Charlotte listens, watching Fallende's mouth move with the words and tries "Meeucs vaut preven ir que guerar?" she sighs, knowing that was not correct, no matter how slow she went. Maybe slow was the problem, she ponders, before asking "What does it mean?"
The elf tries to hide her smile as Charlotte mangles her language, but there's a surprising lack of condescension.
"It means 'Prevention is better than a cure'," she says. "You will need much more oral practice if you wish to master elvish."
The imprisoned creature snarls and bangs against the bars and Fallende tenses, her posture instantly shifting to a battle-ready stance. One hand moves to the doctor's shoulder, ready to push her behind the warrior if need be.
Reassured that the beast's freedom isn't imminent, she relaxes - barely.
"We should move along," she says, her focus returning to the task at hand.
Silently Charlotte nods, knowing that this is nether the time or place for language lessons. Gripping the strap on her doctor's bag tightly with both hands, she spares the monster one last look before following her companions.
The west door leads to a room that seems to have once served as guard barracks, but the beds and other furniture here have long since crumbled into almost unrecognizable ruins. A southern corridor leads to a series of stands descending further.
To the east, though, a damp natural grotto opens up in the earth, its stone ceiling rising forty feet above. Fat columns of brick support the northern end of the room, and the floor of the southern end has been carved into a low dais upon which stands the mold-slick statue of a beautiful woman wielding a ranseur.
Charlotte spots two insectile creatures lurking near the columns! They clack their claws and start to extrude sticky filaments from their mouthparts...
"Over there!" Charlotte points out the insectile creatures quickly, in a hurried but neutral tone. Then with unhurried and warm tones she asks for her goddess' aid for her companions success.
The creature both spit forth sticky filaments, snaring Fallende and Isabel. Each one pulls their prey across the room towards them, lashing out with their claws once the women have been reeled in!
Charlotte's eyes go wide for a milisecond as two of the three her blessing is intended for get pulled away. Based on statistical analysis she determines it is best to follow to allow her magic to affect the majority.
Fallende ignores the sticky strand, directing her attacks at the insectile creature wielding it. Strangely enough, these creatures seem more shellfish than insect to her and so she's able to quell much of her revulsion. Or maybe that's just a game of perception. If so, it's one she's currently winning so she doesn't devote a lot of thought to it.
Wesley zaps both of the creatures with electricity. Fallende and Isabel each score a hit on their respective assailants, but neither creature falls. They snap their claws at the women! This time, the elf takes a hit.
Retaining her focus and ignoring the pain, Fallende flails at the creatures weak joints drawing ichor instead of blood.
Charlotte wavers on who to throw a fire bolt at but decides to throw it at the one Bel is fighting cause it IS Bel. Charlotte knows Bel can handle herself, has seen her slice and stab, and sees her in a steel breastplate, but her memories of dances in silk and verbal ripostes instead of with swords is what sticks.
The two insectile creatures don't last much longer as you dispatch them with fire and steel! Once they are defeated, the sticky filaments dissolve, releasing Isabel and Fallende. One of the creatures has a small leather pouch tied tightly to one of its legs. Within are a dozen polished rocks, 23 tiny teeth, and a leather bracer--the mate to the one worn by King Zuuga.
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"Well that's that then..." Isabel comments with a wince. "Let's spend some more time exploring before we go back. We don't need King Zuuga thinking this was too easy."
She walks over to hug Lottie and presses a kiss onto the other girl's temple in a thoughtless gesture of affection. "Thanks for having my back there Lottie." She says with a grin.
Fallende steadies her nerves with the ritualistic cleaning of her blade. Once that's completed, she proceeds to examine the statue in more detail.
The woman that the statue depicts as an expression of fierce anger on her face. Wesley steps up beside Fallende knowingly. "That's Alaznist, the Runelord of Wrath," he explains. "In the days of Thassilon, this whole area belonged to her domain of Bakrakhan. Some historians believe the Irespan once stretched all the way out to Rivenrake Island, where Hollow Mountain stands. It makes sense that we'd find art depicting her here in one of the Irespan's pilings."
The elf shakes her head with an eye roll. "Humans," she mutters.
Looking around the sunken chamber, she seeks another exit to explore, having no wish to return back to explore the web-filled corridor.
Charlotte smiles at her friend, though her cheeks blush just a little at her closeness. Charlotte never had much in the way of affection growing up on her household, and has never truly gotten used to Bel's habit of wrapping one up in one's arms and the occasional pressing of lips against flesh.
"Always, Bel. What are friends for." she says, before turning her attention to the statue and Wesley's lesson. "The entire area was under Wrath? It is strange to think of a sustainable leadership based around the emotion of anger." the words are contemplative, but not meant to hold them up from exploring.
"Humans will attempt to create a sustainable leadership around the concept of wearing blue boots," Fallende says with a derisive snort.
"Attempting is not accomplishing." Charlotte says with a slight sharpness. For once, the elf's comment about humans seems to have gotten under her skin. Something about blue boots, maybe. For a moment, the doctor frets with her bags, clothes, whatever her hands find to fret with, before she apologizes "I am sorry, that was uncalled for." apparently slight sharpness is enough to warrant feeling bad about. In Charlotte's mind at least.
Fallende shrugs.
"No, but continuing to attempt the ridiculous is the hallmark of the foolish." She turns to the doctor. "And there is no necessity to excuse speaking the truth."
An exit to the east seems to connect back to the web-shrouded room. If you don't want to deal with the spiders that are undoubtedly lurking within, you can go back around to head back to King Zuuga, or descend the stairs you found earlier that lead deeper into the dungeon...
Charlotte nods to Bel's plan, including a smile of respect and pride at her friend's thinly veiled consideration for Fallende.
The series of stairs descend for quite some time before reaching a chamber. A red statue of Runelord Alaznist stands in the center of the room. The floor is pitted in numerous places, and fresh acid still sizzles in some spots.
The source of the acid is apparent--a rubbery, spheroid monster that is nearly all acid-dripping mouth, with five bulbous black eyes and two powerful, gangly legs. The thing eagerly begins to bound towards you!
The monster bounces into Fallende, shoving her back. It then grabs her by the leg, tripping her and chewing into her flesh! The acid dripping from its maw burns her skin.
A bolt of fire strikes the creature's face to drive it back from the fallen elf. The doctor quickly approaches to help, her eyes taking in the injuries as swiftly as possible to determine the best avenue to help.
The elf quickly regains her feet and then flails her weapon at the frog-like creature.
The creature shrieks as Charlotte scorches it with fire. Fallende scores a critical hit, further wounding it.
Isabel recognizes the monster as a gibtas, an aberrant scavenger from the Darklands. A gibtas often forms a bond with a single other creature—usually, a more powerful aberration— and serves this master loyally, if erratically. Their rubbery bodies are resistant to bludgeoning attacks. The thaumaturge makes sure to use the spikes on her morningstar as she swings on it, though it dodges her attack.
Wesley tries to zap the gibtas from afar, to no avail.
The monster chomps down on Fallende again!
"Get back!" Charlotte snaps at the purple creature, sending a bolt of flame into it mouth when it opens it to snap on her patient again. With it distracted, she quickly tries to bandage the worst of Fall's wounds.
As the acid continues to sizzle on her exposed skin, Fallende doesn't relent against the strange frog.
Charlotte burns the creature again, then Fallene slices into it. Isabel lands two powerful hits, puncturing the gibtas's body with her spiked weapon. With the final blow, the creature groans and collapses in a heap.
With the monster dead, you can examine the statue of Alaznist more closely. The ranseur held by the statue is not a part of it, and can be removed from the statue’s hand. It is a +1 low-grade cold iron ranseur.
Doors exit this room to the west and the east.
Charlotte assists with cleaning away the acid from Fallende's flesh and then works towards bandaging and stitching.
Fallende tries her best not to react as Charlotte is scraping away at her burned skin, but she still flinches at times.
Once the doctor is finished tending to her wounds, she spends a few moments examining the heavy spear. "Given a chance, do either of you have the skill to transfer this to my blade?" she asks, tapping the rune attached to the crosspiece of the weapon.
"I can do it, with a few days' time," Wesley says. "A simple enough matter."
The bare stone floor of this room overlooks a stair that descends to the south. Two shapeless masses of quivering flesh slop around here, but they quickly orient on you and begin to advance!
Charlotte flings a small ball of fire at the nearest mass of quivering flesh. "What are they?" she asks outloud, while thinking about the question herself.
Isabel recognizes the creatures as lemures, the least of devilkind! These mindless fiends are immune to fire and resist physical blows. They are weak to good weapons, though, so she quickly anoints her morningstar with holy oils and moves into deliver a telling blow!
"Les diables?" Fallende questions at Isabel's explanation. "What are devils doing here?"
Sure that her blade will cut through them as well as the giant bugs from before, she's in for a rude surprise when she can't seem to cut through the fleshy forms.
The hand outstretched with fire about to burst from closes quickly. A frown maring her face. For a moment she is angry, just a moment, then she quickly casts a spell to bless her companions, moving closer to the melee fighters in hopes to help.
Isabel strikes one of the fiends, then Fallende slices it apart with her blade! The second lemure lashes out with its claws, but the elf narrowly dodges its attacks.
Charlotte maintains her spell and sends a divine lance at the fire resistant creature.
"I was under the impression that les diables would be ... tougher?" Fallende muses as she slices this way and that.
Wesley zaps the lemure, then Fallende and Isabel finish it off with their weapon strikes. As it collapses into an inert blob of flesh, Wesley clicks his tongue. "It's unlikely these cretins were just lurking here on their own. It is likely more powerful devils are nearby. We should be cautious."
When they are finished, the words everyone keeps saying finally settles in. "devils?" a shudder cracks her normally calm features, and spreads over her body. She hugs herself tightly to try and contain it "Maybe we should..." her dark eyes dart back the way they came, clearly starting to suggest that they leave. Now, and Never to come back!!!!!
A suggestion she manages to stop, somehow. "... be careful." a weak attempt, but still an attempt.