Immune to Fire and Ice?! I need to make some Alkalai flasks...
Not really able to do much from where she is, Ismene waits for space to open up. If it does, she will move closer, drawing an acid flask and hurl it at the goo.
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Ismene will back away.
"Thank you kindly, Miss Albus. Teddy, do you mind checking out the badge that our Warden friend here is trying so hard to swallow?" Ismene pats Quinn on the shoulder. "Any time. Or actually, precisely seven more times. Today, that is. If these are the Warden's remains, should we bring them to Vesorianna? Possibly the badge at least." Ismene will make an effort to remove the badge as long as it doesn't require strength to do so.
Ismene moves up behind Quinn, peering over his shoulder and grimacing in disgust at the scrabbling hand. She wastes no time in mixing a precision bomb and hurling it at the closest one.
Seeing actual physical undead to blow up, Ismene eagerly mixes her reagents, making sure to use the formulation for precision damage and hurls the resultant bomb between Quinn and Theodore to strike the floating head between the others and the Marauder.
Ismene gives Kendra a comforting pat. "Don't give it another thought, of course we'll be there to support you. Evacuate you, if need be! But we are making good progress, could be we'll be reporting the problem as solved at this meeting." "We are going through resources, though. Let's call on Father Grimburrow and let him know how absolutely indispensable the Holy Water has been. I'd take a barrel of it if I could." "Interestingly enough, we've encountered a number of apparitions that are immune to fire. I'm considering how to create a bomb with an endothermic reaction, but it's a bit beyond me yet. Does your father's laboratory have anything for making Liquid Ice?"
Ismene will prepare an unused extract slot to a Crafter's Fortune and slug it down before setting to work.
Ismene gives a weary nod. "Unfortunately, I'm down to one bomb left and I've gone through half our supply of Holy Water. I'll need to rest soon if I'm going to continue to contribute."
Noting that she was nearing the end of her resources, Ismene lobs her next to last bomb.
Ismene lobs a particularly blasty bomb at the Lopper. She blinks rapidly as she pushes her lenses back up her nose. "Ooh, I'll have to check my notes to see what I did differently with that one."
Given the close quarters, Ismene uses her precision methods to spare her friends the splash as she combines her reagents and lobs another bomb at the Lopper.
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+3 armor, +1 attunement, +2 Dex, +2 natural-cognatogen)
Seeing that her bombs have some effect, she imbibes her cognatogen to maximize their damage.
'At least this one isn't already on fire...' Ismene thinks to herself as she pulls and combines reagents from her various pockets, giving them a shake for good measure and tossing the resultant bomb underhanded to cover the distance.
"Quinn, the spirit board said the axe is his weakness..." She softly reminds the cavalier while making sure to stay behind him.
Ismene takes an alarmed step back as the blazing bones barrel into the hallway, scrambling for another Holy Water to throw before it can bring anyone else down.
Ismene draws and tosses another holy water flask, but it goes past the target.
Ismene frowns on hearing the description called down the hallway. Remembering the furnace, she draws out a holy water as she moves past Luna. "Definitely going to need to research endothermic reactions..." She mutters to herself as she squeezes in beside Quinn and Theodore to lob the flask at the flaming undead.
"One of the Harrowstone Five has a penchant for taking heads. Perhaps the Lopper is responsible for this." She adds, gesturing to the headless form.
Ismene follows Tiff, making the usual shaking gesture that indicates she is mixing reagents for a bomb. She makes an underhand toss, clearing the skeleton closest to the group and striking the next in line with exceptional accuracy. Only then does she seem to process the siblings banter. "Tomorrow? But surely he will have dripped dry by then..." She opines in a confused tone, a crease appearing between her brows.
Ismene steps as close as she can and quickly mixes up a precision bomb to lob at the spectral creature.
Having wasted a perfectly good bomb on the furnace, Ismene considers what she knows of this type of undead...
...and pulls out a Flask of Holy Water as she moves to lobbing range.
Ismene steps out to better scrutinize the haunted furnace, wondering if a bomb might just exacerbate the situation. "Seems a bit like adding insult to injury. Perhaps I will do some research into the prospect of endothermic reactions." Then with a shrug, she mixes another bomb and tosses it at the mouth of the furnace.
Ismene combines reagents, giving the mixture a shake for good measure before lobbing it at the poltergeist's last known location, making sure to spare the frontliners from the splash.
Ismene shakes her head slightly to clear it, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Hmmm... That is an odd sensation. Perhaps we should take precautions toward neutralizing the intermediary's ability to do harm while we make our inquiries?"
After hearing Theodore pronounce the spell book cursed, she averts her eyes and leaves it to Tiff to deal with. She looks on as the Wizard asks her question with the spirit board. "I surmise that was unsuccessful? Shall I try next?" She will repeat Tiff's actions and question and hope for a better result.
Ismene moves into the room, drawing a flask and lobs a Holy Water at the area Tiff indicates.
Ismene opts to carry her armor in her pack to start and makes sure to have the masterwork tools and a few flasks of the holy water on hand as they make ready to return to the prison. She sets to work on the stubborn lock, applying oil to the mechanism and hissing curses in a variety of languages as she must pause frequently to slide her lenses back upon her nose due to perspiration.
Ismene shakes her head sadly to hear that the Professor's remains were put to such nefarious use. "Given what we learned about his murder, is it possible his body was... profaned by those foul actors before it was discovered? Are there any preparations we might make to be certain his rest will not be disturbed again? I wonder if cremation might be a workable solution..." "I will let Kendra know and inquire as to her wishes." Ismene said, self-conscious of her night clothes and eager to return to the house. They were quite modest in coverage, but still clearly night clothes all the same.
Ismene cautiously steps out with Theodore, Tiff, Quinn and Luna. She peers down at the tracks by the light of Theodore's pillow, trying to note anything odd about them. "I suppose it wasn't a spirit... The incorporeal don't generally leave tracks. It's not my best skill, but I will give it the old Academy Attempt."
Ismene's mouth twists sourly as she considers their options, then she turns and blinks rapidly as she spies a phantom equine. Squinting, she removes her lenses and swiftly cleans them on her night shirt before putting them back on to scrutinize the apparition properly. "Er... Quinn, there is something behind you just there."
Ismene looks over the tools and nods with approval. "Yes, these will do quite nicely. I'll write them a thank you note. Never hurts to have a monylender in your corner." "Given what we know about the forces working against us, I move that we arrange a watch. These spirits are apt to do worse than simply go bump in the night..."
Ismene takes stock of the spellbook briefly. "My formulae are bit different from a wizard's spells. But I do see a few here that I can convert. Thank you, Kendra, we will take utmost care with it."
Ismene nods, "Yes, though I can't help but wonder about the mechanics of it all. If his spirit is still trapped, how is he spelling upon the monument outside? With what blood? Person... animal? And how can one ghost murder another? Surely they cannot die twice..." Ismene shakes her head at the unfathomable predicament as she gratefully accepts a cup of tea. "And what about this mysterious necromantic cabal? If the Professor observed them at the prison, is it possible other locals did as well? Did they travel from some distance and simply had their passage unremarked or are they hiding in plain sight among the populace?" "Too many questions and not enough answers. All I know for certain is we'd better load up on holy water. There seems to be no end of spectral activity."
"Do the other ghosts know about you, that you work against them. If so, beware, the spelling has already begun beyond the confines of the prison. It started with 'V'..." And with that she takes her leave. ******* "Yes, do let's sit down to to a bite, Kendra. We have some news that may be hard to hear, though it should not come as a shock to you." She said as she stood ready to give comfort, if it was needed.
"Fire, yes. That's my cue!" Ismene takes a step in front of Theodore to clear her line of sight, combining her reagents and lobbing a bomb at the straightjacket.
Ismene takes a step back from Quinn and catches his eye as she combines the reagents for a bomb and calls, "Get clear of it!"
Once Quinn steps away from the shackles, she throws her bomb.
Ismene reaches into her belt pouch and retrieves a vial of glowing blue liquid, which she quickly downs in one gulp, swaying slightly as it takes effect.
"Another presence... I hear weeping and feel the oppression of it's aura. A prisoner, perhaps, I feel the cold weight of manacles." She shares, rubbing warmth back into her wrists.
Ismene steps back and lobs a bomb at the central spider, using her discovery to spare Marill, Quinn and Tiff from the blast and splash.
Ismene hesitates to return, "Problem is, the bloody thing is incorporeal. I don't think my bombs can do anything against it. Maybe the Holy Water, but we'd still need to see it!"
Ismene's lips twitch worriedly as she tracks the undead back to a grave in the Restlands. Once they seek out the priest, she asks him, "Father Grimburrow, I do not mean to be indelicate, but how is it that a body properly interred in hallowed ground was able to rise like this? Is there no way to protect the dearly departed from this unholy state?"
Starled, Ismene scurries up beside Tiff, grabs her reagents from her belt, combines them to form a bomb and lobs it.
Nearly done with level-up, taking Precise Bombs discovery and Draconic language for next rank in Linguistics. Should get the profile updated tomorrow.
"I'm afraid I'm only able to heal myself at the moment. But that is another subject I intend to study, eventually." Ismene shrugs, feeling rather useless in the face of recent trials.
Ismene draws and loads her crossbow, taking a step toward the hubbub.
"Well, at least we can be certain we've not been poisoned with lich dust... I think." Ismene adds.
Seeing there is little she can do here, without collateral damage, Ismene imbibes her shield extract.
Sorry to report but my laptop has crashed. Trying to troubleshoot but my coverage has expired so if I can't fix the problem, it may take some time before I'm up and running again. I will keep you posted.
"Hmm, perhaps..." Ismene pulls a hairpin from her updo and fiddles with the lock.
But she is stymied by the latch. "Then again, maybe not." She says with a sour twist on her lips as she replaces the pin.
"I fear my reagents are only alchemical." Ismene says, hoping the Pharasman may have a solution.
Suspecting that throwing fire at the charred phantoms would be counter-productive, Ismene does what she can to aid Maril's efforts.
"Warden Hawkran, I presume. Though I'm not sure I recorded his first name."
Ismene gives Quinn a bracing pat on the back, "Just remember that it is not your own sensory perception at all, merely the psychic resonance of this place." She says in what she hopes is a reassuring tone. Adjusting her lenses, she follows Tiff inside and peers about.
"Burning?" Ismene asks, her magnified eyes blinking rapidly. "Could it be a psychosomatic symptom, some psychic echo of what the victims of the fire experienced?" She immediately begins scribbling notes in her journal as they progress. "Do you often feel anxiety in enclosed spaces?" She asks Quinn curiously.
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