Exhausted, Ezren takes a seat against the wall, wiping the slime of the sentient ooze from his robes. He looks over at Merisiel when she returns with the captive and nods.
"You better do what she says, friend. It can get pretty ugly."
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In a last ditch effort, Ezren siphons energy from his arcane staff, recharging his magical reservoirs to unleash another deadly and potent fireball behind the ooze, hoping to engulf it and not his friends.
Ezren feels the crushing weight of the massive ooze crawling over him, and he struggles to keep his body moving as the acid burns away at his skin and nerves. But, gripping the wand he held in his hand, he flicks it forward and unleashes three bolts of force at the ooze.
Ezren stands motionless, unable to speak or move as the ooze engulfs him. His flesh burns as the acidic blob covers him, but he is unable to protect himself and only prays he his able to power through this affliction, or his allies come to his rescue before he is fully consumed.
Ezren moves forward and conjures a stream of acid from the ether, hurtling it towards the doll.
Ezren focuses his arcane energy and time itself seems to distort and accelerate for just a moment. Ezren speaks the incantation and directs his staff at Kaneda, granting him magical speed.
Ezren produces a wand from his belt and prepares himself.
"Thanks Fumbus, I feel much better now. Where to next?"
Also, I am fine either way. I have plenty of spells still, but would not be opposed to refreshing either.
Ezren drinks the vial while trying not to focus on the lingering smells of the sewers. "Thanks, Fumbus. This isn't what I had in mind when agreeing to a research mission in a library, but at least we're all in mostly one piece."
CLutching his chest, Ezren gasps deeply before the air around him gets cold. He glances over at Fumbus, seeing the goblin switch to a more fiery arsenal. "I quite enjoy this hot and cold thing we've got going on here, let's keep it going!"
After firing the frost ray, Ezren mutters another incantation to summon a magical ward to protect himself from another possible ooze attack.
As the ooze begins its assault on Kaneda, Ezren studies the environment carefully as he begins a powerful arcane incantation.
After the fiery explosion engulfs the oozes, Ezren channels the magical energies that were just released back into himself, funneling them into his staff.
With a pulse of arcane magic, Ezren's eyes open wide as he focuses all of the siphoned energies through his weapon and releases it towards the closest pudding.
Ezren turns the ring over a few times between his fingers, concentrating on the magical aura of the object.
After a bit, he sighs and shrugs. "Sorry, I think the fumes of this place are interfering with my concentration."
Ezren enters the building, being careful not to step on any broken glass or rusty nails.
Ezren sighs with relief when Merisiel returns. "Abandoned? Well... perhaps it's just a front for activity in the basement? Perhaps another entrance elsewhere, like the sewers that were mentioned? I suppose we should look for the trapdoor and see if we can't head down."
After hours of investigating, Ezren is relieved when the party finally stumbles upon the whereabouts of Igrigi. He listens intently as Merisiel explains the situation, and produces the bill of sale when requested. The entire time, Ezren never takes his eyes off of Igrigi, trying to study and analyze their every gesture and inflection.
Ezren slides the parchment across the table to Sebnet. "What do you make of this, hm?"
Ezren pulls the sleeve of his robe up to reveal the already-forming bruises of battle with the animated statues. "Well, we gleamed that the statues that you keep down there tried to murder us. And also information was either stolen or misplaced regarding the creation and sale of a sentient lake ooze, or something of the sort."
"Fascinating find, Fumbus! I too was able to procure some information," Ezren says while producing some notes from the opposite end of the library. He keeps some distance between himself and the goblin for fear of what Fumbus might do to these particular documents. "These records here are for a two-year-old bill of sale for a treatise called 'Living at the Shore of the Sentient Sea,' regarding the sentient lake of ooze at the center of the Nexian city of Oenopion. However, the stranger detail is that I only stumbled upon this information while I was searching for details on the Open Road Pact, which is completely missing from where it should be. Additionally, several sections on ooze-crafting that should have been cataloged in proximity to the Open Road Pact were also gone."
Ezren takes a deep breath and composes himself before turning back to the party. "Well, I suppose that could've been worse," he says while applying pressure to his wounds. [b]"I specifically asked her if this place had traps or magical wards! Did she forget, or is something else going on here?"
"Oh just crumble already!" Ezren moves back closer to his approaching party and invokes another acid orb and hurls it at the animated statue.
Ezren, looking battered, looks back at Kaneda and shouts, "About damned time! Didn't you all learn that letting your elders get pummeled by animate statues is rude?" Ezren attempts to shove free from the golem grabbing him.
"Aha! I have you now! Ezren gestures with his hand and materializes a floating orb of acid, which he hurls at the statue.
"Um, I could use some assistance here!" Ezren shouts as he struggles in the grip of the statue. "I take back what I said about your explosive tendencies, Fumbus! Just help me with this please!" Ezren clutches his quarterstaff with both hands as the statue latches on to him and brings it down with as much force as an old wizard can muster, hoping to crumble his enemy.
Preparing for the worst, Ezren mutters an incantation to protect himself. A small magical barrier appears around him.
Ezren watches in horror as his goblin companion hurls destruction in bottled form at the animated statue. "BE CAREFUL NOT TO DESTROY THE ARCHIVE! We're here as Society representatives, remember!?" Ezren moves away from the statue to put some distance between himself and the club before unleashing a volley of Magic Missiles into the golem.
Confounded that his expertise in the arcane arts yielded no results, Ezren decides to take a different approach and use his history of dealing with city officials and important people to draw any leads.
"Thank you for the warm hospitality. We will get to work and be out of your way as quickly as possible." Ezren takes in the extensive archive, breathing deeply the musty tomes. He cracks his knuckles and turns to the rest of the group. "Alright team, let's get to work. Let me know if you need any assistance deciphering any arcane texts."
Ezren looks down at Fumbus. "Don't worry friend, we won't let those scary books steal your precious words," he says with a smirk. As they begin to walk, Ezren strides along next to Sebnet with a surprising spring in his step, despite using his quarterstaff for assistance with his steps. "So Sebnet, you mention enchantments, but are there any magical wards or securities that we need to be made aware of in this archive? I would rather know exactly what we're getting into rather than be surprised. I hate surprises, you know."
Ezren smiles at the gnome and rises from his seat to greet him. "It is no worry, I understand how business can cause us to forego traditional manners. I take no offense. I'm Ezren, it's nice to meet you." |