Rikaryon’s Isle
“So, what have you decided?”
The companions had passed an uneventful night at the Dripstone Inn and now stood before Es Sarch once again. Celtir stepped forward. “We choose to hear your tasks and then decide to ensure they do not go against our moral bent.”
“Understandable. The first task is important not just to me, but to any who dwell within Pedestal. An immense island of fungus glimmers atop the Sullen Sea west of Pedestal and I have been told that it releases dangerous digestive and luminescent spores into the air around it. These spores create a dim blue light, which you must have seen as you came to Pedestal, but they also slowly destroy fleshy creatures, including my undead agents. Those who live in this so-called Great Grotto are more susceptible to these spores. Sending anyone from Pedestal to the isle to collect what I seek would mean that creatures death. But for you surfacers, the threat should be minimal.
“Growing upon Rikaryon’s Isle, as it is called, is a mushroom for which those in Pedestal pay dearly. Its cap is a sovereign remedy against the plague that tumbled the ruling Drow from their alters and thrones. Journey down to the dock west of here on the Sullen Sea, find a seaworthy craft – a few are left – and head out to the isle. The mushrooms I seek are obvious, black with red spots in the shape of tiny hands. You can’t miss them. Bring me at least ten.”
The companions conferred for a moment but could find nothing particularly objectionable about the request. Each companion nodded in turn and finally Celtir turned to Es Sarch and stated, “We will do what you ask.”
“Good, I also have someone to send with you, a woman who is also a newcomer to Great Grotto. She has certain skills you may find useful. I would like to present Shar.” As he raised his hand a beautiful dark haired woman stepped from where she had been hidden in the shadows of the room.
As the others looked at each other with uncertainty, the trusting Paladin stepped forward and presented his hand. As she took it, he raised her hand to his lips, gave her a quick kiss on the back of her hand and said, “Welcome aboard.”
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After a short time to prepare equipment and finalize spell selection for the day, the companions headed off to the Docks. The directions they had received sent them two blocks north to what was called the Nobles West Gate, one of two entrances through the wall that surrounded the inner Noble Ward of the city. A jumble of dark stones filled the arch, blocking access. Beyond the wall were towering, rotted mansions. On the rising slope east of the gate was a great crater a few hundred feet in diameter. A dim green glow suffused the air above the craters rim that cast ominous dancing shadows on the ruins.
As the companions took this in they noticed something else. All around them dust and tiny green motes seemed to coalesce into frightful, incorporeal shapes. To their left a shadowy Drow, to their right a monstrous spider and behind them the small figure of a goblin came into being.
The Paladin charged the Drow, Merthuvial slashed down and through the figure and it dissipated as quickly as it had formed. Frankie charged the spider but his axe went right through the creature. Shar fired her shortbow back at the goblin and the arrow seemed to pierce the figure. Wencis ran up to it and finished it with a blow from his hammer. Bootsy, realizing what it would take to affect these creatures was happy to unleash one of the latest spells in his arsenal. Two magical bolts struck the spider on either side of its carapace. The spider lashed at Frankie with one of its legs and he felt the icy cold of death draining some of his strength as it passed through him. An arrow from Celtir pierced the spider and Tristan charged up to it and finished the creature with a strike from Merthuvial.
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A crooked stone pier jutted hundreds of feet out into the moist darkness, lit occasionally along its length by a few lanterns fastened to it. Tiny waves lapped at the sides of the pier and at the decrepit watercraft tethered along the wharfs pocked length. A boat farther along the dock seemed to ride higher than the rest of the craft. It was just beyond a stone shack.
As the companion came around either side of the shack, a dusky, hairless female Dwarf in dark leathers stepped out of the shadows near the shack. Her black eyes seemed to scrutinize them and she held a short blade at the ready. “What business have you here sun warts?”
Once again, as all the others were reaching for weapons, Celtir stepped forward. “We are in need of a boat. We need to travel to the mushroom isle.”
This seemed to amuse the Dwarf as a slight smile crept across her face. “You want a boat? A wreck is fifty gold coins. One that floats is one hundred.”
Anger flashed across Tristan’s features, “And who are you to demand so much for a run down row boat?”
Her face grew stern as she addressed the paladin, “The assassins’ guild owns these docks. You want a boat? You pay!”
Tristan was about to retort when Frankie stepped forward and pulled some coin from a pouch, “I got it.”
Tristan was still grumbling as they climbed into the craft. “Don’t worry,” said Bootsy, “She won’t be seeing this boat again, you can be sure of that.”
“Violence isn’t always the best path, even when dealing with those of questionable morals,” added Celtir.
Tristan shook his head, “I suppose. I just don’t like dealing with evil even in simple matters of commerce.”
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The trip across the dark waters of the Sullen Sea was uneventful, though all were braced for the reappearance of the Aboleth. Just ahead small yellow protrusions as wide and thick as human fingers sprouted up through a layer of turgid black ooze near the beach. Luminescent green mushrooms with blue caps crowded the island, probably knee-high to a human near the waters edge but slowly increasing in stature inland. They reached heights of forty feet or more at the isle’s crowded center. The air around them was lit by a blue haze.
They beached the boat on a narrow beach composed of a finely intertwined mesh of fibers from which the fingerlike protrusions grew. The ground was spongy but firm. A smell like yeast and citrus commingled, bracing in intensity, issued from the ground. The blue glow that suffused the island stung their throats. The blue haze was thin at the beach but grew thicker beneath the luminescent mushrooms inland.
They slowly squeezed their way through the forest of green mushrooms that grew in thick clumps, toward where they though the island center would be. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of off color mushroom jokes from Bootsy, the island’s mushroom trees gave way to a wide space that was roughly circular. Within the clearing, the blue haze hung particularly thick. Broad, tall stems covered with short, stiff bristles shared the center on the clearing with tiny black mushrooms that sported red spots and were shaped like little hands. Wencis heard a faint rustle up ahead, as though some unfelt wind was blowing through the undergrowth.
The companions spread out as they moved into the clearing alert for any danger. There was a sudden crashing as what must have been two large creatures rushed them and a snapping like the clenching of great jaws confirmed they were under attack, though they could see nothing before them.
Wencis and Celtir were the ones who felt the horrendous bites of the creatures and both were left with large wounds. Celtir tried to back away to fire his bow, but the creature bit him once more and his shot went wide. Bootsy, falling back on his old standby, threw a vial of acid, which broke over one of the great creatures and splashed his companions.
Tristan and Frankie took position as the front line, slashing at the creatures with their weapons. Wencis joined them, punching at the creature with fists that were surrounded by glowing gauntlets of soul energy. The invisible creatures were hard to hit as the companions were unsure where to swing, but some of them were able to land blows. On the other hand, the creatures never seemed to miss and soon all three of the front line fighters had suffered bites from them.
Seeing the severity of the wounds being inflicted upon the three at the front, Bootsy stepped back and prepared to cast. First he called to Shar, “Get around them and collect mushrooms, in case we need to beat a hasty retreat!” Then, focusing his mystical energy, he launched a fiery ray at where he thought one of the creatures would be and was rewarded as the creature cried out in a raspy roar of pain. Following his lead Celtir stepped back at launched a burst of sound into the area where the creatures were, hoping its area of effect would harm both of the unseen assailants.
Just as Wencis punched one with his gauntlets of energy, it caught him up in its jaws and savaged him horribly. When the jaws released him, he fell to the ground bleeding profusely. As Frankie continued to slash with his ax, Tristan stepped over to heal Wencis. Once healed Wencis scrambled back to find a safe place to stand up. Another Scorching Ray from Bootsy finally dropped one of the creatures and the remaining companions focused on the last creature, Celtir switching back to his bow. Finally, Bootsy launched a vial of Alchemists fire and the last creature dropped to the ground.
Bootsy stepped over to Shar, who had collected an armful of the black mushrooms and took off his magical haversack. “Well, it looks like we have more time to pick shroons than I expected. Let’s see if we can fill this up.”
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Not wanting to encounter the rude dwarf at the docks, the companions put in well south of there and quickly returned to the Inn. Es Sarch seemed pleased when he saw how many mushrooms they had brought back. “Since you brought so many extra I will see to it you each receive a vial of the remedy that will protect you from Ash Doom, the plague that has brought Pedestal to its knees. Are you ready for your next task?”
Celtir looked at the condition of his companions and saw most still bore wounds from the combat on the island. “I think we’ll rest first. You can tell us of it in the morning.”
Es Sarch nodded graciously, “So be it. Rest well and we shall talk in the morning.”
Bootsy stepped forward as the others turned to leave, “Do you have a shed or some such place where we could store a good sized row boat?”
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
