Mage. What do you make of this viol. An odd thing to find, no?
How does she know I practice the arcane arts? Can she read...fool! She already so you use magic twice. Or was it only the once. How did I...
Artemis pushed the thoughts out of his mind for now.
"Ah, an excellent question, Campus. Very estute obervation.
Watching the woman as she is tied up Ulfric goes along with the others in not harming her. When their possessions are found he goes over and equips himself.
Once equipped, Ulfric says "The door does seem the best way out.". Ulfric will then walk over to the eastern door and open it.
Klassalka moves with the half-orc and stands besides, sword ready.
It seems to simply be a well made viol...possibly would be worth something if the right buyer were found.
The door opens with ease to the next room., though Ulfric immediately wishes that it handn't.
Here, a broad chute extends diagonally through one of this apparent cellar's half-crumbled stone walls. Beneath it lies heaped more than a dozen mutilated humanoid bodies. Nearby, a flight of rickety, wooden steps climbs toward the high ceiling - an escape that none of the room's current occupants seem capable of employing. The smell of rot and decay in the room is nearly overwhelming, and the buzz of flies hangs in the air.
Klassalka half-turns and covers her mouth to avoid vomiting from the smell. Even after seeing the torture, this is a bit much.
I woke up from a nightmare, into a nightmare
Ramul sees Klassalka covers her mouth and wonders what could cause the barbarian to be so revolted. His unspoken question is quickly answered when he walks behind the merfolk woman to see what lies in the other room.
Will the monstrosities of this place ever end?
Ramul turns away from the new room for now and walks over to where Campus and Artemis are inspecting the newly discovered viol. Though Ramul has no use for such an instrument, it is still a curious sight in such a dreadful place.
Campus finds a place and kneels, and begins to meditate upon the problem of evil, and the grace of Cayden.
Artemis follows the half-elf, interested in leaving this place, and upon entering the room, immediately looses the remain contents of his stomach.
"Oh my. Dreadfully sorry. Terribly rude of me. It's just...stars beyond! That's revolting."
After he fails again in his attempt to remain dignified in this freakish nightmare, his tries a different tack.
"There seems to be some stairs here. Looks like our only way out? Guess that leaves us little choice."
She did this...
Infuriated by the sight of the bodies, Ulfric turns and walks towards the woman, using Detect Evil as he does.
There is no way I can leave a monster such as this behind us when we leave
Evil or madness? When is this a distinction without a difference?
Though Ulfric senses a faint aura around the woman, it doesn't seem to be on her whole person...it's localized to her head.
Ramul looks back at the mad woman now caged in a cell. He sees the half-orc walking toward the woman and casting some sort of spell.
I wonder what spell that is and what he's going to do to the woman...
The kineticist remembers that the half-orc is a paladin, so whatever his specific intentions are, they are certainly noble.
Still curious, though, Ramul walks closer to the half-orc and the caged woman to see what happens.
Klassalka simply closes the door for the moment since no-one seems inclined to use it yet- with her tail, keeping her guard up and eyeing it suspiciously.
Varinder, having reunited himself with his equipment, nods a silent thanks to Campus for the act of healing, then watches quietly as his new companions search their unfamiliar and rather dreadful environs.
Nothing on the torture-house back in...back in...where? Why can't I remember? Ha! Onwards is forwards. Best I acquaint myself a bit better with these folk, seeing as some of them, at least, appear quite as dangerous as the woman who cut me.
I am rude, my friends. My injuries and the odd exigencies of our...situation, you know...I am Varinder Chesk, trader in antiquities, although how I come here, I know not. Is this some sort of place of physick, do you think? Although I never heard of a hospital with a dungeon...
"Ah, another respectable fellow. Good to make your acquaintance! I am Artemis Reinholdt. However, I'm afraid that that is all I can give you in the way of information, as I am unsure of where we are either. Perhaps we are on the wrong end of an inquisition? Maybe once we are in a bit more safer of a place we can piece together what each of us know, eh?"
Klassalka just sits against the wall and buries her head in her hands.
That is odd...
The localized evil giving him pause, Ulfric stands at the cell door looking at the woman.
"While we are introducing ourselves, I am Ulfric. Campus, please bring the keys over to unlock this cell. I need to talk to the woman." Ulfric says. "I am worried she is being controlled or possessed as when I check only her head appears evil."
Campus nods to the paladin, and moves to unlock the cage. Campus touches the woman, casting an orison that gives the recipient a little momentary recovery
She hefts her spear. Speak woman of the evil that possesses you.
Ulfric and Campus seem to have the interrogation side of things under control. Still, we must be vigilant. The woman may be physically disarmed, but who knows what evils she – or whatever is possessing her – can unleash with her mind.
Ramul nods in acknowledgment to the paladin and the cleric as he moves to stand beside them.
Campus readies her longspear from 10 feet awat.
The woman slowly regains her senses, the heavy blows from Ulfric and Klassalka seeming to fill her head with more than a bit of confusion. When she finally opens her eyes, its with a steady ease that shows her to be in control of herself. She grins a bloody toothed smile and hisses in a decidedly inhuman sound, before she speaks in a low but audible whisper.
Evil? No, no...I'm a doctor...I'll find a cure, I will. Just need more specimens.
The Merfolk goes over the interrogation, stays behind the other, and looms.
"Cure for what, knifey?"
Her eyes gain a far away look as she responds. For being...a cure for what they are, what they've become...soiled.
How did you come to find out they were soiled? with feigned interest.
She smiles. My eyes...they're open now...that's it! I need to open all their eyes...your eyes too!
She rushes at Campus.
hands bound ready to eat my eyes
Campus takes a fist and smacks at the woman's eyes.
"You're not getting anyone's eyes!" Klassalka slips forward and attempts to grab the woman and keep her away from the others.
Rage on
Wow. Even bound that woman is quick.
Seeing her lunge, Ulfric winds up a punch.
Varinder studies the madwoman carefully. No real risk there, I think. No need to overdo the response, although I doubt we'll get much out of her. Also, better to hide certain abilities...for now, at least.
The woman rushes at Campus, intent on knocking her back to the table, where she could possibly lean her weight on her target and lean in to bite at her face.
Campus lashes out at the woman as she charges in, and her spear slams into tue woman's jawbone with a wet sounding crack. She falls to the ground, once again knocked into whatever dreams insanity brings her.
"Next time... maybe I should be holder her first."
I suggest we tie her to something.
Looking at Ulfric, If she has been cursed with this madness, we should recruit the help of clerics with more power than we possess. Let us escape with all alacrity.
Ramul takes a step back as the woman charges Campus. He breathes a sigh of relief as the woman crumples to the ground from Campus's blow. The mad woman was dangerous. Too dangerous. Something drastic needed to be done.
"We should recruit the help of clerics with more power than we possess. Let us escape with all alacrity."
At Campus's words, Ramul's resolve hardens. Something needed to be done and it needed to be done soon.
"We can't just tie her to something. She's proven she can't be trusted and that she is quite devoid of sanity. While in some ways I pity her, I can't get out of my mind what she did to that poor man."
Ramul pauses for a moment to contemplate his next words. There was a very real chance that a cleric and a paladin would balk at his suggestion, but someone had to say it.
"We need to kill her. Before you protest, I realize it may seem cruel, perhaps even evil. If it helps, it may be best to think of it as a mercy. The woman deserves justice for what she's done, but where the closest court of law is, who can say? What's more, while the help of other clerics might prove useful, it is doubtful that we will find other good clerics in this godsforsaken place.
"We also can't just leave her here because she might escape and attempt to cause us harm again. We don't know how long it will take to get out of here or even where here is, for that matter. If we leave her here alive, she may starve if we take too long to return, resulting in an even crueler fate.
"Though a knot forms in my chest when I say it, I believe the best course of action is to put the woman out of her misery, so that we can go on our way. We can't afford to be looking over our backs all the time. The mad woman must die."
Ramul ceases speaking and looks back and forth between the cleric and the paladin. While the wizard, the rogue, and the barbarian might protest, the cleric and the paladin were the most likely to say no.
Balling a fist at his side, Ramul speaks once more, "I will do the deed if I must, but it must be done. None of us are responsible for that poor man's fate, at least not directly. The mad woman is. This is the best form of justice we can offer under the circumstances."
Ramul stops talking again and remains silent this time. I've said what I can. Now it is time to see exactly what kind of cleric and paladin I've fallen in with.
Campus looks at the half elf with a serious look. While I am concerned with the morality of killing the insane, I do not need to lean on such to be convinced that it is in our best interest if we let her live.
Campus takes a deep breath, her way with words more of a struggle to her than to others, and continues.
Who are we? I don't remember anything save my name and my deity. How did we come to be here? Where is here? This mad woman is the one that knows, and she might let these things slip out in her madness. Bind her. Lock her in. Let us interview her again when she can't make a try for my eyes.
Let us decide later.
Campus binds the woman's hands and feet in a hog tie, then closes and locks the cage door.
I wonder whether there is a way up through this chute?
The chute is open and appears to be easy to scale, however the opening to it is nearly eight feet off of the ground. The bodies strewn about would be convenient, if morbid stairs.
Watching Campus eye the chute, Artemis chimes in.
"For the record, I vote the stairs."
Ho! We are voting on escape routes? Campus allows herself a grin.
Let us inspect the stairs more closely then.
Ramul listens to Campus's reply and watches as the cleric binds the mad woman.
Almost unconsciously, earth energy begins to form in Ramul's right hand. I can still do it. I can still end this threat. Campus said it herself – the captive is insane. There's no way we can trust anything she says. We're better off with her dead. I truly believe that.
Campus finishes securing the woman and Ramul lets his quickly forming kinetic blade dissipate as the cleric turns to exit the cell. Ramul looks back at the woman, now hog-tied, and relaxes, if only for a moment. The woman might deserve death, but Ramul couldn't afford to alienate Campus, or the others in the group. The time might yet come for the mad woman to die. Ramul would be ready if that time came.
Ramul emerges from his thoughts and hears the cleric and scholar arguing about their potential escape routes.
Looking at the chute area, Ramul cringes at the thought of using the corpses as a convenient staircase. The suggestion of the stairs in the other room seems much more reasonable.
Ramul joins Campus and Artemis in inspecting the stairs.
"I think these stairs would be the most reasonable means of escape."