Has Merixia mentioned how much she hates fighting in close quarters? Because she does. She really, really does. At least the folks up front have realized that they need to get out of the way after they strike. The moment Elliot is out of the way, Merixia steps up to take a swing at the demon.
Jan fires his longbow again, and although the arrow looks as though it will hit the schir, the goat-headed demon ducks out of the way, behind the party members that stand between it and the archer.
Thesius swings his mace as swiftly and as strongly as he can, drawing upon that age-old connection he shares with Lady Luck herself. Unfortunately, it is not quite enough, as the demon catches his mace with the haft of its halberd, shoving it away.
Elliot carefully casts his spell, sending it along his sword, but the demon's guard remains strong as it deflects the attacks skillfully and with a bestial snort. With that he dodges out of the way, making the area clear for Azira and Merixia both.
The aasimar paladin moves in, Radiance glowing softly as she sends it gracefully forwards. However, the demon's own skill and agility win out, and the blows she lands are glancing at best.
Merixia advances as well, striking powerfully with her bastard sword, but still the demon remains largely unharmed, ducking and spinning its halberd to send the blows askew.
The injured schir growls, before rushing towards Merixia and past its comrade. However, its injuries slow it enough that she easily is able to take advantage of its attempt and attack outright. Although its magical aura keeps it from harm, it is forced to skid backwards and out of the doorway.
Determined to at least strike home slightly, it swings its halberd at her. The tiefling's armor protects her from most of the attacks, while she redirects the most threatening from her exposed areas with her buckler. Too late she realizes it is attempting to bring her guard away from its comrade's attacks, something it has succeeded in doing.
Its uninjured counterpart goes into a frenzied assault on the tiefling, swinging its weapon and horns at her in a whirlwind of motion. Still her guard holds, as she deflects and swats away the attacks with ease.
Unfazed by his second arrow's miss or by all the clashing, grunting and growling from ahead, Varel puts another arrow on the string and watches closely for a time when no person, armor or weapon is in the way of a patch of exposed fur.
Verene curls her hand as though the flick her wrist for the wand, but then seems to reconsider, and brings up her crossbow. Apart from when they caught Azira before she could react, the spite demons have struggled to inflict much harm. With all the blades and arrows coming their way, simple probability dictates her group will soon prevail. She will save the wand for when it seems like it could end a fight early, or their group is in dire straits and truly need every advantage. Like Varel, but less expertly, she waits for an opportune time and looses.
"Now in reverse," she whispers. "First Lady Irabeth, Merixia and Azira attack and step back, then Elliot and Thesius will have space to move in and attack if they choose."
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Varel's arrow lands on the demon this time, but it deflects off of the schir's tough hide. The beast barely seems to notice the attack, instead focusing on the threats before it.
Verene likewise fires her crossbow at the most opportune moment, but the crossbow bolt flies slightly wide, and the demon's protective magic stops it dead, dropping it to the ground nearby.
Irabeth grunts her affirmation, focusing her efforts on hitting the damned demon. Her blade is a blur of steel and magic, hungering for the demon's flesh. This time the blow hits true, cleaving through the demon's protective magics and slashing deep into its shoulder. It screeches in fury, staggering back and whirling on her, but Irabeth pulls back before it has the chance to respond.
"Got it." Merixia strikes out at the demon once more, silently praying for a hit this time. One strike only, then she steps back to let one of her comrades take her place.
Behind her, Lorn takes another shot at the demon, cold iron arrow arcing over Varel and Merixia's heads.
Azira scowls at the tedious approach to combat that the group has settled into and does her best to guide Radiance through the open doorway to slash the demon beyond it.
Her attitude improves slightly, however, when Radiance finds its mark. Then she steps back to make room for someone else to strike.
Elliot waits for his turn to join the shuffle again, grateful that Irabeth and Azira seemed to be making more progress than he was.
Doors. The true enemy to the good folk... or so it seemed.
Thesius steps in and attacks while Jan once more fires a cold iron arrow.
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Merixia attacks the demon before her, but the fury rising in her mind overwhelms her discipline for a moment, and she cannot manage to land an attack on the demon before her. With that she forces herself to pull back.
Azira proves more fortunate, as Radiance carves swiftly through the demon's magical protections, slashing its throat and leaving it staggered for a moment as it grabs at the wound, trying desperately to remain standing. Like Merixia, the paladin moves out of the way as quickly as she can, leaving room for her fellows.
Elliot moves quickly, taking advantage of Azira's attack. Radiant Eclipse is a blur of magic and might, and this time he manages to break through the demon's guard and even its magical defenses, cutting it lightly across the chest. It shrieks, hissing in irritation, but remains upright.
His second attack, however, has to deal with the now-prepared demon's guard, and though he pushes hard, this time he does not manage to strike home.
Fortunately, Hedge's arrow is more precise, and hits the demon in the eye. With a baleful howl, the demon collapses, bleeding out slowly and painfully.
Its companion bursts into a bubbling fit of laughter as it dissipates into black fire, vanishing from the room.
"What... was that?" Irabeth frowns in the direction of the disappeared demon. As she does so, though, she steps forwards and casually beheads the dying schir with a quick strike of her enchanted blade.
Azira wipes the demon’s blood from Radiance, then draws one of the healing potions she’d been given and slurps down its contents.
She takes a deep breath as the potion does it’s work and then she calls out to Barok, “thank you for standing watch. If you’d be so kind as to search the demon and this chamber, we’ll deal with this final creature, or creatures.”
Turning to her companions she continues, “The hallway around the next door is even more closed off than this was… why don’t you all position yourselves in this open area, where you can’t be seen from the last door and then I’ll go open it and bait the creature out here?”
As the first schir falls to the group's rotating tactics and the second vanishes, Verene blinks in sudden realization, then chuffs quietly to herself, privately satisfied that her advice, if not her spellcasting, had proven useful. "Well done," she says to the physical fighters, with a respectful nod to Hedge especially for striking the killing blow.
"What... was that?" Irabeth frowns in the direction of the disappeared demon.
"The second schir had been magically summoned by the first. It was not really 'here' in the strictest sense, and with the death of its summoner it dissipated, in just the same way a mage's summoned creature would."
Verene steps over the beheaded schir without looking at it to retrieve her missed durable bolt; and while she is in the room, collects the small stack of books that are all that remain intact amid the ashes of what must once have been a library. A less overwhelming version of the profound sorrow that gripped her upon seeing the charred rubble of the Blackwing makes her whispery voice harsh. "There must be some reason they did not destroy these too. They are important somehow. But examining them can wait until we have cleared this floor, I suppose."
She moves back out of the former library and offers the books to Merixia to add to her pack as she passes by on the way to placing herself as Azira requested. Varel searches the fallen schir and does likewise, shuffling around with the other First Children so that he is at Verene's back.
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Flicking the blood from Righteous Eclipse, the magus glances around, expecting another attack at any moment. When none seems to come despite the remaining demon prescence, he frowns. "I wonder why, if they have telepathy, not more of them have shown up. Or at least reacted to the fighting. All things considered, the resistance feels less than I expected it to be."
"Could they be setting another trap further on? Or are they weaker, or less organised at least, than we assumed?" he wonders. "Perhaps their success has made them careless..."
“The hallway around the next door is even more closed off than this was… why don’t you all position yourselves in this open area, where you can’t be seen from the last door and then I’ll go open it and bait the creature out here?”
He looks up from his inner musings up with a start. "A-ah, right! Of course. Just... be careful, okay? I know you're strong, but you don't have to be bait alone," Elliot asks his fellow aasimar, wincing as he remembers her getting hit very hard with the bardiche mere moments ago. Still, as requested, he hangs back in the room for her to lure out the next target to them.
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Merixia sighs, obviously frustrated. "Ugh. I obviously need to step up my weapons training. And my spellcraft, and my medicine, and my knowledge of fiends, and of demon cults..." Her tail lashes back and forth like that of an agitated cat. She has to be better than this. She has to. The alternative, to see others get hurt or even die because of her incompetence, is completely unacceptable.
At least she can carry the surviving books for Verene. The cleric sheathes her sword and swings her backpack onto the ground so that she can pack the books with care. It wouldn't do to damage them any more than they already are. And she needs to make sure her healer's kit is on top of everything else. "Anyone need a healing spell or two before we fight again?"
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"Merixia, you have been invaluable on this raid so far," Azira replies firmly. Then she adds much less firmly, "if anyone needs to step up their weapon training, it's me..."
When the cleric offers more healing, she sighs and answers, "I'd be lying if I pretended I couldn't benefit from more healing... but save your magic and use it to other ends; I'll just use another one of these potions."
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"We each have our strengths and even the strong fail from time to time. Let us take what we have accomplished in stride along side the struggle. We've made great headway and can continue to do so," he offers to the group in an attempt to alleviate the tension.
"I wonder why, if they have telepathy, not more of them have shown up. Or at least reacted to the fighting. All things considered, the resistance feels less than I expected it to be."
"I have been wondering the same since we came in the front door, after an extremely unsubtle battle with two telepathic guards, and did not find the entire remaining force of the garrison waiting for us. Are the demons and their allies preparing some terrible trap? Or are they just as leaderless and uncoordinated as they seem? Demons are known for being disorganized and anarchic, but this is... extreme."
Merixia sighs, obviously frustrated. "Ugh. I obviously need to step up my weapons training. And my spellcraft, and my medicine, and my knowledge of fiends, and of demon cults..." Her tail lashes back and forth like that of an agitated cat. She has to be better than this. She has to. The alternative, to see others get hurt or even die because of her incompetence, is completely unacceptable.
At least she can carry the surviving books for Verene. The cleric sheathes her sword and swings her backpack onto the ground so that she can pack the books with care. It wouldn't do to damage them any more than they already are. And she needs to make sure her healer's kit is on top of everything else. "Anyone need a healing spell or two before we fight again?"
"Merixia, you have been invaluable on this raid so far," Azira replies firmly. Then she adds much less firmly, "If anyone needs to step up their weapon training, it's me..."
"We each have our strengths and even the strong fail from time to time. Let us take what we have accomplished in stride along side the struggle. We've made great headway and can continue to do so."
"I also don't need healing, but thank you." Verene nods gratefully to Merixia for taking the books and packing them away with care. She waits for Thesius to finish speaking and then agrees in a practical tone: "Just so. You don't have to hit every time or kill every demon yourself to be effective. It is a group effort, and you both have been indispensable to the group doing things today that I would not have thought possible yesterday."
Azira forces a smile and thanks Verene for her kind words as she moves into the position Barok vacated in order to search the previous room. Once she arrives at the door, she begins to focus on sensing the evil beyond it, hoping to discern how many creatures there are and where they are located.
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The Children do not discover much of interest - only the demon's befouled halberd, which may yet carry the diseases that the schir's weapons are known for. None of the Children are eager to take it up.
A quick glance at the books reveals that they are made up of tomes on history, geography, and tactics, but the group hastens to move forwards. At Verene's explanation, Irabeth nods briefly. "Good. I don't like to imagine how much more that one would've taken if we'd needed to kill it, too." She shakes her head briefly.
"I'm mostly intact." The paladin says quickly. "If I need healing in battle, I'll be able to do it myself, and I wouldn't have you waste spells or healing on me for these light injuries."
"It was a difficult battle for all of us, but that was in part due to the surroundings. If our next foes do not have any ranged abilities, we should lure them into a more open area." She adds thoughtfully.
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Azira furrows her brow and calls Verene as quietly as she can. “I don’t detect any evil auras behind the door…” she explains. “Do you still detect a fiendish taint in there? And, if you do, what would that mean- a tiefling that’s aligned with the demons but somehow not actually evil itself?”
could someone possibly be aligned with the demons and not be evil…
“Or, maybe one that’s been magically forced to help?”
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Verene listens to Azira's whisper through the message spell, then with a muttered word and gesture evokes the fiend-detecting cantrip. She picks her way quietly over to Azira and concentrates on extending those senses through the door for a few seconds.
"There may be a more mundane explanation too," she whispers as she goes. "For instance, if what I sensed is moving around inside and currently blocked by another interior stone wall, or has dissipated or left the building entirely. If I do still sense it, it could be something touched by the Abyss but not so powerful a creature that it registers at all to you*."
If she still feels that jangling fiendish presence, this time she 'listens' for longer — enough to pick out the location, number and power of the aura(s) — and reports what she finds.
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"It could be that they used a spell to conceal their alignment. Such things exist," Elliot adds. "But if that isn't the case... could there be such a thing as a demon that is not actually evil? A prisoner of the demons, perhaps?" He wonders at this rather strange revelation, glancing between his sister and the others.
In his estimation, there would have been no way for whatever was inside to not have heard the sounds of all three fights in the hallway and adjacent rooms right outside. At the very least, it was already aware of their presence. Yet, it had for some reason deliberately not fought them yet?
Curious, he steps forward and simply calls out towards the door in common while Verene tried pinpointing the specifics. "Hello? I'm Elliot, a... swordsman of Kenabres. We can sense your presence behind this door. Who are you, and why didn't you join the other demons in the fighting outside?"
"Merixia, you have been invaluable on this raid so far," Azira replies firmly. Then she adds much less firmly, "If anyone needs to step up their weapon training, it's me...""We each have our strengths and even the strong fail from time to time. Let us take what we have accomplished in stride along side the struggle. We've made great headway and can continue to do so.""I also don't need healing, but thank you." Verene nods gratefully to Merixia for taking the books and packing them away with care. She waits for Thesius to finish speaking and then agrees in a practical tone: "Just so. You don't have to hit every time or kill every demon yourself to be effective. It is a group effort, and you both have been indispensable to the group doing things today that I would not have thought possible yesterday."
"Thanks, everyone." Merixia still feels like she hasn't done enough, but at least nobody else seems to feel that way. "Save your potion, Azira. I have a healing wand that's almost fully charged." She pulls the wand out of her pocket and touches it to the aasimar's shoulder.
Healing finished, she puts the wand away and draws her sword once more, moving to the spot Azira indicated earlier. Merixia is all in favor of drawing their enemy out to a more open area.
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"Still there," Verene whispers to everyone almost immediately upon reaching the door. Then after a little while longer: "More than one aura, but none is terribly strong. Four of them... I think. They keep moving around, so it is a little difficult to be precise."
"It could be that they used a spell to conceal their alignment. Such things exist," Elliot adds. "But if that isn't the case... could there be such a thing as a demon that is not actually evil? A prisoner of the demons, perhaps?"
Verene thinks about Elliot's questions while examining the door but does not respond right away. A non-evil fiend? It seems a contradiction in terms. Has such a creature ever existed? That there are rare fallen angels does not necessarily imply the reverse: evil is the easier path, and good the harder one. Even Ragathiel was never himself counted a devil, though his father was Dispater; he struggled to prove himself to Heaven from the beginning. Even peris are the children of fallen angels, not those fallen angels themselves.
Irabeth rubs her chin. "We should be prepared, then, for at least four attackers... but we should also be willing to put up our blades if they are willing to talk." She glances at the door, her eyes glowing silver for a moment. "But was the peryton a demon? It might be that what we're facing is something corrupted by the Abyss, but not of the Abyss."
Turning to the others, she speaks firmly. "This time, we should try luring them out into the hallway. This room," she gestures at the doorway, "is about as big as the last, and if they try to stand in the doorway, we'll only be able to meet them one on one, which is..." She waves her hand at the fallen demon in the library.
"Agreed," Azira answers. "Once everyone's in position, I'll open the door and try to draw them back to the open landing. We can offer them a chance to surrender if they're intelligent, or we can fight them there."
The paladin waits for everyone to clear the narrow hallway then opens the door.
Irabeth rubs her chin. "We should be prepared, then, for at least four attackers... but we should also be willing to put up our blades if they are willing to talk." She glances at the door, her eyes glowing silver for a moment. "But was the peryton a demon? It might be that what we're facing is something corrupted by the Abyss, but not of the Abyss."
"That seems likeliest to me too. And chances are that such Abyss-twisted creatures, especially if they started life as animals, would not be interested in or capable of negotiating, and would simply need to be put down. Not to disregard your idea about a potentially non-evil fiend, Elliot — I just have never heard of such a thing, even in a general way. But then I am no Sarenite, of course."
Turning to the others, she speaks firmly. "This time, we should try luring them out into the hallway. This room," she gestures at the doorway, "is about as big as the last, and if they try to stand in the doorway, we'll only be able to meet them one on one, which is..." She waves her hand at the fallen demon in the library.
"Right." Verene returns to her former position and waits with her crossbow ready.
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When there seems to be no response to his inquiery to the creatures on the other side, Elliot nods to his sister. "Now that you mention it... I remember how Master Aravashnial sometimes spoke of the Tanglebriar, and how Treerazor corrupted innocent plants and animals alike into fiendish versions of themselves. This could be such an occasion, though I wouldn't know what kind of animals these would be, which ones demons would keep in a seperate room like this and for what reason. It feels a bit odd."
"But then I am no Sarenite, of course."
"Not a bad idea. Maybe I should ask what is left of the Church of Sarenrae about such stories, indeed. A non-evil demon... that would be both amazing for us and terrifying for them. The inverse of Falling, a living threat to their nature..."
He ponders potential implcations as he falls back as requested, then waits for Azira or whomever to open the door and fall back as the bait, which seemed to be the plan.
"I thought fiendish animals were still evil, though?" Merixia frowns, thinking. "Verene could be sensing tieflings who aren't divine spellcasters but still serve the demons. If I remember correctly, most mortals don't have a detectable aura of good or evil unless they're connected to a divine power in some way. Cleric, paladin, whatever the evil equivalent of a paladin is. That sort of thing. Although I think 'strong souls', whatever that's supposed to mean, can have an aura regardless." She shrugs with a faint clink of armor. "It's been a while since I read this stuff."
Thesius listens intently to the group, taking in their thoughts and opinions. Readying himself for the worst, he takes a combative stance with the heavy mce in hand.
"It would seem opening the door will reveal the truth. I still have some fight in me today, so I am ready when you are."
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Once everyone is prepared, Azira throws open the doors, revealing what was probably once an aerie. Several stacked horizontal shelves hold a number of straw-lined bird cages, and writing materials sit on a nearby table.
More alarmingly, there are four horrific monstrosities who have taken up residence in the room. They look somewhat like the giant flies that the party faced beneath Kenabres, but rather than gossamer wings, they have batlike leather that still buzz unnervingly as they flutter them. Compound eyes sit deep set in all-too-human faces, for all that they are covered in chitin. Fangs drip some foul fluid from their demonic maws. One speaks in a harsh, buzzing voice.
They, like the tieflings, are able to conjure darkness - not that it will pose a problem for the party - but are also able to unleash blasts of acid from their mouths.
The creatures swarm forwards, flying past Azira and obligingly into the hallway. Two focus on the paladin, while the other two buzz onwards. The first snap rips through her shoulder, while the second's tears into her leg.
The leading fly soars over the heads of Irabeth and the two children to turn about and unleash a hissing breath of horrid green fog. Though most of the heroes are able to avoid the worst of it, all of them feel the sizzle of acid on their skin. Despite catching it full on, Elliot's celestial heritage pulls through, and he only barely feels the sting.
The final giant fly lunges at Thesius, horrific laughter echoing from its maw. It rips through his armor, tearing his flesh, and he feels the burn of its filthy spittle in his veins, but his magically enhanced system fights it off.
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Suddenly confronted with a buzzing monstrosity, Thesius throws up his buckler in time to catch it's attack. A whisper escapes his lips to Desna as he takes in the features of the beasts, his eyes stinging from the fog. "What in the world..."
"Beware their bite, they carry disease. Cold iron will help break through their resistance. Acid and electricity are useless, while they are resistant to cold and fire," he communicates to his comrades as he lashes out at the beast in front of him with the cold iron heavy mace.
Jan, upon being presented with a creature in his face, steps to the side of the monster to allow more of his companions a clear line of attack on it before dropping his bow and pulling forth his newly acquired cold iron longsword. Quickly taking the hilt in both hands, he lashed out at the beast.
"Blast! Not quite what I was hoping for." Elliot growls, as he quickly wipes the biting acid from his face. He brandishes Righteous eclipse and joins Thesius in the assault on the Bleached white insect, hoping to get to Azira quickly enough. It seemed she was having a rather rough day.
"Should I have insisted to open it instead, to keep her safe?" he wonders.
Thesius quickly identifies the strange giant flies, before swinging heavily with his mace. Unfortunately, the fly's chitinous shell deflects the majority of the blow's force. Meanwhile, his ally, Jan, grabs hold of the sword in two hands, and strikes a mighty blow against the fly, cleaving one wing clean off and knocking it to the ground, where it begins bleeding horribly.
Elliot joins in the assault on Thesius' target, his blade lashing out in a blur of black metal. Unfortunately, he proves no more effective in his attacks, as the giant fly buzzes and hums around the attacks, though a few are close enough to scratch its chitin.
His archer companion, however, proves more effective, firing an arrow at the fly which takes it in the wing. The projectile pierces through its leathery flesh, but it seems little more than a nuisance to the demonic fly.
Irabeth takes a step forwards, swinging her longsword with expert power and skill. "Elliot, go help Azira! We'll handle this one!" Despite her command, her own attacks are just as effective as the two men's - which is to say, not terribly.
The demonic giant fly cackles, buzzing about gleefully.
Verene is stunned by the speed of the oversized bat-winged flies, which just like their smaller mundane counterparts zip erratically around in flight. Somehow, a human-like face on an animal's body is so much worse than the First Children's addition of nonhuman features to clearly human ancestry that it makes them seem positively tame and cuddly by comparison; but she could probably become accustomed even to these creatures' nightmarish appearances, if it were not for their twisted glee at the prospect of eating other intelligent beings. She turns her head to the side and closes her eyes just in time to avoid taking the full brunt of the demonic vermin's acidic breath to the face, though she still feels it sizzling slightly at the base of her horns. Scaly lips peel back from her sharp teeth in disgust. Fortunately, Jan makes the problem of that fly moot with one mighty slash, and then battle clarity kicks in.
"We must also help Azira if we can," she urges Varel. Thesius, Elliot and Irabeth will surely be a match for the one fly visible from here, but the buzzing is still loud from around the corner. Varel nods and swiftly moves to the northwest corner of the room, where he nocks an arrow and waits for the right moment to attempt the difficult task of sending it past both Thesius and the injured fly toward the one biting at Azira. Verene, who knows she is the worse shot, instead sidles a bit to her right and tries to put a cold iron bolt to match Hedge's arrow in the cackling fly which has thus far dodged its closer attackers — without hitting Irabeth in the back.
Azira’s breath catches in her throat as the flies swarm towards—and past—her. For a moment she’s convinced that both of the ones that stopped to attack her have succeed, but she breathes a sigh of relief with the realization that, by the slimmest margin, both have missed. Hoping that the Inheritor’s favor extends further than that safety, she sinks into her fighting stance and gracefully slashes at the fly directly in front of her with Radiance .
Pleased to have an opportunity to do something more than stand guard, Barok knocks one of his cold-iron arrows and fires at the fly that’s managed to position itself right in front of the door.
Giant demonic flies would be bad enough, but giant demonic flies with human faces? That's just wrong. Merixia clenches her teeth in frustration as she realizes that yet again, she can't get to the enemy. Not without exposing herself to attack as she tries to squeeze past Irabeth and Thesius, anyway. "Back up, people! Get it away from the wall!"
At least she has a few spells left, and these enemies look nimble enough to make that worthwhile. The cleric chants a short phrase in archaic Celestial, invoking Ragathiel's blessing on the group.
Lorn isn't as limited by the tight quarters as the melee fighters are. She nocks a cold iron arrow to her bow and lets fly at the closest enemy.
Verene urges her Child companion to aid Azira, and though Varel gives a valiant effort, his shot sparks off of the ceiling rather than striking his demonic foe. Verene's shot is slightly more accurate, but the fly buzzes around, using her companions as cover, and manages to avoid the primary thrust of her bolt.
Radiance flows with speed and unerring accuracy as Azira lashes out and cuts deep into two of the fly's legs. Ichor sprays from the wound, and they flop uselessly about, the demonic vermin wailing in agony. Barok fires his bow at the already-hurt fly before him, scoring a glancing hit that lodges in its flank.
Merixia shouts a quick command to her fellows before invoking a spell. The power of the General of Heaven bursts out from her, empowering and enriching her allies.
Lorn, meanwhile, fires over Elliot's head and tears out a chunk of one of the demonic fly's wings with her attack, sending it spinning for a moment before it stabilizes. It hisses, but remains upright.
Azira's injured foe , lunges forwards, its foul fangs gnashing at her once again. With quick and practiced movements, she attempts to deflect it and set up for an attack, but although she is able to easily redirect its horrible maw, she is unable to properly line it up for a riposte.
The other fly buzzes forwards, attempting to avoid leaving itself open to Azira, but her display of prowess has left Radiance just far enough away that it wouldn't be feasible to begin with. Bypassing her and its comrade, it unleashes a horrible fog of acid at Thesius and Varel. Both manage to avoid the worst of the searing smog, but still feel their skin burn and sear beneath its caustic might.
Its comrade disregards the searing fog and instead attempts to take advantage of Thesius' injury to attack him in turn. However, the dissipating breath prevents it from even getting close to the archeologist's vulnerable form.
Thesius lashes out once more before falling back a step to give the others room to attack.
Jan on the other hand once more swaps his weapons and turn to fire at the beast blocking the hallway with a cold iron arrow.
"Damn, this acid stings more than I thought it would!"
Gritting his teeth, and realising now that frogs apparently *did* have teeth, he channels some power into eclipse and joins Thesius in his assault!
Meanwhile, Hedhe fires at his target, doing her best to hit it through the mass of allies in her way.
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Thesius attacks the demonic giant fly, smashing at it with his mace, and although the creature's carapace is dented, it doesn't seem to have been overly hurt. As he steps out of the way, Jan fires at the same creature, though his shot goes wide. Had Thesius not stepped out of the way, it might well have hit him!
Elliot invokes the power within him, and Righteous Eclipse begins to glow gold with a corona of magical power. The frog-shaped aasimar chants a quick spell, but loses hold of the magic, and is forced to strike without the spell's power. Nevertheless, the blow he lands is mighty, and it tears off the fly's wing and two of its legs before cutting deep into its thorax. The demonic vermin falls limply to the ground.
Hedge steps forwards and tries for a shot at the least injured giant fly, but the arrow strikes the wall instead, sparking and clattering to the ground.
"For the Inheritor!" Irabeth steps into the doorway, kicking aside the fallen fly as she does so, and attacks the fly with her longsword. Iomedae finally favors her hand, as she strikes home into the demonic vermin, cleaving a chunk of chitin from its head.
Varel stoically ignores the sizzle of the few drops of acidic fog that landed on his fur despite his best efforts as he draws again and tries to send an arrow arcing high over Irabeth and her opponent into the fly attacking Azira. He then moves out of the corner to give someone else eyeline to the vermin. Verene moves up right behind Irabeth and tries to do the same, with much less success.
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Azira grits her teeth and tries not to dwell on how clumsy her attacks feel. Instead she focuses on the task at hand and brings Radiance back around for another slash.
dance with me, sacred blade… I don’t know if I’m leading too strongly or not strongly enough, but I know we must dance to the same tune if we’re going to vanquish the demon hordes…
In the next room over, Barok takes a step to his left and takes aim at the demon-fly he can see through the doorway. He hesitates for a moment to try to time his shot to Irabeth’s movement, then takes a deep breath and looses an arrow.
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...And, of course, Thesius is the only one who listened. Looks like Merixia will be doing this the hard way. With a silent prayer to Ragathiel, she squeezes past Elliot and Irabeth into the doorway, where she can strike at the demonic fly. "DIE!"
Encouraged by her success and Merixia's blessing, Lorn takes another shot at the enemy.
Varel fires his bow at the farther fly from him, but the ceiling and the intervening bodies prevent it from landing - it clatters off the upper corner of the hallway, above Azira's head. He then shuffles out of the way, letting Verene try her own luck, but she has to rapidly adjust her aim to fire it into the doorframe rather than risk hitting her allies.
Radiance gleams in the light of Righteous Eclipse's glow as it slashes messily through the fly's skull. Ichor erupts from the wound, splattering over Azira and the walls around her. Another fly has fallen. Barok fires his own shot at the remaining fly, which pierces one of its wings and knocks it off-balance.
Merixia's fury erupts in power as she takes advantage of the fly's lowered guard. With a mighty blow she cleaves the final fly from the air, nearly bisecting it with her bastard sword.
Irabeth moves to finish off those flies that are yet bleeding out. She spits, looking disgusted with herself. "Well done, all. That just leaves the last door... and whatever's in there." She points at the doorway to the aerie with her blade.
"Actually, there's a another small chamber in here," Azira calls out as she checks the room the flies had been in. Moving over to the door, she checks it to see if it's locked.
"Score another one for Ragathiel," Elliot grins as Merixia executes the last one, then pulls his sword out of the other fly's remains. "Time to look around then, yeah?"
He decides to stay near Irabeth, dividing his attention between Azira searching the small room to the west and observing the as yet unopened door near the hallway. As he does, he touches his face, painfully aware of the caustic acid he'd just been sprayed with. Hopefully that wouldn't leave some kind of disfuguring scar.
"You all made short work of those," Verene approves. "They didn't seem very effective at close range, but that acid fog was nasty." She looks worriedly at Elliot, Thesius, and Varel, who seem worst off, and offers one of the light green healing potions from her bandolier to Varel. Elliot and Thesius, she knows, have plenty of healing available to them. The fluid seems to have become inert now, but she uses one sleeve to scrub the last traces of it off her head, where it has left deep pockmarks in the scales at the base of her horns.
Varel shakes his head silently and points at one of two vials on his own belt that is a deep blood-red. He draws it, but before he can use it, they hear Azira's call about another door and Verene trots over past the ichor-draining corpses of the demonic flies to back her up if necessary. Varel quickly follows, not wanting his charge to be left alone if there should be another hostile creature in the new room.
Not wanting to bother any of the healers for their dwindling healing reserves, Elliot instead drinks one of the healing potions in the moment of respite.