The Vine Zombies

8 Pharast, 537 EM
 
What an exhilarating day today was! overnight we observed some sort of creature a short distance from our camp, it did not appear to threaten us so we simply watched it through the night, mumbling, and pacing. In the light of day it wandered off to the north and west. We tracked it, Mr. Pea noted the tracks appeared humanoid, through the forest into a salt bog. We got our first look at the creature, a former humanoid, seemingly being consumed by vines and fungus. At first the creature appeared to be a mindless living dead creature, necromancy is such foul magics. Upon closer observation, the creature presented some amount of its former intelligence. I quickly formed a hypothesis regarding the creature that if I made an effort to clear its mouth of the vines that obscured its vocalizations it might have something interesting to share with us. So I took the risk and stepped within the creature's reach, the closer I got, the more I saw desperation and fear in its eyes, and the eyes appeared fully human! Mr. Pea jumped to my aid and began to lift the vines and point out what not to cut. A moment later we had freed enough of the growth from its mouth and it spoke! The creature begged us for help, and that he couldn't resist 'its' influence much longer and that if we killed it he might be freed from its influence, it then lead us to a nearby cave where we found a half-orc, fully consumed by the vines, who promptly attacked us. With incredible grace and precision Wei quickly dispatched this creature. We ventured into the cave and found the source of this calamity, it was a plant! This plant had powerful mind affecting properties and I must say that it got the better of me. I don't remember all of it, but it got its vines on me and they began to probe my eyes, nose, and ears, they must have released some kind of toxin because my mind was foggy. Through impressive efforts of my compatriots we uprooted the plant and desiccated it. This freed the being we followed here from its influence!
 
He introduced himself as Praxkin, he appeared to be a man of faith, and he provided us unexpectedly interesting information. He had been sent to the north coast of this very island in search of the Azure Seed, something that my new friend Wei is also seeking. The night before he searched a building for the artifact he was abducted by men in blue robes (cultists of the blue star?) and brought to this very cave and left for dead. We brought Praxkin back to the place we camped the night before and we all rested for the evening. Praxkin offered me his final ounce of Devine power to clear the fog from my mind. We asked him to head back to the village and seek additional aid from the townsfolks and we will come find him once we investigate the ruins at the north coast.
 
I spent the afternoon deep in thought, as the fog lifted I found new clarity of mind and was able to remember many lectures of my studies in Dungeoneering, Geography, and History. I also spent time thinking on the way that Wei moves with such grace, using precision and care to enact precision. I feel that I have already learned some of this from watching her, but I have more to learn.