The world twisted as it always did when the unseen hand seized them.
There was no wind, no sound—only that nauseating elongation of flesh and thought, as though their souls were pulled thin as spun sugar and reeled through some unseen loom. Then the strain released, and they found themselves standing upon stone that felt older than memory.
Heat struck them first.
Not the gentle warmth of a hearth, nor even the humid breath of Chult’s jungles, but a dry, unrelenting furnace that pressed against skin and lungs alike. Before them stretched a vast cavern—no, a subterranean wasteland. Rivers of living flame coursed through fissures in the rock, molten light winding in serpentine arcs across a blackened expanse. The glow painted everything in a feverish amber. Yet there was no smoke. No choking haze. The air was clear enough to breathe, if uncomfortably hot.
Maledurk drew in a deep breath and grinned, brass scales catching the firelight. “Feels like home,” he muttered, flexing his clawed hands.
To the others, it felt like standing inside a kiln.
The cavern floor was uneven, pocked with shallow craters of various sizes—some small as cooking bowls, others large enough to swallow a cottage. The stone bore scars like meteor impacts, though how such marks could form in a sealed cavern none could guess. This place was not governed by the rules of Waterdeep, nor even of the Underdark. It obeyed some alien geometry.
Elora narrowed her eyes, wiping sweat from her brow. “We seek the ember fungus,” she said quietly. “If it thrives anywhere, it would be here.”
They moved cautiously among the craters. At first glance they appeared empty, but closer inspection revealed thin films of life—subtle growths clinging to the bottoms of the pits like pale moss. Then, in one of the larger depressions to the north, they saw it.
Mushrooms.
A dense bed of them, layered thickly across the pit’s floor, their caps and stalks woven together in a tangled carpet of strange shapes and muted hues. And among them—like coals buried in ash—glowed several crimson forms. They pulsed faintly, as though a hidden heart beat within each one.
Thorn knelt at the rim of the crater. Eight feet down, perhaps a little more. Enough that climbing inside would mean trampling the fragile growth. He extended a hand and whispered arcane syllables; a translucent mage hand coalesced in the heated air and drifted downward.
The spectral fingers brushed one of the duller mushrooms. A faint puff of spores rose into the air, shimmering briefly in the cavern’s glow.
Elora stiffened. “Careful.”
Thorn adjusted his grip, directing the hand toward one of the glowing caps. It resisted slightly when tugged, as though rooted firmly in the soil beneath, but with a firm pull it came free.
The moment it separated from the bed, flame blossomed around it—an abrupt flare, bright and hungry. The mage hand held it aloft as the fire danced and guttered. Within seconds, the blaze consumed itself, leaving behind a charred lump like a fragment of coal.
Thorn frowned. “That cannot be what we were meant to retrieve.”
If the ember fungus was to be delivered alive, this would not suffice.
They debated in hushed tones. Digging seemed dangerous; the bed was too dense to extract a specimen without disturbing the others. Spores hung in the air already. There was no telling what deeper agitation might summon.
Maledurk cracked his knuckles.
“You worry too much,” he said. “I’ll grab one.”
They tied a rope around his waist, though none truly trusted the arrangement. Thorn and Elora braced themselves at the crater’s edge. Tempest hovered nearby, eyes bright with barely suppressed amusement.
Maledurk leaned forward, lowering himself headfirst into the pit. For a heartbeat, he hung there, suspended over the glowing bed.
Then the rope slipped.
The world lurched. Maledurk dropped like a stone.
He had just enough time to curse before instinct took over. He lunged, massive hand closing around one of the glowing mushrooms. Soil tore free with it as he fell.
His head struck the fungal carpet with a muffled thud.
Spores erupted around him in a pale cloud, engulfing his snout and eyes. He inhaled sharply—then snarled as his body convulsed, not in pain but in sudden reversal.
The world flipped.
Gravity released him from the pit and flung him upward.
He shot from the crater like a bolt loosed from a siege engine, still clutching the ember fungus, soil and all. The cavern ceiling rushed toward him, jagged stone looming in terrifying clarity.
For a fleeting, panicked instant, he considered whether dragons bounced.
Then the fall slowed.
Five feet from the ceiling, his ascent softened into a drift. Featherlight, he floated upward until he came to rest upon the cavern roof, sprawled against the stone like some absurd mural of dragonkind.
He blinked.
Below him—far below—his companions stared upward.
Elora’s face was tight with concentration, magic still shimmering faintly around her. Thorn wore an infuriatingly satisfied expression. Tempest’s laughter echoed off the cavern walls, bright as chimes in a storm.
Maledurk looked down at them, then at the glowing fungus still smoldering in his grasp.
“I’ve got it,” he called.
And there he remained—sixty feet above the cavern floor, lying upon the ceiling in a world where gravity itself had turned traitor—while rivers of fire flowed on in indifferent silence.
Session opens with the party regrouped after the prior expedition and preparing to continue their multi-plane scavenger hunt for key components. The DM recaps the previous session’s events: The party arrived on an unfamiliar plane and encountered odd plants bearing a valuable gourd-like growth. When the party attempted to harvest the gourd, the plants fought back and attacked. Through careful pruning and clever magic, the party successfully extracted a blood gourd. The party escaped before being overwhelmed by the increasing number of hostile plants. During the encounter, Thorn began to manifest roots (a curse or hostile effect). The party’s stated plan going into this session is to rest up and then pursue the remaining required item: ember fungus. The party notes that lingering visual effects from the prior map (a protective “force field” graphic) are still visible, and the DM clarifies it is leftover from a previous spell and not currently relevant because the party has already teleported away from that location. The party confirms their next target item and destination context. The party is teleported again and arrives in a new environment. After the familiar sensation of being stretched through time and space, the party appears in a bleak, barren underground region: They are inside a cavern system with a rocky, volcanic-field-like landscape. The cavern is very hot. The cavern is lit by what appear to be rivers of flame winding through the cavern. The party observes an important environmental oddity: The party surveys the terrain and identifies unusual features. The area is pocked with many round pits/craters of varying sizes: The party examines one crater closely: The party begins searching specifically for ember fungus. The party considers whether the crater growth could be the fungus they need and decides to compare multiple pits. The party asks whether any fungus is growing near the rivers of flame. The party makes perception checks to locate promising signs. After rolling, the party identifies a crater (and notes at least one other farther off to the right) showing a subtle, pulsating reddish glow coming from within. The party decides how to investigate and briefly considers splitting up. The DM notes multiple relevant pits: The party initially suggests splitting: The party then consolidates around the main find as they continue to focus on the northern pit, and Tempest remains available to assist. Elora and Thorn investigate the glowing pit and discover a dense fungal bed. The crater is deeper than the earlier ones: The bottom is covered with many mushrooms: The party clarifies how to identify ember fungus. Thorn attempts a careful harvest using Mage Hand. Thorn uses Mage Hand to avoid physically stepping into the dense mushrooms. The DM requests an Intelligence check from Thorn during the attempt. Thorn’s Mage Hand reaches down and grasps a glowing mushroom. Thorn pulls the glowing mushroom free: The party questions whether the harvested result is acceptable. Thorn asks if this “ash/coal” is what they need. The DM clarifies: The party discusses strategies to retrieve an intact (living) sample. The party suggests transplanting it by digging out a larger chunk of substrate around the target fungus (like lifting a plant with soil intact). Practical constraints are identified: The party considers using tools and remote manipulation: The party agrees they are willing to be ruthless and disturb the mushroom bed if needed, as they have already forcefully harvested other strange plant life in previous sessions. The party decides on a physical retrieval plan using Maledurk as the harvester. The party explores how Maledurk might reach the fungus: The group settles on a plan: The DM calls for Athletics checks from everyone except Maledurk to see if they can hold him securely. The plan fails and Maledurk falls into the mushroom bed. Maledurk leans over and initially believes the group has his weight. The helpers lose their grip, and Maledurk begins to fall belly-first toward the dense mushroom bed below. The DM gives Maledurk a split-second moment to react before impact. The DM notes that Feather Fall is an available reaction from the party, but it would only slow the fall—Maledurk would still hit the mushroom bed if nothing else changes. Elora proposes using Reverse Gravity as an immediate reaction. Maledurk successfully grabs an ember mushroom but still impacts the mushrooms before Reverse Gravity takes hold. Maledurk spots a glowing ember-like mushroom in the bed as he falls toward it. Maledurk reaches down and gets his hands around the target mushroom. Elora attempts to time Reverse Gravity precisely. Maledurk’s head strikes mushrooms adjacent to the target area during the fall. Maledurk is exposed to spores and must resist their effects. Upon impact, a cloud of spores sprays up around Maledurk’s head. The DM calls for a Constitution saving throw from Maledurk. Reverse Gravity takes effect and launches Maledurk upward toward the ceiling. Maledurk attempts to orient himself mid-flight. Maledurk tries to “turn like a cat” in the air to face the ceiling and prepare for landing. The DM calls for a Dexterity saving throw. Feather Fall prevents a hard impact, and Maledurk lands safely on the ceiling. Session ends on a cliffhanger with Maledurk stuck on the ceiling.Session Notes