From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 409: Hospitable Mushrooms

"I'm familiar with your symptoms, dwarf." Minsara stared at the arrow wound on the deep dwarf's leg. "The duergar did it, didn't they? A poison extract common in the Underdark. Since those dwarves are resistant to poison, they don't need to use an antidote. Unless you are their slave."

Judging from the look of fear on the deep gnome's face, Minsara was right.

The deep dwarf Tula gasped because of the pain brought by the poison. He tried to muster up a little courage and continued the conversation: "You want to go out, and I come from Baldur's Gate... This is a good deal, right?"

The expression on Minsara's face did not soften. She looked the dwarf up and down, and was not in a hurry to speak. She was waiting for the price, trying to squeeze out higher value from the dwarf.

However, her teammates do not think this is a behavior worth promoting.

"If you have a way, take it out quickly! Don't let this poor little guy cry anymore!" Kalak pushed aside a few drow in front of him and came to Tula, "Do you know the name Bacchus or Basque? We saved his life on the surface... I remember he was going to the Underdark to find his friends..."

"You saved Bacchus?" Tula struggled to sit up, but the poison in her body made her efforts fail. "He came to find Ulbrun... just across the lake!"

A brief purple light suddenly appeared on the back of Yingxin's hand, causing her to let out a low cry of pain. But she quickly restored her expression to normal, pretending nothing had happened.

Tula glanced at Minsara. The proud drow paladin was obviously very dissatisfied with Kalak's unnecessary trouble, but before she could speak, Tula handed her the way.

"I know the rules of the drow..." Tula kicked off his boots and pushed them in the direction of Minsara. "We are the Iron Hand Clan of Baldur's Gate, the best craftsmen in that city... This is your reward - the magic boots stolen from the gray dwarves... If you can help me detoxify... uh..."

A bottle of antidote for a pair of magic boots is obviously a very cost-effective exchange.

Without waiting for anyone else to speak, Minsara threw the vial in his hand into Tula's arms and ordered his drow follower, "Go and clean those boots for me. I don't want to see any mud spots on them."

The drow got what he wanted, so he didn't intend to argue with Kalak and retreated back into the crowd.

Although Tula could not see the effect of the antidote from her gray-black skin, she at least had the strength to say a few more words.

"Please save my compatriots. The gray dwarf has captured them all and taken them to the other side of the lake to dig up some ruins... As long as you can rescue my compatriots, I will not only tell you the way out, but also give you a large sum of money!" Tula continued to plead.

"Not only can we find a way out, but we can also get money." Kalak nodded and turned to look at Ivy. "What do you say, Ivy?"

"There seems to be no reason to refuse. Let's make some simple supplies in the mushroom village and then set out to deal with those gray dwarves." Ivy nodded and accepted the task, then asked for details, "Did you run back from the ruins? Can you describe the environment and precautions?"

"Of course! Of course!" Tula said hurriedly, "It's just across the lake! Those gray dwarves have boats! You can find their boats in the myconid fishing village! The ruins are very hot... There is magma everywhere... And, it seems to have belonged to Shar... There are many of her statues inside..."

"magma?"

"Mrs. Shar?"

Mingsala and Yingxin both heard the parts of Tula's words that they cared about.

"This must be the guidance of Ms. Shar! No wonder it hurt so much before... I'm so glad we didn't miss it..." Yingxin clenched his fists and prayed silently to the god he served.

Minsara returned to Ivy again and whispered in his ear, "I've seen Dawn's memory crystal. The adamantium furnace is built on a magma lake! Only by relying on the heat of the magma can the strongest metal in the world be melted. I don't believe those gray dwarves are just some bandits. There must be a supreme god behind them!"

Feeling the warm breath coming from her ears, Ivy nodded calmly: "Who is the leader of those gray dwarves? Why did you ironhand dwarves travel all the way from Baldur's Gate to the dangerous Underdark?"

"It's just to dig some materials, no big deal." Although the underground dwarf Tula concealed it well, Ivy still got the information he wanted from her mind through Legilimency without casting any spells.

Something happened in Baldur's Gate, and the Gond followers replaced the Iron Hand dwarves in the city. These guys had nowhere to go, so they came to the Underdark to seek a way to make a comeback. What made these deep dwarves willing to take risks was something that only existed in past legends - rune gunpowder.

Tula did not know what rune gunpowder was. He only knew that it was a powerful explosive passed down to them by the dwarf god of war, Gerda Ironhand. Because the explosive power was too strong and too dangerous, its formula had been wiped out from the world.

According to the description in Tula's memory, only a fist-sized amount of rune gunpowder is needed to wipe a city off the map. This time, they went to the Underdark under the leadership of Ulbrunn to find the formula of rune gunpowder. Although it is unknown how much the rune gunpowder is exaggerated, it has successfully aroused Ivy's interest.

Letting his consciousness quietly withdraw from Tula's painful brain, Ivy found that the part Tula was describing matched the game scene in his memory.

"That drow is called Nin! He keeps talking about the true god... He wants us to dig day and night... If it weren't for the fact that they still need people to work for them... This failed rebellion would be enough to kill all of us... That's all I know... You can definitely rescue all my compatriots, right?"

As a video game, in order to ensure that players can encounter new excitement at any time during the game, the map obviously cannot be too spacious. However, the land under Ivy's feet is the real Sword Coast, so the elements in the whole world are not that dense. At least in the past few days of adventure, a large part of the time was spent on the road.

This underground world is as vast as the surface, and there are many natural or man-made caves and tunnels, which greatly increase the difficulty of exploration. So even if Tula gave a simple hand-drawn map, it would still be very difficult for the team to find the correct route in the dark area.

Fortunately, there were quite a few underground natives in the team, and the seven drow elves could serve as guides. As long as the supplies were completed, the team could immediately set out on the journey.

The underground world is dark and there is nothing that can be used as a reference for time. It is said that in Menzoberranzan, the hometown of Minsara, the municipal timekeeping is done by wizards. When the drow built the city, they deliberately left a natural stone pillar named Narbondel. Every morning, the archmages of Menzoberranzan would ignite the stone pillar with a fire spell, allowing it to continue to emit a strong light until the night falls and the stone pillar dims, and the day of Menzoberranzan is over.

There are no cities in this dark region at the moment, and it is basically in a state of wild growth. Therefore, if the adventure team wants to time, they can only rely on timing tools or physical sensations. Including the six drow who have been freed from the stone statue state, most of the team members have begun to feel hungry. So everyone unanimously agreed to set off again after lunch.

The myconids allowed the team members to wander around the village, so while Gale prepared lunch, most of them wanted to expand their horizons in the myconid territory.

Yes, the Archmage of Waterdeep has always been the person in charge of food for the team, although all kinds of cheese are always on his menu... Will once wanted to help, but was sternly rejected by Gale.

As for the taste, Ivy can only say that it is not bad.

The mushroom people are indeed hospitable.

In addition to taking in deep gnomes from the gray dwarves, their village also has a medicine merchant from Baldur's Gate, a middle-aged dwarf woman named Driss Bonepeng.

According to Will's description, the dwarf herbalist came to the Underdark to replenish mushrooms. But her husband, who was as silent as a stick, ran away. Driss was not worried about this, because according to her description, her husband Barron was a man who often abused his family. It was only after an accident that he became a little more normal.

The kind-hearted Edgebringer wanted to help, but Driss was wary of his kindness.

"…If you can find him, don't come to me for money. If you plan to ask me to redeem him, you will find yourself facing a pauper and trapped with that stupid fat old man." These are what Driss said.

However, Will never helps others for reward, so he still offered to lend a hand if he met Barron during his adventure.

As for Xie Nian and Laizer, they met some strange people who claimed to be members of the Radiant Society, some peace-loving hobgoblins, and some stray mind flayers who fed on sheep that had been released from the power of enlightenment in the fungus village.

"You must go and take a look!" Xie Nian said with great confidence, "Even in our team full of freaks, there's no one so weird!"

"More importantly, that Ghaik (Githyanki: brain-eating bastard) actually claimed that he had a way to remove the mind flayer tadpoles in our brains." Laetzel's face was very bad. It was really terrible for her that her old enemy was right in front of her but she couldn't draw her sword.

So the team went out together (Gail also threw the soup spoon into the pot), and headed towards the mushroom cultivation base of the Guangyao Society in the mushroom village.

The members of the Guangyao Society are indeed weird. Their race is weird and their ideas are even weirder.

The hobgoblin named Bulger is a pacifist who is working to improve the environment, primarily the social environment, of the Underdark.

He hopes to create an atmosphere of harmony and friendship in every community in the Underdark.

His companion, Omiren, is a lone mind flayer. Due to his arcane talent, he was ostracized in the mind flayer society dominated by psychic power, and was exiled by his own mastermind.

So this is a rare free mind flayer.

"Yes, in fact I no longer serve the Grand Blueprint." Omiron blinked his eyes, the tentacles in front of him waving constantly. The robe of the Glory Society fit him well. The dreaded Mind Flayer actually had a gentle and elegant scholarly temperament.

"I thought you two were just exceptions..." Omiren looked at the eight adventurers in front of him, "This situation is really rare... Your brains are all parasitized by larvae, but there is no transformation..."

"Our experts said it's because of a powerful stasis magic." Evil Thought took a step back to avoid Omiren's tentacles that were waving excitedly. "That magic ensures that the Mind Flayer tadpoles will not hatch immediately, but will coexist with our brains."

Omiren put his fingers together, fully expressing his curiosity: "Maybe I can help a little... In fact, I have treated patients parasitized by larvae once or twice. If you are willing, I can help with an examination..."

Xie Nian showed a skeptical expression on his face: "Experts say that the Mind Flayer tadpoles have already bitten into our souls. Can you really do it?"

"Your expert is right," Omiren said softly, "When the larvae hatch, they will indeed eat the host's soul together. But as long as you can persuade the larvae to give up on their own, you can survive."

"Ah!" Xie Nian couldn't help but glance at Ivy behind him. "The expert also said something similar... But he thinks that only the main brain can make the Mind Flayer tadpoles give up voluntarily..."

"That is indeed the only solution in theory." Omiren's voice was filled with pride. "But I know some alchemical substances that may be able to bypass the magic in your brain and affect your mind and the larva's mind... But I need an examination to be sure. Open your mind to me, and let us see what is hidden in your brain."

Xie Nian looked at Ivy again, clearly asking for advice.

Ivy nodded slightly, indicating that he would help pay attention to the state of evil thoughts.

"Trust a mind flayer?" Minsara frowned. "Don't forget the relics on you! Our lives are tied to you!"

"I forgot that you didn't have that dream..." Xie Nian explained in a low voice, "There is a resident living in the relics. She is protecting our brains... Even if something happens to me, your brain full of dark thoughts can survive... Maybe the Mind-Grabbing Tadpole can clean up your brain a little! Are you really not going to try, Minsara?"

Hearing that her life was not in the hands of evil thoughts, Minsara felt much better. A sarcastic smile appeared on her face: "I don't know how naive you are to believe in a mind flayer... But I am glad that there is a volunteer using his brain to remind us of our current situation. Go, little girl, I will keep my eyes open and watch carefully."

(End of this chapter)