Hmm. Celi can't get a very good shot from here. Wait. Did I cast mage armor yet? Oh crumbs, she didn't! This whole combat thing is definitely going to take some getting used to. Sheepishly, the gnome casts her protective spell.
Celi conjures her magical protections, and a suit of armor of force flickers around her before fading out of sight.
The rat closest to Rose leaps out of its nest, its fangs snapping at her calves, but the half-elf's armor saves her from a nasty injury.
Another rat, explodes out of its own nest, shrieking and hissing as it attempts to leap up to gnaw on her arm.
The final rat rushes towards her, but can't get to her in a single leap before she is ready to fight back.
Adolina moves swiftly down the ladder, the foul stench striking her square in the face as she does so, nearly nauseating her. Nevertheless, she is present and ready.
As she does so, however, she nearly allows the nearby rat to strike at her, but she evades any attempt it might make to do so.
"Is it beneath a hero to engage in vermin control?" Rose questions as her blade flashes out and stabs one of the rats. "I think not."
Rose, swiftly strikes at one of the rats flocking around her, piercing its side and prompting a hiss of pain.
Celi, meanwhile, takes careful aim through the trapdoor at the injured rat before pulling the trigger on her crossbow, but unfortunately, the bolt goes wide as she has to avoid hitting the two women already below.
The injured rat leaps at Rose again, chomping at her upper calf, but the vigilante is able to kick it aside before it can sink its filthy fangs into her.
Another of the rats takes the chance to circle around her, acting in concert with its "pack," then jump at her again, harrying her towards the other rat. This one manages to climb halfway up her leg to tear a chunk out of her thigh. The wound burns with the rat's foul fangs.
The final rat, sensing weakness, leaps at the half-elf's back, trying to get to her neck. The heavy impact of the creature knocks her forwards, but she's able to throw it off with an effort, sending it skittering back to the fetid floor.
Rushing down as there was the sound of battle, Ghorza moved with all possible haste. Her pick was swung in a blur, as she (apparently) put all thoughts of personal safety aside to launch her offensive.
Ghorza descends swiftly down the ladder, but the rat closest to her takes the chance to whirl and chomp at her as she passes, which catches her in the back of her leg. Fortunately, she's able to tear away from it before it gets to a critical artery, but she's left with a painful jolt on every footstep she takes.
Still, the dwarf whirls on the rat, bringing her pick down on it with all her might. The weapon pierces through its back, nearly pinning it to the floor. It lets out a hapless squeak as the air rushes from its lungs, leaving it slowly bleeding out on the floor.
Adolina, seeing the rat fall, moves to attack the last uninjured creature, on which she lands an elegant stab. It yelps, hissing at her, and turns its attention back to her.
Above, Rexus hesitates, then touches Celi's shoulder. She feels a sense of growing fatedness, endowing her with some sort of inevitable victory. "I can't help but feel a little helpless." He confesses to her quietly.
Rose stabs again at one of the rats before stepping closer to Adolina. The noblewoman can feel the leather-clad woman stumble slightly against her. She's barely still on her feet.
"Sorry about that," she mutters through clinched teeth. "I'm clearly not the best dance partner at the moment. And it's not really the most conducive atmosphere for such activities."
"Yeah, same here. I definitely need to practice my aim more." That's not enough reason to give up, though! Who knows, maybe Celi will get in a lucky shot. She takes aim at the same rat she shot at before and fires.
Rose pierces her target with her rapier, tossing its bleeding body aside, and takes a hasty step towards her noble companion, almost falling into her. Celi prepares another shot at the sole remaining rat, .
The final rat shrieks and, sensing her weakness, leaps at Rose again, but the half-elf is prepared, and dodges out of the way as best she's able to with her heavy injuries.
Moving forward, Ghorza attempted to get around the vermin to flank it. However, swinging a pick in an enclosed area was proving to be difficult, with the dwarf struggling to land a solid hit.
Ghorza rushes the sole remaining rat, flanking it with Adolina, but the creature's small size allows it to evade the attack - only to dodge right into the noblewoman's strike, which pierces its hide, but only just. It squeaks in pain, pulling away slightly.
Upstairs, Rexus gazes down at the fight with a sigh. "I... hate this." He says aloud. "Not one of my spells would help here."
"Excellent form, my Lady," Rose exclaims as her own suffers as she stumbles again. "It appears that I am unable to match it for some reason."
"Stupid rats," Celi mutters. And the rats are only a prologue to the real story; something left those footprints they saw earlier. She takes aim at the surviving rat and fires again.
Rose attempts to replicate Adolina's successful strike, but the wounded rat scurries out of the way of the attack, while Celi adjusts her aim as best as she can, only to find her bolt sticking out of the bottom lip of the trapdoor.
The rat, aware of how badly it is hurt, skitters out of the way of the attacks, clambering up the walls with alarming ease and scrambling towards one of the nests. Though it passes by Ghorza, it is able to move with such swiftness that it doesn't give her the chance to attack it, and it hastily huddles in one of the many ruined boxes that give it at least partial concealment from the Ravens.
Seeing the rat escaping, Ghorza turned her ran after it. The rodent barred its teeth just in time for her pick to come down, ending it's life. Pulling the weapon free, she shook it for the excess blood to come off. "Can't let that thing come back to bite us later." She explained, wincing slightly at the bite she had suffered.
"Hounds, rats, and a mysterious spell casting outsider. This place gets better and better by the minute."
"Is it quite safe down there now?" Rexus calls down. "Well, relatively speaking, I suppose." Upon hearing the affirmation, he descends the ladder gingerly, and looks around with a faint expression of disgust. "Gods, it seems like the rats have been here for quite some time, haven't they?"
"Well done, Miss Thursisdottir," Rose comments approvingly. "I must apologize that I wasn't more help. For some reason I'm not quite feeling myself."
She takes a firm grasp of Adolina's arm and the young woman gets the impression that the masked heroine is using her to stay upright.
"Shall we venture forth?"
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"Hold on a moment." Adolina says, rather firmly for her. She speaks soft words of magic, unintentionally whispering them (somewhat intimately) into Rose's ear as warm magic soothes the woman's injuries.
"Did that help?" She asks in a more normal voice, although still not loud because their faces are only a few inches apart and there's no need for shouting.
As Adolina's magic spreads, Rose gives a soft intake of breath. Once it's finished, she straightens up somewhat, but remains close.
"More than you can imagine, my dear Lady," she replies in a similarly hushed voice. "In fact, I would go so far as to say it was the highlight of my day." She gives the woman a playful wink before moving towards the door.
"Now why don't we locate the skilled player of those lovely pipes?"
”Aye. That we should.” Ghorza said, her face and voice serious. ”This unwanted guest is far worse than any vermin. But how do we track it down?” She asked, having no experience with anything magical.
"How badly were you injured?" Rexus looks worriedly at Rose. "I have a handful of potions, should you need any further healing."
He looks around the room, his brow furrowed, then back to the masked woman. "I don't hear anything." The nobleman says, before hastily raising his hand. "Not that I doubt you, of course, but... could it be some sort of illusion to lure us deeper in?"
After a moment, Rexus shakes his head. "Well, even if it is, it's not something we can avoid, short of leaving, which I don't think any of us wants to do at the moment."
"It could certainly be an illusion," Rose responds. "However, since our goal is to quest further in regardless ..." She shrugs. "I don't imagine it makes much of a difference."
She gives Adolina a smile. "And I believe that Lady d'Jhaltera has managed my needs more than adequately. Thank you, though."
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"I p-purchased this wand." Adolina adds, fishing out the item in question just slightly too late for it to be useful. "It should do the j-job."
She fiddles for a moment and then settles with her blade in one hand and the wand held like a dagger in the other hand. She seems somewhat awkward in the stance, it clearly as well practised as her normal one but seems serviceable.
"I'm ready." She says, possibly trying to convince herself.
"Agreed. We came here for a reason, and I'm not about to turn back now!" Celi reloads her crossbow and climbs down the ladder to join the others. "I didn't hear anything, but I was a bit distracted." To be fair, she's usually a bit distracted.
"Good." Rexus nods, reassured by Rose's affirmation. "Well then, I suppose we ought to move onwards."
With that, Rose opens the door. With Adolina's light, the humans are able to see a bit of the room. Dirty salt and sawdust cover the floor of the room, and even within the radius of light, the walls and masonry seems to have been chewed or clawed away, with narrow animal tunnels beyond. Steel rails are mounted on the ceiling, with a hook dangling from one part of it.
"Well, that's... hm." Rexus looks into the area over the women's shoulders (and heads). "It looks like the slaughterhouse owners knew about this place, but the Juliacs probably didn't." He indicates the railings and hook. "I'd wager that that was where they hung the slaughtered animals, before the Ravens claimed it as a hideout."
"And that's also where our pipe-player slash trickster is hiding," Rose says with a smile as she gestures with her blade.
"Why don't you come down? Fair play for fair play, I'd say. We have no wish to cause you harm. If you leave us be, we'll leave you be."
"Aye." Ghorza called out. "She speaks true. There nay be need for violence." The dwarf said, resting her pick on her shoulder. The silver gleamed, despite the blood that was quickly drying on it. "We be clearing this place out right proper. If ye come out and talk, I'm sure we can reach an arrangement."
"What are you talking about-" Rexus begins, squinting into the dark, but he is interrupted by the creature in the rafters (such as they are). It shrieks something out in a language none of the Ravens understand, then launches itself off of its metal perch, taking to the air and flying slowly towards them.
Rose advances into the room with confidence. And it's with that same confidence, she misses her intended target spectacularly.
Pulling out an iron pot from her pack, Ghorza threw it with all of her might at the flying miscreant.
Rose rushes in, not realizing that the flying creature is just out of her reach as she thrusts helplessly into the air. Adolina follows her quickly, but is slightly more aware, and prepares to stab at anything that approaches her.
Meanwhile, Ghorza hefts a pot from her pack and hurls it at the creature. Despite all odds, the thing crashes into the creature, knocking it out of the air and bringing it crashing to the ground.
Celi takes a few steps forwards, calling out a warning about another such creature lurking in the holes in the walls, and readies her crossbow in case it emerges.
Before anyone else can react, another of the mysterious creatures erupts from the southwestern corner of the filthy pile of blankets and pillows. With a chattered cry, it skitters back towards the wall, and gestures at Rose. Immediately, her rapier grows slick with some sort of fluid, leaving her desperately trying to keep ahold of it. Despite how slippery the hilt has become, she manages to keep a grip on it, shaking the fluid off.
The creature emerges halfway out of the wall, prompting Celi to fire her crossbow at it. However, the bolt goes wide, thudding heavily into the wood of the wall nearby. It rears back and unleashes a foul wave of vomit at Rose, who easily dodges out of the way.
A fourth creature reveals itself as having hidden in the rafters by summoning a slick of some sort of foul fluid at Adolina's feet. Taken completely by surprise, the noblewoman slips, crashing to the ground . Mocking, vicious laughter echoes throughout the chamber as her harasser hops off the railing and flies towards the west, keeping high in the air.
Finally, a fifth creature darts out from behind one of the columns to the south, and with a hacking cough, vomits a long projectile towards both Celi and Ghorza. The gnome is quick enough to dodge out of the way, but Ghorza, despite the intervening doorway, isn't quite able to do so, and gets covered in the viscous, stinking bile. Despite that, the woman's stomach is strong enough for her to avoid vomiting herself.
Rexus flinches back from the sudden projectile vomit. "What in the gods' names-?" He shakes his head. "No, not important." He rushes out of the room, drawing his cane sword as he goes, then stops, eyes wide, as he takes in the bizarre creatures. "How the Hell can something so small vomit so far?" He asks plaintively, then begins chanting, gesturing with his off-hand. He hurls a small orb of acid at the creature, which splatters on it. The creature shrieks, then turns to glare at him, only slightly injured.
Grimacing from the vile nature of the attack, Ghorza took a huge scoop of the bile and flung it back at the flying vermin. It hit with a *slop* type sound, giving her companion a distraction so that Celi could fire her crossbow again.
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Adolina retains enough presence of mind to roll away from the patch of... liquid that she's in, and has a moment to mourn the ruining of some perfectly good trousers as she does so.
Once off the slick she stands again and makes a mental note to get flat-soled boots with rough bottoms for traction if she ever has to do something like this again.
"And so we shift to fulfill the tried and true role of vermin exterminators," Rose declares with resignation as a dagger slips into her hand. She flings the blade towards the one hovering in the air, but with her heart not in the task, the weapon misses entirely.
Ugh, why can't these creatures get a little closer? Celi can't hit more than one with her color spray if they're so far apart! The gnome loads another crossbow bolt and fires at the creature closest to Adolina. She may not know much about combat yet, but she knows it's a lot harder to dodge when you're trying to get to your feet.
In a burst of inspiration, Ghorza attempts to hurl the vomit back at the creature, but it falls terribly short, simply splattering on the floor between them.
Adolina takes the chance to scrabble off of the slick patch of ground before getting to her feet.
Switching her tactics, Rose hurls a dagger up at the flying creature , who drifts almost lazily out of the way, making a rude gesture at her and cackling.
Celi reloads again and fires at the most threatening (-seeming) creature, who pulls back slightly, allowing the bolt to pass it by harmlessly. It sticks its tongue out at her, before pulling a small stone from its "garments" (such as they are) and hurling it at Adolina, who dodges out of the way.
With a chitter of frustration, the creature falls back, dodging into one of the many small holes in the wall and disappearing from view.
The gremlin unleashes yet another slick of whatever foul fluids it can summon, which sprays onto the ground under Celi's and Rexus' feet and the wall behind them. Although both struggle for a moment, they manage to keep their feet beneath them.
The creature chitters in irritation, then floats towards Rexus with a malicious grin. However, as it gets close to him, he lashes out with his sword cane, stabbing it into the creature's stomach, but it doesn't penetrate very deep. The creature shrieks at him as blood flows down the steel blade.
"What-? Be careful, these things are harder to hurt than they look!" Rexus calls out, just in time for the creature's momentum to drag it closer to him, past his guard, for all that it looks like it would very much prefer to escape now.
The farthest monster , who lurks on the edges of the light Adolina's spell provides, tears a small chunk of masonry from the wall nearby and hurls it at Rose, but it fumbles the throw and the chunk of stone clatters to the ground beneath it. It grunts, then swoops downwards and into a hole in the wall, disappearing from sight.
The final little (metaphorical) devil dives down from its high place before turning in mid-air to hack up a projectile of vomit at Rose and Adolina alike. Neither woman is quite quick enough to get out of its way, and both are covered in its foul bile, something only exacerbated by the chorus of mocking giggles from the beasts that notice. Despite the sheer foulness of the experience, both women manage to keep their stomachs under control.
"Back off, Miss Wordsmith - if you can!" Rexus urges the gnome as he thrusts at the creature that seems to want to grab ahold of him. "And you, begone!" The blade strikes home, into the creature's head... only to bounce off uselessly, as the creature laughs mockingly at him. "Oh, that's bad..."
Rose steps closer to the creature that adorned her in its vomit and stabs at it.
"These are my best leathers, you vile piece of refuse!" she declares. Her blade doesn't even come close to the tiny foe.
Moving forward with pick in hand, Ghorza readied herself for the gremlin to come out of hiding and into arm's reach.
And now the nasty little creatures are too close to her friends for Celi's one good spell to be of any use. Scowling, the wizard steps back to reload her crossbow, then takes aim and fires again.
Rose jumps into combat, stabbing at the descended creature, who drifts easily out of the way of her wild thrust, giggling maniacally.
Ghorza, meanwhile, leaves the rat's nest behind (though the smell doesn't much improve), readying her pickaxe for anything that might emerge from the walls.
Celi steps carefully off of the greasy surface, but stumbles. Although she keeps her footing, she can't manage to get out of the mess. Still, she bravely reloads her crossbow and fires at the creature close to Rexus. However, between his body and the struggle, she misses wildly.
"While I appreciate the aid, please don't shoot at me!" Rexus cries, alarmed.
Adolina advances to help Rexus herself, stabbing at the creature that's so close to him, but she, too, misses entirely. As she does so, the light she bears reveals a metal grate in the southeastern corner of the room, and beyond it, stairs descending to the east.
The badly injured beast [ooc]lined in red flies up and away, trying to get some distance from both the humans. Unfortunately for it, both nobles are able to strike at it as it flees. Working in astonishing harmony, the two stab the creature - though Rexus' blade bounces off of its hide, Adolina's is able to pierce through and send it toppling to the ground in a bleeding heap.
The last visible creature attempts to slip into Rose's guard, but she's able to respond rapidly, thrusting at it again. This time, she manages to land the blow, stabbing it in its side. However, her sword doesn't pierce the flesh as deeply as it should, as though there's some sort of magical resistance to her weapon. However, with her weapon already out of place, it takes the opportunity to cast its magic upon her sword again. This time, she's not able to react in time, and the weapon grows slick with whatever foul substance it is conjuring. The inertia of her thrust sends it sliding out of her hand and clattering onto the floor.
Rexus takes a hesitant step off of the grease, only to abruptly stagger. Fortunately, he's quick enough to grab the wall and hold himself upright, but he has to steady himself before he can move further. Instead, he reaches out to touch Adolina's shoulder. "Here, go and help Rose!"