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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rae ArdGaoth" data-source="post: 4225247" data-attributes="member: 21064">Vagrant smiles.  "Ah, young people.  I knew you'd be excited to go.  Well, there's very little preparation.  Please, at least let me walk you to the cellars."  Vagrant takes off towards the largest mushroom in the clearing.  Nhairi and Brother Coir follow, along with another interested monk.  The others stay behind, with the druids.This mushroom is unlike any other you have ever seen, and not only in size.  The thing is easily 100 feet in diameter at the base of the stem, and the stem continues straight up about ten feet before tapering sharply towards the center.  The cap extends just a little beyond the radius of the stem, making its diameter about 110 feet.  Vagrant guides the band into a large double door set in the side of the stem, and passing under the cap, you see truly massive gills.  Deep within the gaps between the gills, you can see the pungent black pus beginning to fester and take hold.Inside, the smell is again lessened.  Like the room you found Vagrant in, the floor is packed dirt, and the walls are firm mushroom.  This room is mostly empty, like a large antechamber.  A raised mound of dirt at one end looks like a decent place for a speaker to stand and address a group of people.  The ceiling is ten feet high.  Vagrant pulls out a small rock from his pocket, it shines like a a lantern.  "A wizard gave this to me many, many years ago.  Does it still shine?  I hope so, because if not, you'll have a bit of trouble seeing from here on."Passing through a series of central rooms, the light from outside is practically nonexistent.  Instead, the walls are covered with some kind of luminescent fungus.  Without the stone's light, it would be very dark in here, but not pitch black.  With Vagrant holding the stone as a lantern, you reach the center of the stem.  A dirt ramp leads downward, spiraling around the solid center of the stem.  As you descend, you notice on the ceiling extends flat, noodle-like roots that apparently hold the dirt ramp above your head.  Occasionally, a path extends off to the right, away from the stem, but Vagrant continues downward.  After about a minute of walking, you reach a wooden door.Stepping inside, you see what looks to be like a relatively normal wine cellar.  Large barrels and wooden jugs are organized neatly in rows.  There is no glass here.  Vagrant continues on to the other side of the cellar to yet another door.  This one is locked.  The ancient elf turns to you, his silvery hair has taken on hues of yellow, green, and blue from the dimly glowing fungi on the walls."This is the end of the Monastery's rooms.  The tunnels beyond haven't been converted for our use.  Our monastic grove is just the tip of the iceberg, as they say.  The Wyrwood Mushroom extends deep into the earth and in all directions for miles.  Directly beneath this central mushroom are the Heart Roots, it's there where I sent the others, and there where your shard may be.  But be careful, the tunnels are winding, some will be too small for you, some will dead end.  And I strongly suspect that something down here is causing the problems on the surface."  Vagrant sniffs the air.  It's cool and musky, with an undertone of mold, but it's refreshing compared to the surface.  "Mm, how pleasant.  I think I may stay down here a while.  Good luck, brothers."Vagrant takes a key from his neck and unlocks the door, allowing you passage inside.  Beyond is a circular tunnel.  The dirt quickly drops off, revealing the rounded fungus root floor beneath.  About wide enough for one person to walk, the tunnel is even dimmer than the cellar, it extends into darkness.</blockquote>

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