Abyses 32: New Neotroglopolistopia City

## TL;DR

Myconid POV:

* The Myconid village was attacked by the Deep Dragon about a month ago, then again around two weeks ago. Some claim that the second time the dragon appeared out of nowhere.
* Sovereign Phylo wants to make the Myconid village more like the other kingdoms and start open conflict with the Troglodytes
* Sovereign Basidia strongly disagrees with Phylo despite being close friends. And is worried about these new thoughts and about what goes on in the house Phylo built and now resides in.
* Yestabrod is the circle leader of the Circle of Masters, and has great influence over Phylo. He has not come out of Phylo’s house for weeks.
* Many of the Myconids who support Phylo are convinced they sent the Deep Dragon to attack the village
* The Troglodytes raided the Myconid village and tried to wipe out their sprouts, the infant Myconids
* The Teleportation circle is located in the Fungal Wilds, though it is off-limits and cannot be used without the password, which only the two Sovereigns know

Troglodyte POV:

* The Troglodyte village was attacked by the Deep Dragon around a month ago, the Chief died when he went to confront the dragon
* His younger son, S’slaar was chosen to be the next chief
* The Troglodytes had a pre-existing animosity towards the Myconids due to their use of mind control
* Some Troglodytes believe the Myconids sent the dragon to attack the village
* Members of the Troglodyte village have been suffering from severe insomnia since the time of the first attack
* H’slaat, Chief S’slaar’s older brother, seeks to kill the dragon while it is sleeping. Which he has already tried once before.

Rat King POV:

* Rat King found two Su-Monsters in the Fungal Wilds that seem to have died a couple of days ago. Their heads were exploded and their bodies were covered in undergrowth.

## Entry to Mushtown

* The Acquaintances opted not to get involved in the fight between the two Troglodytes, resulting in the lucid troglodyte knocking out the other and taking him back to his tribe
* The gang then passed through the Fungal Wilds, a densely populated zurkhwood forest serving as a buffer between the Myconid village and the outside world
* Before entering, they learned what they could from Loobamub the leader of their Circle of Hunters:
	+ The Deep Dragon made its first appearance a little over a month ago, soaring over Loobamub’s head and into the village
	+ A little over two weeks ago it appeared again, but this time it appeared in the village without passing through the Fungal Wilds
	+ Some suspect the Deep Dragon is being controlled by the Troglodytes, but Loobamub has strong doubts about this
	+ The teleporter Errde mentioned is located in the Fungal Wilds but is somewhat off-limits and can only be accessed via a password which only the Sovereigns know
	+ It was closed of decades ago by previous Sovereigns to prevent dwarves from coming through and harvesting all of the grove’s resources
	+ Sovereign Phylo and many Myconids within the village are interested in embracing ideas from other races such as warfare and currency, which is troubling to Loobamub

## The Myconid Village

* The first Myconid circle the party saw was the Circle of Explorers, the one which Loobamub is a member of
* The leader of the circle, Rasharoo, was wielding a fine sword and speaking with a fish-like humanoid covered in mushrooms named Oochyk
* The gang asked Oochyk some questions:
* Oochyk was living in Sloobludop when it was attacked by the Demogorgon, he just barely managed to escape but had no means of surviving
* He was on the verge of death when Rasharoo found him and brought him back to the Myconid village where Oochyk has been doing whatever he could to help ever since
* When asked about the Deep Dragon Oochyk didn’t deny that he saw it but meekly suggested that the party ask Rasharoo instead of himself
* Rasharoo then answered some questions:
	+ He said the Deep Dragon was undoubtedly being controlled by the Troglodytes and that in the time between the two dragon attacks the Troglodytes invaded and tried to slaughter the villages sprouts, which are infantile Myconids
	+ He also cast aspersion on Sovereign Basidia for keeping so many Myconids passive, preventing them from amassing enough troops to invade the neighboring Troglodyte village
* Next the party wished to speak with the Sovereigns, as Rumpadump led them to their chamber they passed two other circles. One was a garden by the pond in which some Myconids embedded themselves in the ground, emitting some sort of aura that helped the surrounding plants grow. The other resembled some sort of mining or construction site, one Myconid was seemingly coordinating others in order to extract some material from the ceiling.
* Only one of the Sovereigns was present, Basidia, he was sitting on a vaguely chair-shaped fungus with an empty chair crafted from wood and gold next to him. Also in his chamber was a Stone Giant, the first of which any the party has seen, with massive fungi sprouting from his back and at various points along his body.
* The Acquaintances exchanged greetings with Basidia then asked about the Deep Dragon and the odd internal conflict facing the village:
	+ Sovereign Phylo has been enraptured with the practices of non-Myconid cultures lately, and spends most of his time in a house he had built from actual wood (not Zurkhwood), only coming out for the daily melding of the Inner Circle
	+ Phylo wants to expand the village’s influence, joining with any community that accepts them and stomping out the ones that threaten them
	+ Phylo has replaced the village’s typical practices of all melding together at the same time everyday. Now each circle melds only with its own members, and the circle leaders meld with each other and the Sovereigns, these Myconids are now known as the “Inner Circle”
	+ Many of Phylo’s odd ideas seem to have come from another Myconid named Yestabrod
	+ Yestabrod was a member of the Circle of Explorers before Phylo created the Circle of Masters and appointed Yestabrod as the circle leader
	+ Yestabrod now lives in Phylo’s house, but has not been seen for nearly three weeks. He sends a representative to take his place in the daily inner circle meeting.
	+ Basidia is concerned Yestabrod may have become infected with some kind of diseased spore and spread it to Phylo, and that is why they are behaving so strangely
	+ Despite what Phylo says, Basidia does not believe the Troglodytes sent the dragon to attack the village.
	+ Basidia admitted that more Myconids lean towards Phylo’s way of thinking than his own, and Phylo’s support is growing
	+ He then asked the party to investigate what is going on with Yestabrod and inside Phylo’s house if they can do so without causing an uproar
* Afterwards Rat King tried a couple of different things to get past the Hook Horror Spore Servant but was unable to circumvent its blindsight
* The door the Spore Servant was guarding had light peaking through the cracks, appeared to be made out of actual wood, and had what looked like grass growing around it
* The Acquaintances then decided it’d be best to leave Rumpadump and get a feel for the Troglodytes point of view, and see how much they know about the Deep Dragon

## Troglodyte Village

* As the party approached the Troglodyte village they saw a massive spectral dragonborn-like creature wielding a sword and a shield. It took no notice of their presence until they approached it at which point it stuck an offensive posture.
* Seeing as they were already invited, Bernhol decided to try yelling for someone to let them in.
* An elderly Troglodyte responded, after confirming they weren’t slavers he told the guardian to allow the Acquaintances to pass, at which point it began ignoring their presence entirely.
* The half of the village near the entrance was brightly lit with torches, and the far half was kept pitch dark.
* The old man introduced himself as Groldort, a priest of Laogzed. He said that around a month ago a fly mushroom creature attacked their village and killed their chieftain.
* At this point a younger Troglodyte who was praying at the shrine approached, Groldort identified him as his grandson, S’slenen.
* S’slenen was skeptical of the party as Gurm, the Troglodyte they saw fighting the Spore Servant upon their arrival, had told him that they went to the Myconid village. S’slenan asked if they were being mind controlled.
* Groldort expressed hope that the party arriving to solve the dragon issue was divine providence, but S’slenen was unconvinced.
* Groldort then showed the party around the village. Rat King had an enlightening conversation with a large, more beastial looking Troglodyte. Groldort explained that the big ol stinky lizard had sacrificed some of his intellect in order to gain additional strength from Laogzed.
* Next the gang spoke with Slikk, the village’s beast wrangler:
	+ His main concern is protecting his flock of giant lizards.
	+ Ivis told him that he knew for a fact the Myconids were housing the Deep Dragon, but warned him not to tell anybody.
	+ In return Slikk told Ivis that H’slaat had already invaded the Myconid village, but to keep it a secret.
	+ Gurm approached, wondering if the gang had decided to heed his warning about the Myconids. He also mentioned he was working to cure the Troglodyte spore servants and find a solution to the recent insomnia affecting several Troglodytes.
* Next the gang went to visit H’slaat, his hideout was filled with a narcotic smog that Fergus felt the effects of as soon as he entered.
* H’slaat was the least hospitable of the Troglodytes the Acquaintances had met so far and took issue with Ivis’ claim that he needed their help in resolving the Deep Dragon problem.
* Initially H’slaat claimed he knew the Deep Dragon was in the Myconid village but not its exact resting place, though after some more goading from Ivis he stubbornly declared the dragon was undoubtedly resting in the heavily guarded cavern off the right side of the Myconid’s main chamber being guarded by a fake Beholder.
* At this point Rat King used his ludicrous speed to examine the surrounding area for any clues about the whereabouts of the dragon, while the rest of the gang went off to the melding to meet Sovereign Phylo and the remaining circle leaders.
* Rat King found something odd in the Fungal Wilds, in one corner he found two dead Su-Monsters. Their heads were exploded and their bodies were heavily covered by undergrowth despite not appearing to be dead for more than a couple of days.