Gabbi holds the holy symbol up as if to examine it. She frowns as she looks at it and then at the tree it was hanging in. After considering it for a bit, she walks over to the tree and hangs it back up.
"Let's go," she says without another comment.
Amnayel watche the dhampir hang the holy symbol back on the tree, nodding in approval. As they walk she turns to her and says "Gabriella, you are an excellent marksman. I envy your work with the bow and can only hope further study your hands to better understand how you manipulate it with such skill."
You press on through the alien overgrowth for another few miles, hacking a path. Eventually, you come upon another site of interest.
Twisting, vibrant orchid vines—flowering in every color—creep up the remains of an ancient tower, now held together by the greenery threatening to overtake it. A small, warm campfire burns in a remarkably well-preserved room at the tower’s base, filling the air with the smell of roasting meats and spices.
"There is no way that's normal." Aliie says, eyeing the bizarre soght with immense suspicion. "I say we go around. Far around."
"Trouble is afoot. Hold." the paladin says, scanning the area for evil.
Amnayel doesn't detect any evil auras. As she looks closer, she sees the walls are covered with purple, silk curtains, and a pair of beautiful swans are kissing by the campfire. Are they signs of Arshea's favor?
No, they're not. That's just bizarre.
"This is not normal. Prepare yourselves." she announces, drawing her blade and moving ahead to get a closer look.
As you move closer, more fanciful details appear in the room. Surgical tools hang from the ceiling like wind chimes, while a fragrant stew of blood and whippoorwills bubbles on the campfire.
Having seen through the illusion, Amnayel can tell that the room is actually just a chamber of bare stone. The air swirls with sickly-sweet pollen, filling you with mild feelings of euphoria.
Suddenly, a long, sticky tongue shoots out from the empty air along the tower wall, snaring Amnayel and yanking her off of her feet. The air ripples as the hazy and indistinct form of a titanic, multicolored reptile appears! Twisting viens and vibrant flowers grow from its back as it draws Amnayel towards its mouth!
When Amneyla compliments her skill with a bow, Gabbi doesn't reply, but narrows her eyes as if seeking any subterfuge. Her eyes flick to Allie for a moment and then back.
"I have no idea what that thing is," she says as she draws her bow and attempts to draw a bead on it.
"No! Don't!" Allie says, just too late.
"Furcifer!" Ulrich yells
"They're surprisingly nimble, and displace themselves magically. Use cold spells if you have them, but beware its evasion."
Ulrich designates a spell for Kamosh to deliver: Bestow Curse
Kamosh flies over to peck the lizard
"Gah! Foul thing! Release me this instant!" Amnayel protests, drawing her longsword and swinging into the creature's tongue.
Kamosh misses due to the wavering spores, as does Gabbi. Amnayel’s blow lands, though it is short of a critical hit. The furicifer chomps down on the paladin and swallows her in one big gulp, once more sending the paladin into the stomach of a monstrous beast!
"I'm beginning to think that she enjoys doing that," Gabbi says with a shake of her head as she pauses to watch the paladin descend into another beast's gullet.
Amnayel groans as she is swallowed gain by some creature.
Seriously!?
She tries to retaliate inside and cut her way free with her dagger, but it's quite cramped and ineffective.
Kamosh flaps back 5ft
Ulrich goes over to Gabriella and casts Magic Weapon, Greater on her quiver.
"If this gets you as well I'm sorry Amny." Allie murmurs to herself, before smiting the creature with a massive column of fire.
The enormous reptile resists Kamosh’s curse and completely avoids Allie’s flame strike! Amanayel slices at the inside of the furcifer but isn’t able to cut herself free yet. Gabbi manages only a single hit on the displaced beast.
The furcifer’s tongue shoots out and attaches to Gabby, yanking her towards its waiting mouth. It bites, claws, and slaps her with its tail. The creature’s stomach continues to crush Amnayel.
"This is getting annoying!" Allie growls, swelling up to ten feet tall.
Ulrich has Kamosh swing around for another go, imbuing a new spell to deliver. Aiming for the tongue between Gabriella and the Fercifer, Ulrich hopes to wither it to nothing.
Gabbi squirms as the creature's tongue wraps around her, but she remains held fast.
Amnayel feels the heat and fire and groans loudly, but knows that it is likely sourced from her allies trying to free her. She hacks away at the inside of the creature with her dagger, trying to once more free herself.
The furcifer resits Ulrich's spell again. Allie swells to enormous size while Gabbi struggles in vain to escape the monster's clutches. Amnayel manages to hack her way out of the creature's stomach, falling out onto the floor amid wash of blood and bile. Muscular action seals the hole back up
Elka scores one critical hit on the monster, striking it despite its concealing pollen.
The beast pulls Gabbi into its waiting maw, crunching down on her before sending her down to its gullet to replace the escaped paladin as its dinner!
Kamosh flies out of the way as Ulrich conjures a cone of cold with his staff.
Familiar with the life energy that surrounds Gabriella, she feels a tremendous pull on her that would likely kill her and instinctively she reaches out and establishes the link between their bodies and transfers the damage to herself.
Her last slice cuts her free and she staggers out of the creature and looks for Gabriella "Gabriella, are you-" she starts, but cannot find her. "Where is Gabriella?!" she asks, afraid that she now knows the answer.
"RELEASE HER OR I WILL!" she commands to the creature, dropping her dagger and putting both hands back on her large falchion, swinging into it and trying to cut Gabs free.
Allie, now much larger, advances on the toad thing and attempts to run it through with her very large spear.
Struggling within the foul creature, Gabbi pulls her enchanted dagger from her belt and lays about her.
The monster narrowly avoids the cone of cold, but Gabbi slices its insides and Allie lands a hit with her spear. Amnayel delivers a critical strike, slicing open the furcifer’s belly! The reptile groans and collapses, and Gabbinis able to wriggle out of its sundered corpse!
Gabbi stands dripping with foulness and looks over at the paladin that is in a similar state.
"Well, don't we just make a wonderful pair," she states before turning to her sister. "Do you see anything else that's an immediate threat? Because, if not, I am not taking another step until I can get cleaned up. Ulrich? Do you have magic to do that sort of thing?"
"Glad to be of use." Ulrich says as he snaps his fingers to remove the yuck and filth from their clothing. He keeps the lingering scent of blood around for Gabriella.
Amnayel tries to make a joke and says "If I didn't know any better Gabriella, I would say that you should not do as I do."
Amnayel sighs with relief and turns to Ulrich to thank him. She only twice twice before turning to Gabriella, "Excellent suggestion, thank you for that."
She reaches out and places her hand on Gabriella and looks her up and down "I'm glad you did not die this day." before turning to Allie, "I did not mind if you burned it, I survived."
After briefly looking around she asks "Shall we press onward or does someone need a rest?"
"Glad to be of use." Ulrich says as he snaps his fingers to remove the yuck and filth from their clothing. He keeps the lingering scent of blood around for Gabriella.
"Thank you, Ulrich," she says with more emotion than she probably should.
She reaches out and places her hand on Gabriella and looks her up and down "I'm glad you did not die this day." before turning to Allie, "I did not mind if you burned it, I survived."
"This might come as a surprise, but I'm glad I didn't die today as well," Gabbi says with a perfectly straight face before turning her eye to her sister.
"This is as good a place for a rest as any," Gabbi says, looking around at the structure.
Though the tower room is mostly bare, you do find a rusted iron chest plainly marked with the heraldry of Taldor--a relic of the Shining Crusade. The chest contains 2,892 gp, a sturdy, wax-sealed jar containing 5,000 gp of diamond dust, six potions of cure serious wounds, two potions of remove curse, and a single fire elemental gem.
You hole up in the tower and rest overnight, then you continue making your way through the cloying jungle. After a few hours, you see a fearsome sight indeed. An undead knight sits astride a spectral hippogriff. The knight's skin is covered with innumerable scars from claw and beak and her cheeks are etched with tear-tracks as though from acid, but she bears a fierce and wild grin. Behind her fly three feminine monstrosities of ectoplasmic flesh, each one bearing horns and a tremendous scythelike claw.
"There you are!" the knight shrieks. "The new dalliances of the Harlot Queen! Give up the murdered carcass of Lastwall! She belongs to Geb!" She spurs her hippogriff forward!
Allie claims the diamond dust and raises an eyebrow at anyone who dares object - since its a vital component in many divine healing spells...
"Shoot it down would you sis?" Allie asks, "Maybe she'll shut up if she goes head first into the ground!"
"I do not know what that is, but I shall meet it head on and dislodge it from the sky!" Amnayel proclaims boldly as she unfurls her wings and leaps up into the sky with her blade in her hand.
Gabbi smirks back at her sister.
Her expression grows more serious.
~~~~~~
Not deigning to reply to the taunt, Gabbi quickly begins expounding on the traits of the different creatures they're facing - sounding for all the world like someone reciting from a book. "The woman is a graveknight. She is immune to acid, cold, and electricity and has spell resistance. Her aura makes it difficult to manifest positive energy around her. She will rejuvenate unless her armor is completely destroyed. The three creatures are undead known as daughters of Urgathoa. They resist fire, can cast divine spells, and they spread disease with their attacks."
Once she does that, she casts a spell and readies her weapon.
"I do wear them very well." Allie says, a comment that makes no sense to anyone except her sister.
--------------
Seeing the undead Allie makes a face and casts exactly the same spell as her sister.
"I've been told that your nightly devotions are quite stimulating," she says. "I'm curious as to how you proceed. Would you be willing to demonstrate for a layperson?" She grins and bites her lip.
Ulrich says he may want to take some of the diamond dust in the future. Some arcane spells require it as a material component. For now, it isn't important to him.
------------------------------
Spells Prepared
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0th (at will) Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mending, Prestidigitation
1st dancing lantern, vanish, chill touch, feather fall, repair undead, enlarge person
2nd blood transcription, false life, boneshaker, command undead, glitterdust (2slot)
3rd vampiric touch, gaseous form, fireball(2slot), magic weapon Greater, halt undead
4th dimension door (2slot), boneshatter, bestow curse, positive pulse (greater)
5th telekinesis x2, life bubble, suffocation
6th dispel magic (greater), wither limb
Ulrich summons a ball of light in the middle of the undead, and detonates it with positive energy.
As Gabbi infuses herself with divine power, Ulrich conjures a pulse of positive energy in the midst of the undead. Most of them resist, but one of the daughters of Urgathoa is battered by the blast.
Amnayel rises up to challenge the graveknight, and she smirks as she declares her own challenge. "It's been a while since I killed a paladin!" she laughs, spurring her mount forward as she charges! Her battleaxe chops into Amnayel's side, and she hooks the hilt against the paladin's sword and disarms her!
The daughters of Urgathoa use their magic to conjure spiritual scythes that attack Ulrich!
Allie casts her own spell of divine power.
Gabbi targets the knight and lets her arrows fly.
Ulrich's false life spell absorbs most of the damage. He takes a step back, then puts a hand forward and yells "Halt!"
Looking at Gabbi specifically, she adds "There is a connection here, I do not know if you can feel it. But I think that it is not coincidence we stand face to face to discuss this now now. Allow me to praise you and pay tribute to the true nature of of your radiant beauty."
Amnayel drags her hand down her torso and heals all of the damage done to her by the for who proclaims her death. "I regret to inform you that your paladin-killing days are behind you. While you waste time with me, my allies will riddle your body with arrows and spells. Prepare to fall and meet your fate!"
She draws her longsword and attempts to cut the knight down.
Since the daughters remain obligingly close together, Allie hammers them all with a burst of radiant fire.
All three daughters of Urgathoa succumb to Ulrich’s spell, seizing up. The grave knight parries Amnayel’s Strike, but Gabbi scores numerous hits with her arrows. The grave knight is badly wounded, but that doesn’t stop her from unleashing her fury on Amnayel.
One of the daughters break free of Ulrich’s spell while the others remain paralyzed.
Realizing her spell would break the paralysis, Allie redirects the flame strike to the grave knight. She shrieks in agony as the fire consumes her. The spectral hippogriff vanishes, and the knight’s corpse crashes to the ground.
Turning her attention to the other undead (paralysis spell or no), Gabbi begins directing arrows towards them.
Amnayel's breath is taken away as she is very nearly cut down by the battleaxe. She touches herself and restores some of the damage done, but hardly enough to recoup what was just done to her.
She holds firm however and gasps out "I. SAID. FALL!" and swings her blade powerfully into the knight.