Chapter 56: Lightless Woodland
There are many myconid settlements scattered throughout the Underdark.
These intelligent fungi, which are similar to humanoid creatures, gather together, meditate together, live together, and are willing to provide shelter and safe passage for anyone who treats them kindly.
However, few travelers can venture into the area of the Sunless Woodland, so its location is almost never marked on any map.
Because all roads leading here are full of dangers and difficult to navigate.
Among Brian and his party, although the myconid larvae Teemo has no knowledge of the Underdark, this little guy has an innate sense of the way home.
Because of this, after nearly a week of travel, everyone finally arrived at the lightless woodland area without any danger.
They stepped forward on the muddy land, and the smell of rotten soil accompanied their steps.
A fungus jungle in the shape of a forest on the ground, with thick and tall poles in a mix of light cream and beige colors, appears before everyone's eyes.
Brian found that the dense colonies of fungi that grew randomly and vigorously blocked the way forward, and it seemed impossible to find a way through them.
Although the shimmering light of the phosphorescent fungi illuminated the fungal wilderness, the huge crown of Zeke's Wood Mushroom still made it difficult for him to see the surroundings, let alone find the core area leading to the lightless forest.
“Brother, there are many roads nearby that lead to the lightless forest, but most of them are narrow cracks washed out by water. It will be very dangerous if you go the wrong way.”
Teemo in Brian's arms sprayed out a cloud of spores and stretched out his little finger to point ahead to an underground river that had long since dried up. "So, only this natural river can be passed directly, and there are glowing moss growing in it."
Brian nodded slightly, followed the direction pointed by Teemo, and led the group to continue moving forward.
The quiet and winding road only lasted half an hour, and they found an unimaginably huge cave in the fungus jungle.
The moment Brian stepped into the cave, his vision suddenly became clear.
For a moment!
He suddenly had a sense of surprise that he had entered a peach blossom garden, and even looking at the dark and terrifying underworld behind him felt like he was in another world.
There is no doubt that what appeared before him was a woodland covered with various mushrooms, molds and fungi, which intertwined into a quiet and beautiful exotic landscape.
Since the entrance to the Lightless Woodland was above the cave's foundation, it gave him a panoramic view of the entire area.
In the fungus valley forest of this huge cave, mushrooms of all sizes are endless, connected to the ceiling at the top of the cave, making the surrounding darkness illuminated by various fungi that sparkle like stars.
The fluorescent moss covers all the huge mushrooms in the entire cave, bathing the entire forest in yellow, blue and purple glow, filled with hazy shimmer, making everything look... Very dreamy.
Brian looked along the north wall of the cave to the fungal terraces closest to him and exposed to the radiation of the earth's veins.
Waterfalls fly down from the high dome and splash onto the rock walls of the cave. The gurgling stream flows through the cave, forming a natural and effective self-irrigating terrace at every turn.
Thousands of fungi of various colors fill the air with a thick sweet smell, and many of them emit strange and alluring lights.
Smelling the intoxicating fragrance of mushrooms, Brian lowered his gaze to the center of the valley.
Immediately he was surprised to find a majestic mushroom tower comparable to a palace standing in it. However, due to the weak light and rising fog, he could not see the details of the mushroom palace clearly.
He was not the only one who was shocked by the strange beauty in front of him. Others also sighed when they saw it.
Of course, except for the drow elf Curze and the kuo-toa monk who remained silent throughout.
However, Brian accidentally saw the flash of enthusiasm in the drow's pale red eyes when they looked at the mushroom tower in the center of the valley, which made him secretly pay attention.
"Jip, what do you think I saw?"
The Goblin Copper looked greedily at the fluorescent fungus valley, and his two sparkling little eyes kept wandering between the huge mushrooms.
"Mushroom soup, grilled mushroom steak, and mushroom bread." The derro dwarf saw through the goblin's little thoughts at a glance and answered with a smile.
“Wrong!”
The copper block nimbly avoided the teleportation spores sprayed by Teemo, and said with a smile, “I’m not as vulgar as you, what I saw was ancient Erda's Creamy Mushroom Soup, Yawning Door's Hand Pie Spicy Fried Mushrooms, Underdark Mushroom Pancakes with Special Fire Moss Sauce"
As usual, the Derro dwarf Jip rolled his familiar white pupils towards the copper block.
“It turns out that there are such strange and beautiful scenery in the Dark Territory.” Hesiah on the other side flipped up her hair and couldn’t help but sigh as she looked at the beautiful scenery of fungi in the valley.
“But it is often accompanied by fatal dangers.”
Brian reminded her with a slightly solemn look, “Be careful, don’t be fooled by the appearance here, after all, there is no light in the forest. It also belongs to the area of the Underdark."
"That's right."
The swamp bear man, whose hair was neatly combed, came over and continued, "When I was a child, I strayed into the depths of the Supreme Forest. I accidentally came to a fungus forest that was even bigger than this one. I was almost killed by a long tree. Eat the carnivorous mushrooms with sharp teeth."
"Big stupid bears, those are phantom mushrooms, the guardians of our lightless woodland. They are born invisible and only obey the hunters' association Luobam. The leader's order."
Teemo sprayed a ball of teleportation spores at the Zeland Bear Man, "It turns out that you, a big stupid bear, were not only ridden by a female bear, but also bullied by a phantom mushroom. No wonder you fantasize about it every day. He thinks he is a golden elf prince."
"Hey! You little mushroom head, how can you talk?" The Zedi Bearman glared at Teemo and stretched out his claws to scare him. Small mushroom head.
Little Teemo was so frightened that he quickly shrank into Brian's arms. The group of people did not stay too long at the entrance of the cave. Under Teemo's guidance, they walked and chatted towards the central area of the Fungus Valley.
But as he walked, Brian felt more and more something was wrong.
As far as he knows, people are naive and simple, and their daily lives are just running their own silent and monotonous lives day after day.
That's about eight hours of work a day, which means taking care of fungus fields, collecting resources, and maintaining fortifications.
After working, they will spend another eight hours telepathically communicating with other individuals, which they call 'mind union', and then use the remaining eight hours to rest, and so on day after day.
It is this monotonous life characteristic that makes them shy and exclusive.
Walking along the way, he encountered many busy myconids, which gave him the illusion that the myconids in the Matte Woods were very outgoing.
Seeing a group of them passing by, most myconids would put down their work and greet them proactively and enthusiastically.
"Oh, Teemo is back. You came back at the right time. Happy days are coming soon."
A myconid with its whole body decorated with glittering fungus garlands, look at Teemo, who arrived in Brian's arms, immediately greeted happily, "Our master association is preparing for a wonderful celebration. Hurry up and take your soft friends to join the fusion of the great sowers."
"It's Teemo, these soft guys must be your friends."
Not long after the myconid left, another myconid carrying the handle of Zekewood came to the crowd enthusiastically and excitedly The ground sprayed its own teleportation spores:
"You came at the right time. Our Builders Association is planning to build a magnificent mushroom tower in our territory, but we don't know the architectural style of the surface world at all. Even the size of the bricks and the density of the wood are not clear. Chief Gasbaid will be very happy if he can get help and guidance from you soft friends."
"This friend. Don't worry, the purpose of our coming here is to help you build a magnificent mushroom tower, and we will personally visit the leader of your builders' association later." Seeing the enthusiastic myconid chattering endlessly, Brian replied perfunctorily. One sentence, trying to end this boring conversation.
"Then you must not forget. If possible, I really hope that this mushroom tower can break through the dark area and extend directly to the bright surface world." The mushroom man carrying the wood reluctantly talked with the cloth Ryan and others say goodbye.
"It's strange, how come everyone has changed so much recently." Teemo muttered to himself in confusion as he looked at the myconid's leaving figure.
"In this situation, it's better to go to your myconid king to find out first." Brian patted Teemo's little mushroom head to comfort him.
He recalled the group of dancing myconids he had encountered on the Silk Trail.
Seeing the strange situation in the lightless woodland, Brian's suspicion was immediately confirmed.
"Yeah, I understand." Teemo nodded his mushroom head obediently and immediately guided them to move forward.
The depression in the center of the lightless woodland is the main habitat of the wormwood colony.
The phosphorescent fungi all over the cave ceiling and stone walls form strange constellations, reflecting the dark rift valley and mist-shrouded cave ahead.
Brian saw a group of tall myconids coming out of the mist-shrouded cave.
One of the 5-meter-tall myconids stands out among the crowd and looks particularly conspicuous.
As it moves slowly and heavily, the umbrella-shaped cap on its head also sways with its gracefully twisting thick handle.
"It's so exciting that Teemo is back. Praise the great sower!"
The tall myconid walked up to the crowd, released his teleportation spores, and greeted them sincerely and enthusiastically. Said:
“I am Philo, the myconid king of the Sunless Woodland. It must be you soft friends who saved our Teemo and escorted him back safely. In this regard, I represent Wu To all the myconids in the Light Grove, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to you.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, and welcome you to come here at a very wonderful time.” Philo, the myconid, said deeply to them. Bowed and said with gratitude:
"Now is the greatest and most magnificent moment in the Sunless Woodland! You must be here to attend the 'Mrs.' wedding. Distinguished guests, please allow me Let the great Sower embrace you with love, as I call you, for the day of joy is coming.”
Philo, the mushroom king.
Brian heard Teemo mention to him that there are two Myconid Kings in the entire Sunless Woodland.
The leader of Teemo is another myconid king Basdia.
In fact, a Myconite community usually has only one Myconoid King.
As the largest individual in the community, the Myconid King's status is independent of and above all associations.
But two years ago, the myconid king Basdia came to the Sunless Woods with his two societies (the Hunters Society and the Explorers Society).
Myconid King Philo warmly welcomed the new group of myconids, and accepted Basdia's suggestion to share the leadership of all associations in the woodland.
The two myconid kings have since become very close partners, and the two individuals share authority and obligations without any struggle.
"Thank you very much, Chief Philo, for your hospitality. We will definitely enjoy this happy moment." Brian bowed slightly and answered politely.
"That's great, my soft friends, let Teemo take you on a casual tour of the Lightless Woodland." The Myconid King showed an enthusiastic smile:
"However, in order to give you enough surprises, I still recommend that you do not go to the highlands to the east of the woodland for the time being, because our master association is preparing an 'extremely wonderful surprise', which has not yet been completed. But I can assure you, Tomorrow you will definitely see the grandest 'wedding' in the entire Dark Region."
"Thank you for your warm hospitality and praise the great sower. Let us welcome it with expectation. A surprise has arrived." Brian smiled slightly and said with a slightly eager tone.
While talking, he glanced at the subordinates behind the Myconid King from the corner of his eye.
Then, the two exchanged a few words again, and the Myconid King happily led a group of his myconid subordinates and five association leaders, and turned and walked towards the east highland.
(End of this chapter)