Hexcrawl 81 - Clearing the Temple Level and Yellow Musk Creeper Battle

Grom leads Gemwin, Bors, and Hjalmar to explore and re-take the Temple of Mordinsamman in Runedarth. They battle a yellow musk creeper and its zombies, during which both Hjalmar and Bors are slain and implanted with foul plant seeds. Through Moradin's grace, Bors is saved, but Hjalmar is gone forever and only narrowly avoids reanimating as a zombie. Exploring the temple areas, the party finds a unique guardian and explores the top of the mountain, discovering another entrance possibly associated with the necromantic Cult of the Dragon. They also discover a curious statue with an acrid green teardrop. Dropping back down to the Halls of Gallowglar and Yund, they explore part of the disputed level and battle a patrol of the Direlord Tribe.