🏕️The Swamp

The Fellowship and their Militia had been trekking through the Haunted Forest for days. Even though they now had Octopies from The Baked as part of The Fellowship, it was still a daunting journey. Sometimes they would find they’d walked in circles. Sometimes they would get split up and have to regroup. Getting to the center of The Forest didn't make for an easy journey, even with well-trained and skilled Octopies leading the way. As they began to get closer to their goal, they noticed all the tree species and foliage was slowly changing to be more… mushroom-y. The shrubbery on the floor had become nothing but fungi, and the trees were towering, overgrown toadstools. Before long, the group was surrounded by Mushrooms and Fungi. “My siblings, this means we’re close,” explained The Fellowship member of The Baked. “The Mushrooms, and the power they have, come from the Fallen One. Everyone please watch your step - this area is rarely visited. There are no worn paths or treaded routes. Take care.” The Octopies slowed down their pace, surrounded by a strange but enticing array of colors from the peculiar plantlife.

Soon, they came to a clearing. Two of the largest Toadstools were bent over toward each other, creating an archway. The members of The Baked stopped at the entrance. “Before we continue, please remember… this is a holy site for us. Please be careful to not cause damage. Very few are privileged enough to visit this sacred space, even from The Baked. It is a great honor to step into here, for the first time, with all of you.” And with that, the Octopie stepped through the archway. The rest of the group followed. As they entered, the clearing seemed to open right in front of them. At the center of it was a large, overgrown swamp. There was very little light, a lot of muddy water, and an abandoned campsite. The campsite had a long burnt out fire pit, a poorly constructed hut, and a decaying tent.

The massive crater in the heart Of The Haunted Forest

“What’ssss that? Who lives there?” Asked a Vampier Octopie. Two members of The Baked looked at one another and shrugged. “Erm…We don’t know. To be honest, I was expecting a crater and nothing else.” It was obvious that there had previously—perhaps hundreds of years ago—been a crater in this spot. That crater was now the swamp. But there was a feeling, inside all the Octopies, of something. This was no ordinary swamp. The magical aura could not be denied. The Fellowship instructed the militia to set up camp right on the entrance to the clearing, giving some distance between the camp and the swamp. As they did so, The Fellowship headed towards the ruined dwelling and camp. When they arrived, they sheepishly opened the door and began to look around. One of the group swears they saw a mysterious shadowy figure in the treeline watching them, but it was dismissed as paranoia and nothing else.

In the derelict building, there were stacks of bookshelves, filled with everything from scraps of papers with hastily written notes to stacks of well written journals. One room had a few desks filled with beakers, tubes, and other research equipment. “There’s a lot of interesting books and old research equipment here - but why? And from who?” asked the Pieson. “Was someone trying to study the swamp?” “Hmmm.” The Piesces Octopie responded. “It seems there is a collection of journals and notes. All written by whoever lives here. They sure could do with improving their construction and DIY skills. We should leave before they return.” The Zompie spun around; “Aghhhh. No. Long gone. The smell. Ugh.” The Pieborg chimed in, “Regardless, let’s take some of these journals to our campsite and look through them once we have better light. Plus, it seems there’s not much else for us here anyway.” The Fellowship nodded in agreement until they heard the Doughbot of the group let out a loud noise from one of the rooms. “Beep. Beep. BEEP. BEEEEEP.” The group rushed over to see what was happening. “Sample. Beep. Bzzzz. Here. Sample of… bzzzzz. Mushrooms, no negatives. Beep.” The group saw what the Doughbot was looking at. One desk filled with notes and scraps of paper had a piece of paper right in the middle of it. Next to it were a few vials of mushrooms, treated with some sort of liquid. The paper had a list of instructions with the title: Extracting The Healing Properties Of The Forest

The paper went on to show instructions for how the Octopies could use the Swamp to achieve the healing benefits of the Mushrooms—without the hallucinogenic and transformative side effects. This was big news. If this was accurate, the Octopies could find ways to help home slices deal with the Cold Ovens. They would be able to fix their pastry and stuff their fillings after a battle or injury, rather than being left to the elements!

The Octopies gathered the rest of the books and documents, and headed back to the campsite that had been set up by the Militia. They would need to spend time processing this information to try and learn more about this mysterious and very large swamp at the heart of the Haunted Forest. They also wanted to explore more of the clearing and the swamp themselves, but the day had gotten late and their tentacles were tired. For now, it was time to rest. They would continue their exploration soon...