It was done, and with such swiftness that Matteo barely registered the toad's fate as he saw Muu fall, landing face-down in the grasses. [i]At least we’re out of its path now.[/i] From afar, only the horrible croaking served as any indicator of their bounty’s demise. Occupied with his unresponsive teammate, Matteo couldn’t see exactly what the enormous monster’s final injuries had been, but it was clear this amphibian would roll no more.

One more thing was for sure: he owed the priest. [i]Just one more debt to add to the pile.[/i]

(On a more positive note, a dead toad meant a successful mission. No thanks to Matteo, but a win was a win.)

As Gwyn prepared to heal the face-down Muu (who Matteo now belatedly saw had been hit with some kind of acid spray-- of course such a brightly-colored creature was poisonous, that made sense) the Thief cleared his throat. [b]“Ah… excuse me. Thank you, back there. If that had been me, I’m sure I would be dead now.”[/b] Squatting down and lowering his voice, he added [b]“I don’t think I ever got your name properly.”[/b]

Not wanting to disrupt the helmeted healer’s concentration, Matteo stood up again and approached the body of the toad. Ash was already there, sawing away at the beast’s single remaining eye. [b]“Toxic, hm?”[/b] Matteo echoed Ash to himself and walked around the beast’s side, keen to investigate where its red-striped skin had been ruptured.

[i]I’ve never had much luck crafting poisons,[/i] he thought as he leaned forward to examine the acid which had apparently melted the Bladedancer’s face. Back when he’d been training with the Thieves’ guild he’d spent a whole day being sick after a potentially fatal combination of toxins had gone wrong. He was no chemist, that was for sure-- but perhaps if he collected some of this, it would prove useful later-- either to sell or as a meager supplement to his own weapons.

After the great wound the lady knight had inflicted, there was plenty of toad fluids to spare. He hoped. He wrapped his hands in the sleeves of his robes to help protect his skin and took a deep breath. Rustling in his meager (nonexistent) possessions, he managed to find the empty booze bottle he’d taken from the other beggars at the gambling ring and did his best to collect a substantial, non-dirt-filled sample.