Swamped

It's a strange, blue... thing, covered in sharp spikes.

Actually, you vaguely remember something like it. You prepared for the voyage by researching what little you could about the eastern continent. Most of it amounted to stories from the days of the Aedran Empire, so little better than hearsay - but it was all you had, and there was a chance that some of it might be true.

And you saw a picture that looked much like this, of a sea creature known only as a "spiked terror" . The harm wasn't from the spikes themselves, but from the strange substances inside. It was said that they could drive you mad with fright, or into a rage, or render you unconscious, or even kill you.

How would such a creature even get here, though? Any that made it to Aedra would have died long ago. And none of the voyages to the east preceding yours had returned.

Perhaps someone was breeding them intentionally all this time. Or perhaps the east has another means of contact with the west.

One thing is clear. The creature is hooked up to a number of syringes, filled with the ooze in transparent form. It must be involved in the mixture somehow.

Then you think your main question is, what's turning it red. But all you notice is that one of the syringes is leaking... and there's a little red ooze on the grebling's sleeve.

Is that much honestly having an impact on him? Could it affect you?

Well, he certainly seems upset. You pull his coat off and throw it aside, trying your hardest not to touch the ooze yourself.

For a moment, he seems to calm down. Then he simply cries out "Mask... mask!" and then gets agitated again.

It seems he needs a mask. But you can't find one here... other than your own, and you're not sure how safe it would be to remove it now.