Hello,
Boamund's arm was now covered in a white hyphal mesh of filaments that had sprouted little blue puffballs. With some knowledge and experimentation, you reasoned that they had effects on one's mind, quelling emotions and passions. But it took a substantial dose, probably his whole arm-harvest, to have a real effect, you eventually guessed.
You left Siphula's Child (this time its probing tendril-door left you alone as you exited) and Miguel led you searching northwards for this place of fertile ground and worms. Very quickly, Bog was assaulted by a giant cup-mushroom that leaned over and engulfed him, crushing and smothering him, but you cut it badly enough that it released him and you opted to let it be and take note of where it was so you could avoid it later.
Some of the little fungoid-creatures, who called themselves Muscarians, joined you in growing numbers of hopping and singing toadstool tots, and eventually one mentioned that they knew of a “holy ground” in the direction you were going, but warned it was dangerous, with some sort of guardian. They helped show you the way and you found it later that first day: a conspicuous patch of black, bare soil, roughly 30m in diameter. The Muscarians scattered into the forest in fear. Miguel saw that the ground was full of life, and Bog began using his find-enemy magic when a huge, segmented, scaly, fiercely jawed worm erupted from the ground and attacked him. He was not caught off guard though, and you ganged up on it and smashed it down before it could wreak havoc.
Then some fat pinkish earthworms rose, one at a time in sequence, speaking in Darktongue with what seemed like a group-mind. They explained that this was the Gathering Ground, and you'd killed the guardian Quenlarg, one of the worms of the mistress Swems, goddess of wormkind, whose ground this was in part. At first they wondered if you were enemies such as “tea-makers” (Giranois?) but with some talking you convinced them that you meant well enough, and Bog feasted on the Quenlarg with them while you talked- although he tried to plant the lichen and they objected strongly, offering in haste that they could advise him on finding Zorak Zoran's power or presence in Good Troll Food.
You learned some things from them: 1. This is a holy ground for the dark beasts: of Swems, mistress of worms; of Crolar, father of Scorpions; of Gorakiki in her many forms; and of Aranea/Orani, mother of spiders. In the Second Age, Uz priestesses did rites here, and dead could be fed to the earth. 2. Among Subere's first secrets set forth into Wonderhome and the Hurtplace were the children of the dragon Hykim or Mikyh and the darkling called Sokazub. Foremost among them was Kropa, Mother of Many. Orani was her first child and the only one to always look past her meal, into the web of the cosmos and its secrets. She had the blood of Subere strong in her; and knew the power of Adzurana, or the river Styx. Gorakiki was Kropa's most prolific child, during the Golden Age of Wonderhome's bliss. She was a servant there, but once she fled to Komor when the Burning One came to Hell, she declared herself a leader. Gorakiki's children prospered so much in the world that Kropa had to teach her other children to eat them, and she did this because other gods and goddesses asked it, too; including Mee Vorala. No one is sure when Swems came into the world back then, because she did it so stealthily via her burrowing through the dark earth-womb of Zugorteg, but she has long been there in the Underworld and is a gentle friend to Uz and Voralans alike, but a great foe to Chaos. Lastly, Kropa birthed Crolar into the world in the Darkness, and he became armed with death by Zorak Zoran, and imbued with Hell's power. 3. The Gathering Ground is in harmony with the Mushroom Forest- its kind know of Siphula and the Voralans, and are mutually tolerant-this is a ground of the Takers, but also the Takers of Takers; they keep the balance with the Growers, and feed in the dark. 4. The soil here is of Halikiv (Bog's homeland, and whence the Second Age Uz powers on Giraine came), and certain forms (beasts) of that land can only be born here. Many eggs lay dormant within this soil, awaiting their calling. This ground is also deeply linked to the powers of the beasts of Wonderhome. Maybe there is more to that link, but the worms just mentioned it. 5. If Bog wishes to find Zorak Zoran, he should try finding the power of Crolar, but it is dormant here in the Gathering Ground-perhaps it lurks elsewhere in this misty land. The Uz powers were strong here in the dark mists in the Second Age, and did not die. 6. Siphula's quest for you to plant a lichen here: This ground is fertile indeed but for beasts not plant-things of Mee Vorala! The worms argued that this was unprecedented. Why should the worms share their meagre space and food with crusty smelly lichens? They wanted food, it was evident. What kind? Dead food to feed on. How? The worms suggested you could kill yourselves, or could find something, but… (a second worm popped up in conversation with the other one) “Yes, they could do that couldn't they? Most helpful. This burrows to the heart of the matter.” - 1st worm: “We worms agree. There is a way you can help; food we would relish. But it is no easy thing, even for heroes. The Earth has vomited forth an abomination of the land. It lurks not far north of here, preferring a hillside that it keeps bare of the forest, from which it hunts prey, including our multifarious kind.” New worm, appearing at Bog feet, said: “The Quenlarg was fierce but this is many times that. Bring its body here, and the lichen-hag may have her little garden in return.”
And so you had another quest. Miguel led the way through the forest, searching for the barren hillside that the worms described. You found it soon enough, and Miguel's Sense Life spotted a thing atop the hill, which was hard to make out detais of-was it one or many things? You planned an attack, and saw that it was a huge bundle of confusingly writhing serpents. Boamund's chaos-sense told him it was not of the Void so it must have been of Earth; the darker aspect thereof; as the worms had said. You later may be wondering if this was a manifestation of Seshna Likita's power gone wrong? Serpents always seem to have such ties? No time to ponder though-Fraud snuck up the hillside, followed by Bog, and Miguel prepared his bow while Boamund came up from a safe distance, wary of his weak armour. As Miguel loosed his multi-arrows, striking the serpent-ball's body brutally, the attack began- the thing rolled swiftly down the hill, and Fraud set his shield braced for it. He held firm as it struck him, and Bog let loose a Darkness spell that confused it (with ~15 attacks at � chance, this was very helpful!). The monster bounced off the shield and then set off a furious assault of bites, but it parried some blows to its body with its heads, slowly losing them. And you kept up the attack, soon joined by Boamund, who gave it the final killing blow with his ice-sword, slicing deep into its body and freezing it. The monster was dead!
Dragging the carcass back to the Gathering Ground was not so easy. Miguel was guiding you rather than helping to pull it. Bog and Fraud had been bitten by the serpentoid and, while Bog had resisted its venom to some degree, Fraud suddenly dropped it and demanded that Miguel the Dronari pull the “wagon cart”. He'd clearly gone a bit mad but also made some sense to Boamund, who agreed, and so did Miguel-and amazingly, Miguel held up during the labour, as did the magically-envigoured Bog, so you made it!
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