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Post by Vikram on Oct 12, 2022 23:37:44 GMT -5
Vikram strokes his beard pensively. It was two hours after leaving Gazablaak and Vikram still couldn't decide if he had been tricked or not. He sunk another inch into the mud, the stench of rot and desiccation stung his nostrils. LLoyd had sent him here for the purpose of following oozes but he little saw the point of it. To him an Ooze was similar to the puddle of mud he stood in. Not necessarily a monster but more like a facet of nature. It was as if Lloyd had sent him out here to this haunted forest to look at a pit of quicksand and divine how it multiplied. The more he thought about it the more he came to the conclusion that he had been taken as a fool. Another inch sunken into the mud as it now reached his hips. His silken robes only made the wed sod he stood in feel more mucilaginous than the muck already had. Vikram stroked his beard pensively. Considering his options and eyeing his surroundings Vikram saw little in the way of escape routes. The roots protruding from the twisted gnarled trees nearby were either too far away or too miniscule and frail to support his weight. He briefly considered cutting back on the kebabs before deciding that simply wouldn't do.
The woods around him stood silent and watchful. The only sounds offered was the bubbling of the pool he was standing in and the occasional hoot of an apathetic owl. This probably wasnt the worst place to die. Perhaps in a few millennia his corpse would be discovered well preserved in the bog. Perhaps the ones finding him would have the means and motive to resurrect him. Vikram shut his eyes and shook his head, dispelling these illusions of far off times to immerse himself in his current predicament. Vikram sunk another inch into the muck.
talesofcharon.proboards.com/thread/1300/lloyds-field-guide-ooze
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Post by saintronan on Oct 13, 2022 18:50:45 GMT -5
Patience had paid off. Three days between and always at dusk. The others were too sporadic in consistency for Maude to pace out in his mind's eye. Especially over the fortnight of observation he'd allotted the task. Plenty of fools had passed through, believing themselves more hardy or capable for the trek than they truly were. They were called flood ruins for a reason. No amount of hardiness withstood the wrath of nature. Especially a wrath well known for its indifference towards wanderers, scholars, and adventurers alike. Sign enough of the regularity of their fates could be seen in the shallows that pockmarked the entire marsh. Well preserved drowned men and women with broken bone and usually stripped of valuables. Or the roots surrounding the mud entrances to the flood caves themselves. Ropes, blades, axes and fingers left behind by those proved incapable of denying the pull of an early grave. He huffed at the idea of other scouts like himself being pressed into this goosechase of a task. Service like this was a reason for desertion.
He enjoyed the marshes though. They felt honest. Marked in every hidden crevice were signs of its teeth. The pits. Its claws, the trees. Breathing freshwater into its cavernous bellows to keep alive all that rests here and expel the death within. There was no hiding any aspect of the cycle of things given a small amount of observation by an experienced forager or hunter. For whom the abundance of root herbs must have been like that of a dream as they flagged about proudly on the stagnant muggy air. The strangest thing at the moment was the lack of bird and bugsong. Meaning someone must have passed through recently. Finding sign of them was simple enough. A cracked branch here, a stomped stalk there, and the sounds of someone straining against something was the final straw.
Cresting the edge of one of the many pits, passed a gnarled thin tree, revealed the recent query. Maude sighed quietly. The garb alone belonged nowhere near this marshland, let alone the man within it. Light blue robes and turban. Only his upper body was exposed above the muck sinking to an almost imperceptible degree. There was no rush. His fate would be sealed were he to go undiscovered in this state as a common adventurer but this was no common man. Even so, such as it was, his face was hard set and resolute. No fear tinted his bearded face nor discomfort his sun-weathered features. Perhaps he knew that where he stood was one of the many sinks which funnels into the flood caves bellow. His crossed arms betrayed him. The uncertainty within couldn't help but convey itself in some fashion. A hint of a smile escaped Maude's control for a moment before he wiped his face of any sign of it.
Taking the woodcutter's axe from the side of his pack he eyed the tree above the sinking fellow. Time enough for that it seemed. He removed his pack, his gambeson, and his hood and placed all at the base of a rock beside the tree. One final glance to the man and then the tree was all that preceded the resounding thunk of first cleave to trunk.
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Post by Vikram on Oct 13, 2022 22:03:13 GMT -5
The sound of a loud thwack interrupted his ruminations. Vikram opened an eye to find a familiar grizzled face taking an axe to a nearby tree. The fair skinned man looked deceptively older than he appeared, aged by experience rather than years. His work wrapped musculature bulged with effort drawing attention to the scars and wounds long since healed. Vikram gave a short harrumph. He knew the man was not much of a conversationalist. Not to mention that he now found himself in Maude's debt. Regardless, the die had been cast and now it would only be a matter of time before he was free once again. Honestly, he was quite glad happenstance had brought these two back together. Maude was a quite reliable tracker in his experience. Perhaps this task would not become as arduous as Vikram initially thought. Minutes pass and the thunks stopped. Maude paused to hammer some wedges onto the opposite side of the trunk, and a small nudge brought the tree low. Landing across the puddle about a foot from him Vikram paused a second to give a hard glare to the man. He knew it was a well calculated felling. What wasn't certain was whether or not Maude was being foolhardy, abrasive, or just efficient. The loud thump sent a small flock of crows skyward with its disturbance, and Vikram wrapped his tired arms around it to stay the sinking. A few seconds later a rope was tossed. Draping across his turban he looked back to Maude with a smile. "Tie it" As Vikram moved the rope to his waist he noticed Maude holding a hand up in a signal to stop, only to point beside the enturbaned man. "To the tree" A frown crossed Vikram's face. A conclusion to his previous quandary, it was all three.
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Post by saintronan on Oct 14, 2022 0:29:16 GMT -5
Watching the old man as he slowly pulled the hempen rope from beneath his arms stoked another quiet sigh. His clinging to the tree with one elbow as he bound the rope around the thin trunk was well enough what Maude wanted of him. He could only imagine what now went through the sukhbir's mind being refuted the grace that was the ropes salvation. The long end of the rope at that. Trekking back to his belongings and what remained of the stump, the scout's end was near taut as he bound and tethered the short end beneath a severe and crooked knot in the wood. He tested the line from a handful of angles before nodding to himself and retrieving his equipment.
Stomping upto the muddied waters edge, Maude eyed his handiwork as he squatted down and tested the pools by cupping some water into his palm. Letting it run between his fingers as he looked to Vikram for the first time since felling the tree.
"Oh-hoh! Where did you come from? Fantastic! Thank you, a saint you are. Splendid news, I tell you. First, I hear tale of viscous creatures about the Marshflats. Search as I might, not one appears before me. Then I thought that perhaps within the muds themself the mucks must hide. And, voila! The land itself opens up beneath me. Just goes to show. Good things come to those who wait! Hah hah hah hah!"
He thumped a fist against the trunk with perceived triumph. If not for the blatant threat to his person the situation represented he somehow maintained the outlook on life of a babe. It was enviable. Perhaps even a show. Maude assumed as much. The dialogue did confirm something for him at least. He worked the gritty sand residue from his palm in the shallows and proceeded to flick the moisture away in the direction of the trapped man. Not much longer and things would carry on how he'd planned earlier in the day only with some unintended company along for the ride. Hopefully, that wouldn't complicate things to come.
The site of the setting sun shone through the evening fog rolling in. He pinned Vikram down with a glare to cut off whatever next was to fall from his lips. The seriousness of the look must have been understood for he grew still and silent, listening intently.
Since the fall of deadwood upon water much of the natural noises of the marsh had returned. Bugs chirped ever lively and birds sang their baleful caws. Until a moment ago. There was no tell-tale creak of wagon axle, whiny of horse, nor snapping of branches but something was out there. Disturbing the harmony. Maude moved atop the felled tree with silent footstep unnatural to a man of his bulk.
"Get ready."
The mud began to bubble and sink.
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Post by Vikram on Oct 14, 2022 4:03:47 GMT -5
Vikram nodded. Gritting his teeth and wrapping the rope around his gauntlets he began to kick his legs. The muck had little give but what purchase he did gain helped the muck collapse just a slight bit further. Ten minutes and he could pick up the signs Maude had already noticed. A soft glow from a covered bullseye lantern. The faint whiff of stale Smokeleaf throughout the air. A second flock disturbed from their roost about 500 meters away. Maudes gaze fixed on the woods to the south of their small clearing. Vikram could only imagine what signs the fine-tuned senses of the hunter had picked up on. Perhaps just a killer intuition. One final kick and the sludge was loose enough, the flooded tunnel below him retreated enough for the entire puddle to collapse with one large plop. Vikram fell with the mud about 10 meters. The rope pulled taut around his arm and kept him upright. when the pile of muck had settled he found himself only a foot off the floor of the Flood Cave below them, dropping with a wet squish. The log above them remained sturdy. Maude only wagered half a glance below him before taking a final look around and rappelling down. They found themselves in a tunnel flooded about 4 inches with cold murky water. Maude landed as gracefully as a man of his stature could, he even had appropriate boots for the environment. Something Vikram briefly wished for before realizing it would be pointless regardless. He shook his head, wringed out, wrapped a small bit of ruined fabric from his outfit around a wet log from nearby. Bringing a small bit of flintsteel out to try and light his makeshift torch he mumbles something, mostly to himself but aloud nonetheless. "Must'nt dwell on the poor luck we find ourselves in. Only on the grand luck awaiting us my boy!" Vikram's grin couldn't be more genuine as he struggled with the torch. This certainly was like the good old days wasn't it.
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Post by saintronan on Oct 16, 2022 1:26:33 GMT -5
Maude retrieved from his pack a bullseye lantern and oil. He had just enough for the time until they could escape again so long as they rested in darkness. Placing the open top of it in the path of the appearing sparks of Vikram's flintsteel, igniting the fuel. He closed it and cast its luminance about the cavern. Smooth weathered edges. Stalactites peppered the entirety of the space above and stalagmites the edges of the cavern floor. A fleshy purple hue tinted with blues, browns, and reds. The spikes from the ceiling were closer to white while the ones about the ground matched the stone walls. The regular weathering flared out the base of the caves forming a teardrop-shaped uniformity to their natural flow. Given enough time the place would surely grow more claustrophobic as water filled, receded for a short while and then violently crashed throughout the interconnected web of hollows.
"Leave the stick."
There were plenty of cavities to hide within. Cubbies that could just as easily become their graves as their salvation from the unpredictable flush of the Marshflat's deathly pull. They would have no more than a handful of heartbeats between the water receding and its deadly return. Hopefully the old man knew of this aspect before the crash came next.
"They part of that luck?" He looked back to the slowly closing hole above them, moving to one of the hidey-holes along the south side of the cavern. Maude lowered the hood over the focus of the lantern and prepared to cover it entirely in case of sudden incursion. His caution wouldn't allow him to rest easy in receiving the attention of unwarranted guests. They were here for a reason. More than likely the same one that Maude and Vikram were as well. Though, it was commonplace for looters and scavengers alike to delve into the forgotten burrows beneath the marsh. The sort desperate for a break and ready to die fighting for it. He was ready to drown some poor fools if they picked the wrong fight this day.
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Post by Vikram on Oct 16, 2022 3:45:32 GMT -5
"Believe it or not, I do believe this will be to our benefit." Without elaborating Vikram withdrew the sword from the wrappings strapped to his back. It was unwieldy, large, curved to a point, and far too forward heavy for the average man to handle appropriately. The weapons hilt had a gold and black sheen reflected in the light the lantern cast lowly on the tunnel. Its silvery blade flashed in a circle around the entrance to the tunnel outside of where they dropped. The sludge from the tunnel walls loosened slightly, and slid into an eight-hand tall blockage of mud and muck. There was a two-hand gap at the top for air, and Vikram could hear the hunters voices echoing concerns for the stability of the pit. A loud gruff voice called out to the poacher gang."SHUT-IT YOU GITS, get out the shovels. we get what were lookin for its meat for a month. Get to work" A slap was heard from above as the clatter of digging tools was unraveled. "Time to go, that should buy us a few hours." Maude shook his head, not the way he would do things. But it was becoming obvious that Vikram was not exactly reasonable. His lantern uncovered the pair made their way further into the flood-tunnel. Several branching paths and winding corridors made the place almost nauseating to navigate. The wet plodding of their slow footsteps could be heard echoing throughout, as both of them could muster not a word in the damp down-under. As if all of the sudden a small forward breeze rustled Vikrams gray beard. A subtle sign, but as good one. Maude muttered quietly "Opening ahead" True enough a minute or two later they found themselves at the mouth of a gaping cavern. A large lake in the center still entirely underground but for the few cracks of light shining from through the gaps in the roots above. small creeks and inlets fed it from several of the connecting tunnels. It was like a natural cistern Vikram thought. A frown when he realized what that made them... The beach was thick with a clumpy greasy substance. Bits of ooze littered the area as well as a thin film coating even the very walls and surface of the water. One could almost sense small areas of movement beneath the surface.
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Post by saintronan on Oct 16, 2022 8:52:08 GMT -5
The rays of moonlight stabbing through pinhole cracks in the stony canopy above glittered across the mirror pools. Silver reflections illuminated the space coolly. An inferred danger to its slightness. Ghostlike clumps of congealed mass dotted the shores, fresh and wet from the recent wash of flood the caves are so well known for. Root and dirt cakes the topsides of the cavern from which moss and glowing mushrooms accumulate. There, feasting in its grotesque slug-like way, clung the slime of the hour. Its amorphous form pressed thin against the protruding collections of tree end. Slowly it seeped over the lichen and fungi, absorbing it into its transparent mass. The speed at which it dissolved was alarming and pressed Maude to maintain his silence. Not that it took much to do so.
He looked to Vikram to be sure his quiet was assured. Think what he'd like about the man but he was orderly before beasts such as this. Despite its lack of smarts the ooze would react to stimuli from sound and vibration in the rock. For so long as they remained on a dry section and stilled as much of their movement as possible they'd but to wait for the event requested.
The far wall looked to be completely sheer of definition. Smooth, polished and flat from floor to ceiling. At its base lie a half digested corpse. Legs missing from the pelvis down. Hauberk glittering at the break where the drowned and bloated corpse remained whole. A green embroidered tabard draped over the chest was frayed at the shoulders from long use and hard times. Their once beautiful white hair now was burned away at intermittent spots by, what could only be assumed, the ooze on the ceiling. Above the body, upon the wall, rest a vertical oblong of reflective and shimmering mirrored material. It made a mockery of the reflections within the cave before it. Turning an ominous and serene landscape into something more akin to what a drunkard would perceive. Stretched silhouettes of Vikram and Maude as well. One stretched tall and thin with a bulbous head while the other was made short, squat and square. The lantern stilled the mirrors undulating and blotted out their reflection with naught but the lights refracting in every direction. Like the glimmering of a well cut gem but blinding to a tenfold over. He averted his gaze, covering it with open hand, and pointed the lantern away again from the horrid thing. He huffed in frustration. Vikram inhaled sharply with a half turn, a grimace and used his robe to rub the spots from his eyes.
Beyond the blinding, this looked to be the situation they were meant to be waiting for. He could only chalk this up to his companions luck. A regularly transparent ooze taking on a mirror reflective sheen, preparing a meal for its split, and hardening for the composition. So strange a thing would be wiped from the world were it left to Maude's choosing. As things were, however, he would wait. Contract states observation and report. Too bad.
Maude took a seat out of the way of the cave entrance they'd arrived from. Setting the lamp down beside him, he removed his pack and placed it against the cave wall to pull forth a small leatherbound journal and metal stylus. Minus the following party the night would be quite long.
"Rest."
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Post by Vikram on Oct 18, 2022 21:05:01 GMT -5
It was hard to tell how long they were down there. The light from above would track lazily across the lake, back and forth. Hours would pass. Oozes would slowly squelch between the beach and the lakebed. Horrendously boring. Vikram paced in circles. He would make a rotation only to quietly lament to Maude. "I am having trouble understanding the delay. We've seen the things splitting, why do we not simply evacuate these soggy tunnels?" "Still waiting" Vikram sighed, and continued pacing. His clothes had not dried in the humidity of the cave, and they had little in the way of a fire going outside the flickering lantern. His mood had certainly soured significantly since the first drop into the cave. He still had spots in his eyes from the slimy duplication that had taken place earlier. The stern look on his face betrayed his desire for more action. A gelatinous blob slowly followed him in his rounds. It was Vikram's sole source of amusement for several hours before leading it over an inlet and washed back into the lake. He was certain a day or two had passed. The lights from above have made their circles several times now, though the mist filtering it made it impossible to tell if it were day or night. On top of all the misery that lived in this cavern, the water level of the lake had increased markedly for the last several hours. Enough so that Maude had to heft his bag off the floor to prevent his bedrolls from becoming waterlogged. Every once in a while you could hear them. The soft echoes of the hunters in the tunnels shouting for lost companions. However the most recent shout sounded quite nearby. Eminently so even. Vikram unsheathed his scimitar and beckoned to his temporary companion. All of the sudden the lantern turned a corner across the cavern, and the footsteps of the hunters echoed through the tunnels. Vikram could see them, a group of five emerged directly across the lake from them. Grizzled and harried by having been in the tunnels unsupplied for several days. They raised their weapons tiredly and shouted.
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Post by saintronan on Oct 19, 2022 8:26:45 GMT -5
Over the initial night not much took place. The day amounted to much of the same with one ooze eating from the roots above, dropping bits of itself across the cavern floor and into the calm waters. It would roil momentarily after. The two visible oozes seemed not to be alone then. As day crept in, again the mirrored slime would harden and nearly blind for but a moment before the mist would diffuse it within probing sunlight. He ate and drank during the day, counting the hours as best he could while transcribing what changes he observed. Vikram's restlessness thankfully not agitating either creature in the interim.
The glow of the mushrooms gifted them more light as the first two nights passed. He had snuffed out his own light source for an entire both days in case they didn't make the window for escape the first time. He saved his water on the last day for the same purpose. There was no reason to trust the pool here. With it growing over time he had moved higher in the room and unfortunately closer to the ooze amongst the roots as well as the mirrored one.
On the third morning they were finally upon us. As noon struck the hardening mirror began to crease down the middle vertically and bloat out from the crack. The waters masked the once apparent pool in the center of the cave.
They never had a chance.
Entering with a trudge, soaked to the bone, were their stalkers. Five waterlogged hunters armed to the teeth with weapons of ill tending. Rust would be worse for whomever received a blow. He trusted in Vikram's capabilities.
"There it is! Get the bugger and lets get the fuck outta here." With that he motioned towards the mirrored slime upon the wall. Its dividing proceeded as the bulbous protrusion grew and grew. The leader of the hunting troupe charged forward in a straight path, learning quickly that the path dropped very cleanly off into the depths. He flailed wildly at first and abandoned his armament to better keep himself afloat. His armor would seal his fate as he began to sink. One of his allies stepped forward to assist in his rescue as the third intruder focused his light on the dividing mirror ooze. Maude and Vikram covered their eyes before the brightest of illumination could blind the pair. The lantern was loosed as dazzling beams struck every corner of the cavern and every hunter's eye then was quickly snuffed out in the waters below. The leader death gripped his savior into their now shared watery grave. A third stumbled forward into the pit as well and began screaming for help from whoever would. She cried for her mother before a blood-curdling scream erupted from her throat and blood began to fill the waters around her. The fourth and fifth of the party stumbled about in their blindness clinging to the safety of the cave walls as they called for their already dead and dying friends. As they grasped one another finally their sight began to return. To their horror, near total darkness greet them all the while slowly sliding down the wall above them crept the overhanging ooze. Just as their vision began to adjust and their fear regulated the creature dropped. It enveloped them before they'd a chance to react.
As quickly as they had appeared so too had they disappeared. Every ounce of them would no doubt be consumed and lead to more of the disgusting creatures growing. Maude averted his gaze from the carnage. Vikram helped him light his own lantern and they began the trek to escape. Finding the rope sealed in the earth above. They waded at the bottom for time enough to pass for the predictable flush of waters to carry them out of the flood caves and resurface them at the downed tree with a hearty struggle. The task was completed. Alive enough to enjoy the evening air finally freed from the confined spaces below. Maude thought to himself that no reward was worth this trouble.
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