Grimnir feels his link to nature even stronger than before. This connection within the mycelium was something quite unique to him, a revealing experience that showed to him the strength of Nature and in particular the Myconid community. "This is something I will remember, Yrberop. Thank you for accepting me within your circle."
In half a dream, Grimnir joins the rest of the group.
As the circles complete their communion, the myconids drift off to sleep for the evening before starting the next day's work. Unsure of what Phylo has planned, but on your guard after the warnings of Basidia, you too get some rest, and prepare for tomorrow.
In the morning, after eating and gathering your equipment, Phylo joins with you at the inner circle. Basidia is absent, but Phylo says not to worry about that. "Basidia just isn't ready yet! We are making preparations, and The Great Seeder is doing incredible things. Simply incredible! I'm going to give you a sneak peak as our special guests. This way! This way!"
Phylo leads you up the path behind the inner circle which you saw earlier. You come to the two lobster like guards with red fungal tendrils wrapped around their heads. Yrberop is here, and after a nod from Phylo, Yrberop makes a motion to the two guards, and they step aside, allowing your entourage to pass through and up to the Garden of Welcome.
This plateau rises higher than the other terraces, screened by a natural fence of soaring zurkhwood stalks. Muffled murmuring can be heard from atop the plateau.
At this point Phylo shows you the path through the zurkhwood stalks, but does not accompany you through. "She said to let you experience the glory that is to come on your own! No need to worry, rejoice in the true union that will meld us all!"
The low muttering grows louder as you reach the top, turning into a symphony of moans, cries, and hisses. The only light comes from a few glowing mushrooms along the edge, but even in the gloom, you can’t miss the source of the sounds. The heads of creatures of a dozen humanoid Underdark races peek from the ground, mold and fungi growing around them.
One voice calls out loudly in Undercommon — a female drow fighting to speak. “Please … for your gods of light . . . kill me!” She manages to stir within her living grave, raising a spider medallion half-embedded in the bloated growth that was once her hand. Half her face is rotten and pustulate, a bed for the sprouting of scores of tiny mushrooms. “The Great Seeder … trap … she’s here … the Lady of Decay … Zuggtmoy …”
Instinctively, Grimnir hold a defence position, keeping his mace ready and light it up. "Hold on Drow, not one more step." "Belwar, I don't like this, This Zuggtmoy... I remember you said something about it..."
Grimnir will scan around him to see if there is any hidden danger. Perception: 11
Oorr recognises on sight the aberration that this place is. He unsheathes the magical dagger and gets close to the drow, or what remains of her."May the wind be in your favour."With sadness in his eyes, he slits her throat.
"This place has gone mad as well. We must defeat the great seeder, whatever that might be, before it will spread to the whole colony... and beyond."
Instinctively, Grimnir hold a defence position, keeping his mace ready and light it up. "Hold on Drow, not one more step." "Belwar, I don't like this, This Zuggtmoy... I remember you said something about it..."
Grimnir will scan around him to see if there is any hidden danger. Perception: 11
Grimnir looks for hidden dangers, but it's hard to focus over the growing cacophony of sounds coming from the dozen or so heads buried in the ground. Looking more closely at these you see a variety of moldy faces. Duergar, drow, deep gnomes, and even a quaggoth. While scanning, one of the faces sticking out of the earth strikes you as familiar, and a moment later you realize it is the face of Sarith. The red tendrils and spots that were encircling his head are now fully sprouted, a red cascade of mold and fungus dripping down the right side of his face. Sarith recognizes you, and begins calling out, "Grimnir... they came after us... I had to... but... arghgh,"Sarith groans as if in intense pain.
Oorr recognises on sight the aberration that this place is. He unsheathes the magical dagger and gets close to the drow, or what remains of her."May the wind be in your favour."With sadness in his eyes, he slits her throat.
"This place has gone mad as well. We must defeat the great seeder, whatever that might be, before it will spread to the whole colony... and beyond."
Oorr grants the drow her request, quickly, and with decisiveness.
Looking now at the medallion the drow was lifting up, you sense something familiar. On closer inspection the medallion is a symbol of the drow house Mizzrym, which you are keenly aware of as Ilvara Mizzrym was your captor at the prison camp of Velkynvelve not too many months ago. This drow in the dirt, whoever she was, must have been searching for you, only to be caught in Phylo's trap. Sarith's words indicate they somehow found him in Grackylstugh, forcing him to flee. As the connections start forming in your mind, you see something approaching.
The Garden of Welcome is a large plateau above the rest of the grove, hidden behind a line of zurkhwood stalks. A cave entrance can be seen to the Northeast, and through that opening you see the outline of an enormous mushroom in the dim lichen light. From this direction you see a creature sliding and flopping towards you, like a slimy wet worm with a bad sense of direction.
The moans of the garden’s victims suddenly take on a new tone of fear as something moves across the foul ground. A disgusting larval creature rises up before you, showing only vestigial fungal growths that hint that it might once have been a myconid.
“Welcome, travelers.” The aberrant myconid’s voice gurgles and spits as it speaks both aloud and in your minds at once. “Are you here for the wedding rehearsal? Friends of the bride or her intended? No matter! Let the love of the Great Seeder embrace you as you become one with her chosen, the Great Body!”
The creature, called Yestabrod, then raises servants from the ground. Four of the moaning heads, break free of the earth, crawling out of the ground at the call of their master. With a scream of pain, the red fungus on Sarith's face explodes, sending spores into the air, as he too clambers from the ground to join the slug creature against you. From behind the mutated myconid, three myconid adults, which you recognize as loyal to Phylo from the Circle of Masters, arrive as well. It seems the Garden of Welcome, is anything but.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Grimnir watch as his only drow friend explode. "Oh Sarith, goodbye my old friend. We will avenge you...." "This is making me reconsidering my love for mushrooms... I wonder if I could brew something with them..." Initiatve: 11
Jimjar stays in back, ready to disappear between rocks and fungus Initiatve: 20 ---- forget about that (i forgot the NPC were on our own initiative track to maje things faster)
"Belwar, I don't like this, This Zuggtmoy... I remember you said something about it..."
"It is the correct pronoun, even though Zuggtmoy is superficially female. A demon lord has no gender, after all, especially the Queen of Spores and Fungus." I manage to produce the barest hint of an ironic smile at the use of a feminine title.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Sarith, I will make this quick. Farewell my friend."
With that, Grimnir runs towards his old companion (15ft) and delivers 2 quick attacks with his flaming mace. MAce 1: 12 damage 3 + 1 Fire MAce 2: 9 damage 5 + 1 Fire
Then with his free hands, Grimnir delivers 2 additional hits (flurry of blows, ki points left 4/5): Flurry 1: 8 damage 5 >> DEX save DC13 or prone Flurry 2: 19 (second roll if the target is prone 7): damage 7 >> DEX save DC13 or prone
Grimnir will then disengage 30ft away..
Jimjar will try first to hide behind the rocks and the fungus (bonus action) Hide: 23
Then release 2 arrows at the spore servants. Arrow1: 17 damage 5 Arrow2: 17 damage 6 Sneak attack if hidden: + 11
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Grimnir's mace attacks connect solidly with the spore servant formerly known as Sarith, but the once drow is able to dodge the following flurry of blows, perhaps recalling Grimnir's attack pattern from a past battle. Jimjar ducks behind a zurkhwood trunk and fires bolts into the neck of a spore servant, snapping the stands of fungus around it's neck. The head slumps of the body and the servant falls to the ground.
The spore servants then lurch forward to attack with rotted shortswords. (SS = Spore Servant) SS1 Shortsword attack on Eldeth: Attack: 5 Damage: 8 SS2 Shortsword attack on Valrish: Attack: 8 Damage: 4 SS3 Shortsword attack on Oorr: Attack: 18 Damage: 4 Sarith Shortsword attack on Belwar: Attack: 16 Damage: 3
Do I know if spore servants are vulnerable to fire? Arcana: 14
Dex Save for Sarith: 4
You know that they are not vulnerable to fire. Something about the water content of decaying fungus.
A bonfire appears around the wounded drow husk once known as Sarith. As the red fungal spores burn away, the face of the elf is visible one last time, and he looks up to his former band of escapees. You can almost see him smile before he is completely consumed by the fire.
Moved by Sarith's last moments, Valrish and Eldeth attack with all their might the remaining spore servants, wishing to put them out of their misery. (Rage as a bonus action)
Dawnbringer tears through a spore servant, and the smell of charred mushrooms fills the air. Eldeth finishes it off with an arrow.
(OOG I mixed up the order of spore servants and myconid before. The Myconid will go now, and I'll keep the new order.)
The Myconid Adults move from behind Yestabrod, "Now now, let's all just calm down, shall we?" says the mushroom slug. Two of them are able to reach you, while the third dashes to near Oorr. The two that reached the party release a strange spore into the faces of Belwar and Valrish.
Myconid 1 releases pacifying spores on Belwar: Con DC 11 or else stunned Myconid 2 releases pacifying spores on Valrish: Con DC 11 or else stunned
Oorr beat his wings and squawks, calling upon the magic of the wind (Zephyr Strike). He then flies by Yestabrob, staying 15 feet from the ground, and, while trying to get his attention away from the rest of the party, shoot a magically enhanced bolt. Zippy remains close to Belwar, biting the myconid in front of him.
Oorr beat his wings and squawks, calling upon the magic of the wind (Zephyr Strike). He then flies by Yestabrob, staying 15 feet from the ground, and, while trying to get his attention away from the rest of the party, shoot a magically enhanced bolt. Zippy remains close to Belwar, biting the myconid in front of him.
The cross bow sinks deep into the slimy, moldy flesh of Yestabrod. It barely pays attention to the creature flying above him as it trundles towards the edge of the plateau. At the end of Oorr's turn, Yestabrod lifts a squiggly appendage towards the corpse of the spore servant that Valrish and Eldeth just killed. The corpse explodes, sending gore and offal violently outward.
Corpse Burst on Derendil and Valrish:Dex Save DC 12 or take 10 acid damage.
Yestabrod then heaves its bulk towards the group. It stops, facing Valrish, and from the small flap of teeth it considers a mouth, a cone of caustic spores is released, covering a wide area.
Caustic Spores on Valrish, Derendil, Zippy, and Belwar: Dex Save DC 12 or take 5 Acid Damage. If you fail this save, you will take the damage again at the start of Yestabrod's turn. You can repeat the save at the end of each of your turns.
Grimnir feels his link to nature even stronger than before. This connection within the mycelium was something quite unique to him, a revealing experience that showed to him the strength of Nature and in particular the Myconid community. "This is something I will remember, Yrberop. Thank you for accepting me within your circle."
In half a dream, Grimnir joins the rest of the group.
Currently Playing: Regdus Ironfist (Greyhawk) Lvl 1 Storm Sorcerer ; Goraseth Drerjoxian (Icespeak) Lvl 3 Paladin Oath of Glory; Lerak (The Wild Beyond the Witchlight) Lvl 3 Barbarian Wild Magic
In Pause: Grimnir " Shadow-Feet", Lv 11 Owner of "The Basilisk & the Monk" (OotA) - Kurma Kappa, Lv 8 Priest of Oghma (ToA)
Currently DM'ing: Princes of Apocalypse >> Tomb of Annihilation
As the circles complete their communion, the myconids drift off to sleep for the evening before starting the next day's work. Unsure of what Phylo has planned, but on your guard after the warnings of Basidia, you too get some rest, and prepare for tomorrow.
In the morning, after eating and gathering your equipment, Phylo joins with you at the inner circle. Basidia is absent, but Phylo says not to worry about that. "Basidia just isn't ready yet! We are making preparations, and The Great Seeder is doing incredible things. Simply incredible! I'm going to give you a sneak peak as our special guests. This way! This way!"
Phylo leads you up the path behind the inner circle which you saw earlier. You come to the two lobster like guards with red fungal tendrils wrapped around their heads. Yrberop is here, and after a nod from Phylo, Yrberop makes a motion to the two guards, and they step aside, allowing your entourage to pass through and up to the Garden of Welcome.
At this point Phylo shows you the path through the zurkhwood stalks, but does not accompany you through. "She said to let you experience the glory that is to come on your own! No need to worry, rejoice in the true union that will meld us all!"
Instinctively, Grimnir hold a defence position, keeping his mace ready and light it up. "Hold on Drow, not one more step."
"Belwar, I don't like this, This Zuggtmoy... I remember you said something about it..."
Grimnir will scan around him to see if there is any hidden danger.
Perception: 11
Currently Playing: Regdus Ironfist (Greyhawk) Lvl 1 Storm Sorcerer ; Goraseth Drerjoxian (Icespeak) Lvl 3 Paladin Oath of Glory; Lerak (The Wild Beyond the Witchlight) Lvl 3 Barbarian Wild Magic
In Pause: Grimnir " Shadow-Feet", Lv 11 Owner of "The Basilisk & the Monk" (OotA) - Kurma Kappa, Lv 8 Priest of Oghma (ToA)
Currently DM'ing: Princes of Apocalypse >> Tomb of Annihilation
Oorr recognises on sight the aberration that this place is. He unsheathes the magical dagger and gets close to the drow, or what remains of her. "May the wind be in your favour." With sadness in his eyes, he slits her throat.
"This place has gone mad as well. We must defeat the great seeder, whatever that might be, before it will spread to the whole colony... and beyond."
Grimnir looks for hidden dangers, but it's hard to focus over the growing cacophony of sounds coming from the dozen or so heads buried in the ground. Looking more closely at these you see a variety of moldy faces. Duergar, drow, deep gnomes, and even a quaggoth. While scanning, one of the faces sticking out of the earth strikes you as familiar, and a moment later you realize it is the face of Sarith. The red tendrils and spots that were encircling his head are now fully sprouted, a red cascade of mold and fungus dripping down the right side of his face. Sarith recognizes you, and begins calling out, "Grimnir... they came after us... I had to... but... arghgh," Sarith groans as if in intense pain.
Oorr grants the drow her request, quickly, and with decisiveness.
Looking now at the medallion the drow was lifting up, you sense something familiar. On closer inspection the medallion is a symbol of the drow house Mizzrym, which you are keenly aware of as Ilvara Mizzrym was your captor at the prison camp of Velkynvelve not too many months ago. This drow in the dirt, whoever she was, must have been searching for you, only to be caught in Phylo's trap. Sarith's words indicate they somehow found him in Grackylstugh, forcing him to flee. As the connections start forming in your mind, you see something approaching.
The Garden of Welcome is a large plateau above the rest of the grove, hidden behind a line of zurkhwood stalks. A cave entrance can be seen to the Northeast, and through that opening you see the outline of an enormous mushroom in the dim lichen light. From this direction you see a creature sliding and flopping towards you, like a slimy wet worm with a bad sense of direction.
The creature, called Yestabrod, then raises servants from the ground. Four of the moaning heads, break free of the earth, crawling out of the ground at the call of their master. With a scream of pain, the red fungus on Sarith's face explodes, sending spores into the air, as he too clambers from the ground to join the slug creature against you. From behind the mutated myconid, three myconid adults, which you recognize as loyal to Phylo from the Circle of Masters, arrive as well. It seems the Garden of Welcome, is anything but.
Roll Initiative!
Yestabrod - 1
Spore Servants - 5
Myconid Adults - 12
"Be careful, Zippy. These creatures rely on spores and poison," Oorr says while taking and loading the crossbow.
Oorr Initiative 4
Valrish quickly unsheathes Dawnbringer.
Initiative: 5
PbP Characters
Valrish (Dragonborn // Barbarian 6) - Out of the Abyss - play by post
PbP DMing
SPANISH - Storm King's Thunder
Grimnir watch as his only drow friend explode. "Oh Sarith, goodbye my old friend. We will avenge you...."
"This is making me reconsidering my love for mushrooms... I wonder if I could brew something with them..."
Initiatve: 11
Jimjar stays in back, ready to disappear between rocks and fungus
Initiatve: 20 ---- forget about that (i forgot the NPC were on our own initiative track to maje things faster)
Currently Playing: Regdus Ironfist (Greyhawk) Lvl 1 Storm Sorcerer ; Goraseth Drerjoxian (Icespeak) Lvl 3 Paladin Oath of Glory; Lerak (The Wild Beyond the Witchlight) Lvl 3 Barbarian Wild Magic
In Pause: Grimnir " Shadow-Feet", Lv 11 Owner of "The Basilisk & the Monk" (OotA) - Kurma Kappa, Lv 8 Priest of Oghma (ToA)
Currently DM'ing: Princes of Apocalypse >> Tomb of Annihilation
Initiative: 6
Fortunately, I had a chance to change my prepared spells after the shambling mound fight.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
"It is the correct pronoun, even though Zuggtmoy is superficially female. A demon lord has no gender, after all, especially the Queen of Spores and Fungus." I manage to produce the barest hint of an ironic smile at the use of a feminine title.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
"Sarith, I will make this quick. Farewell my friend."
With that, Grimnir runs towards his old companion (15ft) and delivers 2 quick attacks with his flaming mace.
MAce 1: 12 damage 3 + 1 Fire
MAce 2: 9 damage 5 + 1 Fire
Then with his free hands, Grimnir delivers 2 additional hits (flurry of blows, ki points left 4/5):
Flurry 1: 8 damage 5 >> DEX save DC13 or prone
Flurry 2: 19 (second roll if the target is prone 7): damage 7 >> DEX save DC13 or prone
Grimnir will then disengage 30ft away..
Jimjar will try first to hide behind the rocks and the fungus (bonus action)
Hide: 23
Then release 2 arrows at the spore servants.
Arrow1: 17 damage 5
Arrow2: 17 damage 6
Sneak attack if hidden: + 11
Currently Playing: Regdus Ironfist (Greyhawk) Lvl 1 Storm Sorcerer ; Goraseth Drerjoxian (Icespeak) Lvl 3 Paladin Oath of Glory; Lerak (The Wild Beyond the Witchlight) Lvl 3 Barbarian Wild Magic
In Pause: Grimnir " Shadow-Feet", Lv 11 Owner of "The Basilisk & the Monk" (OotA) - Kurma Kappa, Lv 8 Priest of Oghma (ToA)
Currently DM'ing: Princes of Apocalypse >> Tomb of Annihilation
Grimnir's mace attacks connect solidly with the spore servant formerly known as Sarith, but the once drow is able to dodge the following flurry of blows, perhaps recalling Grimnir's attack pattern from a past battle. Jimjar ducks behind a zurkhwood trunk and fires bolts into the neck of a spore servant, snapping the stands of fungus around it's neck. The head slumps of the body and the servant falls to the ground.
The spore servants then lurch forward to attack with rotted shortswords. (SS = Spore Servant)
SS1 Shortsword attack on Eldeth: Attack: 5 Damage: 8
SS2 Shortsword attack on Valrish: Attack: 8 Damage: 4
SS3 Shortsword attack on Oorr: Attack: 18 Damage: 4
Sarith Shortsword attack on Belwar: Attack: 16 Damage: 3
Round 1
20 Grimnir/Jimjar
12 Myconid Adults (3 left)
06 Belwar/Derendil
05 Valrish/Eldeth
05 Spore Servants (Sarith and 3 more left)
04 Oorr/Zippy
01 Yestabrod
"Goodbye, Sarith." I cast create bonfire on him for 6.
Do I know if spore servants are vulnerable to fire? Arcana: 14
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Dex Save for Sarith: 4
You know that they are not vulnerable to fire. Something about the water content of decaying fungus.
A bonfire appears around the wounded drow husk once known as Sarith. As the red fungal spores burn away, the face of the elf is visible one last time, and he looks up to his former band of escapees. You can almost see him smile before he is completely consumed by the fire.
Round 1
20 Grimnir/Jimjar
12 Myconid Adults (3 left)
06 Belwar/Derendil
05 Valrish/Eldeth
05 Drow Spore Servants (3 more left)
04 Oorr/Zippy
01 Yestabrod
Moved by Sarith's last moments, Valrish and Eldeth attack with all their might the remaining spore servants, wishing to put them out of their misery. (Rage as a bonus action)
Valrish:
Attack: 11 Damage: 13
Attack: 28 Damage: 9
Eldeth:
Attack: 14 Damage: 9
Attack: 17 Damage: 8
PbP Characters
Valrish (Dragonborn // Barbarian 6) - Out of the Abyss - play by post
PbP DMing
SPANISH - Storm King's Thunder
Dawnbringer tears through a spore servant, and the smell of charred mushrooms fills the air. Eldeth finishes it off with an arrow.
(OOG I mixed up the order of spore servants and myconid before. The Myconid will go now, and I'll keep the new order.)
The Myconid Adults move from behind Yestabrod, "Now now, let's all just calm down, shall we?" says the mushroom slug. Two of them are able to reach you, while the third dashes to near Oorr. The two that reached the party release a strange spore into the faces of Belwar and Valrish.
Myconid 1 releases pacifying spores on Belwar: Con DC 11 or else stunned
Myconid 2 releases pacifying spores on Valrish: Con DC 11 or else stunned
Round 1
20 Grimnir/Jimjar
12 Drow Spore Servants (2 more left)
06 Belwar/Derendil
05 Valrish/Eldeth
05 Myconid Adults (3 left)
04 Oorr/Zippy
01 Yestabrod
CON Save: 12
PbP Characters
Valrish (Dragonborn // Barbarian 6) - Out of the Abyss - play by post
PbP DMing
SPANISH - Storm King's Thunder
Oorr beat his wings and squawks, calling upon the magic of the wind (Zephyr Strike). He then flies by Yestabrob, staying 15 feet from the ground, and, while trying to get his attention away from the rest of the party, shoot a magically enhanced bolt. Zippy remains close to Belwar, biting the myconid in front of him.
Oorr Crossbow (with Zephyr Strike's effect): Attack: 20 Damage: 11
Zippy Bite: Attack: 9 Damage: 20
Zephyr Strike: 9 more turns.
The cross bow sinks deep into the slimy, moldy flesh of Yestabrod. It barely pays attention to the creature flying above him as it trundles towards the edge of the plateau. At the end of Oorr's turn, Yestabrod lifts a squiggly appendage towards the corpse of the spore servant that Valrish and Eldeth just killed. The corpse explodes, sending gore and offal violently outward.
Corpse Burst on Derendil and Valrish: Dex Save DC 12 or take 10 acid damage.
Yestabrod then heaves its bulk towards the group. It stops, facing Valrish, and from the small flap of teeth it considers a mouth, a cone of caustic spores is released, covering a wide area.
Caustic Spores on Valrish, Derendil, Zippy, and Belwar: Dex Save DC 12 or take 5 Acid Damage. If you fail this save, you will take the damage again at the start of Yestabrod's turn. You can repeat the save at the end of each of your turns.
Round 2
20 Grimnir/Jimjar
12 Drow Spore Servants (2 more left)
06 Belwar/Derendil
05 Valrish/Eldeth
05 Myconid Adults (3 left)
04 Oorr/Zippy
01 Yestabrod (64/75)