The doppelganger is left extremely bloody after Summer's attacks, and it lashes out in a final, desperate attempt to dispatch your companion.
Summer resists some of the impact of the attacks, but it still hurts him.
Serael picks her shortbow, now with the doppelganger properly hexxed, to give covering fire for her bird, after studying the creature.
Although your shot misses , it distracts the doppelganger long enough for Summer to finish it off.
Serael approaches Summer and heals him.
Serael analyzes the situation. We are still in good shape, but those hits from the doppelganger were scary and I'm approaching the point where my use of magic is straining. But if we clear this floor, outside of maybe the mandragora and that guy who we ended up not fighting, they might have a hard time readjusting their defenses and might be spread too thin for my second inevitable approach. I cannot forget the troll at the entrance as well.
She looks around the room and, if nothing picks her interest, decides to explore the next room, at the very least, taking care to check for traps or noises coming from the other side of the door.
A long red carpet extends from the western doorway of this mirrored hall between ice sculptures of twin nymphs, ending at an open alcove to the east. Passageways continue north and south, following the contours of the tower's outer wall, where windows look out over the open courtyard below.
A familiar-looking pattern is etched into the floor of the eastern alcove, but when you step on it, nothing happens.
So I don't have the key for this one yet...
Serael stretches a bit, the tension having been built up by exploring this place, and goes through the door to the northern side of the floor.
Tiles of ice cover the floor in this recessed alcove, beneath a large window overlooking the tower's northern exposure. When you step into it, ice swiftly rises to cover you before melting away, leaving you in a new location.
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A triangle of crossed steel wires runs between three wooden posts in this crescent-shaped room that smells strongly from the bird droppings scattered across the floor. Along the south wall, open windows look down from a dizzying height, admitting a brisk, cold wind. Two doors exit this chamber, one next to a large mirror to the west and another standing between a pair of wooden chests to the northeast.
A blue-skinned woman with pale hair is tending a large flock of ravens when you appear. She looks startled at your presence, and with a whistle, she calls her birds into a protective swarm that bars your path. "This bird isn't one of mine - and I don't recognize you. Who are you?"
"What beautiful birds!" Serael says as she sees the flock around the woman. She is not faking her reaction, they are indeed beautiful, but Serael hopes this is enough to make them not engage in battle, she would hate to fight against other birds, even though she knew the possibility since the swarm she saw with Nadya.
"My name is Serael, what is yours? I'm a trainee witch from far away. Here" she points to her bird "This is Summer and this" she allows Winter to peek from inside her coat "This is Winter."
"Jairess," the sylph replies warily. "I'm the tower's raven warden. Radosek didn't tell me he was taking on an apprentice."
"I was sent here recently and just arrived. I've had... previous mentors, but they were not a good fit. I fear this is my last chance." Serael tries to keep her story as close to the truth as possible.
"I was looking for Radosek, but I cannot get to the upper floors."
Jairess picks up a spear and glares suspiciously at you. "You're hiding something. What is it!"
Serael tries her last resort "...I was kicked out by my witch trainers. I was hoping another one would accept me. I'm trying to meet with Radosek for that reason."
"Why'd they kick you out? More importantly, why should Radosek take on a failed apprentice?"
"I disliked the way she treated my birds... We got in a fight but I was kicked out. I think Radosek would appreciate my abilities."
Serael hoped the appeal to the animals would touch Jairess.
Jairess thinks for a minute before sending a raven flying towards you. In its talons is an icicle key. "This'll activate the locked teleporter on the lower level. I don't know how skilled you are, but Radosek will likely appreciate your ... other abilities."
What does she mean by that?
"Thank you!" Serael shows her gratitude very quickly so she can leave the room as soon as possible. She returns to the teleporter on the lower level and teleports up.
As you return to the lower teleporter and wait for the ice to cover you, you feel a surge of power from the Black Rider's mantle, strengthening you for what's to come.
Serael thinks about her journey so far as she feels the surge com the Black Rider.
It's still unreal if I stop to think about all that happened. I cannot fall here.
Now there she was, the weakest "Black Rider" to ever possibly exist, climbing to hopefully the top floor of the tower, about to slay a witch.
A translucent image of a globe hangs suspended in midair, slowly rotating in place, above a summoning circle in the blue-tiled floor of this large chamber. Lines of arcane energy glow across the globe's surface, faintly humming with power as they connect multiple endpoints in a radiant glow bright enough to illuminate the domed ceiling overhead. Many tables and shelves covered in books, maps, and large scrolls line the room's circular walls, and a large ornate mirror hangs between two open windows to the west. Twin ice sculptures of demonic fiends flank a bubbling cauldron in an archway leading into a deep alcove in the southern wall.
An arrogant-looking Taldan man stands near the cauldron. When you appear, he turns to you with a sneer. "You're the foreigner who gave my guards trouble in that pathetic town earlier. If you beg, maybe I'll spare your miserable life."
"And you must be Radosek." Serael quickly scans the room trying to find more people, but Mierul had mentioned only Radosek was in the tower at the moment. I hope no one comes from these doors Serael says remembering her fight in the lodge near Sandpoint.
"Tell me, are you the one that killed Thora?"
Radosek gives you a sinister chuckle. "The little doll girl? No, that was my master. She isn't here, though, which means you're all mine." He draws a long icicle from his belt. "Tell me, have you ever been frozen before?"
Serael readies her shortbow.
"So she will be next, then." Serael does not deign to answer Radosek's scare tactics, but she does remember her horrible lessons under Winter Witches that would punish her by freezing.