Slither!
Slither slither!
It is a beautiful day, and you have all come to the Central Market around Adayenki Pavilion, at the heart of Kibwe. You are at an open-air shop belonging to a seller of rare wood named Kendi Laughs-Long, who stocks some of the city’s most intricately carved darkwood.
“Ah, not one buyer, but many!” cries Kendi Laughs-Long, the proprietor of this spacious stall in Kibwe’s bustling Central Market. His expansive gesture draws attention to his many skillful carvings of rare wood, including darkwood. “Please, all of you, browse my wares and feel free to ask me anything. Are you all together or are you in search of different items? I have darkwood weapons, shield, staves, and works of art.”[/b]
Asta idly examines a beautifully-carved cane, the length of which bears relief carvings of folk tales about Old Mage Jatembe in an elegant dark wood. As he tests the grip on polished brass handle, finding it far too big for his small hand, he looks up to the proprietor. "This is a beautiful piece. Do you do custom orders?"
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A wiry ysoki toys with a darkwood buckler. The four-foot-tall swashbuckler wears scarlet riding skirts trimmed with intricate gold embroidery and a crimson Madiba shirt that's embroidered with gold-flame patterns to match the skirts. She wears a blindingly-bright golden bangle on her right wrist and sun-yellow dueling cape thrown across one shoulder. Sangria-red leathers peek out below the loose outfit, and the elegant rapier draped from her silk sash denote her as a swordswoman of some kind.
She tosses the buckler onto the counter, where it rolls around for a moment before coming to a rest. Never heard of wooden bucklers. They ought to be made from steel. Don't you know anything, Kendi Laughs-Long? But then she picks it up again. Hmmm… but do I like breaking the rules — who doesn't?
She eyes the shoony. You: mister fedora — looks like you have an eye for this kind of thing. What do you think? Will a darkwood buckler even work? She pushes the buckler into his hands and then taps the kobold standing nearby. She whispers conspiratorily: Well… would you look at that. There's Jack from the Lily-White Stripes! Bet you didn't recognize him, but I do. I saw them in Bloodcove a few years back. Do you think he'll sign an autograph? She pauses. Got any paper? Or a pencil?
A fearsome red and green kobold saunters along on his massive lizard. He radiates a bold sense of pride uncommon in little kobolds.
"What wonderful designs!" booms the little kobold "Please, the woodcarvings."
Jack Lily-White walks around the shop. A leshy with a carved pumpkin head, he's correctly identified as the lutist and lead singer of the Lily-White Stripes. Behind him walks another, tiny leaf leshy. Both wear striped tabards of red and white, their show attire. It's meant to stand out, and is part of their band's aesthetic. "Now what about these ones, big sis? Darkwood might have the durability you're looking for."
Nutmeg, Jack's 'big sister', picks up a pair of drumsticks. She seems incredibly shy, and lets out a quiet hoot before testing the darkwood sticks by drumming in the air. She frowns, then shakes her head.
"Too heavy? That's always the problem. It's either too heavy, or too fragile and breaks," Jack replies. His sister nods.
The lutist turns his attention to Kendi, but waits to let the merchant take care of his other clientele.
Prowling about the Central Market, unhurriedly browsing from stall to stall, Yuturr smiles in spite of himself at the merchant's hawking. The man's wares are artful, if not especially noteworthy, and his prices are only a little high. The bustle at the stand is impressive, and Yuturr casually notes at least three easy marks among the throng, including one woman who stares at a staff wide-eyed. She wants it. She's not leaving without that one.
Asta eyes the ratfolk for a moment before picking up the buckler and examining it. "Well, miss cape: it would stop a blow, I'm sure. Steel would certainly last longer, though. Besides, that one looks carved to be decorative, if you ask me. Beautiful, but I doubt many like it have felt a blade."
You may be right, Mister Fedora. Pretty things are good armor for everyday life, but I don't live the everyday life. She takes the buckler back and then drops it on the counter, where it rolls around precariously before coming to a stop.
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"Ah, yes you have a wonderful eye for the merchandise! The secret of making wooden bucklers was lost for many years, but I..."
Kendi utters a strange, deep gurgle, and his features begin to flow and melt like wax. He stares plaintively as his eyes droop and then liquefy. Within seconds, the merchant has become a quivering pile of dark goo in his stall. The goo suddenly ripples, extrudes a pseudopod, and slithers forward.
The shop’s expensive darkwood carvings are all splattered during Kendi’s transformation and destroyed by the ooze’s acid.
Several merchants and shoppers in the market witness Kendi’s horrid demise. Most wisely scatter or hide, but you are too close to get away as it reaches out toward you.
Initiative!
Zarke
Giant blob!
Jack
Asta
Fuchsia
Yuturr
Everyone is surprised by the sudden transformation, but Zarke is first to recover and act!
"Ahhh!" nearly shrieks Zarke as the mighty kobold struggles to keep his composure.
Acting more out of instinct than plan Zarke draws his humongous maul and goes up and tries to squish the goo.
Zarke pulls out a maul, which smushes some of the goo into the ground. The pile of ooze shudders at the impact.
Zarke easily pulls his maul back before it takes any damage from the ooze.
The creature reaches out to grab the source of the impact.
plus
It wraps up Zarke in a tendril and squeezes.
plus
Initiative!
Zarke, grabbed by the blob
Giant blob!, -10 hp
Jack
Asta
Fuchsia
Yuturr
"Ow! shouts Zarke as the blog nearly engulfs him in horrible goo and burning acid.
Yuturr isn't at all sure what this thing is at first glance., but he takes a second to try and recall anything.
He shares anything he might know (likely nothing), then moves to the thing's side, drawing his rapier along the way.
Neither Yuturr nor Asta can identify the specific ooze, though both of you know that oozes are creatures with simple anatomies. They tend to have low mental ability scores and immunity to mental effects and precision damage. They usually have either resistance or immunity to piercing and slashing damage.
Asta swiftly draws a sword cunningly hidden within his cane, then a light mace from his back. The golden ring on his sword hand flashes, followed by a corresponding flash from the iron ring on his other hand, enveloping the mace. He then studies the ooze for a moment.
"Well this isn't what I was expecting," Jack says, sounding remarkably unsurprised. He then intones a series of strange, primal words. Each word has a sinister, otherworldly feel to it that makes anyone hearing it feel a kind of mild itch in their mind. With a gesture he completes the magical invocation, calling a sphere of pure fire that appears in the centre mass of the blob!
"Climb to safety if you can, Meg!" he says to his sister, who does her best to climb up on whatever she can to get off ground level.
Now I know why I never liked you, Laughs-Long. And it's not the knockoff bucklers.
Cloak streaming through the air, Fuchsia backflips through the creature's space and draws her light hammer.
She then exhorts the grabbed Kobold to be free! Live another day, to lend me that pencil — you can do it!
With Fuchsia's inspiration Zarke does his best to force his way free from the giant slime monster. "Grah! This creature is intolerable!"
Zarke moves back and out of reach before trying to heal his own wounds with battle medicine.
Zark grunts and swings
before trying to patch up his wounds.
Jack conjures a ball of fire while Meg climb to safety on the freestanding wall.
The flaming sphere is quite effective and the pile of ooze shudders.
Asta carefully examines the ooze, making plans to find its weakness.
Fuchsia tumbles through the creature's space easily, and tries to help Zarke escape.
Yuturr draws a weapon while getting into position.
Zarke struggles, but unfortunately, even with Fuchsia's assistance, he can't wriggle free. He struggles to strike the creature, but does manage to patch himself up.
The creature squeezes Zarke once, then drops him, anxious to move out of the fire.
plus
It then lashes out with a pseudopod at Jack, the source of the fire!
plus
Initiative!
Zarke
Giant blob!, -24 hp
[b]Jack
Asta
Fuchsia
Yuturr
Fuchsia's whiskers twitch in frustration as she cannot do precision damage.
She then snaps her bright cloak at the ooze, weaving the hammer through the flashing fabric.
Yuturr isn't shy about sharing the information he has about this ooze, considering a motley assemblage fighting for their lives against it.
Compensation for said information can be worked out later, but survival seems paramount right now.
Yuturr moves up and brings his light mace to bear on the oversized globule, dismayed that there seems no vital part to target.
He then conjures up a small disc of force for protection.
Jack winces in pain, but maintains his focus on the conjured fire. With a force of will, he makes the sphere roll along the floor and back atop the gloppy thing
He then strides back to get some physical obstacles between him and it, and invokes another form of magic to magically shield himself for a time.
Still reeling from his wounds Zarke fires an electric at the big giant puddle.
before casting guidance on Yuturr "Get 'im Yuturr!"
Asta continues his study of the strange ooze, hoping to gain some sort of insight to help his friends.
He then steps forward and strikes with the mace in his off hand
Jack rolls the flaming sphere into the pile of goop.
Which continues to sizzle. Jack backs away and conjures a magical shield.
Asta struggles to make a proper strategy against the pile of ooze, but he does give the thing a sharp whack with his mace, deftly pulling the mace away before it takes acid damage.
Fuchsia strikes the ooze twice, with a magical talisman adding extra oomph.
Yuturr similarly gives the ooze a whack.
The mace starts to sizzle!
Zarke sends electricity in its direction, hoping it can't get out of the way.
It manages to just move to avoid the worst of the arc.
It shudders and continues to move away from the fire.
With only the shoony in reach, it lashes out at Asta!
plus
plus
Initiative!
Zarke
Giant blob!, -77 hp
Jack
Asta
Fuchsia
Yuturr
Worried about how close that nasty pseudopod came, Asta darts in, whacks at the ooze again, then darts away out of reach (he hopes).
I think you better… stick around.
Fuchsia, fueled up on the excitement of battle, moves 35 feet behind the ooze. She swings the hammer at the ooze, pulling back reflexively as she does so — but not fast enough. Gross..
She then parries again, waving the cloak and hammer like a matador!
Zarke fires off another electric arc at the blob.
before healing himself once more before preparing to return to the melee.
Jack maintains his focus, once again rolling the flaming sphere to (hopefully) great effect.
The lutist then calls further upon his granted magical power, first guiding Yuturr's action and then once more raising a shield of force to project him.
Yuturr acknowledges the guidance with a nod, scurrying forward with his fur raised, trying to bring the ooze down!
He once again conjures up a small disc of force for protection.
Jack continues to roll the flaming sphere into the ooze!
There is an awful, acrid smell in the air as the ooze burns more.
Asta uses hit and run tactics, giving the ooze a thwap and darting off again.
Fuchsia gives the ooze a whack with a hammer, before taking up a defensive position. The hammer is less lucky.
Yuturr adds a perfect blow that would skewer the organs of anything that actually had them. Unfortunately, this creature is just a pile of mush.
Zarke adds another electric arc to the mix.
It somehow avoids the worst of another electric arc.
It squeezes past Yuturr and the table of now destroyed woodwork, still escaping the fire. It then lashes out a pseudopod at Yuturr!
plus
Initiative!
Zarke
Giant blob!, -115 hp
Jack
Asta
Fuchsia
Yuturr
Everyone is up! It looks fairly messed up.
Fucshia nods at Zarke, moving into a flank. Let's finish this, Sir Kobold.
She goes all-out, foregoing defense after she sees the creature land a devastating blow on Yuturr — this cannot continue much longer!
★
This ain't even my good hammer, and you're still gopnna die.
★
Hoping to distract the creature from its assault on Yuturr, Asta abandons his mobile strategy, instead studying the creature carefully and moving in for a strike.
"Now, Zarke!"
Yuturr snaps his shield into place, which absorbs some of the damage before it vanishes, but regrettably none of the acid. All over my nice clean tunic! he laments to himself.
Seeing the ratfolk move into flank with the kobold, Yuturr elects to do the same with Asta.
Zarke swings wildly, attempting to smash the ooze as many times as he can.
Jack continues to roll the flame over the ooze, doing his best to burn it down while ignoring the odor of melted goo.
Hoping to add insult to injury, Jack murmurs an incantation that draws more otherworldly elemental power. He completes the spell with a gesture, and a ray of frost lances out toward the ooze.
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Jack sends in the flaming sphere one more time, followed by a burst of cold.
Asta whacks at it again and aids Zarke.
Yuturr and Fuchsia both attack it as well, nearly clobbering it.
Finally Zarke, tired of the battle, starts beating on the pile of ooze until the mush stops moving.
The shop keeper from the next stall over approaches. He does not look surprised at the sudden transformation, but he does very carefully avoid stepping in any of the bits of ooze left on the ground and also avoids touching any of you, covered in the creature's acid.
"Thank you for your help. These things can move surprisingly quickly through a crowd. We have a team who will clean up the mess. If anything can be salvaged from the mess, it will go to Kendi's daughter. But please, take this as a symbol of gratitude from the merchants here."
He lays a traveler's any-tool on one of the display tables and gestures to it.
Fuchsia gives the newcomer a funny look as she wipes off her damaged hammer. Of course. Just another case of a nice old merchant selling knockoff shields one moment, then exploding into a huge black murder-ooze the next. I'm glad you were prepared, all ready to clean up the mess after I did all the hard work. And these other people helped. Who are you, anyway?
Yuturr nods as the ratfolk swordsman comments. Does this happen frequently in Kibwe? It would seems rather bad for business, if so.
Jack listens and remains silent, waiting for the merchant to say his piece.
"You say this happens frequently enough that you have a team on stand-by to clean up afterwards? Fascinating. How long has this been going on?"
"Well..." he starts, but he is suddenly interrupted by a woman from several stalls away trying to get your attention.
You see a middle-aged Zenj woman dressed in colorful fabrics waving at you. “Ah! Heroes! I would speak with you!” When the woman gets closer, she bows and introduces herself. “I am Abayone Munme, and I have the pleasure of serving on the Representative Council that administers Kibwe. Might I bother you for a moment of your time? That unfortunate transformation you just witnessed was, alas, not an isolated event.”
So we have been told, Yuturr says, eying Abayone warily. He's already witnessed one alarming metamorphosis today, and isn't eager to be caught so unawares again. What happened to Laughs-Long?
Zarke stoically tends to his wounds as the polite conversations takes place.
The kobold motions fro Yuturr to sit as well "Keep talking, but sit while I fix us up.
The ratfolk puffs up at the word "heroes" and adjusts the jaunty fold in her silk hat. "Unfortunate" is one way to put it, but you have the "heroes" part right, Abayone. I'd certainly like to learn more. I'm Madouc. She turns to her new allies — the ones who helped kill the ooze. My friends call me Fuchsia.
"I don't know that I'd call myself a hero. Just a musician. Right place, wrong time and all," Jack chimes in. "But I'm curious. I'm listening."
“He was transformed into an ooze. There have been several reported instances of this happening. Many rumors are circulating about these ghastly transformations in the city; other than myself, however, too many are inclined to dismiss them as foolish jokes or the effects of too much alcohol.” She smiles grimly, tapping the side of her nose. “At first, so did I. But this is no joke. I would hire you to investigate. I can offer a stipend of ten gold pieces per day for expenses, but also the Representative Council’s gratitude, which you may find quite valuable.”