The restorative night in the mushroom cavern passes without incident. Bromsby forages more bacon mushrooms for breakfast. Any discussion of how to proceed is preempted when a spotted tabaxi monk silently dashes by their chamber, chased by heavy paw falls.
Lefty! Bromsby calls out to the monk. The pair of pursuing gnolls veer into the chamber where Meega meets them with her giant slayer and Theren offers his signature sword-and-hand-crossbow combo. Lefty slips in behind the gnolls with a palm smash. Haerelben steps into the fray to introduce himself to the embattled gnolls, creating a distraction for Bromsby’s lethal thorn whip to drop the first gnoll. Meega finishes the second gnoll with a double axe chop. The vanquished gnolls are branded with the Black Earth cult symbol.
Bromsby’s reunited traveling companion introduces herself as Left-Handed Undertraveler, or Lefty, if you please. Her handle was earned not by the lethal short sword in her right hand but by the lethal slam that follows from her open left hand. Both her hands now retrieve the paper-wrapped hot roast she heisted from the nearby camp of the recently deceased gnolls.
While Lefty eats, Bromsby spots undercommon writing on her breakfast wrapper. Haerelben supervises over Bromsby’s shoulder to check his undercommon grammar. Theren supervises over Haerelben’s shoulder to check his undercommon grammar. Without error, Bromsby reads:
Regroup in Red Larch, contact <obscured by meat grease> air cult <obscured by meat grease> show them who’s boss.
Haerelben recapitulates their adventures for newcomers Bromsby and Lefty with emphasis on the perceived structure of the four elemental cults: cultists occupying a keep on the surface, a subterranean temple below, a powerful priest or prophet with a relic of elemental power, each backed by an elemental deity. Haerelben spreads his gridded sheet of parchment out; so for example the earth cult Black Earth occupies the Sacred Stone Monastery under the supervision of Hellenrae while prophet priest Marlos Urnrayle searches and finds Iron Fang, holy implement of earth power from fan of the eye, in service of deity Ogremoch, a decidedly evil incarnation of elemental earth.
Theren concludes the summarization by bringing out Iron Oath, the silver hammer from the shrine of the unbreakable oath. He demonstrates Iron Oath by swinging it against the earthen wall, loudly obliterating a large section of the cavern. Ta da!
As abundant paw falls approach in summons to the commotion, Theren redistributes several magic items and Bromsby turns the wand of ray of frost over and over in his hands, trying to count the number of charges. Lefty alleviates her nervous concern by fidgeting with a ball of yarn. The paws get much, much closer.
Meega walks backward, deeper into the cavern, to make it look like the party has just left. Theren casts pass without trace and the party withdraws into the cavern quietly. None of this confuses the gnolls at all and rearguard Meega catches a longbow arrow with her vital organs. A second arrow pierces a nearby mushroom which begins screaming to the unbearable detriment of anyone fighting near it. A third arrow pierces a mushroom next to Haerelben creating a pleasant bacon aroma.
Meega escapes the screaming mushroom by pushing a gnoll that blocks the passage, bashing him out of her way and into the wall. She chops him down into a difficult torso heap.
Theren sends crossbow bolts past Haerelben into another gnoll. Lefty sends darts past Theren and Haerelben crumpling that gnoll into another difficult torso heap.
Bromsby poison sprays a third gnoll into a difficult torso heap. This attracts the attention of all the remaining gnolls and they concentrate their arrows on Bromsby.
A gnoll known to his friends as Mushroom Bill carefully harvests a mushroom which he holds daintily. Theren sends two bolts at Mushroom Bill’s group of three, hitting him and his two cohorts with a hail of thorns. Lefty fearlessly runs into the midst of the hail-damaged gnolls and face palms one dead. Bromsby lends his thorn whip, but Mushroom Bill survives the onslaught and hucks the mushroom. The mushroom impacts near Haerelben and engulfs the retching party in a noxious cloud.
Meega sweeps a gnoll off his feet and Lefty finishes him. Bromsby stands on the dead gnoll and shillelaghs Mushroom Bill. Mushroom Bill bites Bromsby and gnoll Fungus Bob spears Bromsby from behind. Meega knocks Fungus Bob down and slays him. Lefty finishes Mushroom Bill with a lefty, and Bromsby takes out Limping Lichen Lou with a poisonous spray.
The injured adventurers take a short rest while Theren retrieves bolts and loots the gnolls. He comes up with a bag of fingerbone dice, a small ruby, 14g 27s, and a small vial of dark liquid that he identifies as a potion of spider climb and passes to Meega.
To kill a little time while the party recuperates, Theren identifies the bronze griffon Allana purchased from Pilphit’s to discover the activation word. The summoned bronze griffon’s name is Hesperis, which Haerelben mishears as H’asparagus. Hesperis fills the chamber, pressing everyone into the walls.
Haerelben tempts Theren into breaking all the dead gnolls’ jaws so they can’t report the party via speak with the dead.
Haerelben makes a sending: Ardak, army of Black Earth possibly headed to Red Larch. In Tyar-Besil investigating cults. Can respond to Red Larch if needed. Theren says “hi”.
Ardak responds: Understood. No one available to investigate. Troubles at Quastarte.
The party narrows their options to two: investigate the Black Earth section of Tyar-Besil or save Red Larch.