In response to Bell’s casting, the circlet around Little One’s head glows with a faint aura only visible to the wizard. But nothing else in the room does.

Bell squints and frowns over the book. "It sure doesn't 'detect' as magic... or at least there are no magical curses or blessings on the book or it's pages.   Guess the 'new magic' is something the person wrote about."   She shrugs and sits back from the table.   

"I really need to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.   I will be back shortly."

Little One flipped through the book’s pages — Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions, it is entitled — while Bell’s spell ritual proceeded. It was tempting, indeed to each of you, to page through it. Almost as if someone were whispering in your ear to take a peek. 

When Bell announces that it is not magical, Little One answers that he has completed reading the first chapter. “Is about The Weave. Weave is very fabric of magic essence every spell user draw from when cast spells. Book talk about how cast spell is like weave fabric. Say trigger phrases in right order, weave warm blanket with picture of hearth. Say one word wrong, blanket not hold together, or make loincloth instead. Haw-haw!!” 

He cranes around when Bell stands up to leave. “Where you go?”

At that moment, Meredith and Erudisia notice something alarming, to say the least. The book has silently transformed into a four foot-diameter blue ball of transparent jelly floating in the air over the table, shivering in an intense and belligerent manner, and seemingly about to engulf Little One’s head within itself!

(OOC: everyone please roll initiative. If you beat an 18 you may act.)

Bell - Initiative:  10

Meredith initiative- 13

The floating ball of jelly — ectoplasm, you studious three might call it — pounces. Although Little One tries to bat it away, the ball dodges back then envelops his head and neck. You see him roaring, noiselessly, through the semi-transparent thing as it fills his veins with red-black necrotic energy, replacing his life force, sucked away within itself. With tremendous effort, the ogre succeeds in throwing the floating blob off. It smashes against a wall but reforms, threatening all of you. “Feeeedddd…,” you hear its ghastly voice in your heads whisper, and realize it is the same voice that had been subtly coaxing you to read the book from which it transformed.

(PCs May now act in any order.)

Bell turns about to respond to Little One's question, "Where you go?"  and watches, speechless as the plasmodic orb briefly engulfs Little One's head. 

Not wishing to injure the ogre, Bell watches the plasmodic orb feed and then get ripped off and thrown against a wall -- only to speak and prepare to attack!

She moves for a clear view and evokes Magic Missile - sending three glowing darts of magical force at the orb.

{game log} MM dart damage:  5, 2, 4 == 11 pts of force damage.

Her eyes dart from the attacking orb to Little One and back again.

Meredith began panicking, she didn't have her bow with her....cos why would she when studying?  But she plucked her dagger from its sheath and sent it spinning towards the 'thing'.

" Bell! Thats awesome! Do it again!!"

Attack: 13 Damage: 5

BA- Bardic Inspiration to Bell ( 1d6)

Erudisia sends a blast of ccrackling energy at the blob,  slamming it against the wall, drilling into it. But it breaks free and then, before your eyes, transforms into a cockroach then flies to the closed chamber door and crawls through the space beneath it. A moment later you can hear it flying just a few feet on the other side.

Little One shakes his head, leaps to the door and flings it wide, looking down the hall in both directions. “There!,” he says, pointing with a ham hock forearm while nudging up his glasses with the other hand.

An Avowed priestess is there, flattening herself against the wall, “Aaaagh!,” to avoid the bug, but thereby putting herself between you and the flying insect.

Bell & Meredith may act. The cockroach née blue blob née book is 15’ away through the open door and down the hall, but enjoys partial cover from the Avowed priestess.

Bell stares as Meredith and Erudisia get in their licks on this odd orb and still, it recovers and moves away!  The transformation into a cockroach was disturbing and threw off Bell's idea to use her Mind Sliver on the thing -- not knowing how it would work on an insect.

Hearing a scream from outside the room , she moved up next to Little One as he pointed out the retreating 'thing' as it scared the scream out of an Avowed priestess.   Getting the best 'look' she can, Bell will again evoke Magic Missile - sending three more glowing darts of magical force at the orb nee cockroach.   

The darts of energy fly forth; streaking toward the priestess and then 'magically' swerving around her to impact the orb/cockroach.

{game log} MM dart damage:  2, 3, 2 == 7 pts of force damage.   

Bell continues to move forward to keep the 'thing' in sight.

Meredith retrieved her dagger, dropped when the creature transformed and followed Bell, she went wide to the right trying desperately to avoid hitting the woman.

Attack: 6 Damage: 5

Bell yells with a booming voice unexpected in one so diminutive,

"By all the Gods, somebody squash that thing before it does more harm!"

Meredith’s dagger whips through the air, but the tiny bug drops out of its path, and the blade rebounds off of the corridor wall then skitters to the end of the hallway floor.

Bell’s magic missiles unerringly smash into the insect, enough arcane energy to drop a hog. The roach flops out of the air and plops onto the floor, legs up. But then, it flips over and skitters away, passing immediately in front of the priestess who, “Aaaggg!!,” stomps it with unexpected vigor. She keeps her foot in place, afraid to move it, casting a glance from Bell to Meredith and back.

“What is it??,” she shouts. As you look, you see a puddle of light blue jelly leaking from under her foot.

(OOC: Roll Arcana DC 15 to read the spoiler)

Bell Arcana Check {game log} = >  19+5 = 24     (( OOC:  you do NOT know how close it was to rolling a '1' !!! ))

She will run up to the priestess, "Are you okay?  No injuries?  Bless you and THANK YOU for stopping that meance in it's tracks."   

Once she is certain the priestess is fine, Bell will turn to Little One.  "What did it 'do' to you?  It looked like it was drinking in your magic or something. Do YOU need healing?"

Meredith went a grabbed her dagger once more, watching the blue liquid suspiciously......

Erudisia:  Arcana - 2 

The half-elf Warlock has never seen its like before, even as its blueberry-coloured juices squeeze out from beneath the priestess's foot, her heart remains a flutter. A book that became an aberrant ball of ectoplasmic jam that became a jam devouring cockroach. 

Errant crackles of Eldritch force -- to the untrained eye appearing not unlike small flurries of blizzard, and coruscating whorls of tiny electrical bolts -- trace around her outstretched finger tips, her anxiousness still evident. 

"It may yet take another form," she says, pointing at the jus that spreads along the floor. 

Bell twisted about; hearing Erudisia's concern.

Glaring at the glob under the priestess' boot, her forehead scrunches up as she barks an arcane word directing a spike of mental energy at the blob. 

Mind Sliver         {game log}  6 pts of psychic damage  (( Unless the goo makes an INT save 13 ))

Bell readies her spell, but realizes there is no mind there to spike. The gingwatzim is dead.

Little One, you three saw, lost enough life force to fill a family of four. But his strength was enough to survive the experience.
“I… okay, I think.” He says, the color drained from his countenance.

The Avowed priestess grimaces, showing her teeth, and she pulls her foot off of the smashed bug turned pool of blue jelly. Streamers of sticky ectoplasm come up with her shoe. But a few moments later, the blue jelly quickly fades until, its arcane energy released, it disintegrates to nothing but a blue residue on the floor.

“What. Was. That??,” the priestess repeats tensely, a disgusted look on her face now, arms crossed, demanding an explanation. She seems to think its presence in the keep was your doing.

Just to be on the safe side, Bell will use a bit of Prestidigitation to make certain the Avowed Priestess is all nice and clean from her toes to her nose.

"From what I recall,  it was a... what was that name... "

A gingwatzim is a peculiar form of life created by a spell or a ritual.  The magic that brings it into being draws on spirit energy from the Ethereal Plane to give the gingwatzim its true form— what we saw as that blue orb of goo.  A newly formed gingwatzim appears as near to its creator as possible and follows its creator’s commands without question, using telepathy to communicate.

A gingwatzim can assume two other forms that are determined by its creator at the time the gingwatzim comes into being. One is an exact duplicate of a Tiny nonmagical object that its creator is wearing or carrying -- in this case, that book - and the gingwatzim’s other form is that of a specific Tiny beast - again, this one became a cockroach.

 "This kind of magic is beyond me.  And you all saw how it did not 'detect' as magical at all before it changed before our eyes!    Plus, can you imagine if some poor soul was in the Library and got attacked with no one else around?   They might not be as fortunate as Little One was."

Bell turned to the priestess, "Mistress, you must inform those in charge.  If someone is sneaking gingwatzim into Candlekeep, they may have an infestation.  And it may not LOOK like a book but any small object.  Since my 'Detect Magic' ritual did not 'detect' anything, I do not even know how to find them..."  she wrings her hands nervously.

Meredith was flummoxed, she'd never heard of such a thing before.

" So theres no real way to know if there aren't hundreds of them here already? Hiding among the stacks?"