Ulrich puts a hand on Kamosh and imbues him with icy blue light. He then tells the ogre to stay behind them and wait.
Kamosh flies in to peck at the ghosty thing to deliver Ulrich's spell.
Bolstered by Alessandra's magic, Ellie manages to keep her guts from churning when the thing spatters her with ooze, although her facial expression betrays the disgust that she is feeling.
Gritting her teeth, she attacks the thing once more.
"Get back Ellie!" Alessandra commands, unwilling to watch her Little One have any more of her life sucked out. She steps forward and places a hand on Elka's shoulder, embuing her with the strange powers of the moon.
Elka and Gabby each hit once, but Ellie and Kamosh miss the spirit. "Magic now. Bird tried to peck me. Claw woman hurt bad!" the spirit babbles as it slimes Elka!
Kamosh pecks again!
Ulrich gets into a defensive stance and waits.
Elká turns a whiter shade of pale upon being touched by the slimy ghost and staggers out of combat.
Gabriella continues to draw ammo from her temporarily enchanted quiver and fire them at the ghost.
Ellie lashes out once more with her newly-enchanted flail.
Kamosh misses again, but Gabby lands a good shot and Ellie smashes the spirit with two powerful blows. With a final groan, the thing collapses into a puddle of putrid slime. The slime crumbles to ash and dissolves into nothingness after a minute, including the slime coating those the undead touched.
"Are you ok Little One?" Allie asks in concern. "I can't heal you today - I need to call for different powers. I'm sorry. Maybe we should explore what we can and stay away from this Valthazar fellow for a while."
"Assuming he leaves us alone when he discovers his girls are missing." Ulrich replies.
Kamosh is staying airborn for a little while in order to hold onto the Chill Touch spell, but it won't be long before he has to land and deliver the rest of the charges on the ground.
Ellie shakes her head at Alessandra's question. "Ugh. Feels like I have a cold. A really bad cold. That thing did something to me." She sniffs. "We should probably keep going, though, unless we're out of magic for the day. And you might want to check on Elka."
She looks with concern at the changeling, who is currently puking in a corner. "Are you... ok?"
"I have almost no magic left, you look like s@&%, and Elká's puking her guts out," Gabbi says to Ellie. "We need to fall back and rest."
Ellie sighs. "I suppose. I just don't want to leave this place in their hands for any longer than we have to." She isn't especially religious, but seeing a former cathedral of Sarenrae fallen into the hands of the Whispering Way makes her feel rageful.
She gathers up her gear, and cleans the muck and gore off her flail. "OK then. Let's head back."
Alessandra nips back into the room where they fought the sisters and examines it thoroughly before leaving, not wanting to leave anything important behind.
Once the group has retreated to the tunnel she sets to work patching everyone up as best she can.
As the group returns to the relative safety of the tomb, Ellie finds herself flanked by the sisters as they walk along. "Kind of a shame that those two were on the wrong side," Gabbi says to Allie, talking past the Lore Warden. "It would have been interesting to have twins." She glances up at Ellie. "Although, I don't know if this one could have handled that," she can't resist adding with a grin. "I think her head would explode."
Ellie sticks her tongue out at Gabbi: "Hey, don't look at me - you're the one that decided to off them." She gives a shake of her head, sending her blonde hair flying. "Now you'll never know what might have been."
She's bluffing. Probably bluffing. Almost certainly bluffing. But Gabbi can't know for sure.
As the group returns to the relative safety of the tomb, Ellie finds herself flanked by the sisters as they walk along. "Kind of a shame that those two were on the wrong side," Gabbi says to Allie, talking past the Lore Warden. "It would have been interesting to have twins." She glances up at Ellie. "Although, I don't know if this one could have handled that," she can't resist adding with a grin. "I think her head would explode."
"That wouldn't be good." Allie agrees, shooting a look at Ellie under her lashes. "I like my Little One's blonde head the way it is. Easier when she's got plenty of hair to hold." She makes an exaggerated thinking pose for a moment. "But twins... that could be a lot of fun. Not necromancers though - that really wouldn't have worked. But... so many combinations. We should work on that in the future sis, find some willing playmates." She shoots another glance at Ellie, enjoying watching the blonde flush.
"I think Little One likes that idea..." Her hand slides down Ellie's back and squeezes. "What do you think Ellie? Can you imagine Gabbi and I playing with another set of twins?" She looks back to her sister with a wide smile. "I think we should tie her up first, so that she has to watch."
Ulrich orders the ogre to attack anyone that isn't them and to stand watch at the entrance to the tunnel. He goes over to the rest of the group and starts patching them up, changing bandages, sewing up wounds, etc. Even as they bicker and flirt, he just gets to work. Ulrich also checks in case any of them are suffering from a latent disease.
Kamosh sings softly while hopping and fluttering around the tunnels to collect bones of their fallen enemies. He organizes them into a spiral, and chants hymns of The Bone Lands in a Spiral.
You are able to fall back and rest again without anything interrupting you. The next day, you prepare for the final push against Valthazar and what remains of the Whispering Way's garrison.
------------------------------
Spells Prepared
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0th (at will) Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Read Magic, Resistance
1st
2nd
3rd dispel magic, haste
4th boneshatter
"I think Little One likes that idea..." Her hand slides down Ellie's back and squeezes. "What do you think Ellie? Can you imagine Gabbi and I playing with another set of twins?" She looks back to her sister with a wide smile. "I think we should tie her up first, so that she has to watch."
Gabbi looks thoughtful for a moment, tapping a fingertip on her bottom lip. "Are you ticklish at all?" she asks the Lore Warden. "No reason; Just curious."
Once Ulrich finishes tending to the group, Gabriella steps aside with him. "I'm sorry about what happened back there," she says nervously. "I don't want you to misunderstand. I don't make the rules. I don't like the rules. The Gray Lady makes the rules and she's an uncompromising b%&%$." She looks down. "I do like you, but ... she'll render judgement on me someday and with my ... nature, following the rules is the only way to try to balance the scales."
She steps up on her toes and gives the man a quick kiss.
"I'm sorry," she says and turns to return to her sister.
"That didn't stop you before." Ulrich replies coldly as Gabriella walks away.
Gabriella stops and turns back to face the doctor. "Didn't stop me from doing ... what?" she asks, her brow furrowing.
Alessandra, lurking nearby, straightens suddenly as Gabriella attempts to end the conversation and Ulrich snaps at her. She doesn't move but one eye locates Kamosh and then resettles on Ulrich, tension and anger obvious in her posture.
Kamosh, having an empathetic link with Ulrich, looks very upset. His feathers are all ruffled up, and he's hopping around anxiously.
"Do you think I can stand idly by while you frolic with Elly and Alessandra, while you openly flirt even in the middle of a fight, while you talk about recruiting even more people? We have something, and I will not be ignored!"
"Ulrich, stop!" Kamosh squawks out in the special language.
Gabriella takes a slow step back towards Ulrich. Her movements are careful and controlled. "You feel ignored, Ulrich?" she says stopping in front of him and looking up to meet his eyes.
"I've been training and studying Pharasma's edicts and strictures for over fifty years. To enforce her tenets in this world with lethal force - if needed - so that souls are judged properly in the next. I've read countless tomes, scrolls, screeds, essays ... Her requirements and expectations are written on my very bones. In all that, do you know how many exceptions She makes for a necromancer to practice their craft?" Her lips curl up into a sad smile and she shakes her head. "None."
Her face tips down to look at the ground. "So, yes, I have been ignoring you. It goes against my nature in more ways than one, but ..." She looks back up at him and her eyes glisten. "You're welcome."
She reaches up to touch his face, but pulls her hand back. "We need to rest," she says brusquely and turns away to return to her sister.
"Please forgive me," Gabbi whispers as she presses herself against him.
Ulrich's body twitches and spasms as he tries desperately to control his emotions. His jaw is clenched, his hands in fists, his cool blue eyes awash with sadness. When Gabriella turns away, he breathes a sharp, ragged breath.
Then he closes his eyes and exhales slowly, in a choked, but more controlled breath. Kamosh quietly sings a single, strangled note.
Ulrich wraps his arms around Gabriella's cool, naked body and kisses her firmly on the lips while grasping the back of her head. He's fully entranced in the moment, feeling, smelling, ravishing as much as he can. He pours as much passion into everything they do, love/envy/rage/frustration/desire/empathy, wanting both of them to be more than satisfied. When everything is done, he caresses her in his arms, and whispers sweet nothings in her ear.
Kamosh was filled with so many emotions, that he had to fly down the tunnel. Even far away, his chirps, songs, and random destruction can be heard.
Curled up on the other side of the room a pair of cold eyes watch stonily through the darkness while Ulrichs blankets heave as the beast with two backs forms and forms again. One hand rests gently in the blonde hair lying next to her but the eyes watch none-the-less as a sliver of magic keeps fatigue away and her anger hot.
Gabbi gives her sister a side-eye as they walk along in silence.
Gabriella will request a casting of her sister's spell for ammunition before they climb to the second floor.
----------
Allie takes the arrow from her sister and closes both of their hands over it as her magic takes effect.
"I love you Gabbi." She whispers, eyes full of emotion.
Gabbi pulls her sister ahead with her and continues the conversation in actual whispers, not wanting anything to be misunderstood.
Her hand reaches up to hold Allie's cheek. "You're a part of me. I'm a part of you. We're together to the very end - which will be a long time from now. Do you understand? My heart is right here." Her hand moves down from Allie's cheek to her chest.
Ellie looks at Alessandra doubtfully as the dhampir teasingly asks her about other "playmates". "I'm not sure, honestly. I mean, I - I like you, I really do, and you've shown me kindness and... well, more than kindness. If you know what I mean." She turns red, despite herself.
"So I'm, uh, grateful. Really grateful. But I, uh, that is, uh."
Ellie was trained as a Lore Warden: a meticulous, observant guardian. She has had access to some of the finest learning and heard many eloquent scholars debate one another - dispassion and calm logic would form part of her armoury, under normal circumstances. But her current emotional state means circumstances are far from normal. There's no easy way to say it. But it needs to be said.
"Your sister doesn't like me. I hadn't realised just how much she dislikes me. Which is fine, I'm a big girl. She's not the first person to dislike me and she won't be the last. But I'm not interested in doing, well, you know, with - with her if that's the case. And I know that however much you like me, there's no competition. If nothing else, you'll both outlive me by centuries. So I... I, uh, think it's time to stop getting between you two."
She does her best to meet Alessandra's gaze. "I'm sorry. I'm not, you know, ungrateful. And I hope we can - we can still be friends."
She does her best to meet Alessandra's gaze. "I'm sorry. I'm not, you know, ungrateful. And I hope we can - we can still be friends."
"Oh." The dhampir looks non-plussed for a second, but then a smile reappears on her face. "Friends. Of course Little One. Why wouldn't we be?"
Allie's lip trembles for a second and she grasps her sister's hand hard for a moment. "Until the very end." She echoes, trying her best to smile.
"How do I look?" She asks, "Ready to kick undead butt?"
"And take names!" Allie replies, as they rejoin the group.
"Sorry about that. Let's press on." She suggests. "We should double check the rooms we checked before and then go straight for the necromancer? Probably better to buff up and hit him quick and hard."
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Kamosh perches upon Ulrich's shoulder, with a minor groan as the older man deals with the heavier bird. In the unique language that the bonded pair have, Kamosh says
"I am glad that you have taken a liking to Gabriella."
This gives Ulrich pause, as he says "Why? You are never happy about what I do."
"That is mostly correct." Kamosh answers "Gabriella will put you in your place. She will teach you how important it is to renounce your... sacrilegious practices."
Ulrich says "I still have not animated the dead, Kamosh. I have committed no sacrilege."
"You and I both know that sacrilege has been committed, even without the animation spell." Kamosh retorts, while looking at the undead ogre that walks with them.
Ulrich tries to change the subject. "Are you not concerned that I will turn the holy Gabriella to the ways of forbidden knowledge?"
"Do not flatter yourself." Answers Kamosh. "No, I am not concerned. If she strays from her path, her sister will snap you like a twig, and I will help her. I cannot be the familiar of an irredeemable necromancer... which means there is still hope for you. But mark my words, Ulrich. If not only do you fail, but you also drag Gabriella with you, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you plummet to the furthest depths of Hell."
Ulrich clenches his jaw. He knows Kamosh can feel his fear and stress. "Pharasma saves her judgement until the soul returns to her. I expect you to do the same."
Alessandra comes back with Gabriella in that moment, so Ulrich says "Not to worry. I can get started."
He begins a spell by placing a hand on his third eye and running it down to his lips while chanting. Nothing seems to happen.
"I have a haste spell for everyone, but I think it would be best to save it until we know exactly when it is time to strike."
"Oh." The dhampir looks non-plussed for a second, but then a smile reappears on her face. "Friends. Of course Little One. Why wouldn't we be?"
Ellie smiles, hesitantly at first and then radiantly. "Oh good. I thought this was going to be, uh, really awkward."
She gives Alessandra a hug. "Thanks for everything." she whispers.