Big Mama and Mr. Nailbat reached the creature at the same time. Big Mama’s teeth bit through the creature’s membrane and tore out chunks of gelatinous ick while the Nailbat skeleton smashed at its bulbous form.
The Nailbat seemed to have little effect, so I directed the skeleton to switch to its claws instead. Its claws tore into the creature almost before the Nailbat hit the ground.
While my minions tore into the creature and Rot slowly ate away at its form, I cast Necromantic Bolts, taking large chunks off of its health with each hit.
Another pseudopod lashed out and sent my now weaponless skeleton skittering into Big Mama, knocking her off balance and opening her up to another attack from the myconid which shattered her shoulder and left foreleg. She stumbled backward and narrowly avoided a third attack that would have pulverized her skull.
I narrowed my eyes and cast bolt after bolt at the creature, watching my mana dwindle with each attack.
My sword wielding minion slashed at the thing wildly, opening up long tears in its “skin” that were slower and slower to close.
The unarmed skeleton ripped at one of the gaps with its claws, tearing the devourer’s membrane. With a soft slurping sound, the skeleton fell through the rent and was sucked into the slimy mass.
I could see it flailing about inside of the creature as its own hit points started to drain.
I blasted the devourer with the last bits of my mana while my skeletons continue to attack. My inside guy succumbed to the internal pressure of the thing and stopped moving as its hit points reached zero, but he had done his job, and as my final bolt crashed into the monster, its health hit zero.
You have killed a Myconid Devourer! You have gained 100xp!
Quest Update – Mine Shaft 8 Cleared – 12%
CONGRATULATIONS! You have reached Level 6!
You have gained 2 Intelligence!
You have gained 3 Attribute points and 8 Skill points!
Your Hit Points, Mana, and Endurance pools have increased!
I added my points into Intelligence, Wisdom, and Fortune, and put skill points immediately into Necromancy, Dissection, Scavenger and Minor Create Undead. I held onto the four remaining skill points until I had a minute to sit and plan their most efficient use.
The timer for my remaining minion was just about up, so I cancelled the spell and gathered the intact bones and weapons into my bag. I healed Big Mama back to full, reattaching her shattered forelimb.
From what I could tell, as long as the minion wasn’t destroyed, I’d be able to repair it with my spell, but anything else and there was a good chance the bones would be irreparable.
When it died, the devourer had collapsed into a pile of goo that oozed over the tunnel floor. With no desire to touch the goop, I used one of the clubs I’d purchased for my minions to push around the remains to reveal anything useful. Luckily, the goblin skeleton was mostly intact, and I was able to put it back together with some quick repair magic.
I also found a human skeleton, complete with a mining pick. The pick needed repairs as the wooden shaft was a bit… digested, but it would probably do for now.
On the human bones, there was a golden locket with a picture of a woman inside, a silver wedding band, and few coppers.
When I picked up the locket and ring a quest prompt appeared.
QUEST AVAILABLE – Missing Persons
Unfortunately, not everyone managed to evacuate the mine in time. Maybe someone in town is looking for news of the unfortunate miner before you.
Quest Option 1:
Criteria: Seek out the woman from the locket and bring her news of her lost husband, and his ring.
Reward: 100xp, Reputation with the people of Sommervale, Additional Mystery Reward.
Quest Option 2:
Criteria: Pawn the Ring and the Locket at the local Rogues guild.
Reward: 100xp, Reputation with the Rogues Guild, coin commensurate with the value of the items and your Bargaining skill
There was really no question as far as I was concerned. I’d be seeking out the miner’s wife and letting her know what happened to her husband. I’d even return his bones… if she asks for them.
Underneath all the slime there was a small solid mass that seemed to be the core of the creature. Buried inside of it was another stomach pouch with six more of the unknown rocks.
My options when I tried to dissect the core were both orange rated and showed a droplet and a small puddle of slime. There was no reason to not try, so I selected the green droplet and watched the progress bar fill.
Success! You have obtained a Myconid Poison Gland (Paralysis)! You have gained 25xp!
The rest of the disgusting mass dissipated, leaving an empty and thankfully slime-free dead end. With the slime gone, the wall where it had grown was now visible, with a thick vein of what looked like metal running through it.
I was pretty sure I’d found my first copper vein, but without the actual skills to verify it, I couldn’t be certain.
With the current dangers in the past, I set Big Mama to guard the tunnel and sat down, ready to finish spending my skill points.
<><><> Racial Skills <><><>
Darkvision: N/A
Natural Weapons:1
Scavenger:6
Stealth:1(2)
<><><> Class Skills <><><>
Cloth Armor:1
Dissection:6
Necromancy:6
Simple Weapons:1
<><><> General Skills <><><>
Perception:3
<><><> Spells <><><>
Bind Minion:1
Control Undead:1
Cripple:1
Dark Shield:1
Drain:1
Mend Bone:1
Minor Create Undead:6
Necromantic Bolt:5
Psychometry:1
Rot:3
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Unused Skill Points:4
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I wanted to permanently bind another minion, so I added two points to that spell right off. I would have loved to add more to Perception, but I needed to keep my offensive abilities up to snuff so I raised Necromantic Bolt up to six and then put the last point into Rot.
As I put the last point into place, I realized I should probably have kept something in reserve in case I could learn any new spells or skills from the guild. Too late now.
I looked through my collection of bones. I had three goblin skeletons, Little Fat, a groundhog yet to be named, and the poor miner. The temptation to have my first human minion was strong, but I didn’t want to mess up my chances at that quest, so I resisted.
I took out one of my goblin skeletons and added the Nailbat to the pile of bones. I cast Minor Create Undead and then followed it up with the Bind Minion spell, locking away another ten percent of my mana.
I decided that my bound minions deserved their own names, so I named my new goblin Negan after a character from a TV show from my youth who was known for his fondness of that particular weapon.
I animated a second goblin and named it Rusty, after the shortsword that he’d be wielding. Temporary names for temporary minions, but they would do for now.
I recast Dark Shield and headed back to the intersection and continued straight, leaving the main tunnel for last. I activated Stealth and led the way, trying to be as stealthy as possible with my minions trailing behind.
As I rounded a bend, a pair of myconids came into view. The pair was slightly stockier than the Sporestalkers and seemed much less threatening.
A few seconds of concentration brought up their info.
< Myconid Worker >
The names were gray, so there was a good chance that they were the trash mobs of this “dungeon.”
Wondering what these did differently, I ordered Negan and Rusty to charge and held Big Mama back until I could get a feel for our new opponents.
When the workers saw the skeletons bearing down on them, they reached behind them and g
rabbed a pair of pickaxes from where they were leaning against the wall, their mouths opened wide in fury.
Negan dodged a sloppy overhand attack from his opponent and smashed the Nailbat into its head, ripping out a large chunk of its crown along with almost half of its hit points. Rusty fared a little worse, taking a hefty blow to the shoulder that cracked his collar bone and dropping his hit points by a third before he could bring his sword to bear.
Goblin Skeleton (Rusty) has suffered a critical hit! Left arm is now disabled.
The skeleton barely paused in his attack, ignoring his useless limb as he brought his shortsword across in two quick slashes that left the worker with a sliver of hit points remaining.
Even for a trash mob I was surprised with how fragile they were. The goblins who’d graciously donated their bones to my army had been level four, so I expected the minions to be around that level in power, unless the magic animating them added a little something extra.
Big Mama and I entered the room just as Rusty finished off his opponent, another slash chopping the worker in half.
Negan was still battling his target, playing more of a cat-and-mouse game. The mostly blunt damage of his weapon much less effective than a blade.
I shrugged and finished it with a single Necromantic Bolt.
You have killed 2x Myconid Worker. You have gained 20xp.
I looted the workers, finding large stacks of the unknown stone in their stomachs and the picks they were wielding.
When I activated Dissection there were two options available. One appeared to be a dust of some sort and the other a small mushroom. Both were gray, so I crossed my fingers and selected the dust icon first.
Success! You have obtained Myconid Worker Spores! You have gained 5xp!
Unfortunately, the corpse disappeared without a chance at the other item. On the second worker I opted for the mushroom looking icon first.
Critical Success! You have obtained Myconid Flesh x4! You have scavenged Myconid Heartmeat x1! You have gained 25xp.
I was pretty sure that Scavenger was supposed synergize with gathering skills like Dissection, but so far it had seemed to be a purely active skill with the gold sparkles. It was good to see that it would work with the normal harvesting stuff too.
And if that wasn’t good enough, the corpse reappeared, and I was able to try for the second component as well.
Success! You have obtained Myconid Worker Spores! You have gained 5xp!
I tucked the rocks and picks into my bag, frowning as the empty slots grew fewer. The mystery rock filled up one inventory slot with a stack of twenty and then bled into a second slot. I considered tossing it since I was running out of space, but decided to hold on to it until I needed space or could identify it.
***
14
The path ahead of me split, the main tunnel continuing slightly to the right with the intersecting path leading left. Both directions led deeper into the mine, the right path splitting again further down while the left was a single passage as far as I could see.
There was a slight breeze flowing in from the left, carrying the sound of bubbling water and moisture dripping from some underground water source.
Darr had mentioned the myconids taking a liking to the hot springs in the mine, so the left path seemed to have a better chance of finding their source.
I dropped into Stealth and headed into the left tunnel, trying hard not to alert whatever lurked below to our approach.
The tunnel sloped down and opened into a wide cavern with a bubbling pool the size of a small lake taking up most of the area. Several clusters of myconids were resting near the water, thriving in the moist heat.
At the far end of the cavern was another devourer growing on the wall, half submerged in the bubbling water.
I counted the closest group of myconids. Three workers and one Sporestalker, easy pickings for me and my minions.
Better safe than sorry, I thought and refreshed my Dark Shield, recast the animation spell on Rusty to refresh his timer and then prepared to rumble after my mana was back at full.
I ordered my minions to be still and crept forward to my bolt’s maximum range. Huddling against the edge of the tunnel to present as little of a profile to my target as I could, I cast Necromantic Bolt at the Sporestalker and sent it streaking across the cavern into its back.
Sneak Attack Successful!
Sneak Attack Damage Multiplier x2!
Half of the stalker’s body was blasted away, dropping it to the ground with only thirty percent of its health bar remaining. The closest workers started to panic, looking around for the source of the bolt but unable to spot me in the darkness.
I sent a second bolt into one of the workers, cutting it in half.
Sneak Attack Successful!
Sneak Attack Damage Multiplier x2!
The remaining workers spotted me and headed my way. Behind them the Sporestalker regained its feet and started dragging itself towards me, letting out a strange grunting cry that caught the attention of a second group of workers.
I cursed. Adds were always a risk, but my minions should be able to deal with the workers as long as I assisted. I drew my knife in my off hand and hoped I wouldn’t need it as I ordered my minions to attack.
Big Mama dashed forwards, crashing into the original pair of workers in a hail of teeth and claws while Rusty advanced towards the adds. Negan moved forward to guard me in case anything got past the others.
I entered the cavern and shot another bolt at the Sporestalker, scoring a glancing hit as it dropped to the ground at the last minute, shaving off a small chunk of its crown, and health bar.
I advanced towards where Big Mama was fighting, her health close to eighty-five percent from the bludgeoning blows of the workers. Her opponents were much worse off, each down below fifty percent, which was better than I expected.
These workers must be buffed or something from the pool, I thought.
As long as they were still alive, I figured I could take advantage of the situation to buff myself a little. I cast Drain, targeting the less wounded of the two and smiled as the purple lightning latched onto the myconid and transferred its life force to me, raising my hit point bar with each pulse.
Big Mama bit into the other worker, savaging it with a quick shake of her head.
My Drain victim took advantage and surged past her, charging at me.
I focused on the spell, continuing the chant required to channel the spell as I prepared to defend myself with my dagger.
The myconid raised its arms to strike as it closed, but didn’t make it very far before Negan stepped between us and smashed it to the ground with his Nailbat, doing minimal damage but delaying it for long enough for my spell to finish it off.
Big Mama’s health bar suddenly dropped to almost nothing, and I looked over to see another Sporestalker had come out of nowhere and taken a bite out of her spine while the worker she’d been savaging twitched on the ground at her feet.
Groundhog Den Mother Skeleton (Big Mama) has suffered a critical hit, mobility decreased by 75%.
I sent Negan charging in and cast Necromantic Bolt at the newcomer, hoping I wasn’t too late.
The creature raised some sort of chiseled stone blade in its mitten-like hand and brought it down on Big Mama’s skull just as my bolt slammed into it. Big Mama’s bones collapsed to the ground in a heap as her health hit zero.
Groundhog Den Mother Skeleton (Big Mama) has suffered a critical hit.
Groundhog Den Mother Skeleton (Big Mama) has been destroyed! Your bound mana has been returned!
Silver lining: the weight of her bones crushed the life from the injured worker.
Screw that guy, he’s going down! I thought and cast Rot with a pinch of Bone Dust on the bastard just as Negan reached him, the Nailbat colliding with the stone blade the Sporestalker raised in a hasty parry.
I glanced toward Rusty and saw he was in bad shape as well, his bones chipped and cracked. Negan’s fight wasn’
t going well either.
As I watched, the Sporestalker landed another blow that dropped his hit points by ten percent.
I narrowed my eyes, pulled out a leg bone and tried to give Negan some help. I completed the Cripple spell and snapped the bone, wondering at the last minute how it would affect something with no bones.
The Sporestalker seemed to crumple a bit as the spell sank into its structural tissue, another layer of its flesh dropping off it cringed in pain. Negan took full advantage, smashing away with his bat.
I mentally directed the skeleton to aim for the creature’s weapon arm and was relieved when it obeyed, bashing away at the thing’s weapon arm until it released its hold on the stone sword.
Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the first stalker as it rejoined the fight and spit a glob of poison in my direction.
I dashed to the side, tripping over myself in an attempt to get out of the way. I avoided the full brunt of the attack, but the glob clipped my left leg, soaking through my scales and turning my health bar green as the poison took effect.
You have been poisoned with Slow Death poison. You are taking 1 damage per second for 1 minute!
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” I cursed. Even with the hit points I’d drained earlier I wasn’t going to survive the poison unless I could heal myself, and the only healing I had was Drain.
I let the creature know just how much I appreciated its poison with a Necromantic Bolt right to its face and it finally went down for good.
I sent Negan to help Rusty, who was down at ten percent health. The shortsword wielding skeleton had managed to turn the tables on his opponents, chopping huge chunks out of their bodies at the expense of his own health. With Negan’s help they should be able to finish them off.
Negan’s previous opponent took the opportunity to spit a glob of poison onto his back as he rushed away.
Myconid Sporestalker attacks Goblin Skeleton (Negan) with Slow Death Poison Spit
Goblin Skeleton (Negan) has been hit with Slow Death Poison Spit!
Goblin Skeleton (Negan) is immune to poison.
Extra Credit Page 11