Ethyl drops the spinal column from her claw. She hums, satisfied.
She says confidently, "I can perform blood tests to root them out, but it takes time we don't have. Plus drawing blood from a large number of cultist will draw unwanted attention. This is a future problem. Shall we continue our search?"
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Enoch nods to Ethyl and her spine.
Pyrotechnics her downstairs? Lead her to the Hungry hippo haunt. Then interrogation time?
"If we're drawing Loomis down, I have a few spells I would like to cast on our frontline fighters. It should help keep you from being hit too often, I hope." Alvar says slowly. "Beyond that, I can, as I said before, summon something from another plane to fight her."
"Should I go look ahead? See the situation?" Nyarai looks about.
"You..." Nyarai points at the nearest cook. "Which way to Loomis?"
"Perhaps a better question is, when and where does she take her meals?"
"Both of those questions seem like good ones to ask." Iosif agrees.
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The rotund cook points back out the way they came. "Lady Bag Lady stays up the southern set of stairs. She comes down whenever she feels hungry. She has three disciples she presently has that haven't disappointed her yet. They come down randomly to perform their patrols. She hasn't been down in a bit, so she may arrive at any time."
Ethyl whispers to her companions, "Dr. Elboourne also mentioned a western path to the upper floors. Shall we wait or head west? A ghoul attack may be sufficient to draw her attention. "
Enoch's blue eyes are stuck to the southern set of stairs....
"I recommend being proactive - otherwise, I may not be able to cast all of the spells before she gets her hands on someone." Alvar says. "Of course, in practice, that means waiting some time as I cast, so it could be either."
[ooc}IC, I recommend going after Alvar buffs folks, but OOC I'm okay waiting, too.[/ooc]
Similar to Enoch, Nyarai's gaze falls on the set of stairs to the south. "Decisions, decisions...", she murmurs.
"I vote west," Iosif says
Passing through the western door, stepping over the painted barricade, the party finds another orderlies' station. The door to the north is open and the thicker fog that surrounds the asylum has tendrils fading in and out through the open threshold.
There is a door to the south, and while the western wall is ruined it is not traversable to get to the Tower Room, where the oneirogen lurks.
The sylph looks through the now-opened door, her eyes watching the portal to the exterior. "Look. It's like it wants to get in.", she points out the yellow fog. "But it can't?"
Enoch simply walks to the opened door and closes it.
Ethyl looks at the room in horror as whisps of the noisome vapors intrude through the northern aperture. She forces herself to watch as it undulates menacingly, threatening greater horrors concealed within.
She demands with more than a hint of urgency, "Would you kindly close that door?" She does not enter further until it is closed.
Nyarai shrugs and closes the door between them and Enoch. "Be right with you. Ethyl needs a moment.", she whispers towards Enoch, leaving him alone in the room.
Enoch's blue eyes are unsympathetic to his current situation....
Keeping her hand on the door handle, Nyarai looks at Ethyl with a little smirk. "Both doors closed. Enoch is alone, so whenever you get into the right headspace..."
Alvar glances sympathetically at Ethyl, but sighs inwardly at Enoch's impulsivity again. "Please, be careful, man. You don't know what's out there." They look around the room, brows slowly furrowing. "Or in the room, for that matter."
Ethyl glares at Nyarai's insulting tone. She protests too much, "Enoch will be fine. And there is nothing wrong with my mental state."
She moves past the paladin and investigates the southern door before seeing what lays behind it.
As Ethyl confirms the door is not trapped, Alvar hears a leathery skitter. From the rubble in the southwestern corner, a six legged amphibian with vibrant colored scales scuttles into view.
The creature lifts its head up on its long neck and belts out a blood-freezing howl.
Surprised by the presence of the creature, Nyarai freezes in place.
Ethyl hears the shrieking creature and she takes her frustration out on it!
The mind-wracking shriek sends Alvar's mind stumbling, and they can't react swiftly - wound up in trying to identify what in all the gods' names this creature is. No answer immediately arises, but what information they recall can't escape their lips.
Enoch simply shrugs as Ethyl re-opens the door, enters and explains her current state of mind.
As the predator pronounces its presence, the Paladin simply shrugs as he Strides to it and....
....and grants it a reprieve....
The Tortured Crusader sighs.
Iosif wordly attempts to step into the room, pondering the creature, as it howls.
... Yet he does nothing as he is dazed.
The creature snarls as Ethyl's second claw and bite each rip into its slimy hide, but Enoch's blade misses. It attempts to bite and trip Enoch, however the paladin steps back in time to dodge the arcane amphibian's jaws.
When Nyarai's momentary paralysis ends, her eyes flash purple as the air shimmers around Enoch. She lets out a quiet whimper.
Alvar lets out an involuntary groan, their eyes widening. "Th-that's a voonith! Its howl can cause fear, and - and it can bite further out than you'd think.!"
They force themselves to walk forwards, lifting their hands hesitantly. What spells do I have? What can I do? Their mind is numbed with shuddering dread, but eventually they're able to summon up their clarity and pull out their crossbow, leveling it at the creature and firing. They utter a soft curse as it goes very wide.
Enoch's blue eyes never leave his target, as the Paladin questions
A what now? Looks like a platypus met a draconian.
Enoch simply swings at the strange, but hostile creature.
The Paladin sighs.
Ethyl spits out the strange flesh of the creature only to rip into it again.
The voonith squeals and gurgles as Ethyl shreds the creature. A moment passes and everyone's nerves settle.
There is the door to the south leading into a long hallway, as well as the northern door leading out into the barrier of fog that has imprisoned the asylum and its prisoners. turns west into the rest of the asylym, with opening into the northern courtyard, not so densely foggy as to provoke Ethyl's phobia but largely open and unexplored.
Iosif blinks, "... I barely did anything for that. You guys seemed to have handled yourself well."
Enoch's blue eyes keep looking between his shortsword and Iosef's musket....
"A voonith..." Alvar repeats, their heartbeat gradually slowing down. "Another denizen of the Dimension of Dreams." The wizard shakes themself and walks to retrieve their bolt. When they return their attention to the others, they smile wearily. "Unfortunately, I can now say that I have personal experience with their cry."
They glance at Iosif. "Well, I suspect that your weapon would've very well announced our presence even more than our combat already has." They pause, taking slow breaths, then point to the south with their tail. "Alright. I believe we should head southwards. That way we can probably get into the tower room. Assuming that's where we want to be - defeating the oneirogen may well help revert us back to the material... though I can't say for certain."
Ethyl looks at Enoch gazing between his shortsword and Iosif's musket, "Gentleman, do you need a moment alone?"
She nods at Alvar's words, "Destroying the oneirogen, will no doubt bring us no harm and give us at least a possible gain. It is a worthwhile endeavor."
Looking between the two doors she chooses the western one and comments, "Perhaps we will cut back this way."
Ethyl leads the way into a corridor with several doors and a stairwell choked with rubble would have led to the second floor. Paint chips the color of eggshells cover the floor of these halls. Many of the walls are cracked and sag, causing numerous doors to lean awkwardly in their broken frames.
Alvar follows Ethyl with a slight nod. "Before we enter, I want to recommend that you, Enoch, keep away from the oneirogen. You were lucky last time, but being that close to a creature that can force you to sleep is truly risky here. Ethyl, thanks to her heritage, need not worry about that."
As they emerge into the new area, they pluck the map out of their bag with their tail, examining it once again. When they lift up their eyes, however, they freeze. "That wall... It could be easily knocked over, and there's something behind it." They point at the southern wall, nearby to the half-elf doctor.
Nyarai looks at the nap over Alvar's shoulder, then looks at the wall they pointed out, and back at the map.
She furrows her brow. "Doesn't that lead to the boilers again? We're circling back?"
Ethyl eyes the wall suspiciously and answers Nyarai, "We are, the way north from the boilers was blocked off."
She keeps her eyes on the wall as she tries to pick her way past it.
Creeping very close to the ground at the floorboards of the suspicious wall, Ethyl makes her way down the hall to her door of choice.
Iosif looks for anything odd.
Enoch simply pantomimes getting hurt as Ethyl trots down the corridor by her(lethal)self.....
The Paladin's blue eyes watch the wall warily....