As the virulent poison visibly spreads through the veins in her thigh, Ryn's knee buckles, the gladiatrix dropping to one knee, leaning heavily on her shield, as her body engages in an altogether different kind of fight.
The burning sensation subsides, but Ryn still feels weak.
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Azura drops her rapier and immediately moves to try to help Ryn. She grabs the warrior's arm and helps keep her from falling over as she ebbs to the ground.
"Spider venom..." she says. "... you must've gotten a very bad bite. Ada, do you have any magic that can help?"
Embyr & Natalya creep in behind the rest of the party, looking concerned.
"Should we find a spot to bunker down and get our strength back?" Embyr asks, glancing between Zev & Ryn.
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"We can if we don't have any other choice," says Azura. "But I do have a potion for such an emergency." She cradles Ryn against her with one hand while she rummages about and then produces a small vial. "I purchased this just a little while ago; it is supposed to help mitigate the effects of some poisons. Ryn, you can take it if you want. I hate seeing you like this."
"I can help with that. Ryn or Zev who needs the spell casting since Auzra has a potion to share. Thank you Azura." Ada examines Ryn and Zev looking who is most damaged.
”Sorry everyone, that spider venom sucks...” Zev sympathetically whimpers to Ryn.
If you really need to make camp, I'll go with it. The sooner we get done with this the better, but I'd rather not loose anyone along the way. Ulfr says.
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"Azura why don't you heal Ryn, and I'll see to Zev." She touches Zev on the shoulder, and casts Lesser Restoration.
Azura nods in agreement and carefully uncorks her vial and offers it to Ryn.
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"Thanks." Ryn says giving a wan smile as she rests her head against Azura. Taking the potion, she brings it to her lips and drinks the contents, sighing as she feels some of her strength flow back into her. Giving Azura a grateful little squeeze, she stands up slowly.
"That helped. I should be good to continue, not 100% but nothing a hot bath and a night in a good bed won't fix. How about you Zev?" Though the gladiatrix definitely looks closer to her usual self, she keeps an arm around Azura's waist, possibly not even realizing it.
"Thank you, Miss Ada," Zev happily says when the Shamaness goes to heal him, his smile widening as his vitality returns, the back part of his coat making some odd movements that he tries to hide with some jubilant swaying.
"Yeah! I feel a lot better," he responds to Ryn, noticing her hand he made sure his eyes didn't drift down and simply closed them and gave her a friendly smile.
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Azura suppresses a small "oop!" as Ryn inadvertently drags her in close - the gladiatrix still far stronger than the bard, even in her enervated state. She helps Ryn back up onto her feet.
"So are we pushing on then, or do we set up another camp here?" she asks.
"I think we're good to keep going, I'd much rather get this place cleared out before we stop if possible." Ryn says standing up straight. Realizing she's holding on to Azura, she gives her an affectionate, gentle squeeze and lets go, flashing the bard a little smile.
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Azura pats Ryn's hand affectionately and says, "Whatever you say, chief!"
The group gathers their bearings and proceeds onward, into the eerily silent stone hallways.
After passing a row of cells and turning south, the group walks down a set of stairs to find something quite grisly. Aside from the heavy stone door blocking passage to the west, and the eastern corridor leading deeper into the dungeon, this new room is decorated with multiple ancient-looking instruments of torture--most of them rusted, some of them well-polished, but all of them possessed of multiple sharp points, wicked barbs and fiendish hooks designed to peel skin from an unfortunate victim's body.
There are two cells in the room--one to the south, devoid of anything but dust, and one to the north, with a still-living occupant. A dog-legged, emaciated & humanoid-looking monster, its eyes a bloodied red and its three-fingered hands twisted into vicious claws. Its jaw appears to have been split in half down the middle, and lined with serrated teeth. Tattered black rags cling to the beast's body, looking to be in danger of falling apart at any moment. When the beast sees the party enter the room, it growls in fury and runs at the cell door keeping it locked away.
It starts pounding on the door, making a racket. It's growls of anger turn to frustration.
"Ah, feels like home." Zev says in a deadened tone upon seeing the torture room.
When the creatures rushes and tries to break out of its cell he tilts his head. "Hello? Can you understand me? Are you hungry?" he randomly asks in absence of better questioning methods.
The beast pauses in its vicious attack on its cell door to sniff at Zev.
Then it starts throwing itself against the door with renewed vigour.
Zev scratches his head before turning to the others. "What do you all want to do?"
Ulfr grins and rolls his shoulders. Open it.
"Why?"
Because it asked us to, that's why. Ulfr winks. Is he joking? You can't be sure.
Zev blinks. "No."
Ulfr deflates a little. Awww, come on! He's clearly an abomination of some kind and it's just spoiling for a fight!
"That's a sinspawn. It feeds on violence. Um... I don't think that door will hold it forever. It can be defeated in combat, and if we don't destroy it, it might get out and hunt us down... but it might also try to overwhelm you with wrath and make you revel in violence so much that you lose the ability to tell friend from foe," Azura advises.
Ulfr seems to fail to see a problem with this...
So, stand back? he says with a grin.
Ulfr proclaims a challenge of strength and will in Ulfen, a mighty chorus and a shimmer of magic. He then steps up to the cage, takes the door in one hand, and rips it clean off it's hinges!
Foxy, ever at his heels, yips a challenge at the monster too!
"He's right, you should probably back up a bit just in case. I'd never forgive myself if I lost control and hurt you," Ryn says, looking at Azura as she finishes her sentence. Cracking her neck, she takes a deep breath as Ulfr starts summoning up the now familiar battle frenzy. "If we do lose control...I guess try sleep magic or something."
She turns around to embrace the violence as the door splinters like kindling.
"Understood," says Azura as she backs up a bit.
”... we could have just killed it in the cage...” Zev mumbles as he draws his sword.
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Azura shrugs helplessly. "Sorry?" she says to Zev, looking a bit awkward.
Zev just shrugs back at the singer, sharing a bemused look.
Ulfr gives the cell door a mighty WHACK, and it flies open with a loud BANG!
There's a moment of silence as the sinspawn stares at the half-orc in disbelief.
Then it decides to repay the man's charity.
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Azura once again commences her haunting celestial song.
Ulfr roars and introduces the abdominal to the business end of his great club just as foxy darts in and gives it a good bite!
Ulfr and Foxy then step to the side of the door, inviting the monster to come between them and Ryn.
The beast is promptly splattered by Ulfr’s club.
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Zev offers a hollow clapping after the monster is smashed. "This way then?" he asks as he heads for the heavy stone door to the west.
Ulfr looks... disappointed. Well. That was anticlimactic. He sighs, props his gore-spattered club on his shoulder, and follows Zev. Foxy Yips once at the corpse and follows.
"You need a better class of enemies, Ulfr," quips Azura as she abruptly stops singing.
Zev pulls the stone door open with ease and leads the party down the corridor beyond.
The room at the end of the gently curving corridor seems to have once served as a guard barracks, but its beds and furniture here have long since crumbled into long unrecognizable ruins. A corridor stretches to the east, and a set of stairs down lie at the end of the corridor to the south.
Zev continues on.
I hear more chittering east. Let's go.
A damp natural grotto opens up in the earth down the corridor, its stone ceiling rising forty feet above. Fat columns of brick support the northern end of the room, and the floor of the southern end has been carved into a low dais upon which stands the mould-slick statue of a beautiful woman holding a ranseur.
Hanging from the ceiling is what appears to be a man-sized, crab-like creature, clinging tenaciously to the rough stone. Its enormous grey pincers are held out before it, clicking repeatedly.
Around one of its legs is a silver bracer, identical to the one KING ZUGGA! wore.