Ok, so a long rest it is. You all bed down for the night, the plan being for Shishalki to scout out the Garden of Horrors again in the morning. 

But first, there are a couple things of interest:

Again, similar to what you would have noticed, there are several members of the Circle of Growers (the final ones to be saved) that are noticeably standoffish from the rest of the myconid who seem to mingle and converse in hushed murmurings. 

On top of this, Derendil would express a certain discomfort he has recently started to have. Ever since the party reached the grove, he has had a headache that he says is getting progressively worse, but has lessened somewhat the further away from the grove you got. 

Lastly, as it begins to become time to sleep, the myconid begin to arrange themselves into a tight knit circle, and start to clasp hands. Spores begin to envelop and surround the circle as a dull hum begins to fill the air, originating from the myconid. This you would assume is what they had been referring to as a melding, and the myconid you previously saw away from the group do not participate.

With that, go ahead and put in a long rest on your sheet if you haven’t already. I will need a stealth check from Shishalki and anyone choosing to accompany him for scouting, provided you are trying not to be seen. We will wait for that, and any responses or RP related to those possible points of interest. What would you like to do?

Nicholas eyes the Myconid curiously as they settle down to rest, "That's an interesting way to rest isn't it? I wonder why the other group doesn't join in?"

"Derendil, how bad is this headache? Is there perhaps something we can do to help you with it? Healing or medicine of some kind?" 

"Perhaps you should rest tomorrow and allow the rest of us to complete the task, highness," Syvis says to Derendil. "Your strength will be sorely missed on the battlefield but we should not risk any among us who are not at our best."

Looking from the myconid to Nicholas, she continues. "Our method of rest is similarly alien to them, I am sure. Imagine a life of nightly comfort and communion with one's family and friends. Then seeing us sleep: unconscious, very much alone and separate from one another. That must seem deeply disturbing and undesirable." She pauses to ponder, then turns to look at her bedroll. "I will take first watch. Everything about our current circumstances is 'disturbing and undesirable' and I believe it will take some time before I am ready to rest."

Feeling covered by the Myconids around them, Shishakli finds a quiet corner and falls into a light sleep, hand on his weapons just in case. He wakes early, and unless someone is specifically waiting to join him, steps out of the circle and disappears into the darkness to look around and see what he can learn.

Thodek nods his agreement at both the strangeness of the myconids and themselves to the myconids before laying down where he can and falling fast asleep.

Derendil nods in agreement with Syvis’ suggestion. “Yes, rest… would be welcome…” he says, slowly trailing off. The large Quaggoth then seems almost startled as he comes back to attention. ”It’s… it’s happened a couple times before, but never this bad. Usually just time… and rest helps.” Derendil murmurs, noticeably fatigued. He then turns away, promptly falling asleep as indicated by his normal deep snore.

 The night passes uneventfully. Cold, damp, and uncomfortable, the sleep is no where near as comfortable as the cots you slept on in Vin Badur, but after a long, stressful day still does provide comfort. Shishalki rises early— probably before most others as he is more in tune with the cycles of the Underdark. The myconid still softly murmur in their spore circle, and looking at Stool in his portion of the circle, a small smile graces the small myconid— a stark change from his usually expressionless sleep. 

Shihalki then departs, moving quickly back through the tunnels towards Neverlight Grove. He passes through the small fungal forest indicating the entrance to the grove, back through the central basin, and up the steep terrace back to the Garden of Horrors.

  Moving further in, past the charred site of your past skirmish, Shishalki continues to delve deeper deeper into the cavern. Echoes spill from the misty cavern beyond, a cacophony of wheezing voices that wrap together like some kind of discordant music. Coming into view, through the mist that shrouds the smaller cavern, you see the parade of creatures responsible for the melody. Their bodies are only vaguely humanoid, with clusters of luminescent lichen and tumescent growths forming chaotic patterns on their decaying flesh, their voices stabbing into your minds, both insane and gleeful in equal parts. 

Beyond this, kneeling at the base of a massive mushroom, Phylo murmurs unintelligibly with his head down.  Thousands of smaller fungi cling to the main stalk, which itself splits into several lesser stalks, each long enough with a cap big enough to be the top of a great tower. The cavern floor surrounding the stalk is covered by a carpet of fungi. An eerie luminescence pours through slitted windows carved into the trunk, with the same cacophony of atonal music heard earlier echoing within. A stench of rot and decay wraps around you, seemingly threatening to penetrate your flesh and pervade your soul.

What would you like to do?

Syvis wakes shortly after Shishalki leaves and busies herself with the preparation of rations for the group's breakfast. It's nothing special but it keeps her occupied and gives her something to focus on to ward of the encroaching dread.

Thodek rises and prays to his God for his protection this day.

Before they turn in for the night, Nicholas would approach Thodek, "I'm running low on bullets again would it be possible for you to make another 20 or 30 of them?"

When he awakens the next morning, Nicholas would go check on Derendil and see how he is feeling after some rest.

From his darkness, Shishakli pulls his bow out and carefully aims it towards the spore-man. As he holds the string back his fingers start to tremble as the weight gets harder and harder to hold. Finally he sighs to himself, slowly relaxes his grip, and places his arrow back into his quiver. “He must be put down.” Shishakli thinks to himself, and quickly, though quietly, makes his way back to the group to inform them of what he’s seen.

Quote from iDarkelf >>

Before they turn in for the night, Nicholas would approach Thodek, "I'm running low on bullets again would it be possible for you to make another 20 or 30 of them?"

When he awakens the next morning, Nicholas would go check on Derendil and see how he is feeling after some rest.

 Thodek could make ten that night, and another ten in the morning, taking a short rest before Shishakli returns.

Hearing Shishakli's report, Syvis checks her gear and readies herself to move out.

"How many would you estimate we face? Do you believe removing Phylo alone from the equation would bring us any sort of boon or will we need to dispatch the entire lot before moving to Yggmorgus to continue our charge?" she asks flatly without looking up from counting her remaining crossbow bolts.

Nicholas will thank Thodek for his efforts and upon Shishakli's return would turn grim faced as he hears the news. He gathers' his gear and loads his pistol in preparation for what they may face ahead. As he does so he listens attentively to the discussion on what they face.

“There are approximately <#> around him.” Shishakli answers, adding, “Whether he is possessed, or the creator, is hard to know. But he is certainly at the center of this.”

Thodek shakes his head, “We may have to flee immediately after, especially if these others aren’t able to help in combat, but we must eliminate him first. At the very least, it should slow them down enough for us to escape and spread word.”

Shishalki would be able to tell you that there were around 20 myconid plus Phylo at Yggmorgus. 

Additionally, I am going to need to make a Wisdom Save for Shishalki as he watches this bizarre ritual to see if he gives in to the feeling of overwhelming dread it causes him:

Wis. Save: 14— 24

Shishalki: You find yourself paralyzed in fear, up against the cavern wall, unable to move for 3 minutes as you watch. Luckily, since you are practically invisible, this has no negative affect, but does still leave you shaken and chilled on your way back to the others once done with the scouting mission.

 And so, Nicholas has now 20 extra bullets for his gun? After two short rests from Thodek?

With this, and unless you have any more planning/RP to do, we can now move on to the actual encounter with what actions you would like to take. Please make sure to roll a stealth check should your goal be to approach silently, and other than that, what would you like to do?

(One batch of ten made the night before, one made this morning prior to a short rest.)

Thodek will attempt to get close as quietly as he’s capable of in his armor.

Stealth: 13

Syvis breaks away from the group before they reach their destination and hugs the shadows.

Stealth: 26

Shishakli leads the group back towards what he witnessed, slipping ahead, and into the darkness as they arrive, to find a good vantage point from which to aim his bow

Nicholas hangs back slightly from Thordek as they approach ready to give him any covering fire if needed.

Stealth: 18

(Nicholas currently has 30 bullets. He had 10 remaining and got 20 more from Thordek.)