background info: - the area isn't in full harvest season mode. what that basically meant is that the grain silo wasn't full (only about half stocked) and the fields still had crops. - the way the goop operated was drip on the head of the creature to be infected. on a failed wisdom save it would enter through ears, mouth, sinuses and start taking over the host. once the head is completely encased the parasite will seek out another infected of the same species (if available) and start clustering. the goop itself is the center of the kooshball, more hosts will be added in time. basic intelligence remains and it adapts to changing environments (like being lassoed and then using the rope as a weapon), sleep spells work on it - turn undead does not. enough damage to the host body will cause the goop to abandon, reform and seek another host. the infected aren't aggressive as much as they are gropey and oozy. like a drunk fratboy leper. detached infected fish mimicking the ooze motions of the infected pile of fish next to it point towards a hive mind or lowgrade esp, no data on range or whether it crosses species (would fish ooze talk to goat ooze ? do they all speak oozey ? will it end up being a Noah's arc style variety ooze ball ? i can't wait to not find out after burning them all.) - on feathers and favors: Elf chief is the one with the most favors owed to him or her, each one signified by a feather from the bird of the person indebted. on clearing the favor the feather is returned. as a side effect the loss of the feathers affects the effectiveness of the birds during challenges, further solidifying the social position of the one who is owed favors. gameplay: Loper tracks the breakaway horde south as we deal with the silo situation. basic layout - 4 level plus roof access grain silo with attached spiral staircase access through admin/office structures on south-west and north-east corners, west of that toolshed/barn with equipment. silo has 360° walkways on the outside and inside at every level , barn has 4 exits w/ doors. the party quickly figures out that it's not zombies that have been doing the shredding, but more likely the gooey oozeheads we run into. initial concerns about removing the ooze and restoring the infected are quickly abandoned. the host bodies have aken too much damage and we can't think of a way to remove the parasite ooze safely. most of the ooze couples are dispatched between the barn and the silo. during the fight the human survivors take the opportunity to make a run for it, while searching the silo we discover 2 more dead oozeheads in the grain. Skrillex gets his turn as beartrap bait. all hail the mighty crit fail. survivors are tracked down and debriefed. their account fits the events as we figured them. oozeheads are the herd we've been tracking. sending them on their way and hauling ass south to catch up with the breakaway herd. passing two farmsteads with signs from Loper. eventually sending him off to warn the town and give an account to the Sheriff as we push on during the night. we catch up to and overtake the herd in time to get to the third farmstead. convincing the family inside to barricade windows and doors as all of us are to tired to get into any epic battles. Mahewa/Strom uses spells & his crossbow to knock out 6 of the horde from a second floor window before they start retreating (carrying off their dead hosts with them). we crash out for the rest of the night and pick up the trail in the morning. 7 superglued couple zombies are left + 1 single bachelorette zombie with an extra-goopy head (ooze from the dead was added to her). after we catch up and take out both her and one other couple the remaining herd gathers around the dead hosts. a nat 1 lands Feng in the middle of the oozebang and a less then spectacular wisdom save later he gets crap slithering into his ears. Skrillex and Strom manage to disperse the pile and general monkeystoming ensues. the ooze merges and thus the mighty human kooshball is born. a nerby goat gets oozed as well, starts headbutting other goats and starts its own version ( call 1-800-GET-OOZE to inquire about exciting franchising opportunities! ) .. what follows is a running battle with us carving off pieces of the human kooshball as we chase it. it finally gets lassoed and then fixed with a rope and spike in the ground, then slowly carved down and destroyed. next up - the rogue goatball. we track it to a riverbank, commandeered some kid's boats from a nearby dock and paddled like hell to catch up with the floating ball o' goat. at which point we noticed that it was loosing ooze along the way, affecting fish, crawdads, otters ... which were easy to spot because they looked like fucked up starfish ... as well as some freefloating oozeglobs. downstream this particular river was the main water supply of Rotting Blade. at some point along the way the goatball ended up rolling on land and bleated off into parts unknown, we continued towards town. ran across a fisherman that got gooped, good news is that if the ooze is removed quickly enough from the host (aka yanked out of his throat by an enthusiastic halforc, probably taking out some lungtissue with it and collapsing his throat) the host has a chance of being saved (by Mahewa/Strom whose heals managed to keep the poor shmock from dying of kindness). we make it to town ahead of the ooze, Skrillex convinces the guards on duty to get their shit in gear and nets are set up to catch the approaching uglyness. Sheriff Grant is debriefed, NPCs are dispacthed to deal with the rogue ball o' goats and a meeting with priests from the Devourer is set to collaborate on a more effective means of dispatching the ooze rather then "NUKE IT FROM ORBIT !" . the inquisitor has returned to the Burning Keep , taking the Mad Falconer along with him. potential for a Skrillex benefit concert that evening to help out the victims of recent oozings. GoopFest 2015, daily special on jello shots and horchata, PSA entitled "Only Losers Use Goop!" and testimonial by the "saved" fisherman. end of session - all characters advance to level 4
