The Quest for the Fancy Fungus (5E IC)

[Steel Mirror]

Though most of the debris beneath the water was rusted and rotted to uselessness, Lush managed to find four pitted side swords that could probably be polished up and made serviceable, if not exactly brand new. He also found a pouch containing 10 gold pieces and a little silver ring with a chip of yellowish stone set into it, and also a little stone flute in surprisingly good condition.The rest of his companions could see him moving back and forth beneath the dock as they made their way to shore, taking to the swimming duty like, well, a fish to water. As Lush was finishing up his search, he thought he saw some of the bones beginning to rattle and shake.

Their ferryman made quick progress away from them now that he was riding the current from the waterfall instead of fighting it, and he gave them half a wave as he and the boat they rode in on vanished into the mist.

Duryss, meanwhile, had made it to shore before the rest of them, darting to investigate the statue. They could barely make out her words over the roar of the waterfall, but they could all see the stature a bit better now. It was huge, 20 feet tall, with its crowned head coming up to the height of the stone hut's collapsed window at the top of the long, slick staircase. The figure was an armored warrior with a hugely imposing lantern jaw and ornate armor carved with care from the stone. It was holding out a huge tower shield in front of it laid flat across its two arms, like someone holding a stack of folded shirts. The shield was so flat and so large that it looked like you could probably walk out from the staircase about halfway up and stand on it.

Lyphie came up to Duryss' side and the two of them read the inscription at the base of the statue. "In honor of Balnon's sacrifice, that his example may lift you up as he did the Changeling Princess."

Other than that, none of them found much of interest in the first moments of looking around the area. The constant spray from the waterfall made footing tricky, but it seemed that anything of interest must have been picked over or rotted away long ago. They hadn't yet climbed the stairs to reach the old wrecked cottage, though.

Then, all of them heard a low rattling sound which seemed like it was coming from up the stairs. At the same time, a patch of the cliffside about 20 feet directly above where Lyphie and Duryss were standing began glowing with bright blue light, which came streaming out to gather into a cloaked, glimmering, translucent figure of a woman wearing a heavy robe standing on the steep steps, looking down on all the adventurers. She was headless-or rather, she was holding what appeared to be her own head, ghostly blood staining all down the front of her robes as well as still streaming from her disembodied head's mouth. The blood spat and slurped as she spoke.

"YOU MORTALS DARE TO DISTURB THE SANCTUARY OF THE QUEEN OF ALL FAERIE, TITANIA?"

Spoiler: Map

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