Leni-Aura watches Xalmann climb down into the tunnel; she smiles weakly as Nimbus chirps cheerfully up at her, and then they both disappear into the depths of the tunnel. Her smile disappears. She stands there for a moment longer, then sits back on her haunches with a deep sigh.

She looks at the tunnel with a befuddled embarrassment.

Avasha’s sake, how’s she going to get down this ladder!?

She hasn’t learned anything yet that would help her, and she could probably make due, but… the idea of falling on or in front of Xalmann is a dreadful thought and she’s not willing to even entertain the possibility. “Ugh.” she sighs, shoulders drooping while she ponders her options. She could jump, maybe— but it looked pretty far down— and she’d probably snap something upon landing; but maybe she could get halfway down and then jump the rest of the way?

Her ears perk when she hears someone clear their throat behind her, and she looks hesitantly over her shoulder at the ooze. Was that them? How’d they do that? They don’t even have a mouth. “Are you going in?” they press, their voice as happy and cheerful as before; they’re not really rushing her, but she still feels rushed.

“Yes… yes, I am...” she mumbles as she stands on all four paws, and peeks down over the side of the hole and into the tunnel once more.

It’s… fine.

It’s fine, she can do this!

It’s just a ladder.

She takes a breath and places a paw on one rung, promptly feeling the fur of her paw slipping off the metal before she can even begin. She tests her paw a few more times before finding a spot with more grip, then slowly and cautiously heaves herself over the edge— then proceeds to cling to the ladder like it might drop her when her paw slips from under her and through the rung.

She finds one of her legs stuck behind the rung a bit awkwardly as a result, but she manages to wiggle it out to place it on the banner below.

She sends a silent prayer to Avasha, eyes wide while she wills her heart to calm its frantic thumping from the spook. Rung by rung, Leni-Aura descends— testing each bar hesitantly with all four paws, and using her hands as a stabilizer before committing to any steps she takes— she slips several times, but one or more of her extra limbs seems to catch her before she can go tumbling.

It's not exactly a graceful descent, but it is... a descent to some degree.

As the Rabbitaur climbed down the ladder awkwardly, catching herself as she slipped repeatedly, Xalmann and Nimbus both stared up at her with a look of secondhand embarrassment. It was hard to watch. Perhaps he should have just offered to let her ride on his back, but he reminded himself that neither of them would have wanted that. She seemed like she had some pride as a warrior, as did the Bloody Axe tribesman.

As all three of them had now entered the tunnel, the ooze at the top called down to them as the door slammed shut with a metallic clang, throwing them into what would have been pitch black if not for the meager glow coming from Xalmann's hands. The ooze also began to descend down the tunnel, but not using the ladder. Instead, they crawled down the side of the tunnel opposite the ladder, head first with their back facing the wall, their hands and feet sticking to it and then peeling away with a wet, squelching sound.

"See ya at the bottom!" the ooze called out to them cheerfully as they went.

Xalmann and Leni slowly climbed down the ladder, the Rabbitaur struggling, while the Lizardman slowed his pace to keep her within the light cast by his hands. He didn't need her to fall because she couldn't see, especially because she'd be falling directly onto his head if she did. Nimbus didn't seem to care in the slightest about the whole situation, content to be comfortably wrapped around a heated perch. Eventually, the two reached the bottom of the tunnel and finally found a source of light.

At the bottom was a large, domed room that the ladder descended directly into the middle of. It looked to be some kind of bar, but the bartender was another humanoid ooze a bit wider and taller than the one that had been at the door, and this one had multiple pairs of arms that were each accomplishing various tasks like cleaning glasses and wiping the counter. Stools were lined up in front of the bar and a few tables were placed around. The room was lit with blue bioluminescent plants that looked like ferns, and some kind of blue moss on the sheet metal covered walls.

Xalmann looked around curiously while he waited for Leni to finish climbing down and spotted an arched exit from the bar that led elsewhere. He walked out of the arch and was amazed by the sight before him.

Outside the bar was a far larger dome with walls of grey stone. Different bioluminescent of lit up the enormous cavern in a wide variety of colors that hung from the ceiling and clung to the walls, casting a surreal, slightly disorienting effect over the space. Different stalls were set up throughout the large chamber, all run by different humanoid shaped oozes. They all had the same face, or lack of one to be more accurate, but their bodies varied in shape, height, width, length and thickness of limbs, and shades of green. Some oozes had multiple pairs of arms, like the bartender, and some even had a tail. The large dome appeared to be a bustling marketplace full of humanoid oozes.

Several tunnels on the ground led off from the larger dome to other, unknown places. On the wall above the tunnel that Xalmann had emerged from was a sign fashioned from metal and illuminated with bioluminescent plants on the wall around it. It said "The Slimy Spittoon".

Never again.

Leni-Aura drops to the floor about three rungs to the end and lands with a soft bounce. She doesn’t look at Xalmann, but the way her lips are pursed, brows furrowed, and face dusted pink, suggests she knows exactly how stupid she looked on descent… and she’s not happy about it. She’s not climbing back up that ladder. She will not embarrass herself further. She’ll live here if she has to.

Which, by the looks of things…

Leni-Aura glances up, blinking when she realizes they’re in the middle of a massive room full of oozes, bioluminescence, and curious stalls. She approaches Xalmann’s side slowly, ears perking as she peers through the archway beside him. She gazes at their surroundings with mild, restrained curiosity— only somewhat pouting about the ladder at this point. “What… in the world?” she remarks in a murmur. “What kind of place is this?”

“Why, it’s The Slimy Spittoon!”

Leni-Aura jumps, quickly glancing over her shoulder at the same ooze who had greeted them at the entrance. They’re standing with their hands literally glued to their… where their hips should be… looking through them with their featureless face as if they can see the marketplace as well.

“Where every ooze—”

CRASH, CLANG, CR-THMP, THMP, THMP…

Leni-Aura winces slightly, and the ooze near them hesitates as a small commotion takes place back in the room with the bar. The ooze just stands there, unmoving for a moment, before trying again.

“Where every ooze can—”

CRRRRRASH, CLANG, THMP.

“...”

Another moment of patient silence, and the ooze speaks up again.

“Where—”

CLAAAAAANG, CRASH, THMP.

She looks over her shoulder, watching the way the slime threads from the ooze’s body when they remove their featureless hands from their equally featureless hips. “Everything okay here?” they ask the bartender, who seems to have walked from behind the bar for just a moment, after passing down a… it’s not even a drink! Leni-Aura watches, wide-eyed, after peering into the bar after their... ooze guide, as one of the ooze patrons pulls twigs from a stone cup, and just kind of sticks them in their face.

She listens to the crack and pop of the wood as it disintegrates.

What in the world...

The ooze bartender walked up to the trio with a sigh. They glanced back at the bar behind them before addressing the ooze that had been speaking to Leni.

"No." they replied slowly, with a surprisingly rough and gravelly voice for someone made of sentient slime. "Georgtholomew got into something weird again, and now they're all hopped up on it and wrecking the store room." they finished grumpily before looking at the Lizardman and Rabbitaur as if they had just noticed their presence.

"Who are these guys? They don't look very slimy." they said with a hint of suspicion in their voice.

"Well, they knew Lloyd was the password, so I let them in!"

"Geaorgthany, we talked about this. The password isn't Lloyd, it's a password that only Lloyd is supposed to know. You're not supposed to let anyone in except oozes and Lloyd. Now look, you've let in two strangers."

"Oh, right. My bad, I'll get it right this time!" the ooze said before climbing back up the ladder and out of sight.

The barkeep looked at the two strangers, or at least they seemed to by turning their faceless head toward them.

"So, who are you? How did you find this place and what're you going to do now you've found it? We just want to live down here in peace, you know."

Xalmann glanced at Leni before looking at the barkeep seriously and answering.

"I am Xalmann Dakarr. We..." he began confidently, but then lost it as he finished realizing the absurdity of it. "got lost..." he finished, wondering if the ooze would actually believe it.

"Oh, ok then. I'm George. Nice to meet you." they replied, no suspicion apparent in their voice. It seemed like they'd just accepted the explanation much more easily than Xalmann had expected.  They headed right back to behind the bar.

"Can I get you anything? We got sticks, rocks, mud. Oh, well we would if my spawn Georgetholomew wasn't wrecking the store room." they said as another loud crash came from a doorway behind the bar that was closed with a green stained curtain. The other ooze sitting at the bar just kept eating from the cup of sticks in front of them, paying no attention to the scene around them or the noises.

Leni-Aura’s ear flicks as the ooze speaks to her; their voice is unusual… resembling the kind of voice she might expect from a taller, gruffer looking individual. “Georg… Georgtholomew?” she asks hesitantly, furrowing her brows as the ooze turns to look at them. “We… are not slimy, no.”

She listens quietly as the barkeep and the newly introduced Georgthany talk back and forth— one sounding like a tired parent, and the other sounding like they’re trying their best— but aren’t really the sharpest tool in the shed. She quietly watches them go with their last promise that they’ll do better next time.

She blinks, looking back at the barkeep with furrowed brows, and ears flat against her head. “Um.” She feels a bit overwhelmed by all of this insanity. “I am Leni-Aura.” She introduces herself alongside the lizardman, and allows him to take the reins since he sounded so confident to start… but then that confidence quickly dies down, and he simply states that they got lost.

She offers him a side-glance with a cocked brow, but to her surprise, the newly introduced George just takes it at face-value! Dangerous, but in their case, it’s not like they actually came here to start something… right? Leni-Aura nods, watching the barkeep make their way back behind the bar. “Um… that’s fine, thank you.” She rejects their offer, looking at the strange ooze at the bar who’s eating idly.

George winces as another crash comes from the doorway, and they sigh as they pick up a cup nearby. “Georgeiffer, do you need anything else?” The ooze at the bar doesn’t even shake their head, but George acts like they’ve said something in answer. “I’ll check again in—” They don’t really look like they have an expression, but there’s still an air of annoyance in the way the ooze holds itself; its gelatinous form undulates as another crash sounds from behind the doorway.

“....Is… Georgetholomew okay…?” Leni-Aura asks hesitantly, brows furrowing as another crash rattles in the room behind the green-stained curtain.

“No, no Georgetholomew is very much not okay.” George answers; his point is emphasized by something breaking in the other room. “They ate something that’s simply not agreeing with them, and they’ve been a menace ever since.”

“They ate fermented bog fruit.” Georgiffer interrupts; their voice is more androgynous, lighter and airier in tone. They don’t look at anyone speaking, just sort of stare ahead at a blank stone on the wall, like there’s something there worth looking at. Leni-Aura squints, trying to see what it is. “Really did a number on them— Georgetholomew can’t even hold their form together right now.”

“Ah… I see…” Leni-Aura listens to the sigh that comes from the barkeep, and looks warily at Xalmann from the side. “Lloyd is still waiting for us, but—”

The barkeep suddenly perks up with interest. “You know Lloyd?”

Xalmann wondered how smart these ooze people really were. They hadn't realized we knew Lloyd when we had apparently said Lloyd's name as the password? And they seemed to just take anything they said as fact without any suspicion. Even Xalmann was surprised the barkeep had simply went along with it when the Lizardman had said they'd found this place by getting lost. And why did all their names start with George?

"Yes." Xalmann answered bluntly.

"Ohh, then you must be here to help out! Lloyd always comes around to help us out. Can you two help with Georgetholomew? Get them under control? Just put them in something until they work the fruit off, that'll be good." the ooze barkeeper said slowly as they continued to clean the green slime off the bar top, but really just spread it around and maybe even added more to it. "I think next door might have a big stew pot with a lid you could borrow. Nancifer is nice, they should let you borrow it no problem. Just tell them George sent you." they added, pointing one of their left arms toward the exit leading to the market area.

Xalmann didn't know how to respond. They hadn't been sent here by Lloyd, but they did know the strange man. If he was some kind of friend of the ooze people here, that did explain a bit why they were also so friendly toward the oozes on the surface, trying to make sure no harm came to them.

Xalmann glanced at Leni, wondering what she might think of this whole situation.

Honestly... what in the world is going on?

At this point, Leni-Aura is not unconvinced she isn't the one who might have eaten a fermented bog fruit; she didn't, but everything which happens feels just a little too like a dream. She is not very familiar with the lands outside of the Dragon's Cradle, but never has she heard of ooze people... She has met ooze, certainly— now and then, one would rise from the sulfur pits of her homeland— but never one which could talk, or show emotion, or... look vaguely like a person... could they all do this?

She furrows her brows: the thought is awfully unsettling.

She shakes her head, listening distantly to the speech of the barkeep with perked ears as they slowly clean— but not really— the counter in big, circular motions that only spreads more ooze. They don't really have to help with Georgetholomew— no, they really could just leave, but... if Lloyd knows these ooze people, and if they know Lloyd, then it might be expected that they would extend the same helping hand...

And if they don't, would that impact the ooze fanatic's research, or his relationship with the oozes down here?

"Rrh..." She shares a confused glance with Xalmann, considering their options for a moment before breathing a soft, defeated sigh. "Sure, we can help with Georgetholomew." she agrees after a moment of consideration; better not to risk some kind of alliance or friendship that they may not understand in full. "We'll, um... be back in a moment..." She turns to Xalmann, nodding her head for him to follow, before slowly heading towards the exit that George had pointed them towards; she awaits the lizardman, to ensure she won't end up losing him in a crowd, even though...

To be fair, he towers over both her and the ooze here, so he'd be pretty impossible to miss amongst transparent blobs.

"It's probably better to take care of this now, so Lloyd doesn't end up with any kind of backlash over this... After this, we should probably leave, because he's still waiting..." she sighs.

In the marketplace, there's a soft bustle from all of the oozes doing business; it's odd to look at, watching their featureless bartering from afar. Leni-Aura's gaze lingers on an exchange between a green ooze, and a blue ooze— one of which is shaking a rock stuck to its fingerless nub off onto a slimy looking pile on one of the stalls— in exchange for something that looks like a beehive stuck to a branch.

Yes, she does not... understand—

"Hi, welcome to Nancy's Noms! Sample?" Leni-Aura jumps, skittering against the floor as a high-pitched, almost childish voice rings out. Standing before them in front of a little shop front is a small, reddish-hued ooze; they're holding a metal tray of stone bowls, which appear to be filled with a mixture of random objects and water. Slime oozes off their nub-like appendages onto the tray. "We got rock soup, stick soup, um... This stuff." The small slime points at each tiny stone bowl, ending on a bowl of...

"Acorns?"

"Yeah, Acorn Soup! A lot of ooze like the acorn soup, miss Nancy says it's real popular. Wanna try some?"

"No, we're... fine, but thank you; is... um... Nancifer here?"

Xalmann just followed Leni over to the cavern next door. He didn't especially care for Lloyd, so causing a little damage to the man's relations to these ooze people wouldn't actually bother the Lizardman, but he was just so baffled by this whole situation that he didn't argue. He might as well help wrangle this Georgetholomew into a stew pot now, with how this day had been going. It barely phased him anymore. He might also be a bit curious about this place that had apparently been under his home for who knows how long. It wouldn't hurt to be seen as a friend and be able to come back here again.

"Nancifer? Sure, I'm right here! How do ya do!" the reddish ooze replied exuberantly, swinging an arm in front of them. "Whattaya need, huns?"

"A pot and lid." Xalmann said simply, wanting the conversation to end sooner rather than later. He was curious about the place and the oozes, but conversation was still not his strong suit.

"Oh, we got lotsa pots, no problemo, sugar! Whatya need it for? You making some soup?"

"For George." Xalmann replied, once again in very few words.

"Oh, Georgey sent ya! Why didn't ya just say?" Nancifer replied, their hands against where their cheeks would presumably be if they had a face.

The ooze quickly turned around and went off behind a counter where some sounds of pots falling could be heard before they returned, handing over a large stew pot with a metal lid with a handle. It seemed like a nice pot, probably the nicest pot in the eatery.

"Here you go! Tell Georgey I said hi!" they said, waving goodbye as Xalmann and Leni left to go back to the Slimy Spittoon.

A reddish ooze, similar to the smaller one one, pops out from nearby with a wave of their arm. Leni startles slightly, taking a small pace back as threads of slime splash off of them with the motion. She nods her agreement when Xalmann mentions the pot and lid; he's straight-forward and to the point, which she can appreciate.

Too many people talk far too much, when they could get their point across in so little.

She waits patiently while the pots and pans clang together from behind the counter; she gives a side-glance to the ooze child while they wait. The tiny ooze is just kind of looking at them, featureless face tilted upwards; it's kind of unsettling, actually. She lowers her ears, turning her eyes away, to look at the counter instead. "Nanceathan," A taller reddish ooze whispers, a couple of bowls of soup half-submerged into her arm. "It's not polite to stare!"

Nanceathan turns their head down sharply. "Sorry, Miss Nancine!" they apologize, turning back to their sample calling. Leni-Aura offers the reddish ooze an awkward smile as they chuckle. "Sorry honey, they haven't seen many solids down here yet."

Leni-Aura raises a hand dismissively as Nancine strolls away, delivering their bowls to customers waiting patiently at a metal and stone table. She looks back as Nancifer returns, chatting up Xalmann with a massive stew pot in hand. Thank goodness. "Sure, thank you." Leni-Aura agrees in Xalmann's silence, and leaves with the lizard man. Behind them, she can hear Nancifer calling out.

"Nancephine! Nanceamin! Did that shipment of new stones ever come in from Reginaldiam's Rockery?"

Leni-Aura feels her ears droop, exasperated by everything going on. "Did we die? Is this limbo?" she wonders distantly; it's kind of a joke, but also kind of not at the same time. She follows Xalmann back to the Slimy Spittoon, whereupon entering, another horrible crashing comes from behind that gods-forsaken green stained curtain. A pan tumbles out from beneath it, and George looks at them, exasperated as they approach.

"Oh, good— you got it." they sigh, turning towards them; the counter is now covered in an inch of slime from their idle cleaning, Leni-Aura notices.

The pot was surely large enough to contain the rampaging ooze. It was probably even large enough to fit the Rabbitaur he was with inside pretty comfortably. He grabbed it by the handles on either side and left without a word, not one for thanks or idle conversation.

On their short trip back to the bar, Xalmann looked down at Leni as he carried the pot and she seemed to be losing her mind, thinking this is some kind of afterlife and they had died. He understood somewhat. This certainly was an odd place, but the Lizardman had been close to death before and this wasn't the same as then.

The slime dribbled over the side of the bar and dripped onto one of the stools in front of it as George continued their idle wiping, sloshing the ever increasing layer of slime around. They didn't seem to notice this at all as they looked up at the returning solid people.

"They're in there. Just get them into that pot and put the lid on it. They'll be fine once they flush that fruit from their system." the barkeep said, gesturing two arms toward the stained curtain that a bottle rolled out from under following another crash and the sound of breaking glass. George just sighed.

Xalmann carried the pot around the bar and into the store room behind it, pushing the curtain to the side which left a smear of green goo across the spotless surface of the outside of the pot and his scaly arms. A shudder went down his spine from the feeling.

The source of the commotion was immediately noticeable once he had entered the room. A yellowish green ooze jumping around. They had a humanoid form like the others for only a moment before collapsing into a round blob, hopping onto a crate a knocking over some loose sticks that were on top, and slowly reforming into a humanoid shape again which they held for a few seconds before collapsing again and continuing their rampage.

"Right..." she agrees, looking towards the stained curtain; her gaze briefly follows a rolling bottle before returning to George with uncertainty. She moves slowly after Xalmann as he leads the way around the bar with the pot; she lets him go first, following behind him quickly as he pushes aside the green-stained curtain in hopes of avoiding getting any of the slime on her. She keeps close to him to avoid the swayback of the curtain when he lets it go— but manages to step in a pile of goo near the bottom of the curtain as she passes the threshhold.

She feels a chill shudder down her spine at the feeling.

Ears back, she shakes one of her forepaws aggressively in an attempt to get it off. "Eugh..." she mutters— at least it doesn't seem to be acidic anymore— but it feels just as gross as it looks...

She winces when a crash fills her ears. The rabbitaur looks up, noticing the round blob hopping up onto a crate, and knocking over a bundle of sticks onto the floor; she remains at Xalmann's side while the ooze rampages around in the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to their presence. "Okay... now, how do we get it in the pot?" she asks, swiping her paw across a clean portion of the floor and smearing the slime from her paw across the stone surface.

It doesn't get all of it off, but it gets enough to keep her out of discomfort... Avasha's sake, she's going to take a long bath when she returns to the inn. As she looks up, the ooze collapses into a blob again, jumping onto one of the counters in the back, and undulating wildly. It knocks off a couple of pots in its sporadic wiggling. "Maybe we can herd it into the pot, or... would it be easier to lure it to the pot?" she wonders, sighing as she takes a few steps away from Xalmann, heading towards the right side of the counter. "Maybe... go on the other side of the counter, and I can chase them in from there?"

Unless they get violent and come towards her, instead... which, they might— that's absolutely a possibility— but she doesn't think she can actually hurt this ooze, because... well, it's George's spawn. She's doing this so that Lloyd won't think poorly of her, nor her caravan, and injuring the berserk gelatin wouldn't look great on their record.

So, she takes her spear from her back and flips it around as she approaches the counter— the pointed end kept away from Georgetholomew. Finally, the ooze seems to take notice of them— and for a moment, it goops into a half-humanoid form— before collapsing again, and jumping a pace away from where she's approaching it.

Xalmann nodded at Leni-Aura. He removed the lid from the large pot and moved toward the left side of the counter, holding it open and at the ready for the ooze to jump into. This herding plan seemed as good a plan as any that Xalmann could come up with. They couldn't harm the ooze, so combat wouldn't work. A shame since combat was what Xalmann was most confident in, but he'd just have to accept that.

The two approached from opposite sides, trying to herd the rampaging ooze into the pot. The ooze seemed unsure which direction to go in, their body undulating to suggest they were looking from one approaching adventurer to the other repeatedly.

Suddenly, the ooze moved. They leapt from one crate to the other before trying to squeeze behind a shelf. There wasn't enough room between the back of the shelf and the wall for the ooze to squeeze into. The shelf unit creaked and began to fall forward, directly onto the Lizardman holding a pot beneath it. There was nowhere for the Lizardman to escape to quickly  in the cramped little room

Xalmann was forced to simply drop the pot and throw their hands up to catch the falling shelf unit before it fell on top of them. The boxes and other loose objects on the shelves began to rain down over him, but none of them were heavy enough to do any real harm. A small lockbox fell down and narrowly missed hitting Nimbus on the head, instead making Xalmann wince as it hit him on the shoulder. Nimbus let out a frightened chirp and unwrapped themself from the Lizardman, flying toward Leni.

Leni-Aura furrows her brows, ears lowering as she approaches the ooze; with Xalmann cornering the blob on its other side, it seems as confused as it can possibly seem without facial features. She arms herself with the blunt of her spear, clacking the tip against the counter to give the ooze a small spook; it undulates wildly, slorping towards Xalmann, before stopping and jiggling with uncertainty yet again.

Then, it suddenly leaps.

“Hey!” she snaps, “Don’t—”

She goes to poke at the ooze with the end of her spear, hoping to somehow get it out before it can knock it over— but before she can even take the step forwards, she hears the crack of the shelf unit. She snaps her gaze to Xalmann, and manages to leap out of the way as the shelf unit comes falling down on top of him.

“Nimbus!”

The small drake swoops beneath the shelf unit from Xalmann— she’s relieved to see he looks uninjured, just spooked— and she reaches out to catch him. The drake flies into her arms and climbs immediately up onto her shoulders. He tucks himself behind her long hair, and peeps towards Xalmann from around the other side of her neck. “Mati, faa yeh?” ^{(Baby, you okay?)} she presses the drake, gently touching his snout; Nimbus clicks at her.

Seemingly satisfied with his state of being, she looks back at the scene before her— mostly, Xalmann still beneath the shelving unit— and the ooze stuck to the wall behind where it had been. It’s undulating sporadically and making weird, sloppy noises. It sounds kind of like it’s laughing.

“You little… Get out from there!” she puffs, clacking the end of her spear against the wall nearby to spook it; the ooze retracts away from her and starts slorping awkwardly like a great, goopy slinky across the wall, past where Xalmann is still holding up the shelf unit. He can at least lift it back up without trapping the ooze behind it. She scowls, bouncing over to where he is, and putting her hands on the lower edge of the unit to help him lift it back. “Are you okay?” she finally asks.

Xalmann pushed the shelf back up and glared at the undulating ooze that had leapt away. This thing was starting to annoy him, but he had to remain calm. He still couldn't harm them, or there would be no point in doing this in the first place. He was just doing this to have good relations with this place and harming the drunken ooze would only hinder that.

"I am fine." he answered Leni. His shoulder had a dull pain in it from the lockbox hitting it, but he wasn't seriously injured. He at least could stretch his neck a bit now that the drake was no longer acting as a collar around it. He put a hand on his shoulder. The pain wasn't serious enough for him to feel the need to use one of his healing abilities. He could only use it a couple of times in a short timespan, after all.

"I will be serious now." he said, a bit of annoyance apparent in his voice.

It was annoying to have to put in so much effort to wrangle some drunken ooze, but he decided he wanted to just get this over with and not hold back so much anymore. He raised his hands and placed them together in a prayer position and another Lizardfolk appeared next to him, though translucent and covered in horrible burns. They were very similar to Xalmann in a appearance, but a bit taller and skinnier. Along with them, another ghost of a burned Lizardfolk also appeared. This one was broader and more bulky, but also a bit shorter than Xalmann. Finally, a third spirit of a Lizardfolk appeared, this one also a bit taller than Xalmann, but with a similarly broad build to him. All three spirits held axes. The skinny one with one small axe in each hand, the short bulky one with a large, two-handed war axe, and the final one with a larger axe in one hand and a smaller axe in the other.

Xalmann looked to the three new Lizardfolk and spoke in the Lizardfolk language to them, pointing to them and giving them instructions. The ghostly Lizardmen moved into position, surrounding the ooze in a much more solid line than just Leni and Xalmann had been. The ghosts were unable to touch the ooze, but they should still do to scare them and help herd them into the pot.

---

Call Ghost
Guardian Spirit
Caller of Spirits

Leni-Aura nods her acknowledgement and pushes up the shelf with him— though he's much taller than she is— so it leaves her hands quite quickly and she’s ultimately not much help. The rabbitaur lowers her hands, looking past Xalmann to where the ooze is scooting its way around on the wall with a sigh. “This is not ideal…” she mumbles, scratching the side of Nimbus’ head while Xalmann checks his shoulder.

She looks up at him, brows furrowing slightly. “You were not before?” she asks; Xalmann only looks serious as far as she can tell… she rolls her eyes, waiting patiently while he places his hands together, and— what in Avasha’s name?

Leni-Aura startles, hackles raised when translucent Lizardfolk begin to appear around Xalmann; by habit, she flips her spear over to have access to the point, but… they’re not a threat. She’s just… never seen anyone do that before. She looks puzzled; she looks between Xalmann and the Lizardfolk while they speak together in a Lizardfolk’s tongue… and then, they separate and move into position to surround the ooze.

Slowly she starts to ease; but she still seems a bit cautious as she skirts around Xalmann and the… ghosts? Are they ghosts? Is Xalmann some kind of ghost-caller? She wants to ask, but there will be time on the way back, perhaps. She moves into position, flipping her spear over to arm herself with the blunt end.

“Get ready,” she directs them— or, at least Xalmann; she offers the drake a glance on her shoulder. “Nimbus, wul un. Man ekk gjam un bavi.” ^{(Nimbus, chase it. Don’t let it run away.)} Nimbus gives a little squawk, jumping from her shoulder, and flying above the ooze still perched on the wall.

It undulates nervously, wiggling and squirming in a circle with Nimbus flapping above it, cutting off its vertical escape route; and when Leni-Aura clacks her spear against the wall to spook it, it starts to scuttle and ooze aggressively in a random direction— ultimately heading towards one of the spirits Xalmann had called forth— the short, stout one— in an attempt to bypass between a small gap between it and the next.