Test of tests, a day of gathering

Beginning this day, we were introduced to our group and our purpose for this second test. The Sliver character seemed to be a worthwhile companion, but the prince guard appeared appropriate only as fodder. Zoji and Yan were good allies to bring, the chef and the small one are perfect for foraging and identifying for plants. Hopefully with my parchment birds searching the sky and Lee searching the ground we'd be a shoe-in to win this exam.
 
One of my owls returned overwhelmed with great excitement and lead us into the woods. After a moment, we were approached by some beautiful woman who began to beckon us. While many of us were confused, Zoji was seemingly enthralled and rushed to profress his undying love for her. Yan, with confirmation from our fungal guide, chased away that temptress who promptly vanished into the wood.
 
Pressing onward, we find a cliffside with a seemingly hidden door behind it. My familiar, Red Eye the Raven, translates the paper owl's speech for me explaining that it saw a metal adorned man covered in skull imagery entering the cavern. We sent the guard ahead after waking the coward only for him to fall and knock himself unconscious again. Deciding not to simply the fool's blood to empower myself, we woke him again and had him swim across a small lake unarmored to take a glowing apple from a mushroom covered tree. As he began to swim back, he was expertly dispatched by a lake monster (the apple being saved by a vulture I'd created).
 
After narrowly escaping the betentacled beast, our party reached the surface only to be accosted by a hag demanding we explain what we saw below deck. The hag warns of a spreading fungal infection and suggests to leave the forest. Yan, Zoji and I convince Sliver to join us in finding our captain and rush off to join her (and Anchor/ Ulundi). On the way, we find a ratfolk laying by a fungal corpse who claimed to be fine, but admitted he may be carrying the plague. We decided to put off his execution for now until after we find our shipmates, having the rat lead the way with explosives in hand.
 
We find our captain and company surrounded by thirty or forty of these foul things and considering their options. The rat sought to blow up the horde but before he could light his bomb a giant explosion caused by some other force went off in the mosh of mushrooms. Whose aid we seem to be taking is yet unknown to me, but all things unknown shall be given form by the Light.