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"More betrayal from within. Why am I not surprised?," mutters Angalia. She reaches for a silver dagger. "Might need this."
Cursing herself for her folly, Angalia pulls herself together and darts around the back of the straitjacket. "It's nothing but laundry. Nothing but laundry."
Despite her best efforts, her hands seem to freeze.
Berating herself for being terrified of living laundry, Angalia circles and tries to grab the thing.
... and fails.
Thoroughly disturbed by the unusual foe, Angalia's dagger clatters to the floor.
"Moving straitjacket. Try to immobilise it." Angalia notes that this is one of the odder battle orders she's ever given.
Angalia's daggers slide instinctively into her hands, even if her responses are less alert than normal.
Angalia gently touches Leandro and Eliva on the shoulders, urging the pair to stop for a moment while she looks around.
"If he was a patient, we should take him back to the sisters. He might have family."
"Is there a proper prayer for the dead?" Angalia looks, but doesn't move closer.
"Rats ... it had to be rats." Angalia looks more worried by the rodents than she did by the haunt. "Let's find out a little more ..." She scans the room rapidly, looking for clues.
Angalia looks from the oncoming rats to the apparation and realises that she's woefully in-equipped to deal with the latter. "I'll work on the rodents," she mutters, feinting first left and then right to distract the nearest mass.
Long silent and still slightly dazed by the horrors surrounding her, Angalia feels as though she has been moving on auto-pilot for the last few moments. Now she clears her head and tries to concentrate.
"Wait a mom ..." Angalia's voice trails off as she listens to the song.
Angalia looks questioningly at the more spiritually inclined of her friends. "Alive or not?"
Angalia drifts quietly, hidden behind her cloak, her own abilities and the astonishing clanking of her companions. She exchanges a small glance with Eliva, wondering if there is any real point in the exercise. She watches her surroundings with a suspicious eye.
"Practical." Angalia smiles approval and looks cautiously at the newly illuminated corridor.
"Eliva, let me look first before you open anything." Angalia casts a swift eye over the doorway, looking for further clues and any hazards.
"Well, that's straightforward, at least." Angalia nods at the newcomer. "I'm Angalia and we're on the same mission I do believe. Just so you know, the man Sergei is very dangerous and ... disturbed." The words "a total headcase" rise to her lips and are quelled.
Angalia pelts back to her room and grabs her toolkit and assorted weaponry. "We need to find Sister Jacinthe as well. He's not a safe man."
"Sevren, we will do all we can to help the sisters here secure the building. And then we will hunt down this creature and destroy him." Keeping her voice calm and authoritative, Angalia thinks about the building and considers how it might be secured. Unwilling to ask for too much of Sevren, she resolves to ask the others what they know of such horrors and their weaknesses at the earliest opportunity.
Long silent, Angalia watches as Eliva edges closer to Sevren, trying to win his confidence. "We know of the laughing death and we survived without falling into the dark. Tell us what they are." She keeps her voice quiet and steady.
Angalia hangs behind her more adept companions, not sure if she really wants to listen to more deranged ramblings, but aware that this may be the only lead to Gilbraith.
"Your doctor sounds horribly familiar. We've already met an experimenter like him," says Angalia quietly. "Sister, I doubt the spirits in this place are resting easily. Surely it would help the patients of the old regime if it were cleansed and the wing restored to its proper use?"
"Ah, that's good." Angalia's pleasure at seeing both Andrei and Yuri in better spirits and with a future to look forward to pleases her immeasurably.
"We can try, at least." Angalia looks hopefully at Res, Eliva and Leandro and the people with most experience in dealing with this kind of thing.
"I think we're doing the same thing really." Angalia gives Sister Claudette's words serious consideration. "We're using different tools, but we too protect the innocent where we can and help those in need. Even so, we need to find Gilbraith if we can. He took Nath's sister. That's personal."
Angalia looks stricken at the news about Erfan - so much so that she feels unable to speak. Realising that her long silence is impolite at best, she forces herself back to the immediate present. "We were happy to be able to help. The plague afflicted me for a short time and I know the pain of it. Sister Claudette we have reason to believe that this will not be the only attack. There is a man known as Gilbraith who may be an instrument in much of this. We want to find him and bring him to justice." She carefully doesn't mention that in her book, justice may well be meted out on the spot and permanently.
Angalia looks sidelong at Leandro and smiles slightly. "How did you think they got emptied? Where I grew up we didn't have chamber pot fairies."Leandro ventures timidly. Angalia laughs - the first time in many day she has relaxed enough to do so. Despite the permanent worry about Nath, the atmosphere of the infirmary is helping her.
Angalia looks sidelong at Leandro and smiles slightly. "How did you think they got emptied? Where I grew up we didn't have chamber pot fairies." She follows Sister Claudette.
"May I help? I'm no use as a healer, but I can help make beds." Angalia offers what practical assistance she can.
"We are truly grateful for your hospitality and for the care your order is giving our friend. If there is anything we can do to aid you, I will gladly do it." Angalia adds her thanks.
Aware that her request might seem odd, Angalia clarifies. "I wasn't wanting to upset any of your patients, but it's rare to see a building like this. I'm interested in the architecture."
Well aware that her healing abilities are poor at best, Angalia is at first grateful for the respite. All too soon her concerns for Nat come crashing back and to distract herself, she asks Sister Nadine if she can explore the building.
Angalia stays close to Nat, watching him quietly for signs that the fever is worsening. She listens to Sister Cecile's description of the city and its people and nods. "It's an island then, where people can have something like a life. I can understand that. But how long has this place been here?" Untroubled by the theological traumas afflicting Res, Eliva and Leandro, she nonetheless needs to think about something other than their own inability to escape. "If things come through the mists, they must be able to leave them. We just have to find the right key."
"Curious." Angalia watches the crowds intently, trying to glean what more she can from their behaviour.
Angalia watches expressionless, although she can't keep her eyes from flickering towards Leandro.
Knowing what she does about Nat's condition, Angalia gladly helps Leandro with the ghast bodies. Much as she wants to believe Tiff, she doesn't feel that any gods are paying much attention to this place. Her inner resolve strengthens. At Sister Cecile's words, she nods in quick agreement and does all she can to help pack the camp and aid the travellers.
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