Varor follows behind the rest, hand crossbow at the ready.
Pel perks up when Kalem speaks then runs off. As fascinating as many of the room's books are sure to be, rescuing Ilsa's niece is infinitely more important.
Sprinting out of the room, Pel follows Kalem and Bashiel. He draws his light crossbow as he does so, readying a bolt once he catches up to everyone else.
Kalem, followed by the others, moves through the tunnel and arrives in something resembling a bedroom. The chamber holds a large four-poster bed and a single writing desk, along with a full-length mirror propped up against one earthen wall. Another corridor leads east, to a dry, well-kept chamber contains a narrow bed, a relatively empty shelf holding only a few books and some bones and skulls, and a long bench. A man’s torso, the chest bearing numerous tribal tattoos, lies on this bench. The right arm is still attached, and periodically thrashes and clutches at the air as if it were alive.
In the first chamber stand three zombies, their eyes turning towards Kalem as he enters. From the east is the manic cackling. Kalem, aided by his infernally-gifted darkvision, sees a slight figure in the room with a wand in one hand. He has pale green skin and wild, unkempt white hair and a mustache. Black robes embroidered with imagery of bones hangs off tiny shoulders as milky eyes stare back at you. Behind him, in the corner, is another small figure, bound with rope and gagged. It's a girl.
He switches to Common, laughing as he points his wand towards the bound figure in the corner, "Come where I can better see you, my sweets, or the pretty dies sooner than she thinks." The girl tries to curl up more than she already is, as if this will help her against the creature's threats.
Zamanda casts invisibility and moves up, hoping to get a chance to free the girl before everything goes to hell.
Kalem burst into the room at a full run, just in time to hear the figure say "Come where I can better see you..." he looked around. Three zombies. "...my sweets..." A fourth on the table. Stopping his momentum now would be hard. "...or the pretty dies sooner than she thinks."
Well, now was not the time to think! Not heeding anything, even his own safety, he made a mad rush for the voice. He could see in the dark well enough, and he knew that where there were zombies, there was a necromancer. Kill the necromancer or become one of the zombies. As he ran, he let his rage flow through him. His fingers erupted once more into claws, and the fire in his eyes lit up even as his hammer burst into flames.
There was the first zombie, it's dead eyes turning to face him. He tried to twist away as he forced his way through, but he was no elf. And then there was the second. He gritted his teeth even as he tried to dodge away from it, hoping that he would prove tougher than whatever foul magic animated it. The voice had come from the adjoining room. Flaming hammer in hand, he prepared himself for the inevitable combat, and hoped that his mad rush would take the caster by surprise. To slow down now would mean that not only would his captive die, but so too would then. He also hoped that his comrades would follow before he got himself surrounded...
-----------------
Zamanda (invisible) walks behind the path that Kalem took and double moves to get as close to the girl as possible.
Bashiel feels Zamanda slip by him and he follows immediately after, though his armor prevents him from making all the way over to cover the endangered girl from any reprisal. He calls out "Surround him!" to the party, turns the corner, and locks eyes with the crazed man.
Seeing that sickly green visage, its pale and milky eyes and the sheer insanity of the cultist's mad cackling drives all thoughts of calm and discipline from his mind. He shouts , discards his longsword, and draws his bardiche as he advances into the corridor looking to enact divine justice.
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Ilsa is filled with hope and excitement, but also great concern for what her niece has gone through.
Could she really be here? After all this time? Or is this another nightmare...a trick of the darkness?!
"Briget?! Are you there? It's me, Aunt Ilsa! I'm coming for you! Don't be afraid!"
She moves into the room after her companions, who seemed much more determined and confident of their course of action. She stops in her tracks as she comes face to face with the three zombies. Three creature straight from her nightmares.
Instinctively, she relies on a trick that has become her trademark. Four images of Ilsa appear next to her, making it difficult to determine which one is really her.
I'm not sure I know myself...
"Briget, I'm coming!"
Hearing Bashiel yell Varor knows that stealth has ended so he puts away his hand crossbow and draws out his scimitar. "You go ahead Pel, I'll cover the rear in case of an ambush" 'No matter how unlikely that is at this point, still, I can't make the situation worse from back here.'
Pel's a bit surprised when he actually recognizes what the man is saying in Undercommon. It just confirms that their foe is insane.
"He threatened to kill us!" Pel shouts to his companions.
Not that that's surprising.
The arcanist nods at Varor before running into the room just past Ilsa before coming to a halt. He had been too far back to see the zombies.
And they just ran past these things?
Shaking his head, Pel decides he can probably do the most good by trying to deal with their foes in this room. He's guessing that between Bashiel and Kalem the crazy man will be visiting Pharasma's Boneyard in short order.
Pel mutters a few words before hurling a spell, hoping to blind one or two of the zombies.
Kalem = Crunch
Zamanda = Sneak
Bashiel = Double Move
Ilsa = Mirror Image
Varor = Draw and rear guard
Pel = Burst of Radiance
The zombies moan as they're blinded by Pel's magic and their flesh is seared away. In the other room, the strange man cackles as Kalem's blow crashes into him. "Flesh bends and bones break but your mind is something we will take!" He waves his wand then clasps a hand on Kalem's flesh.
One of the blinded zombies flails madly by the bed while the other tries to slash at Bashiel, slashing at nothing but the wall. However, the one who can see and was left untouched comes in for a charge at Pel, slamming into him with a nasty blow.
- MISS
Zamanda squeezes by Kalem and the table, trying to not jostle anything too much to cause the bad guy to detect her invisible self sneaking by.
If she is able to reach the girl (presumably Briget?), she evaluates her condition. If she is tied up, she will attempt to set her free. If she needs healing, she will give her a healing potion. In either case, she whispers very, very softly for her to stay still and they will get her out of here soon.
Bashiel fails to recognize the specific spell, but knows at least that magic touches are bad news. Even if he succumbs to the magic, I can cover him from here. But... He glances over his shoulder at the zombies fighting his allies in the other room, then back to the cultist.
With a cry through clenched teeth, he thrusts the bardiche into the man's side. The weapon's arc is accompanied by a steak of green light.
The flames on Kalem’s hammer sputtered and died, and he staggered backwards as the chill grasp took hold of him. But he was nothing if not tenacious. He pushed the man away and then swung his hammer once more. He put every bit of strength he had into it, hoping to end the fight here and now.
Pel recoils at the zombie's attack. The evil thing needs to be ended, along with its conjurer.
Taking a step further into the room , Pel pulls from his arcane reservoir to release an arc of flame at the zombie who attacked him.
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The multiple images of Ilsa all appear to be nightmarish versions of the former shop-girl.
Some have glowing purple eyes, some rotting claws where hands should be, and one looks like a frightened girl as it looks in horror at the duplicate images.
As one, they lurch forward, striking at the nearest zombie with ghoulish claws.
Zamanda = Move to girl and free or heal her
Bashiel = Power attack Vreeg - HIT
Kalem = Attack Vreeg - MISS!
Pel = Flame Arc (Su)
Ilsa = Attack zombies
Varor = Guard the rear?
Zamanda squeezes by Kalem and the table, ducking beneath the tiefling's swings with a well-timed duck and run, making it undetected. She reaches the corner with the girl.
Zamanda whispers quietly reassuring words and the girl's eyes flash wide open and dart about though she doesn't struggle or resist, instead whispering back, "Please don't let him hurt me... I just want to go home. Please." Zamanda begins to cut the girl's bonds.
Bashiel lands a devastating strike in follow-up to Kalem's initial assault, drawing a savage gash in the "man's" robes and spilling blue blood. Yet Kalem's own assault seems to be deflected by a magical shield, and the magic-user just continues to cackle at their efforts and his own wounds.
Back in the other room, Pel and Ilsa pair up to destroy one of the zombies. One of the remaining zombies, still blinded, tries to find its way towards flesh it can rend and, instead, merely stumbles into the wood and straw bed.
The other zombie seems fixated on Bashiel and follows him into the hallway. With the luck of the damned (or just the confined space of the hallway), it manages to avoid Bashiel's strike but it's own slashes harmlessly against the wall.
Vreeg half-sneers, half-snarls at Kalem and begins casting a spell, but loses it as he is forced to dodge the tiefling's strike. He screams in frustration, "Nooo! I will add your parts to my work! We will remake Korvosa!"
FAIL
- And the s%$@ roll that ends it
While Bashiel's attention is focused on the blue-blooded monster of a cultist, one of his hands slips free from his bardiche and whips back towards his belt almost as if it has a mind of its own. It pulls a dagger free, and in a jerky motion that seems incongruous with Bashiel's stance, the dagger slices a cut across the zombie's neck.
A flicker of motion appears behind the zombie mid-strike. Is it ghostly? An illusion? A manifestation of nightmares? Whatever it is, it vanishes the moment the attack is complete. The hand places the dagger in its sheathe and returns (with Bashiel none the wiser) to rest upon the haft of his weapon.
Zamanda isn't sure if she is okay or not, so she asks in a very soft whisper Do you need a healing potion?
Otherwise, she continues working to free the girl from her bonds.
Kalem’s blow rebounded against the creature’s magical aura. He saw an opening as it fumbled it’s casting, but he failed to take it. Getting his footing back, he then took one more swing.
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Ilsa's fixation on finding her niece seems to know no bounds. The raven-haired woman passes Pel, along with a small multitude of images, rushing the next zombie.
Where her hands should be are putrid, rotting claws, and they rip deep into the zombie's skull.
One of the mirror images scans the room for any sign of Briget, finally fixating on the huddled form in the corner.
"Briget?"
Pel twists to look where Ilsa is looking. Had they finally found her missing niece? His eyes widen as he suddenly remembers something and twists back toward Ilsa.
She has... claws?
It seems Pel still doesn't know these people as well as he would like to.
There's no time to think further on the matter. The crazy man is still alive and so is at least one of the zombies.
Pel gestures toward the northernmost zombie, unleashing two arcane missiles that strike their target unerringly.
Where her hands should be are putrid, rotting claws, and they rip deep into the zombie's skull.
One of the mirror images scans the room for any sign of Briget, finally fixating on the huddled form in the corner.
"Briget?"
Zamada = Tend to the girl
Kalem = Smash
Ilsa = Slash a zombie
Pel = Magic Missile
Varor = Rear Guard
Bashiel racks his brain (and the memories of the others in his brain) for anything that might give him a clue as to the nature of this madman, but for now all he knows is the man's magic is arcane in nature, not divine, and he's neither undead nor from another plane. His dagger manages to finish off the zombie behind him, while Ilsa's claws polish off the other zombie.
Meanwhile, Kalem brings down his warhammer in another brutal, flaming strike but, incredibly, the mage is still standing. Pel's magic missiles come flying through the corridor and pepper him with one force-arrow after another and still he stands, half-laughing and half-raging as blood streams from brokens limbs and battered organs.
In the far corner, Zamanda's invisible form does nothing to shield the girl's view of the carnage. And when the ghoul-infused, mirrored and shifting woman calls out, "Briget!" the girl's mouth opens for a moment in a wordless scream before shrieking uncontrollably as she begins trying to physically push herself into the rock wall behind her.
"No, no no noooooo!" Tears stream down her face as her fingertips turn bloody, clawing at the rock as if trying to dig a tunnel. It's all Zamanda can do to keep the girl from severely hurting herself in the process.
The madman spares a brief glance back before turning back to Kalem and Bashiel with a wicked grin. "Break my body, break her mind, oh what a delicious bind!" He takes a careful step back before waving his wand about once more. As he does so, a spectral hand emerges and swipes at Kalem.
He seems so taken with the destruction wrought about and upon him that he directs the incorporeal hand wildly, missing Kalem by the barest of margins.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kalem saw Ilsa going to work with her claws. A smile crept onto his face as he ducked just in time to avoid the mage’s attack. Time and time again his hammer had failed him...it was time to do something different.
Growling, Kalem fully gave into his rage. Dropping his giant hammer he lunged at the mage, claws outstretched. Ilsa’s magical trick went off, as he adopted her tactics and let his mind accept her power. As the mage avoiddd his first attack, a copy of Ilsa appeared behind it. The mage nimbly turned his wards against the image of the flawed woman, leaving it open to Kalem’s other claw.
He planned to plunge his claw directly into the mage’s chest...
Kalem lunges forth, swinging at the mage with claws of his own. Blue blood slicks across his fingers as he drives them deep into one of the madman's wounds, finds something vital, and brings the fight to an end. The mage's laugh turns to a burble as he looks into Kalem's eyes with a rictus grin, his white mustache flecked with blue bubbles of bloody froth. "You're too late... Heh. Stopped... nothing." Then, with a final gasp, the creature collapses, lifeless as his wand drops to the ground and rolls away.
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Ilsa stands for just a few seconds, nightmare versions of the former shop-girl grinning wickedly at each other with gore dripping from extended claws.
Only one copy looks normal, and this one is not reveling in the death and carnage, but looking in horror at Briget. Abruptly, all the images disappear and the claws retract, leaving only young, lithe hands clutching a weeping face.
"Briget...I'm so sorry..." she cries as she rushes to the girl. "It's me...just me...look at me..."
Between sobs, she says "I have been looking for you...everywhere. These are good people...they helped me find you! We tried so hard, and I thought you were lost for good. I found some...magic...that helped me find you. But...it makes me look scary sometimes. Even I'm scared. But without the magic, I wouldn't have been able to find you..."
Her voice trails off, and she's left staring at her hands, in shock at what she is becoming.
"Briget...it's just me now. Aunt Ilsa. Tell me you're okay..." she says with outstretched arms.
Bashiel breaks into a warm smile at the sight of Ilsa finally reuniting with her niece. Somehow we managed it. I was hard to continue believing that it was possible. But Ilsa stayed strong and we did it! As he watches the two of them face each other though, the smile fades. He takes in the way the girl is staring, squirming, screaming, trying to get away from Ilsa. There would be no idyllic reunion. Ilsa's strength was strange, those unfamiliar would even assume it unholy. Certainly, the girl could only believe what she saw.
Could anyone blame her for being afraid of nightmares? We can only hope she can get past it. For Ilsa's sake, and for her own.
Turning back to the dying cultist, Bashiel raises a hand in the symbol of the ankh, and begins to intone a rapid prayer to Osiris. "Թող այս հրեշի հոգին բռնի տիրոջը, Ուզիրիսի ավազների մեջ, իր տիրույթի մեջ թափվի հավերժական անապատի քամիներով եւ կնքում է իր նշանը: Թող ոչ մեկ ուրիշ աստված չթողնի իր հոգու վրա, քանի որ կյանքը եւ մահը դաժանորեն տառապում է: Եթե ողորմած Ուսիրիսը որոշի, որ թույլ տա, որ իր հոգին երկրորդ հնարավորություն ունենա, ապա այդ կյանքը խաղաղության եւ հանգստության մեկն է:"
With the bladed end of his weapon now normal again, he moves to the western chamber to give Ilsa some privacy with her niece and to begin prayers over the zombies as well.
Zamanda glances back when the girl starts screaming, and turns visible to try to block her sight and help the girl cope. She takes her in her arms and tries to calm her down.
Don't worry, honey, you are going to be okay. I won't let anything hurt you.
When the bad guy dies and says that they have stopped nothing, she worries and hopes that comment isn't about the girl. She checks her over for scars that might indicate that they were trying to turn her undead or something.
When Ilsa comes up behind them trying to talk to the girl, Zamanda watches to make sure the girl recognizes her and is calm enough to deal with the scary thing she saw. If so, she steps away, allowing them to converse alone. If not, she remains in place, comforting the girl until she is either ready to go to Ilsa, or if that idea still scares her, at least until she is ready to go to the surface to see a healer to make sure nothing serious has been done to her.
Pel looks over at Ilsa and Briget from the western chamber. He hasn't admitted it to himself before, but there's at least part of him that was sure they would never find Briget, or if they did, that they would find her dead. Perhaps Korvosa isn't hopeless after all.
A single tear rolls down Pel's cheek. He's quick to wipe it away, hopefully before anyone notices. Pel can't help but think of his brother at a time like this. If Briget could be alive, could Rut be? And what of Pel's parents? Did Pel even want them to be alive?
He shakes his head to try clearing his thoughts. He can worry about Rut another time. There are people here and now that he needs to be concerned with.
Pel walks over to Bashiel and whispers to the paladin, "We can't afford to linger. Regardless of whether the madman spoke truthfully, we found who we came for. We can return tomorrow when we're sure Briget is safe and we've had a chance to recover."
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Meanwhile Varor's still guarding the rear.
It takes several moments to calm the girl and the combined efforts of Zamanda and Ilsa. Screeching panic eventually morphs into heaving sobs as she curls against the wall. When no further evils are visited upon her, the sobbing subsides and is replaced by sublimated fear. The dirt and grime covering her face has streaked from the tears and her gaze darts between the two women while occasionally flickering over the others.
While trying to calm her, Zamanda looks for any other signs of injury or mistreatment. She finds a few shallow cuts and abrasions, a few of which show signs of infection, and one of which has some nascent blisters. But signs of a conversion to the undead? No, she finds nothing of that sort.
Finally, although any effort to establish physical contact between her and Ilsa triggers a panicked refusal, the girl's eyes settle on Ilsa and she half-whispers, "Did they hurt you, too? You never looked like that before. Are you going to die like them?"
Deciding to leave Ilsa to her moment, Kalem quietly drags the body of the mage out of the room. He then walks over to Varor.
"That was brave of you, priest. Guarding the rear like that. These cultists are not to be trifled with, and if we had missed any, you would have had to hold them off alone. I'm glad you're alright. The last of the rooms is clear, so I think that we can call this place purged. We also found Bridget inside, she seems to be in one piece, physically, at least. Mind coming in? As excited as I am to loot this place, I'd rather have a priest look through it first so that we don't touch something unholy and get hit by lighting, or something else unpleasant."
Bashiel finishes a brief prayer before replying to Pel "I'm not sure we can afford to leave in a hurry either. If we come back tomorrow there are no guarantees any of this cultist's allies will not have arrived here to either strip it clean or reinforce it. And I'm not sure which of those two would be worse. Best we search everything we can for evidence and anything we can use now."
He glances at Ilsa and the girl in the other room "And I think it'll take Briget a while to come to terms." He sighs "After this, she and the other people we rescued will be our best source of information on these cultists. I don't doubt that there's more of them hiding somewhere. And I expect that there is more to their plans than killing a few people and raising them as zombies."
Bashiel will help search these two rooms once Varor arrives to check things over. He's looking not only for loot (like Kalem mentioned) but for any documents, records or other details that would reveal what part the blue skinned fellow was playing here.
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Tears continue to stream down Ilsa's face for a few moments until Briget finally talks to her. She wipes her face and calms her voice, knowing she must remain strong for her niece.
"Do you remember the bad dreams we all used to have? Before your mom died? And after?"
She hugs Briget and caresses her hair, just glad to see her alive.
"I keep having those dreams. They have just gotten worse. I know that is nothing compared to what you have been through. But there's some magic about these nightmares that has come into my life. Other people can see the things I'm scared of. It's strange, because I have been able to do magic tricks only by thinking of them. Even though it looks scary...and I'm scared of it,too...it hasn't hurt me or turned me into anything. There's something...or someone...in my dreams that is the leader. I don't want to scare you more. It hasn't got me, and it's not going to! These good people helped me find you, and they're going to make sure it doesn't get me."
She looks up at her allies--her friends--for affirmation. "You're not going to let it, are you?"
She again holds Briget for another minute and offers her some food and water.
How can I keep her safe? I'm not sure it won't get me...won't turn me into a nightmare myself.
"Briget...we need to get you somewhere safe. I still don't know why these people took you. Until I get to the bottom of this..." her voice trails off.
She looks to Zamanda. "Can you please clean her up with your magic?"
"It had nothing to do with bravery, it was just a precaution. I doubt there are any more cultists in here, but it's not like I'd be any more help taking charge from the front then guarding the rear. This way I was able to I sure that we wouldn't be surrounded, no matter how unlikely that was." Varor says clearly downcasted. "I don't know if I'll be of much help but I'll go and look."
As he walks into the room he sees the various remains of what he assumes were corpses, zombies, if the still intact one with the slice open neck is any indication.
Varor looks at Bashiel before beginning his search, starting with the intact zombie corpse.
Kalem looked at Varor with concern. "Hey, chin up. I know that things are..." He waved at the room full of corpses "...dark, but we won. We all did something good here today, and before. Now, Bash is looking for documents, records, and other evidence stuff that watchmen are so on about. I'm going to look for anything that seems valuable enough to be worth looting. You look for anything of religious import, or what might blow up in our faces due to angry gods. Ok?"
Zamanda cleans Briget's body, hair, and clothing with Prestidigitation (casting it as many times as she needs to). She pulls out her grooming kit and offers it to the girl as well, in case she wants to clean up further.
Pel bites his tongue to keep himself from saying what he wants to. As much as he's tried to beat it out of himself, he's still of Chelaxian descent. He's used to getting his way.
After taking a few moments to decide on something to say that he won't instantly regret, Pel says to Bashiel, "Searching this area thoroughly does seem wise. And it seems we all grew in strength during our time here. I'm just not sure if it's enough for us to continue exploring the rest of the warrens. I know I'm close to spent when it comes to my magical abilities. And I'm not exactly the best crossbowman. I'm here for the longhaul, but - for the record - I think we should leave after we've searched these two rooms. We can return tomorrow with reinforcements from Cressida. Discretion is the better part of valor, after all."
Bashiel nods in what he hopes is a reassuring way to Pel "I hear you. If more cultists do come, I'll cover for you and anyone else too exhausted to fight. But its for the best that we don't let anything critical here slip away from us... and leaving things for tomorrow is a good way to make that more likely."
Bashiel recovers his discarded weapons.
It takes about fifteen or twenty minutes to get Briget to hug Ilsa, but even then it is timid and fearful. She talks of the experiments that were done here. Between what she tells you and you are able to observe and piece together with your own eyes, you understand that prisoners would be given "poisons", which she would describe as various powders, liquids and mushrooms. Sometimes the poisons were applied through injuries, sometimes in food or drink, or sometimes just smeared on their skin. Inevitably, people would fall ill and the "man" you just killed along with another, a human with black hair, would just watch and talk about the symptoms people suffered from until they died, their bodies were drained of blood, and the bodies discarded. She doesn't know why, but she knows the human disappeared a day or two ago.
In the chamber where the partially assembled flesh golem lays, you found various types of poisons and vectors for disease.
You find the books in the library seem to be a collection of tomes and triestes on diseases and plagues. The volume of information here would grant a +2 to any related knowledge checks if the books are used as part of that study (requiring at least a day's work). If sold, the books would fetch only around 300 gp.
In the first of the bedrooms, those searching carefully find a hidden
niche in the wall behind the mirror. The niche is mostly empty but a few items of value remain, including a set of masterwork thieves’ tools, a pearl and silver snuffbox worth 250 gp that contains a single dose of dust of disappearance, and a sustaining spoon.
On the spellcaster, you find a robe of bones, wand of ghoul touch (22 charges), blue whinnis (3), masterwork dagger, a ring of protection +1 and 38 gold (plus whatever you gave to the cultist in the cemetery).
You also find a spellbook with the following spells:
0- All
1st- Cause Fear, Chill Touch, Magic Missile, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shield, Sleep
2nd- Blindness/Deafness, Command Undead, Darkness, False Life, Scorching Ray, Spectral Hand, Fly, Vampiric Touch
Finally, in the spellcaster's room, you find two silver rings worth
100 gp each, a gold and pearl bracelet worth 150 gp, a mithral hip flask emblazoned with an etching of a house drake (worth 400 gp), and a traveler’s any-tool.
Bashiel packs together all the gear and objects to bring back for inventorying later. With a glance at the corpse of the creature, his eyes widen "Ah. I didn't realize before, but the necromancer, the cultist, was a derro. Harize told me a story about them from when-" He cuts off suddenly, realizing that he's about to share more about his ancestors than he feels comfortable with.
He clears his throat "Seems like he was hard at work with someone else here. Testing diseases..." he spits "Urgathoa's vileness in truth. Our only shame is that we missed this derro's human partner. If only we could have managed to nip this entire operation at once!"
"Regardless, there's a lot of evidence here for Cressida to pore over. And to mull over for us too." He points to the room with the flesh golem "They were making that thing for a reason. And even if disease and poison testing is a past-time for these cultists, this was happening on a large scale..." Bashiel rubs at his temples, attempting to will his brain into working out the ultimate purpose of all this. But with tiredness, real battle-tiredness, wearing on him, his deductive reasoning skills are shot. He sighs.
Pel's mood grows a bit brighter when they find the madman's spellbook. Perhaps he would do more good in death than he did in life.
The arcanist is looking forward to hearing Bashiel's story, when the paladin stops abruptly. Perhaps Pel isn't the only one with secrets. Or with parts of his life he'd prefer not to discuss.
As for the matter at hand, besides as a form of worship, Pel isn't sure why the derro or his human accomplice would do the things they did. Perhaps Cressida will know more. One thing is certain, they did a good deed in stopping the operations here. He's sure Cayden Cailean would approve of their mission.
Pel runs his hand through his hair as he thinks more about what they've done. Most Korvosans will never know about it, but they're still making a difference. After the king's death, for a time, it seemed as though things would never get back to normal. Now, Pel is more hopeful that things can return to normalcy. Maybe then he can find Rut.
Pulling himself from his thoughts, Pel replies to Bashiel, "Assuming the derro's human partner still lives, we likely do have a ways to go still before these cultists are snuffed out for good. Hopefully Cressida will have some ideas about why the cultists are doing this."
After turning Briget over to Ishta, Zamanda examines the body of the fallen cultist and the poisons that they found. Then, exhausted, she waits for the others, keeping her bow ready just in case there are more creepy bugs around.