Back into the tunnels we go, and heading south away from Mold this time. In the general direction of Halkyn. If the smugglers had a staircase leading up from their ledge into Amroth, maybe the Halkyns also have an extra entrance. Alternatively, even if they're using the existing tunnel, maybe there's something else around here. We search thoroughly.

The Underswamps have plenty of life, which makes it easy for a psychic to pick out many otherwise hidden tunnels. I might not be able to see through the auras of fungi, but it's not dense enough on the walls to completely block my senses. And it does nothing whatsoever to block my view of aether.

[There's a dungeon this way,] I tell the party.

My newly-maxed [Aether Sense] clearly picks up the flows of aether, and I can be reasonably certain that it's a dungeon and not a goblin Hearth.

We find a conspicuously bricked off tunnel, and search the area to determine that there's a cave entirely blocked off from the greater cave area. And it entirely surrounds the dungeon.

"Who would block off an entire dungeon?" Uncle Falcon says quietly. "And what sort of dungeon would acquiesce to this? If it's high enough level to be dangerous, it's also high enough level to spawn monsters capable of breaking through these shoddy walls."

[Maybe it's like Hebron and a hidden, lost dungeon?] I suggest, going up to the wall and seeing if I can sense anything through it.

"Though it would have had to have been deliberately hidden," Belladonna says. "Probably by Halkyn, since it's the closest Hearth and the Mold goblins wouldn't have used stone blocks."

[Agreed, my skills are telling me this was built by humans,] I confirm.

"Either way, I'd like to know what's behind it," Uncle Falcon says. "While they might have blocked it off to keep children from wandering in, at a generous assumption, it's not likely that there's a Legendary dungeon in this part of Tempest that's just quietly sitting here."

[I'm not detecting any monsters in my range, anyway,] I tell them.

We didn't bring Basalt along to break down the wall, but Griza is perfectly capable of making short work of it herself. Lichen grows rapidly, slithering over the wall and pulling the stones apart, leaving a gap just big enough for an adult human to get through.

The dungeon isn't immediately inside the artificial walls, and we have to go in a bit further to find the actual entrance. As well as a conspicuous wooden ramp leading up to the surface. Belladonna has us hold back and sneaks up to check out what's up at the top herself, and returns shortly after.

"There's a locked hatch up there," Belladonna says. "I picked the lock and came out in a field within spitting distance of the walls of Halkyn Village."

"What are the Halkyns doing with their own private dungeon?" Uncle Hawk wonders.

"Let's find out, shall we?" Belladonna says.

You have discovered the Mushroom Garden. Skills increased: Search (Inspection), Enhanced Soul (Ghost Eyes)

I'm not still getting levels in [Aether Sense], but it looks like the experience is spilling over into other skills I'm using and not getting wasted. As we head inside, I make my aura look like a fungus. I'm not sure if any of the monsters in here can detect auras, but it can't hurt.

In keeping with Tempest's garden theme, the Mushroom Garden does a fantastic job of living up to its name. Bioluminescent fungi cover the ceiling. A cobblestone pathway lit by glowing mushrooms shaped like street lamps winds off in between brightly colored mushrooms the size of trees.

The first monsters I spot flit around on wasp-like wings. They're 20 centimeters tall on average and their humanoid bodies are wrinkly and lavender.

Category Monster Type Fey Gender Female Class Warlock Rank Elite Disposition Hostile Mood Excited

I automatically pass the information along to the party and just as automatically hide behind the Heroics. The Daring Edgewalkers step forward and start clearing the comparatively low-level monsters. I wouldn't want to meet one of these things by myself, but to these mid-level adventurers, they're just trash.

Music surges up around Uncle Falcon. The Bard doesn't lift a finger to play an instrument, but battle music still flows out from him regardless. This leaves his hands free to pull out a bow and start picking off the little monsters. Wonder raises his Wizard staff and shoots off bursts of sparkles that take out multiple enemies at once. Belladonna joins in with thrown knives that return to her.

As fun as it is to watch them cut down Elite fey like swatting flies, I pull up a mind fractal to keep on gathering information. That's the only reason they even let me come along, after all. I'm perfectly safe standing next to Grandma Kestrel and Milo's Grandma Griza. Don't mess with anyone's grandma.

Tosko the Alchemist makes a potion on the fly using one of the mushrooms from the dungeon, and distributes vials of it to all of us. "This greatly reduces effects from fungus-based attacks for the next three hours."

I quaff the lavender potion. Tastes nutty. A very odd feeling covers my skin, and I shiver involuntarily at the sensation.

I think I won't be able to see from outside my body until I reach Elite rank. That will probably require sending a spirit out to look for things. Right now, they're limited to what I can see from my body.

But the fungi covering everything don't completely mask a signature that should not be here.

[There are people here,] I tell the party. [Hidden under fungi.]

I telepathically highlight the locations for them.

[Hard to get much information, but something seems very weird about them. No, they're not mushroom people. They're human. And a few other races. A lot of foreigners. Way more foreigners than there were missing persons quests for.]

No one needs to state the conclusion here, but I add it anyway.

[The Halkyns have been feeding their enemies to a mushroom dungeon.]

Grandma Kestrel shudders in disgust.

[Whatever was done to them, they're still alive. Griza might be able to save them, but you should probably clear the dungeon before trying to do anything with them. I see… yes, there's definitely a trigger there to call a boss if they're tampered with.]

Skills increased: Clairvoyance (Psychometry), Enhanced Soul (Fractal Consciousness, Ghost Eyes, Mystic Inspiration)

[Oh, Corwen…] I think as I spot a familiar vis signature. [Meadow is here!]

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I never met the party Meadow hooked up with, but they're probably here too. I never even knew they were missing. No one would have wondered until swarm season came and Meadow hadn't shown back up, since she said she'd be gone for months running dungeons over and over.

Beyond the Elite fey are Heroic swamp monsters like the ones outside, though with this dungeon blocked off, it's clearly not the source of them. I suppose it's a standard monster type in the Underswamps. In any case, these adventurers are more than equipped to handle them.

The Daring Edgewalkers are comprised of a Bard, a Rogue, a Wizard, and an Alchemist. They don't really have a tanky tank. Wonder the Wizard puts up magic shields, Tosko the Alchemist makes buff potions, Uncle Falcon has his own disembodied theme music following him around, and Belladonna moves faster than most things can touch.

The cobblestone paths lead to a fountain clogged with algae. As living beings, albeit weird and simple ones, the algae blocks my view of whatever might be under the water. I still conclude that there's probably a monster in there, because it would be weird for there not to be. This is a dungeon, after all.

A giant frog that looks like it's made of algae hops out of the fountain with a massive splash.

Category Monster Type Amphibian Gender Male Aspects Water, Toxin Rank Epic Disposition Hostile Mood Possessive

I stay well back as the Heroics deal with the monster. With every blow, it squirts out a spray of neon green fluid, splattering against Wonder's magic shields. Belladonna makes to avoid getting splashed, but Uncle Falcon gets doused with some of it.

Tosko collects a sample from the boss and quickly mixes up a curing potion to neutralize the frog monster's poison, and Uncle Falcon drinks it down.

[Possessive is an odd mood for a frog monster…] I think. [Maybe it doesn't want us to take its prizes? It's clearly not what shroomified everyone, though.]

Skill increased: Subterfuge (Hiding)

After thoroughly exploring the mushroom garden, we come upon another boss. I spot it in the distance before we catch its attention and relay that to the party as soon as I detect it.

You know those Heroic swamp monsters that wander around the Underswamps? This thing looks like their granddaddy.

Category Monster Type Fungus Gender Male Aspects Transformation, Sleep Rank Epic Disposition Hostile Mood Proud

The party backs off before the boss spots us. Tosko mixes up another potion and passes it around. For some reason, it tastes like a pumpkin spice latte. After drinking it, I feel very awake, to the point of being a little jittery. The Heroics probably have more resistance to caffeine or whatever this is and don't seem to be negatively affected.

The Daring Edgewalkers charge. Kestrel and Griza hold back with me protectively, Griza keeping an eye out in case she needs to intervene. If the adventurers can kill the boss themselves, there's no need to take their experience.

The swamp monster releases a cloud of choking yellow spores, but it has almost no effect. The adventurers blink briefly as it washes over them and renew their attack. Grandma Kestrel keeps the spore cloud away from me with a shield of wind.

After an impressive fight, the giant swamp monster is dead. Tosko loots the remains. The dungeon will simply reclaim them otherwise and they might make very interesting potion ingredients.

A chest appears that Belladonna detraps and picks. They get the loot, including an impressive amount of coins and a few artifacts they just shove in a bag to be identified and distributed later.

Your party has completed the Mushroom Garden. Skills increased: Clairvoyance (Telepathy, Aspect Analysis), Enhanced Soul (Chameleon Aura), Blocking (Cover)

"Which one is your cousin?" Griza asks.

I point out Meadow, and Griza raises her mushroom staff toward her and begins to chant. The fungus obscuring Meadow's aura fades as Griza reverses the curse. Once she's flesh again, Meadow blinks in confusion and looks around.

"Meadow!" Uncle Falcon exclaims, going to hug her.

"Uncle Falcon, am I ever glad to see you," Meadow says. "I'm glad Corwen gave you a quest to come find me."

"It did not," Uncle Falcon says. "We're just here because Drake decided to be nosy and was going to go be nosy by himself if we didn't tag along."

"That's not how I remember that conversation going…" I say.

"Kid, I don't need to be psychic to know what you're thinking sometimes. You weren't exactly hiding your intentions. I really need to teach you how to hide your intentions better."

"Right, I want to run the Secret Garden a few more times," I say. "I want to learn some skills to not be noticed."

"That sounds like a fantastic idea," Uncle Falcon says. "Let's start on that this summer, if nothing else adventurous happens in the meantime."

I say, "Restoring her doesn't appear to have triggered a boss spawn, so I guess it was set up to summon the spore monster you already killed."

"I will start restoring the rest, then," Griza says, and proceeds to go from mound to mound, turning them back into human(oid)s.

The former mushroom mound that was closest to the fountain is a Heroic-rank young woman who introduces herself as Princess Amroth. (Yes, apparently her name is literally Princess.)

"I want to get revenge on those Halkyns!" says Princess.

"We all want revenge!" exclaims another adventurer.

"I couldn't pay my debts, so they turned me into a mushroom!"

"Yes, technically, the dungeon was what turned us into mushrooms, but they're the ones who tied us up and left us in there."

"They didn't actually kill us so our families wouldn't know."

"To think we've been saved by wrinkly adventurers. Most adventurers retire if they don't make Epic before they turn 42."

"Better reincarnation than being old, even if I have to wait until the next Age."

Uncle Falcon says quietly, "We would have certainly been lost down here as well if it hadn't been for Drake and Griza."

"It is quite fortunate that Grubwick, in its infinite wisdom, sent me along," Griza says.

It would be too conspicuous to bring them out through the hatch. The Halkyns would almost certainly notice. I don't know how strong they are, but I'm not prepared to go conquer a Hearth. The former captives are exhausted and unarmed. We can have these people safely out of here before anyone realizes we've been here and make our preparations to deal with Halkyn appropriately from somewhere safe.

"We'll head for Splott Lakeside," Uncle Falcon says.

"Splott?" says one of the former captives.

"How long have you been down there?" Uncle Falcon says. "Splott is a friendly goblin village in the Underswamps not far from Nefern."

"It seems I have missed a few things."

They want to get back to Amroth and overturn stuff and root out corruption. Hearths are amazingly apathetic to their adventuring members disappearing for long periods of time if someone doesn't get a quest to find them.

I feel like I missed a major quest hook several years ago when I didn't follow up on Rowan's sword quest. A better Hero would have hopped right on that, not spent weeks slumming with goblins. Still, the Mushroom Garden is a dungeon suitable for Heroics and this would in no way have been my quest anytime soon.

Did Amroth want us to stop the criminals that have been causing trouble in its city? Or was it just engineering the entire conflict for its own entertainment? I shouldn't speculate on the motivations of cores. Maybe it just wanted us to rescue its "princess".

There's probably a quest on the Adventurers' Guild quest board to find her. There's probably people looking for her. There's probably people looking for a lot of the people here. Some of these people were ones who went to rescue the previous lost individuals.

"How did they capture you?" Uncle Falcon asks Meadow.

"We stopped by Halkyn and tried to stay the night there," Meadow says. "But one of my party members had enough social skills to realize they were hiding something and decided to poke his nose into trouble like an adventurer."

"I really should have stayed a merchant," grumbles the man next to her.

Some of these missing people had been mushrooms for decades. Fortunately, it had the side effect of halting their aging. Which means the oldest one of them has been in there for almost a century.

"You mean to tell me my own nieces and nephews did this?" says Vervain Halkyn after introducing himself. "Instead of finding a way to restore me, they used this dungeon to make people disappear?"

"That's definitely what it looks like," Meadow says. "We didn't even find out any interesting information. They just caught us poking around and preemptively chucked us in here."

Meanwhile, a massive vortex of aether forms around Griza, growing with each curse she undoes. Her vis takes in more and more, building up to a powerful spike as she restores the final human. Once her aura has stabilized, it's much brighter than it had been.

Rank Legendary

Your party has freed the victims of the Mushroom Garden. Skill increased: Clairvoyance (Aura Sight) Your Perception has increased. Your Willpower has increased.

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