Vira lets out a sigh and moves over to Kenna to help her get unstuck from the wall. Her mind starts to clear as the rage subsides and she gives an apologetic smile.

"Oh...Sorry about that. There seems to be plenty of goo left behind though."

Aric once free starts to groom himself and clean up. He checks the room. 

Investigation : 11

B'Reh quickly steps over to Kenna, her feathers still slightly ruffled from the fight. She works alongside Vira to peel the corvum free from the sticky residue, her expression a mix of relief and exasperation. "You're alright now, Kenna," she says gently, though there’s a clear edge of weariness in her voice. After a moment, she pauses and looks Kenna in the eyes, her tone turning serious. "Your father sent us to bring you back, Kenna. Please tell me you're ready to return with us. Surely, there’s nothing here worth risking your life for any longer."

Working together, Vira and B'Reh free the young corvum from the slime. "He's not my father. He died a long time ago, and I can take care of myself without uncle Walden's worrying." She looks sadly at the slimy puddle left behind, which has started to fade from red back into shifting, multicolored iridescence. "If I'd come up with something to help with the fires, maybe he finally would've realized I don't need a babysitter."

With a sigh, she pulls a couple of vials from a belt at her waist and uncorks them, bending down to collect some of the colorful ooze as Aric and Brynlee search the puddles and the rest of the cavern for anything worth keeping.

Aric finds a small necklace in what's left of one of the sticky slimes, a sphere of intricately interwoven gold and bronze twigs. Brynlee rests a small hand on it for a moment as Aric cleans it off a bit. "This feels like it might be magical. We should spend some time examining it the next time we're taking a rest." [[ Aric, make a note of this on your sheet, and you can either examine it later following the rules for learning the properties of magic items, or you can try to find someone to identify it for you. ]]

Turning back to the color-shifting slime that Kenna is currently tending to, Aric momentarily remembers how it almost seemed to absorb Brynlee's fire, and his dream from a couple of nights before.

'He's not my father.'

The words seem to dumbfound Vira for a moment as she lays a hand on her spear.

"Of course, nothing can replace your Pa," she states after regaining her composure, crossing her arms, "But that doesn't mean he isn't allowed to worry either. I think Walden does respect your work a lot too. When he asked us to help, the importance of your research was the first thing he mentioned."

B'Reh's feathers ruffle slightly as realization dawns on her. "Ah, my mistake—of course it was your uncle who sent us, not your father. I apologize, Kenna," she says with genuine contrition. "Still, he was very worried about you. Whatever differences you might have, his concern seemed heartfelt." She glances at the now-empty slime puddles, then back to Kenna. "What happened here? Did the slimes not attack you? The large one only dropped when we arrived—was it just waiting? Or perhaps they...ignored you for some reason?" 

Her gaze softens as she steps forward. "Is there anything I can help with to get you ready for departure more quickly? I imagine your uncle—and, well, the rest of us—would breathe easier once we're all safely out of these caves."

After examining the necklace he places it in his pouch.

"I need to rest a bit and stop this bleeding (at 5hp out of 15)" Short Rest 

"Yeah, a quick breather couldn't hurt." Vira finds a non-slimy place to take a seat against the wall. Raging so much really takes it out of her at times. (Short rest to regain a rage slot)

 Kenna remains silent for a moment after Vira and B'Reh's comments, silently working to fill her vials. "I...suppose I might have been stuck against that wall for quite some time if he hadn't sent you all, so thank you. I'm not exactly sure why they weren't attacking me. Maybe they couldn't tell I was here? I didn't see them when I came in, and then I got stuck and couldn't move, so they could've mistaken me for a rock or something. They don't seem to have eyes." She finishes filling her vials, but some of the shifting iridescence has already faded from them. "I still could really use a sample from one of these slimes while it's still alive. I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me find that before we go?"

"Well, we are in kind of a hurry, but...One more couldn't hurt, right? If it could help fire-proof the wood." Vira rolls her shoulders as she gets up from her rest. "Know where we can find it?"

B'Reh lets out a slow sigh as she considers Kenna's request. "If it can be done quickly, then fine. A smaller one, if possible. I’d rather not come back through these caves to fetch you again when we pass Winnowing Reach on our way back from Alderheart. Let’s not waste time."

She takes a seat against the cavern wall, away from the slime puddles, bowing her head in quiet prayer. The rhythm of her words steadies her spirit, and as she finishes, she rises with a renewed sense of purpose. "That should be enough for now. Let’s find your sample and move on."

She adjusts her armor, scanning the cavern for any trails or signs of a smaller slime nearby that might provide what Kenna needs without too much risk, "Any idea where we should be looking? If it is on the way out, perhaps, that would be ideal."

Short Rest: one hit die for 6 HP gained (now she as at her full 15HP) and one use of Channel Divinity restored (2/2 uses left)

(b'Reh has on 1st level slot left and can use it for a quick Healing Word or another Bless. She also has 2 channel divinity uses that can restore a small number of hit points each, 1d8+3 to be exact.)

 [[ Brynlee is at full HP after her short rest as well, and has one healing word and one spell slot left. She can also make a second spell slot using sorcery points if she doesn't use them for metamagic. ]]

"I'm not sure. I came in through an opening closer to Winnowing Reach and that big one was the first color-changing one I saw. I suppose we could try to check some of the smaller tunnels, or try to find a different way out?"

Looking around this large cavern where Kenna was trapped, you see two openings besides the one you came through. One is quite large, about 8 feet by 10 feet, and the other is just large enough for Vira and B'Reh to fit through without squeezing.

Vira will examine the two openings, looking for signs of slimes having passed through each of them.

Survival: nat 1 + 3 -.-

While Vira is examining the two openings, b'Reh does her own search (Can't help for not having proficiency in Survival) but she does so with divine Guidance. 

Survival: 16

Vira approaches the two openings one after the other. Used to tracking through the open forest, she searches the ground for any clues to the color-shifting slime's movement through the caverns, but she finds only crisscrossed trails of blue and green residue, seemingly from the other two kinds of slime the group has faced today. However, B'Reh, already longing to leave the caverns and return to the sky above, looks upward. On the ceiling above the larger opening, she spots a shining trail of slime, not quite the same iridescence as the large slime had in life, but fresher than the trails Vira found, and perhaps closer in color to Kenna's samples, which have faded to a swirling gray and white.

"What do you think. Is that the way we should go?" Aric asks

B'Reh nods toward the wide passage, her gaze lingering on the faint, fresh trail above. "I believe so, Aric. That trail looks promising—perhaps one of those differently colored slimes moved in that direction or the one we encountered came that way."

Turning to Kenna, she tilts her head thoughtfully. "What do you think causes these slimes to be different? Is it an anomaly in the Rhythm, or do you think there’s an academic explanation? Have your studies given you any insights so far? And do these unique slimes only occur here in the caverns, or have they been seen outside as well? We encountered several slimes near the southern entrance, but they all seemed more...typical." She keeps her voice calm but steady, hoping to encourage Kenna to share any useful information that might shed light on their unusual surroundings. Then, she follows whoever might wish to lead the way into the passage she pointed out.

Vira pauses to listen to Kenna's response to B'Reh's questions before cautiously heading down the larger passage ahead of the others, keeping a careful eye on the fresher slime trail from the ceiling.

Perception: 13 + 3 guidance= 16

Aric will proceed

Kenna brightens up noticeably at a chance to discuss her academic interests. "As far as our research can tell, slimes tend to have different qualities based on where in the Wood they develop, though there's no apparent limit to how many variants can be in one area. You've probably seen the blue and green variants here?" she asks, looking towards Brynlee. The hedge nods, and Kenna continues. "Those are the sticky and caustic slimes, and they seem to be the most common variants in the Mokk Fields. There are others in the roots of the Alder Tree, and I've even heard of a couple poisonous species that live in the Tanglewilds, though I've never seen them myself, but what an interesting sight they must–"

"And the color-shifting one?" Brynlee asks, as the young corvum begins to follow a tangent.

"Right. The color shifting one seems to be a more recent emergence. I've just been calling them shifting slimes, though that big one in the cavern back there was only the third one I've seen. The first one I saw was from a distance, and it seemed to be fighting a caustic slime for some animal remains. I saw it get hit once, and then shift to this bright lime-green color. After that, it looked like the caustic slime couldn't hurt it with acid anymore."

As the young researcher talks, reminding everyone a bit of Aric and his characteristic quick chattering speech, Vira keeps her eyes and ears peeled for any further sign of a shifting slime. The trail on the ceiling eventually makes its way down a wall and then continues on the floor in front of her. She leads the group through a couple of turns as Kenna continues.

"The second one was in the caverns a few weeks ago. I had come with a couple of other researchers from the town to gather sticky slime samples to send back to Alderheart, but we encountered a group of caustic slimes and had to flee. I dropped my torch in the chaos, and I swore I saw one of the caustic slimes bump into it on the ground and then turn bright red, but nobody believed me. That's why I had to come back on my own, for proof."