Galgrum escorted us toward the back of town, and into a cave lit by orderly rows of glowing mushrooms shining a pale white light. The floor and all around the walls were covered in different varieties of fungi. I felt the aura of the dwarves shift as we entered. Rockelle went from upbeat and looking everywhere trying to absorb everything to focused ahead with her eyes forward, and Galgrum’s expression faded from irritated to calm. I could feel a kind of power in the air, not the same as when a spell was cast, but a type of vibration I felt in my core.

I took a deep breath, and the smell of mildew filled my nostrils. Not only was there life surrounding us on the walls and floors, but even the air itself was alive with spores. I followed carefully, trying to follow with the same reverence as my hosts.

Zevrack showed no changes in expression, but his tail was twitching a bit. Not wagging like an excited dog, more jumping back and forth like an irritated cat. Anxious was my guess.

Eventually the cave opened up into a massive cavern. I felt my jaw drop. It was a forest of mushrooms. There were some that reached the ceiling, and others that were as small as a penny. They coated the walls as well as the floor and unlike the neatly arrayed colors and patterns that decorated the town, the colors here were chaotic and varied with no clear reasoning behind them. In the center of all of this was a massive square stone. We walked toward it and as we got closer I realized it was a building of some sort, its walls only marginally less thickly coated with mushrooms than the rest of the cavern.

Galgrum and Rockelle both bowed their heads when we reached it and I assumed it was some kind of a ritual until a part of the wall moved to approach us. I was startled and jumped back in spite of myself.

Zevrack only barely managed to keep from doing the same, though his tail bounced back and forth so fast I thought it might launch him into the air.

“Hello children,” said the portion of the wall that had broken away, its voice raspy and ethereal.

Now that it was moving I could make out clearly that it was a dwarf, or at least, had been a dwarf. Its body was completely covered in a thick bed of mushrooms, what areas of skin I could see had roots burrowing into flesh, and when I looked closely I could see some parts of the mushrooms that covered him were pulsing with what must have been his heartbeat. He had no eyes left, but in spite of that I could feel that he was looking at me, and as he did it was as if there were a thousand eyes looking in my direction. “Who have you brought to me today?”

Before Galgrum or Elle could respond, Zevrack stepped forward. “I have come to answer your people’s request for assistance from the Buried Claw Clan.”

I could sense all those eyes leave me and focus on Zevrack, his tail kept twitching, but he stayed steady under that gaze.

“A request our people made? Answered by a Kobold of all things… We remember your kind. Though only snips and fragments. You wish to ally with us little dragon?”

“As long as it is agreed we are in charge, and are entitled to first loot and territory.”

Wry amusement seemed to bleed from everywhere around us as part of the surrounding forests rocked lightly back and forth. “I accept your proposal, avatar of the Buried Claw, with conditions. We allow you to be in charge of the conflict, but not our tribe as a whole. We also cede all rights of loot and territory to you. we don’t desire our people to move too far from the field, and ‘loot’ has no value compared to the lives of our folk.” The strange being stood still for a moment. "We claim only the dead."

"The dead?" asked Zevrack.

"Yes, the bodies of anyone who dies. No matter the side."

Zevrack looked confused, but nodded. "Good deal. Bodies not worth much."

Galgrum kept his eyes down, but stepped forward. “What of the council?”

“They may handle the details. Our people are going missing, not even able to join the field if they’ve passed. We cannot be picky with allies, especially those with which we share a history.”

“A history? We’ve only just met them,” said Elle.

“Our history did not begin here child. Remember, all people who live here began somewhere else.” He turned his full attention back to me. “Like your friend here.”

I shuddered. I’d been strangely unflappable since I’d arrived in Tu’reyne, but this was unsettling beyond what I’d seen so far. Still I wanted to be polite, so I attempted a bow. That prompted another emanation of amusement.

“A god’s chosen bowing to me? And after working so hard for my people?”

“How’d you know?”

“I know everything that they know,” he said, gesturing at Elle and Galgrum. “The moment they reached the field I was able to begin assimilating the information they brought with them.”

“So all of this,” I said gesturing around me, “Is basically a way to store information.”

“Information isn’t exactly right. This is the place where our people’s souls come to rest.”

My eyes widened and I regarded the floor more closely. The majority of what I saw was mushrooms, but when I focused on specific areas a more disturbing picture came into place. Limbs, faces, bodies, all of them scattered across the field like fertilizer. This was a graveyard, the place mushroom dwarves became part of when they died. Rockelle’s earlier insistence on me removing the stonemen’s bodies from that other mushroom patch made more sense, she wanted to save them for this one.

“But I'm tired. I must return to tending. The council has just arrived. You are welcome to remain here for your meeting.” The tender slowly walked backward and seemed to be reabsorbed by the wall he’d left. If I didn’t know what I was looking for, I would’ve completely lost him the moment he’d returned there.

The council arrived shortly after. All of them were older dwarves, a mixture of men and women. What surprised me about their appearance was that, much like the tender, they had mushrooms growing out of them. One of the older men had a sleeve cut off of his shirt revealing a thick row of mushroom shelves down his bicep, an older woman had what appeared to be a small mushroom garden sprouting from her shoulder, and one of them even had a crown of small white ones, like a fairy ring sprouting from his hair. They all paused in front of the stone building, gave the Tender’s still form a slight bow, and inhaled deeply.

They turned to face me, the nearest stepping toward us. “The Tender tells us we have agreed to ally with the kobolds against the stonemen. We honor the representative of their tribe.” The man gave a stately bow to Zevrack, who smiled a sharp toothed grin in response. He enjoyed the respect.

I surmised that like the Tender they were able to gain information through the mushrooms that grew on them. Or could at least receive that information.

The woman with the growths on her shoulder stepped forward. “I still believe we should focus on increasing our own defenses and building a wall, but if the stonemen are kidnapping kobolds as well, an alliance can only benefit us.”

“Buried Claw can also help with defenses. Traps are our tribe’s specialty.” Zevrack’s eyes seemed to twinkle at the word ‘traps’.

“Is there no way you could retrieve help from other dwarves as well? Rockelle mentioned there were several groups in these caverns. Or maybe an adventurer’s guild of some kind?”

The one with the crown of mushrooms spoke. “There are other tribes of dwarves, and there are other mushroom dwarves even we could call for help, but we are very far from them. The trip takes days, and so far all we have sent for help have not returned." He cocked his head. "I have never heard of such a thing as an ‘adventurer’s guild’.”

“Okay, so what’s the first step then? Mustering forces? Training?” I asked.

The woman spoke again. “Scouting. We still don’t know exactly where the stonemen are coming from, and we’ve never caught any of them kidnapping our people.”

“The Buried Claw has also been unable to find their nest," added Zevrack.

The one with the crown looked at Elle. “It would seem that this is knowledge which must be sought.”

Elle’s eyes widened. “You want me to find them?”

“It is your role," said the one with the crown.

“I just. I don’t have any combat abilities. I-”. She looked at me.

They followed her gaze, turning their attention to me all at once. “Would you continue to travel with her? Keep her safe?” asked the woman.

I thought about it. The answer was yes, I didn't want to fail this quest, and be punished by the sytem. Nor did I want to miss out on the rewards the it had offered me. Besides that, it seemed like I was basically trapped here until this was resolved. Making my way alone through the caverns was likely impossible, particularly if the stonemen were waiting to ambush people, and from what Elle had told me, they hadn't had a caravan pass through in quite some time. The only way to really begin my new life, was to do everything I could to end this conflict.

I decided to put my class skill to use for the first time. “I would be willing, but I could use some additional armament, and coin.”

Elle looked a little miffed that I was negotiating, but it wasn’t like we’d know each other more than a day. Besides, I was planning to help her either way. It was the clearest way to advance my quest.

“We have little to offer beyond the simplest weapons. We are not a warrior people. Still, all we can offer is yours. We shall see what coin we can locate. We keep it only to ease trade with the occasional caravan.”

I nodded, deciding not to push beyond that. “Works for me.”

Zevrack spoke up. “After I tell the clan of our alliance, I will join your search as well. Need make sure the loot and territory are accounted for.”

That was unexpected, but welcome. He’d been very helpful in the last encounter with the stonemen, and I was very curious to see how much damage he could do if he was given the proper amount of time to prepare. He could be the batman of kobolds for all I knew. Besides that I was already starting to like him, and it seemed the feeling was mutual.

Rockelle nodded at him and looked off into the distance. A notification popped into my vision.

Rockelle has invited you and 1 other to join a party. Do you accept? Y/N

I hit yes. It seemed like I wouldn’t be alone against the stonemen after all.