Niaou’li was standing on the grey rocks, covered in dirt, wiping off the burning acid, completely stupefied. The enormous insect that had just been so furious had crashed to the ground: impotent, spiritless and overgrown by the mushroom-tree-thingy. The latter seemed to like its new habitat, according to its satisfied snarl and the blissful smile on its face.

Niaou’li took a look at her companions, who were a little worn out by the fight but all very much alive, and she secretly thanked Kith-Jora. Taking in the situation around her, she noticed the muzzle of her beloved Firenze, peeking out of a heavily wooded part of the mushroom forest. She called the deer by clicking her tongue to her palate while taking some food for the animal out of her travel sack. Firenze came closer and Niaou’li refocused on the situation. We must find out what has happened to our fellow Khords , she thought. We could ask the giant ‘shroom, it must be able to tell us something
But the mushroom was not going anywhere, so first things first. She had just healed the Khord that had mysteriously appeared in their middle and wondered where he came from, what he was doing in the middle of the territory of the Funghi, and most of all: what his intentions were. She approached the newcomer, saying: What brings a brave Khord like yourself to this godforsaken place?


OOC: I want to have a conversation with Gyviar: ask him where he came from, if he saw something that could help us solve the mystery of the missing children, etc. After that, we could turn to the giant mushroom and ask it what has happened to the Khords that were stuck to its stem. Maybe it even knows where the stone hand came from?

With the beastly creature dead and the "dust settled", Berodin wiped the gore of his mighty hammer and gave an encouraging word to his companions, "Well done, my friends! The gods have surely favoured us this day."

Picking his way carefully through the slippery pit that was once filled with black goo, the khord moved towards the now awakened mushroom. "Mighty mushroom," he addressed the fungus. "By what name shall I address you?"

>>Assuming a response<<

"Good .... [fill in with name given]," began Berodin. "I give you thanks for your assistance in this battle. May your children grow large caps and deep roots."

"I was wondering if you might lend us a bit more assistance in this dire time? I seek some bits of knowledge which you may have. First, what is the nature of the black goo which once surrounded you and your island?"

>>Assuming a response<<

"I see. And how did it come to pass that some of our brethren were recently affixed to your stalk?"

>>Assuming a response<<

"Hmmm. Interesting... And this large stony hand that we witnessed plucking one of our own from your stalk, do you know anything about it, from whence it came, and where it did go?"

>>Assuming a response<<

"Thank you, good friend! May your family increase in abundance."

[OOC: I'll stop here for now. Berodin is really looking to gather some information.]

"Well... one way or the other, that was fun", said Gyviar, glad to have some action after all these days of solitude. He quickly wiped the last dirt, goo and biting acid of his body. Now he could think clear again, he searched his brains for knowledge about the enormous mushroom, who now was sitting on the remnants of the Ankheg. Undoubtedly having enough food for the coming century or so. (OOC: Gyviar is performing a knowledge nature check on the giant mushroom)

However, before he could find the answer to the question in his grey mass, the Khord who had saved him approached him. "What brings a brave Khord like yourself to this godforsaken place?" she said.

"Godforsaken you say? I don't think so. I love it here, don't you see the beauty of it? The mystery? The vastness? It isn't like anything I have seen before, and that is quite a statement. But probably, you, city dwellers, cannot understand. I originally come from the Warrens of Rvisthorn. But I have been travelling all the regions of Audalis for years now, and I do not remember me having a home anywhere either. I have been travelling this land for days. It attracted me to it for reasons I cannot explain. My instinct leads me to wherever I am needed. And I guess in this case, my instinct was right. "

"I noticed your group while I was travelling the land, and figured that you needed some help. So, I found a cave underneath the black goo, which leaded to the island. But halfway I bumped into the Ankheg. And well ehm, after that, my instinct kinda took over. But it worked out pretty well, if I may say so." Gyviar sighted, and touched his burned and bruised arm. He asked, "But now my friend, what about you? Tell me what kind of mess I have involved myself into this time?"

Meanwhile, one of the other Khords had walked towards the Mushroom, and started talking to it. "Well, this could be interesting..."

While Gyviar and Niaou’li got more acquainted, Berodin moved carefully over to where the giant Stinkhorn was resting atop the defeated Ankheg.

"Mighty mushroom," he addressed the fungus. "By what name shall I address you?"

The stinkhorn regarded the area for a moment, trying to focus on where the question came from. Then he noted the cleric standing at the base of his newfound throne and smiled down from above.

“You can call me Phallaceus, Grandfather of the Stinkhorn family, King and herder of Whitestems. Any of those. What can I do for you, sturdy one?”

"Good Phallaceus," began Berodin. "I give you thanks for your assistance in this battle. May your children grow large caps and deep roots."

“Wide roots,” the big stinkhorn told him. “Our roots grow wide, not deep.”

"I was wondering if you might lend us a bit more assistance in this dire time? I seek some bits of knowledge which you may have. First, what is the nature of the black goo which once surrounded you and your island?"

“Black goo? You must be talking about my slime secretion. It’s not very polite to talk about it, but I suppose a young fellow like yourself should learn the ways of our kind. The ‘goo’, as you put it, is my way of spreading my spores. Young mushrooms may sprout among my mycelium, or roots as you would say, but I tend to aim my influence at a wider area. The slime on my hood attracts insects and other creatures that walk this forest. They spread my spores to places I cannot reach.”
He paused, then continued: “Places I could not reach until I was touched by Kith-Jora. Now I can go wherever I please. And thanks to her…” he pointed at Niaou’li, who was still on the boulder in the depleted black lake of goo, “… thanks to her I finally got my revenge on this creature that was annoying my roots for several days.”

"I see. And how did it come to pass that some of our brethren were recently affixed to your stalk?"

“It’s the Ankheg. There used to be a few of them in the forest, but recently their numbers increased, like they were drawn here somehow. They left me alone usually, except for the occasional nibble on my mycelium. But yesterday they started to crawl over my stem and brought their Khordaldrum victims here. I could do nothing but hold on to them until they would be taken away.”

"Hmmm. Interesting... And this large stony hand that we witnessed plucking one of our own from your stalk, do you know anything about it, from whence it came, and where it did go?"

“I don’t know much of the hand of stone. It came down not long after the first of your kind had been stuck to my body. Every now and then it would come back to take another one. Where it comes from, I do not know.”

"Thank you, good friend! May your family increase in abundance."

“It will. If you ever need my help, don’t be afraid to ask. Send my regards to your Kith-Jora over there. I appreciate my freedom.”

During their conversation, many small, white mushrooms had been popping up around the King of Whitestems. Slowly, the Ankheg was disappearing; fading into the rest of the mushroom forest. Soon, it would look like another boulder covered in fungi.

Gyviar and Niaou’li had stopped chatting when Berodin had turned to the mushroom. Niaou’li witnessed Berodin talking to Phallaceus and listened carefully. The Ankhegs had come to the forest in large numbers? That’s peculiar.. She noticed all of the newborn white mushrooms popping up like hotcakes around the Herder of the Whitestems, out of its slime secretion. She scanned the bottom of her travel sack, looking for something to take some of the whitestem spores with them. She spooned up some of the goo with the hat of a small mushroom she found, took another one to put on top of it and tied them together with some rope to secure the goo inside. "You never know when this comes in handy" she thought.

Berodin had finished talking to Phallaceus and proposed to return to the Spores to check up with the Khords they saved earlier. Niaou’li ordered Firenze to follow the group and then she turned to Gyviar again. “Sorry for the interruption, but since you seem to be joining us, I will tell you what we are doing in the forest”. She told him about the wedding, the wounded little boy that appeared at the whirling stairs and how everybody noticed that all of the children were gone and how they formed a group. She told him about the screams they heard, about the dead Khords and how the group split in two to follow the two directions of the dotted tracks, about how they finally end up at the pool of black goo and about the stone hand that took away one of the Khords.

”Then the Ankheg appeared. Now you know our story” she said to Gyviar. “Did you see anything.. odd, peculiar, out of the ordinary.. when you were wandering the forest?” [Assuming a response]

She then turned to Baldorf: “You really have been doing some cool things with those clouds. I really liked the way you went up the mushroom to save our brethren! But what were you trying to do the second time?” [Assuming a response]

She nonchalantly scratched one of the buds that came up in her hair and wondered out loud: Oh, should I do anything about this?” She turned to the group. ”By the way, can any one of you think of a reason why the Ankhegs all brought our fellow Khords to the mushroom? The old lady at Verbyn used to tell me they usually don’t cooperate.”

After Berodin finished talking to the Mushroom, Niaou’li turned to Gyviar again; "Sorry for the interruption, but since you seem to be joining us, I will tell you what we are doing in the forest”. She told him everything about the things that happened before and then asked him; “Did you see anything.. odd, peculiar, out of the ordinary.. when you were wandering the forest?”

"Well, no. Nothing that could help us I guess.. " Gyviar responded. "But I noticed some strange things about this place. Next to the mushrooms of course. Ever since I've been here, I've had the feeling that, well... That the soil and rocks beneath our feet aren't as lifeless as they seem to be. First, I didn't notice anything, but after days of wandering, there grew an awareness that there's more than the eye could perceive. Like they are in a weird way "alive" or something."

”By the way, can any one of you think of a reason why the Ankhegs all brought our fellow Khords to the mushroom? The old lady at Verbyn used to tell me they usually don’t cooperate.” Niaou’li said. Gyviar had to think about that. What could be the reason for the Ankhegs to do such a thing? He'd learned about them a long time ago. But what was it again?

(OOC: Gyviar performs a knowledge nature check, this time on the behavior and habitat of Ankhegs)

With the battle over, and new information gathered, it was time to return to the Spores of Itanlok, where Berodin sent his hippogriffs. Their quest had been to find the missing children, and so far they had found two, attached to the giant stinkhorn they now knew as Phallaceus. They could only hope that going back would give them some more information.

The way back to the Spores wasn’t so hard to find. Gyviar proved more than capable of finding his way around the mushroom forest and soon they found that the opening into the tavern was in sight. But there was something going on at the entrance to the Spores. They saw torches, and it appeared that a large amount of people were grouping around something.

Coming closer, they heard feverish talking, yelling and discussions. One Khord noted them and grabbed Berodin by the shoulders.
“What insanity befalls us! First we lost the children, now we have monsters roaming our nation!! You won’t believe what’s happening.”
The young man ran back towards the group, where they saw him grabbing on to more people in wild panic. It seemed he was not the only one who was losing his composure.

From an old Khord they learned what had passed while they were gone. Apparently Thagovan, the warrior who had divided them into groups to search the mushroom forest had come back after a little while, covered in bruises and carrying a small child in his arms. He only brought back Kretarund, the groom, who was so wounded and broken that they didn’t even dare carry him back into the tavern. The others from their search party had been lost to the darkness. Thagovan himself had been fluttered, and spoke of large insects attacking them. He had rescued the child from the clutches of one of these insects, and only barely managed to save the groom from certain death. The warrior had given the child to its mother and immediately headed back into the forest, taking with him a larger group of Khords to find more of them. They had taken weapons this time.
Not long after Thagovan had left again, they had heard terrifying screams coming from the forest. Kretarund regained consciousness to that sound and sprouted words of horrific insects with large mandibles who sprang from mushrooms and spat acid. Just when the crowd had been most caught up in his raving tale, three tainted horses with wings and eagle-heads came down from the heavens and reaped more havoc. Kretarund had fallen to the ground in fear, people had trampled each other to get away from these monsters, and all had known that this was the moment hell had opened its gate and now demons were running the mountainside.

But it had turned out these creatures came to bring back two children and two unconscious Khordaldrum men. They had taken these four into the Spores tavern, and as it was said, the strange horses disappeared into thin air.
Many rumours were running among the Khords, one crazy theory after another. They decided not to give in to the chaos, and instead headed down into the hole that was the Spores of Itanlok tavern.

They found the four Khords in a small storage room behind the bar. The two children were awake, and had been joined by the one Thagovan had rescued. The small room was crowded with parents and people who meant well but could do nothing but provide words of comfort. The two adult Khords had been positioned on a small table, and were just barely breathing.

(OOC: Not much to update besides this. I need some intentions in order to know what you guys want with these Khords/kids. In case of interaction I urge you all to post early in the week so I have time to react.

Gyviar made his Knowledge check and came up with the following information:
Ankheg is a burrowing monster with a taste for fresh meat. It burrows with legs and mandibles. A burrowing Ankheg usually doesn’t make a usable tunnel, but can construct one. Clusters of Ankheg can share the same territory but do not cooperate. The acid spit of the Ankheg is only used when desperate or frustrated. )

After the old Khord had told them about the terrors that had taken place, Niaou’li headed to Kretarund. She was pleased to hear that Thagovan and his others companions were alright, but she was very worried about her best friends’ husband. Even though he didn’t like Firenze, he always called her “that Sylvari …thing”, she knew that he was a good man. A good man that definitely did not deserve to die while trying to rescue his brethren. Belfida was lucky to have fallen in love with him. Niaou’li searched the room, trying to spot her friend.

[OOC: Niaou’li will call Belfida and ask her if she is okay, saying not to worry and that Kretarund will be fine. ]

Niaou’li bent over Kretarund, and took a good look at his wounds. He was groaning but conscious, and Niaou’li tried to console him. “You’ll be fine, you’ll see. Just try not to move too much” , she said. She put her hands together, wrapped his cloths aside, closed her eyes and imagined all of his wounds closing up underneath her fingers, not leaving a mark.

[OOC: Niaou’li casts the ‘Cure light wounds’-spell to heal Kretarund.]

Then, Niaou’li left Kretarund and Belfida be for a while, and entered the Spores. She asked a Khord with a big nose, brownish garments and emerald green eyes where she could find the Khords that had been returned by the Hippogriffs. He instructed her to the room behind the bar, the one where she had left Firenze for a while this morning, which was crowded by Khords. Her companions were standing in the room too. She tried to get to the tables where the Khords were laid to rest. The children were wounded but awake, but the two adults were barely breathing. She touched them, one by one, attempting to heal them. She turned to Berodin. “Berodin, can you try to heal the children?” she asked him.

[OOC: Niaou’li casts the ‘Cure light wounds’-spell to heal the two adults.]

She healed the adult Khords and then returned upstairs, where she met Belfida and Kretarund. She turned to the latter, asking: “Kretarund, these creatures you have been talking about, are they Ankhegs? Big monstrous insects with a segmented, insectoid head, with a wide shell with two black eyes the size of our heads, two enormous mandibles and long slender legs with sharp claws, rising near mushrooms and spitting acid?”
(Assuming a confirming response)

Niaou’li continued: Then can you tell me what they were doing exactly? Do you know where they came from? Were they trying to protect something or maybe just themselves? Have you noticed anything weird, besides the Ankhegs?

Gyviar entered the room behind the bar. It was full of upset and sad people, vainly trying to easy the little children and themselves. In one of the corners, he recognised one of the children he saw when he first discovered the group with whom he was now travelling with. On a table, the two adult Khords lie. He could not do much for them at the moment...

He walked toward the child's parent, who was sitting next to the child and asked; "May I speak to him for a moment..." After that, Gyviar knelt before the bruised and wounded child and asked him;

"Hello my little friend, I must talk to you, it is very important. What had happened to you and your friends? Do you remember anything? How did you wind up on a giant mushroom, in the middle of nowhere?"

(OOC: Awaiting answers..)

The room behind the bar was quite dark, with only a few lanterns spreading long shadows against the walls. In the low light, Niaou’li tended the wounded with her natural magic. She tapped life-force from the earth, cleansed with the tranquillity of the air, and soothed wounds with the shadows gathered.
Slowly, the adult Khords started waking, but they returned to consciousness in a dreamstate, and they would need some rest before they would be of any help.

Meanwhile, Gyviar was questioning the children, who were awake. Upon hearing his words, they crept closer into the comforting embrace of their parents, and turned their heads away from the ranger. Gyviar looked up at the parents, asking for assistance. They tried to ease their children, for they understood why information was vital. But the children all refused to speak of what horror had befallen them. All, except one, who was slightly older than the others. He spoke, after Gyviar insisted for a third time, with trembling voice:

“We were playing Stone the Rabbit at the edge of the mushroom forest… when the party was going on. But Lokutard was cheating all the time, so we switched to Toads and Hammer. You know, where one kid is the Hammer, and the others have to hide… We went deeper into the forest, because there are better hiding places there. I was hiding from Gevalda when I was snatched from the ground by this… this… creature… and he… he took me…”

His words were interrupted by a series of snickers as he relived the terrors that had befallen him. After a few minutes he went on.

“He brought me to this giant mushroom and climbed up it. There he put me against it and I stuck there. I … I couldn’t breathe well… it stank so hard. When I woke up I was back here.”

If asked, he can describe the creature that captured him as an Ankheg, but certainly not the giant one that you encountered earlier.

While Gyviar was questioning the children, Niaou’li had gone to the entrance of the Spores, where Kretarund and his bride were still sitting. The groom was up, and looked healthier than he had in quite some time. He too, confirmed that it were Ankheg that had attacked his search party. He recalled how they had spotted one of the Ankheg spying on them in the mushroom fields. Thagovan had told them to be weary of it, and not provoke it. They had been most cautious, and slowly edged past it. But a few minutes later, they were facing another one, now in front of them. It was dragging one of the Khordaldrum children over the path. Then the attack had begun. The ankheg had come in waves, working together in distracting the Khords, then snatching one from their midst from another direction. It had been hell. Thagovan had run forward, where Kretarund lost track of him. Moments later, he had one of the monsters on top of him. Just when he thought he was going to die, Thagovan had scared the creature away, a child in his arms. With his last strength, they had made it back to the Spores.

Just then it was as if history was repeating itself. From the edge of the forest, a lone Khord came walking slowly. He was carrying a child in his arms. It was Thagovan, and according to the whispers that went up as more Khords spotted him, he was more bloody and bruised than he had before. The child was barely living, and covered in sand and dirt from head to toe.

“I need some real warriors.” Thagovan spat under his breath. “We need to go back and slay those beasts. I need some people who know how to wield a sword. I lost ten men out there because they had never seen battle before! If there is nobody, I’ll go back by myself.”

"Most odd..", Gyviar replied after the child finished his story. "Why would the Ankheg do such a thing? And seemingly working together. Most odd..."

At that moment, he noticed something happening outside the Inn. Walking out of the door, he saw a heavily injured Khord walking slowly towards the Inn, carrying yet another child in his bruised arms. "Thagovan has come back!", someone said behind him.

“I need some real warriors.” The khord said. “We need to go back and slay those beasts. I need some people who know how to wield a sword. I lost ten men out there because they had never seen battle before! If there is nobody, I’ll go back by myself.”

Gyviar searched for his new companions in the crowd, made eye contact and waved his head towards the speaking Khord. He stepped forward and said: "I would sincerely be glad to help, sir"

Niaou’li decided to leave the Khords she just healed be for a while, since they would not be of any help in their current dreamstate. She returned to the entrance of the Spores and spoke to the newlyweds for a while.

Then, she noticed the increasing noise at the edge of the forest. She noticed Thagovan, bloody, bruised and covered in dirt, carrying a severely injured child. She heard him calling for assistance: “I need some real warriors! We need to go back and slay those beasts!”
Their new companion, Gyviar, immediately offered his help and Niaou’li did not hesitate for a moment either. “I’ll definitely help you conquer those beasts!” she said. “ Enough damage has been done so far. But Thagovan, are you sure you’ll come with us? It would be wise to remain in the Spores for a while, get some rest and regain your powers!”

OOC: If Thagovan does decide to come with us, I’ll try to heal him. Seems like he will not survive another round in the forest without some damage control.

Arduin sat back enjoying his tankard of Dark Bellyfold as he surveyed his home. Arduin didn’t live in a constructed house as most Khords did; instead he occupied a natural cave. He built a single wall and a door at the entrance of the cave to designate that the cave did indeed belong to someone as a residency but beyond that he hadn’t done any renovating. Instead he’d worked on making his home as natural as was possible. He’d nurtured and grown a line of glowing moss that ran along the bottom of his walls as a trim and had grown other mosses and fungi on the walls and floor as decoration and furniture. The only thing that wasn’t natural was his cask of Dark Bellyfold he bought from the Spores of Itanlok about once a month. Well the cask and his adventurer’s pack. Arduin was a special member of the army. Do to his peculiar talents Arduin was always being called on missions that the average soldier was incapable of doing. Usually scouting or rescue missions. In fact he’d just finished such a mission and was resigned to taking the next week off. Another peculiarity separating Arduin from other Khords was he didn’t mind a day off now and again. He spent those days working on his grove which is what he planned on doing right after his ale.

Plans change rather suddenly however when one hears pounding at their front door. Especially if it’s urgent pounding like Arduin was currently hearing from his own door. With a sigh Arduin rose and answered he door.

“The Children have gone missing!” A young Khord blurted out as the door opened up. “They’re in grave danger!”

“Whoa young fellow.” Arduin said placing a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder. “Slow down nothing is done right if it you only have a part of the story. Come in, take a drink and tell me your message properly.” Arduin led the youth in and refilled his tankard. “Now drink and tell me what’s going on.” The youth gulped down the ale and after a breath began relaying his message. Arduin’s face darkened with every word. By Kith-Jora who would attack children?
“I see.” Arduin said as he picked up his adventuring gear. “Thank you for bringing me this news. Have another tankard and then get yourself home. I will bring back the children.” Arduin left the youth in his living room and marched towards the Inn. He rarely ran even in an emergency like this one. Rushing through anything caused mistakes and in Arduin’s line of work mistakes cost more lives. Despite not running Arduin’s pace brought him to the inn within the hour.

The scene hat greeted him was one Arduin might have suspected. Much like when there’s a fire everyone was milling around in their grief and worry not sure about what their role should be. As he arrived there seemed to be a group of Khords with a few scrapes and bruises leaving the druid’s grove. They appear to have returned empty handed. Not a good sign. Arduin’s first mode of business would be to question the spectators and discover what he could about the situation then he would speak with the adventuring unit. He gathered what rumors he could trying to piece them together and even listened in as a cleric questioned the victims. At least we’ve gotten some back alive. Though the tale the tell is a disturbing one. He was about to speak to the cleric when a commotion caught his attention out side. Returning from the grove was Thagovan with a child in his arms. It seems Thagovan truly deserves his reputation. Arduin made his way to Thagovan’s side taking the child and passing it to one of the anxious womenfolk.

“I need some real warriors.” Arduin heard Thagovan say under his breath. “We need to go back and slay those beasts. I need some people who know how to wield a sword. I lost ten men out there because they had never seen battle before! If there is nobody, I’ll go back by myself.”

“I agree Thagovan.” Arduin replied somberly. “My blade is with you.” As Arduin made his reply two more came forward and pledged their aid. “She has a point Thagovan. You’re fairly injured though I have a spell to help.”

(OOC If Thagovan insists on going into the forest again Arduin will cast cure light wounds on him.)

Thagovan waited for a few moments after calling his need for armed men. Gyviar was first to respond, and Thagovan thanked the ranger for his participation.
Niaou’li came second, and again Thagovan nodded his appreciation. When she suggested he’d rest and regain power before continuing he shot her a stern glare.

“I will not rest to regain power before these children are saved, and the men and women who sought to rescue them avenged. I will rest only if I perish in battle. If you are afraid of getting wounded, perhaps it’s better if you stay here.”

Stepping in, a Khord from the crowd replied before any of them could.
“I agree, my blade is with you. She has a point Thagovan. You’re fairly injured though I have a spell to help.”

“Arduin. I’m glad you’re joining the search. This is good news. And if your spell will not take a lot of time, then I’ll receive it.”

Arduin put a hand on Thagovan’s arm and began casting a spell. Niaou’li recognized the magic as a healing spell, and the way it was cast as a druidic way of tapping into the forces of nature to cure the wounded. Thagovan looked somewhat refreshed, but it would take a whole lot of additional magic to get him cured all the way. Still, he seemed to be ready to head back into the jungle of mushrooms.

“We will go now, if there are no others.”

Nobody said anything. Most of the gathered Khords looked at the ground in shame, or pretended to be very much occupied with staring into the mushroom forest. Thus, the four of them left the Spores of Itanlok behind once more.

Thagovan seemed to know his way around the paths by now, taking unexpected turns but following a course towards the north-east reaches of the forest. Around them, the air was filled with an undertone of mould. It was an earthy smell they could normally appreciate, but just a little too sour on the lungs. Heavy hoods hung over the paths, and sweating stalks of huge chanterelles and gilled boletes formed a natural wall on either side. The atmosphere was clammy and hot this deep in the sea of shrooms. Not many people dared go this deep into the forest, and those who did took great caution. The paths were not made by Khrods, but formed over the years by who knew what. Tales of what created them ranged from subterranean animals to hulking monsters to Kharox himself, and the truth probably lay somewhere in between.

After half an hour they heard a sound in the distance. They hastened their pace and noted that it was a Khord calling out.
“Hey, let go of me. You beast, let me go!”

Rounding a corner they noted a clearing in the forest. With less hoods blocking the overhead view they saw that they had reached the wall of the cavern. The yelling they had heard came from a Khordaldrum man who was being dragged away by an Ankheg. They reached the clearing just in time to see both of them disappearing into a dark hole in the cavern wall. The calls echoed shortly and then abruptly fell silent.

Thagovan pointed at the dark tunnel that led into the stone wall. On closer inspection, it appeared to be shaped like a big mouth, with lips and teeth made of stone.

“We go after him.” He stated, rather than asked.

(OOC: I’ll stop here now. You can see inside the tunnel, and it looks like a long, deep crevice into the heart of the mountain. It seems very artificial, but not so artificial that it is made by a civilized people. It is only 10 foot wide, so two people could walk side by side, but in any case, I need a walking order; who goes first, who comes last, etc. Updates in before Friday please, since I won't be able to update next Saturday. Otherwise we're looking at a late update.)

“Arduin. I’m glad you’re joining the search. This is good news. And if your spell will not take a lot of time, then I’ll receive it.” Thagovan replied to Arduin’s joining of the party. Seems he remembers me as well. Arduin thought thinking back on an adventure a few years back.

“It will take but a moment Thagovan.” Arduin said mentally reaching for the power of Audalis. “As the underworld heals itself so can its power heal.” He pulled the energy from the ground and channeled it into Thagovan watching as a few of the wounds mended themselves. He looks better but still not well. I have a stronger heal spell readied but it is best to save and conserve when he really needs it. “There it is done. Let us be on our way.” Thagovan nodded and called a final invite to join their group. Arduin sighed in disgust as the majority of Khords showed their fear. Though it is probably for the better. Better to have a few strong than many weak.
Arduin followed closely behind Thagovan watching the ground around him. He wasn’t watching for signs of passage as Thagovan obviously knew where he was going as evidenced by his condition. Instead he was watching for a lack of passage, where there may have been a possible ambush awaiting the party dashing through the forest of fungi. Arduin moved easily in this forest hardly noticing the smell of damp earth and mold. He did however notice the change from mostly harmless mushrooms to more poisonous immediately. It’s no wonder we never saw this attack coming. No Khord would willingly venture this far. Perhaps we should better patrol even the wild lands in our realm. It is strange to me to hear of Ankhegs working together in an organized fashion. It‘s almost as if they‘re functioning as an army. I wonder if we‘re dealing with a new breed or if they‘re being magically controlled.
A sound from the distance jolted Arduin out of his reverie.

“Seems we're close.” Arduin growled. He pulled his waraxe from his belt. Not that I’ll be using this baby if the enemy is as dangerous as I’ve heard. Thagovan picked up his pace and so did Arduin. Arduin was pleased that while they were marching at a brisk pace the group was staying together and not chasing after the sound.

“Hey, let go of me. You beast, let me go!” The cry of a fellow Khord in danger enraged Arduin. He picked up his pacing nearly passing Thagovan when he remembered his discipline and slowed back to just behind. The party cleared a particularly large mushroom when they spotted a cave and the Khord they heard yelling being pulled down into it.

“We go after him.” Thagovan stated.

“Aye.”Arduin agreed. “But we do it smartly. Their’s only room for two abreast. Those without ranged offensive capability go first. That’d be you Thagovan and…” Arduin looked over the other two who had joined this trek. “You.” He pointed to Gyviar. Slipping his waraxe back into its sheathe he unslung his crossbow and loaded it. “Me and the pretty lass here will follow. I promise not to shoot either of you. Just note all of you if things get hazy and I ask for room it’s best ya give it to me.”