Dellas grins from one to another ear, he points at several items and explains "Magic, magic, magic and magic. Is this?... "

The six bottles that are not green are minorly magical.
 And the dagger has a minor magical aura as well

He walks over to the chest and carefully lifts the lid, looking inside.

Averdante pushed himself up off the floor with his uninjured arm, taking a fast look around for whatever it was that had just bitten him. Which, on second thought, was probably rather pointless; if it hadn't become visible upon attack, it was likely still invisible. So, mindful of keeping his distance from the alter, he took a look at the blood seeping out through the punctures sharp teeth had made in his armor. That had hurt, was still hurting a great deal... and been extremely alarming!

A little surprised to see Dellas has gone to the chest despite what had just happened -- apparently seeing someone thrown across the room like a rag doll was neither distracting nor worrisome to the little mage -- he warns, "That might not be safe, Dellas!"

He'd intended to ask if there was some protective spell the halfling was aware of that could explain what had just happened, but perhaps Dellas was going to get a first-hand impression of it himself to consider. Watching the tapestry, Averdante gingerly moved his arm, trying to reassure himself there was no burn or numbness that might indicate he'd been poisoned again.

Dellas shakes his head and looks at Averdante with an almost confused look he asks "What? Why?" His eyes seem to grow double their size and he stops dead in his tracks. "Oh... I " he looks again at the chest and the altar, standing not too close to it he raises his hand with the palm facing the altar and closes his eyes

It takes a moment to realize that Averdante was suddenly attacked by something invisible! [Language unknown: Ilngto we tewit nohareas reacomson evroit elfo our!] Narthian cries, pointing to where Averdante is defensively holding his arm before him.

Casting Faerie Fire.

Bruenor breaks away from gazing at the beautiful plate mail, and snaps his head around at the sound near Dante.  When he sees the elf's arm bleeding, he quickly draws his sword, swinging it back & forth before him.

"Dante...what happened?", he calls out.

He trains his eyes on the ground, and strains his ears for any sound.

Volsh readied his spear as he saw Averdante tossed about like a rag doll, but there was no foe.  He looked about for the tell-tale signs, such as disturbance of the ground, or any sound that might give away this invisible foe.

OOC: Spot/Listen checks?

"There was something behind the tapestry," Averdante answers Bruenor. "It didn't become visible even when it grabbed me, so maybe it's not an actual creature -- but it certainly felt as if something bit down on my arm." He glanced down at the bloody imprints and added, "Looks like something bit me, too."

As much as he'd like to know what bit him, he's not about to provoke it again. Between the bite and having his shoulder wrenched, he's injured enough to know when he's seriously over-matched. Gingerly rolling his shoulder, he thinks he can still use his bow -- because he's not about to get within sword's reach of that tapestry again!

"Dellas!  Curse your curiosity, there's something bloody alive and hungry over there!  Get back!" Sir Aberlayne snaps, and gets herself between Dellas the unseen biting thing.

There is no numbness or burning like the poison he had been subjected to before, just the pain of bruised and lacerated flesh from a strong and toothy set of jaws.



Dellas extends his hand to examine the magical auras more closely, ignoring any possible danger from Averdante's thrashing about.  He gets a first-hand lesson in careful examination, as his extended hand is chomped upon by an invisible maw!




Narthian takes bold action, and green fire outlines a stumpy, bulbous quadruped with no discernible head.  The thing is certainly targetable now!



With Narthian's spell in effect, the thing can be seen to be hit.  And hit it Bruenor can, with a fierce swing of his longsword.  This is one of the few larger chambers in the kobold warren, and Bruenor can swing without restriction, biting deep into his curiously solid foe.



Limned in green light, Volsh has a target, and he can thrust his spear deep into the thing with all his strength!



She swipes with her axe at the green-lit thing, but after Volsh's spear thrust, the thing is already falling, dying.  And in dying, the invisibility of it falls away, revealing the true form of what they had been fighting.  It has four stumpy legs, a thick body covered with nodules of green and brown, no head, and a large maw filled with rock-like teeth.

After a few moments, Narthian recognizes the thing as a phantom fungus, a naturally invisible mobile plant with the intelligence of an animal.  No one has ever seen it alive, as its invisibility resists all magical attempts to dismiss it until it dissolves naturally in death.  It seems either the kobolds had managed to train it as a guard, or perhaps it had moved it later to prey upon the beetles.

Volsh grimaced, as he pulled his spear from teh body of the fungus creature.  He looked for something to clean the blade, wondering if it might somehow stain it.

"What sort of creature is this?  Very convenient that it can remain invisible and attack."

"AAAGH my hand," he quickly lets his sister in front of him and stretches another hand to unleash one of the 999 layers of hell upon whatever bit him only to open his eyes even wider in surprise when the invisible thing turns out to be a... mushroom? Disregarding his sister he approaches it carefully, sticking his dagger in that thing "Fascinating, that's why it didn't hunt... maybe those Kobolds trained it or they just avoided it..." He pays little to no attention to the rather nasty bite, at least until he notices blood dripping on the floor "Oh... I ... what." He takes some clean cloth from his backpack and wounds it around his wound. With his healthy hand he points towards the chest "In the chest seems to be something that goes boom... someone check it out... I'll sit over there for a moment."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:24, Tue 21 Mar 2017.

"Good work my warrior friends!" Narthian cheers. "And thank Corellon Larethian for the spell that revealed the thing! I never thought that I would ever see one!" He pokes at the remains with his dagger. "Such a magnificent creature. It is a shame that no kobolds remain to teach me how to capture and train one."

Averdante regards the other elf with dry disbelief. Only a druid -- and kobolds -- would want some ambulatory, fungoid beast for a pet. As far as he's concerned, killing the thing is not a loss.

"I think I'd prefer an alligator to one of those."

His attention is already slipping back to the chest, though. What had Dellas seen in it? Dante checks his arm, noting the bleeding's mostly stopped, so despite knowing it's probably a foolish thing to do, he moves warily back over to take a second look.

"Careful, Dante..." Bruenor calls out, as he looks for something to clean his blade.  He did not want that fungus' remains on it, that was for sure.

Ignoring the muck on his sword, he steps up behind Averdante, keeping careful watch as the elf investigates further.

Dellas rests for a few minutes, collecting his thoughts and occasionally looking at his hand. Not long after that he slowly stands up and looks around for some kind of pot with lid or vial or something.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:40, Fri 24 Mar 2017.

In Fen-on-the-Fen



Haazheel will launch into an explanation with enthusiasm, pausing to look at Lantamori often, as she often had a better perspective and certainly had gotten a first-hand look at the remnants of the crow while it had still been alive.

---

In the Kobold Tunnels





Sir Aberlayne shakes her head and helps Dellas bind up the wound more effectively, Averdante's too.  "Dellas, I swear you would run into a Hellmouth if it looks interesting enough. There, that should hold it for now.  Farian's at the entrance, and he'll be able to heal your wounds.  You too, Averdante. I doubt this place has many more foes; the phantom fungus must have been feeding on the dead."




The phantom fungus is a very solid creature, quite heavy despite its size. 



With Bruenor and Volsh watching carefully for any further dangers, Averdante takes a more careful look at the chest.  Examining it with care, he realizes there's a tiny fragment of fireweed in the lock, and the chest is oriented so that it faces the south, so that a beam of sunlight falls on it.  Taken all together, he suspects it's rigged to put something flammable in the face of anyone opening it.  With caution, he eases the chest very slightly out of its southerly orientation, delicately removes the fireweed spring, and can breathe easier.  It's the work of a few more minutes to tease the lock open, but finally you have a view of the inside.

The bulk of it is filled with silver coins of many eras, with a few of other colors (copper, gold, even the darker gleam of electrum) studded throughout.

There is an oak wand carved with a vine twining around itself, studded with mossy-green clear stones.

There is a bracelet made of molded leather and and crystal to look like a dragon coiled about one's wrist or upper arm, its toothy jaws open, a flame-red tongue within.

There are two identical bands of what looks like spider silk, woven in a pattern of geckos.

Finally there is a stone figurine of a cat, nearly life size, carved of lapis lazuli with exquisite detail.



Dellas can find a little bottle amidst his spell components, and can carefully scrape some bits of the phantom fungus into it for further study and use.

"Tricky little vermin," Averdante muses aloud as he teases things out from the coins and piles them on the floor beside the chest. There's admiration in his voice, although he's too distracted to realize it. The wand, that's clearly meant for spell users, although it's more attractive than most he's seen. The gecko-patterned wrist bands are intriguing and quite cleverly woven.

And that -- he shakes the coins from the dragon bracelet and grins. "I think this is something you'll really like, Dellas," he says, and holds it out for the halfling wizard.

The cat statue captures his attention, though. He lifts it out to rest on his thigh, smoothing a hand over the statue's sleek form. "I wonder why this wasn't left out on display. It's beautifully done." He likes the subtle play of the varied shades of blue. "It's much more elegant than armor."

Dellas winces a little as his sister helps him "But you're there for me... it worked out just fine." He grins then he puts one finger on his lips be pretends to think "But why doesn't Yondalla give you the ability to heal others? Did you do break her chas..."  He couldn't finish his sentence before Averdante dangled the bracers in front of his face "Ooooh, shiny...." He leaves his sister sitting there before quickly covering the distance between himself and Averdante and taking a closer look at the dragon bracers "Masterfully done... it is soo pretty."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Tue 28 Mar 2017.

Volsh figured they would have plenty of time to go through the baubles and other treasure once the party returned to the village.  "Let's not dawdle here.  Gather the treasures you have found and we can distribute them later.  If there is nothing else to search in these tunnels then I would like to return to the village."  His tone was perhaps a bit more curt than he intended, but he had no desire to stay in these kobold tunnels any longer than was necessary.

Narthian points out some growths on the phantom fungus to Dellas. "Fresh spores ought to be useful components for something," he says. "Be careful though, we do not want to raise another without knowing how to control it!"

He generally agrees with Volsh about leaving, and helps collect the treasures for removal.

Bruenor watches as Averdante empties the contents of the chest on the ground.  He raises an eyebrow at the items, but without knowing what they were or what they could do, he wouldn't get excited about any of it.  Give him a nice weapon, like the Prince's longsword, over a bit of jewelry or coin.  He didn't think he'd ever fought with a finer blade than what he carried now.

"I'm with the hairy one," he jests in Volsh's general direction.  "Let's not linger in these foul tunnels."

Averdante examines the sleek little statue, very smooth under his hand, and notices something engraved on the bottom as he lifts it out.  There's a word there, "Prrrow".



"Yondolla has me for other duties, little brother, more martial ones, and if I am devout enough, maybe the ability to heal by touch in time.  But for now, I have bandages and herbs and you will take it and like it," Sir Aberlayne says, not successfully repressing a smile.

Once distracted by the bracelet, he examines it to find the scaled bracelet will move easily, allowing him to snug it about his upper arm securely, if he so wishes.  It feels rather warm, like it's been sitting in the sun, even though it was just taken out of a locked chest.

Volsh, Narthian, and Bruenor express their desire to go back to the village, and with a bit of rigging up of a sledge or two so they can haul back their loot without having to drag it through the mud, you can load up the treasury and be on your way.  Farian blinks in surprise at the haul when you come out, but then administers healing to Averdante and Dellas to alleviate their pain.  "An invisible, walking, toothy-mawed mushroom?  I think I'm glad I wasn't there to see it!"

It takes you somewhat longer to get back, burned as you are, but you reach the village by before sundown.  When you're let inside, the people of Fen-on-the-Fen exclaim in wonder at what you found.

"The armor of the Phoenix Knight!" Eldest Kine says as she emerges from the guildhouse, Lantamori and Haazheel right behind her.  "That's an old, old legend in these parts.  He was supposed to have passed this way some hundred years ago, seeking some vile threat deep in the swamp, but hadn't been seen again.  Whatever end he came to our there, I'm certain his spirit must be content that the symbol of his profession is in kindly hands again.  Come!  Sit, eat, and rest.  You can return to your Guild soon enough in the morning."
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:14, Thu 06 Apr 2017.

Dellas nods and follows the others, keeping the bracers near him... feeling their heat on his skin.

During the great welcome he keeps to himself and eats mostly. Touching the bracelet and turning it around in his hands until he gets up and finds a place to rest.

"I see you discovered more than just mud in those tunnels," Lantamori observed.  "Haazheel and I have explained that they crow has gone and that they have nothing more to fear from it."

She was glad that the others had found their trip worthwhile and did not regret her decision to return before them.  She had seen more than enough mud to last her for this trip and was looking forward to their return to Redhaven.

Narthian listens the story of the armor with interest. "This warrior sought the danger alone?" he asks incredulously. "Then he was unwise. Challenges are better faced with the strength of the pack." he scratches Thunder behind an ear.