With the help of the other kids, Astrid manages to make it back to where they entered the dilapidated building to seek any signs of the ooze. There's quite a bit of dust missing from the floor in this room, partially because it's exposed to the elements and partially because the kids walk around this room a lot it seems. "What were ya all doin' out here anyway?" she asks while looking for traces of the slime man. "Why were ya prankin' folks with a fake ghost?" 

The oldest of the group, the elf named Tarquin, shrugs. "I dunno. It's fun." 

Astrid looks at him from under a table. "I'm not mad at ya." She's not sure why she feels the need to say that, but she does. 

"I don't care if you're mad at us," Tarquin says with an indignant huff. 

"Okay good cause I'm not mad." Some of the kids giggle, and Astrid gets back to her feet before calling again. "Blue, are ya out there??" There's no response, so she turns and looks at the rest of the building. "Okay, we came from over there, so yer gonna lead me ta find me friend in that other way." Astrid points at the only other place Blue Raspberry could have gone. There's a few dusty footprints in that direction. The kids agree, so they make their way down that way while bombarding Astrid with questions about her friend and her adventures. Astrid seems to like the attention and happily tells them. They, in return, tell her about the different people they've scared and how much fun they have playing here in the abandoned building. 

A cold chill runs through the hallway, and Astrid shivers and looks around but sees nothing. It's a drafty building, but the air outside is warm, so that was particularly weird. 

Blue Wolfberry ran down what seemed like the remains of a long hallway with stone arches that may have once been windows evenly spaced across one of the ruined walls. They tried sniffing the ground to follow Astrid's scent, but they realized they actually had no idea what she smelled like and also they didn't have an actual canine's sense of smell in this form. They were still just ooze inside the fluffy skin of the wolf they shaped their outer membrane into.

They continued on through a doorway and into a new room. Beds were placed through out the room, some a bit crooked and most broken. The blankets and sheets on several of them were missing and the few that remained were mildewy from the marsh's humidity. A small trunk sat at the foot of several of the beds, but marks in the wooden floor indicated a trunk had once been at the foot of each bed, but now some were missing.

Blue Raspberry walked through the room, looking around for any sign of their friend. At the far end of the room they found one of the trunks had some small object on it. They gave it a nudge with their nose out of sheer curiosity and the tiny box began to tink to life, playing some kind of song, some little metal piece on its side turning. When the song finished, they wanted to make the box play the song again, but remembered they were supposed to be looking for Astrid. They shook their head and turned to leave. but stopped and looked at the box again before reaching their mouth forward and swallowing it.

With their new little treasure, they again turned to leave, but a floating figure of a woman in a long dress now stood in front of them. They stopped and stared up at her as she stared back down at them, an expression of disapproval on her face.

For many years the woman in the dress watched over the halls of this building. As a living woman, she dressed primly, her hair always pulled tight into a neat bun. Her skirts perfectly pleated, she made her daily rounds throughout the building. Children often came to her for questions, advice, direction, or attention. Even in death, even in this building's decay, the woman remains. Her dress and hair now in disarray, her skin pallid but features still soft, the woman followed what the children described as a monster through the halls. The child seemed safe enough with the strange horned child, so satisfied with this arrangement, she located the creature that stands before her as a wolf. She watched it shapeshift from a man into a wolf and attempt to sniff out its companion. Now she blocks its path back. 

"You will not pass if you intend harm to these children, beast," she says. Her voice echoes and has an airy quality to it. Despite being incorporeal, she commands presence. There is caution in her tone and worry in her eyes. She safeguards the remains of the orphanage and will see no children come to harm within its walls. "I know you can speak. Tell me your intentions. What brings you here? Why do you seek the strange horned child? What is she to you?"

The wolf shaped ooze stared up at the ghost, listening to her speak. Now this looked like a real ghost! Not some bedsheet on a rope. But she seemed really smart. She was speaking to them after all. Could they not eat her unless told she was a big jerk? If she was worried about Astrid, she didn't seem like a big jerk though.

Blue Raspberry shifted back into their humanoid ooze form, standing a bit over seven feet tall so that they could stand face to face with the floating ghost. Well, face to ooze. They stood a few feet away from her and spoke.

"Strange horned child? You mean Astrid? She's my best friend! We came here together because people said there were ghosts here causing them trouble. We didn't even know there were children here. Don't really have any intentions for them, I guess. I just wanted to find her because those children suddenly kidnapped her." they said, a bit sheepishly. They felt like they were being told off by some kind of parent, despite never actually having parents.

"You're a ghost, right? Then those children are ghost children, aren't they! What do you and your ghost children want to do with my friend!?" the ooze asked angrily, pointing a finger at the spectral woman.

Distrust and surprise mix on the ghastly woman's face. The child's best friend? It's too bizarre a statement to be a lie, and the girl seemed keen on finding this... creature she called Blue. "I see..." she says. Her hair and dress flare slightly in an unpresent breeze. "The children did not kidnap the girl," she says, though there's a note of accusation in her voice, as if she believes the creature in front of her is responsible for the same. "They are not dead children, not ghosts in the least. They find safe haven here as orphans always have. I protect them from the creatures of the swamp and those who wish them harm. They thought it funny to play a prank on the locals, but also to throw them off... my trail. The last we expected was some... adventurers(?) to show up with the intention of solving the issue, but I suppose it would happen eventually..."

She trails off then looks Blue Raspberry up and down, really taking them in and trying to understand who and what they are. "Are you truly the girl's friend? Her best friend? What an odd duo the two of you make..." The woman ponders the possibility of this. "What are you called, creature?" 

A chorus of young voices call for the ooze down the hall. 

Blue Raspberry stood and listened to the ghost woman's exposition. They didn't understand what an orphan was, but from her explanation, it sounded like she was talking about the children. And apparently, those children weren't ghost children. The ooze was glad they hadn't eaten any of them. That may have been a bit awkward.

"Yes, I am truly her friend, her best friend, and my name is Blue Raspberry!" they answered proudly, putting their gooey fist against their chest.

"If those children aren't ghosts, and didn't kidnap Astrid, then why did they run away from me with her?" they asked, crossing their arms in front of them.

"Probably because they saw a giant ooze monster and thought it would eat them." she replied slowly, rolling her eyes.

Blue Raspberry put a finger to their chin area and thought about it for a moment. Well, that actually did sound like a reasonable explanation, though a bit hurtful. They wouldn't have eaten the children. Well they might have after they kidnapped Astrid and the ooze thought they were ghosts, but not if they'd just said hello when they first met! Blue Raspberry heard the calling for them from the hallway.

"One last question before I leave! ...What does a ghost taste like?" they asked quietly, but in full seriousness.

"...Huh?"

Blue Raspberry? What an odd name... Though considering the creature's seemingly true form, an accurate name. It's simple, naive, almost like a child in and of itself. And as children can sometimes be, it is somewhat exasperating. Not understanding the ways of the world, the ways of other people. There is an opportunity for education here for this Blue Raspberry. Though, their question about what a ghost tastes like does throw her off. It catches her off guard.

A certainly off-guard, "Huh?" is all that escapes her mouth when the children calling for the ooze start to approach. She steps/floats aside out of view. For the less observant, she'd be harder to spot. For Astrid, she is hard to spot. 

Seeing the ooze standing in the room, Astrid rushes ahead of the other children. "Blue, there ya are!" Her head tilts curiously as she looks up at the taller-than-usual knight in their blue ooze form. "And real tall. Why's that? Might want ta change back before-"

"Monster!" shouts the elf named Tarquin. The rest of the kids break out into screams, hiding in the doorway. Astrid whips around and gives him the most unimpressed look she can muster. Tarquin takes a step back, though looks ready to run with the rest of the kids.

"They ain't a monster, and if ya tell anyone about 'em, I'll mash ya like potatoes meself!" She throws her hands up, exasperated and turns back to Blue Raspberry. "I told 'em ya ain't a monster, just a cool ooze guy." She glances around and sees they're in a room lined with old dusty beds. "The other kids said this used ta be an orphanage." 

"It did," says the ghostly woman in the corner. The sudden adult voice startles Astrid, and her war hammer is suddenly in her hand and charged with electricity, her stance low and ready. Despite this, the woman does not seem threatened, just calm with a surprisingly gentle expression. "There is no need to fear, dear. I mean you no harm. This creature, Blue Raspberry, tells me you are friends. Best friends, in fact." Her eyes dart briefly to the very tall ooze. "That seems to be the case indeed."

"Yeah, that's right!" Astrid says. "Me very best friend!"

There's a slight smile on the ghostly woman's face. An interesting pair indeed. She wonders what brought them together and why a child would need to befriend a strange creature rather than other children. The vague threats likely don't help her case at all. 

Tarquin steps out of hiding with a worried expression on his face. "Miss Melodia, you shouldn't have shown yourself to them! They're adventurers! They'll hurt you!" 

By this point, Astrid has relaxed and set her hammers down. The ghost, who is apparently named Melodia, looks between them. "I don't believe this is the case. Though... threats of turning children into mashed potatoes have me wary to turn my cheek."

"Astrid! You're safe. I thought you got kidnapped by ghost children, so I ran around to look for you, but then this ghost lady showed up and called me a beast and started asking me about you!" they said, sounding very relieved to see her and pointing a finger at the ghost lady before looking at her. "See, I told you we were best friends!"

Blue Raspberry looked around at all the children that had followed Astrid. They certainly didn't look like ghosts. They weren't nearly as transparent as the ghost lady, and they didn't float like her. She must be telling the truth about them just being normal children, then. They all looked a bit afraid of the giant ooze monster, though.

They took a moment to morph back into their humanoid form, redonning their armor and cloak, and hopefully appearing far less frightening. They were a bit nervous about so many people finding out their secret, even with Astrid threatening to turn them into mashed potatoes. Blue Raspberry didn't even know Astrid was capable of such magic.

"Uhhh... Hello, I'm Blue Raspberry. Nice to meet you? I won't hurt any of you, I promise. So don't tell anyone I'm an ooze, or Astrid will turn you into mashed potatoes and then I'll eat those potatoes because I love mashed potatoes."

They turned back to Miss Melodia. "So, can I please know what a ghost tastes like?"

"....What? No." she replied simply, floating backwards and a little farther away from the ooze knight.

"I'll just eat one leg, you're not even using them!"

"I said no!"

"Pleeeeeease?" they begged, their hands connected in front of them.

"No, and stop asking."

An exasperated look crosses Astrid's face. "Blue, ya can't just ask if ya can eat someone's leg," she says. "We've been over this. People ain't fer eatin'. Even..." Her eyes look the floating ghost woman up and down. "Even ghost ladies. Maybe if she were a big jerk, yeah?" Then Astrid focuses more on the ghost. "Um, who are ya?" 

The ghostly woman smoothes her dress - a pointless endeavor but a habit she carried over from life. Her hands cross and clasp in front of her as she speaks. "My name is Melodia. I am the caretaker of this building. It is, or rather it was, an orphanage where I cared for unfortunate children." Melodia's eyes turn towards the group of children, landing on Tarquin in particular. "Where I still care for them." She looks back to Astrid and Blue Raspberry.

Astrid looks around at the room in disrepair and disarray. There's a sympathetic look on her face. She knows well what it means to want a safe place to play and live. But this place is kind of... cruddy. "This place ain't exactly what it used ta be, huh?" she notes. "What're ya doin' here?"

"I guard this place against invaders and provide the children a safe haven to live and play. But... it seems my presence is known. The children thought to protect me by posing this as nothing more than a prank. Which you promptly... ate." She seems less perturbed by this now than she was when she witnessed Blue Raspberry eat the fake ghost when they first entered. 

"The locals said it's sinkin' inta the swamp. I mean, they said it's haunted by a ghost too, that's the part that freaked 'em out." Astrid fully releases her hammer and crosses her arms. Her hand lands on her chin while she thinks. "I think I know of someone who's got a right 'n proper orphanage. The swamp's kinda humid. Not really a proper place, and that's comin' from me. I've slept in trash piles!" She is of course very cheerful about that fact. 

Melodia's head tilts with concern but also sadness. "You're an orphan as well? Is that what set you on this dangerous path?"

"Well... I'm not technically an orphan, I don't think. I haven't seen me ma in a long time, and I was just waitin' around fer her to come back. Some folks helped me out, and I started adventurin' all on me own. One of 'em even agreed ta be me da! It's a grand time!"

Melodia is somewhat doubtful that things are perfect. "Honey, your best friend is an...ooze."

"They're a great best friend!" Astrid argues. "But that's besides the point. If anyone here needs some help, we can help! That's what we're here fer! Ta help folks! I know it's important ta get lifted up by others when yer down on yer luck. I wanna help. Will ya let us?"

Looking between the children and the adventurers, Melodia seems melancholy. She's grown to love these children, but she can't provide for them in the way that she could when she was a living person. Having someone willing to take in the children and give them a comfortable place to live and thrive with a real roof and walls to protect them, she nods. "What do you children think?"

The youngest of the group raises their hand. "I wanna touch the ooze!" 

Blue Raspberry felt a little offended by Melodia's tone of voice as she pointed out that the ooze was Astrid's best friend, but felt better when Astrid stood up for them and said they were a great best friend. A little Gnomish voice in the back of their mind even let out some Awws and a sob or two.

They were caught a bit off guard when children suddenly said they wanted to touch the ooze. They'd never heard of people wanting to willingly touch them after finding out they were a slimy monster, but now several children were running up to them excitedly.

"Uh, I don't feel that good to touch, I mean, I'm wearing a suit of armor. It's just metal! Hold on a moment!" Blue Raspberry tried to reason with them, but they didn't stop their approach.

"Turn back into that big, gooey thing!" one of the smaller kids called out.

"Take off the armor!"

"Yeah, take it off!"

The kids started calling out as they grabbed the knight's arms and legs, and started to climb on them. Some even grabbed onto their gauntlets and tried to pull them off, but the sticky ooze held on tight to them. However, the children all seemed unperturbed by their lack of success in removing any of the armor, and just kept using them as some humanoid jungle gym. Blue Raspberry felt a bit overwhelmed by all the strange attention they were getting.

"Astrid, help!" they said with a bit of desperation in their voice.

"Oi, oi, oi!" Astrid shouts over them, pushing herself between the tiny mob and the ooze knight as best she can. "Ya don't just go rippin' a knight's armor offa them! Yer gonna get fingerprints all over it!" 

"The boots are already muddy!" one kid shouts back. 

"An' I'll clean 'em later!" Before she knows it, the kids are grabbing at her too. One pulls on her horn hard and yanks her head down. "Ow!" 

The kid seems in awe. "Whoa, they're really real!" 

"Or they're glued to her head," Tarquin says. He has notably not joined in the fray. 

"Are ya just gonna stand there?" Astrid asks. In return, Tarquin shrugs. She groans and gets the kids off of her, at least at arm's length. Her stance is low and ready to take on any kid who tries to grab at Blue Raspberry. 

"Children, children, that's enough," Melodia says sternly. With her words, most of the children back down. She looks apologetically at the adventurers. "I apologize. And I would appreciate your help finding them a proper home." 

Astrid straightens up and fixes her hair then turns to help Blue Raspberry back into their armor. "We're happy ta help. Just don't go pullin' on us again!" Her head whips around to give the other kids a somewhat threatening stare. They back down just a bit more. Finally, Astrid relaxes. "Right, well, it ain't a short journey, but if ya keep it a secret, Blue and Charles can carry most of yer stuff safely."

The smallest kid raises their hand. "Who's Charles?"

"He's me other companion, a metal man who's waitin' outside. Ain't fit fer fightin'." 

"You've got an ooze in a metal suit and a metal man? That's awesome!" 

Astrid looks smug and proud. "We are awesome! Now let's get yer stuff together!" 

With that, Astrid starts helping the kids collect their things. Luckily, they don't have many things to take with them. It's a bit of a bittersweet, sad feeling. Astrid's been in this position before with little more than the clothes on her back. She's happy to help someone else find some sense of belonging. Looking over everything, she then turns to the ooze knight. "Right, is this stuff ya can spit back up later?"

"Ewwww, he's going to eat it??" one little girl says. 

"Aye, they can eat just about anythin'. Except I don't think eatin' someone alive keeps 'em alive...." 

"That's awesome!" another kid shouts. Once again, the children descend into an excited rabble. 

Melodia quiets them. "Children, remember what these kind adventurers asked. Don't spread their secret, and be respectful while you go with them."

"Wait, you're not coming with us?" Tarquin asks, stepping out of the hovel he's kept himself pressed into. There's suddenly an expression of worry on his face. 

"I'm afraid I don't have a way to do that," she says regretfully. "I am bound to this place. But I know you children will prosper elsewhere." There's a collective crying from the kids. 

Astrid looks thoughtful. "Well... what if ya bound yerself to someone or somethin' else?"

Melodia considers it for a while, then she looks between Astrid and the children. One of them is much more inclined to fall into danger than the rest. "Very well, I think I'd like to try to join you to escort the children along. And perhaps you need additional eyes to help watch your back on your adventures?"

"Wait, ya wanna come with me?"

"I don't see why not. My goal is to protect children. You are a child in need of protecting."

"I've got armor and an ooze knight!"

"Then perhaps I can help you both?"

Astrid looks between the kids and Melodia and decides that someone with some command needs to help wrangle them. So she shrugs and agrees. "Alright, yer comin' with us too, Miss Melodia!" The kids all cheer happily. 

Suddenly, wind whips around the room out of nowhere, raising even Melodia's hair. Dust swirls in corners and off of furniture. The kids all grab each other and hold close. Melodia's ghostly hand reaches out and touches Astrid on the head. And then, as quickly as things picked up, they settle down, and Melodia is nowhere to be seen. 

Blue Raspberry felt proud of themself with the children cheering them on for being so cool. Their ability to eat anything really was amazing, and these kids knew it! They put their hands on their hips and puffed out their chest, though this wasn't really visible at all within their armor.

"I can carry everything, no problem! Just leave it to me!" they called out confidently with a thumb as skyward as their ego in this moment.

The amount of luggage the children brought was small. It was a little disappointing to the ooze since they couldn't really show off their storage capacity at all with such a small amount of luggage, but they didn't complain. They let the ooze seep out of their armor and store away their cuirass temporarily so they could shove all the luggage into their torso. With it all stored safely away, they looked at the children.

"Anything else you want to bring? I can store anything, bring it on!" they challenged the kids who immediately complied by bringing any random objects they could find throughout the orphanage. Moldy bedsheets, pieces of broken furniture, several loose bricks pulled from the crumbling walls, the kids brought anything they could find, even if they didn't want to keep it in the slightest.

One child tried to pry the candleholder off the wall, but instead of falling off, it just came down like a lever. A sudden rumbling shook the room as a section of stone wall pulled inward and slid to the side to reveal a hidden staircase just beneath where the wall had been.

Blue Raspberry heard the rumbling from the other room while Astrid was busy talking to Melodia and went to investigate. The little girl that had pulled the candlestick ran out of a different room, yelling.

"I didn't do it!" she called out as she ran by.

The two just entered the room and looked around. It appeared to be the remnants of some kind of office. Empty, broken bookshelves lines one wall and a chair and desk stood in front of an empty window. The wall opposite the bookshelves was indented, with a hole on the floor. Blue Raspberry walked over and looked down into the hole to find the staircase. Still with their blue, oozey torso exposed, the mostly armored knight descended down into the depths below.

Deep down, the walls changed to a rough, natural stone and a blue and green glow began to light their way from bioluminescent moss. They descended into a natural cavern with some pools of water  in various places. In one corner was another desk with papers on top. In another corner was a hoard of treasure. A large chest filled with coins and jewelry, rolled up rugs, and a large shield with a face on it.

Blue Raspberry immediately went toward the treasure trove and began to eat it all. As they shoved a carpet into their exposed torso, the eyes of the shield opened groggily and looked around to spot the ooze knight.

"Ah! Ah, it's been so long since I've seen anyone! I've been down here alone for so long, I, wait, what the hell are you doing? What are you!?" they began in an arrogant voice before changing to one of anger. "Stop that! You, why you, how dare, No-!" their complaining was cut short by Blue Raspberry grabbing them and devouring them as well.

With all the treasure safely stowed away, they climbed back up the staircase. They payed hardly any attention to the documents on the desk. They emerged from the hole in the ground and called out.

"Hey Astrid, come check this out! There's a hidden room down here!"

While the children collect various bits and bobs, Melodia explains to Astrid how she's pretty sure Astrid can call on her. It's all very exciting for the half-dwarf to have another new companion. Her little family seems to be growing in some capacity. 

The sound of scraping stone on stone draws her attention, and she looks over to see Blue Raspberry descending down a freshly opened staircase. "What the heck?" she wonders then says to the kids, "Stay over here." She makes her way over to the underground passage. Behind her, the kids test the boundaries until Melodia appears again and blocks them from the possible danger with a stern look. Astrid lifts her hammer and waits, listening out for anything spooky from below. Finally, Blue Raspberry calls to her, so she relaxes and heads down, still with caution. She looks around the room curiously. 

"What is this place?" Astrid asks. "Looks like a weird office ta me." She walks around, checking out the interesting bits and bobs and glancing at the faded papers on the desk. It's very moist down here, but most things in the swamp tend to be wet in some capacity. "Wonder what this place was. Seems weird ta be under the orphanage. Maybe it was some escape route durin' wartime?"

Blue Raspberry couldn't read the documents on the table. They couldn't read in general, but also the documents were faded and molded from time and moisture. Even if they knew how to read, these documents were now useless, so the ooze simply ate them along with the flimsy wooden desk and chair.

With the room now emptied of anything valuable, or not valuable, the two made their way back upstairs, chatting happily.

"So, is that lady your new ghost mom?" they asked after Astrid filled them in on what had been going on with Melodia as they had been storing random junk brought by the children inside them.

"What, no, of course she's not my ghost mom! What does that even mean?" Astrid responded, confused.

"I dunno, she's a ghost and she's like a mom, isn't she?" they replied.

The ooze didn't really know anything about having parents, they'd never had any of their own that they knew of, but they thought that Melodia seemed like what people described as a "mom". Was she not? She was a lady that took care of children, wasn't she? Wasn't that what a mom was? And now that she was coming with Astrid, didn't that make her Astrid's mom?

Astrid appears very flatly confused by Blue Raspberry asking that of her. She has a mom. She just talked about how she has a mom she hasn't seen just a few minutes ago. How's a dead lady supposed to be her mom? Shaking her head, Astrid turns to the kids. "Alright, we're ready ta go. Charles outside can help us navigate the swamp without fallin' in. Ya've just gotta do exactly what we say, okay? It's gonna be a looong journey ta get ta where we need ta go, but we'll find ourselves a cart. Maybe along the way, ya can see me an' Blue do some cool adventurey stuff!"

Many of the kids get excited at the prospect. It's at this point Astrid gets a full headcount and realizes there are seven kids including Tarquin. She mentally starts budgeting out what they'll need for food and grimaces. The journey is going to be a long one, but they can make it work. The nearest village is Stargazer Village, so they'll trek there, find transportation, then make their way to Darkveil to find Cyran's orphanage. She hasn't been to Darkveil proper, so this seems like a great way to explore more things. And after that, they can go see Bellighul at his villa. Seems like a solid plan to her, and with everyone in tow, they exit the orphanage ruins and make their way out of the swamp.