(Remember, a long rest is seven days.)

Torrent, it's possible that you recognize this creature, but whether you do or not would depend on what your attempt to recognize it is based on and what your purpose is in doing so, so I would need more information from you before I could answer your question.

Ulben, the creature proves to be quite hungry and seems to find your food to its liking. Assuming the chunk you've given it is the equivalent of a full day's rations (2 pounds), it distracts itself for the time being consuming the food, buying you all some time to decide what to do. Take a point of inspiration if you didn't already have one for once again living up to your ideal of sharing your talent for cooking. At 25 feet away, you're now about 15 feet closer to the creature than Tarek with his torch.

Anakis, unlike the exhaustion you gained on your chase through the city, the exhaustion you now have will require a long rest to remove.

Aluzira, although you seem to remember mention of a downward-looking animal like this in one of the ancient bestiaries you once had an opportunity to peruse, the reference was quite obscure, and you recall little else about it.

Tarek is correct. Here's a definition of a long rest for the purposes of this campaign:

A long rest is a period of extended downtime, 7 days long, during which a character sleeps for at least 6 hours and performs no more than 2 hours of light activity, such as reading, talking, eating, or standing watch. If the rest is interrupted by a period of strenuous activity - at least 1 hour of walking, fighting, casting spells, or similar adventuring activity - the characters must begin the rest again to gain any benefit from it.

And here's a definition of a short rest:

A short rest is a period of downtime, 8 hours long, during which a character does nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds.

So Fluin and Torrent would have both completed short rests between the end of the battle and the beginning of their watches, Aluzira would need another two hours and Anakis would need another six hours to get the benefit of a short rest at this point (although I'm not sure if there would be any benefit for either of them to do so).  

Anakis looks at the beast eating the food Ulben threw to it. "Aww, we don't have to hurt it, do we? It just wanted food. It's like a big, smelly, swamp cow. I like cows. Actually, normal cows smell too. But not as much as this one. Could we keep it?"

"I don't think we have to hurt it," Aluzira says quietly.  "I don't think we'd be able to keep it either," she adds, smiling.  "Has anyone ever seen or heard of this creature before? Is it something that usually lives here?  I've read about something like it before, but there weren't many details."  She will slowly move forward another foot, watching it curiously.

(Ah, okay!)

As everyone watches the creature tentatively sniff and then begin eating Ulben's offering of food, the dim torchlight reveals that as the creature's gaze comes to rest on the food in front of it, the food begins to wither and rot before your eyes until it's a stinking mass of decay. The creature, unperturbed by the transformation, hungrily consumes the disgusting mess. The smell of death hangs strongly in the air all around you as the full moon hangs low in the western sky.

Astonished by what he has just witnessed, Fluin says, "I think we should use this opportunity to get moving. I don't want to see what that creature's gaze does to one of us."

What does everyone think?

Torrent would simply be trying to recall if he had seen or smelled the creature in the past.  Something that has such a distinctive appearance and smell would stick out in memory.  

Nature Check if needed : 14

Torrent, seeing the rapidly withering meat says, "I agree.  We gotta get movin',  and once we are away from this critter, we need to decide if we are going to hunt the last of the toads or if we are going to back ta town.  I could easly do either at this point.  Yesterday took a lot outta me and I could use a drink.  Mayhaps we could cash in on the potential bounty Fluin mentioned?"

I don't want to belabor this too much because I think we may be past the point that this is needed in this particular situation, but it might be an opportunity for me to explain what I'm asking for. One of my jobs as DM is to describe the environment. Your character's memories are not part of the environment. They're part of your character, so they aren't something I'm going to make up. This is why a question like "Do I recognize this creature?" is not an attempt to clarify my description of the environment. It's an attempt to establish the fiction that your character recognizes the creature, which is why I prefer that it not be stated as a question, but rather as a statement of what your character is doing in the fiction to try to establish that he recognizes the creature, which is what you've given me above: Torrent is trying to remember if he has seen or smelled this creature before. This is an improvement in two ways. First, you're describing something your character is doing, and second, you're leveraging something I've described as part of the environment, the way the creature looks and smells, to aid you in your attempt. This gives me something to work with, but it's not quite sufficient, which I'll explain below.

This brings me to my other job as DM: describing the result of your action. My process for adjudicating an action declaration is as follows. First, I ask if the action is permissible in terms of genre convention and fictional positioning. Genre convention usually isn't a problem because I think we all understand that we're playing a game of medieval-ish fantasy, so no one is going to declare they shoot laser beams out of their eyes unless they have some special ability written down on their character sheet that says they can do so. In terms of genre convention, your action declaration is entirely permissible. People in medieval fantasy fiction remember the way creatures they've encountered in the past look and smell all the time. Fictional positioning has to do with the action being appropriate to the immediate circumstances in which the characters finds themselves. Since we're talking about an act of recollection, and since I assume Torrent is in possession of his full faculties, this is also not a problem. Sometimes, if a player declares an action that lacks the appropriate fictional positioning, it's a good sign that a step back needs to be taken to get on the same page about what exactly is going on in the fiction, but that isn't really the case here which is why just a few posts up-thread I said it's entirely possible that Torrent could recognize the creature.

Second, if the above two requirements are satisfied (which I think they have been here), I'm going to either say "Yes" or call for a check to decide the result. Being reasonably specific with your action declaration really helps me make this decision, and if I call for a check, what type of check and what DC to set. What I mean by reasonably specific is that your action declaration has both a goal and an approach. The goal is what your character is trying to accomplish with this action. The goal you've given me is that Torrent wants to have remembered or recognized this creature from some past encounter. As a goal, this strikes me as a bit nebulous. What I'd like is to know why Torrent wants to have remembered this creature. What specifically does he hope to gain by having remembered it? The approach is how your character goes about trying to accomplish the stated task. Leveraging the smell and appearance of the creature is part of this, but something is missing. Presumably, Torrent is comparing the smell and appearance of this creature with some catalog stored in his memory of all the creatures he has possibly ever encountered in the past, but I don't think that's very specific. As I said up-thread in response to your question about whether Torrent had ever encountered this sort of creature before, that's part of your character's backstory, and although it's unlikely, it's entirely possible. As DM, I'm not going to make up biographical details about your character. It's entirely up to you, so I guess I should just ask you, has Torrent ever encountered this type of creature before? If so, then I don't see why he wouldn't remember it. I would just say, "Yes, he remembers it," but I think I would like to know a bit more (from you) about this previous encounter. If it's something less certain, I would still want to know what specific memories Torrent is drawing on. I still might say "Yes", or if I think he might not remember and that there's a meaningful consequence for failing to remember, then I'll call for a check, telling you the DC and what the consequence for failure is. I'm also not sure what you think success is supposed to look like. For instance, let's say he has encountered this type of creature and remembers doing so. What do you think you're supposed to get for that?

Anyways, I hope this doesn't come off as a rant, but that it clarifies what sort of process I'm using and helps you engage with it in a way that respects your agency over your character and over the shared fiction.

(OOC - Ok. Read and I think I get what you're looking for.)

"It's a pity we can't take him with us, but we should go," Anakis pouts but nods in agreement. "Do we need to kill more of these toads? I mean, did the job say we had to kill a certain number of them? And who would know if we didn't? We've reduced their numbers at least." As she says this, Anakis will slowly back away and begin to pack her things in her bag ready to move away from the beast.

Aluzira also starts to back away slowly startled by the sudden decomposition of the food, but not before looking around the creature in the direction from which it came.  She was looking for more signs of decay, wondering if maybe that's just how it ate its food, or if it used it's gaze all the time.  After making her back to the campsite, she quickly packs her things and waits to see what they will be doing next, although she agrees that going to town would be nice.

Perception: 17

(Same here.)

(I understand now why you have been frustrated.  This is very different from how I have ever played before, so it is foreign to me.  I will try to be better about this!  My only fear is that I will step on your toes in regards to the fictional positioning.  I've been working under the assumption that Torrent is an expert on the Bog, so he would have at least passing familiarity on survival, flora, fauna, etc.  This can also make the game far too easy, though.  Just let me know when I start reaching too far!  I'm also going to say that Torrent has encountered the creature before, chasing after the source of the smell, but he knows very little of it.  A fine mystery to pursue later.)

"We don have to kill more'a the toads.  We helped bring down the numbers, which could help.  The roads will be a bit safer now, especially since there're fewer of 'em.  It may be best ta go back inta town and rest.  We can figger out what ta do next."

"Did I mention a bounty? You must be thinking of Ulben's cousin, Rowan. I think she said something like that before she headed back to Ekuepool," says Fluin, scratching his head. "My two coppers is we cut off the head of one of these critters we killed -- can't be more than thirty pounds -- and we haul it back to the city as proof our tale is true to seek an audience with Lord Guernot. Maybe we can claim a reward for ridding the swamp of a few of these slimy frogs." He waits to listen to the ideas of the rest of the party as he gathers together his belongings. 

"Yes, Torrent is right," Tarek nods his head in agreement. "Why don't we take one of the toads as proof, as Fluin here said, and go back into town and rest. And maybe while we rest up, we might be able to figure out what exactly that creature is."

"Yesss! Let's head back to the city. We can be the heroes of the swamp," Anakis stands up proudly, pack already on her back.

Aluzira smiles and nods in agreement.  "We should be careful retrieving the head though; there seem to be midges all over the place."  Then adds, "When we get to town, probably after seeing Lord Geurnot, we could try the library if there is one and try to find information about the creature there."  Then thinks to herself, "Which is probably what Tarek meant, where else would you find info like that, you doofus."  She reahces for the empty space where her flute used to be, but quickly reaches farther back to readjust her dagger instead. 

"Right then, it's a plan; let's get on outta here.  We'll grab one'a the heads and head back to the city proper.  Seems like we've all had enough'a this for a bit."  Torrent, gear packed will start heading in the direction of the closest toad, doing one more trek through the Bog.

Aluzira, you notice in the dim light of the torch that the frozen plants at the creature's feet are blackened and withered where they've been met by the creature's lowered gaze. Although there's a full moon up, it's too dark to see anything outside of the torchlight's radius.

Fluin lights another torch and heads into the dense wood.

"Hey," he calls out to Ulben, "I'd get away from that cow if I were you."

He hacks away at the toad's neck with one of his axes and finds a sturdy branch on the ground that he fits through the severed head's open mouth.

"Who wants to get on the other end of this?" he asks the group.

It's several hours before dawn as you all depart, and the city is still about a half-day's journey away to the northeast. Who will lead the way to make sure the party doesn't get lost? What pace do you set, and what other activities do you all engage in on the way?

Anakis looks closely at the toad head and makes a 'yuck' face. She steps away then looks around,  "Should we go slow? I can scout ahead if you want?"

Anakis will walk off to the side somewhat as they travel, keeping an eye out for anything shiny and any aggressive looking creatures (perception: 3). 

(OOC - if we decide to go with stealth, I'll roll stealth then.)

"I got it!" Aluzira answers, coming over to lift the other end of the branch, grimacing upon seeing the head.  As they're walking, she wonders about the creature, how did its gaze cause things around it to decay?  Did its gaze also work on living creatures? And so on.

"Come on, follow me.  Let's get outta here.  I'll lead the way.  Kid, I appreciate you scouting ahead, but don't go too far."

I would also like to set a slow, careful pace.  We have all day to travel, and some of us are exhausted.  We don't want to risk losing our way with our prize.  There will be time to rest in the city.  

(OOC - ah that's a really good point, I have a point of exhaustion, so that perception roll above would be at disadvantage, not that I think it matters much with a roll like that, but I'll add the second one here. Perception 2nd roll for disadvantage: 12)

Anakis nods, "Okay, just make sure you point which direction I need to go every so often so I don't get lost.", and she moves forward, not going too far from the group (keeping within 30-60ft, as movement changes through various sections of the swamp). She tries to stay stealthy as she goes, moving slowly from tree to tree or bush, taking her time to stop, look and listen, occasionally looking back to check that everyone else still follows and to have someone point the direction she should be going in (Stealth: 18).