Chapter 2.12: The Enochian Tower

(13 versus AC) (Intelligence 14) (Spell save DC 14 versus constitution 6) (10 versus AC)
The attempt of the disguised monster to chew off her hand overwhelms her, but also wakes up her survival instincts. She grabs her blunderbuss and pushes it against the chewing lid of the chest.
“Get off!” She screams loudly and pulls the trigger. The blast scatters a lead hail from up close and the chest opens. She pulls back her bleeding hand quickly. She sees how the creature’s teeth grow and how the red cushion inside turns into a squirming tentacle-like tongue.
“You can hurt a mimic, right? The chest is just a disguise?” Mero looks at Bruq, who responds with an affirming nod. Before the monster gets the chance to take another bite, Merodius already has taken countermeasures.
“Bad mimic! Down!” He claps his white gloves together and the air in front of him is pushed forward, accompanied by the sound of rumbling thunder. The treasure chest is launched backwards and smacks against the wall ten feet behind it.
“I have seen one of these pseudopod bastards before, disguised as a tree near my home.” Bruq pulls back the string of his bow and aims with one of his eyes closed, following its shocking, almost random movements. "I was stuck to it for hours, so don’t let it touch you.”
As he lets go of the string, the four foot high chest tumbles to evade the shot. He comes near them with a slow gait, but it’s fast enough to get close to the puppet.
(14 versus AC) (22 versus AC) (19 versus AC)
Its red tongue is thick and ends in a ball-shaped tip. Saliva drips off the tongue and it sizzles as it hits the floor. The mimic lashes the tongue forward and whips the sorcerer in the neck. The crackling of straw and leather patches dissolving echoes and the chest pulls back its squirming tongue with Mero stuck to it. The puppet becomes partially engulfed by the abomination.
“You let go of him this instant”, Oslando shouts.
He jabs both his dagger and ebony blade in their enemy. Although it looks like it’s made of wooden planks, his weapons prove otherwise. The metal pierces the gooey, almost gelatinous surface with almost no resistance.
“You heard the half-elf”, the dragonborn growls. He raises his hands above his head, his shield still on his back and his sceptre on his belt. “Release him at once!”
He digs his claws deep into the squishy skin of the mimic, ignoring Bruq’s advice. Where the nails pierce the monster, black serpentine lines spread just below the surface of its skin. It discolours, losing its brown appearance and gaining a sickly white and dark green tone.
(9 versus AC) (15 versus AC) (12 versus AC)
Worried that she might hit one of her three allies adjacent to her foe, Lyssa switches to her cutlass. It’s slightly rusted and weary by all the salt water it has faced during its life. Carefully, she makes a step forward to perform an attack. Unfortunately, she doesn’t close the gap between her and the mimic enough. She loses her balance for a bit and her jab forward ends with pricking the blade’s pointy tip against the floor.
Bruq’s attack, again up close with his longbow, is more successful this time. His arrow shoots straight through it and pieces of mimic splatter on the floor. He hears the murmur of Mero becoming louder, screaming inside this chest-like coffin.
“Did I hit you?” No verbal response follows, but he can see an orange light coming their way through the slightly ajar lid. The incinerating sound of a fire bolt burning through the body of the mimic follows. It creates a one foot wide hole on top of it, followed by a raised white glove covered in slime sticking out of it. He holds up his thumb.

The mimic transforms into a pile of mucus. Left of the abomination’s corpse sits the puppet sorcerer. He takes off his black pointy hat and wrings out the corrosive saliva.
“It’s filled with holes”, he sobs and puts it back on his head with a sad face. He’s is right: about ten holes of different sizes are spread across his witchy hat. Even the crooked tip has dissolved.
On the other side of the corpse lies the glowing crystal, pulling the attention of a very agitated pirate towards it.
“What the hell, gem?” Lyssa picks it up to bring it to her eye level. “Couldn’t you have warned us the chest was actually a monster? It nearly bit off my bloody hand!”
“Well, matey, how was I supposed to know? I was inside a being that perfectly copies an object, without light, without hands to feel my surroundings. How could I have known?”
Her sea-coloured eyes still stare intensely at the shimmering surface.
“You’re part of a magical, divine relic. I’m sure you could have figured something out!”
Ignoring the arguments she is throwing his way, he goes to the next subject of the conversation. “I told you that you would be rewarded if you didn’t take anything before freeing me. Turn around.” Still angry, but more curious than furious, she turns around. The others follow her example and they observe how the room has changed. Only ten pedestals remain, all with curious objects floating above it.
“Behold your prize”, the crystal whispers. “Some of these items can be yours, but there are a few conditions.”