I don't enjoy conflict. Funny that, seeing as how it has recently become more of a feature in my life. Arzula and Mr. Lowtide have been... arguing a lot recently. Mr. Lowtide seems to be an inherently suspicious person, while Arzula's entire personality invites heightened suspicion. She also doesn't trust Mr. Lowtide very much either, which naturally leads to them clashing... a lot. At least Ms. Inyanore feels as awkward as I do when they reach a boiling point.
As I pointed out in my previous entry, Arzula obviously has some kind of connection to dragons that she has deigned not to explain to us. And while I completely understand not wanting to let everyone know your secrets, Mr. Lowtide expects a certain amount of disclosure from us, especially of any information that pertains to the task at hand. I'm glad I came clean about the Rot infecting the Grove early in our acquaintanceship, as that seems to have thrown him off anything else I may be keeping from him. He thinks me to be a relatively open book, let's hope it stays that way.
While Arzula did confirm some connection to dragons, she did not explain any further than that. Mr. Lowtide pushed for more information, asking if anything she had going on had anything to do with our current quest. She strongly insisted that it did not. This went on for several minutes in the wake of its death. I ignored them, as did Ms. Inyanore, in favour of exploring the rest of the lair.
Near the back of the lair was a large white mushroom, about waist-high, that smelled as if it were rotting. Several bookshelves stood behind it, and while many of the books in it had been shredded we were able to find a guide to the Flora and Fauna of the Glow Wastes, which identified the mushroom as an Albino Rot Shroom. Apparently it's what Deep Dragons use to hatch their young. It was also required to fullfil another bounty that we had found in town for a reward of 1000 GP. Which brought us to the second argument of the day: What to do with the mushroom.
As it most likely contained a baby Deep Dragon, Arzula was extremely insistent on seeing it destroyed, while the rest of us wanted to collect the bounty. We later learned that uprooting the mushroom from where it rested killed the baby within it, but we did not know this at the time. Once again, Mr. Lowtide's required more explanation than Arzula was willing to provide, which led to more arguing. Arzula can be particularly dogmatic about certain things when she wants to be, and Mr. Lowtide is not one to listen without asking questions first.
Ms. Inyanore and I took matters into our own hands and uprooted the shroom ourselves, and took it to rest outside the old temple. I was quite wounded after the battle with the dragon, and was happy to finally lie down after a long day of travel.
Luckily I was able to talk to Arzula later that night, as she seems to trust me more than anyone else in the group. I find it amusing that the party as designated me as the most trustful among us. It's a delightful little departure from life in the Grove.
Arzula, like me, came from a druid clan, though I think hers either worshipped, or were possibly lead by, a dragon. Or maybe even multiple dragons. Anyways, there were dragons involved, and she's trying to look for one that might have been some kind of elder (?) in her clan. She works as a lorekeeper, so she knows a lot about them, and holds a great deal of respect for them, even the evil ones. I think she saw the killing of this dragon as a sort of service to what it once was. The infection had obviously degraded its mind, and I think she might not have liked to see it in such a state.
The way she talks about dragons reminds me a lot of Brother Everhart back home, though her mind isn't as frayed as his is. At least I hope not. Who knows what's up with the psionics. Do you think they could mess with her head?
The next day was spent walking back to Alveo to hand in our bounties. We have several cores to hand in at the Crux Fleet, as well as information relating to the origin of the infection. We also brought the Rot Shroom to Pinelle's, an artificer with storefronts set up all around Fantin. I'm sure we'll see more of her in the future, as she as many bounties for various odd crafting materials she requires for her inventions.
PS Heard Ara again. She's heading to Gall, If I can get there I'm to look for Fallsview. Otherwise, if I make to Murcas look for 9H (whatever that means)
PPS Stupid, how could I forget. We saw a pillar of fire while walking back today. I'm 99% sure that that was the fire woman the dragon spoke about.