The Ninth Adventure

[kipper]

Dame Simonetta wants to take a break here for second breakfast, she will munch on some dried apricots. After that she is ready to proceed, she proposes we check out the tunnel below area #11.

[mushgnome]

Heh, I was wondering when someone would think to do that. I'm glad at least one of you is thinking with your stomach.

Second Breakfast restores Dougal back to full hit points (10/10), Kiplyn 6/12, Dame Simonetta 6/10, Wilbur 12/13, Robur 6/7.

There are no wandering monsters this turn.

Does anyone 'second' Dame Simonetta's suggestion, to explore south of the shroom room (area #11)? Any special instructions for moving through this area?

[mgtremaine]

Kiplyn will grumble but follow Dame Simonetta. "A quick snack was nice, but I sure could use a soft chair and next to the fireplace to warm my toes.."

[Bastet1002]

"Come to think of it," exclaims Robur through a mouthful of salami and cheese sandwich a light dash of Grey Puopin mustard. "I would love to test these mushrooms I collected. And if they are edible, I will fry them up and make some mouthwatering mushroom and cheese omelets for you all at the Inn. And of course test their properties with my mead..."

[mushgnome]

OOC: Robur had a smart idea to clear a path through the mushrooms to the north tunnel, but nobody thought to do the same for the south tunnel. Dame Simonetta rolled a natural 20 on her saving throw, which gave me a fun role-playing idea. Hope you don't think this is too strange...

Dame Simonetta ignores the slipperiness of the mushrooms and strides confidently toward the southern exit. (Save vs. wands = 20!) She marches like a boss right over the slippery mushroom caps and enters Area #12. The footing is solid here (no carpet of mushrooms on the floor) but there are several large piles of compost, and the compost is teeming with mycelial spawn: miniature, baby versions of the mushrooms in #11.

The obvious conclusion is that someone is deliberately cultivating the mushrooms, using this area as the nursery. If she took the time to look, Dame Simonetta would find some gardening tools, like buckets and shovels. But she ignores all of that: Her attention is fixed on something large at the northeast end of the room.

There is a large, statue-sized object, covered with a canvas tarp. Dame Simonetta's owl medallion of Athena is thrumming furiously at a frequency only she can hear. The closer she gets to the tarp-covered object at the far end of the room, the louder the signal from the medallion.

The other hobbets are slowed down by the slippery mushrooms. To catch up with Dame S, her friends will have to either pass saving throws vs. wands or find some way to neutralize the mushrooms, like Robur did by using his dagger as a machete. The smart thing for Dame Simonetta to do would be to wait for backup to arrive. But, every instinct and fiber of her being tells her to obey the call of Athena and immediately find out what's under the tarp. @kipper, it's your choice: What does she do??

[Bastet1002]

Robur looks a little surprised that Dame would... Well, always, down on his hands and knees, Robur starts again to cut out a path of mushrooms to make a safe path to his friend, Dame, and for the other to follow.

"Don't just stand there!" exclaims Robur. "Help me out! These are very slippery mushrooms! I don't know how Madam Dame got across! And who knows? There might be another pit under these!"

[coffee]

Wilbur moves up and uses his crowbar, with the bent end down, scraping the mushrooms away from a path. It's very much like he's on a golf green, putting.

[kipper]

Dame Simonetta remembers that last time the medallion hummed it was warning her about dangerous undead. She stands firm and waits for the other hobbets to arrive, keeping a careful eye on the tarp for any movement.

[mushgnome]

Wilbur's crowbar strategy works like a charm, and soon the hobbets have cleared a safe path to Dame Simonetta in room #12. No further save vs. wands will be necessary.

Once backup has arrived, Dame Simonetta pulls back the tarp to reveal a headless statue!

The broken statue depicts a dwarven warrior-woman. She is standing tall on a stone pedestal, looking down on you (or at least she would be looking down on you, if she had a head). The quality of the stonework is exceptional! Dame Simonetta notices a circular indentation on the statue's chest, where a necklace or medallion would go.

A single word in Greek is carved into the stone pedestal: ATHENA

But someone has scrawled something else over it, in black paint with crudely-drawn letters. The language is Innsmouth Mouth (not Greek) and Dame Simonetta is shocked by the vile, misogynist, unrepeatable curse words. The graffiti seems almost inhuman in its vulgarity!

There is a nasty smell, like someone used the statue as a urinal.

[Bastet1002]

Robur arrives a little disheveled from removing mushrooms and has a look and gasps!
"The head might be in the the pit I looked in," says Robur taking a quick mouthful of mead to quench his thirst. "Should I haul it out Madam Dame, and try to bring it here? If this is another dwarf turned to stone... is there a way to change her back? And the other statues?"

Since the word ATHENA is in Greek, likely no one in the group would understand what it says, right?