ROLEPLAY

I was not aware of the announcement, but I have seen the Goo Eruptions and the massing of the Gibbai for myself. it is a serious concern to any Homin and should be to all Matis. If I am able, I will present your results to Zaero.

Of course we will present your findings to the Matis nobles and stress the dangers to all of hominity that this situation presents if left unchecked.

I feel it is also time to check out Darkmoor and surrounding areas. It may well be that what is affecting the Gibbai could be affecting the cutes as well.

I fear the worst is yet to come... The Gibbai have already pushed to the crossroads of Davae and Avalae. I pushed to the border at Fleeting Garden, and there are many large groups, but I did not observe any of the goo eruptions or poisoned Gibbai. These Gibbai are of the same strength commonly found in Heretic's Hovel and the Upper Bog, so I advise we warn younger travelers of the dangers on the road to Fleeting Garden. Travel is possible, but gingo and ragus fill the gaps.

Indeed, the situation seems to be rapidly getting worse. On another surveillance run today, I spotted several new Goo eruptions all over the southern Fleeting Garden. The northernmost one was already right next to the Siblings of the Weeds camp in Den of Fury.

All these Goo eruptions were surrounded by infested Gibbaï.

Meanwhile the infested Gibbaï in the northern parts of Upper Bog and Heretics Hovels seem to be growing stronger. I observed larger specimens than I did on my last surveillance. I dread to think what might be going on further south into those regions.

There are now at least 2 groups of goo infested Gibbai in kami circle alone, and a 3rd goo pustule near the ,kami tp that so far has not attracted any gibbai.
Sadly the kami masters in kami circle seem disinterested in attempts to contain the menace.

The Gibbaii have now reached the crossroads between Davae and Avalae. Travel between the cities of the Matis is now in peril.

Not all the goo eruptions are surround by gibbai. There is one to the north of Den of Fury. To the south of this is a large camp in habited by Marauders and Darkening Sap together.
There is more to this than a few extra gibbai in the forest.

Thank you, Lhyrs. That is an important observation, and one that needs to be communicated tomorrow to the Matis "anthropologist". The Goo eats at our lands, but we have homin enemies, too. A final solution needs to address both. I am sorry that I will be unable to attend the meeting, but I will be unavoidably detained elsewhere.

That being said, I may have started this discussion, but all of you have contributed greatly and shown with utmost clarity that this is a problem that must be dealt with not only at the highest levels but also with great care. Is it possible that we might, with proper reaction, reach a truce with the Marauders?

I have spotted Revolting Gibbai in Fleeting Garden and more goo eruptions near the Karavan teleporter. There is a fresh goo eruption about 500 meters west of Avalae. At this point, the Gibbai are not yet infected by the goo.

I also attacked an infested Gibbai earlier. After wounding the Gibbai, it ran back to the goo and six other ran to defend it while it tried to recooperate.

Results of further investigations --

Faultyschema and I investigated the unusual behavior of the Gibbai near the Goo Eruptions shortly after his recent post. What we found was most unusual.

First, there appear to be three kinds of Goo-tainted Gibbai, corresponding to the normal sort.
q161 Crabby Gibbai =?= Seeping Gibbai
q170 Belligerent Gibbai =?= Foaming Gibbai
q179 Frightening Gibbai =?= Revolting Gibbai

Second, there appear to be two modes of aggro with the Gibbai associated with the Goo Eruptions:

A. Attack one, get many:
If we attacked one gibbai, only his (her?) social mates would respond. In addition, the gibbai directly attacked would not respond, but only send her (his?) social equals to attack us. Thus attack a Crabby and six Crabby Gibbais would hunt one down. Attack Frightening and only Frightening attack. The same applied to Belligerent.

B. Belligerent sees you, Frightening attack.
Near Davae, if a Belligerent Gibbai targeted one of us, six Frightening Gibbai would attack, even if we had done nothing. It seems possible (but not confirmed that the Foaming Gibbai perform the same function in the Goo-tainted groups.

The "normal" Gibbai seem to ignore team-mates who have performed no actions.

The "Goo-tainted" Gibbai are aggro to team-mates, even without actions. Faulty and I did not explore the details of the differences, due to lack of time.

In the meantime, the Goo Eruptions have spread. They are now in Majestic Garden, only a short way from Davae and Avelae.

Submitted for your information

-- Bittty

I feel the real danger are the Demented Gibbaï and Frenzied Gibbaï that have evolved in Upper Bog and Heretics Hovel. These are stronger than any existing normal Gibbaï.

And today I first witnessed even stronger kinds: Fiendish Gibbaï and a few Mahi-sized Manipulated Gibbaï.

It worries me greatly that most people still think this is nothing more than an infestation of normal-strength gibbaï, while meanwhile we have these more powerful Gibbaï evolving, an allied tribe turned against us and Marauders camped in Fleeting Garden.

I'd not yet noticed these new Gibbai, but that is indeed a very worrying development.
One has to wonder, is it the goo that's causing these mutations to happen, or is the goo a product of these Gibbai?
Are the marauders and darkening sap controlling the Gibbai, or are they in active cooperation with them?

I will try to attend this meeting as well. While I'm not a Matis subject, my guild's hall is located in Yrkanis and if the Gibbai make their way to the capital all of my guild mates will be in danger. Moreover, I never miss a chance to slay some Gibbai. Thank you for getting such a thorough investigation started Bitttymacod!

As for a truce with the Marauders, I only support such a course of action if they agree that all of the infected Gibbai should be exterminated. Actually, while we're at it, we should go ahead and wipe out any trace of the vile Gibbai from the Verdant Heights, infected or not. It's just safer that way. I would gladly lend my sword and my amps to such a cause.

There can be no truce with an enemy that is willing to let the Goo destroy all of our lands as long as it gets them their revenge. The Marauders have shown time and again that they are single-mindedly bent on our destruction, no matter the cost to themselves or anyone else. Any agreement to a truce from them could only be a plan to back-stab us later.

During yesterday's investigation documents were recovered that show a direct link between the marauders, the darkening sap, and attempts by them to control and manipulate the goo for their own purposes (whichever those might be).
Also recovered was a recipe for a "control potion", possibly a tool to control the goo. Hoping this might be used to destroy the goo eruptions, homins were asked to gather ingredients in large quantity, the preparation time being 10 Jena days it was agreed that it would be better to create the poition in bulk before experimenting with it.

Calls to take action to reduce the Gibbai threat or to contact Milles Dodoine on Silan, a known expert in dealing with goo eruptions (which happen on Silan regularly) were however ignored by Matis officials, leaving homins with the distinct impression they are not taking the threat as serious as they should.