A group of duergar attacked a myconid colony while searching for stolen boots. Now the myconid sovereign wants you to “cleanse the rot” and keep his people safe. In this guide we’ll show you how.
Map
Points of Interest 1 – Sovereign Spaw 2 – Sovereign Glut 3 – Gekh Coal / Duergar 4 – Mushroom Vault
Background
Inside the Myconid Colony in the Underdark, Sovereign Spaw (#1) will show you visions of duergar attacking his circle, and he’ll ask you to “cleanse the rot.” If you agree to do this, then you’ll trigger the quest, and Spaw will give you a pair of Haste Spore Grenades to help you out.
Note: If you’re playing a Bard, and if you beat a DC-20 Deception check, then you’ll be able to convince Spaw that you’ve already killed the duergar, which will allow you to skip the battle against them and immediately receive the reward (see below).
Walkthrough
After triggering the quest, when you make your way out of the Myconid Colony, you’ll likely travel past Sovereign Glut next to the western entrance (#2). Glut will show you visions as well — of his circle being completely destroyed by the duergar — and he’ll want to come with you when you attack them. This will trigger the quest Avenge Glut’s Circle.
You’ll find the duergar in the decrepit village to the southwest (#3). You’ll face four of them in total:
Gekh Coal – Level 7
Holvik – Level 5
Lurgan – Level 5
Novice Garmor – Level 4
Of these, Coal is the most dangerous. He’ll cast Animate Dead on his first turn to create four allied Reanimated Corpses, and after that he’ll make good use of his Exterminator’s Axe to Lacerate and Cleave. He’ll also turn himself Invisible and cast Ray of Sickness just for fun.
If you don’t have Sovereign Glut with you, and if you’re not playing a Deep Gnome (which will cause the duergar to assume you’re another escaped slave), then the duergar will talk to you when they spot you. There are a few ways to keep the duergar friendly:
If you’re a Fighter, or you’ve been Branded (by Priestess Gut in the Shattered Sanctum), then you’ll get a special dialogue option.
If you detected the duergar by beating a passive DC-20 Perception check before they spoke to you, then you’ll be able to tell them this, which will impress them.
You can use your Illithid powers.
Note: If you talk to the duergar, then you’ll learn that they attacked the Myconid Colony because they were searching for an escaped slave who stole some important boots. This will trigger the quest Find the Missing Boots.
As long as you avoid starting the fight when the duergar spot you, you can complete the conversation and then position your party to best advantage before kicking things off. We’d recommend surrounding Coal and ganging up on him on the first turn, ideally finishing him off before he can do anything. With Coal out of the way, it shouldn’t be too complicated to mop up the rest. When you loot the corpses, you’ll find lots of standard gear and consumables, plus the Executioner’s Axe and a Duergar Antidote (which you might find useful in the quest Cure the Poisoned Gnome) on Coal’s corpse.
At the conclusion of the battle, Sovereign Glut will want to talk to you (whether he’s with you or still in the Myconid Colony). He’ll tell you that while killing the duergar satisfies some of his thirst for vengeance, there is still another culpable party — Sovereign Spaw, who ignored his pleas for help when the duergar attacked his circle. So he’ll ask you to kill Spaw as well. This will give you a choice for which sovereign to support, but it won’t really change anything for this quest or any other quest. See our guide for Avenge Glut’s Circle for details.
When you return to Sovereign Spaw (#1), he’ll name you Peace-Bringer, and he’ll give you the Bliss Spores condition (+1d6 to Attack Rolls, Ability Checks, and Saving Throws), which will last until your next Long Rest. He’ll also open the way into the mushroom vault (#4), where you’ll find a more tangible reward.
Note: If you killed the duergar and Glut before talking to Spaw, then you should tell him about the duergar before Glut, or else you won’t receive the Bliss Spores.
Another Note: Bliss Spores are really useful. You might want to take a Long Rest before receiving them so you can keep them for as long as possible.
Normally, it’s after receiving the quest rewards that you’d attack Spaw for Glut (if you choose to do that), but if you instead force attack Spaw before completing the quest, then you can get the same rewards from Glut after he’s taken over. Whichever sovereign rewards you for the quest will then give you a new task — to kill the drow Nere who brought the duergar to this part of the Underdark. This will trigger the quest Deliver Nere’s Head.
Inside the mushroom vault (#4), you’ll discover that myconids might define treasure slightly differently than you do. You’ll just find the camp of a dead drow elf. Luckily, the drow will have some interesting items: the book Flumph Mating Rituals, Icy Metal, and a Shadow of Menzoberranzan hood.
The book Flumph Mating Rituals is a special item. If you read it, and if you pass a DC-15 Investigation or Nature check, then you’ll detect that the text is an illusion, and that the book is really a manual for forging adamantine. The book will then transform into The Great Furnace of Grymforge, which might prove useful during the quest The Adamantine Forge.
Starting with cassette tape games on the TRS-80, Steven has been playing, creating, and writing about games for a long, long time. This makes him experienced, not old. Lately, Steven has been focusing on walkthroughs, making sure everybody knows how to solve Towers of Hanoi puzzles.
