"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it to be true."  -J Robert Oppenheimer

Our story begins on a mountainside, far away from civilization. Four figures drifted between the thick redwoods and prickly fur trees. Despite the lofty foliage, light was able to filter down through the gaps in the canopy, illuminating the forest floor and created a contrast of shadows among the duff.
The first figure belonged to Ileosa, a dark-haired elven woman possibly from the Great Forest. She wore doe-skin pants, and a simple woolen shirt under her leather jerkin. A hide cloak trimmed in rabbit fur hung from her shoulders, shifting with each graceful step.
Behind her was Bryn, a young dwarven lass with short auburn hair. Her boiled leather cuirass occasionally glittered in the strings of sunlight, showing off its many nicks and scrapes; reminders all of the woman's rough profession. Over her shoulder she rests her massive and ancient-looking hammer.
The third and shortest figure was a halfling sporting a mess of blonde hair. He would have been mistaken for a boy if not for the coarse muttonchops and five-o'clock shadow. He answers to the name Sketch, although it is obvious it isn't his given name. A small tattoo occasionally peaks out from a wide leather bracer on his left wrist when he gestures, but you cannot make it out.
And last was Liam. He wore ostentatiously flashy clothing, but of the sort made popular many seasons ago. Now they hung from his thin frame, ratty and nearly threadbare. His cap, though... well, some hats never go out of style.

They were several days of grueling travel to the nearest settlement, but their journey begun only a few short hours ago. Godfrey's apartment was on the second story, above the bakery on Willow Way. And, the magician had cast them into the wilderness from his study, tasked with re-establishing contact with his partner, a dwarf named Mahlon. The two had apparently been entrepreneurs, successfully managing a rare ore mine and shipping concern.
However, two weeks ago, Godfrey's connection to Mahlon has ceased abruptly. Periods of silence had disrupted their communication in the past, but never for this long, Godfrey had told them. And he would have gone after Mahlon himself, he assured the party, but the way had been closed to him long ago. Whatever that meant.

"How long you think this'll take," Sketch asked no one in particular as he trotted along beside his companions.
"Have ye sum wher' ta be?" Bryn replied somewhat harshly. "The stockades perhaps?"
Sketch shot her a dirty look. "Har-har," he barked, feigning mirth, before returning his attention to keeping his footing. Roots jutted from under the thick carpet of fallen leaves, which also covered depressions that could twist and sprain your ankle. "I just don't understand why Godfrey couldn't just teleport us to the outpost? I enjoy a good hike as much as the next bloke, and this is simply heaven compared to the cell I just came from, but... Well, I mean--
"We should only be a few miles away," Ileosa interrupted, not looking away from whatever it was she was watching in the distance. "Shh."

"Hey Liam," Sketch whispers a few moments later. "What're you gonna do with the coins after we find Godfrey's friend?"

"Take it to my cousin who's a moneychanger. Invest half in shipping and half in negotiable paper." Liam laughs. "What do you think? Wine and women, my friend. That's why the gods made coins."

He speaks on the quieter side, lest there be predators listening. Although he smiles incessantly and makes eye contact, he also takes time to scan the forest for traps, or for creatures waiting in ambush.

Sketch chuckled to himself before answering. "Not a terrible idea," he responded forlornly. "In my experience, they may be make by the gods, but they lead to trouble. This time I'm going straight! I'm thinking to buy a cottage, settle down, and have a couple of kids." He remained silent for a moment, long enough for Liam to bring his attention back around to him before flashing him a wily grin. "That is, with whatever's left after the wine and women..."

"Quiet!" Bryn spat which caused the boys to stop in their tracks. The dwarf stood uneasy, having removed her hammer from its resting place at her shoulder.
Liam then saw Ileosa standing a few yards ahead of them, her hand held out for them to stop. Her long ears seems to twitch slightly as she listened for some distant noise.
After a moment, you all heard it too: running water.
"Didn't Godfrey say the outpost was by a stream?" Sketch asked, breaking the silence.
"He did," Ileosa replied, her gaze never leaving some invisible point out in the distance. "But that isn't what I'm listening to. Well, not exactly..."
Bryn looked to Liam, arching her eyebrows incredulously. Sketch's hands rose instinctively to his bandoleer of daggers.

"The water doesn't sound right," Ileosa said finally. She spun around and regarded the group in the woods beside her, seemingly as if for the first time. "We need to scout this out. Liam, you come with me. Bryn, you stay here with Loud-Mouth and watch our backs," she said, indicating Sketch.
Liam heard the halfling mutter something under his breath, something about watching the elf's back or backside, but he didn't catch all of it.

What did Liam do?

Liam draws his worn born and readies an arrow. He doesn't have the strength the keep the bow drawn while he wanders through the woods, but he can at least have the arrow nocked and the bow in hand.

He follows Ileosa. If he can put himself between her figure and Sketch's eyes, so much the better.

Ileosa led Liam away from the others, moving through the brush with ease. Liam, on the other hand, made a lot of noise. The vegetation and undergrowth were bad enough, with this section of forest being so dense, but the little droplets of ichor certainly made things worse. It gathered on his clothing, leaving sticky ocher smears all over him. He wasn't sure where it came from, but it seemed to be dripping from somewhere high above, in the forest's canopy. Sap, most likely.
As they trekked, she tried to explain what she was hearing. Liam could tell it was against her nature to make unnecessary noise while scouting; but he could appreciate her willingness to keep him in the proverbial loop. She described the water as sounding hollow, and it really seemed to unnerve her. All Liam could hear was the low roar of rapids somewhere nearby.
"Mountain streams babble, trickle, or sometimes bubble," she stated matter-of-factly. "They can grow deep, and more boisterous as a matter of course, but this... it is empty."

Before too long they arrived at the stream. It was perhaps fifty feet across, maybe more; and the water rushed by with some urgency. To the eye, it appeared cool and clear. Liam could see the sandy bottom thanks to the patches of sunlight that filtered down from above. Like something you might expect from a painting, reeds grew from the banks, and large rocks jutted from the water, creating breaks and were without doubt the source of the rushing sounds. For all intents and purposes, the water sounded just as Liam expected it to.
Ileosa regarded Liam for a short while after arriving on the banks, her large almond-shaped eyes scrutinizing him in a way that felt impolite. "We need to know if Mahlon's outpost is up or down stream. I can ask the spirits here. Keep watch."
She crouched down and placed her fingers in the water, closing her eyes. For a long moment, she knelt there motionless and remained completely silent. Liam became aware of all the small noises around him: every rustle of the leaves, the creaking of the towering redwoods, the rush of the water, and even call of a toad some way off.
Despite these noises, his attention became affixed to the jelly that seemed to permeate the area. The droplets had become bigger globules, coating entire branches. Looking down at his boot, Liam found a lump of the strange ooze clinging to the leather.

Suddenly, Ileosa leaped back and away from the water as if she'd been shocked. Her eyes shot open and she staggered about, nearly colliding with Liam. Out of breath, she addressed him once more.
"The mountain," she said, panting, "it is shattered. Broken. Cut off from the rest of the land? I am not certain." She blinked several times before collecting herself. For having only met her hours before, she seemed more vulnerable in this moment than ever before; however, that vulnerability was fleeting and within a moment it was gone, replaced by her customary reserved detachment.
"I saw the outpost. I can lead you there now. The way is clear, but there are rumors of danger there."

What did Liam do?

Also, I'd like to apologize for missing yesterday. I wrote an update, but then re-wrote it three more times. Future updates shouldn't take so long.

Liam was already wary of touching the stream, but if Ileosa was willing he wasn't going to stop her. Now it seemed the danger was coming from the land.

He carefully removed a clean arrow from his quiver. Using the pointy end, he gently scooped up the sap from his boot, careful not to touch it with his clothes or flesh.

He held up the goo at arm's length, letting Ileosa inspect it and waiting to see if she has anything to say about it.

Ileosa was likewise covered in the ooze. Her eyes darted from Liam to the slime before landing back on Liam. "You want me to identify it?" she stated more than asked out loud. She narrowed her gaze upon the lump and considered it for a moment.
"It appears to be tree sap, although not of any kind I have ever encountered before. The viscosity is slightly less than typical sap, however that is not uncommon depending on the species of the tree and other environmental conditions." She then plucked it from the tip of Liam's arrowhead and rolled it between her fingers. The substance appeared many degrees more malleable than you might have expected. Unphased by the ichor on her bare skin, she popped it into her mouth.
She immediately spit it back out, a look of disgust on her elfin face. "It is not sap," she reported, and again knelt down to observe it on the ground. "Sap is sweet due to the sugars stored in the wood when the tree is dormant, usually during winter. There is nothing sweet about this... whatever it is."
At your feet, the little glob of slime seemed to move. As you watched it, you could swear it inched (or perhaps centimeter-ed). Very slowly, but with intent.
Ileosa's eyes rose to Liam again.

"Should we stay in the water, or out? Which do you think is best? I'm certain this stuff will be attacking us soon." He gives her a look that says, I might be crazy but I'm not joking.

Ileosa regarded Liam for a moment, unsure of the man's mental stability. She cocked her head slightly as if trying to gain a slightly different perspective. After a couple of seconds, she shrugged. "Following the stream is imperative to our arrival at the outpost. Traveling in the stream would be equal measures unorthodox and exceedingly difficult. Perhaps if we were in possession of a vessel on which to ride? Something as simple as a log even..."

Another long and awkward moment passed between the pair as they stood there on the bank, unsure of what to do next.

Does Liam:

• Make a raft
• Clean himself off
• Reconnect with Bryn and Sketch
• Other

"I'm no carpenter," he said. He began to clean himself off. After getting moderately clean, he would try to reconnect with the others.

Seeming more concerned with the slime, Liam waded into the stream. The water must have come from melting ice higher up the mountain because it was very cold. At first it was refreshing, but very quickly the chill began to permeate his bare skin and started numbing his extremities.

Ileosa remained on the bank, watching the man clean himself and his equipment. She called to him, trying to explain his behavior was illogical, citing their need to return the way they had come to retrieve the others, and thus re-saturate themselves with the goo. Further, getting cold and wet would no doubt prove uncomfortable until they reached the outpost. She abandoned her attempts to dissuade Liam when he removed his shirt and began scrubbing the ichor from the fabric.

Focused on the task at hand, Liam didn't notice the creature until it was too late. Without warning, a thick mass of dark-colored scales seized him around his waist and pulled him under the water!

What did Liam do?

Liam thrashed around for a few moments, then stopped. Struggling would only drown him faster. He calmed himself as best he could.

Relaxing his body, Liam studied the scaly creature with different senses. He felt the tension in its muscles, listened to the motion of its coils through the water. He tried to judge its intent. 'Is it sentient,' he wondered, 'or is it merely a beast that feels threatened?'

Knowing its motivation could help Liam determine the beast's next move.

11:36, Today: Liam rolled 8 using 2d6+1.  Discern realities. "What is about to happen here?"

Liam understood the creature, a giant River Eel, was going to drown him, carry his body to its nest, and then eat him. It held him underwater for what seemed like forever. The action was kicked up slit in the stream, but Liam could still see the fish's ugly head. Its beady eyes were black orbs, and its jagged maw was open, ready for a powerful bite!

Defy Danger: Choose an ability to use to escape (or endure) the monster's incoming bite. Don't forget to take a +1 forward (bonus) due to your Discern Realities roll. Remember to be as descriptive as possible to maximize your opportunities to trigger not only Basic Moves, but also hidden GM Moves.

Liam knew what he had to do, but he didn't relish the opportunity.

He offered his shoulder to the eel's open maw, daring it to bite him. Then, he bit back.

After all, fresh eel is considered a delicacy by some. Maybe not raw, but still.

OOC: Not sure if this would be CON or STR. I'll roll at the lower and if you think it's CON, add one.

11:41, Today: Liam rolled 7 using 2d6+1.  STR (add 1 for CON).

I think it should be CON, as Liam is enduring through the impeding threat. Powering through a danger (STR), at least to me, is more like using strength to muscle through the threat, like punching a charging orc, or setting yourself against two walls as they close to crush you. In this case, Liam is inviting the threat and simply shrugging it off. Let's see how it plays out...

The eel fell for Liam's rouse, clamping down on the bard's shoulder but failed to puncture the thick leather. Seizing the moment, Liam then bit the eel! He felt a crunch as his jaw tore away a small portion of the creature's flesh from bone. In response, the eel squeezed tighter around his waist and thrashed about violently. His armor held back the creature's teeth for the moment, but it began to spin rapidly—like a corkscrew—and held him in a death roll.

Ugly Choice:

• Sacrifice your short sword (the only melee weapon you have that uses STR on Hack & Slash moves) to drive the eel off; or
• Take damage as you wait for Ileosa to respond.

Losing a sword was better than losing his life. Liam gladly sliced into the eel.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:04, Fri 15 Nov 2019.

Liam struggles with the eel for what feels like forever. He is underwater and out of breath. Miraculously, he is able to retrieve his short sword from its scabbard. With strength he didn't know he had, he hacks deep into the creature's flesh, just under the base of its skull. The blade catches, probably in between two vertebrae, and is ripped out of Liam's hand as the giant eel releases its hold and throws itself away from him. In a flash, both the eel and Liam's sword are carried downstream and out of sight.
Dragging himself out of the muddy water, Liam plops himself down on the bank, intent on catching his breath. Posed on a slime-covered branch is a dark-colored osprey with large, almond-shaped eyes. It stares at you for a moment before gliding behind a cedar tree. Almost instantly, Ileosa steps out from the opposite side.
"Impressive," she says, offering Liam her hand as if to help him to his feet. As she nears him, he notices a few dark-colored feathers in her hair that he doesn't recall seeing before. "Now that you're done with your bath, let us return to the others."

.:|Fee free to insert any character interaction here|:.

The walk back to Bryn and Sketch doesn't feel as long this time around. Again, you trek through the wood, and again you quickly become covered in the strange ooze; but the further away from the river you go, the less goop you notice covering things. You find Bryn leaning against a redwood, watching Sketch juggle an apple, two vials of liquid, and a dagger. Seeing you approach, he catches both vials in one hand, and the apple and dagger in the other.
"Oi!" he calls out to you, returning his gear to his pack. "Welcome back! We were beginning to th—oh, what happened to you two?" he asks with a disgusted look on his cherubic face. He dips his finger into the slime on Liam's arm, drawing long, thin strings of the substance.

Do you share your experience with the others?

Liam smiles at Ileosa but otherwise says little. "I guess I got a little carried away," he says by way of backhanded apology.

Liam doesn't tell Sketch and Bryn about almost getting eaten by an eel, but he explains about the goop. "It seems to be thicker the closer one gets to the river. Also, I believe it has a sort of intelligence or at least animal cunning. Ileosa will tell you I'm crazy for thinking so."

Ileosa doesn't call Liam crazy—but she doesn't go out of her way to defend him either. In fact, she doesn't really say anything to the others as she leads the party towards the outpost. Although you don't follow the same path back to the river, Ileosa leads you all upstream. And before too long you arrive at the outpost.

To your surprise (or perhaps not), the outpost is empty. Despite patches of that goo covering almost everything exposed to the elements, the conditions inside are eerily nice. There isn't any damage to the structures inside, nor are the paths between the buildings littered with bodies, or the carcasses of work animals. Stacks of cut lumber stand neatly against the inside of the palisade walls, along with barrels of dried goods and other building materials. Crates of tools and mining supplies are also staged all around the outpost, as if Godfrey and Mahlon's operation here hasn't quite finished their initial setup.
The buildings that make up the outpost consist of a stable, a storehouse, a bunkhouse with an attached office, a small smithy, and the entrance to the mine.

Which do you investigate first?

Liam heads for the bunkhouse and office. His first priorities will be looking for some kind of logbook or diary, followed by investigating any personal effects that may have been left behind. If there are lots of such items, it would be a clue that this place was abandoned unintentionally or hurredly. If there were few, it would mean a measured withdrawal.

The bunkhouse is in sorry shape. That's not to say it's been damaged in any way, but that the construction was obviously hasty, and the workmanship is shoddy. You've no doubt seen higher quality tenement housing in the slums of Coramir. The floor is packed earth, and the bunks are little more than boards situated to span gaps in low stone walls—that appear to be much older construction. Crates are stacked up to create make-shift walls and cloth tarps are hung at intervals to provide the illusion of privacy. Despite the subpar conditions, there is very little slime inside—mainly just inside the door frame.
There are twenty bunks, although only twelve appear to have been used recently.
Your precursory search of the bunkhouse reveals little. Footlockers near each bunk contain various personal items belonging to the miners. You find bandages (3 uses), a mini keg of dwarven stout, and dwarven hardtack (7 uses).

The office is a slightly different story. The condition is much better and is of newer construction. The room is 10-by-10 and contains a desk, bookcase, and shelf upon which sits a psaltery and a collection of scrolls. A wooden ladder leads through a hatch in the ceiling to the catwalk along the palisade wall. Globs of ooze drip down from the hatch and pool on the floor.
A logbook rests on the desk, and accounts for the daily operation and expenses of running the mine. The entries mainly detail financial interactions between Godfrey and Mahlon's mining company and PhosCo—the largest WHAT on the continent, based in Coramir—such as shipments of ore, supply requisitions, and the like. However, there are a few entries between the mining company and "locals." The details of these transactions are particularly sparse.
Before you can give the entries too much of your time, you notice the final log. It reads: "Fled to the mine—beware the tendrils!"

"Tendrils? That's not good." He shows the log to the others. "There are a few classic bard's songs about tendrils, but none of them fit for gentlemen and ladies."

When he's done showing the logbook to the others, Liam performs a small experiment. He pours half of the Dwarven Stout onto the puddle of ooze.

"Looks like they're in the mine then," Sketch says after flipping through the logbook. He tosses the logbook onto the nearest bunk and makes his way towards the exit.

"Dun't do that!" Bryn shouts as Liam pours the alcohol onto the slime. "Yer wastin' it!"
Liam pours half the cask out onto the slime. Maybe it's his imagination, or perhaps he sees what it is he's looking to see, but it appears to him that the ooze quivers slightly before dissolving. To him, it isn't just the surface tension of the sludge vibrating as the liquid laps against its viscosity. Just before diffusing, the goo visibly shudders.
Only no one else seems to have noticed, transfixed as they are on Liam's strange behavior.

Liam caps the bottle and tosses it to Bryn, with only a slight warning motion beforehand. "It's all yours now," he says.

He packs the logbook into his pack along with whatever important-seeming papers will comfortably fit.

He follows Sketch to the mine entrance.

Liam keeps half an eye on the goo, but tries not to come off as obsessed or narrowly focused. Indeed, he's gotten about all he can out of the goo for now, and his other eye-and-a-half are focused on taking in other details of the scene - signs of a physical struggle, items left behind, possible pipe-leaf remains, or other signs of what the outpost's residents were up to. Hopefully getting closer to the mine means more clues - so far there's been little enough to go on.

He also studies his companions. Sketch seems flippant, Bryn tough, and Ileosa haughty - in fact, none of them are showing the level of caution that Liam would expect from an adventuring party. In these mysterious circumstances, each of the companions must be feeling at least a tinge of dread. Liam watches them, trying to figure out for each companion whether their casual demeanor is born of bravado or of some secret confidence.

14:35, Today: Liam rolled 10 using 2d6+1.  Discern realities on the mine and his companions' reactions to the situation.

What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is not what it appears to be?
Who’s really in control here?

Not a big deal now but going forward make sure you are rolling 1d10 plus/minus your applicable stat modifier.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
What should I be on the lookout for? The monster who's been eating the miners—specifically its tendril…
What here is not what it appears to be? Hidden throughout the outpost are tendrils—belonging to the monster who's been eating the miners.
Who's really in control here? The monster, coincidently the same one who's been eating the miners.

---

The party moves through the outpost towards the mine entrance. Liam keeps an eye out for strange things, which is pretty much everything he sees. Operation here seems to have only begun before whatever happened here happened. There doesn't look to have been any fighting or struggle, just that the miners are gone—presumably into the mine—and Mahlon hasn't been answering Godfrey's summons. Also, there is slime everywhere.
Liam's companions seem to be as enigmatic as the current situation. They've all answered Godfrey's advertisement, but it only hits the bard now that he really doesn't know what it is that has attracted them here. Perhaps Sketch wants the coins as he briefly mentioned during their trek through the woods; but what of Bryn or Ileosa?
All thought of the others flees his mind as they round the corner of the smithy. The path here leads directly to the mine entrance, flanked on either side by gnarled, slime-covered tree trunks jutting from the ground. The mountain can be seen towering above the palisade wall here and providing the perfect backdrop for the beast lurking above. Liam's eyes follow the tangle of twisted, glistening tree trunks up and over the mine entrance, over the wall, and straight up to the massive and craggy boulder floating—yes, floating—over the outpost. Directly in front of the mountain, the thing is camouflaged, and nearly invisible!
Liam notices the bizarre creature a moment before Bryn steps too close to one of the oddly twisted timbers. It animates, flinging goo all over before wrapping itself around her!

What do you do? Remember, you take +1 Forward your next Move.

Liam moves in close to the tentacle grabbing Bryn. He draws his shortsword rapier and hacks, but to no avail.

18:22, Today: Liam rolled 4 using 1d10-1.  Hack n Slash.

---

GM Edit: You lost your short sword to the eel. Your rapier has the precise tag, which means you must use your Dex mod instead of your Str mod.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:37, Tue 26 Nov 2019.

+1 xp!

Liam tries to hack at the tendril with his blade to free Bryn, but only now realizes he lost it to the giant river eel a few hours ago. His rapier can't cut through the thick, fleshly tentacle, and instead the appendage coils itself around the basket guard and tugs the weapon from Liam's grasp!
It pulls Bryn up and into the air as another tendril detaches itself from the opposite wall and flings itself at Liam!

What do you do?

Liam grabs a piece of wood -- a mining tool, a medium-sized tree branch, or the like -- from the area surrounding him. He's not going to use it as a weapon so much as a lever, to win Bryn some breathing room. He jams the wood between Bryn and the tendril and tries to pry against the tendril's grip.

19:14, Today: Liam rolled 9 using 1d10.  STR (power through).

I can see you were going for the Defy Danger Move, but it reads to me more like an Aid or Interfere Move. Your bonus would be the same for either, and the results are similar. Instead of being offered a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice, you expose yourself to danger, retribution, or cost.

Liam helps Bryn escape the tendril, but not before the second tentacle wraps itself around him! It hoists him off the ground before she can collect her hammer. He sees the dwarf slam the weapon down on the first tentacle just before being whipped away and out of sight of the others.
The creature releases Liam, hurling him over the smithy and onto the roof of the storehouse! He hits a pile of goo and nearly slides off the side.

What do you do?

Remember, you don't always have to constantly be trying to do a Move. Just take the narrative and let it flow. If you say or do something in-game that triggers a Move, I'll let you know.

OOC: Are the tendrils a different material or are they also made of goo? If they are 2 different things is there any obvious relation between them?

At this point, Liam can tell the tendrils are fleshy, muscle-like appendages that are secreting the goo. They are dangling from the huge floating rock above the outpost.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:47, Tue 26 Nov 2019.

Liam looks for an opening to recover his rapier. He's not going to use it to attack, he just wants to get ahold of it in case he needs it later.

From his vantage point, Liam can the creature more clearly than he had on the ground. It, for all intents and purposes, is a massive craggy rock floating in the space above the outpost. Perhaps a dozen or so fleshy tentacles dangle from the rocky underside and lie entangled between the buildings and within piles of supplies. Huge globs of slime glisten as they fall from the bottom of the rock and down the tentacles.

From their vantage point within the mine entrance, the miners watch as the adventurers are nearly captured by the beast. The halfling jumps and dances around, hurling daggers at the tentacles, and dodging their attempts to grab him. The dwarf smashes a tendril before being slammed from behind by another. And the elf... well, she disappeared almost as soon as the ambush began, right as a large horned turtle with almond-shaped eyes scampered out from behind some crates and chomped down on a tentacle.
"Hurry," one miner says to another, "our last barrel of powder!" A trio of men roll a keg up from the shadows and launch it out into the street. It quickly gathers a coating of ooze before stopping out in the open, caught on the hilt of a dueling rapier...

Liam tries to see if the keg's lit. If he can see for sure that it's a timebomb, he'll simply turn around and run the other way.

If he can't be sure, or if it's clearly not lit, he'll take a moment to try to dislodge the rapier before making his escape. If it's stuck tight, he'll abandon it.

Liam works his way down from the storehouse roof, trying to make his way to his weapon, for the keg isn't lit.

Meanwhile, several of the miners begin spilling out of the mine entrance, emboldened by the arrival of the adventurers. Using their mining tools, they begin attacking the tendrils intertwined throughout the outpost, fighting desperately to take it back from the monstrous rock creature floating above.

The almond-eyed horned turtle slowly makes its way down a pathway, snapping at the tentacles and shrugging off attacks. Bryn swings her hammer with vigor, smashing the tendrils away from her and the fleeing miners. Hiding under a cart, Sketch works fervently trying to light a torch from his adventuring gear. However, the goo coating everything is making it extremely difficult.

Screams suddenly fill the air as a couple of the miners are snatched up by the slimy tendrils. Some are tossed away like toys, while others are sucked up into the rock itself! Their calls for help are muffled before finally going silent as the creature devours them. Red mist rains down on the outpost, coloring the ooze a light pink shade.

Liam scoops up his rapier. The keg next to him isn't lit, but he could light it with a use of his adventuring gear...

"Bryn," he shouts, "we need the rest of that dwarven swill."

He sweeps his arm from her to Sketch, pointing at the latter's torch.

"It's for a good cause - our lives."

Bryn bats away a flailing tendril before rolling the cask to Liam. The bard tries to clear away as much of the goo as he can as Sketch rushes from his hiding spot to help light the bomb. Fearing the wick is too wet to catch, they douse the top of the barrel.
"Now we need to get beastie to eat it," Sketch says, looking around at the chaos playing out around him. Men are being plucked away by the rampaging tentacles and eaten by the living rock thing. "I'll get it's attention."
Sketch produces a tiny shortbow and fires a stream of arrows at it. It only takes a few shots before the monster focuses on you.
In a flash, a massive tentacle lashes out and wraps itself around Liam, Sketch, and the barrel of powder. It draws them up, ever closer to the crevice that must house it's maw.

Out of options, Liam lights the keg, which catches easily thanks to the dwarven stout. He and Sketch have only a moment to escape before they're blown to bits, eaten, or both.

What do you do?

With Liam and Sketch both caught tight, there's no room to escape. But if he could make some room by getting rid of Sketch...

Liam puts his hands on Sketch's shoulders and pushes the halfling down and out of the monster's grip. Hopefully, Sketch will fall clear and leave enough slack for Liam to quickly drop down as well. That's the best-laid plan, anyway.

Sounds like you're trying to Defy Danger by pushing Sketch out of the monster's grasp (using Str). Under normal circumstances I'd post something to that effect and let you roll it. However, since I dropped the ball this entire week and left you hanging, I'll roll for you and get us into the next chapter...

13:38, Today: GM, on behalf of Liam, rolled 7 using 2d6 ((3,4)).

Liam pushes on Sketch as hard as he can, summoning up all the strength he can muster, given his current position. However, all he can focus on is the hiss of the burning fuse that promises an immediate (yet mercifully, painless) death. The halfling is wedged in the folds of the creature's tentacles tightly, but after several attempts, Liam is able to push him free!

Sketch slips out and into free fall as he tumbles back to the ground. He crashes through a small cart filled with supplies, destroying the cart and spilling debris everywhere.
The last thing he sees before passing out is Liam half stuck in a tendril, about to be shoved into the rock monster's maw as the cask explodes.

End of Session One