Lope grits his teeth as the Duchess' attack hits home, wincing as he feels the rapier's bite "We did dance, Duchess, but I never imagined it would come to this!" he retorts, deflecting her blade as best as he can.
With a burst of resolve, he channels his magic through his blade into an arcane riving strike "Let's end this before anyone else gets hurt!"
With a bolt ready to fire Valeria lined up her shot and pulled the trigger.
The bolt leapt out at the construct and Valeria could only hope that it would hit. With that she began to reload her weapon as fast as she could.
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Valeria tries to line up her crossbow, but the duchess is weaving this way and that and her show narrowly misses.
With savage fury Triphylla goes all in, although the duchess proves hard to pin down despite attempts to surround her. The duchess manages to parry one claw and twist away from a bite but this leaves her unable to avoid Triphylla's right claw which rakes her chest leaving deep rents.
At the same moment Lope trust with his sword, which sailed past the duchess due the force of Triphylla's attack which knocked her back.
With Trip trying to plaster herself all over the animate painting Cyrene has to pull her blow. With that she pulls back a step, ready to dive back in the moment an opening presents itself.
Diana cautiously moves into the room, looking to see how her magic can help the others. Figuring the best she can do is try to hold their target for a bit, she casts Ear-piercing scream at it.
Cyrene moves into attack, but the duchess is dodging blows with remarkable speed and she manages to completely sidestep Cyrene's attack.
Diana opens her mouth as if to scream, but you hear absolutely nothing not even her breath. The duchess however was battered back a step by the force of Diana's magic.
<--- FAIL
With her target momentarily unmoving Cyrene leaps in once more, taking full advantage of the opening!
Triphylla continues her Bass-O-Matic routine.
"Good one Diana!" Lope dashes to profit the opportunity, thrusting again with his blade "I understand now what made so nervous the Count. I cannot imagine how this happened!"
Valria fired off another bolt and reloaded once more.
Cyrene stabs the duchess from behind and she stares mutely at the blade poking out of her chest. She starts falling as Triphylla and Lope tear into her and finally a bolt to head from Valeria stills her. Her body seems to liquify before becoming a mess of what seems to be puddle of rapidly drying paint on the floor.
She also had a well made chain rapier
Her fancy looking platinum and diamond wedding ring seems expensive.
Next door is a nursery with two small beds in front of which a soft blanket is laid out on the floor along with various soft toys, wooden blocks, and small musical instruments. Painted lions cavort along the walls, moving through simple patterns.
Diana stares for a moment at the puddle of paint on the floor, before looking over the duchess's items.
"That chain shirt seems magical, but I can't seem to figure out it's enchantment, sorry. Guess this all got me a bit... distracted. The rapier is a typical lightly enchanted weapon, a bit deadlier and more accurate. Lope, can you tell anything else about the chain shirt? The ring seems expensive, but non magical."
Lope wipes sweat from his brow and inspects the puddle of paint, muttering, "What a bizarre end for such a strange construct" He then turns his attention to the chain shirt Diana mentioned.
"Let me see if I can decipher its magic" he examines the chain shirt closely, allowing his magical senses to attune to the item's enchantments.
He explain what the chain shirt and ring is and glances towards the nursery "[b]Let's search the next room. The Count might have hidden something important here"
While Diana examines the loot, Triphylla tears all the paintings down from the wall and heaps them in a pile, faces down.
"There, that's a lot better.
Then she peers into the room ahead.
Triphylla steps around the toys on the floor, careful not to disturb anything. She is eager to move on.
"When I was in here before there was this incessant crying, like a forlorn child. I believe it was some form of undead. I'd prefer to not make it's acquaintance."
Breathing a sigh of relief Valeria slung the crossbow across her back and began to help the others look around. There were several things they found and they seemed to have at least a couple things of value. She was not going to be of any use in identifying the items so she instead kept a watch as the identification was done.
Valeria did get thrown off when she saw Triphylla tearing down the artwork from the walls and said, "Wait, why are you tearing all of this down Triphylla, even if you don't like it it is still artwork and should be treated with respect."
When the undead was eventually mentioned Valeria tried to figure out what it might be.
"Really?" Triphylla replies to Valeria. "Did you look at them? Anyway, as a practical consideration, a Trompe l’oeil isn't truly destroyed until its canvas is, and they have been known to inhabit the canvases of other nearby paintings. I'm willing to bet that our own Mad Prince Stavian would not appreciate his terrible likeness being defiled in such a way. Although, now I kind of want that."
"I heard the cry this time too, Triphylla. It seemed to echo from somewhere nearby, possibly from within the walls. I think it was connected to the Duchess. Given her unusual nature, it's likely she projected it as some sort of defense mechanism or illusion to unsettle us. With her gone, we might not hear it again, but we should still be cautious." he carefully steps around the toys and blankets on the floor, scanning the room for anything that might be out of place or suspicious.
Lope then begins a meticulous examination of the nursery, looking for hidden compartments, unusual markings, or anything that might hint at the source of the cry or other hidden threats.
Cyrene keeps her own council and lingers at the back of the group, simultaneously guarding the exit and staying out of easy sight should another foe make itself known.
She actually approves of Trip taking precautions but is careful not to say so - she doesn't want to upset Val. A succubus has to work out her needs somehow!
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The party investigates the royal nursery and as Lope enters a wailing thing that resembles a gray, emaciated child, with cobwebs and dust for clothes and a fox skull for a head bursts out from under bed covers!
It sobbed "You killed aunty!" as it moved into attack.
Environment: Sofa areas are difficult terrain
Buffs and Debuffs:
Cyrene
Diana
Valeria
Duchess Valetto
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier
Triphylla
Cyrene
Diana
Valeria
Duchess Valetto
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier
Triphylla
COMBAT ORDER:
Cyrene <----- WE ARE HERE
Diana
Valeria
Duchess Valetto
Lope
Triphylla
Cyrene, Diana and Valeria are up. .
"That's an Attic Whisperer... And it looks to be an unusually strong one, too!"
Hoping to hinder it enough so that her more martially focused companions can bring it down swiftly, Diana conjures a pool of Grease beneath the creature.
Cyrene remains hidden in the doorway - the creature hasn't seen her yet and that's all to the good.
"Are you the one that made a frame out of the Duchess??" Lope asks but does not wait for an answer, as he darts into action to slash through the strange creature.
With Lope rushing in to engage the Attic Whisperer, Triphylla follows and tumbles to get behind it.
She overcomes her fears (and Diana's grease) momentarily and executes a perfect tumble, stops, turns, and slashes at the boney monster with a clawed hand.
Power Attack, Flanking
From the shadows, Cyrene studies the movements of the attic whisperer, considering how best to strike.
Diana's spell summons a thin slippery layer that makes moving across the floor treacherous. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to phase the attic whisperer.
<--- PASS
Valeria freezes as traumatic memories surface.
The air is filled with unearthly sobbing as the attic whisperer lashes out at the closet opponent which happens to be Lope.
<--- MISS
The sobbing child like undead suddenly rears up and tries to bite, Lope who side steps and asks.
"Are you the one that made a frame out of the Duchess??"
The thing sobs in reply, "That was grandfather! Take Carr with you, please! Please! Please! Take me away! Grandfather could return..."
Lope's sword bursts into flame and with excellent form he scores a telling blow.
Moving with the grace of an acrobat, Triphylla ducks and weaves her way into an advantageous location, seemingly unimpeded by the slippery floor. She then tears into the undead child like thing, just managing to land a blow as it tried and failed to dodge.
Environment: Sofa areas are difficult terrain
Buffs and Debuffs:
Cyrene
Diana
Valeria
Attic Whisperer
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier
Triphylla
Cyrene
Diana
Valeria
Attic Whisperer
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier
Triphylla
Damage Log:Round: 1
attic whisperer was hit by lope for 14 (total damage taken 14)
attic whisperer was hit by triphylla for 16 (total damage taken 30)Totals:
attic whisperer: 30 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Cyrene <----- WE ARE HERE
Diana
Valeria
Attic Whisperer
Lope
Triphylla
Cyrene, Diana and Valeria are up.
Cyrene keeps watching - the others don't need her yet and she'd like to finish the fight in a single strike.
Grandfather? Could he mean... Mine and Bartleby's? The fear certainly seems to fit... And Carr? Could he be...?
"Err, Carr, was it? We don't want Grandfather to come back, either." She says, tentatively. If it is refering to her grandfather, maybe it can help point them towards the teleportation circles. "Is there any way for is to stop him? We've heard he has a magical way back into the tower, but we don't know where it is. If you can point it out to us, we will try to disable it."
Figuring the creature might not move with two targets in reach, Diana dismisses her innefective spell (standard) and ensures a bolt is loaded on her crossbow
"Carr?" Lope seems confused but follows up on Diana's talk "Yes, if you can help us shut it down, the grandfather is not going to teleport here any longer"
Valeria's distraction at seeing the thing left her slow to react but that was fine as it let the others more capable of handling it's attacks to grab it's attention. She took the opportunity to cast a spell and then dodge in to deliver a handful of healing magic into the undead thing hoping to put it out of it's misery.
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Cyrene waits for the perfect moment, while Diana dismisses her spell and loads a bolt into her crossbow. Lope tries talking to the sobbing undead which ends poorly, the child like thing suddenly rears up close to his face and it inhales deeply. Lope feels a terrible coldness as the air is sucked out of his lungs, leaving him literally and figuratively speechless!
<--- HIT
<--- FAIL
At the same moment Valeria casts a healing spell and she reaches out to touch it, but she missed when it moved suddenly to attack Lope.
To everyone's shock, Carr sobs with Lope's voice, "Please! I beg you, take me away from here!"
Valeria missed her touch due to the thing's sudden move but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She reached out again to touch the thing with the positive energy encasing her hand.
"If you want us to help and not destroy you, stop fighting us!"
Power Attack, Flanking, Cold Aura
The sudden child-like plea of the monster causes Triphylla to be ineffective with her attacks.
Cyrene has the creature figured out. Now it's just a matter of timing...
"Lope... Your voice..." Diana looks worriedly at Lope as she realises the thing has probably prevented him from using the rest of his spells. As she looks to the fight and tries to think how she can help, a thought occurs to her.
Picturing her grandfather in her mind, she conjures an image of him next to the bed, glaring sternly at the creature.
Lope clutches at his throat in silent frustration, realizing he can't cast any spells he has prepared.
Glancing at the others, wide-eyed, and gesturing urgently toward the creature. When the attic whisperer speaks in his stolen voice, it sends chills down his spine.
Determined to punish the voice stealer, he slashes once more with his sword.
Power Attack, Flanking, Cold Aura
Triphylla is beginning to wonder if she is under some kind of spell beyond the cold aura from the undead. Maybe it's something in her head.
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From the shadows Cyrene watches.
Diana summons the stern countenance of the dread mage Panivar Lotheed looming over the little undead. Carr freaks out upon seeing his 'grandfather' and he starts lashing out wildly, clearly in great distress.
Valeria's aim was much better now and her curative magics seem to disintegrate a significant portion of the undead child thing, eliciting an anguished howl!
Carr lashes out at Lope whilst begging the magus to, "Save me! Please save me from him!!!"
<--- MISS
Lope tries to swat him away with his sword but the attic whisperer is in too close, making combat supremely awkward.
Triphylla leaps in to attack, but Carr just won't hold still and her bite and a claw misses. Missing with the bite was probably for the best all things considered. She does manage to snag one claw in deeply, ripping through Carr leaving a great rent in his unliving substance.
Environment: Sofa areas are difficult terrain
Buffs and Debuffs:
Cyrene
Diana
Valeria
Attic Whisperer
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier
Triphylla
Cyrene
Diana
Valeria
Attic Whisperer
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier
Triphylla
Damage Log:Round: 1
attic whisperer was hit by lope for 14 (total damage taken 14)
attic whisperer was hit by triphylla for 16 (total damage taken 30)Round: 2
attic whisperer was hit by valeria for 20 (total damage taken 50)
attic whisperer was hit by triphylla for 15 (total damage taken 65)Totals:
attic whisperer: 65 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Cyrene <----- WE ARE HERE
Diana
Valeria
Attic Whisperer
Lope
Triphylla
Cyrene, Diana and Valeria are up, and Carr looks so ragged that a swift wind would likely disperse him now!
Perhaps Cyrene should have waited a bit longer...
Seeing her more martially minded allies have so much trouble hitting the creature, Diana doesn't even entertain the idea of firing at the thing.
With her illusion apparently only having served to spur it into attacking even more wildly, she stops concentrating on it and instead touches Valeria, casting a protective ward upon her as well, before moving away so she has space to move.
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Cyrene bursts out from the shadows, her blade transfixing the pathetic collection of things that formed Carr's 'body'. Carr whole attention was on the image of Paniver and as his unlife ebbed away he gasped (in Lope's voice), "Grandfather! Noo! I promise I'll be good this ti..."
With a slight pop the attic whisperer's spirt was snuffed out. A quick search of the nursery reveals little of value, leaving the level upstairs as obvious next destination.
You climb the stairs to the second level of the tower to the royal bedchamber. As befitting it's status there is a towering, domed ceiling that curves overhead, decorated with a remarkable fresco depicting the shimmering summer stars. Major constellations are outlined in gold leaf, and a subtle illusion of a shooting star plays every few minutes. The room is dominated by a massive bed trimmed with silk sheets and a darkwood vanity fill much of the space, while expensive bric-a-brac covers the waist-high shelf circling the room.
To the north is an impressive double door, which appears to be locked.
"Nothing important." Cyrene concludes after conducting a thorough sweep of the room. "Do we want to press on or not? Our good swordsman here won't be able to cast spells until his voice comes back."
She seems utterly unmoved by the prettiness of the ceiling.
"The room was obviously supposed to be only for the grand prince's use, but I believe my grandfather has been using it for himself whenever he stays here to visit, which is thankfully rather infrequently." Diana looks up at the ceiling appreciatively for a bit. "That ceiling is quite amazing, and the shooting star is the only illusion up there - all the other stars you see shining up there seem to be large white pearls."
She looks worriedly at Lope as Cyrene poses her question. "I'd say it's up to him. Do you want to carry on as is, Lope? If I'm honest, I am a worried about waiting it out - I wouldn't put it past my grandfather to have some sort of magical alarm to alert him of what's happening here - and we've already destroyed two of his guardians and triggered a magical trap on our way here. And if that is the case, the last thing we want to do is give him time to react." Diana looks down and sighs. "Or maybe I'm just being paranoid... It's kind of hard not to be when it comes to my grandfather."
Triphylla clicks her claws. "I only have these a little while longer, and I know something about what's behind those doors. I don't want to go back in there without them."
When the group is ready Triphylla attempts to pick the lock. She's done it once before, for what it's worth.
Despite his inability to speak, Lope is determined not to delay their progress. He makes a decisive gesture toward the locked door, indicating that they should continue immediately, but points to his wounds as well.
Lope looks at Triphylla and gestures encouragingly, hoping she can unlock the door despite her initial struggle.
It takes Triphylla a few attempts to finesse the lock, setting all the pins proved to be rather stubborn, requiring extremely stout pressure from her tensioning tool and even so pins 3 and 4 kept on falling into a false set. Still persistence won out and she got a satisfying click and the door soundlessly swung open to reveal a mad alchemist's lab. Inside the plush, red carpeting has been badly burnt at the center, no doubt the result of some experiment gone awry. Desks line the walls, covered in bones, brass instruments, complicated inscrutable glassware, and jars filled with bizarre collections. The stink of old peat and insect activity is rampant, quite possibly something died here.
"There's something in the corner." Cyrene says, her trained eyes easily picking out the odd wall. "It could be a trap. Be careful."
"I spotted a secret door in here when I was here before."
Triphylla uses her boro bead to reactivate Shield extract.
"That's probably it. The wall does seem odd from here. But..." Diana shivers as she glances around the room. "There's something... Unsettling about this lab. I just can't really tell what, though."
Diana casts her Mage Armor as she continues scanning the room.
You get little chance to look around because suddenly from the northern end of the room, a thick crackling black beam lanced out towards Triphylla! Thankfully it missed, but to your horror you behold a monstrosity, a massive cockroach like thing, made from putrid hair with a leering humanoid face instead of insectoid head. Even from across the room the stench of cockroach assails you!
<--- MISS
Environment:
Buffs and Debuffs:
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier
Monstrosity
Diana
Valeria
Cyrene
Triphylla
Lope Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Ablative barrier
Monstrosity
Diana
Valeria
Cyrene
Triphylla
COMBAT ORDER:
Lope <----- WE ARE HERE
Monstrosity
Diana
Valeria
Cyrene
Triphylla
Lope is up.
Triphylla nearly loses her lunch as first the putrid stench and then the Enervation ray comes at her. This is the source of the wave of fear that overwhelmed her the last time, and she thanks her ancestors that she did not set foot inside this chamber alone. She tastes bile in her mouth; there's no way she's going to bite this monster.
"Gah, that's nasty! Maybe we should burn down the tower instead of trying to fight that thing."