Myconids and the Undergrowth

## Asphyxiosporation

• Upon taking 1 level of Asphyxiosporation, you have been forcibly joined with the network of the Undergrowth. Creatures of the Undergrowth are aware of your location when you are within a considerable distance from them.

• Upon taking 3 levels of Asphyxiosporation, you have trouble breathing. Your constitution saving throws are reduced by 1, and are further reduced by 1 for every 2 levels of Asphyxiosporation beyond this one.

• Upon taking 5 levels of Asphyxiosporation, you become resistant to poison damage, if not already, as well as vulnerable to fire damage.

• Upon taking 8 levels of Asphyxiosporation, failing a constitution saving throw causes you to vomit, dealing 1d6 acid damage to yourself, and you lose your reaction and action on your next turn.

• Upon taking 10 levels of Asphyxiosporation, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and must make a sleight of hand check to fulfil somatic components of spells. Your speed is also reduced by half.

• Upon taking 12 levels of Asphyxiosporation, your mind is no longer your own, and you become an Asphyxiant or die. At this level, treatment is impossible.

## Equipment against the Myconids

### Purchaseable

* **Anti-Asphyxiant.** *100gp.* This putrid and thick fluid smells of bile and rotting milk. When consumed, the concoction will cause extreme bouts of spasms and vomiting. For the next hour, you will be **Paralyzed** and **Incapacitated**, after which you will lose five levels of Asphyxiosporation. Consuming this once more in the same day will cause you to gain a level of exhaustion.
* **Nutrinium Salve.** *150gp.* This silvery liquid burns your skin as you touch it, though it's especially lethal against myconids. After applying this salve on a weapon over the course of 1 minute, Myconids from the Undergrowth are vulnerable to this weapon's next five hits.

### Craftable

* Lamps
* Mechanics: The lamp you have is small and only a fraction of the power that is provided by the Princess Regent, but it will suffice for your journey. When you start a Short Rest in Tyveskr, you can light the lamp for yourself and ward off any myconids that are not in the immediate vicinity. Additionally, being in the area of the lamp will prevent you from being affected by Asphyxiosporation over the course of your Short Rest. The materials the lamp is made of will determine any additional benefits you receive:

Lamp Design from the Princess Regeant

Note: Lamps have been known to work better in enclosed spaces.

### Spells

#### Ardor's Asphyxiant Remedy

*First level Evocation*

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: Touch

Components: S, M (an anti-asphyxiant)

Duration: Instantaneous

Classes: Cleric, Paladin, Druid, Ranger

You attempt to alleviate the asphyxiosporation afflicted upon a creature. You reduce the target creature's asphyxiosporation level by one, and regains a number of hit points equal to your spellcasting modifier.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you are able to reduce the target's level of asphyxiosporation by an extra level for each slot level above 1st.

## Executor's Notes

### Mission: #drudanae

Executor: Zieg Fellspoke

My talks with Namerius have confirmed my suspicions: the Undergrowth is too strong for the guild - and the entirety of Jorvunheim, really - to handle. With this knowledge, I suggested an investigation of an old Iudex trial which contained a tunnel to the underdark that was barred by a dwarven seal. There was a myconid druid sighted near it and apparently they were attempting to undo the seal.

We sent a team of mercenaries to the forest where the trial was located, a thicket north of Jargvǫllr. There, the druid was found among other myconids that served its purpose. It was a very crafty one, but our team was able to deal with it without incident.

Surprisingly, the druid was able to grab hold of a key that may be able to undo the seal to the vault. If we'd come later, the seal would have already been broken and the Undergrowth would have had access to the inside already. Thank goodness.

As a side note, the party received help from an unlikely little myconid, which they are affectionately calling "Mushy." I do not trust it.

### Mission: #petard

Executor: Zieg Fellspoke

Tyveskr has fallen. Literally.

We'd requisitioned a few mercenaries to put an end to the Saprophyte Sun that began proliferating in Tyveskr a few moons ago. Based on reports of the returning party, the entire town has been compromised and the Sawdust Spore has accelerated their takeover of the area; almost no locals in the town remained unturned into Asphyxiants or their stronger, more dangerous counterparts, Contrasphyxiants.

The entirety of Tyveskr's underground was hollowed out and collapsed following a fire set upon the tavern close to the center of town. This revealed that the Saprophyte Sun had invested much more in the town than we imagined. This being said, Namerius has told us that the Saprophyte Sun has become a new priority for the guild. They must be taken down. I'll be tapping a few connections to further shed some light on this new myconid menace before we advance our forces any further.

### Mission: #that-smelly-smell

Executor: Zieg Fellspoke

We've been able to confirm finally that the suspicious happenings in the town of Tyveskr are being caused by myconids that originate from the Undergrowth. However, even if they are part of the Undergrowth, they've developed a peculiar ability of controlling other creatures using their spores. It seems that under this new influence, prolonged exposure to the "Sawdust Spore" can lead to one's mind being taken over \*even before\* becoming an asphyxiant.

After the return of the Arcaneum's student, Ardor, the arcanaeum has refused any incoming missives and messages. The mercenaries have inferred that Ardor is the culprit for this mind-altering business.

Two problems lie in front of the guild and Jorvunheim as a whole:

- If the Turrin Arcaneum is compromised, then everyone there is a potential threat individually, and a veritable arcane army altogether. I've reached out with Namerius of the Holy Court, and we've been provided with funds to lead a team to storm the arcaneum and fight them.

- Tyveskr has still refused to reply to all forms of communication, meaning that there still exists something in the forest or town that is keeping them in their mind-altered stupor. We've also received funds to cleanse this area.

### #im-so-very-sporry

Executor: Zieg Fellspoke

A requisition came in from the Tarrun Arcaneum that a special kind of myconid was found lingering at the border of the forest and Tyveskr, a nearby town. Around the vicinity of Tyveskr, as well, a number of disappearances have been reported, mostly of merchants and travellers who were not reisdents of the town proper.

Upon their first visit, nothing amiss was found within the town, which turned up with the mercenaries' disappearance. It was later found out by another party of mercenaries that overnight visitors were having their memories overwritten to simulate them as residents of the town.

We then discovered that a peculiar spore with the scent of sawdust was causing this pehnomenon to manifest within Tyveskr. We have yet to find the perpetrators, as yet the myconids that match the original's desciption have not been located. More investigation has been warranted.

### Mission: #a-fun-guy

Executor: Zieg Fellspoke

A requisition coming from Namerius, one of the attendants of God-King Septiel, reached me concerning the purging of Halstadt of the Undergrowth. According to her, a manor of one Omar Swifthand had become a hotspot for the poisonous miasma that currently surrounds Halstadt, and so it became our job to cleanse the area. Though successful in the endeavor, the team assembled came at a few brushes with death during the mission. All throughout, however, the mission was considered a success.

A few of our mercenaries have taken an interest in furthering the guild's research into the spores of the Undergrowth. Together with Meadhbh Wonderhart, they should come up with some form of success down the line. Along the same vein, the Alchemical Institute of Ferrus Nox has taken an interest in the Undergrowth and have reached out to us for some modicum of collaboration.

### Mission: #questionable-morels

Executor: Mejjir Ashenscale

The Verifoss mercenary guild has been on the forefront of defense against the rampaging growth radiating from the depths of the Halstadt. This occurrence was unfortunately brought on by the guild itself, but the world need not know this information.

In an effort to alleviate themselves from asphyxiosporation, some of the mercenaries of the guild have volunteered when the Myrlos guildhall has announced its participation with the research project the Circle of the Ancients are spearheading. Executor Mejjir has been contacted by Archdruid Xilmys about the progress Hierophant Ba'yog (head of R&D) has made in his studies with the fungal growth he has sampled from creatures around the ruined city. It has been vague about the growth of the fungi, as they don't seem to be developing from the same factors as other cultures in his sporepedia.

Being in and around the Halstadt, the mercenaries presented the perfect subjects for Ba'yog's research. Grabbing samples from the spores excreted by the ritters, the druid dove straight into work while he sent the recruits out to help him accomplish more out of his research on parasitic creatures; by having them collect a sample from an elusive parasite that is apparently strengthened by his druidic spore powers instead of hurt.

The mercenaries successfully subdued the parasite, collected what remained of its disgusting body, and presented them to the druid just as he finished his experimentation. He has concluded that the spores have traces of a mineral Ba'yog has only read about before, something called Faezress. In altering the composition of some of the traces he has procured, he managed to make a semi-vaccine, and upon its application during a high-level healing ritual conducted by Xilmys and his Auspices, managed to remove some levels of the respiratory disease from the mercenaries.

The mission has been a success, and the guild is one step closer to cleansing Myrias.

### Mission: #oceans-5

Executor: Zieg Fellspoke

Verifoss was requisitioned by the Tarmin Academy of the Arcane, with the help of the Tavernmasters, to procure an ancient dwarven key that could be used to supposedly open a hatch that is located in the Lion's Maw cave, near the town of Lerrin. The rub: the key itself was held within the confines of the personal collection of Seville, a notable magnate of Ryx. As it happens, Seville had organized a party and involved notable lords and ladies from across the land, which proved to be the easiest way to enter the premises.

Under the guise of guests and workers, the party was able to successfully infiltrate the manor, peruse through the master bedroom, and dispell the first of two safety mechanisms in the viewing room of the magnate's collection, this being barred also by a number of mercenaries that were also in Seville's employ. After dispatching them, as well as an Anima Ovata (vine-like sentinel creature), our mercenaries were able to flee the scene and succesfully accomplish the mission.

One interesting tidbit of information: though the mercenaries left with the dwarven key, it seems that everything in the viewing room was stolen. By whom, we are not aware.