LOCATION—Amaric Temple (7th floor), Room of Surprise
DATE—07/02 | Early Summer
TIME—1137
DATE—07/02 | Early Summer
TIME—1137
Lucas made on of two correct judgement calls in quick succession. He was right that something was coming. He was entirely wrong that Roika would just up and inform them that the mushrooms were poisonous without being prompted. This wasn't necessarily her fault, either. As a gift from her Fae Patron, Roika was effectively immune to the toxins of the Waltzing Agaric - as well as most other fungi, for that matter. If she ate one, it might taste bland or bitter, but it wouldn't hurt her. If Lucas were to eat one, he would be vomiting within minutes, and if he somehow managed to not vomit, he would be deathly ill soon after, likely having convulsions and foaming at the mouth.
As an alchemist, at the least, Lucas was not so dim to not know the dangers of such a common fungi in the Dungeon. It had many uses even in its toxic form and if not cultivated now, it would never be as it would likely be destroyed once the room was reset. Even if these mushrooms wouldn't be a culinary delight, they could otherwise be distilled down for their toxin, which itself was a common entry-level poison for Delvers. Had he his lab at home, there were actually ways to heavily dilute the toxin to the point it made a painkiller. Good for fevers, but not infection or serious illness. More so, it was the type of painkiller one might take for a broken bone or a severe burn. Even diluted, it was quite the intense neurotoxin.

Here, that is exactly what they did. Further inspection showed that there were piles of what looked like some type of hard, chitinous material and the bodies, bones, and slime from countless fish. If one stepped close enough nearby, they might even smell the decomposition. However, Rooms of Surprise were but temporary things, they rarely had the time to truly begin to emit such foul odors. The stage of decomposition was irrelevant, what it did was indicate death. Generally speaking, that would be something to share with a party.
Alas, Roika would not get to share that information in a reasonable timeframe. Lucas' other judgement call, the correct one, proved true.
Erupting from the pond into a clouded frenzy were what must have been a hundred or more flying razorfish. Not an uncommon sight in the lower floors of the Dungeon, though not normally in this concentration. The little bastards were similar to flying piranhas, except their bite wasn't their most dangerous trait. It was their razor wings. While metal could easily deflect it, most hide, leather, and cloth would eventually be cut through or at least worn down. Death by a thousand cuts in the most literal of the sense. The challenge here wasn't the difficulty of the individual creature, but the sheer volume of them. Hitting such small, fast creatures while also trying to dodge was no easy task, even if they were easy to kill.
And, it wasn't as if they entirely helpless on land. If they missed their target and skid across the ground, they could perform this admittedly creepy walk on their fins to return to the pool. Of course, this left them quite vulnerable, but it didn't mean they were literally killing themselves.
One hundred? Two hundred? Three? It wasn't clear given how they were moving, but it was pretty apart that trying to kill them one by one with a bow wouldn't work. Lucas would find that despite his former training as a Monk, he wasn't quite strong enough to move Ake with a shove so easily. The two were still the closest to the pool with so many fish swarming that the island in the center was entirely obscured. And, now, fish were launching themselves at the duo like torpedoes, their goal to cut or gnaw on either one of them.

Note: Map is has a 40x40 grid that is a 1:1 scale to feet. Room ix 40x40 feet.
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