Of Minecraft Madness & Fungal Floaters

From the investigation logs of Nöx Grovzes 2022-09-13–2022-10-11

Leaving the were-ravens

As we prepared to part company with the intrepid murder of were-ravens, they thanked us for cleansing what had been a defiled place, and re-iterated their invitation for any in our party to join their guild of shadow-hunting relic-keepers, and become were-ravens ourselves. 

As the party turned to depart, I paused to inquire of any knowledge the stolid band of birdfolk may have regarding the rumors of a fungal plague sweeping the land.

The were-ravens affirmed they had also heard the swirling rumors of fungal spreads with detrimental effects: of formerly-edible mushroom varieties now inducing sickness; of fungi exclusive to certain seasons and climes now blooming year-round; but, said they, no word or rumor of anything of the magickal or metaphysical sort. Though they confirmed their own observations aligned with the fungal zeitgeist.

Back at CandleKeep

Upon our return to CandleKeep and rendezvous with the illustrius Keeper of Tomes Janussi, we shared our findings both of knowledge and treasure, of our encounters with the gargoyles, ghouls, wight, and were-ravens, of their knowledge of the fungal plague, and we transferred custody of the recovered “Book of the Raven”

Janussi then spoke of murmurs overheard, of villages disappearing, something attested by informants and apparently confirmed via discovery of a manuscript she believed may hold a key to the mystery. With trepidation in her voice, she implored, “I’m afraid I have yet another task for you… however, I would argue this one may provide significantly more treasure if you can find it — and survive. This endeavor I have little doubt would prove also to proffer a solid lead on the rumored fungal explosion, and what it portends.”

Tybalt cast a raised eyebrow in my direction, a treatment, I note, growing evermore common as speak of fungal corruption proliferates. Due no doubt to our frequent late-night engagements as the others doze, Lia seems to have picked up on my own excitement at the prospect of a new lead in the mysteries of the fungal plague, despite my own attempts at composure and concealment. 

Tybalt began to complain of poor returns on our adventures to-date, when Janussi impleaded:

“Let me tell you a sad tale of tragedy and terror…” as she procured a leatherbound book the cover inscribed and embossed in gold leaf, and the title I could make out as “A Deep & Creeping Darkness”

A Deep & Creeping Darkness

Janussi described the contents, a series of vignettes collected from “those who were there,” in the mountain mining village of Vermaelyn (V-town) during the months after a tragic mine collapse, when villagers went missing from the streets in broad daylight, as befuddled bystanders stood by. 

V-town had been a tiny boom-town after settlers to the mountain discovered a platinum vein upon the mountainside. Settlers flocked to mine the raw ore, refine the metal and reap the profits from its sale. This lasted for about a decade, making the small number of intrepid settlers who could overcome the rough terrain and mountain elevation quite prosperous. 

Then, around 70 years ago, there was an explosion that rocked the platinum mines, claiming the lives of 60 or more miners trapped within. Utterly distraught, the townsfolk tried to rescue the surviving miners trapped inside, but due to the instability of the mines and the immensity of the fallout, many perished inside before rescue could reach them. 

After the calamity is when the townsfolk of V-town began to disappear in broad daylight and in full view of lookers-on. It mattered not if they were in groups, there seemed to be no safety in numbers from what the stories recount. Individuals would simply vanish from sight. 

In their despair, beset by the sheer terror of the unknown horror of what had befallen them, many of the settlers abandoned the village completely and fled for safer space. 

One of the authors claims the village remains, but whether any inhabitants remain is still very much a mystery. 

Janussi informed us that V-town is 3-days’ ride to the North, and that CandleKeep would provision us with horses for the trek. We should stop at Mehren as a final outpost before trekking up the mountain to the ruins of V-town. 

Luocious & Tybalt murmered and muttered about preferring pack-mules to cart out the promised platinum lodes, but Janussi accommodated us further by promising to send some emissaries of the avowed after us to assist in the recovery of any precious metals and other loot. 

On the Road to Mehren

From CandleKeep we again rode, North this time, for Mehren, where we arrived quite safely. 

Mehren was nestled at the foot of a vast mountain-range, the last bastion of any sort of civilization before the looming peaks above. Not quite large enough to constitute a proper city, we found Mehren to be bustling nonetheless, as we passed through the open-air markets where vendors hawked their wares. 

We sought room & board at the Bored Weasel Tavern & Inn, whereupon we spotted the geriatric Lucas, proprietor of the Weasel, with his distinctive dark skin & white mohawk. 

As we spilled our road-weary selves upon the bar, Lucas obliged with a round of mead and beer, and we conversated around our intentions in seeking out the lost village of V-town. Tybalt bought us each a round of the salty fish surprise, and as we supped, we spoke little, and less of our intents, for Lucas admonished that we speak no more of our plans here and now, preferring rather that we re-connect on the morrow. With that the old man left us in the hands of Atra-Born(?) and he retired, and we not far long after.

Before retiring, Tybalt played dice with a chatty chap named Par-Vaban(?), who told us we could follow the creeks up the mountain to find V-town, imagining ourselves as a vein of platinum-ore. Though things became contentious, and the game broke-up, with PV(?) admonishing us not to go looking for V-town, inviting us instead to stay a while in town and check out the market, and taste his wares. We promised to consider a stop back by on our return from the mountain-side.

The rest of the night was increasingly haze and daze for me; there was some music & song, and then off to bed. As Astra was shutting down the bar and shooing us off to quarters, she leaned in and murmured to us in hushed tones that she was pretty sure the calamity in the mines poisoned the whole place, that after the collapse the whole town changed. The fact that there was nary a suspect to blame for the disappearances spooked everybody, though she said something else curious — that the common wisdom was that the miners themselves were responsible for the initial collapse. 

In the morning, Lucas sketched us a fairly detailed map of the way to V-Town, and of the town itself, showing the mayors house, shops to the west, a cemetary to the east, and a large tree right in the center of town. The old man told us that his wife Lorna died in the V-town disaster, and asked that we do him 2 favors while there: first, that we place some flowers on Lorna’s grave, and secondly, that we seek out and return a necklace he had placed in Lorna’s honour, in the hollow of the tree in the center of town.

The path ahead was too much for the horses, so we left them in Mehren and made our way up the mountain. 

…..

We arrive in a ghost-town

We arrived first at the cemetary. While on our way to find Lorna’s grave, we happened upon the mouldy ruins of a cart, and the skeleton of its horse. I peeked around the cart for clues and some strange fungus beneat the old cart caught my eye. As the party moved onward into the cemetery, I saw Luocious place some flowers on a headstone, and Lia plucked a flower from her hair to place on the grave as well. I placed a single fresh goodberry, in remembrance & respect of the fleeting existence of all life in this plane. 

From there we pushed on to the center of town, and found the tree. Whereupon, Luo & Tybalt began rooting around blindly inside, with their bare hands. They were able to find & retrieve the necklace of which Lucas spoke. 

From that point onward the party splintered as Tybalt went off knocking & shouting into what looked to be the mayors house. I proceeded warily, as my fear and doubt about the involvement of the fungal plague in the calamity waxed after my observation of the peculiar fungus near the cemetery. Luo and others sought out the Stonemason’s house. 

We all sort of mustered back at the Mayor’s manse, and from there things took a decided turn for the strange. Some of us began stammering of strange sights, of perversions of vision and sound. We pressed forth with our exploration of the abode, and on the second floor located a small library with many interesting texts and tomes. I pocketed what I could, especially one such text on “Fungal Blooms.” And some scribbled notes about nightmares, disappearances, and ____?___… along with a book on the “Fey Wyld & Its Sundry Fauna” — inside that text we found, written in a shaky hand, the words “could this be the answer???” Lia’s sight seemed to be failing, for she could not read the written words, and soon began raving about children outside seen from the window, beckoning to “play with them in the mines.” As Tybalt read from the pages of “Meenlocks”, which apparently multiply or reproduce by transforming humanoids through torture and nest underground in the darkness, sensitive to bright light (probably, thought I, possessed with the darkvision)…. 

Lia lept from the second story! Tybalt quickly searched the remaining rooms and found the Mayor’s Journal, which seemed to corroborate the earlier-purported facts and tales we had heard. Apparently the mayor’s wife left with their two children, and the mayor seemed to have stayed behind until the bitter end, but where?

Reginald willed together an earthen staircase so we could all follow Lia out the second story window a little safer. 

As we meandered through town, making our way southward toward the mines, the shadows grew long and then sun began to disappear behind the peaks. We scuttled to the Blacksmith’s shop, wherein I discovered a false door underneath one of the workbenches. Inside, we discovered a steel shield with platinum filigree in the shape of winding serpents, and two matching short swords with platinum filigree on the hilts and pommel in a similar serpent motif. We also retrieved 10 iron bars, too heavy for us to carry out on our backs, but perhaps we can have the CandleKeep avowed fetch these for us. 

Tybalt discovered a platinum ring of swimming, and informs us that he reckons it would render the wearer “as light as a dolphin in water” - he offered to give to any of us who so asked, otherwise he would sell it when possible. 

After the harrowing experience inside the Mayor’s, the party opted to sleep under the stars rather than staying put inside the Blacksmith’s. 

That night, Tybalt turned to us and said, “I’ve got something in my eye - can anyone help?” Our cleric Reggie noted something worrisome, perhaps an infection, and asked for my second opinion. 

To my surprise and disgust, I saw again a peculiar fungal spore creeping out of the corner of Tybalt’s eye. Folks started checking each other’s ears due to the earlier auditory hallucinations, but nothing else was found. When I sent my symbiotic spores to further investigate Tybalt’s eye-spore, there was nothing to sense and as I blinked, the spore in Tybalt’s eye was gone. Curious & Alarming!

“These fungal floaters…” I muttered, and Reginald volleyed, “we’ll keep an eye on them.”

After this, Lia suggested we re-camp closer to the cemetery, where at least we might have “someone” there who is actually content with us right then. Concurring, we picked up our things and trudged back east of town. I remarked, I’d also wanted to get a closer look at that fungus beneath the cart. 

At that, Tybalt spoke up, “what did you notice there?? Because I saw something there before too… something moving out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t think nothing of it at the time…”

Curiouser still, and nonetheless alarming, to be sure…

As the rest of the party retired to our tiny hut, I bade them goodnight and said “We live to inspect, detect, and fight another day.” Under the moonlight, I toyed with making a mulled goodberry mead before meditating, though my mind was troubled and overrun with concern of the creeping plague born by unfamiliar spores…