The session started with the party being sucked down in the hole in the middle of the underground pool in the Owlbear’s lair, where they proceeded to be thrown with the current down a massive underground river, bouncing off walls and doing their best to hold their breath. They find themselves washed up in a little inlet of the river (and Reo Grayrlock holding on to a stone in the middle of that calmer inlet). Somewhere further down the river a waterfall raged, making conversation in this area nearly impossible. As they lay their trying to catch their breath, they heard scraping from a ledge up the wall, and felt a nauseous wave of fear hit them. A little looking around revealed a couple of Meenlock up on the ledge, having come out of some hidden tunnel up above their heads.

Reo Grayrlock immediately sprang into action and ran up the wall with her [[slippers-of-spider-climbing]], where she successfully grabbed both the meenlocks by their claws, somersaulted down and threw them to the ground.

The rest of the party then engaged the meenlocks, trading blows. Two more meenlocks appeared on the ledge down at the other end of the inlet, and came down to attack. From out of nowhere a figure appeared from what appeared to be a solid wall, attacking the new meenlocks.

The battle raged, with this figure suddenly vanishing from sight as quickly as it had appeared. Several rounds of combat later, and all of the meenlocks were finally destroyed, with one thrown out in to the current by Luh Kranky Krank and the others having lost limbs in their attempts to grab members of the party.

After the battle, the crew ventured down a 5′ wide path to where the mysterious figure stood waiting for them; the sound of the waterfall still too much for conversation, the figure gestured for them to follow him. He led them to the “dead end” wall at the end of the path, where a very narrow switchback passage led them through the wall and out on to a ledge in a gigantic cavern filled with a fully myconid circle. The full circle encompassed several smaller circles, each with their own activities going on. A large, deep, crystal clear lake filled with bioluminescent fungi sat in the middle of the lake, with an island in the middle of that. Bridges spread out from that island like spokes, each leading to the shore and the various circles.

On the ledge, the mysterious individual introduced himself as [[Xander]] . he explained that he had been on watch when the crew came sputtering out of the river, and watched the meenlocks come down – they had started to become a nuisance to the Circle – so he stepped in to help dispatch them.

Two Myconid guards were stationed on the ledge, at the top of a ramp that wound down and in to the lower cavern. The air became filled with airborne spores, and as the crew breathed in they found themselves hearing the voices of the myconids in their heads. The guards ask the crew why they were there. The crew, and [[Xander]], explained the battle outside, and the crew explained that they had been pulled down into the underground river and were just trying to figure out how to get back to the surface and on with their mission.

As the crew stood overlooking the underground cavern they noticed that the cavern was laid out in a giant circle, made up of smaller circles. At the center of the cavern was a giant lake, and in the center of the lake was an island. From the island were “spokes” that branched out to the shore, connecting the island from all around. On the island itself was an absolutely enormous myconid; this is the Sovereign of the colony, Sporeglow.

The crew, after additional discussion, requests to speak with Sporeglow to ask some questions and get some guidance. At this point two additional guards arrive at the top of the ramp, where they all confer, and the group is led down the ramp by the new guards. As they walk, they get a better look at the cavern. There are what appear to be gardens of some kind growing all sorts of fungi and vegetation up the walls. Each circle below appears centered around a main giant fungus that serves as a dwelling, with smaller “buildings” around that. Each circle has myconids in all shapes and sizes and kinds going about their daily life. At the very bottom of the ramp as they wind through they find a nursery full of sprouts. They continue to wind through the cavern once they reach the floor, where they are taken to a building where they can rest and await their meeting with Sporeglow.

A very short time later the guards showed up, and they were taken to see Sporeglow. They would their way along the shore of the lake, which was crystal clear and filled with bioluminescent growth. The bottom was deep enough they could not see it. They came to one of the bridges out to the island, which were made of roots. They crossed the bridge, which was a good 50′ long, and found themselves on the island looking up at Sporeglow. He towered above them, each leg at least 8′ round, and his torso twice that. His cap, which was 40′ up, spread 30′ out around him. The air here was more densely filled with airborn spores, and the crew found themselves relaxed and at peace as they communicated with Sporeglow.

They explained all that had happened, and asked him **SOMETHING BUT NOBODY CAN REMEMBER WHAT.**

He explained that he did not know these answers, but perhaps a colony meld would reveal the information that the crew was seeking.

While they waited, they rested and talked. Xander told some of his story and how he ended up down here in the colony. (see [[History of Xander]] ). Luh Kranky Krank also shared some about himself, and The Legend of the Beta Masta . Xander revealed that he had one of the rune stones that the crew was seeking to go along with the ones they pilfered from Jeb’s cabin at the bandit camp.

About the time they finished up their sharing, the guards showed back up to bring them to Sporeglow for the meld. They followed the guards out to find the entire lower cavern around the lake filled with myconids, hundreds or more of them. They crossed the bridge again to the island, and sat down near Sporeglow. As they waited, the air grew thick with airborn spores, and they all found themselves sinking into a deep, relaxed, trancelike state. As they relaxed, they started to experience random visions and the very odd sensation of becoming one with hundreds of other minds. Visions that obviously belonged to various myconids in the colony flitted through their consciousness.

NOTE: At this point DM turned off all the lights and turned on the blacklight so the room was filled with glowing everything (around the table)

The Meld: