Xalmann trekked his way through the marsh, feet covered in mud. They had just finished dealing with hunters and witnessing the disgusting, explosive birth of many new baby oozes. They'd bid farewell in their usual way, a silent nod, to the other two that had showed up and fought the hunters in order to protect the oozes and allow them to reproduce. He had to return to Lloyd now, and report this ordeal to the man.

However, he realized he wasn't alone. The Rabbitaur he had just nodded farewell to was actually headed in the same direction as him, following behind. Well, this was awkward. He wasn't much for social cues, but this was still not a nice circumstance to be in. He had hoped the Rabbitaur might head in a different direction so their farewell would be a bit less awkward. They'd said goodbye, so he'd expected the two of them to go in different directions. But they hadn't. At least the strange masked woman had actually left. Or at least had made herself scarce.

He stopped and turned to her, avoiding eye contact.

"We are going in the same direction. I must talk to Lloyd." he said emotionlessly, hiding his embarrassment of the situation.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Mold on the walls

Chapter: Two

Description: We have received a report from a local tavern owner that an ooze has taken up home in the cellar of the establishment. It is causing issues for the owner and disturbing its guest, spoiling goods and lashing out at people. We need you to venture to one of the taverns or inns in Charon and SAFELY remove the creature from the building. It might strike out at you and try to defend itself, so you may need to fight, but please dont kill the creature, and instead remove it from the premises without too much harm.

Requirements:

- Requires at least two people (you and one other)

- You must make at least 5 post to complete the mission with each post being at least 200 words

- Must Fight off and quell the angry Ooze

- Must find a way to remove it from the building without killing it

- Once you complete this mission you gain access to chapter three. (which needs to be a separate topic)

After a traumatic evening of watching live slime birth, something she could have lived her entire life without seeing, Leni-Aura makes her way through the bog back to the tavern in Gazablaak… but there’s a problem. That problem looks awfully like a tall, muscular lizard man— the very same who had beheaded several of the monster hunters— and had ended up walking in the same direction as her.

She thought about branching off in another random direction just to avoid him, but that would also be awkward if he caught her; that, and she’s certain he’s already seen her tagging along behind him... So, she has just committed to it, instead. Nimbus makes tiny chattering noises, looking at Xalmann’s waving cloak from behind, like he wants to have a go at it.

So she holds him by the tail to ensure he’s not going to jump away and try to snap Xalmann’s cloak in his jaws.

Suddenly, the lizard man turns to face her.

Leni-Aura stops, ears turning back as he speaks. “...Then we are heading to the same place,” she answers without looking up at him, either; and with feigned confidence, she finds the courage to set a paw forwards. She keeps her head high, but even the tips of her ears barely reach Xalmann’s shoulders at his height. They bob with her hop-like motions as she steps by him, still heading the same direction. “It so happens to be that Lloyd hired me as well, and he’ll be expecting a report, so let’s just… Na abs’fa za naas… ^{(The absurdity of this…)} put it behind us, yes?”

Xalmann turned to continue walking next to the Rabbitaur. Even now that they acknowledged each other, the walk was still awkward. Neither of them seemed to be much for conversation. The most sound made by them were the small chirping noises coming from the tiny drake in Leni's arms. They seemed to be struggling, trying to escape her grasp, but she held them firmly.

Xalmann glanced at Nimbus as they walked, curious about the tiny creature. They'd assisted in the battle with the hunters slightly. For what looked to still be a baby, that was respectable. He was a bit reminded of himself as a young Lizardfolk, mostly because of the similar reptilian features, but also by their attitude of not being very cooperative with their parents' wishes. All the Lizardfolk children in his village had been very energetic and curious, able to move around almost immediately after hatching, but were quickly forced into shape by the tribe's customs. They were taught to kill and steal and be cautious. He'd never put much thought into his childhood before. He wondered how many of his tribe's children had managed to survive that night.

"I have not seen a drake before." he said to Leni as they walked along, breaking the awkward silence.

Leni-Aura does her best to pointedly ignore Xalmann; the silence is heavy between them, an awkwardness lingering in the ambiance of their walk through the forest. Every now and then, Nimbus breaks the silence with small and curious chirps; and unlike Leni-Aura, his bright blue eyes just look at Xalmann with great interest…

... Interest that only increases when Xalmann glances his way.

“Prrrpth!” Nimbus shuffles his body, clawed wings jostling excitedly on Leni-Aura’s pauldrons when Xalmann meets his gaze. He seems like he wants something from the lizardman, the way he squirms with a sort of expectation. “Prrrr_r!” The rabbit shoots a look over her shoulder at the excitable drake, then looks at the lizard man when he comments on Nimbus.

Nimbus reaches out, straining against her hold on his tail, like he's trying to reach out to him.

“Neither had I, until I met him.” she remarks, her eyes softening when Nimbus gives yet another excited chirp at Xalmann. She turns her head to look at the path, hopping over a fallen branch just a bit too tall for her to walk over. “We saved him from a cave-in, in Dragon’s Cradle.” She doesn’t elaborate on who ‘We’ refers to. “He is… friendlier than one might expect from a drake, but then again, he is only mati— a baby.”

"Prrp!"

"... He seems to like you, for whatever reason that may be." There's a sigh on her tongue as she looks to Xalmann; Nimbus reaches out with a little clawed wing, waving at the air near Xalmann's shoulder. "Sorry if he's bothering you."

"It is alright." he replied simply. He wasn't very bothered by the drake. He was more just curious about the little thing.

Xalmann just watched the baby drake as he walked, stepping over the fallen branches and exposed roots. He thought about what the little drake might want from him. He had no food on him for it, so he doubted it was attracted to that. They seemed like they weren't looking at anything on the Lizardman in particular, just trying to make contact with him. Xalmann wasn't sure why. They were a drake, a type of reptile. What would a reptile want? What would he want? He thought about it some more as he walked along before remembering something he hadn't needed in a while that he now had plenty of.

"Perhaps he wants warmth." he muttered out load, looking at his clawed hands with a small amount of light emanating from the cracks between his scales. They radiated heat thanks to the fire magic withing him. Usually, this heat was used as an offensive ability for him to burn his enemies, but it also did come in helpful for fending off the cold.

"I am warm from my fire magic. He may sense that." Xalmann continued, trying to explain in the best way he could. He wasn't very good at speaking the common tongue, so his vocabulary was limited. He was also a bit embarrassed to be in this situation. The merciless Lizardfolk was used to slitting throats, not being clung to by a child. He didn't think he would have a soft spot, but was finding he may have one for this creature.

The awkward silence sits heavy as the rabbitaur allows the comment to go unanswered; she wonders, distantly, how long it’s been since they started off back to the tavern… how long had it taken her to get here? If she has to walk back in this silence in full, she might actually prefer the awkward silence of walking alone, but with knowledge of her presence.

She stifles a sigh; but then the lizard man speaks.

“Warmth?” she repeats, one of her rabbit-like ears tilting towards him. “I…” she trails off, narrowing her eyes slightly as she considers it; she is not a reptile, she runs quite warm, herself, actually. So… what, she’s not warm enough for the drake?

He goes running off to other people every chance he gets!

It’s kind of discouraging, actually.

She breathes a sigh, looking at Nimbus from over her shoulder. “Yeh... He likes to curl up in my fur, but the moment he finds something warmer, he will take it.” She feels her fingers slipping a little against Nimbus’ tail while he wiggles; she readjusts herself to keep hold, but the drake still gets enough leverage from the slip to bump his clawed wings against Xalmann’s arm. “Nesh, en men ekk das faa tam cl’ nef enag.” ^{(Stop, he doesn’t want you to climb on him.)}

Nimbus trills defiantly in response, a tiny and short sound— before he manages to snag his claws on Xalmann’s cape. He pulls, awkwardly dragging it over Xalmann’s shoulder towards her. “Aeka! Nimbus!” She stops suddenly, shifting her shoulders to try and unhook Nimbus’ claws from Xalmann’s cape— but instead, the drake manages to wriggle free of her grasp altogether in her flustered embarrassment at his behaviour.

His weight drops as he drags off of her, and Nimbus snags both clawed wings into Xalmann’s cape before quickly scaling up to coil around his neck. He squawks back at her, triumphant.

“I— Nimbus! Maa vie ekk cami faa! Naa sa r’! ^{(I can not believe you! That is rude!)} I am so sorry, you can just hand him back.” She looks anxiously between the drake and Xalmann, uncertain what to actually do about the situation... As if things weren't awkward enough trying to wrangle a child around a stranger she watched behead three men less than half an hour ago.

Xalmann hadn't minded that much about Nimbus bumping his arm or grabbing at his already a bit shredded cape, but was surprised by the little drake suddenly curling around his neck. Instinctively, he treated it as if something was trying to strangle him, and reach up to grab them and rip them off of him, but he stopped himself before he could hurt the harmless little creature. He reminded himself that this was just a baby trying to cling to something warm. In this case, he was the something warm, which was a bit unusual for a cold blooded reptile like him, but he knew it was just because of the fire magic within him.

He tried to pry the drake off of him gently, not wanting to harm it still, but Nimbus refused to be removed. They seemed awfully content wrapped around the space heater that was the red Lizardfolk. If this creature had been an enemy, he could have just burnt them to make them remove themself or dug his claws into them to remove them himself, but he couldn't do either of those now. He let out a sigh before lowering his claws in hesitant acceptance of the situation. He'd never had to deal with something like this before. It was unexpected and made him a bit flustered, but it was not the worst situation he'd ever found himself in. It was almost enjoyable to have the cute creature clinging to him.

"It is alright. They are a baby." he said to Leni, not showing any of his mixed emotions at the moment.

He continued walking along with Leni. He expected the drake to detach itself from him when the two of them parted ways after reporting their job to Lloyd. If it didn't, he'd honestly be dumbfounded by its lack of attachment to the one apparently raising it. However, in all of the confusion of the situation, they completely lost track of which direction they were supposed to be going and stopped heading toward Lloyd altogether before finding themself wandering through an area of the Marsh Flats unfamiliar to even Xalmann, who had been born and raised in the region.

His quick motions originally frighten her, but Xalmann stops after trying to pry the drake off of him for a moment; still, Nimbus happily curls up on him and the drake clinging stubbornly to him does not settle her nerves after what she’s witnessed. “Mm…” she agrees, lowering her ears as the lizard man continues forwards. She follows, keeping in line with his longer steps with multiple small hops of her own.

At some point, Nimbus turns around on Xalmann’s shoulders to face her with his head; he chirps and trills attentively for a little bit, before lowering his head onto Xalmann’s cape. It doesn’t take long before he closes his eyes to doze against the warmth. She watches him— not really meaning to stare at Xalmann and make things even more awkward— but he’s currently harbouring her drake on his shoulders!

She breathes a sigh, turning her face away, when— she trips.

Her paw catches in a strange dip in the earth, and Leni-Aura swings forwards unexpectedly, but manages to catch herself in a couple of stumbles. “Wha—” she chokes, ears laying back as she looks over her shoulders to locate what would dare… her eyes lie upon well-trodden ground.

That’s… curious.

They’re out in the middle of the forest, aren’t they?

“Is this a trader’s path?” she muses, lifting her paws to inspect the hollow prints below their feet, which she had not noticed until now. “This seems like a terrible path to tread for wagons, or even for horses… Too small. Leads nowhere.” she continues, turning her head slowly to follow the well-worn path to…

It’s a large oak, just off to the side of their path, but… it’s literally just a tree. She furrows her brows, setting her paws in the dirt. Hesitantly, she follows the trail— as it gets closer to the tree, the path is a little more noticeable; so much of the greenery has been stomped, leaving behind a dirt path between patches of well-grown moss.

“This is weird, yes?” she muses, walking around the wide berth of the tree; it seems larger than usually, actually. She peeks around the circumference of the tree, then reaches out to knock on the wood.

The noise that resounds from its depths is hollow.

Xalmann looked back at Leni as she tripped over something. He didn't want to walk too far ahead with her drake on him, or she might think he was running off with the creature. There was no reason for such a pointless fight, especially one that might leave him with a baby drake to take care of. He was alright with it clinging to him for a moment, but he didn't plan on being a parent at the moment.

He followed her as she went down an odd path. It was true, this path wouldn't serve a wagon or a cart, or even a horse. And, it was in the middle of the marsh. Even if the path was large enough, it would be difficult to reach it. It didn't look like it continued all the way to the road. And what kind of path leads directly into the side of a tree? That certainly was odd.

Xalmann walked forward and knocked on the tree as well. He pulled out his axe and tapped the back of it against the tree. It sounded like the tree was made of metal and hollow, ringing out with a metallic echo as he struck it. At first glance and from a distance it appeared to be a normal tree, but on closer inspection he could tall it was crafted by someone to mimic a tree. It was fake, and from the path leading directly into its side, possibly some kind of entrance to something.

"It is fake. It is metal. Maybe a door." he said out loud.

He ran his claws across the tree's metallic bark, searching for a seem or a gap that might be the crack of a door, or some kind of hidden mechanism to open such a door.

“A door?” She frowns. “...In the forest?”

She certainly heard the reverberation of metal from the hollow interior, but the idea of a door out in the forest is absurd.

Then again, why else would there be so many tread-marks here? Or, perhaps it’s some kind of outpost? That seems likely. A bandit hideout? Smuggler’s cove? She’s heard of those from sailors on ships she’s been on.

She paces around the tree while Xalmann pries at it with his claws, ears flattening back while she watches him search for something at its surface. “I am unsure if something so hidden we should—” A click startles her, and she rears back when a small opening pulls back, only big enough for something to peep out of. She can’t actually see what is speaking, with the interior as dark as it is.

“Password?” Something remarks from darkness.

“... Huh?”

“No password, no entry. Password?”

She stares for a moment at the gap in the tree, as though she’s been hallucinating it, before looking quizzically at Xalmann. Nimbus squawks curiously from the lizard man’s shoulder, head tilting as he reaches forwards to snuffle curiously at the gap behind the door. After a brief moment, he rears back suddenly and sneezes loudly.

"Incorrect password. You have three tries left."

Xalmann heard the voice coming from the hollow tree and was confused. A password? To enter the tree? Was this some kind of bandit hideout? He honestly wasn't that familiar with this area of the Marsh Flats. His tribe hadn't really ventured around here very much, mostly sticking near the roads in order to ambush wagons and travelers. But, he thought he would have been aware of a bandit group making their base here. At least, he was pretty sure Granth would have been aware of such information if he somehow was not. Was this bandit group a new one that had moved in more recently than he had started travelling? But, this metal tree looked old. It was odd.

Nimbus sneezed and the person behind the door took it as one failed attempt at a password, but offered three more tries. Now that was even more strange. What kind of bandit organization gives multiple attempts at guessing their password, and thinks a sneeze was an attempt? Who was this person?

Xalmann didn't think they would be able to guess the password, so kept searching for some way to open the door themself. However, it was unlikely they'd find anything. The only mechanism to open the door was likely on the inside, waiting for this mystery person to operate it for them. Still, there wasn't much else to do other than try to guess the password.

He looked at Leni, wondering what she might try. If they failed at guessing the password, they could just leave. They had a job to do anyways, needing to report to Lloyd.

"Lloyd is waiting." they said, starting to walk away from the tree, but stopped, confused, after hearing the person speak again.

"Lloyd? That's the password!" they announced excitedly.

“Why does a tree need a password?” Leni-Aura objects to the stranger in the hole, to which he simply remarks, “Incorrect password. You have two tries left.” She looks mildly offended, “I wasn’t trying to guess, I just want to know what this place is—”

“Incorrect password. You have one try left.”

Leni-Aura gawks at the person in the tree, then looks, absolutely bewildered, at Xalmann; but the lizard man has already given up, which is probably for the best in the end. She breathes a sigh, nodding in agreement and side-eyeing the tree when—

"Lloyd? That’s the password!"

Click clack whrrrrrrrr—-!

Leni-Aura jumps as a series of mechanical noises resound from the hull, echoing in the silence of the forest as something is pulled within the tree. She paces back, grabbing her spear pre-emptively in defense, as a slit of light appears from inside the hollow tree, and…

It opens.

Standing in the doorway is… is a green ooze.

It’s vaguely humanoid in shape; standing on two stump legs, with two stumpy arms, and an oval head. It’s featureless, smooth, but shaped almost like a sea star. “Welcome to the Slimy Spittoon! How slimy are ya?” it greets, opening its jelly-arms wide like it's inviting them in. Slime sloughs from its stumpy, fingerless nubs and sizzles against the organic grass just outside the door.

Its featureless face looks from Leni-Aura, to Xalmann and Nimbus. “Haha, not very, it seems!”

Xalmann just stared in disbelief at the ooze person in the doorway. Really? "Lloyd" was the password? This brought up a lot of questions Xalmann would have to ask the strange man when he saw him again, but considering the person in the doorway was some kind of sentient ooze, things started to make a little sense, but not much. The Lizardman generally wasn't a very curious person, but he was very tempted to see what was going on in a place with a talking ooze as the doorman and the name of his employer as the password. He looked at Leni for a moment before walking forward to enter the doorway in the metal tree.

The ooze moved to the side to allow him passage. Looking in, he could see a tunnel leading down into the ground with a ladder attached to the side. The tunnel walls were lined with sheets of metal that were slightly rusted around the edges. He looked at Leni once more, realizing the tiny drake was still wrapped around his neck. He didn't know if she would also plan to descend down into the tunnel, so she might not appreciate him doing so with her pet still on him.

"You can climb a ladder?" he asked her blankly, not sure what he might do if she said no. Possibly remove the drake by force before descending on his own. Possibly carry the Rabbitaur on his back as he climbed down the ladder. He wasn't sure he liked either option.

As Xalmann steps forwards, Nimbus uncoils from around his neck just slightly. The little drake seems equally as interested in the doorway of the tree, peering down as Xalmann leans forward to get a look at the entrance.

Leni-Aura steps forwards after the lizardman as the ooze steps aside to make room for them. She peeks into the tunnel, and it’s… it’s a long drop down with a ladder attached to the side. She’s not necessarily scared of heights within reason, but… She looks at Xalmann with furrowed brows when he asks if she can climb a ladder. “Of course I can climb a ladder,” she huffs, ears pinning back as she looks back down into the darkness. “I just… I’ve never climbed one this steep down before.”

She’s climbed steps, stairs, and ladders at more of an angle to make up for her unique anatomy, but she’s never had to scale straight down, really. In her home, it was obviously common for adjustments to be made, and in the foreign lands… Well, less so, but Leni-Aura wasn’t one for putting herself in this kind of predicament if she could avoid it.

She fumbles with the haft of her spear, eyes narrowing while she considers alternatives; she could just not go down, but then she’d have to get Nimbus back from Xalmann somehow if they decided to split up. The idea of leaving the little drake with him simply makes her anxious.

She nervously stamps her forepaws, shifting her weight between each quickly, and sounding incredibly uncertain when she states, “Yeah, I can probably climb it. You should... probably go first, though.”

Xalmann narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Leni-Aura. She clearly seemed a bit hesitant to climb down the ladder and her voice wasn't very confident as she assured him she could climb down. He didn't want her to fall on him as he was climbing down the ladder, even if she was fairly small compared to most people he had met. Still, he also didn't think she would be comfortable with a piggyback ride and he wouldn't exactly be thrilled to give one to her either.

Xalmann started to climb down the ladder wordlessly, descending down into the depths of the false tree. Nimbus chirped up at Leni as he went along for the ride. Xalmann couldn't see in the dark, but he was unhindered in his travel thanks to the light that began to emanate from his hands. The bars of the ladder were slightly warmed by his touch as he climbed down them, but not enough to burn. Nimbus seemed interested in the heated, glowing hands, but Xalmann gave the little drake around his neck a stern look.

"Do not touch." he hissed quietly and Nimbus receded away from his hands.

He didn't want the drake to burn itself on his hands. There was still a ways to go down the tunnel below him. He wondered just how deep this tunnel went and what may be down there. He looked up to see how the Rabbitaur was doing, trying to climb down the ladder with her unusual physique.