Acid Reflexes

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 40: Acid Reflexes, Safira and Erland looked on as Jillian examined the imprisoned Myconids – looking for something suspicious or out of the ordinary from Harvesting Yards she'd encountered in the past.  The two-half elves did their own investigating and found a chart detailing the camp's schedule for harvesting the Myconids – a rotation that allowed time for regrowth and regeneration.

Other than its impressive organization, there were no signs that this room had an unconventional purpose – but a last-second urge to connect physically with one of the creatures sent Erland into a kind of shared consciousness, an exploration of a memory that he had some limited ability to interact with.  When the opportunity arose to help the Myconid in what seemed to be a recreation of the moment of its capture, we opted to assist – and after a successful defense from a group of hunters, it sensed Erland's good intentions enough to bestow him with additional organic powers that he did not previously possess.

Upstairs in the Electrolysis Lab, Orba reentered after discovering a journal [Link includes transcript] kept by one of the lead scientists associated with the Harvesting Yard – a wealth of information that broke down advancements made in the field of Myconid extract research and descriptions of new experiments being performed at the camp, as well as the names of some of the major players in its development: Maurice, Duffy Geiss and Master Grahmari himself.

Approaching footsteps meant there was little time to relay her findings to Graven and Beezaura, and the three of them moved to the next room over to avoid detection – an area dedicated to waste management complete with basins, protective gloves and what seemed to be a way to drain excess debris into the river.  With wandering employees limiting the number of safe opportunities to exit, we decided that this drainage pipe was our best bet for leaving the compound unnoticed – but a second opening in the pipe rerouted us to an alternate chamber for the specialized decomposition of particularly resilient materials.

Escaping from this pit proved to be a formidable challenge, as the abundance of caustic substances and shifting terrain left us with more than a few acid burns – not to mention the impending uncertainty of where we had ended up and whether we'd be able to retrace our steps.

Having once again adorned their protective helmets, the Half-Elves and Jillian made their way into the corridor underneath the river, where they marveled at the expansive Wall of Force and the handful of structures that had been assembled here.  They stayed out of sight from the only other person they could see, a fully-suited scientist working in an isolated room covered in stringy mycelium – but for now the priority was Holding Pen #2, so Erland and Safira guided Jillian down a dark hallway that would hopefully have some answers at the end of it.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: four natural ones were rolled in this Chapter. 1 each by Leah and Matt, and 2 by Anthony.
* This chapter is remote due to the 2020 pandemic and the last normal chapter prior to a hiatus featuring a variety of 'side quests'.