Fungal Fun

Aithne frowns:

"There's fungus among us."

"I really don't know much about fungus. Anyone?" she asks.

"My own home was far too clean for me to learn aught of such things," Rowan answers, attempting in vain to wipe a soiled sleeve clean.

"This entire place is most unpleasant, in fact...," he adds, half to himself.

"Ignorant though I am of fungi, could not mere fire be an effective way to dispose of it, if it's really a concern? Assuming it's a threat, of course."

Porter adds:

"I would think this is something up Yaz's line of work. How about it, Yaz, any thoughts?"

The druid has been very pensive since entering the tunnel. He continues to ponder the situation.

Joy frowns at the eerie light. In a doubtful voice, she asks:

"How can fungus be a threat? Of course, Zlodey has never given me a chance to learn of a fungus that comes in different colours and glows, so I'm probably not the best judge of this situation. I'd have to agree with my cousin though, fire is probably best. The stuff should burn, shouldn't it?"

"Tha shit looked kinda moist to me, li'l lady," Booker interrupts. "I wouldn't be countin' on burnin' too easy if I were you."

Winnacer listens to the rest of the group consider what to do and gives the universal 'hold up' sign with his hands:

"I'm certainly not more versed in the matter of fungi than the rest of you, but I heard my father tell stories of battles won and lost because of them. He was quite the adventurer in his time and always had time to ...errrm... brag about his dealings. He said he had encountered all types of fungus in his years, types that screamed warnings when approached or provoked. Types that grew when set alight. He spoke of one that could wither human flesh, which I saw with my own eyes in the Nemotz Temple not long ago. So I think we need to be very careful here and not just set fire to the patch, if we cannot figure out what each of them are."

Joy whispers to Rowan:

"Wither human flesh?! Fungus? Really? Disgusting thought."

She shudders dramatically.

Winnacer stands quiet for a second in thought and then continues:

"Actually, I would bet that our quarry would have planted several of these screaming fungi as a warning system against intruders, just like that goblin clan did against my father all those years ago. This is good news."

"If Yaz can determine that no harmful fungi are there, we can use a silence ensorcellment to bypass the possible alarm. If we believe my assumption about this being an alarm to be a correct one, it means that we are within hearing range of the rodents. I think we are close to the lair."

"This means we can still have time to douse our light sources and sneak ahead to see what is really hiding at the entrance intersection. I think Booker would be the best suited for the job. Quiet, able to see in the dark, and onyx has no odor that I know of."

Winnacer nods his head, a smile appearing on his lips:

"I think we have a chance at getting the drop on them if we play our cards right here. And if I'm not totally off here."

With wide eyes and a less-than-thrilled look, Joy asks:

"What? You want to get rid of all the light down here? What are those who can't see going to do? Besides, does dousing all our light sources do any good with that fungus glowing like it is?"

"The radiance of the light is far different than the fungi's light," Winnacer replies. "Guards may note the difference as we get closer. And your rodent suitor said that they typically dwell in complete darkness, so if that true, they'll certainly note our flame when we get close, especially if there is no light further down the passageway."

"If the entrance is near, those that can see in the dark can stick around this lighted area with a light source, ready to come forward if they hear something go afoul. This just may work out...but let's not jump the bugle call. We still need to figure out what these fungus are as well as figure out where the entrance is. We're not quenching the torches quite yet..."

Yaz has been looking unhinged since the start of the day, smoking weed constantly. As he sees the others looking at him expectantly, he looks a little embarrassed:

"Um .. . sorry guys," he apologizes. "I'm just not thinking too clearly at the moment. I think that I must have smoked some bad weed or something, but the brain's just not working the way that it normally does."

"I'm sorry, I can't really think what to do at the moment."

He pauses for a moment, shaking a little and sweating despite the chill temperatures of the tunnel:

"Look, I'll tell you what I asked Prirodna for this morning. Perhaps someone else could tell me if they think I can help us get through this shit in some way."

"I didn't ask Her for any silencing spells today, I'm sorry to say," he continues. "What I can do is this though: I got a few healing spells, and can cure one of us if we got diseased or anything. We got the FaithHealer's rod as well, remember? That can do some kinda curing as well, if we need more. I can ask Prirodna to bless us so that our weapons strike true and I can ask her to tell me if anything is magickal. I got another spell that can let me talk with some more ratmen if we need to. I can check for traps, bend some wood, and summon up another of those whirlwind things like I used in the Nemotz Temple a coupla times. I can also mold rock and can firebomb a particular spot."

He looks around a little nervously:

"Um .. . that's about it, I'm afraid," he finishes. "'Course I can change into a mammal, a bird and/or a reptile whenever I fancy, but I guess you knew that already."

Winnacer nods and then looks to Timex:

"And what about you, Brother Timex?" he asks. "Is there anything that Zemnye can do to help us?"

Timex coughs then sneezes and shakes his head from side to side:

"Well I'm afraid that I can't help you with keeping silent either. That's not from an area that the priesthood of Zemnye study."

"Most of my Gifts from Zemnye today are of the healing variety, of varying degrees of effectiveness, including one that cures the recipient of disease. I have asked for a spell to check that an area might be trapped, and also for one to check for pits. I have the ability to make one warrior as hard as granite and I can also use the powers of flame to make an opponent's armor the temperature of lava and I have the ability to summon a fiery sword."

He pauses:

"Then there is the greatest gift that Zemnye blesses His loyal servants with, and that is the ability to summon one of His servants to aid me in performing His works."

He sneezes and then sighs:

"A servant of Zemnye is very powerful and could easily deal with anything that comes in its path. That fungus wouldn't stand much of a chance and nor would those ratmen, I'm sure. However, controlling it is very difficult indeed. I must concentrate fully upon controlling Zemnye's servant or my link with it will be lost, and so I can't move at all after I have summoned it. Even if I concentrate, there is a slight chance that the contact with the servant will be lost, and if that is the case then .. ."

His voice trails off.

"Let's just say that you should just run away as quickly as you can, or else it would most certainly kill you all."

He pauses once more:

"I'm sure that you can now see why I hesitate to summon Zemnye's servant unless absolutely necessary."

After listening to the priests speak of the spells granted by their gods, Joy hesitantly adds:

"I guess I should speak of some abilities my god, Zlodey, granted to me today. Besides the healing you saw Zlodey give me last night and the cloak of shadows I've spoken of today, I have also asked my god to grant me the ability to make metal as hot as fire."

"I need to see these things for myself," continues Yaz, breaking a brooding silence born of depression from leaving the outdoors so soon after finding it again.

"I got some kind of experience with 'shrooms..."

He grins oddly to himself at some distant memory.

"The trick is getting up there quietly in case there's a screaming one... and the dog will make noise. I can change into a rat and do it, or Joy can do that shadow thing on me instead of Aithne. But I definitely gotta see them with my own eyes. There's a little fire up my sleeve that could take care of most of it if necessary. But if we can get by without harming it I'm more for that."

Yaz looks up ahead:

"I wonder how did the ratboys get themselves get by the fungus?" he ponders. "I don't think it'll be dangerous to get closer... as long as this is the same way the ratfags took to get out..."

Winnacer scratches his chin for a few seconds:

"Yaz, would it be possible to make a path through the fungi by moving the stones beneath them? It would let us pass without having to get close and without having to kill them."

"As for how the ratmen managed to circumvent this, that may be why they were accompanied by a priest. Perhaps they too are able to employ silence magicks. They also may have a hidden passageway that they use to circumvent this chamber. If we weren't pressed for Booker's time, I'd suggest looking."

"Is it simply possible that the mushrooms are somehow 'trained' to only respond to non-ratmen?" asks Aithne, looking at Yaz curiously.

The druid shrugs:

"I dunno," he replies. "Anything's possible, I guess. I don't know anything about these rat-bastards."

He thinks to himself for a moment:

"There's just one way to find out, and that's to take a look for myself. P'raps I'll get some more answers."

"You guys stay here for a mo'. I'm heading up to peer up ahead and see if I can see what type of 'shrooms that shit is."

Joy shrugs and says to Yaz:

"If you'd think it'd get us past this disgusting fungus stuff, I can definitely ask for Zlodey's blessings on you instead. Just tell me so that I can prepare to pray. It should also quiet some of the noises you make."

Yaz nods:

"Thanks for the offer, but let me go and have a quick peek first before we start burning up too many spells. It's be a shame to use it up to soon if it's not necessary just to check out the moss."

"If I can't get close enough to see what's up with them, then I might be back to take you up on your offer."

Yaz then leaves his position in the center of the party and advances up the passageway in order to take a better look at the fungus cavern in order to see whether he can determine whether they are dangerous or not.

He is gone for a couple of minutes before he returns to the rest of the party. The others see him shaking his head as he does so:

"Well that's some of our questions answered," he starts. "There are five rat-bastard bodies in amongst the fungus. Two of the bodies are close to some violet colored shit are all covered in spores and are so decomposed that they are halfway to becoming more fungus themselves."

"A little further behind are another three ratmen bodies that are a few feet away from some milky colored shit. Well, I THINK that they used to be ratmen, but they are so covered in milky white spores that it's hard to tell any more."

"More of a reason not to mess with them," Winnacer comments. "Better to avoid this fight, as it is only going to weaken us. I would think if we could shape the stone to move these fungi from our path, we would be best served."

"However, I do have a few flasks of oil that may be useful if we decide to go with flame here," the young Lord continues. "I would be concerned that the smoke resulting from such a bonfire may endanger ourselves as well as possibly tipping off our ratmen enemies. Being smoked out is no picnic, as both Yaz and myself can attest to."

"I don't think that any of them were shriekers," Yaz continues. "They seem to be nasty enough on their own without alerting anything else. However, I really can't be totally sure about it."

"We'll have to trust you on that one," replies Winnacer. "I hope that you are right."

He pauses for a moment, trying to concentrate:

"It was kinda damp up there, so just setting fire to a bit of it and expecting the whole lot to go up in smoke ain't gonna work. I can call down flame upon either the violet shit or the milky-white shit, but I'm not sure that this is gonna be enough to have us eating fried mushrooms tonight."

He shakes his head:

"None of that stuff seems to be very flammable to me."

Yaz then looks at Winn:

"You really love my stone shaping gig, dontcha, Justice Boy? You should think about maybe asking Spravedelna for the power instead of that Fear thing. Although I must admit, I kinda like the Fear thing."

The druid scratches his head:

"I think the room's too big anyway. My powers aren't enough to do what you're thinking, I don't think."

'But--" he adds, too loudly, holding up his finger, "I can send a whirlwind in there. Puree 'em up a bit, make a little mushroom pie. I'd just have to watch from a distance to direct it around. If the elemental lasts long enough to kill them, we're laughin', but if not... I mean, I guess we can just make a break for it."

"We got healing," he shrugs.

"I, for one, do not fancy being turned into a collection of fungus," Rowan says with a grimace. "But I see no better alternative than what has been suggested. Clearly, Yaz is more qualified to deal with this than I; I will yield to his judgment-- in this matter, at any rate."

Aithne's flesh crawls as she listens to the talk of fungus and what it had done to the ratmen. She shudders:

"I defer to your judgement, Yaz. It has not led me astray so far," she adds. "And I will use my swords if necessary to help finish them."

Aithne ponders what has been discussed:

"Do we have to come back out this same way? If we do, we should take care of the problem now. We may not be able to take care of it later."

Porter gives his opinion:

"I think we oughta run through now, and we can run through later."

"Will we have the spells and such to make this an option later?" Aithne asks.

She turns to Yaz:

"I'd just as soon run through each time too and save our fighting for the ratmen. Just don't want to leave a known enemy that can kill us--especially if we are injured--behind us."

Winnacer frowns:

"If we run through, it is likely we will all get injured. Then we waste precious healing magicks. Let Yaz give this whirlwind ploy a try first. If it does not work, perhaps Booker or Yaz can help us find a path through the patch that avoids the dangerous fungi rather than run willy-nilly through it."

Porter shakes his head:

"I ain't sending my man through that by himself. I'm for Yaz trying his crazy magic stuff while we try to run through it."

"You shaw as hell got that right, my man," Booker growls.

"What kinda sucka you think I am, punk?" the dog growls towards Winnacer. "I ain't gonna go gettin' turned into no mushroom for nuthin' nor nobody."

Yaz nods:

"There didn't seem to be any easy way of getting past the fungus in any case," Yaz replies. "The cavern is not that wide and the fungus is in the middle of it."

"I think that's what we were talking about, Winnacer," Aithne replies to the LawBringer, "is letting Yaz do his magic first, then either killing the rest if we can't get through them. Or running through if that's less dangerous. I don't believe anyone mentioned just running through whimsically. We really need to see what Yaz's spell can do first, as long as he's willing to use it. Once that is done, we will know more about what we can avoid and what we can't. If we can't avoid some of the fungus, running by it is probably better than walking by--or just killing it, assuming my blades can harm it."

Porter interjects again, trying to clarify his position:

"My thought isn't to use the spells and see what happens. I'd rather use the spell, and while it's still attacking the fungus, try to get through while the fungus is occupied."

"Yaz, can weaponry hurt this stuff?" asks Aithne, turning to Yaz once more.

Yaz nods once more:

"Sure it does, but the fungus fights back though."

He pauses:

"Let me get my whirligig going and see what happens then," he says. "If all goes well, then it might take care of all of them and we won't have anything to worry about. It lasts for nearly quarter of an hour and I don't think that the fungus can do anything to harm it, because it's not organic."

Yaz then starts to chant while spinning around on the spot. He starts slowly at first, both in terms of the incantation and the spinning, but begins to get faster and faster until he is spinning rapidly, the words of the incantation flying from his mouth. After a couple of minutes, the air around him starts to take on a life of its own and then pulls itself away from the druid to leave a fast-spinning cone of air floating before him.

Yaz grins:

"OK, my little friend, let's see you puree that milky white mushroom now."

With that, Yaz gestures towards the white fungus in the center of the cavern and the dust devil immediately heads towards it. As the swirling column of air gets closer to it, the phycomid starts to extrude a couple of thin tubes which it uses to spit white globules at the miniature air elemental. The globs have no effect upon the dust devil, however, simply passing straight through it to splatter against the wall behind.

The dust devil closes with the phycomid, stirring up a miniature tornado of fungus as it goes. The dust devil flows over the phycomid, but seems to do very little damage to it. Two minutes go by without it causing anything in the way of damage to the giant mushroom while the phycomid continues to spit out milky white globs that are similarly ineffectual against the whirlwind. This situation carries on for another four minutes, with Yaz getting a little frustrated at the dust devil's lack of success. The dust devil manages to bruise it a little then and Yaz can see that the phycomid is starting to move a little now. After another couple of minutes, the dust devil manages to damage the phycomid once more, a little harder this time.

At this point, the phycomid decides that it really doesn't want to stand around simply getting blown to pieces by the dust devil and so slowly starts to move away from it, spitting out milky white globs as it goes. The dust devil obediently carries on after it, damaging it badly once again.

The phycomid is passing the violet fungus now, with the dust devil in hot pursuit. As it passes them, nine tendrils fly out from the violet patch and lash out at the whirlwind. However, they all pass straight through the whirling column of air without causing any damage to it.

However, that's not all. The party is suddenly almost deafened as an ear-piercing shriek comes from the mass of violet fungi. The shrieking echoes through the tight corridors and is quite unbearable.

Not only does Yaz not look at all pleased at the ungodly din being made by the shrieker, but he is also less than delighted when he sees the phycomid leave the cavern, carrying on down the opposite tunnel:

"Shit," he says as he continues to keep the dust devil menacing the phycomid, "I guess that I was wrong about the shrieker."

"Sorry guys."

Winnacer looks like he is in pain at Yaz's words.

"But that's not the most of our worries. Unless I keep the dust devil within 30 yards of me then its gonna just disappear into thin air and that's gonna happen in a coupla minutes unless I keep moving forwards."

"And if I keep moving forwards, then I'm gonna have that purple shit lashing out at me."

Aithne doesn't hesitate:

"Dammit, I'm running short on arrows," she says.

She moves into the opening, leaving a space in case any other archers should choose to join her and aims for the shrieker. Her first shot is right on target and the shrieker spurts out some purple ooze. It already looks quite badly damaged.

Porter advances along with her, firing arrows at the violet fungus and keeping Booker out of the fray. Amazingly for him, Porter's shot is also on target and another of the violet colored fungus splatters a little.

"Wait!" says Yaz. "It's too late, they've heard us. But if we kill it now, they'll know we're here for sure. This thing must sound off all the time. Let's let it die down, then kill it suddenly with fire and arrows later."

"OK," Aithne replies. "I'll aim for the other ones instead then."

She draws back her bow once more and sends another shot towards the violet mass of fungus. Once again, her shot is on target and another of the purple mushrooms squishes a little. Porter aims once more at the first of the violet fungi. The shot is on target again and the fungus is now looking very much the worse for wear.

"Yo, my main man," Booker barks at his master. "Yo never told Booker what a great mushroom hunter you were."

Porter nods as he fires:

"You must be my good-luck charm, 'cause this is the best shootin' I've done in days."

The party notices that the violet fungi are not simply sitting around waiting to get shot again and are now moving towards them. Luckily, the fungi move even slower than the piercers did and it's going to take them a long time to get anywhere close to the party's position.

Yaz advances into the cavern along with Aithne and Porter, ensuring that he keeps the dust devil within range. It turns out to be hardly worth the effort, as the dust devil is once again unable to do much in the way of damage to the white fungus that continues to try and move away.

"Stand back and let me through," Winnacer calls out over the din of the shrieking fungus. He advances towards the purple mushrooms, taking care not to get within range of its tendrils. He pulls a vial of Greek Fire from his backpack and hurls it at the violet fungi, coating one of them in oil and splashing the surrounding ones. He then pulls a torch from his pack, lights it off the lantern and hurls it at the fungi. The fungus that was in the center of the oil starts to flare up quite dramatically, while the splash damage is sufficient to kill the one that Porter had already hit twice. The shrieker and the other mushrooms are also splashed and damaged a little.

The cavern begins to fill with the quite pleasant aroma of frying mushrooms.

Meanwhile, Yaz continues to move closer and closer to the violet fungi as he tries to keep the dust devil within range. The miniature whirlwind manages to cause a decent amount of damage to the phycomid until Yaz gets dangerously close to the violet fungi and has to call the dust devil off its pursuit. The druid then steps back a little and redirects the dust devil back to the violet fungi.

Back at the fungi, the one hit by the Greek Fire continues to burn for a little longer and then the fire goes out. The whole area is damp and so the fungi are not terribly flammable. The fungi seem to have been pretty badly affected by the fire and the arrows, however and are making little progress in trying to come towards the party.

As a result, Winnacer steps back behind the line formed by Yaz, Aithne and Porter so that they can continue to pepper the fungi with arrows. At exactly the same time, the shrieker finally goes silent. Seeing her chance, Aithne nocks an arrow and sends it flying towards the fungus. Once again, her shot is bang on target and the shrieker implodes with a 'SPLAT'.

Not missing a beat, Aithne nocks another arrow into her bow and aims at the least damaged fungus. This time her aim is off, however, and the arrow hits the wall just behind the patch of fungus.

Porter has similar luck. His first shot hits the violet fungi that had been burned by the Greek Fire full square and almost finishes it. His follow up arrow flies high, however, and sails over the fungus.

Yaz motions for the dust devil to give the archers a hand. It whirls into the one that Porter nearly finished with his last shot and showers violet vegetable pulp over the walls as it finishes it off.

There are just two of the fungi left now. They have made a little progress towards the party, but they still have another 50' to go before they reach you.

Porter and Aithne nock more arrows into their bows in order to try and finish off the fungi.

Everything has been going so well for the party that some minor disaster or another is bound to effect the party sooner or later. The minor disaster occurs when Yaz gets a little too enthusiastic in his attempts to motion the dust devil to finish off the fungi and creeps forwards a little. Aithne doesn't see him doing so until it is too late and manages to shoot the unfortunate druid in the shoulder.

With a cry of "ooops", she immediately reloads and aims once more at the fungi. The little disaster with Yaz spoils her concentration, however, and the shot hits the ground instead.

Porter seems to be in his element, however. He draws back his bow once again and sends another arrow flying at the least damaged of the fungi. The shot is bang on target and the fungus explodes quite spectacularly.

This impresses Booker no end:

"Hey, dude, I gotta start callin' ya "Porter the Mushroom Slayer' from now on."

Porter replies:

"All right, that's enough, knock it off?"

Porter sends another arrow heading towards the last of the fungi. The shot is on target, and the fungus is looking badly beat up now. Yaz tries to fight off the pain coming from his shoulder to get the dust devil to finish it, but the dust devil does little except for tossing purple slime around the area.

At seeing that the archers are having a lot more success in finishing the mushroom, he then lets the dust devil disperse so that Porter and Aithne have a clear shot. Aithne still hasn't recovered from the shock of accidentally hitting Yaz fully and so her shot is a little short again. Porter, however, has no such problems and hits the ragged looking fungus once again. Aithne tries yet again to finish it, but this time her aim is too high and thus it is Porter that finally gets the killing blow in, as his next arrow splatters the fungus against the wall.

All of the violet fungi are dead now, but Yaz is not in the mood to relax just yet:

"We still got that white shit up the corridor to deal with," he says. "I'm gonna fry the bastard."

With that, he starts to head out of the fungus cavern up the corridor. At the same time, Booker starts barking furiously before dashing off behind the party members. They look round that the rust monster has been alerted by the noise of the shrieker and so Booker is off to scare it away again.

Yaz advances up the passageway and sees that the phycomid is still heading away from the cavern. As he walks towards the slow-moving mushroom, he draws from his pouch a mixture of sulfur and wax and forms it into a ball in his hand while muttering an incantation. Upon its completion, he hurls the ball at the phycomid as hard as he can. When the ball hits it, the corridor around it flares up with an almighty "WOOF" and the light blinds him for a second. The rest of the party comes up behind him in order to see the results of his action.

After a minute, the flames die down and Yaz sees, to his disappointment, that the phycomid proved to be no more flammable than the other fungi and that there is still a fair bit of life left in the mushroom yet.

The phycomid has changed its tactics a little after getting grilled and is starting to head back towards the party.

However, that's not the only disappointment in store.

Crawling along the walls in order to get round the phycomid that is blocking the passageway are a pair of huge caterpillar-like insects. They appear to be around 9' long and their heads sprout eight slender, writhing tentacles. The two of them are approaching the party at an alarming rate as they travel along the walls. Right behind them are another couple, meaning that the party have four to deal with instantly, along with one very angry mushroom.

Aithne hears of the rust monster coming up from behind...again, and decides to get rid of it once and for all. Leaving her swords sheathed and placing the bow back on her back, she runs for the beast with her quarterstaff. Booker has already managed to chase the rust monster away and is bounding after him, but quickly loses the swift creature. However, with her incredible speed, Aithne soon manages to leave the black dog in her tracks and to catch up with the rust monster. She begins whacking it with the staff.

Meanwhile, back at the other passageway, Yaz screams out:

"Fuuuuuucckkkkk!!" and starts running back in order to get to the cavern in order to allow as many of the warriors as possible to get at the huge insects that are rushing towards them at an incredible rate with the phycomid slurping after them.

Winnacer draws forth 'Old Bohavia', leveling his shield in the direction of the oncoming gigantic caterpillars:

"Yaz, keep the fungus held down, any way you can. The rest, two groups and let's concentrate our attacks to bring them down quickly."

Rowan leaps to the attack at Winnacer's words, eager to be of use once more.

Porter mutters, "Shit," and puts away his longbow, drawing his bastard sword.

Moving up alongside Winnacer, he engages the enemy.

With Winnacer and Porter tackling the right hand huge insect, Joy and Timex draw their weapons and stand by Rowan's side in order to take on the left hand one.

Winnacer lashes out at the first of the creatures as it lurches forwards. He manages to catch it a glancing blow with 'Old Bohavia', which damages it badly, but not enough to finish it. Porter tries to hit it too with his bastard sword, but his thoughts regarding Booker being his lucky charm might hold true, as he manages to miss the creature.

The creature starts to retaliate, as it starts to flay the pair of them with its tentacles. Winnacer's armor protects him from damage as the first of its tentacles start to lash out. Porter gets hit by one of the tentacles, covering his arm in a sticky secretion. It seems to have no effect upon him, however.

The pair of them lash out at the insect once again and Winnacer manages to hack deep into it with a mighty blow from his longsword. This is enough to finish off the creature, as it stumbles and falls, oozing green ichor. No sooner is the first one dead, however, than the one following right behind steps over its fallen colleague.

On the opposite side, Rowan tries to thrust at the insect that threatens him and his cousin. The creature takes him by surprise a little, however, and his first thrust is wide of the mark. As Joy and Timex raise their weapons, the insect starts to strike back, lashing out at the three of them with its tentacles. The three of them easily see them coming, however and manage to avoid the blows.

Joy strikes back with her flail, but she fails to connect with the insect. Timex is on good form, however. Fighting off his cough, he smashes his mace into the insect's flank and inflicts a serious wound upon it.

The insect strikes out at Rowan and Timex. One of the tentacles manages to catch the swashbuckler on his hand, covering it in a sticky secretion. Within seconds, Rowan goes completely rigid, unable to move a muscle. A split-second later, Timex too is hit by another of the tentacles. He gets hit in the face and, as was the case with Rowan, he too goes completely still.

Joy struggles to raise her flail in order to protect herself from the creature's remaining three tentacles. She manages to dodge all three of them, luckily.

However, the other of the giant caterpillar-like creatures runs through the corridor and is now starting to menace her as well.

Yaz immediately pulls forth his sling and hurls a bullet towards the phycomid, which is getting closer to the mouth of the tunnel all the time. His shot misses the giant white mushroom by a hair's breadth, however. He sees that they have around three minutes before the white fungus lumbers back into the cavern and starts spraying its globules around.

Yaz decides to change his tactics. Seeing that Winnacer and Porter will have created an opening within moments, he begins the process of changing into the form of a crocodile. As he does so, he kneels to the ground and his body starts to morph into a reptilian form, with his possessions forming part of the torso of the large scaly creature. His jaws start to extend as his eyes shrink in size.

As he does so, Porter and Winnacer try and finish the giant caterpillar thing quickly in order that they can assist Joy with the other two as quickly as possible.

The giant insect's tentacles start to lash out at them, but the pair of them are able to easily dodge them. Porter lashes out at it with his bastard sword, but his quite remarkable run of bad luck continues. The crawler moves out of the way of his swing just at the last moment, and his blade smashes into the side of the cavern, sending a shooting pain rushing up his arm and making him grimace.

The crawler lashes out once more, but again the pair of them are easily able to dodge them. Now Winnacer tries to take it down, and manages to hack deeply into it with his sword, injuring it quite badly. The crawler responds by trying to flail out at them with two more of its eight tentacles. Winnacer's armor manages to protect him once more, but Porter gets slimed on the leg as he tries to dodge out of the way. Once again, however, the sticky secretions of the giant insect have no effect upon him whatsoever.

He uses the opportunity to strike back at the giant caterpillar but, yet again, he manages to miss it by a whisker, the tingling pains running up and down his arm spoiling his concentration. The insect responds by flailing out at them with the last of its two tentacles. This time it is Winnacer's turn to get slimed by the creature as a tentacle manages to find a gap in his armor. However, the young lord feels no effect from the slime. Porter is easily able to dodge out of the way of the last of the creature's tentacles.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the cavern, Joy is in serious trouble as she finds herself alone and facing two of the creatures.

Looking frantically at the paralyzed bodies of Rowan and Timex, she yells:

"Someone help me!"

She tries her flail to the best of her ability to defend herself from the creepy crawly caterpillar things. Occasionally, she can be heard to say:

"Please help me, Zlodey."

Hearing Joy's screams, Aithne decides that Booker can just chase the danged rust monster off again:

"Sounds like the rest need my aid," she thinks to herself.

Whimsically, she runs back away from the metal-eating monster, back toward the big caterpillars totally dismayed to see a rigid Rowan and a frightened Joy. Dropping the quarterstaff as she nears them, she draws her swords and rushes to wade in.

Upon seeing Aithne, Joy mutters:

"Thank you, my god. I promise to be extra faithful from now on!"

Unfortunately, those are the last words she says for a while, as she starts to get flayed by the two crawlers as she tries to fend them off. The first tentacle to strike, slimes her on her thigh, but has no effect upon her. The second, however, slaps her in the face and she goes as rigid as her cousin and Timex.

The two crawlers ignore the paralyzed threesome, knowing that their dinner isn't going to be running off anywhere too quickly. One of them heads over to join the crawler fighting against Winnacer and Porter, while the other one heads towards the fast-approaching Aithne.

Yaz' transformation into the crocodile is finally complete. The large dark green reptile slithers over the pulped fungus and the body of the dead crawler, heading towards the milky white fungus that is slowly returning towards the cavern.

Winnacer continues to work with Porter on bringing down the injured crawler before turning to address the new threat. Before he gets a chance to bring 'Old Bohavia' to bear, the crawler's tentacles manages to find a gap in his armor once again and he is slimed. Only Spravedelna's goddess-given protection stops him from getting paralyzed. Porter, however, is easily able to dodge the tentacles aimed at him.

Winnacer lashes out at the crawler and cuts it quite badly, though not quite enough to fell it. Another tentacle lashes out at the pair of them. Winnacer dodges it with ease while Porter gets slimed once again. Although Porter has not had much luck in hitting the giant insect, he certainly has luck on his side in avoiding the paralyzing effects of the tentacles, now surviving his third sliming.

Porter tries hard to finish the creature off, knowing that another is quickly heading towards the pair of them. Finally he manages to make up for lost time with a powerful blow that hacks the insectoid beast in two.

The pair of them quickly turn around just in time to face the injured crawler that is heading for them. Four of its tentacles lash out at the pair of them. Winnacer dodges one of the tentacles, but gets slimed by another. Luckily, the slime has no effect upon him once again and he manages to avoid the paralyzing effects. However, Porter's luck eventually runs out. He manages to avoid one of the tentacles, but the second gets him and this time there is no escape for him from the paralyzing effects and he goes as rigid as the others.

Winnacer sees that the number of unparalyzed party members is getting painfully low now, and that it's down to him and Aithne to stop them all becoming crawler fodder. He lashes out at the giant insect and inflicts a good hit upon it, damaging it quite severely, but not quite enough to finish it off. This proves to be the young Lord's undoing, as another of the crawler's tentacles slashes into him and finds another chink in his armor. This time Spravedelna's blessing is not enough to avoid the effects of the slime and Winnacer goes stock-still.

Aithne rushes in to the combat in order to try and take out the crawler heading towards her at a fast rate.

As they meet, the crawler lashes out at her with three of its tentacles. However, her corruscating cloak masks Aithne's true position and so all of the tentacles are off by a wide margin.

She strikes back at the large insect, trying to finish it off as quickly as possible. She manages to hit it with her longsword, but the wound that she causes is only a minor one and the insect quickly strikes back with two more tentacles. The light-refracting properties of her cloak are still confusing the creature, however, and neither of them comes close to connecting with her.

She lashes out at the creature again, using her shortsword in her left hand. She plunges the sword into the creature's side up to its hilt and finishes the creature easily. She sees, however, that the last of the crawlers, having now dealt with both Porter and Winnacer, is heading towards her fast.

Meanwhile, Croc-Yaz starts to rush towards the lumbering phycomid. Once he gets to within 11' of the giant mushroom, two tubes come out from the fungus' body and spit white globs at the reptile. Croc-Yaz was prepared for it though, and manages to jink out of the way in order to avoid getting splattered by them. He retaliates by trying to smash the crocodile's heavy tail into the fungus. The slow-moving fungus is unable to get out of the way in time and gets smashed fairly severely, but not enough to fell it.

Aithne has a look of determination upon her face as the last of the crawlers rushes towards her. It lashes out with three of its tentacles, but Aithne's cloak manages to save her once again. She lashes out at it with her longsword and catches it a glancing blow. However, the creature was already badly injured from previous wounds caused by Winnacer and Porter and so this is more than enough to send the creature slumping to the ground, leaving all of the crawlers dead.

The fight between Croc-Yaz and the phycomid continues, however. The phycomid spits at the crocodile and manages to catch it in the head. The alkaline from the spore damages Croc-Yaz a little, but the druid knows that the real danger is that it could take root on his body.

Determined to try and finish off the mushroom as quickly as possible, he tries to slash it again with his tail. This time, however, he misjudges his aim and misses the mushroom by a wide margin. The mushroom makes him pay for his error as it squirts him again with the alkaline spores, causing him more minor damage.

Aithne sees Yaz in trouble against the mushroom and rushes in to help him out. She trusts in her cloak to keep her safe from infection.

The phycomid spits at Croc-Yaz once again and catches him for the third time. This time the effects of the alkaline are pretty bad, and Yaz gets the feeling that he could very well end up turning fungoid if he can't deal with the mushroom soon. He puts all of his effort into swiping the fungus with his tail. This time he is bang on target and crushes it against the side of the tunnel, splattering the phycomid for good.

Seeing the phycomid now finished, Aithne stops in mid-flight and looks around to see that the rest of the party are still exactly where they were before, still paralyzed from the crawler's slime.

Booker returns at this moment. He bounds up to Porter:

"Yo, my man, Booker managed to chase that sucka .. ."

He then notices that Porter is totally immobile.

He looks over at Aithne:

"Word up, sistuh," he growls, "what's the dude playing musical statues for? Don't that cat know we ain't got no time for messin' around?"

He then sees Croc-Yaz and starts to rush towards it:

"Holy, sheeet," he barks, "there ain't no end to all the weird shit that's down here."

Aithne looks from the croc to the onyx dog:

"It's Yaz, Booker. He's a shapechanger. He's on our side."

Booker shakes his head:

"That druid dude can turn himself into a croc?" Booker barks in amazement.

He shakes his head:

"Well ain't that weird, sistuh?"

He then shrugs:

"Still, it ain't no more weird than I am, I guess."

Aithne quickly cleans her swords and picks up her quarterstaff:

"Booker, can you check and see if Rusty is coming back this way? I'd really hate for him to surprise us? If you don't mind that is."

"Shaw thing, sistuh, that sucka's really beginnin' to bug me bad."

With that, he heads off to the other side of the cavern and keeps guard over it.

Aithne then stalks down past the now dead fungus and checks out the other direction, hoping that between her, Yaz, and Booker, they can keep the rest safe until the effects wear off.

Meanwhile, Croc-Yaz, with a swish of his tail, turns to the nearest of the paralyzed, which just happens to be Rowan. He grabs the swashbuckler by the scruff of his neck with his teeth, and begins to drag him back through the cavernous area. He deposits Rowan in a spot that is not covered in fungus and then goes back to repeat the operation on Joy, then Timex and then Porter, before struggling to get hold of Winnacer, who is particularly hard to grab because of his platemail. Eventually though, he manages to get them all to a position of safety within the cavern.

He then starts to return to the other end of the corridor in order to keep a look out on that side. Before he gets all of the way there, however, Aithne calls out to him:

"Errm .. . Yaz," she calls out to him, "I don't want to worry you too much, but I think that you're starting to turn into a mushroom."

She then watches entranced as white spores start to slowly spread over his scaly body.

Yaz promptly returns to pothead form upon hearing Aithne's warning:

"There are worse fates, I guess," he says.

Aithne looks at Yaz and smiles:

"Maybe," she replies before looking at those that are still unmoving.

"Maybe? Of course there are. Just look at them," replies the druid.

He makes a vague gesture toward the drooling form of Rowan:

"You mean you never wished you were a fungus?"

Yaz looks at her incredulously:

"I mean, they're not trees, right. But it's not a bad life. I don't think I could eat the shit they eat, but you'd get used to it, y'know?"

"It's still life," Aithne replies. "On the whole, I'd rather be a tree though. Or an animal of some sort. Probably just prefer the open air to the damp of caves."

She shrugs.

Yaz takes his scimitar into his hand and advances down the hallway, on guard, squinting intently into the gloom.

"But maybe I'd better not experiment... I don't know what you guys'd do without me..."

"Life would certainly be a lot less interesting," Aithne grins at the druid.

Yaz then starts to mutter an incantation as he watches the white mold slowly spreading over his flank. After a minute, his hand starts to glow with a green light. He places it against the white fungal growth that had started to infect him and looks relieved as the spread starts to reverse, until it has totally healed up after a couple of minutes, and Yaz feels just a little injured as a result of the alkaline damage.

Once the healing has been completed, Yaz heads back into the main cavern for a moment to collect a few pieces from all of the different types of fungus in the area, wrapping them up carefully and putting them in his burlap bag. He then heads back to the northeastern end of the corridor and keeps watch in case anything else has been summoned by the shrieker. Aithne, meanwhile, stays in the center of the fungus cavern, where she is able to keep an eye on both exits to the cavern and at the paralyzed party members as well.

For half an hour, nothing happens at all. Yaz calls over to Aithne:

"Well, looks like there isn't much else living around here, as I can't believe that anything else will be coming now after all this time. I guess the ratmen are still a way off; either that, or the shrieker sounds so often that the ratmen can't be bothered to check it out any more."

Booker then barks:

"Sheeet, man, how long are those cats gonna be out for? Ma time's precious y'know. Another coupla hours or so an' I'm outta here."

A few minutes later, Timex starts to move a little. He comes round and starts coughing furiously. He continues coughing for the best part of a minute before he finally brings himself under control.

He looks around:

"Wh-what happened?" he says to himself.

Upon seeing that the others are paralyzed and the dead crawlers lying in the cavern, he puts two and two together and figures it out for himself.

Another couple of minutes later, Winnacer starts to come around. Once he gets his bearings, he goes to join Yaz in keeping a watch on the far end of the tunnel.

Another 15 minutes later and the stillness of the tunnel is disturbed by Booker's barking. Aithne looks over to see the dog chasing after the rust monster, which has returned yet again in order to try its luck. She checks that her swords are sheathed and hefts her quarterstaff:

"Right," she says with a look of determination. "I'm going to finish that bastard once and for all."

With that, she charges after the dog and the rust monster at an alarming rate, quickly disappearing from view. Ten minutes later, she returns with a triumphant look upon his face:

"Got it," she says with a smile.

Five minutes later and Joy starts moving as the paralyzation wears off. No sooner has she got to her feet than Porter also starts to come to, leaving only Rowan in a paralytic state. However, just under ten minutes later, he too starts to move and gets to his feet.

Winnacer is obviously relieved to see that everyone is finally fully recovered from the encounter with the crawlers:

"Let's get moving again now," he says. "We've wasted enough time as it is."