Graded [Republic:Gloomhold Swamp] The Roots of the Problem

Darin​

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"It's... finished?" Darin mumbled, as he blinked the last of the haziness out of his vision. "Excellent..." He sighed out, leaning backwards. At this point, he was just glad that the ordeal was finally over; when he first trudged into the swamp, which now felt like ages ago, Darin certainly wasn't prepared for all of this. It was a good reminder that he could easily die if he wasn't careful, again...

Shaking his head, Darin noticed some fruit sprouting on the wall next to him. He gave it a narrowed glare, but as he tried to shift away from it, another stab of pain flowed throughout him. "Hmph, if it stops the bleeding, I'll take the risk." With some hesitation, Darin reached a claw out to pluck one of the fruits off, before taking a slow bite into it.

Darin looked back to the giant mushroom as he swallowed, deciding to add on his own questions. "Are you the "heart" of the swamp that pebble spoke of? Moreover," He paused at a brief moment of coughing, "what, exactly, did we just defeat and rid you of?"

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• Strength - E
• Precision - D
• Speed - D
• Point-Blank Shot F - Constant Positioning [Gun] F, Range F, Accurate F, Steady Hands F, Focus F - With bayonet lodged into his opponent, and no other course of action available, Darin fires his musket in a final bid to bring the creature down. - 0 Post Cooldown
• [Gun/Spear] Musket/Bayonet E - A smoothbore musket; fairly simple, but effective if used properly. With a detachable bayonet, it can transform the firearm into a lethal melee weapon.
• [DAMAGED] [Light Armor] Gambeson F - A gambeson faced with thick leather, it provides a light but sturdy armor for the wearer.

Mentions:
Paru StarPrincessVal
Boreas DarkKitsune
Darin Voider
Deliverance Elvario


“A long, long nightmare.” The mushroom giant replied to Boreas, who refused the fruit. The poison from the bugs that'd stung him prior would continue to hurt, but he'd probably be able to make it back to a healer to get that checked out before it'd get too out of hand. (Just to be clear, the OG pebble remains on Paru's shoulders. It's a lot of other rock frogs like it that merged with the mushroom giant.)

Darin and Deliverance, however, had no such luxuries. When Darin bit into the fruit, his wounds started to heal up and he could soon feel the pain from the bee stings fading as well. The same would apply to Deliverance, who was hesitant, but realised his only alternative was to bleed out or get horribly infected.

Upon Darin asking as well, being slightly more specific, the Mushroom Again spoke up again. “Some call me its heart, for my fungal networks run far and wide, but I would merely say I'm its guardian, Goroboch. What you defeated was a vile spirit, summoned by a necromancer in an attempt to take over me and my network. The man fell victim to the spirit himself as well, as it started turning everything in its power in the Same, just like the necromancer himself and me got turned. I'm not sure what happened from there, but I do know I was able to sent out some of my fragments in an attempt to find help.” He looked at the Pebble on Paru's shoulder as he said it.

“From what memories I gained when they rejoined, it seems that you are to thank for freeing me. Thank you.” A deep sigh escaped him. “It might be a while for things to return to normal, but they will, now that the spirit has been defeated and I am free once more.”

As the group would rest up, they could already see some starts of things restoring around them, as the mushroom guardian worked his magic through his fungal network. Thanks to a job well done, they'd be able to make it back without any more trouble.


Upon arraving back at the entrance of the marsh cave they'd been travelling through, it was time to say their goodbyes. Kelec was to the first to leave, telling them he'd make sure that everyone would learn of their heroism.


Deliverance turned to Paru, Darin and Boreas. “Thank you all.” He stated, bowing in their direction. “Although this was very different from what I hoped or expected it to be, I believe I learned a lot and should have enough to write a report and convince my practical mage-craft professor that I'm worthy of passing his classes. Either way, I don't think this could be done alone, so I thank you all for your aid.” He wasn't the type to go 'we might meet again' as he didn't have a feeling they would.

“Well then, farewell.” He stated, as he turned around to head back towards the nearest portal back to Aslan. It'd been far more of a hassle than he'd expected and he left with a weird feeling in his stomach as he walked a way from the others, but he decided to ignore it. He had a report to write, now that his memory of it all was still fresh in mind.

The others would be able to make their separate ways to their next quest or destination as well.

The End​

Title suggestion:
[Ally of Goroboch, the Fungal Guardian] - While Goroboch is in charge and the character is on good terms with them while in the Gloomhold Swamp (southernmost parts of the Republic of Kuridan), the character will find the area and its nature to subtly work in their favour thanks to having earned the favour of the swamp's guardian.

Vaudivolt Elvario DarkKitsune Voider StarPrincessVal

This one had a good mix of exploration, combat, and character interactions despite being a follow up to a previous rp. Some of the enemies had some interesting tactics. Very crafty. Too bad the narration couldn't be finished. Feels like the ending wasn't quite what was intended from the beginning but maybe that's just me. At least there was closure to the storyline.

Aftermath

N/a

Rewards

optional title acquired for the characters - [Ally of Goroboch, the Fungal Guardian] - While Goroboch is in charge and the character is on good terms with them while in the Gloomhold Swamp (southernmost parts of the Republic of Kuridan), the character will find the area and its nature to subtly work in their favour thanks to having earned the favour of the swamp's guardian.

Points
Vaudivolt - 96pts (partial narration)

Deliverance - 105pts (partial narration)

Boreas Moonshire - 105pts (attentive student)

Darin - 80pts

Paru - 38pts