After a tense moment of uncertainty, waiting to see if the crabs will attack... you see movement within the cave. Out of the darkness, several bipedal mushroomfolk emerge, careful not to move too far into the sunlight. Recognition seems to play on what could be described as their "faces" the moment they see Vinn and Sir Beauregard.

In response, without a word of verbal communication between them, they step apart to reveal the venerable yet imposing figure of their sovereign, Sinensa. 

Standing at nearly ten feet tall, built of sturdy, wood-like muscular tissue, the elder myconid cuts an impressive figure. He breathes heavily through a mask of powdery wet gills as he steps forward, evaluating the adventurers. Once again, without any perceptible exchange between them, the sovereigns attendants receive an order. They motion for the party to step forward... Indicating a space about 20' away from the mushroom folk. 

Vinn and Sir Beauregard are allowed to approach without issue. However, the fungus-encrusted crabs keep close watch on Morlock and Augustus, claws at the ready.

Augustus will keep his hands visible, spear safely on his shoulder and he moves with the group to the indicated spot. Eyeing the crabs and myconids curiously, he chews on the end of his unlit pipe, thinking of all the times he's eaten mushrooms and if that would be an offense to these fascinating creatures.

Vinn gestures to both Augustus and Morlock. "They're friends," he shares. "They've done a lot of good work with us here on Stormwreck- cleaning out harpies and destroying effigies to prevent catastrophic despair. Everyday stuff."

The genasi approaches Sinesa and the myoconids abd crouches on the ground. With the tip of his scimitar, Vinn traces descriptive, but poorly done figures onto the cavern floor-- Mistress Runara, Aidron, Sparkrender, the journal, a creepy and mysterious shadow person, and then the crystals. "I don't know how to do the cool telepathic stuff, so I drew it here. I don't really know what's going, other than it's probably some real bad hokey pokey." 

 Morlock will stow any weapons and bow his head in honor to the sovereign. He will stay back until offered to approach.

Sir Beauregard bods as Vinn explains to their companions. “We are blessed by Sune to have met the Myconids, for they possess a strange and wonderous wisdom we can never truly know.”  The knight sits beside Vinn and clears his mind, preparing to relate the danger of a cataclysmic ritual and their fear that the Author will seek these caverns and slay any who stand against him.  It occurs to him that the Myconids might have turned Sparkrender’s body into a guardian if it had not been decapitated, so he shares the location in case that is no bar for them.  

Sinensa's attention shifts from Vinn to Sir Beauregard as the pair move into position. After a slight intake of breath, the large elder mushroom exhales a cloud of glittering dust-like spores that envelop the pair of adventurers.

Before he has a chance to communicate anything, the half-orc' cleared mind is assailed with a disorienting barrage of sensations and a cacophonous orchestra of overlapping thoughts. The half-orc and the genasi immediately understand that they are finally witnessing the sovereign acting with his full strength.

Sir Beauregard and Vinn's faces go slack with cognitive overwhelm as strobing images of the caves jolt through their consciousness in no discernible order. Likewise, both adventurers feel their own thoughts and memories suddenly running through their heads... The cloister... The Compass Rose... The observatory... Sparkrender's carcass on the beach... and the unknown one... The "Author"...

What feels like an eternity to Vinn and Sir. Beauregard exists as just a fleeting moment for Augustus and Morlock, who watch this all happen from a safe place beyond the cloud of spores. After a moment, Sinensa, the sovereign, motions for the dwarf and the lizardfellow to join their compatriots in the spore cloud.

Will they comply?

Morlock will evaluate the situation and then if clear, join them.

Insight: 12

Arcana: 5 (NAT 1 - he gets that it is not arcana and more...)

Augustus will watch his compatriots experience the spore cloud and furrow his brow a bit unsure of what to do next. He'll consider pulling his scarf over his nose but decide that would be rude. Finally, deciding to trust the judgment of his friends, he will step forward into the cloud, holding his breath involuntarily for just a moment before allowing himself to breath normally and bracing for whatever's to come.

Augustus and Morlock... As you step into the cloud, the first thing you notice is the pungent earth smell that assaults your senses, drawing the full focus of your concentration before scattering your attention in a million directions at once... A psychotropic fractal shaped rollercoaster of awareness carries you away, forcing you to perceive reality through a vast network of consciousness simultaneously... You'd feel dizzy.... nauseous... but your mind is so fully untethered from physical awareness that you don't actually feel either of those things. You sense the presence of Vinn and Sir Beauregard as if you were looking out through their eyes and hearing their inner monologue which is also your inner monologue... or is it? It's confusing.

In what could be seconds or hours, you each manage to wrestle some semblance of control over your consciousness... Enough to organize the sprawling network of thoughts into a digestible cadence...

Your concern does you honor but there's no need for it. The colony is safe. There has been no recent threat ... The initial strain of thought maintains.  No outsider has entered since the three sent by Tarak... But you sense the strong pull of a dissenting perspective.

One, two, a dozen then more minds in the network push back... insisting that may not tell the whole story.

Something does, indeed, stir beneath the island's surface... These detractors argue... The heat from below grows hotter... The potency of the fumes is stronger than ever.  If it weren't for the vent opened by Sir Beauregard and Vinn the miasma would easily overwhelm the caves...

Some minds in the collective seem to want to pull back from the subject and send the humanoids on their way. Others are eager for the adventurers to investigate.

Drawn by the dispute, the sprouts of the colony enter into the fabric of voiceless conversation, each wanting to address a different animal or insect they saw in the cave in recent weeks. Each hoping to get the honor of identifying the intruder.

As the elders start to evict the youths from the conversation, all voices suddenly grow silent, sensing something.

An earthquake.

A moment later a dull rumble echoes through the cave. The ground shakes. The water ripples while dust and a stream pebbles break free from the earthen walls.

Then... just as strangely as it started, the tremor stops. The smell of sulfur grows slightly stronger... and the temperature in the chamber rises perceptively.

Sienensa, whose mind has been largely quiet throughout this exchange takes a step closer to you all with an appraising look. The mushroom sovereign communicates one clear thought to you all over the network. He asks... "Thoughts?" 

As the ground trembles, Vinn nearly jumps and holds onto Sir Beauregard for a short moment. His nostril flares as the smell of sulfur deepens, and Vinn waves a hand in front of his face as if the stench could be swat away. Vinn's thoughts draw to the crystals and the draconic sprites that spawned from them, and he shares the image with the whole.

"You already know, Sienensa. We only have the one lead." Vinn motions to the rest of the group. "That battle was real tough for us to win, if you remember. Do you have any extra spores to help the fellas here breathe? Like what the colony was using while you were sick. We need something to help us fight the poison if we're going to stop the source."

Morlock nods in agreement to Vinn's request.

Sir Beauregard’s thoughts are drawn back to the battle in the cavern.  He vividly recalls being certain he would die there.  He relives his anger at Vinn for risking his own life rather than flee and then his relief at having a friend to die with.  Finally he is overcome with the relief he felt at success unlooked for.  As he controls his emotions at last he nods.  “Please give us the means to survive the fumes so we can try to stop what could be the end of your home and the death of many.”

You all can physically sense the elder's attention focusing on the request. The response is instantaneous... an awareness that the ruby morel that kept the sovereign alive during his poisoning would have little effect on non-myconids without being processed by a trained herbalist. However, you are welcome to harvest some. You are also welcome to collect some strands of "hag's beard" a strain of fungi well known as a general antitoxin. 

While the elixir derived from the morel may mitigate some of the acute effects of the vapors it won't prevent the chronic malaise and poisoning effects that the vapors are known to cause with prolonged exposure. Fortunately, from what the colony has seen, those effects only occur with prolonged exposure in areas of high concentration.

Augustus furrows his brow at the idea of trying to reduce the red morel into something usable; knowing that that's a ways outside of his skillset. He'll perk up a bit though at the mention of Hag's Beard. It's commonly used as a bit of a "cure-all" by sailors for seasickness and some minor ailments, so he'll happily take the opportunity to collect some as offered.

Vinn grins at the Myoconids. "Thank you-- something is better than nothing."

Proficient in herbalism, Vinn can attempt to make an Elixer of Health (if possible). He will hand it to whomever and is ready to go.

Sir Beauregard bows to Sinensa.  “I hope we will not be too late.”

After gathering the requested materials, the party returns to the glimmering cavern where Sir Beauregard and Vinn once faced off against a larval elemental foe. Sinensa and other senior members of the myconid colony follow to see if they can be of assistance, but they do not enter the cavern, warded from the place by the refracted sunlight that pours in from the opening that was blocked by the elemental egg all those weeks ago.

It's not difficult for the half-orc and the genasi to remember and locate the place where elemental fumes seep up from the island's subterranean depths... However... interestingly... They see no open chasm. The find no clear entry into the passages that run below.  Only a few small fissures about the size of a human fist that allow the gasses to rise into the cavern.

Nothing else about the cavern seems out of place.

What would you like to do?

Search for any possible passage or weak point that could be made a passage.

As Sir Beauregard looks, Vinn digs through his backpack. "I wonder if we have anything to temporarily block the sunlight with..."

He pulls out a bedroll and some rope. "I'm going to make this into a curtain so our fungi friends can come in. This place looks a lot different than last time-- the chasm entrances are missing!"

Vinn will cut holes into each corner of the bedroll, knot separate pieces of rope onto each of them, and cast his genasi feat levitate to float up. He attempts to stretch the bedroll across the cavern veiling's hole, pulling the end of the ropes taut around nearby stalactites. The last rope is particularly long, with a loose knot that can be unfurled to partially expose the opening again. "Don't want to gas out everyone. At least, not the way Frub did after dinner."

Augustus, who had strolled somewhat confidently into the room, stops suddenly and looks down. "Aye, a chasm you say? Seems sturdy enough to me." He'll say, tapping the ground with his foot. "Perhaps this hooded figure has mended or hidden it somehow? Perhaps if we plug the remaining holes, we can solve the fumes problem at the very least." Augustus will go to inspect one of the fissures, testing the heat of the fumes with a gloved hand and looking around for things he could use to attempt to plug the gap.