The Unseen Servant forums

This Place Is The Pits!
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Smokey, Bug Free

Max moves back the roughly 500 yards to where he and Dex just came from while the others debate their next move. With their gear ready for battle, they continue to watch the grey forms in the distance.

The odd shapes seem to be moving around in the same area, near the steamiest of the centrally located pits, and not coming any closer to the party as first anticipated. It is difficult to make out any more detail through the smokey mist from this distance, but they dont appear to be a threat at this point.

Drakkar shakes his masked head. “Well? We gonna go say hello and ask fer some a their goop? Er run fer the trees behind the elf?”

Actions?

Sir William Narramore 12/12 LOH
Cornelius Fitzenbell 8/8 1/1 RM, DI
Drakkar Deepcrag 7/11
Dexter Broadleaf 15/15
Maximus Fleetfoot 8/8 (C) 0/2 (MU) 1/1 CL, DM, RM

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter shrugs. "Well, as long as I'm out here already," he says. "I guess I can go over and say 'Hello' to them." He cinches up his pants. "Least I can do for getting the threat of the smoke all overblown." Dex starts walking directly towards the figures, still careful to monitor his own breathing for any sign of trouble. "It might be slow-acting," he thinks. "But there is a reason there are no plants or insects out here..."

Fitzenbell

Fitz goes with Dex, giving the stouter, more heavily armored members of his group a quizzical look as he leaves. Falling into step with Dex, he begins chattering immediately.
"Who do you think they are? WHAT do you think they are? What do they want, you reckon? Think they plan on eating us? I sure hope not. Oooh, maybe they will lead us to the goop we are supposed to collect! Wouldn't that be something! Can you believe the others aren't coming? Leave it up to the small ones to scope out the danger first and then they can rush in and act like they saved the day! Oh, ho! Reminds me of my first cousin Cooter. What a blow hard! I'll save that story for another time..."

Sir William Narramore

The tall human falls in behind his smaller comrades and smiles at Fitzenbell's endless chattering. He shades his eyes against the sun and examines their objective as they push ahead.

Max

Seeing the others head out towards the incoming creatures he moves to catch up staying about 20 feet behind the others making sure to step close to where Sir Narramore is walking.

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter walks jauntily alongside his Gnome companion. He listens carefully as Fitz' running commentary continues. When the Gnome takes a breath, Dex says, "I'm not sure about the 'who' or 'what' just yet, but they seem to be comfortable enough out here, so maybe they aren't like us at all. If Nallissa thinks the goop we are after has some value, I'd say it is a fair bet they are after the same thing. Personally, if I were going to try to eat us, I'd be sneakier about getting closer to us. They are right out in the open, so I doubt they are driven by hunger. I don't doubt they could lead us to the goop, but the question is will they? Especially if it's valuable. I'm not too surprised we are leading and scouting. We were doing it in the forest, so I guess it's natural enough for them to expect us to here, as well. And if they are willing to rush in, they can have the glory... heh heh heh. Cousin Cooter, huh? OK, but I will want to hear that later."

Dexter is becoming more and more sure that he likes the Gnome. "After all," he thinks to himself. "It's not like we need to be quiet. I'm sure they can see us as well as we see them."

Dex keeps reminding himself to watch his breathing, and note how this air feels.

This Place Is The Pits!
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid-Late Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Smokey, Bug Free

Max gets back to the tree line and immediately turns around again to rejoin the others, pretty much walking around in circles at this point.

The others don't even bother to wait for the confused elf anymore, heading off in the direction they saw the grey shapes in the distance.

They pass several more of the pits as they walk through the rough, rocky terrain. Some of them are empty, and others contain more of the grey watery liquid. Dex is sure to keep his face covering close to his nose and mouth, still not sure if the air here is safe to breathe or not.

About a mile or so into the clearing, and still several hundred yards away from them, the shapes finally seem to notice the groups presence. From this distance, they are a little easier to see. Some of them are small and low to the ground, about the size of a large dog. Several scatter and disappear when they spot the group, while a few of the larger, more humanoid looking shapes stay put where they are. In fact, a few of them appear to be waving at the party, as if they were trying to get them to come closer.

Their numbers are hard to predict, but there were at least a dozen of the smaller creatures with 6 of the taller ones remaining in sight. They dont appear to be doing much of anything, really. Most of the ones remaining don't even move away from the larger smoking pit they are standing around. The goo in the scattered pits along the way appears to be getting thicker and hotter the closer you get to the center of the vast desolation.

Actions?

Sir William Narramore 12/12 LOH
Cornelius Fitzenbell 8/8 1/1 RM, DI
Drakkar Deepcrag 7/11
Dexter Broadleaf 15/15
Maximus Fleetfoot 8/8 (C) 0/2 (MU) 1/1 CL, DM, RM

Dexter Broadleaf

"Well, Fitz ol' buddy, It's sure bet we've been seen now," Dex tells the Gnome. "They seem friendly enough, but let's slow down just a bit, have a good look around, and watch close for any surprises." True to his word, the Halfling continues forward at a reduced pace, looking around more and talking less.

Sir William Narramore

The knight pauses along their way to glance into one of the pits, satisfying himself that it is, Indeed, growing thicker as they progress toward the strange creatures. He returns his attention to the creatures and matches the slower pace of Dexter and Fitz, using the time to glean any details he can about them.

Fitzenbell

Fitz nods to Dex and says, "Lead on, my friend, I'm with ya."
As they walk, Fitz keeps looking back over his shoulder...secretly hoping the others are following.
"Say...we're getting awfully far from the others. You think they are just gonna wait? What if we get attacked? What if these...whatever they are...are goop monsters? Or worse...poop monsters!"
Fitz snorts and belly laughs, staggering like a drunk man...er...Gnome, wiping tears from his eyes at his own...really bad...joke.

This Place Is The Pits!
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid-Late Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Smokey, Bug Free

The group follows the lead of Dexter, moving closer to the figures, but doing so slowly and cautiously.

They pass several more pits that contain the grey liquid in varying degrees of viscosity, but the closer they get to the center of this massive clearing, the hotter it becomes, and the thicker the goop appears to get.

A few more of the strangely shaped grey creatures scatter as the party draws near, though the most humanoid looking of their kind stay and continue waving. The smaller oddly shaped blobs appear to slink back over the ridges of the pits and slip down into the grey substance contained within them. Drakkar futzes with his mask and sputters. "I dont like the looks a this one bit. If the walking oozes over there live in these pits, then it's likely we are already surrounded. Why are they waving us in closer? This seems like an ambush a some kind ta me."

Now only about 50 yards away from the grey figures, the party sees that the oozy substance in the pits at their feet is as thick as it is hot.

Actions?

Sir William Narramore 12/12 LOH
Cornelius Fitzenbell 8/8 1/1 RM, DI
Drakkar Deepcrag 7/11
Dexter Broadleaf 15/15
Maximus Fleetfoot 8/8 (C) 0/2 (MU) 1/1 CL, DM, RM

Fitzenbell

Fitz waves back at the strange ooze creatures.
"Maybe they are lonely? I mean, how many folks like us do they see out here in the pits?"

Fitz cups his hands and hollers, "Hey friends! Can we come closer?"

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter stops abruptly and peers at the smaller, more shy creatures as they slip back into their ooze. "Do you see anything IN those little critters?" he asks Fitz. "It looks like some kind of little jellyfish or something inside of them. What if this is some kind of.... I don't know ... nursery or hatchery... for their young, and they aren't waving all friendly-like, but trying to wave us OFF?" He looks closely at the Gnome. "My dad always told me the most dangerous bear is one with her cubs around."

Max

What if they are just imitating the waving you where doing to sucker us in? This is not good.

Sir William Narramore

The knight tilts his head and examines the strange creatures from a distance. "There's really no avoiding a confrontation, if they decide they want one. Our objective is here, and so are they. Shall we stop and attempt to retrieve some of the thicker goop now--while we're at a distance--and then back away, or press on and see what these beasts are about?"

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter points out, "Just be very careful. The little ones keep crawling into these pits. Make sure we don't scoop one out of there and try to take it by accident."

This Place Is The Pits!
Sunday, 21st of Goodmonth
Mid-Late Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Smokey, Bug Free

Once Fitz yells towards the creatures, the rest of the smaller figures scatter into the pits, along with a few of the more humanoid looking ones as well. Two of them remain, now slowly moving towards the group. They are about the size of an average human, but they dont "walk" on normal legs, instead sort of just slopping their lower halves across the rocky ground in your direction.

No real features can be made out on the slimy monsters, though their shape remains generally humanoid as they slowly close with the group. They have since stopped waving and are not trying to communicate verbally in any way either. Their movement is slow and they leave a streaky trail of snotty moisture behind them as they advance, closing to about 100 feet away now.

Please ignore the subtle skeletal features. I just really liked this pic.
Actions?

Sir William Narramore 12/12 LOH
Cornelius Fitzenbell 8/8 1/1 RM, DI
Drakkar Deepcrag 7/11
Dexter Broadleaf 15/15
Maximus Fleetfoot 8/8 (C) 0/2 (MU) 1/1 CL, DM, RM

It looks........a lot like that, ya.