[Forge RP] Mushroom Soup [Maia and Birch]

[Celestial Requiem]

Mushroom Soup

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The Forgemaster's favourite food is mushroom soup. However, he doesn't often have time to go out and collect the mushrooms to make it. Find him enough mushrooms to make the stew and he'll not only share a meal with you but he'll grant you a shiny gold piece (or two).

Goal: Collect 20 mushrooms.
Instructions: Roll 1d6 and match your rolls to the outcomes below!

1. This mushroom is a little slimy and you're not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. The last thing you want to do is give the Forgemaster food poisoning so you test it yourself. That's the only thing you remember and you wake up sometime later in a haze. -3 mushrooms
   
2. In the remnants of a decaying log, you find the mother load. The largest mushrooms you've ever seen! And even more lucky, you remember these mushrooms and know they're good to eat! (+5 mushrooms)
   
3. You seem to have stumbled into a large thicket of brambles. It takes you some time to pull all the thorns out of your sides and it seems as though they tore a hole in your sack and you lost some mushrooms. (-2 mushrooms)
   
4. Some of the woodland creatures got curious at the soquili traipsing through their home. You seem to be making an awful lot of noise and they want you gone asap! They brought you some mushrooms to help speed the process along. (+3 mushrooms)
   
5. Nothing out of the ordinary with this find, you just happened to sniff them out. (+1 mushroom)
   
6. Seems like another group of woodland creatures doesn't like you stealing their mushrooms. They perform an elaborate trick of death defying skill while another pilfers your sack! (-1 mushroom)

Reward: 1 gold piece

 

[Celestial Requiem]

"My name's Birch, by the way." The tiny mouse spoke up from within her nest that was Maia's mane. She'd made herself quite comfortable.

"It's nice to meet you, Birch. I'm Maia."

"Thanks for taking care of that pest. I really need to get to work if I want to have enough food stored for winter and he wasn't making that any easier."

"Glad I could help." Maia pushed through the trees, not entirely sure what a good foraging spot looks like.

"Ah, here's a good spot. Look at all those seeds!" Birch carefully made her way back to the ground and got to work. She laid out a couple of relatively large leaves and began placing acceptable seeds and nuts on to them.

Now that she had done what she'd set out to do, Maia felt a bit awkward. It seemed rude to just leave, especially considering that violent rabbit was still in these woods somewhere. But she also couldn't offer much help with Birch's foraging. Well, at least she had a nice view to take in. The warm colors of autumn trees. Hints of bright blue sky up above. And clusters of cute little mushrooms scattered across the forest floor.

Ah, wait! Didn't the Forgemaster need mushrooms? Perfect! Maia approached the nearest cluster and thoroughly inspected it. She couldn't bring back subpar mushrooms.

Quote:

4. Some of the woodland creatures got curious at the soquili traipsing through their home. You seem to be making an awful lot of noise and they want you gone asap! They brought you some mushrooms to help speed the process along. (+3 mushrooms)

Total: 3

 

[Celestial Requiem]

A pair of squirrels chitter huffily at Maia as she rooted around the base of their tree. Noticing that she had kicked up a few clustered of rather pathetic looking mushrooms, the squirrels did themselves a favor and produced several healthy looking ones just to get rid of her.

"Oh! How kind, thank you very much." Maia accepted their offering with a bright smile, completely unaware of their ulterior motives.

Birch, on the other hand, understood their frustrated chatter quite clearly. She didn't say anything about it- no need to stir up trouble over something so small -but she did give them a discreet scowl before returning to her work.

And Maia returned to hers. Three mushrooms was hardly enough for a stew. She carefully tip-toed through the brush, pushing aside small shrubs in hopes of uncovering a good stash of the fungi.

Quote:

1. This mushroom is a little slimy and you're not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. The last thing you want to do is give the Forgemaster food poisoning so you test it yourself. That's the only thing you remember and you wake up sometime later in a haze. -3 mushrooms

Total: 0

 

[Celestial Requiem]

Maia awoke to Birch smacking her nose furiously and shouting for her to wake up.

"Oh, thank the spirits! You big dingus, don't touch those! They'll knock you out for hours if you're not careful."

Maia's eyes went wide and she rolled into a sitting position. Perhaps not the best of ideas after touching questionable mushrooms as it made her vision spin a bit. "Hours? How long has it been?!"

"Calm down, it hasn't been nearly that long. Maybe twenty minutes."

Maia checked on the mushrooms she had collected only to find they had been completely smashed. She must have fallen asleep on them. How unfortunate.

Well, at least there were still plenty of mushrooms in the forest. Hauling herself back up on all fours, Maia began her search once again, now absolutely determined to collect enough fungus for the Forgemaster's stew. And to not touch any more of those mushrooms...

Quote:

3.You seem to have stumbled into a large thicket of brambles. It takes you some time to pull all the thorns out of your sides and it seems as though they tore a hole in your sack and you lost some mushrooms. (-2 mushrooms)

Total: 0

 

[Celestial Requiem]

Pushing onward, Maia delved deeper into the woods, finding herself in a darker part where the underbrush was thick and difficult to traverse. The first little p***k at her legs didn't register much. It was a forest, something was likely to give you a good jab. And the next few don't really get acknowledged either. But a twisted, thorny vine that decided to wrap itself around her front leg certainly did get her attention. She yelped and gave a feeble kick to try and dislodge it. Which only accomplished aggravating other spiny plants which gladly entangled themselves in her long fetlocks.

A great deal of painful fumbling and some shouted directions from Birch- safely on the outside of the bramble patch -eventually got Maia to freedom. Birch approached the now very prickly mare and began the agonizing process of pulling out all of the thorns and brambles and other hitchhikers.

"You're a clumsy thing, aren't you?"

Maia simply sighed and gave the bramble patch a nasty glare. And there, at the edge of the thorny brush, a couple of mushrooms that had been completely destroyed by her desperate escape. Was foraging for mushrooms really this difficult?

Quote:

4. Some of the woodland creatures got curious at the soquili traipsing through their home. You seem to be making an awful lot of noise and they want you gone asap! They brought you some mushrooms to help speed the process along. (+3 mushrooms)

Total: 3

 

[Celestial Requiem]

While Maia took some time to recover from her traumatic experience with the brambles, Birch offered to help with the mushroom collecting. She was much more experienced in where to find them and which ones were safe to pick. In the treetops above she could hear the residents of the woods getting upset. It seemed that Maia had caused quite the disturbance. If they didn't hurry up with this, they might have a revolt on their paws. Hooves. Whatever.

Unfortunately, when Birch finally returned to Maia she'd only managed to find a single mushroom. She would have kept looking, but the sounds above were beginning to make her a bit nervous. Maybe it would be better to stick close to the larger creature for right now. She could direct the mare from the safety of Maia's back.

Quote:

1. This mushroom is a little slimy and you're not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. The last thing you want to do is give the Forgemaster food poisoning so you test it yourself. That's the only thing you remember and you wake up sometime later in a haze. -3 mushrooms

Total: 0 gonk

 

[Celestial Requiem]

"Oh, there! That looks like some good ones." Birch pointed off to the left and Maia followed the directions obediently. Maia nosed at the mushrooms, trying to gently unearth them. Meanwhile, Birch had come to a horrible realization. "Ahh! No! Wait!"

But it was too late.

"Ah nuts...Those are the bad ones that make you sleepy again. Well, you better lay down before you pass out standing. Sorry..."

With a groan of exasperation, Maia collapsed to her side and accepted her fate. "This is more difficult than dealing with that rabbit."

Quote:

5. Nothing out of the ordinary with this find, you just happened to sniff them out. (+1 mushroom)

Total: 1

 

[Celestial Requiem]

At least the unintended nap left Maia feeling a bit more refreshed. And her spirit hadn't been completely broken just yet. There was still some determination left to complete this task. While that fire was still there, Maia picked the search back up. There had to be some good mushrooms left that she hadn't destroyed.

Birch, on the other hand, was seriously considering heading home with her own foraging stash. The woods had quieted a bit while Maia slept, but there was still chatter about how to get rid of the troublesome Soquili. But the guilt of having led the mare to a bad batch of mushrooms convinced her to stick around for at least a little bit longer.

Quote:

2. In the remnants of a decaying log, you find the mother load. The largest mushrooms you've ever seen! And even more lucky, you remember these mushrooms and know they're good to eat! (+5 mushrooms)

Total: 6

 

[Celestial Requiem]

And at last her persistence had paid off! An absolute treasure trove of mushrooms growing on an old, fallen log. Finally, some good luck. In her excitement, Maia almost started harvesting without knowing if they were safe or not. Reining herself in, she gave a cautious look to Birch. "Are these okay...?"

Birch pulled herself away from an enticing pile of acorns and scurried over to take a look. "Oh, that's a good find! These are safe, I promise. Really tasty too!"

With that confirmation, Maia collected a few of the best looking mushrooms and left the smaller or less appealing looking ones be.

Quote:

1. This mushroom is a little slimy and you're not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. The last thing you want to do is give the Forgemaster food poisoning so you test it yourself. That's the only thing you remember and you wake up sometime later in a haze. -3 mushrooms

Total: 3

RNG why

 

[Celestial Requiem]

It was like fate was trying to tell her something. Possibly that mushroom gathering was not her strong suit. Or maybe that she needed some rest. Or perhaps something much more profound that she really couldn't comprehend right now. Regardless, Maia found herself waking up to the sound of Birch's frantic cries yet again. She didn't even remember coming across any of those accursed mushrooms this time!

"Get up!! There's something moving around. Something big. All of the other animals have gone quiet..."

And now that she was awake, Maia did notice the woods were uncomfortably quiet. Once again getting back on her hooves after an unintentional nap, Maia looked around nervously. Birch made an unhappy little sound and decided to take shelter in Maia's mane once again. Whatever was out there was getting closer and she didn't really want to be on the ground at the moment.

"We should go."

Though she couldn't hear the sounds of this thing moving around like Birch could, the silent woods was enough to unsettle Maia. "Yeah...Maybe we should."

Quote:

Seems like another group of woodland creatures doesn't like you stealing their mushrooms. They perform an elaborate trick of death defying skill while another pilfers your sack! (-1 mushroom)

Total: 2

And with that we go to fight the Serpent because apparently we suck at getting mushrooms

 

[Celestial Requiem]

The fight with the great serpent had been a tough one that left Maia bruised, battered, and bloody. She needed a very long night's rest afterwards. And in spite of the aches and pains she still felt in the morning, the memory of her failed attempts at gathering mushrooms haunted her. She had to try again!

The next morning, Maia was back in the woods, and for some reason the little mouse couldn't comprehend, Birch had decided to come along. She could have easily returned home with her haul of nuts and seeds and forgotten this whole thing. But she'd become quite fond of the mare and felt safer with her around. And even more so after meeting her very large- both in number and in the size of several individuals -family. So, here they both were, back at it.

Quote:

This mushroom is a little slimy and you're not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. The last thing you want to do is give the Forgemaster food poisoning so you test it yourself. That's the only thing you remember and you wake up sometime later in a haze. -3 mushrooms

Total: 0

 

[Celestial Requiem]

The morning did not start off well, though. The very first patch of mushrooms they discovered was their favorite sleep-inducing kind. Maybe neither of them had quite woken up enough to realize what it was they had found, but both of them ended up passed out on the forest floor.

Quote:

This mushroom is a little slimy and you're not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. The last thing you want to do is give the Forgemaster food poisoning so you test it yourself. That's the only thing you remember and you wake up sometime later in a haze. -3 mushrooms

Total: 0

Are you ******** kidding meeeeee

 

[Celestial Requiem]

What neither of them realized is that as they laid down, they managed to do so in a large patch of the very same mushrooms. It was going to be a while before either of them woke up again.

Quote:

This mushroom is a little slimy and you're not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. The last thing you want to do is give the Forgemaster food poisoning so you test it yourself. That's the only thing you remember and you wake up sometime later in a haze. -3 mushrooms

Total: 0

SCREAMS

 

[Celestial Requiem]

Hours pass and the pair sleep restlessly, dreaming of monstrous mushrooms out to get them

Quote:

Nothing out of the ordinary with this find, you just happened to sniff them out. (+1 mushroom)

Total: 1

 

[Celestial Requiem]

Finally, the two are able to wake from their stupor. Both are very groggy and neither are very confident in their mushroom hunting skills any more. But they do manage to spot a single mushroom that doesn't leave them passed out.

Quote:

Nothing out of the ordinary with this find, you just happened to sniff them out. (+1 mushroom)

Total: 2