Laria giggles softly at Ghorza's suggestion, while Rexus nearly chokes on his coffee. "Gods, Miss Thursisdottir, warn me before you say things like that!" He wipes his mouth with a handkerchief, then grins at her. "Still, it's good to laugh."
There's a moment of silence. "We'll head out to scout out the Salt Works, then." Korva says, getting to her feet. "Girls, we'll take the drains - no use showing off that we're here, and the sooner we get to knowing them, the better."
There's a brief chorus of groans, but the tengu sisters still get up and prepare to head out.
Laria picks up the paper that the women identified as concealed by magic. "So, in the meantime, we'll drum up support and get to directing the Fushi SIsters' efforts. Help decode the documents, that sort of thing. Ghorza, if you can work at your smithing - in whatever small capacity you can manage, I'll try to get some money together, or get you in contact with merchants who could sell them."
A flitter of movement out of the corner of their eyes is the only sign that the Ravens have of hostile presence before a tiny dart flits seemingly out of nowhere towards Ghorza. The dwarf feels a sharp sting on her neck as something penetrates far too close to one of her arteries.
The Ravens have a brief chance to spot their attacker, a tiny flying crimson-skinned woman with a long stinger tail, before she disappears, vanishing from sight entirely.
Imps' tails are poisonous, and they heal from injuries astonishingly quickly. They share most devils' resistance to non-silver or non-blessed weapons, and are immune to acid and poison. Fire and cold also struggle to damage them. They can shapeshift into boars, giant spiders, rats, or ravens, but this one clearly hasn't bothered.
An imp can turn invisible at will, as this one seems to have done, and can subtly warp a mortal's mind, tempting one to ever greater heights of depravity. They can also perform minor divinations, though that's usually less relevant in combat.
"What the-?!" Laria utters a particularly nasty phrase in her native language, snatching a dagger from her hip and readying it to throw as she scans the area carefully.
Ginetta leaps from the couch she was sitting on and slips the dagger from the thigh sheath it was secreted in. Silently cursing herself for not talking to Ghorza when they first arrived about the re-constructed rapier, she resigns herself to less than a perfect situation.
"Who was that woman?" she questions. "Is she a devil of some sort?"
Shocked, Ghorza put a hand to her neck and stared in both surprise and horror at the blood. She had been in such a good mood too! Previously she had but a handful of gold to her name, and then she had a thousand and a half! Even better she was going to have plentiful work again, and among friends, no less. And all of that had nearly been taken away. Pick at the ready she looked around frantically to see who had dared to make such an attempt on her life.
"Imp!" Celi reaches into her spell component pouch, coming up with a paper packet like the one she used earlier in the sewers. "Watch out for the tail, it's venomous. Can go invisible at will. They resist all weapons except blessed or silver, immune to acid or poison, resistant to fire and cold. Shapeshifts into a boar, giant spider, rat, or raven. Oh, and the little buggers heal quickly."
"What- how?!" Rexus whirls to face the imp, raising his hands in preparation for a spell of some sort.
A high-pitched voice incants from the same area that the imp disappeared from, and magic begins whirling into existence at the stairs that lead back up into the rest of the Wasp Nest. Gradually, crackling fires form into a horned, crimson ape.
The ape bellows, launching itself forwards at the women. Its eyes flash with an infernal loathing as it slams one heavy arm down towards Adolina. Fortunately, the noblewoman is able to deflect the attack with her rapier, dodging out of the way of the rest of the impact, which still sends her staggering.
"Dammit, how badly is our base infiltrated?!" Laria curses, stepping forwards and unleashing a heavy series of strikes with her hands and feet. The attacks barely phase the creature, not even causing it to twitch.
”Kill it first, ask questions later!” Ghorza cried out as she charged into the fray. Given the size and strength of the creature, she didn’t say any other option but to take it down as quickly as possible. Stopping to ask questions, either as to why it was there or how, seemed far too dangerous.
Ginetta mutters a very un-ladylike curse under her breath before pivoting to engage the summoned creature.
"I'm sure the question was rhetorical," she responds through gritted teeth as she slashes her dagger through the space the ape-thing was just a half-second prior.
Celi swears in Gnome as the gorilla pops into existence right where she can't hit it without getting one of her friends. Okay, new plan. She eels her way around Rexus, looking for the imp. It will probably try to hit the rest of the group from behind while they're dealing with the summon.
Adolina retreats, swiftly identifying how the infernal ape arrived in the Wasp Nest.
Ghorza, meanwhile, rushes the summoned monster, who lashes out with a heavy blow as she approaches, but the swashbuckling smith is quick enough to evade the treelike arm and respond in turn with a rapid strike from her pick. The silver tears through its flesh and chips at bone.
The gorilla flinches back with a bellow of pain, hellishly hot blood spurting out of its injured arm, but the flinch is enough that Ginetta's attack doesn't land even close to its flesh.
Celi moves rapidly to Rexus' side, trying to keep a lookout for the imp.
"Ah! Be ready to strike, friends! Rexus calls out, pulling out a scroll and chanting from it. A burst of bright dust erupts in the area that the imp had disappeared into, covering her in sparking gold - along with most of the walls and floors nearby. The tiny devil screams, flinching back from the blinding light.
On the other side of the room, the gorilla unleashes a barrage of strikes at the women surrounding it, but none come even close to landing, thanks to their own skill.
The imp flies backwards, towards the far corner of the room, attempting to get as far from the Ravens as possible.
Laria doesn't take her eyes off of the gorilla, striking again with a volley of attacks. This time she's much better able to hurt it, slamming a fist into its groin, stomping hard on its inner foot, and leaping to shoulder it in the stomach.