The wooden planks which makeup the stairs are little more than a framework sticking out of the wall, but still seem climbable. Those who ascend the stairs to any degree to scout ahead recognize quickly though that after two "floors" of the exposed steps which creak with every step, reveal that the landing at the top leads only to a collapsed path way, similar to the one at the bottom corner of the room. Piles of stone and wood block any indication of a doorway or hatch that lead out. This seemingly impassable approach does provide, however, a distinct vantage point for a possible solution.
Campre sleepily looks from one member of the group to the next, the blood loss having taken it's toll. "Dreams...? You want me to climb out of this nightmare? Desna protect me, I will travel as far as needed to escape..."
Going through the scattered belongings, Beatrix comes upon a well-stocked backpack, some ratty old clothes, and some hide armor. Her gut tells Beatrix these things belong to her, but what little she could recall from her fractured memories indicated she'd never owned much more than the dirt under her nails. Perhaps more recently things had gotten better? If that was the case she wished she could remember those times.
The wave of stench rolling in from the corpse-strewn room beyond the door was enough to give even Beatrix pause. She had the distinct impression that it was not often something managed to turn her stomach.
"If he can't keep up he can't keep up," Beatrix states stonily of Campre. "But I don't like the sound of going up the chimney. I'd prefer to be in a space where I can defend myself."
While the others are conversing, Jacqueline is putting on what appears to be her only belongings in this wretched place-the original of the armor that she conjured for herself. It's a rather strange effect, watching clothes slide and merge seamlessly with the armor.
Too curious to simply stay on the ground floor, Era leaves the man leaning against the wall for now as she covers her mouth and hurries to investigate the stairs and what lay beyond...
Fifteen waits at the bottom, willing to let Saturday take the lead now that he's listening to sense. Anyone watching closely sees her rolling a lock-pick through her fingers but the clicking noise from the lockpick seems oddly out of time with her actions, almost as though it is her fingers that are clicking...
Moving forward with the others that tried the stairs Quinn keeps a close eye out for any moment or anything that she would be able to recognizes as out of place at least in the normal world.
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You two also see that the pile, just for a second, seemed to move
Regina raised one hand as Saturday warned them away, and obeyed the instructions. "...Do you want me to burn them?" she asked, bits of flame flickering around the edges of her fingertips as a tiny amount of ether leaked through. Needles weren't the only thing she was capable of, and while blasting a large group of bodies would take a lot of her energy, it was doable.
Jacqueline gives a graceful step back, blade suddenly in hand. "Rats? Dogs? Pile of corpses stitched together in a macabre experiment? What do you think, Sad?" she quips as she smoothly settles into a defensive stance.
Regina carefully took a position, moving as far away from the pile of bodies as possible and spreading her palm wide as she focused on the energy inside of her. After doublechecking to be sure nobody else was in the way, she narrowed her gaze slightly... and let loose with a cone-shaped blast of flames that spread across the entire set of bodies.
Fifteen waits while Regina torches the pile, crouched slightly and arms spread wide as though they were holding weapons...
Piling the bodies was something Quinn would rather avoid doing movement or not but with Regina setting them on fire it didn't really seem to be an option anymore, she prepared herself for anything that might jump from the bodies once the fire flushed it out.
Era just stays on the stairs, having not really noticed anything, and not being particularly prepared to fight, still.
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From the Flaming pile of carcasses, comes a terrible shriek that fills the stone room. The bodies shudder and appear to lift up of their own accord as if alive! But the illusion is shattered by the lone burning figure who screaming and wheeling their arms around wildly as they stride towards Regina in a hate filled panic. The figure seems to be shifting constantly in appearance, a grotesque amalgamation of people you all immediately recognize, Sad's arms. Era's eyes, Quinn's nose, Beatrix's body shape. and as soon as it seems to settle, it all shifts again under the forceful flicks of the flames. It's as if the fire is burning away it's looks, it's flesh bubbling a sickening grey in response.
Jacqueline once again leaps forward towards the flaming monster, slicing with blinding speed.
Fifteen leaps into action as the flaming figure emerges from the bodies. Seeing Jacqueline going straight in with her sword Fifteen circles around before throwing a punch at the flame-wreathed figure.
Unfortunately the punch falls slightly short and Fifteen looks quizzically at her own hand for a moment, seemingly certain that something else should have happened.
If Quinn was able she would quickly study the creature as it came running towards them before swinging her "weapon" at the thing.
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Era kept her distance from the creature, instead keeping her trowel between herself and it - she wasn't an adept fighter by any means... and even casual perusal of her spellbook had revealed her as much more capable of enabling than violence. Though enabling violence was an option.
Beatrix weighed her options. She had little desire to risk her life, but the creature was already wreathed in the flames Regina had covered the room with (that was certainly a useful skill), and her companions had "bravely" charged into battle with the creature. Beatrix concluded she could likely assist in engaging the creature with minimal risk to herself.
Moving into the room, she positions herself to strike the creature, bringing her strange weapon down on it with an overhead cleave:
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As the shifting creature charges Regina whilst burning alive, Jac's swing goes wide. The practiced blow was meant to anticipate a normal foes movement but the wild panicked and rage filled flailings proved difficult to prepare for. Fifeteen's punch was also an unfortunate miss due to her misunderstanding her own lethality. While Quinn's valiant attack continues the theme of the creature avoiding or ignoring glancing blows until Sad launches himself from the first stairwell, wielding his HIGHLY dangerous weapon and slams it into the creature breaking a litany of bones with a sickening crunch. The fiery monster's howls reach new heights at this onslaught of pain but are cut short by Beatrix's ethereal weapon slicing through the terror. Part of it's head, upper torso and left arm are hewn off in a spray of dark blue viscera which covers those nearby. The body and it's pieces crumple to the floor as the heap of bodies smolder in the corner of the corner of the room.
"Fine. It didn't get close to me." Regina answered, not taking her eyes off of the body. "...We should probably put out those flames." She didn't have anything in the way of water, but she did have the ability to turn her ether into pure cold, and she sent a burst of that into the pile of bodies before stepping back to let her energy recharge.
"Impressive." Fifteen comments, seemingly unsurprised by some of the more esoteric attack methods her new companions favour. Unmoved by the blood and viscera that has been sprayed across the room she kneels to search the remaining parts of the doctor for anything useful.
Quinn cursed her pathetic excuse for a weapon as the creature easily got by her but thankfully the others were able to deal with it before it could do any damage and Regina was already working on putting out the fire. "Keep an eye out there's likely more of those things." She'd warn as she started looking for a way out without climbing the bodies.
Beatrix makes a nominal effort to wipe some of the gore from her face, but other than that she seems to have little initial response to the encounter.
Staring at her strange weapon, she feels a bizarre movement beneath her right arm: muscles and tendons flexing and straining and... something else. The sensation passes quickly. She'd hewn that creature near in half, an impressive -and curious- feat for a woman whose physique could be charitably described as "skin and bones".
Quinn's remarks snap her out of her navel-gazing, and Beatrix looks up to meet the other woman's eyes. "Superior numbers did us well here. Perhaps... perhaps sticking together is a good idea." She sounded as if she had to reach into her stomach to pull the statement, squirming and defiant, from herself. But it was sincere. Faint streaks of green swirled through her weapon.
While the others begin to search through the bodies... and viscera... once more, Era pulls out her book, kneeling down on the stairs to flip through it to arrive at a particular page, legs crossing at the ankles as her eyes dart along the lines within - not in the typical motion of one who's reading, but more of one admiring art, allowing the lines to draw their eyes to particular focal points. A minute later, she snaps the book shut and hides it away once more. The lack of knowledge on what to do in the area gave way to preparing for what to do next time they were attacked.
Then she digs out her second book and one of the tiny pieces of charcoal and begins to write, not even looking at the paper, and instead looking at each person in time, eyes moving as they'd done with her spellbook - following their lines.
Beatrix's face sours again, scrunching into an irritated frown. "I didn't say I was your 'friend'," she snaps at Sad.
The green wisps swirling through her lash give way to red.
