Looking for Loot
Having defeated the fungus monster, the party collected the 14 surviving Black Rattlecap mushrooms to return with to the Old Beldame. Oostend cast Detect Magic, but he did not uncover anything that the party had not brought with them.
Froing chopped up the carcass of the fungus beast while Aeldred rejuvinated Oostend. K’rek looked around for other dangerous fungus, but did not find any. Lucee looked for anything of value while Stormbolt assessed the magical or alchemical value of the mushrooms. None were components, but there were some edible varieties that Lucee collected to bring back for the workers.
While in that region, the party documented the area for the next two days and made camp in the hills before returning with their cargo in the morning.
Back to the Swamp Witch
It took another day to return to Old Beldame’s hut. They arrived late in the evening. The witch was receptive and invited the party inside the hut. Lucee noticed that the pumpkin scarecrow was watching her exclusively.
The old woman mentioned that the fungus monster was a tendriculus, but that they were rare. She went into another room where the sounds of rummaging could be heard. She returned with 1400 gp worth of coins, mostly copper.
K’rek mentioned the liquor that the party had acquired from the Stag Lord’s stock. Old Beldame was interested in it and said that she could enchant masterwork items. Stormbolt contracted with her to improve his Bracers of Armor. Aeldred contracted to improve his darkwood longbow.
It would take about a week to complete those two items, at which time the party would return with the ale, the balance of the payment, and to commission her to enchant Lucee’s longsword and to make a Handy Haversack for Froing.
After the negotiations, they made camp for the night before returning to the building site in the morning. They returned to the town to find that the land was cleared and the foundations of various buildings were being started. Froing sought out followers of Sarenae and found a few.
Stormbolt’s Homestead
While the party attended to administrative issues, Stormbolt took five of his kobold sycophants to the abandoned gold mine to claim it for his home. They set out on a three day journey to the site. The trip was uneventful and he stationed the kobolds at the entrance.
At the Sootscale Cave
He was met by the rest of the party at the Sootscale tribe’s cave during their celebration of the dragon’s arrival. More kobolds volunteered to come on Stormbolt’s adventures. K’rek negotiated with the Sootscale chief to join the new kingdom Stormbolt and his group were establishing. At the same time, Stormbolt arranged with the chief to rotate the guards at his cave.
Exploring the Region
Over the next two days, the party documented the region around the Sootscale camp with the assistance of the kobolds. They then moved on to the region around the Old Sycamore tree and the mite nest.
As they approached the giant tree, there were no signs of life. Froing summoned a dog to approach the tree. It did so and nothing unusual happened. Lucee cast Detect Evil, but none was found.
Stormbolt sent his kobold followers to investigate inside the tree. A long time passed. Oostend approached the entrance and listened. He heard the sound of kobold footsteps, but nothing else.
After a while, K’rek entered to see what was happening within. He found that there were no signs of anything. The mites had moved out and taken everything with them. They documented the region around the great tree for two days.
A Light in the Dark
They camped for the night closer to Stormbolt’s homestead than the Old Sycamore. Oostend and Froing were on watch, and several of the kobolds were wandering about the camp, when they saw what looked like someone with a lamp walking in the distance. Oostend went alone to investigate while Froing had the kobolds watch the perimeter of the camp.
Oostend approached the light to discover a call of light floating off the edge of a cliff. He identified it as a Will o’ Wisp. He avoided the cliff and returned to camp where the night passed uneventfully.