The Fungus Among Us

The group was on a mission to collect information. The goal was to head out of the south pass of Midway and loop around from the west, starting with the town of Qat. The travel was steady and quiet as they left the pass and looped out south of the local mountains and began heading west. It was five days before their peaceful travel was interrupted.

During the night watch Books and Furion heard a low rumbling approaching. Books called out as Furion was approaching his side of the camp, bow drawn. The source of the sound came in to view. It was a large round leathery ball, dotted with holes. Furion fired a first shot that darted in to the hide. As it passed Books he heard what he could only identify as the sound of a ‘fart’ coming from the thing. It continued rolling right in to the middle of the party as they awakened. This time the fart revealed it was some form of a spore jet erupting from one of the holes, this time covering Illeana who began gagging and choking and dropped. Books attempted a Spiritual Whip but it failed and the thing continued rolling. Curly slice at it with his sword causing what he thought was far less damage than it should have sustained. Morgana tried to communicate using a Speak With Animals but it was ineffective.

As the ball rolled past and looped back towards the party Morgana and Books ran to Illeana, both casting a Cure Serious Wounds to revive her. The thing rolled back in towards the party. Gwyn responded with a special use of Spiritual Whip, causing it to become an entangle that wrapped around the thing. Morgana added her own Entangle and Hal's attempt to add one of his own failed. The spells wrapped up the ball slowing it to a crawl. Books began his attacks with a Spiritual Whip, striking it but not as severely as he thought it should.

The thing continued to try to roll. Books changed to a Flamehand spell that also hit but not as hard as expected. Hal decided to try his special attack, a Psionic Blast. But the attack missed the target. Morgana used a Thorn Throw which also hit but not as hard as iot more likely should have. At that, Cord was the next target of the spore jet attack. It covered him but he shook it off. Illeana tried an Aganaver’s Scorcher but it too failed. Gwyn followed with a Bless that actually was able to encompass the entire party.

The next wave of attacks began with another Psionic Blast from Hal. This time he found his target but the target had no mental presence to attack. Illeana followed with a Magic Missile and Books with another Spiritual Whip. All of these attacks hit but caused less than expected damage. But Morgana's next spell, Hailstone, hit and was as effective as expected. Furion engaged and attacked as the creature ejected another jet, this time striking Gwyn as Curly struck the fatal blow, putting an end to the thing.

Healing was needed. Rest too. The group moved away from the thing and set up a temporary camp. The recharged their spells and completed the needed rest. They moved on after a noon meal and made good time heading west. They began to angle north towards the river they knew they had to cross looking for somewhere to cross. They traveled on and on day 9 they found falls in the river where there was a stone surface that rose along the edge of the falls creating a natural bridge crossing. It was covered by the running river, but it was possible to use. Morgana Shape Changed in to a crocodile and entered the river inspecting the rock surface to see if they would be able to cross. She found the river current strong and a little difficult to fight against. The deepest area of crossing was around 5 feet. She returned and relayed her findings. The group decided this was probably not the best place to try and continued on. As they went Furion used a Fly spell to scout from above. About an hour later he spied a natural crossing and some bridges and houses by them some distance ahead.

They made their way to this crossing point. Hal and Gwyn approached and knocked on the door. A slow response came and the door finally pened. An older man answered. Welcoming would not be a word to used to describe this man. He was curt and somewhat rude, never responding in a social manner. In fact, he ended the conversation and closed the door at every opportunity. They tried to keep knocking but it became apparent he would be of no help. They moved down to the bridge crossing and found another house. There was a middle aged woman waiting for them, hands on her hips, outside the house. She was far more hospitable and negotiated a fare for them to cross. She was not as pliable as they had hoped but they were able to talk her down in price a little bit. Once a deal had been struck she did warn them about which bridge crossing to use and handed them a slip of paper. With that, they were on their way.

The crossing was relatively easy. She had warned them the ground between the bridges was sandy and they should be careful with their wagon. Oh, and to take the right bridge at the rivers middle. They found the sand deep and requiring careful and slow progress. The left bridge looked just like the right one but they followed her instructions. They made their way across the last bridge, reaching the far shore where there stood another home. And another woman, who looked identical to the one on the other shore, received them and took their note, allowing them to pass without issue. They made a mental note…. Let’s not come back this way.

On they went. On day 12 a rain began that would continue for a few days. They moved along the river side and broke in to the open area, progressing steadily towards the woods where Qat could be found. They found the edge of the woods a looked for a path in. They turned to the south and followed the tree line eventually finding a clear path in. It was late in the day as the rains subsided and they decided to set up camp outside the woods before venturing in.

During the first watch that night Rennala and Illeana began reacting oddly. Rennala began screaming and ripping off her clothes and armor. Illeana began screaming and tearing at her sword and scabbard. Cord ran to help Rennala as the screaming woke the rest of the party. Illeana screamed there were snakes as she ripped off her sword belt and then kicked it in to the fire. With that, she turned and ran in to the darkness. Gwyn had rushed to her side but was too late to help. She saw the belt kicked in to the fire and pulled it out quickly before any damage to the equipment could happen.

Everyone was now awake trying to figure out what was happening. Furion used a Vanish to go invisible. Morgana spotted something blurry with her infravision that resembled tall legs, possibly big spider like legs emerging from the woods. Hal tried to startle Rennala out of her frantic behavior by using a Pain Touch attack, but this only reinforced her psyche. Gwyn used a Prayer spell to aid the party catching all by Illeana. Curly grabbed a torch from the fire and ran to the side of Morgana trying to see what was there, only to foul the infravision. But his racing in to the area he threw his torch at it, sticking in to the thing, illuminated it. It was tall, with stalked legs and a open conical top. It was some sort of fungus. Gwyn and Books struck it with a Spiritual Whip and Morgana lit it up with a Faerie Fire. Hal slammed it with a Hailstone as Furion attacked with the surprise of the invisible. Books finished it off with one finalk Spiritual Whip.

With the thing downed Morgana tried to remove the effects using a Neutralize Poison, but it failed. Gwyn attempted to use a Command on Rennala to Calm her, but she resisted the attempt. Thankfully, after another 10 minutes or so the effects wore off, Rennala and Illeana returning to their senses. Thankfully Illeana, who went invisible and climber a tree, did not hurt herself as her mind was once again her own.

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