Into the Darkness

Ancestors preserve me, I do not think I am going to get the stench of the sewers out of my nose in a good long while. Its been a long day since we set out from the city, and more than a day since my last entry. Forgive me my tardiness, dearest ones. Much has happened! I barely know where to start, so I shall choose to begin, as one should, where we left off.
Sewers. Or, at least, the anticipation of sewers. Having said goodbye to Adelaide, we decided to take a small break before entering that pit of darkness beneath the ladder. I chose to nap, trying to ignore the lingering stench of death. What I failed to anticipate in my sojourn to the realm of dreams, was waking up to the absence of friend Yazuno! Gone, like a sly fox in the night. Neither Brig nor Thaeldir had seen him slip away. While I truly had hoped to see him warm up to us, he never quite settled easy. Nonetheless, we had little choice. While a blow to our little ragtag group, it would not be fatal to our mission; and, dearest ones, good news were to come! But not yet, be patient.
The sewers proved a terribly dark place, unyielding in darkness. Thaeldir and Brig proved helpful here, their eyes might not see as far as mine in daylight, but they are as sharp as owls in the dark. As I huddled around a flame, they scouted around, and spotted a curious wanderer coming our direction. As we had heard nothing much of life here, it was worth a check. A bald-headed elf, seeming shifty and too clever. Thaeldir did not at all like him. He offered a map, much wanted, of the sewers, for outrageous prices. I have come to understand what a wage is in recent weeks, and to demand so much! I curse money and all who wield it as a weapon! Nonetheless, some smooth words and the sound of coin from our well-off dwarf saved me from embarrassing myself. He was also willing to part with a decent set of herbalist supplies, much wanted in my long travels. I might not have a singular coin to my name now, but I can make a mean mushroom stew or healing potion, come the ingredients. Oh, and he offered information - wererats, would you believe, exist here.
Deciding that our best course of action would be to find a shortcut to our own 'home', we headed southwards. After a while in the dark we stumbled upon a new figure, and I shall tell you truly, it was a most magnificent cat! Great and powerful, its hue shining in my torchlight. It was blue, with deep stripes and a wonderful thick fur. I spoke to it in the Tongue of the Wilds, and it returned with such eloquence! I could but admire him, being utterly distracted, when a vast and ghastly rat appeared! Thinking at first that it was within reason, I spoke to it too. It snarled insanity, frothing with rage. I acted fast, as a I saw what could easily be the Beast-Rage, and hoped to cure it of its illness. Dear ones, it is then I learned why the city was so troubled - for my magics failed me entirely. The disease held strong, denying my powers. I had but time to organize my thoughts when the others, very helpfully, set to attack it with decisive and brief violence. Its death a relief, I am sure, to itself most of all.
The tiger, as I have learned is the name of his animal-form, is actually a tabashki(?? must ask Thaeldir for help on how to write this), a catlike folk from the north, and his name is Robin. By his opening statements alone I know more of him than I do any of my companions! What a strange thing to find here, such open and true personality. He carries a magical tome, sentient in some way. It knows of mushrooms! And once it knows of what mushroom you ask, it is willing to part knowledge of it! A speaking tome, what a fascinating object. While we were distracted with the curious growths on the rat, analyzing them with Robins book, Brig and Thaeldir set out to get Adelaide. The poor dwarf, her eyes look like they are going to combust whenever she thinks of Adeilaide, so excited is she. I have caught myself wondering how old my companions are, for I have not taken the time to ask. Is she truly as young as she seems sometimes? She reminds me of someone, someone lost to me. A vague memory of a face, alight with joy. I wonder what Thaeldir looks like when she is not scowling, or focusing, or distrusting, or worrying. Do you think she laughs like other mortals? Or does it sound like bubbles under water speeding to the surface? We will learn, I hope, in time.
They spent some time finding Adelaide, allowing Robin and I to examine the rat and the fey-looking fungi growing on it. I can but assume that the fungi is the cause of the madness, and why it resisted my magic. Also! He examined my magic mushroom, and apparently it lets you read minds! I have taken some time to brew it to a potion with it, although I suspect it will requite a strong stomach to use well, magic mushrooms are rarely good for your tummy.
When Adelaide showed up it was with both sweet Lemon and dear Fenris at her rear, and her excitement would leave aunt Brittle in a fizzle, to put it that way. Apparently this marks a breakthrough in her process. She spoke to Robin at length, his knowledge of the mushrooms and disease far surpass mine. As they conversed on and on, I noticed that Thaeldir does not share in mine or Brig's enthusiasm for Adelaide. She frequently has a distrustful look on her face, as if waiting for a dark surprise, a nighttime ambush. Nonetheless, a conclusion was made! To bring the monstrous rat to a safe storage location, so that Adelaide and her team of researchers can have a look at it. Brig, singlehandedly carried it all the way! Her strength was near supernatural, some would say. Mightily impressive! (I may have had a touch in the matter, a careful nudge and a gift from brother Bear)
That would mark the end of our adventures that day, and I shall not lament you with all the boring details of an evening spent relaxed in our living room, legs stretched out, drinks shared between Dwarf and Human; of finding my beast-skin and snuggling up to Lemon and Robin; of Thaeldir enjoying cocoa in her quiet manner while Fenris rested close by; or of entering a game of cards late in the night and losing four whole buttons; of peace, of homeliness. Of missing you all.
 
Instead I shall torment you with this day. Today. This harrowing journey. I must be brief, for merely thinking about this forests has me clenching every muscle in my body. We, including Robin and Fenris, left for the sewers again. There we walked a path familiar to Robin, leading us to a ramshackle cabin outside the city-walls.
This is were the horrors begin. We came out to a forest full of unnatural decay, of a cruel and malicious rot. I saw no birds, heard no beasts; in all directions off of the path, fungi of types and colors I have never seen. I doubt we could see the end of them if we tried. Peering through the trees revealed nothing but darkness, and that dull glow of more and more growths. We have had to walk through the day on a path that should take us to a village to the east, one Robin knows.
The forest moves. I swear it on all the names I have ever worn. I never catch it directly, but as we walked for hours I swear I saw shapes shift among the fungi. The rot is deep. We walked for nearly an entire day and it has yet to let up. It permeates every strip of the forest that we have seen.
The relief I felt when we saw a civilized place was deeply unlike me, but I am more than ready to leave the forest, if only for a brief stay at a roadside inn. The Hag's Inn, as foreboding as it sounds. There is life here, and although it does not feel like a welcoming place, this is a most desired respite from the darkness outside.
 
I shall return to the others. Ancestors give me strength.