Check out the sound, cautiously

The sound of clattering continues for several minutes as I remain motionless. Even when the sound stops I do not move. I simply wait for enough time to pass so I know nothing is coming down the stairs. Afterwards I recommence my ascent. Thankfully my concealing shroud still silences my movement. I do not remember how long I watched the vision, but it seems less than an hour.

I reach the warmer, sunlit upper chamber without hearing any more disturbances of note. I wait patiently to see if I detect anything lying in wait at the entrance. I hear and smell nothing. Has it left? I carefully approach the steps and begin to climb them. I am sheltered from the warming light of the sun by my shroud’s shadows. Sticking to corners and cracks, I begin to survey the area outside of the cave.

I search around outside and finally see a possible source of the noise. An elf sits on a nearby stone. Their body temperature does not blend in with their surroundings, naturally. They fiddle with something in their hands. In the three hundred year lifespan of elves, my Elven lore places their age to be around 30. An adult, in the strictest sense of the word. That said, they likely still lived very close to home. Many Elves isolate themselves when older, but this one can likely lead me to a town. Seeing living people uninfluenced by wacky magic visions sounds appealing. Who knows, maybe they like demonic slimes?

Of course, I cannot let them know when I begin to follow them. I move away from the cave entrance and the elf, squeezing silently to maintain stealth. I hurriedly slide into a pile of leaves and pick up as many as my sticky body will allow. After a few minutes of slowly rolling through leaves and magical silence I am completely covered in dead vegetation. With that done, I head for the treeline and position myself to notice when the elf makes their move.

It takes quite a bit of time and I have the opportunity to focus my senses. The winds blowing through the autumn leaves and trees washes over me. I can smell the water in the wind from a nearby lake. I even hear several groups of insects buzzing nearby, though I cannot exactly determine their location. The elf once again catches my attention as they scrape away at what seems to be a wooden carving. It seems to be quite large for a hand carving, but it also seems that their work is hugely amateur. They often gouge the wood and haven’t managed the long strokes necessary for woodcarving. Still, they make an unworried effort to continue their craft, and the sound is still meditative.

When the elf stands and stows their carving it surprises me. I suppose I became too focused on observation. The hunk of wood is stored in a small haversack and they begin to walk off with a jaunty step. I hurry to get on my feet and throw up some leaves. The elf notices the sound and turns to look. It seems my magical silence has lifted. Thankfully my position is shrouded enough for me to go undetected. The elf continues on their way a little more quickly. Noting their direction, I try to make special preparations to go undetected.

Without magical concealment my stealth will depend on my body. I crouch down as my body elongates, allowing me to stay closer to any cover. I adjust my legs to be more like arms and feet to be more like hands to keep my steps more precise and to navigate terrain by leaping and climbing away from the noisy ground. I throw out a tail to assist in climbing and balancing. Lastly, I try to compress my form as much as possible. Perhaps it changes my body minimally, but I thought to try it out anyway.

Scaling the nearest tree, I move into the sparse forest canopy and chase after the elf. Moving from tree to tree, the Ranger class Forest Lore allows me to spot my quarry’s hasty path. After a moment I spot the elf, who has started jogging through the forest. At this moment I discover the elf to be female, though the details of that discovery are rather precise.

The elf continues on her way for several minutes, though she does slow down after she moves a good distance away from the temple ruins. There seems to be no clearly defined path for most of the journey, but we eventually come to something like a hiking trail. I nearly make the mistake of coming too close to my guide. I think I go unnoticed, but I make sure to give her a moment to continue on while I nestle myself under the vegetation I collected. Eventually we arrive at a house, despite such delays.

Her destination is a really nice house. I might be tempted to call the two-story cabin a woodland manor. It even seems to have an adjacent stable. My unwitting guide strides relaxedly across the well-manicured lawn and enters the gated patio, leaving me in the trees. The last thing I hear is her greeting shout of “I’m home dad!”, and I am left to myself to observe the house.

It seems well-maintained for the size. Sliding down from the tree, I see the furniture patio shine with a clean finish even from the shade of the overhanging second story. The grass, though plentiful, was also cut rather evenly. Maybe this is a rich elf’s new house, and they have servants to maintain it? Still, they were very thorough. As I begin to slide over to the lawn, my Ranger Lore informs me of some interesting repellents in the grass. It is called sludge bane and slimes do not like to dissolve the powder or the plant it derives from. It keeps slimes out for a week, which is about as much as you need each month to keep your lawn slime free. It’s also somewhat pricey, so either the owner has a slime problem or my rich man theory was correct.

It seems the sludge bane will not kill me like it would a normal slime, but I still want to exercise caution while approaching the house. I make my way around the perimeter towards the stable. Sliding under the pen and through an animal gate, I make my way inside. The space is unoccupied and bright with daylight. Either they have no horses or this is a visitor stable, because the floor is clean and there are only three pens. It’s quite small compared to most stables. Still, I slither up a ladder and into the hayloft to discover the stock of horse feed. Maybe they have frequent visitors. Sliding around the loft, I try to seep out of the walls and up onto the roof. It’s a tight squeeze, but I manage to seep and wriggle on top of the building. Surveying the rooftop, it seems like I can climb into the nearby trees easily enough, but I see no good way to try leaping over the lawn and into the house. No windows appear at this side or altitude. Rolling around on the roof, I consider my options.

Do I even want to go into this house?