Dev scrabbles backwards, almost falling over himself to get away from the pale tendril, pulling in his arms to avoid the droplets and rock fragments.. ”Oh no, I made it mad! What is that thing??,” he groans.

"You think it's going to break through?" Lokilia asks. "From the drops of black liquid, I fear we might get flooded if we stay here."  She warily backs herself towards the way they all came in.  Although she doesn't leave quite yet, waiting to see if the others have a plan. 

With Amber safely on his shoulder, Normont also backs away.

"I think you are right, we should retreat. Perhaps if we can lure it out into the open", he suggests.

As he backs away, he keeps an eye on the ceiling, and if the creature breaks through will take a shot at it.

"Let me be the last to leave." Quinn will be at the end of the group but will be pushing any stragglers. 

Arcana: 6 (Was hoping to get an idea of what that thing was, but yea nope)

Magnus agrees with the group, "Yes we need to retreat, hopefully out there we will have abetter chance of defeating it as we won;t be so confined. Please do move with some haste, I am not sure how much longer that rock will hold."

"Alright," Lokilia says quickly. The others seem to have agreed with the retreat so she starts to make her way out as quickly as practical. "You are coming too, right Dev?" 

Dev nods to Lokilia, wide-eyed. Things were moving fast now and the teen tiefling didn't want to make things any worse than he already had. 'Come on, magic shoes, get me out of here...,' he thinks as he rushes into the crevice ahead of Quinn. He promptly gets his horns stuck in the narrow space but, with a grunt, frees himself and steps out into the overhang area, avoiding the dark pool and throwing a glance behind him to be sure Quinn was able to make it through the narrow crevice too.

Quinn is barely out when there is a loud crash of falling stone and a tsunami of black liquid cascades down and out of the crack, the companions manage to avoid it by pressing themselves back against the rock but the pool becomes a lake and then breaks its banks cascading a deluge of the noisome liquid, squealing bat-things and rubble down the mountain side along with a dozen or so of the chamois that are caught in the flood.

The volume of black liquid issuing from the crack soon reverts to a steady trickle but vast amounts of it have washed down into the river valley below....

....from behind them within the cavern they just hastily exited there is a low burbling roar of pain, anger and disorientation, "WHERREE??!!"

"Nuts and bolts!", Normont curses as the liquid floods down towards the river. "Let's hope the liquid becomes inert if the creature that secreted it is dead", he says hopefully, not even really knowing if it was a secretion at all.

He quickly looks about to see if there was a path to further retreat or if the chamois were still blocking any route away.

If the creature comes into view though, he remains primed to take a shot at it.

"You've already pinned our hopes in killing that...  well, whatever it is?" Lokilia asks after Normont's remark. "It still might be possible it's just hurt or lost or something. That what you were saying, right Dev?"  She looks about for the teen to try and get his support. "I mean... if it turns out to be dangerous..."  

She doesn't quite finish the thought but turns her attention to the black flood now headed down towards the river. "I really wish there were some way to stop all of that from reaching the water." 

Dev nods affirmatively to Lokilia, although in his heart, empathy has quickly transformed almost entirely to fear, and his imagination is drawing a horrid and terrifying image of the creature's appearance and motivation.

"Normont, what is the Far Realm? You said you thought the liquid was from there??"

Normont looks around and motions at the deformed chamois, "I think these creatures would attest to the fact it is dangerous. Imagine what it could do if it reaches the river itself".

He looks at the others, "The Far Realm is another Plane of existence, like the Material Plane we are on, and the Feywild or Shadowfell. It is a dangerous place full of aberrations and utterly vile creatures. We need to decide what we are doing here, and quickly. If it has come through a portal from the Far Realm, it is an aberration and we should treat it as such. If it is a victim, there is likely no hope for it". He shrugs, "That is my opinion at least, but it is just an opinion". He waits for the others to give their opinions.

Still he remains primed to take a shot at it.

Melody and rhythm begin to pulse from Dev as if from a distance, and the wide-eyed innocence gives way to a wry, sly expression as subtle lightning crackles over his horns. Standing at his full height and throwing off his hood, forehead pointing at the crevice, the tiefling almost seems to loom over and behind Normont, who feels the music somehow bolstering and calming his hand (OOC: inspiration 1d6).

"But why is it here?," the tiefling asks, his tone no longer plaintive, "and not where it belongs?"

Normont finds himself tapping his foot to the rhythm of Dev's music, steadying him a little for the conflict he feels is likely to come.

"I don't know, Dev. Whatever or whoever it is likely stumbled across the portal, from whichever side. But that is conjecture. The truth is, I just don't have the answer. I just remember the tendrils that came through the gap in the ceiling after Amber, and how frightened she is even now", he admits shuddering at the thought of the tendril with all those razor sharp fingernails.

For her part, Amber is sitting on Normont's shoulder quivering a little, but resolute.

Still he remains primed to take a shot at it.

"That might be a question that needs answering after we have dealt with it." Magnus says, "One would assume it is the cause of this black sludge and we can obviously see the effects of it." Also pointing out the chamois. "Don't forget it herded us to this pool and almost made two of us drink of it, without our approval, what would have happened if we had drink the strange substance? We need to take care of this thing now and I am not sure if we will get a short rest as I am sure it will be following us shortly, prepare yourself."

Magnus will then move a bit away from the crevice in the cliff face and prepare to attack the slimy tentacled thing the moment it shows itself.

Held action: Eldritch Blast: To Hit 19 Damage: 7

2

Magnus does not need to wait long as pale slick tendrils begin to slither out of the crevice, he releases his magic as Normont also fires, there is a scream....almost human...of pain as the bolt of energy, and possibly the bullet, strike it and it retreats back within the crevice for a moment before rushing suddenly out on trunk-like malformed limbs splashing into the pool and roaring its defiance.....

.....you have faced the dead before and their rotting aspects but never anything as wrong as this.  It's form is swollen and malformed, bulging and twisted pale flesh hangs from it like meat that has swollen in the water over too many days......its locomotion is strange, three limbs....two rearward like splitting trees widen at the base become reddened and sore and festooned with scrapes and cuts and long limpid hairs, its other many jointed limb sits almost to one side but thrusting across in front like some horrid corrupted tripod.

Under the hanging curve of its back multiple tendrils and coiling arms split out from the other side, a matted mop of greasy coarse black hair spreads across its 'shoulder' and the root where the majority of the tentacles coil from.....beneath the hair can be seen a single bright blue eye the size of your first and two more smaller eyes of similar colour hang upon a flaccid coil of flesh which is tipped with what looks like a bloom of earlobes.    A great bloody maw hangs slackly beneath the teeth broken and grown huge and sharp cutting through lips...cheeks and a lolling purple tongue.

Normont suddenly gasps as he sees what hangs between two of the tendrils....a scrap of fabric....part of the uniform of The Grey Hunt......

( We will be rolling Initiative now.  Feel free to act if you roll greater than 12. )

(Lokilia Initiative: 7) 

Lokilia takes a look to see if there are any paths to move away from this creature that are not covered with the black liquid. (Perception, if needed: 25) 

Dev's jaw falls open in awestruck terror, eyes bulging at this horror beyond imagination. Of all his nightmares, all his fanciful night panics, he has never, could never, concoct a creature so repulsive.

Dev initiative: 15

...

Dev backs away in wordless terror, his mouth moving silently, but the light returns to his eyes, the darkness too, a disgusted sneer curls his lips. Sounds come from somewhere unknown deep within him, piercing the space between him and the aberration, assaulting its core, its psyche, it's mind -- if it has one.

(OOC: [Tooltip Not Found] WIS DC 13 or 14 damage and immediately use its reaction, if available, to move as far as its speed allows away from Dev; retreat 30')