A Field in England

During a battle of the English Civil War, an alchemist's assistant named Whitehead flees from the strict Commander Trower. Whitehead is saved by a rough soldier named Cutler, who kills Trower before he can apprehend Whitehead. Whitehead then meets two army deserters, the veteran Jacob and the witless Friend. The four leave the battleground in search of an ale house that Cutler claims is nearby. Cutler instead leads them to a field with many mushrooms growing in it, where he cooks a meal with some mushrooms and encourages the others to eat, in order to make them more obedient; save for Whitehead who is fasting. Following their meal they haul an Irishman, the Wizard O'Neill, seemingly out of the ground using a rope wrapped around a strangely carved wooden post buried in the ground. O'Neill is a rival alchemist for whom Cutler works; and who had stolen documents from Whitehead's master, which Whitehead is trying to recover. O'Neill quickly asserts authority over the group and tells them of a treasure hidden somewhere in the field.