At her sister's explanation Alessandra approaches the figure cautiously, examining the body for magic as she goes.
As Allie moves across the clearing, she tugs on several nearly invisible lines of webbing. This causes the bronze plates of the moving sculpture to fly off the central rod with lethal force!
The dhampir dodges the plates, but one slices through the webbed figure. It bursts apart in a torrent of sticky fluid that entangles Allie and threatens to root her to the ground!
Eerie, mocking laughter seems to echo from all around you. Shadows congeal in the center of the clearing to form a monstrous, nightmarish crocodile! It hisses and thrashes its tail as it moves to attack!
It bites and swings its tail at Allie, badly wounding her! She holds its jaws at bay, preventing it from grabbing hold of her.
Stuck to the ground Allie is in trouble. She slams her fist hard against the crocodiles head, hoping to stun it!
As Allie's fist connects with the crocodile's head, it dissolves back into wisps of shadowstuff and disappears!
Gabriella moves out to defend her sister, her crossbow turning this way and that looking for another enemy.
"Wrestling with shadows, m'Love?" she asks, her eyes moving from possible hiding place to possible hiding place.
If not: Allie mutters something unkind about mushrooms and steals another drop of her sisters blood to heal the worst of the damage.
"Anyone else want go first for a bit?" Allie asks as she pulls herself free from concealing gloop.
Keeping her weapon at the ready, Gabbi assists as much as she can with removing the web remains from her sister. "Don't look at me. I'm not built for playing meat-shield," she responds to Allie's questioning look.
Gabriella's nostrils flare and her skin flushes. She seems about to return a snappish retort, but then her eyes flick down to said fingers and she turns away with a look of guilt.
Ellie raises one eyebrow. "Seriously? Guilt?" She's torn between mockery and affection.
"You know what I do for a living, right? This isn't the first time I've broken a finger, or even this finger, in training. It wasn't your fault. I appreciate you trying to stop me. But if you feel guilty every time I get hurt ... you're going to feel guilty a lot."
She gives the dhampir a quick kiss. "But I appreciate the thought."
Ellie nods. "I'll go in front. It's my job."
Cautiously, she proceeds, waiting to see what attacks them next.
A path winds from the web-shrouded pergola to the south through this garden. The path weaves around several large topiary animals--an elephant, a lion, an ape, an ostrich, and an ox. The heads of all these topiary creatures are entirely covered with webs.
As you come around a corner, you see the nightmarish ettercap you encountered earlier lying unmoving in the path ahead. His neck is bent at a fatal angle and his limbs are violently twisted. He appears to be rather dead...
On the basis that it's probably a trick, and also to relieve her feelings of anger, pain and general annoyance, Ellie charges at the supposed corpse, smacking it with her flail.
Ellie's flail smashes into the ettercap, leaving behind a deep wound despite its supernatural resilience. It thrashes to life, shrieking as its neck rotates all the way around to glare at the fighter with its bulging compound eyes!
The monster's wound starts to regenerate as it rises on its twisted limbs and sinks its fangs into Ellie's neck!
"No!"
Ellie's flail crunches into the thing as it gets up.
She cries out in pain and fear as the thing bites her neck, but swings her flail around once more, slamming it into the chitinous horror over and over again, doing her best to end its existence.
"You."
"Will."
"Never."
"Hurt."
"Anyone."
"Again!"
Eldarel bashes the ettercap again and again, breaking its jaw, caving in its chest cavity. Despite the brutal wounds, the monster still stands, cackling menacingly as it continues to slowly regenerate...
"You know what I do for a living, right? This isn't the first time I've broken a finger, or even this finger, in training. It wasn't your fault. I appreciate you trying to stop me. But if you feel guilty every time I get hurt ... you're going to feel guilty a lot."
"Allie would have been able to stop you," Gabbi counters. "If she'd been there instead of me, it wouldn't have happened."
She gives the dhampir a quick kiss. "But I appreciate the thought."
Gabriella's eyes go wide at Ellie's stolen kiss, but she doesn't pull away. She then looks at the Lore Warden suspiciously, trying to gauge her intent. After a moment, her cold lips curl up in a feint smile before giving her sister a knowing glance.
~~~~
Gabbi raises an eyebrow at Ellie's display of fury before raising her crossbow, aiming, and firing at the possum-posing ettercap.
The crossbow bolt sinks into the ettercap's shoulder, piercing its damage reduction, but still barely seeming to faze it.
Allie moves swiftly around the melee, her hands crackling as she attempts to grapple the creature.
"Why is it still healing?" she cries in frustration. "There must be a way to stop it healing! Drown it! Stab it with something special! Something has to work!"
"We need silver or something inherently good!" Gabbi shouts back.
"Allie would have been able to stop you," Gabbi counters. "If she'd been there instead of me, it wouldn't have happened."
Ellie's eyes soften slightly as she looks ... somewhere far away. "Ah, yes, 'if' - I know that one. If I'd been slightly older and able to stand with my brother, if he'd been less brave and fled with me, if, if, if...". She wraps her arms around Gabbi. "You can't live your life on an if."
One hand worms its way inside and under Gabbi's studded leather as she kisses her again. "If you were a boy, you wouldn't have these... and I wouldn't be able to do this - which would be a shame, wouldn't it?"
She pushes her warm lips against Gabbi's cold ones. "If doesn't do anyone any good."
Allie watches as Ellie gets handsy on her sister and smiles gently to herself before continuing onwards.
-----------------------
"Silver! We need silver!" Allie yells, echoing her sister, an edge of panic barely contained in her voice.
Once the women's 'conversation' concludes, Gabbi approaches Alessandra.
"Tonight," she says succinctly, leaving no doubt in the monk's mind to what she's referring.
~~~~~
"I can throw coins at it, but somehow I don't think that will help!" Gabbi yells back.
Elká's hand trembles as it reaches for the silvered kukri as apparently, silver is what is needed. However, the horrifying sight of the ettercap's neck withstanding an awesome blow makes her wonder not if they can overcome this foe, but how.
The ettercap dodges Allie's and Elka's attacks!
Ulrich isn't phased by a creature he already understands. He transfers the cold energy of Touch of Fatigue to Kamosh, then tells him to go touch the ettercap.
Kamosh flies forward, but the ettercap is really scary! Not scary enough to not poke, but definitely super scary!
Colulus slumps slightly as Ulrich's spell fatigues him. The ettercap's wounds continue to regenerate as it assaults Ellie, slicing her with his sharp claws!
"Go down, you freak show!" Gabbi snarls as she fires her crossbow again at the nightmare and it seems to have no effect.
She reloads.
Elká rolls into an advantageous position and takes a moment to study the ettercap, what with it focusing its attacks on poor Eldarel. She then strikes at its legs, hoping this nightmarish mockery of an ettercap does bleed just like regular ettercaps do.
Not that she has ever seen an ettercap, but the assumption that they can bleed seems rather sensible to Elká.
The ettercap tries to dodge away, but its fatigue causes it to be just a bit too slow. Elka slices its legs with the silver kukri, cutting open a vital artery. Blood sprays onto the changeling as the monster shrieks, staggers, and falls. The touch of silver suppresses its regeneration, leaving it open for a finishing blow.
Elká throws the kukri at Eldarel, granting the finishing blow to the person who suffered most at the hands of this horrible monster.
Alessandra ignores the knife and simply slams her foot down repeatedly into the creatures face - hoping to simply crush the creature.
The ettercap dies beneath the dhampir's boots.
Gabbi lowers her crossbow and moves up to look over her sister's shoulder.
"I love it when you're brutal," she whispers in the woman's ear. After a quick touch of the lips to Allie's neck, she takes a closer look around at the topiary. A quick scan for magical auras follows.
"Let's keep moving. Mrs. Podiatry isn't going to wait forever."
Three of the topiary ostrich's tail feathers are patterned like leaves and radiate magic.
"Hey, Ulrich," Gabriella calls out. She indicates the tail feathers. "These are magical. What do you make of them?"
--------
"Ellie, would you like my potion of wound curing? I don't believe I will need it."
"Hmm, well that is a bit different. Gabriella, have you ever heard of feather tokens? You can use them to create a specific item, determined during the creation of the token. Common uses are things like small boats, campsites, or even siege weapons. Problem is, I am unsure what these will create."
The inquisitor furrows her brow a bit.
"I've read about those type of things. I don't really know anything about them, though." She looks over the broken body of the ettercap and grins. "Let's keep moving. We've got an appointment to keep."
"Love you too." Allie whispers in response, before shaking nightmare spider off her boots. "I need to get some proper stomping boots once we get out of here."
Alessandra examines the feathers as well. "Trees maybe?" She suggests, "We are in a garden afterall."
"Does anyone need patching up before we continue?" She asks, surveying the group. "I've got a bit more juice I think."
The door at the end of the garden opens onto a long hallway that stretches to the west to a wooden doors. Every few feet, an elaborate portrait depicts a scholarly individual. Most are reading heavy tomes, wearing academic robes, or holding quills. All have sour expressions.
You walk towards the door, but no matter how far you travel down the hall, it never seems to get any closer. The further you go, though, the portraits appear increasingly peevish and disappointed, their eyes moving to watch you...
"Will you let us through please?" Alessandra asks after the portraits begin to glare. "Or at least tell us how we may do so? We're here to free the manor and restore the rightful owner so that she can continue her researches."
"Does anyone need patching up before we continue?" She asks, surveying the group. "I've got a bit more juice I think."
Ellie nods shakily, looking distinctly green. "I, uh, think that thing poisoned me. Not - not feeling so good."
Ellie nods shakily, looking distinctly green. "I, uh, think that thing poisoned me. Not - not feeling so good."
A flash of concern crosses Gabbi's face, but is quickly replaced with her normal squinting paranoia. She steps up face-to-face with the strong woman and takes her face firmly in her cool hands. She moves Ellie's face this way and that, looking into each eye closely.
"Open your mouth," she instructs and examines that as well. After a moment she seems satisfied and gives a curt nod. "You'll be fine," she says, releasing the woman's face. "It'll just take some rest. In the meantime, don't puke on me."
"Will you let us through please?" Alessandra asks after the portraits begin to glare. "Or at least tell us how we may do so? We're here to free the manor and restore the rightful owner so that she can continue her researches."
"Talking to portraits now, Love? Sister Marianna always said you weren't entirely stable," Gabbi says with a small giggle.
The portraits nod approvingly at Alessandra, and space seems to distort around you before you find yourselves standing in front of the door.
The door opens onto an elegant sitting room that has two divans and a low table with a silver tray upon it. A door leads out to the west. The tray is exceptionally bright, but anybodylooking into it sees the back of their head rather than the front, as though seeing themself from behind.
The west door opens onto an enormous, round room enveloped in long shadows. Dim light shines through narrow windows high on the walls. A set of narrow stairs circles the room, ascending to a landing 60 feet above.
"Will you let us through please?" Alessandra asks after the portraits begin to glare. "Or at least tell us how we may do so? We're here to free the manor and restore the rightful owner so that she can continue her researches.""Talking to portraits now, Love? Sister Marianna always said you weren't entirely stable," Gabbi says with a small giggle.
"And she was wrong." Alessandra responds with a self satisfied smile. "You should know better than to doubt me!"
"And she was wrong." Alessandra responds with a self satisfied smile. "You should know better than to doubt me!"
"Oh, I would never doubt you," Gabbi says with a grin. "That doesn't mean she was wrong," she adds, her grin turning into a smirk.
The dhampir moves so she can see up the stairs and then turns to the Lore Warden.
"After you, my dear," she says with a gesture towards the way up. She gives her sister a wink as she follows.
Ulrich stops at the tray.
"Hmm. More illusions."
He decides to pick up the tray, as a means of testing the illusion.