some kind of spongy birthing canal. Sloshing through a stream of water on hands and knees as the members of the party push past the yielding fungus for 50 feet or so, you all eventually emerge into an immense cavern.
Upon entering the cavern of the grove, you all leave the horrors of the Underdark behind. You find yourselves in a hidden enchanted place, strangely alien but serenely beautiful. The access tunnel opens above the grove’s main floor, providing you with a panoramic view of a mushroom forest that covers every surface — including the ceiling — and illuminates the darkness with brilliantly colorful bioluminescent patterns.
On the other side of this exotic forest, the cavern narrows. Beyond, a glimpse of a majestic mushroom tower can be seen, although the poor light and a rising mist makes it impossible to discern its details.
Stool communicates to the party, "What is that in the distance? It's huge."
Entering the grove, a fully formed humanoid bipedal myconid becomes aware of your party and approaches, warily but not threatening. As soon as the adult is within twenty feet of Beegred (in the lead, single file), a shower of the same spores as Stool is ejected from the mushroom cap at the top of its head, catching Beegred in it's cloud. Then the adult speaks telepathically, "I acknowledge you, softer. Why have you come to our grove?"
(OOC: Rodolfo may be a newcomer, but he is welcome to speak up. His CHA is better than Beegred's, and his INT is way higher. Narstin, amazingly enough, has a lower CHA than Beegred.)
Beegred: "Greetings, mushroom... er. We came here at the urging of this one" (gestures to Stool) "who said we would be given aid and a safe place to rest, when we brought him/her/it back home. Also this one" (gestures to Sarith) "wanted to come here too.
"The rest of us want to continue to Blingdaling-stone, but we were hoping that your wise and generous ruler could provide better equipment, directions, and advice on safe passages."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
(The myconid only caught Beegred in its Rapport Spores. That's probably why the other players are not posting.)
The myconid simply responds telepathically (to Beegred), as even adults have no mouths to speak with, "Follow me to the Sovereigns. Do not stray from my path or risk being lost and prey to the defenses of the Grove."
"Does anyone have any idea what that infernal beast was and how we might be able to kill it next time? When I was able to strike it, my blows seemed to be less than effective."
Skameros - Bugbear Barbarian - Out of the Abyss - By Kerrec
Follow your Arrow where it Points - Tabaxi Monk - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
Citron Pumpkinfoam - Fairy Monk - Project Point: Team Longsword
(can continue the above conversation, but in the meantime, travel continues after the short rest.)
After taking a short rest, the party picks up and continues to move on. The flora here continues to remain thick with fungus and lichens, glowing brightly relative to the bioluminescence you have been used to seeing before this change.
Exhausted from the battle and the travel, the party settles down for a long rest, but the mood is tense and every drip and noise increases the party's anxiety as they expect the demon to return. Yet the party manages to sleep enough to continue. The demon had promised a day of respite for leaving the corpse of Wolena behind. That day will soon expire.
The party travels at a normal pace, wary of what may be stalking them from behind. They continue to forage for food and water, navigate and watch for dangers, but none appear. Weary from the travel, the party settles down for another long rest.
Stool ejects its communication spores and excitedly informs everyone Neverlight Grove is really close. He can feel it. That raises the mood slightly, and the members wonder to themselves... being that close would mean fewer dangers?
It is not until the third shift, watched over by Eldeth and Rodolfo that an odd horrid loud droning sound suddenly starts nearby towards the ceiling. The noise wakes everyone...
At the start of every round, everyone rolls a DC 12 CON saving throw or fall unconscious for 10 minutes. A character becomes immune on a success or if the effect is removed.
Round 1 CON saving throw:
(Per the OOC thread:)
The creature notices three targets and chooses to attack the unconscious form of Krizzibond...
Attack, with advantage: 19
Damage (crit):
28 piercing.
39 necrotic.
That puts me at -50 hp :P
Skameros - Bugbear Barbarian - Out of the Abyss - By Kerrec
Follow your Arrow where it Points - Tabaxi Monk - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
Citron Pumpkinfoam - Fairy Monk - Project Point: Team Longsword
Beegred wakes several hours later, rested if not a bit disturbed by a strange nightmare where the familiar droning noise was particularly prominent. Coming to alertness, he realizes no one is awake on watch and leaps to action, waking everyone.
After a counting of heads, you realize three of your party members are missing, and there's a huge puddle of blood. Tozer, Xilyrah and Krizzibond are all missing. Krizzibond's pack and shield are next to the blood. Following the blood spatter, it is obvious that a body was hauled away, but without dragging on the ground, back in the direction you came from.
Beegred (in cold anger): "Tozer and Xilyrah have been acting strangely, but that they became so twisted that they would attack another party member like Kriz... Eldath, can you track where Toz & Xil took Krizz ? If so, I can help. Maybe we can stop them before they hurt Krizz more."
(Beegred has Underdark skills, but he is a dumb-ass. If Eldath is able to pick up the trail, then this ranger ability might be useful: While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.)
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Eldeth Survival: 9
Eldeth looks at Beegred and then starts to track, but following the blood trail she can only find the tracks the party made prior to the long rest. As far as she can tell, there are no tracks going back the way you came, yet the blood can be easily seen going in that direction. Looking confused and maybe a bit abashed, she says, "I be not understanding this. If they be carrying Krizzibond that way, it should be easy to be finding some tracks, and deep ones, next to the blood...but I be finding none."
Rodolfo silently observes the goings-on and casts Longstrider on himself.
He mutters to himself, "This is way way way more dangerous than I thought..."
The loss of three party members, especially with no apparent trace, hits Narstin hard, but he recognizes there is little he can do at this point and focuses himself on making sure everyone else makes it to safety instead.
Beegred is upset, but getting to a haven like Mushroomville will make things safer for the remaining people in the party. (OOC: Ha hah ha ha!!)
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Numb from shock, a month's worth of daily routine kicks in and the party moves onward even though some vital tasks do not get someone's full attention. Rodolfo continues to follow the directions he'd written down and the party continues to forage. Every now and then, a fresh boot imprint can be found in mud. Beegred knows with certainty that they are following a pair of medium creatures who are maybe 4 to 8 hours ahead, going in the same direction.
Miles go by until everyone is snapped out of their reverie by Jimjar whistling in appreciation. You all turn to see him standing next to and pointing at two ugly looking mushrooms that resemble giant tongues.
Jimjar says in undercommon, "That's a Tongue of Madness. Rare to find one and here there are two! I'll wager this is a sign of changing fortunes. Anyone want to wager a gold?"
Beegred reaches into his mouth and pulls out the gold coin that he hid back at the Drow prison cell. He wipes it off a bit, then flips it to Jimjar. "Are you wagering that fortunes will improve, or get worse? I win if it goes the other way, or our luck remains at its current craptastic level."
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
"What's Tongue of Madness?" Narstin asks.
Rodolfo says, "Lets keep going, we're not that far." (OOC: how far are we?)
Jimjar spells out his wager to Beegred, "I'd say the death of Wolena, the murder of Krizzibond last night and the disappearance of Tozer and Xilyrah was definitely a run of bad luck. Finding these Tongues of Madness, two of them, is fortunate. I'll wager we're due a run of good luck, and these mark it's beginning."
Jimjar answers Narstin, "If you feed a Tongue of Madness to an intelligent creature, there's a chance that creature will fall into a form of madness where they speak aloud every single thought that crosses their mind."
Jimjar cultivates the two peculiar mushrooms and places them in someone's backpack (someone add to their inventory). The party continues to move onward.
As you near the limit of your energy reserves, the tunnel narrows significantly and the taller and larger members of the party find themselves almost crawling on hands and knees. Beegred stops at an apparent dead end. Water trickles out from between the mushrooms of the wall in front into a muddy pool.
Rodolfo reads over his directions once again and tells the rest of the party that 'it should be here'. Stool ejects his spores and tells everyone, "We have arrived." He hops out of Derendil's arms, walks to the wall of mushrooms and attempts to shove his way through, but doesn't have the strength to do so.
Catching on, the rest of the party assist the little myconid and the mushroom curtain yields allowing the members of the party to push through, like some kind of spongy birthing canal. Sloshing through a stream of water on hands and knees as the members of the party push past the yielding fungus for 50 feet or so, you all eventually emerge into an immense cavern.
Upon entering the cavern of the grove, you all leave the horrors of the Underdark behind. You find yourselves in a hidden enchanted place, strangely alien but serenely beautiful. The access tunnel opens above the grove’s main floor, providing you with a panoramic view of a mushroom forest that covers every surface — including the ceiling — and illuminates the darkness with brilliantly colorful bioluminescent patterns.
On the other side of this exotic forest, the cavern narrows. Beyond, a glimpse of a majestic mushroom tower can be seen, although the poor light and a rising mist makes it impossible to discern its details.
Stool communicates to the party, "What is that in the distance? It's huge."
DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) checks from everyone:
Entering the grove, a fully formed humanoid bipedal myconid becomes aware of your party and approaches, warily but not threatening. As soon as the adult is within twenty feet of Beegred (in the lead, single file), a shower of the same spores as Stool is ejected from the mushroom cap at the top of its head, catching Beegred in it's cloud. Then the adult speaks telepathically, "I acknowledge you, softer. Why have you come to our grove?"
(OOC: Rodolfo may be a newcomer, but he is welcome to speak up. His CHA is better than Beegred's, and his INT is way higher. Narstin, amazingly enough, has a lower CHA than Beegred.)
Beegred: "Greetings, mushroom... er. We came here at the urging of this one" (gestures to Stool) "who said we would be given aid and a safe place to rest, when we brought him/her/it back home. Also this one" (gestures to Sarith) "wanted to come here too.
"The rest of us want to continue to Blingdaling-stone, but we were hoping that your wise and generous ruler could provide better equipment, directions, and advice on safe passages."
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
(The myconid only caught Beegred in its Rapport Spores. That's probably why the other players are not posting.)
The myconid simply responds telepathically (to Beegred), as even adults have no mouths to speak with, "Follow me to the Sovereigns. Do not stray from my path or risk being lost and prey to the defenses of the Grove."