After helping Brix investigate the room, Inge scratches her shoulder and scrunches up her face.

"We didn't come here for shiny coins.  At least I didn't.  Should we try to open the door on the far side?  Or fall back and rest?"

(She is happy to be the one to cross the room and try the far door if that is the decision).

I could use a few moments to make some notes and do some calculations. As well as mix up some more marking powder." replies Brix indicating his desire for a short break.

Myrla shares what she found out about the door and waves Inge to come closer. "If you want you can open it, I'll back you up, or drag you out if need be. Or vice versa if you prefer."

"Brixie says he needs a break, and last time with the stupid mephits, we really needed the little guy."  Inge looks uncertain at Myrla's request.

Still, if Myrla recommends it, Inge trusts her from their journey to Perseverance.  Pulling her hempen rope from her pack she ties it around Myrla and retreats to the threshold from which they originally entered the room, holding the other end in a firm grip.  She nods for the elf to open the door.

"Slender waif like you, I think I can pull you out easier than last time we tried this, if had to pull big Wadi out of that other room where all the words were."

(The rooms are starting to blend together a little in Inge's mind).

 "Hopefully the other side of that door is nothing dangerous. Then we can have the rest while thinking over any puzzle that might be present."

„Ok, let’s check this room and then have a rest.“ Myrla says in response to Milo and Inge and opens the door to peek inside. If there’s nothing obviously dangerous, she enters and checks carefully for hidden dangers (Perception: 16)

"Hey now." hWadi says ant his friends comments. "I'm not 'that big'."

"Go on then"Says Brix

The door is sticky. It feels as if something is glueing the door to the frame from the other side of the room. With a little bit of a pull, it swings open slightly, enough for a peek. Behind the door is a cubical room, probably 30 by 30 by 30 feet. The entire surface of the room is covered in a viscous and sticky, almost translucent blue goop. To the right (north) is the partially melted steel door and to the left (south) is a rusted iron door that looks weak enough to crumble at the lightest touch.

Sitting in the middle of the room is a large stone chest that is largely untouched by the goop. Myrla can see writings on the surface of the chest carved in a harsh, winding, and loopy script, almost reminiscent of Sylvan but not. Apart from its unusual state compared to the rest of the room and the carving, there doesn't appear to be anything unusual about the chest. 

Brix cries out and rushes forward, a open vial and thin wooden stick clutched in his hands, "Wait! Let me get a sample!" The articifer swipes the stick through the substance and deposits it into the vial. He begins to analyze it immediately. (Sheet rolled an insight of 9)

Inge grins at Wadi about being even bigger than she is.

"You know me, Nature Walker.  It was a compliment."  The tall half-elf looks up to meet Wadi's eyes.  "One day, I'll be even bigger than you."

Turning back to Myrla, Inge makes way for Brix and holds onto the rope tightly.

"Careful, Myrla and Brixie!"  she shouts.  "Sand and rock in the White Waste, I trust.  Blue goop not so much.  One time, one of the Hunter's Conclave lads tried to keep up with me, eating.  Nice guy with a good belly on him.  When he had too much, well, it looked like that goop coming back out his mouth."

Myrla does not like the looks of the goop at all, “I don’t fancy walking through that.” Shane says and waits for Brix’ results of his analysis. “No one can fly over it and check out the rest of the room and the door, right?” She turns to Brix and asks, “Can you try if it burns? Carefully of course.” Looking back into the room, she adds, “Perhaps we could drive on our cart through it by pushing ourselves forward against the walls? Or we just check for other ways.” She tries if something happens if she touches the hoop very lightly with the tip of her boot.

It takes some time to examine the goop. It is not so much finding the properties that is difficult, but how it connects to the room. The goop seems harmless at a glance, but Brix's examination reveals that it is mildly corrosive to organic material. The vial he has gathered the goop in remains intact after a while, but the wooden stick slowly becomes flaky before withering after a few minutes. The vial stopper, parts of it from metal, rusts almost immediately upon contact. Fabrics absorb the goop, but it also eventually dissolves. Leather, though, seems very resistant to the effect of the goop, getting no damage whatsoever. 

Something strange occurs when Myrla suggests burning it. Brix carefully puts the vial under fire and it appears to be boiling. After a few moments, Brix can feel the vial vibrate on its own. The goop starts moving erratically, unlike any liquid he and any other have seen, before settling once again when the vial is removed from the heat.

"Well based on some initial observations, I can tell you for certain we don't want to touch it. Fire seems to affect it adversely. Perhaps we should throw a torch in there and close the door." Brix postulates. "Or maybe an oil flask set with a wick. Do we have some in the cart?

Brix, let me take a look at the goop.

Nature: 15

Perception: 22

Investigation or Aranca: 13

To Wadi, looking at the goop in the vial makes him feel a little bit strange. He doesn't really know what it is, but he swears he can see the goop moving on its own within the vial. He walks back toward the door and opens it just a little bit to test something. Nobody noticed it when the door was first opened, but now Wadi can see that there is a stretchiness and stringiness to the goop sticking on the door's frame. Without touching, the door is slowly being pulled close by itself as the goop seemingly pulls itself together again. The last thing Wadi sees before the door closes is the carving on the chest; it is a druidic script saying, 'If the dragon is not a dragon, what if the liquid is not a liquid?'

"Hey guys..."

"What do you mean by that, Wadi? That it is more than a liquid, like something living?" Myrla asks after the door was closed. "If it lives and is able to think, it very much looks like it prefers to be left alone. Also, if we look at what Wadi says from a different angle, it specifically says that the dragon isn't a dragon. Perhaps, we can check it out first after all."

She turns to Brix, "Good observation that it is sensitive to fire, perhaps we can work with that. If we make a path with torches perhaps it moves out of the way. Maybe we can run more experiments. Maybe there are more things that it likes or doesn't. Maybe water, metals, wood, food, ..." she throws a glance to Inge when she makes the suggestion to waste rations on a slime. 

Inge shakes her head, confused.  "That was so weird.  The whole vial started to shake when you put it above the fire, Brixie.  I wonder if the whole room is gonna shake if we light all the goop on fire.  But it definitely seems like it eats metal and wood and everything soft except leather.  Probably food too, Myrla, but not as fast as me.  I just don't know if that's because it 'likes' it?  Are you saying the goop is... alive?  Should we make a bridge out of leather?"

She tries to wrap her head around that, deciding she can't.

"Or we could head back to the... dragon," she says in a strangely small voice.  "I'll try not to be scared this time."

"Let us rest for the night first. Well, if you can call it night when we have no time. We can still sleep regardless. In the.... waking time.... we can go back to the not a dragon."