Ileosa swiftly got out a torch and struck up a small flame upon it and raised the torch high to see just what they where dealing with.
Senara's bolt goes flying into the darkness, guided by Ella's description and her own ability to detect magic.
Her bolt hits true and the orb SHATTERS, obsidian raining down everywhere around the pedestal. The darkness immediately fades, and the light from the freshly struck torch pours into the room, lighting it up.
"Vampiric Mist!" Ileosa called out. "Ella, get back! It drains your blood in order to strength itself." She explained. "It can even sense your blood and move swiftly through holes in the ground." Ileosa went on before she looked to Godfrey and Senara and said "Want to get rid of Vampiric Mist? Burn it!" She grinned.
Hoshnog Umbuu! Ella yells in the same language as the thing that just gnawed on her neck. She swings a meaty fist at it but it is gone in a flash, and then back again to rip into her arm.
I AM NOT YOUR DINNER! she roars out as she gets up, and listens to Ileosa, stepping away from the entrance. Ella reaches into her pack for three flasks. Handing them to the others. Oil.
Godfrey is sufficiently engrossed in his study of the unusual mold that he's one of the last to enter the hallway. As he makes his way along, he notices that the steady white light emanating from his amulet begins to flicker and slowly fades. "Some form of magical darkness is shrouding the area, given the interaction with my own magic." He studies the aura at the center of the room, trying to discern its purpose, but the furious combat breaks out before he can draw any conclusions. Cursing, he concentrates on the sigil he'd memorized earlier that day. Without any prior warning, neon green runes flicker into existence up and down his sword. Lit by the sickly green light, he waves off the oil offered by Ella, "You, Silas, and Ileosa can bombard the thing, I'll keep it off of you." Taking a defensive stance at the front of the group, he watches the room warily for any sign of where to strike.
Silas nodded in mild satisfaction as the disappearance of the mold revealed the message proclaiming that they had made their own path. Just to be certain though they inspected the other doors to be certain, finding them to be trapped as expected. With that information Silas was confident enough to say, “It seems as though each room is an independent trial based on the messages, all of which have a familiar Asmodean quality to them. It reminds me of my childhood to be honest. Id suggest we all be very careful moving forward.”
As they pass onward and he sees the next message it seems relatively straightforward. An enemy, either literally an opponent to fight or perhaps an obstacle to overcome, something that blinds or deceives them and explicit permission to eliminate the earlier obstacle. With that in mind Silas has his kukri at the ready, but he’s somewhat taken aback as the next room appears to be pitch black. Thankfully not all of them were helpless in the darkness, it seemed as though Ella could see into the room. Given her description he was about to call out that they should be wary of the orb, since it seemed like one of the few sources of danger possible. But as Ella leaned down towards the small holes it became rapidly clear there was a different threat in the room.
Hearing Ileosa’s description of the thing made Silas’ grit his teeth. An insubstantial creature that could flow through small holes in the ground was not exactly an ideal target for his blades. When Ella mentioned she had oil on her though that seemed as good an idea as any. Not wishing to waste time he let one of his kukri fall to the ground, took the oil from Ella and hurled it towards where he had last seen the vampiric mist slip into the ground, “I confess my expertise lies in carving up flesh, not molds and mists.”
- - -
Kaellan's gleaming red eyes widen at the strange mist that rises up from the floor to attack one of his sister's allies—and by extension his own, he supposes. The devilbound man quickly moves to place himself between Senara and the apparently vampiric mist and nearly takes a crossbow bolt to the shoulder courtesy of the former. He gives a short bark of laughter as the quarrel shatters the arcane orb, the rich sound half surprised and half exultant. He is as impressed at his sister's aim as he is curious to know when she learned how to fire a crossbow, but it was a topic best tabled for later in the face of more pressing concerns. Mindful of the oil that now slicked the floor, Kaellan steps toward the entrance, standing shoulder to shoulder with Godfrey. Keeping his smouldering gaze trained on the ground for any hint of movement, Kaellan's lip curls up in amusement at Sila's comment, the smile he gives the man just a touch haughty. A familial trait, perhaps. "If you're going to dress like a soldier, you need to think like one as well," he japes, something of the former military man he used to be coming out. "Adaptability is the greatest indicator of a fighter's mettle. Think of it as broadening your horizons." Kaellan flexes his onyx claws in seemingly eager anticipation of learning whether or not blood can be drawn from mist.
The creature seemingly screams in a foreign language as the room lights up. The first lob of oil misses the mist itself but coats the area in front of the mist.
It hisses and strikes forwards as it continues screaming.
The mist itself lurches up and out of ground and latches onto Senara's skin. Barely able to find purchase for it's fangs to grab, it manages a weak bite as Kaellan's attack finds enough purchase to do damage. The cut is shallow and a small bit of blood drips to the ground but the wound quickly closes.
It lurches off it's target and makes for the room once more to hide under the floor. Senara's wound begins to drip.
Ileosa looked to Godfrey and laughed a bit. "I am no melee fighter." She reminded him. "I might wear a mace but that is because of The First's favored weapon." She explained. "I use a cross bow, and those aren't really used in melee combat." Ileosa reminded him before she shifted on her feet.
"Senara!" Ileosa called as the creature latched onto Senara's skin. When the creature went back to hiding, Ileosa made it to Senara's side. "Let me see the wound." She told her as she held the light above her.
Senara gasps, first in surprise and then in pain as the mist overtakes her. The pungent, metallic aroma of blood fills her nostrils as the creature feeds on her. If she were any other noblewoman, the stench would likely be enough to turn her stomach and further exacerbate the sudden weakness she feels. But as testament to her constitution, or perhaps rather her darker nature, she has long since stopped being so affected by the sight and smell of blood. It didn't make it any more tolerable when it was hers being spilt however.
Blood leaks through the holes in her chainmail from where the mist had latched onto her arm and although Senara is quick to step back and apply pressure to it, it isn't quite enough to stanch the bleeding. She lifts her gaze back up to the shifting, formless thing before her, leveling a scorching glare at it. The woman has little doubt that its attack on her was motivated by her shattering of the tenebrous orb, and a cruel smirk curves her lips when she sees that the mist's retreat has been stymied by Godfrey and Kaellan. "Senseless creature! You're about to lose more than your precious darkness."
Slightly taken aback by Ileosa's concern, Senara assures the other woman "It's but a scratch," although she moves her hand so the wound can be inspected all the same.
With hurried and angry tones, Ella translates "That thing didn't like you breaking it's orb, it may-" but her words are too slow to keep the noblewoman from being bitten. Hoping to keep it from getting away, she attacks quickly. Briefly she considers the vials of oil in her hand, but in the mass of her teammates, she can't take the chance, and jabs instead with her spear.
"And it called you a witch." she adds to Senara.
Godfrey's guttural growl emphasizes his satisfaction as the shock of his blow striking home reverberates up his blade. With a savage grin, he replies to Ileosa, "Crossbow or mace, it's the result that matters to me. No matter, Kaellan and I seem to have it under control" As the mist flits away from its red feast on Senara's arm, Godfrey spins his blade into a piercing lunge.
Breathing evenly, not yet tired despite the exertions of the past few moments, Godfrey watches the room warily as he waits for their ephemeral tormentor to make its next appearance. He asks Ella, in a casually offhand tone out of place in their dingy surroundings, "So you say the mist can speak? How curious. In what language?"
Aklo! Ella responses and curses after she misses the mist.
Kaellan's arrogant sneer fades as the mist moves to slip around him in favor of pursuing Senara. The elder Davorim had always felt it was his duty to protect his younger sister and it is a sentiment that only grew more intense after losing his life and subsequently being brought back from death by Senara. Panic grips his heart like a vise as he watches the mist surge forth to attack her and he reaches out with blood-slick claws to try to rip into the creature and force it to focus on him.
The pained gasp the mist's attack on Senara elicits awakens an almost mindless fury in Kaellan the likes of which he had never before known. Again and again he swipes madly at the barely there entity, bringing even his horrifically sharp teeth to bear against the mist in an effort to gouge and rend and tear until its bloody form is all but dissipated.
"It isn't fleeing" she realizes, and thinks furiously. Gorfrey's sword, the sigil he placed on it must have infused it with magic. Even though the thing was mist, the physical weapon cut it. Then Kaellan, more demon than man now, tore into it with his claws and teeth. A magical being, and he was able to hurt it.
Ella knew her own hag's heritage was growing, that even though spells were beyond her, arcane energy teased the edges of her vision, pounded in her temples at times, and screamed for release she had no idea how to accomplish. Would her claws have the same effect as the others...
With a grim smile, Ella decided it didn't matter, more important was that she would simply love to kill this thing with her bare hands. Making the experiment well worth the risk. Discarding her spear and flasks of oil, she eagerly lets her anger out and hacks into the mist.
With the ease of the first two Lessons firmly behind them, the group makes their way into the third. The pitch blackness of the room and presence of magic causes them to pause a bit and inspect.
However, the inspection comes at a price as a Vampiric Mist bursts forth from the ground eating away at the very life force of Ella. Senara pulls her crossbow out and blows away the magical object in the center of the room, igniting the fury of the mist.
The mist, maddened by the torture that predated their arrival and the lost of it's precious darkness, rushes Senara ripping a small portion of her essence away.
Seemingly impossibly fast, it's hubris in it's own abilities was it's downfall as the magic dripping from Godfrey's sword slices into it, causing the animated blood to slacken and splatter across the floor. Kaellan joins the fray spraying blood onto the walls with his fury, another swing of the sword from Godfrey coats Senara in the blood of their enemy, and finally Ella seeking vengeance manages to slice into it with her wicked claws.
The mist seems to shutter a bit before condensing and seeming on the verge of exploding outward...falls slack as if poured from a bucket.
The room is cleared, save for obsidian glass upon the floor and the blood stains upon the hallway and the villains themselves.
Triss gently puts her hand upon Senara's wrist and a burst of red light shines forth. Healing her of what little wounds she could.
Godfrey's savage grin breaks into a grimace of distaste as the former mist -now blood- splatters his finery and sword. He glances around the room, but seeing no further threats he curtly recites a short command word, "Tsikhtik". A few mental directions later and the blood on his robes and sword collects into a ball to be dropped into a deserted corner. He glances at his companions and offers, "If the rest of you prefer not to be blood splattered, I'd be happy to assist. And before I forget, that was a clever idea Senara. It hadn't occurred to me that the orb was the source of the arcane darkness."
Apparently satisfied with his work, Godfrey steps into the room cautiously, still wary of traps or further attack. He opines as he picks his careful way to the pedestal. "Quite the interestingly little... ah... creature. A shame to have to destroy it. I wonder if it was magically created or if its a naturally occurring phenomenon. Ah well." He spends a moment looking over the pedestal where the orb had been broken, looking for anything else of interest.
"As for our next direction, I have no particular preference. I'm afraid I've lost my sense of direction. It might be wise to begin marking the wall -with numbers perhaps?- in the event we need to find our way back."
Panting and clammy, Ella rests her broad back against the stone wall, then slides down to sit in the splatters of blood. "Just until we're ready to move on... "
The large woman is clearly exhausted, though that part passes shorty. What does not pass is the deathlike pallor of her already pale skin, and the raw but unbleeding holes in her neck.
That... thing... ate part of her. ATE part of her! She shook her dark hair slamming those thoughts away. Weakness, even very understandably being upset about her life being sucked away, could be used against her. Would be used against her.
What was important was that it was dead and she was not.
Simple truths to hold on to.
Pulling herself to her feet, and collecting her spear and pack, she moves to the front again. Pausing to listen to Godfrey talking about marking our way, she'll turn her mismatched eyes look back to the way they came, to the mass of blood splashed all over the corridor. Then looks back at him with a raised eyebrow.
Godfrey is met with an unamused, withering look from Senara when he glances up from cleaning off his robes and blade, the young woman positively drenched in gore thanks to the spellsword's decisive blow. Granted, overall she is happy with the outcome; the vampiric mist was slain before it could flee or, worse yet, return to her for a second helping of her vitality. And although she didn't mind the bloodshed, she'd have much preferred for it not to have been shed on her. "If you don't mind..." she drawls in answer to Godfrey's offer, arms held away from her body so his spell could reach over speck of blood she had been spattered with. Thankfully Senara's annoyance is somewhat mollified by Godfrey's compliment. "It hadn't?" she asks with the beginnings of ber usual smirk again showing. Clearly the idea that she had managed to arrive at the right conclusion about the orb before the scholarly nobleman is one that just tickled her pride. After allowing herself but a few moments to gloat, Senara admits, "Well, I hadn't allowed you much time to study it before I fired, which I regret. It would have been a useful tool in our future endeavours, I'm sure, if you had been able to learn how it was made beforehand." However, a bit of her former irritation comes back when Godfrey expresses something akin to regret over killing the mist. "A pity, that," she says ironically.
Nodding her thanks to Triss after the drow saw to her wounds, Senara waits near the entrance of the room to allow those better suited to it to make sure the way forward is clear of traps. She notes with some concern Ella slumping against one of the walls. "Are you alright? Did it take much from you?" Unlike the attack on herself, the mist's assault on the woman warrior had not seemed to leave any outward signs of damage. "Thank you, by the way. For trying to warn me," she tells the other woman, smiling softly. "It's too bad you couldn't relay a few of choice words of my own to it before it died."
"I'll be fine" Ella answers wearily, but gives a grateful nod for her concern. "I called it, what roughly translates to, Cowass, if that makes you feel any better." she relates offhandedly.
Silas’ expression goes dangerously flat as Kaellan comments on attacking the mist. When your body could create hellish claws that was easier said than done. Silas couldn’t infuse his weapon with magic like Godfrey. If they were going to have to deal with threats like this in the future he would have to better prepare. At his core Silas was trained to mimic and kill humans, he could blend in with a group, stalk a target and take it out with ease. But this kind of thing was beyond his current capabilities and it irritated him. Thankfully his other party members seemed well equipped to deal with it. Having been on the receiving end of the training weapons Godfrey used he knew how well the man wielded a blade and enhanced with the arcane it seemed he could use it especially well in true combat. Silas’ respect for the man continued to grow. Once it was dispatched Silas offered to scout the room.
“I wasn’t able to do much good there unfortunately. Anyone who was hurt take a moment to recuperate while I scout out the room to be sure we aren’t about to walk across a trap. That was well done all things considered everyone,” he would start with the floors then move to observing the walls.
"You where not the only one who couldn't do much." Ileosa said as she stepped up and began to look around. "Don't worry too much about that, there is little to do against an enemy such as that. So this was about the outcome to expect."
Taking her time Ileosa looks to see if she can find anything like the amulet they where sent her for. "Do you have anything to make these marks with?" She asked Godfrey. "Because I do not, save for my branding ability but I've only ever used them on people."
Ella still doesn't understand why a blood filled corridor needs to be marked, but she reaches into her belt pouch and pulls out a stick of chalk, handing it to Ileosa before heading toward the east door.
Pausing to see if Silas notices any traps.
The villians take their time to rally after the arduous fight. Silas, feeling particularly eager after the fight, moves in to secure the room of any dangers. Meanwhile Ileosa moves forwards to check for any signs of the amulet that the group is here to find.
A few minutes go by and Silas gives the all clear along with perhaps a disappointed sigh from Ileosa that she did not find the amulet.
Ella, perhaps as a matter of pride after this lesson's lapse in judgement moves forwards towards the Eastern door. Her feet steady under her once more, though her skin still pale from the effects of having her vitae drained, she opens the door to reveal...another hallway.
She scouts slowly ahead and finds the door after an L shaped jaunt of about seventy feet. Once again, the passage ends of course in another door with another lesson offered to them before the challenge. The chosen are revealed by their might. The weak deserve no sympathy. glows softly in the darkness thanks to her darkvision.
She makes a mental note of it and head back to let the others know of what she has seen of the lesson planned for them through the Eastern door.
"Ah, yes I do seem to have made a bit of a mess. My sincerest apologies for your -ah- predicament. Allow me to rectify the situation." He quickly and efficiently cleans the gore-spattered woman with little more then a few moment's concentration. "It's lamentably difficult to avoid making a mess when fighting. My inferiors don't have to courtesy to roll over and die, even when so obviously overmatched. Perhaps in time. As for the orb, think nothing of it. I've a love for trinkets like that but no doubt there will be more in our future."
Godfrey follows Ella's gaze to the gore-spattered walls leading into the room; he shrugs in reply to her skepticism and says, "True enough." He shakes his head and replies in the negative to Ileosa, "No, but thankfully more practical minds prevail." He stands guard as Ella makes her way down the passage. When she returns, he asks, "Anything of interest? Another of our 'lessons' presumably?"
As Ella relays her findings, Godfrey's lips twist into a cruel smile, "An important lesson and one that seems unambiguous. I'd be inclined to proceed down that hallway, if only to eliminate what seems likely to be a threat."
Her mood lifting with the more of the still warm blood that's magically cleansed from her skin and armor, Senara nods her understanding to Godfrey's explanation. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind in future. I do try to stay away from any spot where swords might be swinging but this enemy was not so easily kept at bay."
Senara's lips quirk up in a faint smile at the translation of the insult Ella hurled at the mist before its death. It might not have been her choice of words had she been able to communicate with the parasitic creature. Her insults tended to a more subtle nature than that and were usually used to malign someone's reputation around town. No doubt Ella's crass provocation was more effective than anything Senara might have said.
When Ella reveals what lesson lies beyond the door to the east, Senara is somewhat less enthused about taking part in another fight so soon, but can see the wisdom in dispatching a possible threat while they were all—with perhaps the exception of Ella—still in peak condition. "Very well."
"Ah, thank you Ella." Ileosa said with a smile before she moved to make a simple mark upon the wall by the door they had entered by.
Then she moved to join the others and hear what Ella had found. Upon hearing what the next room entailed "It sound like we will have to fight... but the question is are we going to fight something that shows up or against each other?" Ileosa question as she tapped her chin in though. "Well let us go and get it over with." She stated with a nod.
Silas proceeded down the hallway towards the next room and made sure to pay special attention to the walls. As he went he explained why he was taking his time. In particular he wanted to enlist Ileosa's help since she seemed the type to not miss out on even small details, "As we go I would appreciate help checking the walls. Remember that we found the gemstone filled with the alchemical ice in a hidden portion of a wall. It would be rather embarrassing to discover we had passed by a small hidden spot concealing the pendant at the start of all of this. That said I suspect we will have several more lessons to go through before we can find it."
It was hard to argue with the assessment that they were likely to have to fight something during the next lesson. Things had been getting progressively more militant as they moved further in. Whatever it was Silas hoped it was at least humanoid. It just wasn't as fun if you couldn't make your opponent bleed.
=============================================
Once the party has prepared and headed down the Eastern Corridor
=============================================
Emboldened by once again triumphing against a lesson and feeling prepared for the next, Silas leads the way down the hallway carefully scrutinizing the corridor for hidden traps, doors, and other unthinkable things. Ileosa, does the same double checking to make sure nothing is missed.
The group makes their way to the door cautiously and finds it to be free of traps as far as they can tell.
Triss pulls a small metal pole from the inside of jacket. She nods to the others and presses it to her lips preparing for combat once the open the door.
Ella, proceeds to open the door and....
The party is face with a very similar room to the others. However, the main difference is, two giant slithering metallic looking snakes. They hiss and prepare to strike.
Once the door is thrust open, Senara peers around the broad frame of Ella and into the room ahead to try to get a glimpse of whatever is making the hissing sound. One glance at the metallic sheen of the creatures' scales has Senara making a quiet sound of recognition. "My, my... what interesting specimens the Cardinal keeps in his basement," she comments, smiling faintly at the chance to showcase the fruits of her arcane studies. "Those are mithral snakes, and though they might bear a convincing likeness to real snakes, they're actually arcane constructs." Senara looks at the unloaded crossbow in cradled in her arms. "I doubt this will be of much use against them," she says, unceremoniously dropping it as she reaches for a flask hanging from her belt. "As you might imagine, the mithral makes them incredibly durable and resistant to injury so you're going to have to strike rather hard to get through their armoured plating."
Finished briefing the others about the constructs' defensive abilities, Senara ponders whether or not they are resistant to corrosion as well as she swirls the vial of colorless liquid in one hand. She supposes there's no better teacher than first-hand experience to discover that answer. "Zersetzen!" The clear fluid in the flask briefly glows a sickly green as Senara conjures and hurls an orb of caustic acid at one of the snakes.
"Magic it is then." Ileosa said as she held up her Asmodaen unholy symbol. "Let us see if I have any better luck." She added before she tossed her own acid.
Senara and Ileosa's attacks fall flat as they splash the ground in front of one of the snakes.
A loud, metallic screech issues from the mouths of the twin snakes as they rush forwards to engage the closest intruder. Ella, having been the one to open the door is their first target.
Both snakes sink their fangs in doing minor damage to Ella, each grabbing at a leg. They release quickly, coil and hiss from either side of the opened doorway.
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Ella can't use acrobatics to get past them since she has medium armor on and now is sitting at 18 hit points due to getting eaten again, so she'll stand where she is and attack.
Ella grunted as pain, again, along with something hot inflaming her flesh. Listening to Senara, she thinks she's heard of these things before but can't remember much of anything new. Metal snakes hadn't interested her much, unfortunately. A stupid mistake.
She knew they were in a bad tactical situation, with her bottlenecking in the hallway while facing two opponents at once, but pain and poison eclipses her logic today. The large woman tears into the nearest mithril snake, faintly curious (somewhere past the red haze of anger) about what its insides look like.
The one on her right, raging, counts as magic, oh and inspire courage, +4 strength/con, +4 temp hit points, -2 ac
attack with rage and claws: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 2 + 1 = 17
damage: 1d4 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 13
attack with rage and claws: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 7 + 2 + 1 = 21
damage: 1d4 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 12
noticed the knowledge check as I was looking up to see about Triss and inspire courage. So if she knows anything she doesn't know any more than Senara
knowledge arcane: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
K(Arcana) to identify snakes: 1d20 + 8 = 14
Godfrey looks on from further back in the party in frustration. The bottleneck that the snakes had pinned them into was effective in leaving him helpless to contribute. With little else to do, he stands in place and being riffling through his scroll box. With a satisfied smirk, he pulls a scroll from the box and begins to read from the scroll in a monotone. As his chanting reaches a crescendo, a translucent arrow springs into being a few feet above his head. With a casual flick of wrist, the arrow unerringly seeks a snake to bury itself in.
Casting Magic Missile from a scroll. Move action to pull from the scroll box. Standard to cast.
Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 = 3
"There'll be no mighty left standing if we let those snakes whittle us down one by one. We have to do something!" Empowered by Senara's protective enchantment and spurred on by her mental urging, Kaellan sets his jaw before barrelling through the blockade to brave the viper's nest beyond. But rather than stop to attack once inside the room, Kaellan moves further and further inside, intending to draw the constructs away from the door by offering himself as a better target so that his associates may enter freely.
Assuming Kaellan was about fourth or fifth in line at the door, he'll make a double move to get toward the back corner of the snake room.
Senara watches somewhat fretfully as Ella stands her ground rather than back down when the mithral snakes spring their attack. The robust woman is likely the mightiest one of their group—at least in terms of physicality. If she fell during this lesson then it would undoubtedly bode ill for the rest of them. "There'll be no mighty left standing if we let those snakes whittle us down one by one. We have to do something!" the conjuress psychically communicates to Kaellan, hoping the former military officer would think of some strategy they might use. But she isn't expecting her brother to utilize brute force to get past the metallic vipers and into the room. "Kaellan, be careful! That room hasn't been searched for traps, mind!"
Senara waits to see if the contraptions fall for her brother's ploy, one hand at the ready to summon another gout of acid should either of the snakes get clear of Ella.
Readying an acid splash if either of the snakes move out of melee with Ella.
Silas was near the front but he should have made more of an effort to swap positions to the front before they opened the door. It had been poor planning and now they were in a tactically difficult situation. There weren’t many truly good options for how to proceed. Watching Kaellen move through them he decided that he would risk it and attempt to get behind their foes. Attempting to contort and twist himself around his allies and the enemies before them he would see if he could move himself carefully enough to avoid being attacked. Once he had one of them flanked with his allies though he wasn’t going to keep moving into the room, he would strike out and see if he could do some damage to these things.
Acrobatics: Rolling 1d20+6 = (18)+6 = 24
Attack: rolling 1d20+4+2-1 = (1)+4+2-1 = 6 [Miss~]
Damage: rolling 1d4+4+2 = ( 2)+4+2 = 8
With the snakes advanced, the room quickly begins to whirl with action. Ileosa lobs acid at the snakes but misses as she makes sure not to hit her allies. Senara sizes up the situation, a bit of arcane energy boiling in her hand as she waits for an opportunity to rise.
Kaellan sprints through the opening, squeezing past Ella, his body twisting carefully out of the way of the biting snakes. Ella swings wide with her first clawed hand and as she brings the other one in,the snake leans just barely enough for her claws to scrap just off the metal letting out an ear piercing squeal.
Silas times his jump with the snake's dodge, flipping and landing behind one of the and slashes wildly at it. The snakes hiss in response and one turns to snap at Silas while the other snaps at Ella again. Both miss wildly. However, it's Godfrey that makes the first strike upon their foes. Three small holes punch through one of the snakes but it doesn't appear to notice it's been hurt.(edited)
Silas and Kaellan sliding past her makes Ella realize she's plugging up the works. All her talk of group tactics she spouted just a few days ago, had been lost in her typical haze of anger. Anger had its place, and she wasn't about to drop it at the moment, but without thinking she and her allies would be corpses... dimly she wondering if mithril snakes would use their corpses to lay their eggs in...
A thought for another time, Ella slams her claws into the one Silas was brilliantly flanked, then forces herself into a bad position, if one of these things does not die soon.
Attack with claw 1 = 1d20+7+2+1+2 = 23
Attack with claw 2 = same thing oddly enough = 23
damage with claws, 1d4 +6+2+1 = 12
and once again same exact damage with the second claw = 23
I mean 12
-- (ella is at -2 armor class due to raging)
Dropping the now charred and blackened scroll with a dismissive flick of his wrist, Godfrey takes advantage of the cleared path to charge up to join the fight. He charges sword first and as he reaches the coiled serpent he pivots to spin his blade in a deadly glittering arc.
2h Attack with sword: 18
2h damage with sword: 14
Kaellan turns back to the melee at the entrance of the room with a slight frown. His scheme hadn't gone quite like how he'd planned it but enough of his allies had managed to make it past the snakes that it hadn't been a completely wasted effort. Doubling back along the southern wall, Kaellan maneuvers around the mithral snake to flank it with Ella, once more risking the construct's ire as he moves into a more advantageous position.
Claw (Flanking, Inspire Courage, Power Attack)
(8)+5+2+1-1= 15
Damage (Inspire Courage, Power Attack)
(3)+3+2+1= 9
Senara, meanwhile, conjures another orb of viscous acid for a third attempt in what has thus far been an ineffectual magical assault upon the metal cobras. With both Ella and her brother in such close quarters with the construct, Senara takes care with her aim, waiting for a clear opening to present itself before lobbing the corrosive missile at the snake.
Acid Splash (Ranged Touch - Inspire Courage, Into Melee)
(18)+4+1-4= 19
Damage (Acid Flash [Alchemical Power Component], Inspire Courage)
(1)+1+1= 3
Silas having made it to the other side of the constructs last move, strikes out with both blades upon the exposed snake's flank.
His first blow finds it's mark fully but the blade lets out a sickening metal on metal scream as it scrapes harmless off the armored skin of the construct.
The snake to the left of Ella finds holes pierce though it suddenly from the magic missile Godfrey had unleashed, the holes causing the overlapping portions of the snake's carapace to stick and slow it's movement enough for Ella to find her opening. Seething with rage at being bitten, she slams her claws into both sides of the small construct and with an incredible feat of strength, drags her claws up with extreme force. Ribbons of mithral tear off as parts of the carapace pop and explode off of the body. The lights finally fade as the metal slumps into a pile upon the ground.
The other construct continues to follow it's directive as it's glowing eyes and mouth swivel and move to strike again at the raging Changeling.
It's fangs miss as the enraged woman's movements become to difficult to predict and it's head slams into the stone doorway.
"Just metal?" Ella's statement is laced with disappointment. Even while hacking at the things, and getting bitten, she had been fascinated about the prospect of a merging of flesh and metal, questioning the hows of its life, how it eats, breeds, so on. But just metal, meant none of that mattered anymore. Just like demons or angels, it wasn't truly alive. And that irritated the heck out of her.
The large woman dodged to the right as the hissing thing next to her tried to take another chunk out of her, then turning quickly she hacked away with all her frustration.
Ileosa tried once more to land the acid she summoned from her hand.
The jarring impact as his sword clatters off the hard shell of their serpentine foes. "Just metal is enough, I think... enough for the common rabble." His hands numb, Godfrey releases his sword and begins to weave his magic and spell both together. In a flurry of blows, he casts his spell to correspond with his second strike and glowing Infernal runes appear on his blade.
As his fierce blows rain on the snake, Godfrey grimaces and quips, "And, sometimes, for irrationally angry nobles."
Godfrey steps in and swings aggressively twice upon the snake, it coils almost around the sword itself the first swing, though the other scrapes angrily upon the metal itself not finding enough purchase to do naught but send sparks.
Ella slams her claws in again, having figured out the trick from the first poor construct and begins raking up the sides. Her fingertips catch upon the fanned "hood" of the head as she pulls it around and strains, forcing its mouth open and in line for Ileosa.
With the target held in place and her timing true, acid flings from the woman's hand and into the gaping maw of the snake. The light inside flashes brightly, changing from the soft blue to a sick green before going out. The snake goes limp in Ella's clawed hands.
A few seconds go by and it is certain that this danger has passed.
"Just metal and magic," Senara remarks, stepping into the room to get a closer look at the still whole mithral cobra hanging lifelessly from Ella's claws. "And we've seen how useful that combination can be," she adds with a smirk, briefly cutting her eyes to Godfrey before continuing her examination of the construct. It is—in her inexpert estimation—a small marvel of engineering, a curious blend of arcane and artificery she wonders if she might be able to recreate one day. Summoning and binding denizens of the lower plane is all well and good, but Senara considers that there are some instances in which her interests might be better served by creatures with a little less sentience and consequently less sense of self-preservation. Senara carefully lifts the head of the now inanimate construct, wary of any remnants of acid or poison, before letting it fall slack again. "Anything worth salvaging, do you think?"
Ella gives a nod of respect and thanks to the slight blond acid thrower, even a slight tired smile. She lays the snake down for Senara to inspect, listening to her thoughts. "Useful, yes. Alive though... would have been something."
Kneeling down, she prods it with a claw. The creature is too complex mechanically for her budding study on engineering, so she shrugs her large shoulders in answer. Tapping one of the fangs of the beast, she asks her own question. "Does anyone know anything about poisons?" she pauses to look around at each of them to see if anyone can be of help to the burning pain in her legs.
Godfrey looks sourly at the prone metallic figure as his companions make their appraisals. "I suspect Triss might know a thing or two of poisons, given certain recent circumstances." He shoots the drow woman a scowling glance before continuing, "As for salvage, I can take a look. To quote my insipid father, 'A noble who does not know worth, hath no worth'. He even pronounced the lisping 'hath'... pretentious knob. In any case, he insisted on lessons with a merchant."
He joins the duo clustered around the snake and searches them thoroughly for anything he considers valuable.
"Your father sounds like an ass." Ileosa said with a small smirk as she moved up to join the rest of her group. "However I guess growing up with a father to begin with must have been... nice?"
"Triss would be your best chance for poison knowledge Ella, as she is a healer after all." She added
Ella gives Ileosa a look, "Depends on the father, I'd imagine."
She'll stand stiffly listening to Godfrey's and Ileosa's suggestion and go to Triss, "Can you help me?" her voice still laced with mistrust for the drow. Triss's insertion to their group, a healer after their healer was butchered before their eyes, has always had Ella wondering if there was a replacement for each of them behind those doors.
Triss tilts her head a bit at being mentioned so much. "Honestly, acting like a lady knows poison just cause she uses it....you'd be correct. Hmm" she said as he bent low and looked at the fangs of the construct.
She gave it a small tug and pulled something out from behind the fang. A small shake and you could hear a small bit of liquid move. She gave it a sniff at the open end and stuck out her tongue. "Honestly, it's weak stuff. Just a typical Paralytic Poison. Slows you down gradually over multiple applications and time, though you'd have to have a pretty weak body to fall prey to it." she offered as insight.
"I actually mean that you'd likely know something about it being a healer. Can't treat it if you know nothing about it." Ileosa said with a small smile.
"Do you have a way to help Ella get over it faster? Knowing that she'll be fine, getting her back up to strength would be in the best interest of not only Ella but us as well." Ileosa stated.
Ella stiffens at the ambiguous suggestion that her body is weak. Even after having her life force drained by the vampiric mist. Ileosa's words give pause to her potential options at a response, as she states "best interests." And losing their healer, again, would not be in anyone's best interests.
So she simply crosses her arms and waits to see if Triss will be able to do anything.
Feeling a smile come on watching the exchange between Triss and Ella, Senara turns to examine the rest of the chamber and to hide any sign of her amusement from the hulking woman. "Kaellan, Silas, help me search these walls won't you? We wouldn't want to overlook anything before we move on to the next trial." Again the sibling pair spread out around the room, Senara scouring the southern wall while her brother inspects the one to the north, both looking for any hidden alcoves or passageways.
"An ass indeed. As for my childhood, I often feel my life only truly began the day I began to master the arcane. For his part in that, I suppose my father is better off alive then dead." Godfrey whistles softly as he and Ella finish looking over the two 'corpses'. "A fine little mint sum to be had from them, assuming we care to haul them out of this rotting hole. On our way out, perhaps."
Godfrey casts a smoldering glance at the drow woman, still nursing a grudge. Senara's suggestion breaks him from his thoughts of vengeance and he begins to aid in the search.
After waiting, Ella realizes the burning has faded. "Nevermind." she grunts, then moves to the snakes, coiling them up each up separately, cutting a bit of her rope to tie around the coil, keeping it from unraveling. Then another length to carry them over her shoulder.
Triss looks between the two women and shrugs "She's fine, nothing for me to do..well, I suppose she might need a bit of healing but unless she asks, I don't want to lay my hands on her." she said smiling.
To the south of this room (the party came in from the west), you find a door with a heavy bar barring your exit. A quick test of it does reveal it would be easy enough to move in time. The commotion with the constructs left you little time to attempt it or for that matter to really look around.
As the party splits up and looks around attempting to thoroughly exam their situation, they find that the room was naught but housing chamber for these metal puppets.