The silence is broken by the sound of flapping wings. It is clearly headed northwest.
A chanting can be heard right to the east of Donimah.
Don't peek, you didn't make the check...
"She must be trying to fool us...don't let the chanting distract you, take down the demon!"
She tries to follow the sound of the flapping wings.
The loudness of the chanting unfortunately prevents her from hearing better, and she mutters a Thassilonian curse-word under her breath as she saves her ammunition and holds her fire. She walks further into the room to join up with Ano.
Ano uses her nose again to pinpoint exactly where the little fiend is.
Juriya tries based on the feeling of wind in her fur, but fairs little better than Donimah as she's distracted, grumbling some Minkaian swears under her breath.
Ano notices that the creature is close to Donimah, very high up in the air. It is clearly casting a spell that takes a while to complete.
Ano looks above where Donimah is and shrieks, “Right there! Right above you, Donimah!”
Arrian doesn't have a keen sense of smell but tries to listen for the quasit:
Donimah points her crossbow straight up and pulls the trigger, silently praying to the spirits the quarrel doesn't tip back and fall out of the bolt groove into her face.
At Ano's instructions, Zeldrith scowls, stepping alongside Donimah and slashing his sword through the air in the hopes that it will find demon flesh.
Nobody has ever accused the pitborn warrior of being a coward. Nobody has ever accused him of being particularly smart either, but oftentimes, these two go hand in hand.
Logically, Juriya knows the best choice of action to hit a flying enemy is via projectile. She also knows that a bomb would have little effect on it (she does not, however, have the foresight to shut down that option for the chance of it damaging everyone else), so she fires a crossbow bolt and reloads... and prays, given how unlikely a bolt is to damage a tiny creature when she can't see its vitals. The bolt lodges itself in the nearby ceiling.
Zeldrith hits nothing but air.
Donimah's bolt flies wide.
With Ano's help, Arrian is able to determine the quasit's position.
Ano leaps as high as she can and swipes her rapier forward, hoping to skewer the little fiend.
Arrian manages to jump a bit over four feet from the floor...and then swings away!
Both Ano and Arrian do very impressive high jumps. Ano distinctively feels she poked something. However, there are no notorious cries of pain or any sign that her rapier hurt the creature whatsoever.
Arrian's thrust was beautiful, worthy of a bard's tale. He even poked in the same place that Ano did, but apparently the creature moved since she poked it.
The creature finally stops chanting, but it wasn't because it was interrupted, but because it finalized the spell. Its effects are clear as very angry looking frogs appear near Arrian. Just as quickly, the creature casts another spell directed at the cook assistant. As it finishes casting, the frogs start attacking Arrian. Also, the creature flies back to over the platform.
You've been targetted by Hold Person. Take 2 damage from one of the frogs that hit you and roll Fort save DC 12 or suffer Con damage from its poison.
Juriya smiles and cackles once she realizes that these are enemies on the ground. She rushes up to cause more damage to the creatures, seeing as firing at the Quasit is doing nothing.
Arrian strikes at the Red Toady!
Arrian and Juriya kill a frog each. Now only the quasit is left.
Arrian and Juriya kill a frog each. Now only the quasit is left.
Ano moves closer to the quasit, attempting to attack her.
Donimah reloads her crossbow and takes a shot at the quasit.
"You are a weak little sh!t with delusions of grandeur, and your pathetic magics are no match for us!"
As the quasit reappears, Zeldrith scowls, his eye flashing white with arcane power again as his seven-fingered hand weaves an intricate pattern in the air - thrusting his palm forward, he sends a beam of icy particles at the demon.
Donimah's bolt grazes the creature and falls on the ground. It doesn't seem like it felt any pain.
Ano's attack just hits the quasit, which actually feels some pain, but very minor, certainly less than what it should have felt. Ano sees the wound start to close up on its own, however.
The quasit starts to cast another spell. However during the casting 3 arrows fly coming from the door. Two of them hit the quasit hard and one flies completely off. All can see that the arrows penetrated the quasit deeply, ignoring what is stopping Ano and Arrian's sword. However, the creature is able to continue casting.
The shooter says "Kill it! It can't be allowed to get away! Don't let it turn invisible!" Upon looking, the group sees that it is Shalelu, the half-elf ranger, Ameiko's friend.
The creature finishes its spell.
You've been targeted by Command. You have to spend your turn running away.
Juriya fires again at the creature... but misses, getting quite agitated at her terrible aim.
These enemies early game have some specific instructions. This one asks to attack the character with heaviest armor. It's Arrian, but it would make more sense to summon the frogs on Donimah and focus on her.
Oh well, guess you guys are having it easy...
Ano’s attack barely doing anything to the quasit starts to make her blood boil. It doesn’t help that soon she can’t tell the difference between this little arrogant, violent fiend and…Fosyo…
Once the image of Fosyo’s face melding into the quasit’s face settles, all of Ano’s frustrations boil to the surface, and her spots flare light blue and, with a scream, attacks again.
"Showed up right in the nick of time, Shalelu! Thanks!" Donimah calls as she reloads her crossbow.
Arrian growls, "The thing tried to cast something on me again!" as he attempts to stab it.
Juriya remains silent, opting to not speak as her voice is largely the same. Oh no, how do I get out of this without her finding out?!
Donimah's shot misses the quasit. However Shalelu shoots 3 arrows again, hitting only one of them. However it hit the quasit right in the chest, and its special skin doesn't help it. It falls on the ground lifeless.
Shalelu says "Cut off its head! To make sure!" She seems a bit agitated.
Ano, still in a frenzy, does more than that. She skewers the quasit in the neck, then uses the rapier to effectively pry off the demon’s head. Even after the head bounces off Ano stabs the lifeless headless body, shrieking in Catfolk.
The catfolk’s head whirled to see Cherry looking directly at her, sternly but softly, “It’s dead. It’s over.”
Hearing those words, the amurrun breathed slowly, her spots fading, and she slunk to her knees. She looked exhausted, emotionally devastated, and overall horrible.
Juriya does the one thing she can think about, it's not a particularly good idea, but she shifts forms into her fox (not kitsune) form, and climbs up on Donimah's shoulder. Wizards have familiars! This was her best bet, surely. Her weapons, her bombs, and everything melds into her form.
She neglects to tell anyone the plan, though, so this is bound to cause confusion. From the shoulder, she looks at the bloody mess that is the outsider. I'd sever all the arteries to be sure. But nope! Have to hide.
Arrian watches Ano savage the corpse of the quasit and meekly says, "Make sure not to bite the area near the tail since it has poison in there somewhere. You know I have a dagger and can do that; it probably doesn't taste very good..."
Donimah grimaces at Ano's outburst and wobbles a bit as Juriya climbs on her shoulder.
She turns to Shalelu.
"Ameiko get worried about us?" she asks.
As the quasit falls, Zeldrith gratefully sheaths his blade, frustrated at his inability to reach or even see the annoying creature for what felt like an eternity. Juriya shapeshifting again causes him to look over at the kitsune, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "You can shapeshift into a fox, too? You sure have some strange powers, Juriya."
Shaking his head as he dismisses it as another eccentricity of his newfound ally, Zeldrith's hooves clatter up the crumbling Thassilonian stairs again as he ascends to the second level and examines the shimmering triangular pool. "Whatever that demon was doing down here, she seemed to place great importance in this pool here - she said something about how 'her queendom will come when her pool will be recharged again.'" The warrior kicks at the corpse of the dead sinspawn with one hoof. "Blood goes in... big ugly comes out. Seems pretty straightforward. And that dimming - this thing looks like it's filled with flame, almost. Maybe each time it makes one of these things, it's like taking another log off the fire?"
The seven fingers of the tiefling's left hand twitch, and he scratches his jaw as he tilts his head to consider the pool. "Way I see it... we should probably try and break it if we can. Smash a hole in the side... cover it up with a boulder... anything to make sure this thing doesn't stick around and make more of those 'sinspawn' thingies."
Juriya just sits on Donimah's shoulders, internally screaming, and a little too panicked to process anything properly or even really react to anything.
Shalelu recovers her breath, while watching the fox on Donimah's shoulder a bit strange. She is finally able to answer the mage and says "I came to town looking for you, I found out some stuff. Then Ameiko said you were in the smugglers' tunnels. I waited for a bit, but Ameiko got worried. I made my way here and found your friend, Persephone leaving, apparently. She pointed me here. I don't think she's good in the head."
She also looks at Juriya again and says "I've heard of powerful mages being able to turn people into small animals, to prevent them from fighting. That is a horrible curse, indeed. I don't know if you can understand me, but... don't worry, I'll personally talk to Father Zantus. Unfortunately I cannot provide some funds for a reversing spell." She looks very friendly when she says this.
She leaves the conversation to recover some of the arrows she shot. Seeing they are all ruined, she looks disappointed, but still looks to the group and says "So, I watched you fight for a while. You can certainly hit hard, and you're coordinated. But I have to say, you could be more prepared." She lifts her ruined arrows slightly and says "These are special arrows for demons. I never thought I'd ever use them. I only had 5, given to me by Ameiko, and this is a lesson she taught me. Always be prepared. This means have a way to attack enemies that are far away. What would happen if there was no ceiling preventing this creature from flying higher up?"
Despite her words, her tone is not disapproving, but rather motherly. One can think that a mother would also find a way to scold the group, but then it comes "And why didn't you just jump and grab the creature? It certainly wouldn't have the strength to keep flying. It's much easier then!" She crosses her arms and furrows her brows. Then she quickly looks at Ano and says "I'm sorry. I'm sure you're doing well."
Ano didn’t respond to Shalelu’s words. She didn’t even look at the elf. Cherry could only think to do one thing-give some support by snuggling against Ano’s face.
Arrian peers into the fountain but has never come across anything like it in his reading.
To Shaleu he says, "It's true that we weren't the best prepared but we've faced so many odd creatures down here I don't think we could've prepared for them all. Plus we aren't exactly rolling in coins to afford such gear. We did the best we could with what we had and we'll take your advice to heart and do better next time."
Switching topics he asks, "So how did your scouting mission versus the goblin tribes fare?"
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Juriya hops off of Donimah's shoulder, snarls at Zeldrith, and then transforms into her human form. "It'd need to be a Reincarnate spell to rid me of this 'curse,' I'm afraid. I uh... I am a Kitsune, so is the rest of my family, is the thing. We normally try to hide it since Kitsune are basically unknown here. I think the spell you're referring to is Baleful Polymorph, though? If the books I read are right, shapeshifters can just shake that spell off like it's nothing."
Juriya then displays her control over the shapeshifting ny spending half a minute going from human, to kitsune, to fox, them back to human again, before resuming speaking:
"None of us intended on going into a literal Thassilonian Sin Demon Crypt under the Glassworks, so none of us prepared by bringing cold iron. As Arrian said, we weren't exactly rolling in funds either."