The tiny swordswoman ends up atanding next to Grayface with a red face of her own.
"I didn't know he had a tail," Tot mutters as her face turns redder and redder.
Rallos hops in a tub and sttetches out. He starts working out kinks in his body.The water is delightful....hop in. I'll stand watch after so Gray can soak those big muscles of his.
His big muscles were in desperate need of a soaking, though he would hardly consciously admit that fact to himself. He'd been on the road for weeks bringing bad news and battle to his foes, followed immediately by an equally extensive return trip that left his back and legs aching with every step. Never a man of leisure or excess, Gray's baths usually consisted of utilitarian hogfat soaps and cold water. The perfumed vapors wafting around this room were positively decadent as far as he was concerned.
Gray tried to think of a witty comeback to Rallos' attempt at belittlement, but he landed on a generic jab at the tiefling's most apparent deformity.
"Just make sure to wash that tail thoroughly."
Tella blurts out before lowering her voice to a more reasonable volume.
"C-can I get something c-cold to drink, please?"
Her face, flushed from embarrassment, and some thoughts that are better left private, is darker than her strawberry-blonde hair.
Amused despite her serious demeanor, Ea shake her head, smiling at Rallos and Grayface
Men...
"I'd like to try talking to the Reclaimers to persuade them. Maybe they will listen to us, even if they won't listen to you? It's worth a shot."
Seeing some of the others taking the time to relax convinces Yasmin she can do the same. "What's an hour or two after centuries of waiting?"
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Once she's had a bit of time to relax, Yasmin gestures toward the door to the east. "If I may ask, what's behind that door? Is there more of this Sanctum to be seen?"
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After an extended recuperation, enjoying all that the Spa has to offer, Yasmin starts to consider the group's next steps... asking about the door to the east, the disembodied head responds, "That room is beyond the scope of our service... many cycles ago, Machinist One entered through that door... and has not been seen since".
...and, on the subject of the Reclaimers, "They will not talk to you... their purpose is single-minded... a fatal flaw in their construction I fear".
The Iron Creche is a war machine... intended by the Prince to create a never-ending supply of Emerald Soldiers. It uses the unique energies of the Spire to power its forges... yet without raw materials, the forge's reserves have become depleted. The Creche considers the servants of the Sanctum obsolete with the Patrons absent for so long and would recycle us... so we, the servants of the Sanctum, have sealed ourselves off from the Iron Creche".
The head continues, "If you can get me there safely, I do believe that I could reprogram the Creche to cease its endless production cycle... and to bring stability until the Patrons return"
After an extended recuperation, enjoying all that the Spa has to offer, Yasmin starts to consider the group's next steps... asking about the door to the east, the disembodied head responds, "That room is beyond the scope of our service... many cycles ago, Machinist One entered through that door... and has not been seen since".
...and, on the subject of the Reclaimers, "They will not talk to you... their purpose is single-minded... a fatal flaw in their construction I fear".
"Then it becomes our duty to get you there safely. Do you have any helpful words of warning for what dangers lay beyond? Do you know anything more than...Machinist One simply never returned?"
"My goodness, that was refreshing. Coming to the Emerald Spire is now immensely appealing!" Getting dressed again, Yasmin stretches one last time before readying herself for the task ahead. "I agree we should try that eastern door, and see what may have happened to Machinist One. There could be some useful clues in there." She searches the east door for any magical auras.
Happy to get this over with so maybe her mind would be occupied things other than mental pictures of what had been going on, Tot follows the lead of the head bot. She takes up a position beside Grayface, forming an imposing wall of steel, mithral, and muscle in front of the less well armored members of their party.
"Ready," She asks everyone, thankful that her helmet hide her face so the others couldn't see the still furious blush on her cheeks.
The workshop beyond the door was once an alchemist’s dream. There are fermentation vats, tubes filled with glowing fluids, a vast array of mixing containers, and a small bottling system set against the east wall. But two of the massive tubes are shattered, and most surfaces in the room are covered with a shiny purple resin that might have been some sort of slime before it crystallised... beneath the crystal, the shattered remnants of an automaton can just about be seen. The room is completely silent and still.
There is a chute, no more than two feet in width, in the southern wall... a heat haze seems to be flowing from the chute. Other than the chute, there are no apparent exits from the room...
Rallos looks around, looking for anything that stinks out to him
He points out some of the dust covered vials. Perhaps some of these are salvageable? Ladies, I leave them in your capable hands...
"Uh, I can't tell unless I drink one. Or were you not counting me as a lady," Tot asks. as she takes a close look at the automaton.
"I think we found, uh, Ma-sheen-est one?"
My apologies, Titania...I meant Ea and Yasmin...with their expertise in identifying magical knick knacks and such...
"It sure looks like something went wrong here," says Yasmin, inspecting the purple resin, and wondering what had happened. "Let's make sure we don't make the same mistake!"
Eventually she makes her way to inspect the various containers, wondering if there was anything useful to be had.
His brow furrowed at the silent-but-previously-violent scene, then tightened more so at the 2' diameter chute in the wall.
"There are no exits except that chute, and none of us will fit through that."
Grayface moved to the chute for a closer examination, waving his hand over the heat ripples to assess how hot the air was. He then lowered his head to see if any sounds were to be heard from the other end.
As the friends move into the room, keen to see whether the potions can be salvaged and whether the hatch may present an alternative route through this area, there is a sudden subsonic vibration - more felt than heard... the sensation is somewhat 'numbing'. And, as they watch, the crystalline resin strewn over the remnants of 'Machinist One' starts to move...
Tot sees the crystal move, and groans.
"Of. Bloody. Course. A spill with delusions of grandeur is trying to kill us," she deadpans before moving to it and drawing her sword. With a whistle, it slices through the air aiming to start carving this thing into pieces.
Although they act in a similar way to their gelatinous ooze cousins, there are some crucial differences - crystalline in nature, they are especially susceptible to bludgeoning and sonic attacks.
Managing to steel herself against the strange vibrations, Titania rushes forwards at the slowly awakening crystals... her blade crashes down sending shards of purple glass in a wide arc.
The wave of numbness stuns Rallos midstride.
Blunt....sound.... he croaks out as he shakes his head and grabs for the wall to keep his balance.
"Woahoah, what's going on?" says the sorceress as the strange vibrations from the crystal begin assaulting her mind. She is stunned into inaction.
He felt as if his teeth would rattle out of his jaw and his ears would split open to spill his brains upon the floor. He stood there dumbfounded as his vision blurred from the disorientation.
Tot notices the others acting strangely and wonders what's going on with them.
"Rallos, can you tell me what you mean by 'blunt' and 'sound,'" she asks as she watches the strange... thing to see what it would do.
Ea is unaffected by the vibrations, but doesn't recognize these creatures and moves to strike
Ea, also immune to the low humming of the crystal, rushes forwards and smashes at it...
Crystalline blades slash towards Titania as the large rippling crystals flow towards her...
Use blunt weapons on it if you can...it is susceptible to them. As well as sound attacks...like spells. Rallos says as he shakes off the fog inside his head. He darts forward and slashes at the creature with hus blade.
Tot staggers back a step as the thing begins to engulf her! She switches the grip on her sword, one hand on the ricasso and the other near the pommel, and begins to stab down at the creature in a desperate attempt to kill it before it could hit her again.
Whilst Yasmin struggles with the constant hum emanating from the crystals, both Rallos and Titania have zoned the subsonic noise out... and striding forwards, Rallos stabs at the rippling thing starting to envelope Titania - his blade deflects from a sharp edge doing no damage. Struggling, and badly wounded, Titania smashes her blade through the mineral spurs grabbing her... but it isn't enough and she can feel herself becoming trapped...
His blood surged with anger as he shrugged off the malicious attack. Here it was, the first battle to the death they would face at this level of the spire's depths, yet another bizarre monster that seemed capable of destroying them all given the chance.
He brushed past Ea to get into position, standing at a flank opposite Titania's position. They would need every edge in this fight; the sound it made when it crashed into his friend was gut-wrenching, and it was clearly ready to dish out more.
Being already in position, Ea strikes with her weapon
Smashed aggressively by both Grayface and Ea, the crystal continues to wrap around the nearly enveloped Titania...
Tot readies her sword to stab again, but her movements are slow now. She sees the creature form another arm, and her eyes widen as it comes towards her, moving so slow. Everything is painfully slow. She tries to move to block the blow, but her sword, her faithful sword, is as heavy as lead now, her arms moved as if she was in thick syrup. Her body twisted to bring the blade in line, but she is slow, too slow.
The crystalline beast hits her once, and knocks aside her blade. It hits her again, dazing her and loosening her helm. Then a third blow comes, sending her helm across the room and Tot into the darkness of unconsciousness as blood flows from her wounds, covering her eyes and staining her hair and armor crimson. She slumps in the thing's hold as her hair spills over her face and shoulders.
With a clatter, her helm comes to a rest, as still as its sorely wounded owner.
And there it is...
Seeing his companion-in-arms go limp in the creature's growing embrace was enough to dispel any notions of fighting defensively, deciding in favor of dishing out as much punishment as he could muster under the circumstances. If it could take out Titania it could take out any of us. His muscles clenched and heaved in perfect harmony, pulling his throbbing blade through the air in a dance of death.
Rallos darts under the creatures reach and moves to Titania. He grunts as he tries to drag her out of the melee.
As Titania collapses beneath the growing crystal, Grayface is spurred to a fury - his blade cutting through splintering glass and sending thousands of shards across a wide radius. Again and again, he strikes hard - it takes a moment for him to realise, but after the second powerful blow the growth of the crystal has abruptly stopped... and Titania, still unconscious, can be pulled from the defeated foe.
Yasmin clutches her head, which is still reeling from the effects of whatever they had fought. She staggers over to poor Titania and heals her with some magic. "I'm really sorry I was so useless, I couldn't even think with that weird vibration. But I think Tot will come to in a minute."
Woo!
Thankfully, Tot is breathing in a steady, if shallow rhythm. The creature had hit her hard and opened serious wounds, but she was at least alive and not in immediate danger.
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Eventually, Yasmin goes back to taking a look at those potentially salvageable potions and materials that were left behind to see what they might be.
Grayface hurried to Titania's side, kneeling down to lift her fallen form in his arms. Though she wore the platemail armor of a warrior, he gently cradled her like a child while the healing magic did its work. He watched as the most grievous wounds mended and ceased bleeding, then turned his gaze to her face, waiting for her to awake.
"Titania? I've got you now."
Rallos looked around, helping Yasmin sort through the vials and beakers of liquid.
Just tell me what I'm looking for, Yasmin.
Tot groans as she wakes up and blinks blearily as she focuses on Grayface.
"That was worse than the Mistress of Thorns," Tot mutters as she closes her eyes and rests her head on his shoulder. A shiver runs through her as the magic finishes its work and leaves her feeling cold. "Please, just call me Tot, or Tawny. Titania's to pretentious for me."
After a moment her eyes open and the looks around for a moment.
"Where's m'helm?"
Don't move, young lady, until I heal some of your wounds
Ea uses her healing wand on Titania
Whilst Titania is returned to health - and dragged clear of the remnants of the crystal - Rallos takes a look around. Drawn to the heat haze coming from the hatch on the southern wall, he peers through the chute... to see some form of furnace at the far end of the tunnel; the heat is quite intense and, even were the friends able to crawl through the tight space, the temperature is quite probably beyond what most could withstand...
As he continues to look around, he sees a pair of leather bracers next to the alchemical equipment...
...and, still liquid within the largest of the glass vessels, enough reagent to fill a single potion.
.
Yasmin peers at the reagents for a while with her magic eyes, gazing at the beaker as she holds it up to the light of the furnace. Eventually, she comes to a conclusion:
"Seems to me this could be used to make one potion of resist energy, cure serious wounds, or invisibility. Any preferences?"