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as Quasit, Bulvi and Sakitu approach around the statue a Magic Mouth activates proclaiming "The uninvited shall wither and die like the frost-covered bloom. You should never have ventured here, and you'd do well to leave before my return."
a Glyph of Warding targets Quasit, and try as she might that statue made some good points, though she doesn't like them, but still points, and she feels like she can't take as many hits any more, she lacks the Constitution
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a Magic Mouth activates proclaiming "The uninvited shall wither and die like the frost-covered bloom. You should never have ventured here, and you'd do well to leave before my return."
"Ummm... sorry?" says Quasit a bit sheepishly to the statue.
Then the ice bird perched on the ice woman statue turns black, and a ghostly spirit blasts out and strikes Quasit squarely in the chest. Her eyes go wide and her face goes pale as she staggers back into the wall clutching at her neck like she's choking.
"Oh! Oh my gosh! Saki, Bulvi, what's happening to me?" she wails in terror "I feel dizzy... weak... I think I'm having a heart attack or something! Please, don't let me die here like this!..."
And then she faints dead away and slumps to the ground.
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Sakitu is fascinated by the speaking statue until it blasts Quasit.
"Quasit!" she shrieks and rushes to the fallen woman's side. Sakitu drops to her knees and grabs Quasit by the shoulders and shakes her. "Wake up! Wake up!" Frantically, she turns to Bulvi. He eyes are wide. "Bulvi, you have to help!"
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Alarmed, Fin will run to Quasit's side and try to administer aid...
Quasit groans as Findurel administers his healing skills. She had only been unconscious for about 30 seconds, but as she rouses, she still looks pale and distressed. A light sweat has broken out on her forehead and her lips look parched and sickly purple. As her eyes flutter open, she looks about in confusion, coughs a couple of times, then tries to sit up, but almost immediately goes back down onto her back with a moan.
"Cayden's codpiece! What the heck did that statue do to me? I feel worse now than I did when I did when I was nearly stabbed to death earlier." she says in confusion and irritation. "It's so strange. I don't feel like I was wounded, and nothing hurts, but everything hurts, if that makes any sense. And I feel weak as a kitten. It's like I haven't eaten in 2 weeks, but I'm not hungry. Did I mention I hate these stupid witches?"
"Can someone help me up? Maybe I just need to walk it off or something?"
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Tears glisten in Sakitu's eyes. She pets Quasit's arm. "Are you ok? I mean, like, are you going to die?" She looks about to cry.
Once Quasit is back on her feet, she starts blinking rapidly and passes a hand over her eyes, like she's about to drop again, but she catches onto Findurel's arm and stays up.
"I don't think so..." she answers uncertainly. She takes a couple deep breaths, then speaks again in a tense voice. "Ugh, Saki, I feel terrible. My heart feels like its skipping around inside my chest, and I feel like I'm going to throw up. Whatever it was that hit me, its like it made everything inside me go all out of balance or something. But I guess if I'm not dead yet, I'll probably live through this."
She gives a weak smile and scritches Saki behind the ears. She continues on, trying to sound like her old jaunty self, though a sheen of perspiration still glistens on her brow.
"Well, she must be hiding something good in here to protect it with a tough lock and a trap spell like that. Now that I've had half my soul sucked out, let's see if it was worth it. Let's look around. Maybe we can find something to help Selena close that portal."
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Selena appears in the doorway, cradling a book in one arm.
"What is everyone shouting about in here?" Then she spots the ice statues and her breath catches a bit.
"Ah, that must have been the other voice I heard." she says quietly. She shakes her head. "I take it you all ignored the warning and sprung some sort of trap? Is there any point in my reminding you that this is the tower of a powerful witch? When a winter witch has a life-size ice effigy of herself in her room, you can assume that is placed there as a warning to trespassers. A warning that is almost certain to be backed up."
She turns and walks away. "Like toddlers in a kitchen..." she grumbles.
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As Selena enters and starts her scolding Sakitu turns to her, fury on her face. Sakitu screams at Selena. "Seriously? She almost died! You come in here with your know it all attitude." Sakitu jumps to her feet and quick as a fox is standing before the witch. She puts her finger in her chest, fierceness in her eyes. "I've tried to defend you to the others and be nice. Even when you act like we're a bunch of idiots. You march around looking down on us. Telling us that we're doing everything wrong. Making us to be the bad guys. But this is too far." She bares her teeth and a low growl rumbles from her throat. "I never want to see you again. You are evil."
Sakitu turns her back on Selena and heads back to Quasit, ignoring her final comment. The storm seems to have passed. She looks at Quasit, Bulvi, and Findurêl. Emotions flitting between embarrassment, rage, and resolution play across her face. "I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I just couldn't help myself."
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Selena had been in the process of walking away when Sakitu begins to scream at her. She stops and looks back, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise and lets the kitsune have her say. It's possible she might even be slightly amused by the tirade. At the end she merely shrugs.
"I'm not sure what precisely I said that was untrue or unkind." she says, using a soothing voice one might use with a hysterical child. "I'm merely pointing out that simply poking your noses into every corner of this place may not be wise. If you really feel like chastising someone, you might talk to your friend, who seems intent on getting herself killed with her usual reckless, juvenile antics."
"I'm sorry she got hurt, but these displays of indignation don't help us accomplish our mission. I suggest we stay focused on what's important and close this portal. After which I'll be only too happy to go my separate way. You southerners refuse to understand the way things work here. You seem unable or unwilling to understand the storm you are calling down upon yourselves. When the reckoning comes, I hope to be far away."
Bulvi is caught off guard as Quasit crumples to the ground. He composes himself as he listens to the exchange. "Baba Yaga must have put a tax on tact." Bulvi comments glibly. He puts a hand on Quasit's shoulder lightly to help steady her.
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Selena reappears a few minutes later, making sure to stay well clear of the ice statues, and speaking from the doorway of the warded room. Her little fox jumps up into her arms and she begins to pet it gently.
"I think I can close this portal given time. It's a complicated mix of conjuration and teleportation magic, and it's linked to numerous geographical ley lines across the surface of the planet, with a few streamers sent off to some of the elemental planes... like I said, complicated. But not impossible. However, it will take a long time, at least an hour, and most likely longer. And there's approximately zero chance Radosek will leave us unmolested that long."
"He's probably still nearby. As lieutenant of this tower, he would be forbidden from simply leaving. We should hunt him down and deal with him now. At least that's my opinion."
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"I don't know how much help I can be either way." groans Quasit. "But I don't like the idea of just sitting here doing nothing while that creep is flying around out there casting spells and finding more soldiers. We aren't exactly in a position to ambush him since he knows we're here and we have nothing surprising and amazing to spring on him. If anything, it'll probably surprise him more if we *do* come after him."
"If nothing else, we can take a quick look around and see if he's really here or gone. If he's here we can deal with him. And if he's gone, we can come back here and work on the portal. Now that we have the magic keys, that shouldn't take too long."
"We go look for him but if it ends up being a merry chase let's leave Selena try to close the portal while the rest of us set up a defensive position... hopefully it wont come to that."
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you can make your way back down to the beginning area, with no issue, nothing seems to bother you.
you find yourself back where you fought the troll, with Radosek standing next to the Ice Dragon Statue
Slide 8 is updated for the battle
~~Round 1~~
Bold to Act
Fin
Sakitu
GM 2
Bulvi
Quasit
GM 1
Selena
As Quasit disappears to the left Bulvi moves to the right, circling around the room and making sure to stay out of reach too soon of the ice dragon statue. Soon enough he's moving up behind Radosek.
Bulvi tries to keep close to Radosek and swings blindly. "I'm blind... again.
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Selena just shakes her head in dismay.
"This is a disaster." she mutters. She looks about the area, weighing her options, then pulls out her long spear and steps back toward Findurel.
She lays another healing charge on him.
Then she takes up a defensive position in front of him with the long spear in hand.
"You're our best hope of surviving this. I'll hold them off as long as I can. Take the healing wand off my body if I go down."