Bashiel doesn't notice anything amiss with the door and neither does anyone else. The door also doesn't detect as magical.
Detect Magic
Listening at the door, Bashiel hears faint moaning coming from the other side, but no movement. Once everyone’s ready, the paladin opens one of the southern doors to reveal another large room beyond.
Behind thick planes of glass, fragments and even whole bodies of the living dead line the walls and floor of this chamber. Their rotting faces sneer and broken fingers claw at each other as the shattered forms twitch in vain, their splintered appendages grasping hopelessly. Yet rather than some massive, nightmarish grave, this horror show seems instead to be a stomach-churning attempt at art.
You don’t have time to study the feature of the room further quite yet as a more immediate threat presents itself. The source of the moaning turns out to be four zombies roaming in this room. They’re accompanied by four skeletons. All eight figures turn toward the newly opened door and stretch boney appendages and sagging flesh toward you.
Kalem burst in, and swung a flaming hammer at the zombie. He was determined to take it down quickly so as to open their way into the room.
”Bash! The way’s open. Let’s put them back in the grave.”
Zamanda sees a little bit of the room and a zombie from where she is. She thinks about throwing a fireball, but thinks she would probably get Kalem caught in the middle of it, so she reconsiders. Instead of trying to make the tricky shot at the one zombie she can see, she moves over to a good sightline for the other southern door and casts Open on it, surmising that it leads to the same area, and hoping that she can get a good shot into the room that way.
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Ilsa peers over Bashiel's shoulder into the room beyond. The horror of the walking dead washes over her, but she can't avert her gaze. Something just behind her wills her to reach out.
Since the group had battled the evil elven trickster, Ilsa had been able to sense the connection she had created with the dead. She could tell how it was done, and how she could control them.
Reaching out with her mind, she seeks to control their minds and make them her own.
Bashiel advances forwards carefully, countenance darkening as he sees the undead left to guard this space. He passes Kalem and brings his weapon to bear against the first skeleton he encounters.
Varor moves to the door opened by Zamanda to engage the undead from the other side.
Ilsa, since the group had battled the evil elven trickster, Ilsa had been able to sense the connection she had created with the dead. She could tell how it was done, and how she could control them.
Reaching out with her mind, she seeks to control their minds and make them her own. The red zombie suddenly stops stretching his hands toward you and simply sways in place, waiting for a command.
Zamanda sees a little bit of the room and a zombie from where she is. She thinks about throwing a fireball, but thinks she would probably get Kalem caught in the middle of it, so she reconsiders. Instead of trying to make the tricky shot at the one zombie she can see, she moves over to a good sightline for the other southern door and casts Open on it, surmising that it leads to the same area, and hoping that she can get a good shot into the room that way. The door opens without issue, revealing the second half of the same room.
Varor moves to the door opened by Zamanda to engage the undead from the other side. His scimitar connects, injuring the zombie.
Kalem burst in, and swung a flaming hammer at the zombie. He was determined to take it down quickly so as to open their way into the room. He caves in the blue zombie’s face. It crumples to the ground and stops moving.
Bashiel advances forwards carefully, countenance darkening as he sees the undead left to guard this space. He passes Kalem and brings his weapon to bear against the first skeleton he encounters. His longsword slices through the skeleton from skull to tailbone and it collapses.
Red Skeleton steps toward Kalem and swipes at him with a pair of claws, but it can’t get through the tiefling’s armor.
Yellow Skeleton hobbles over to Kalem and tries to claw him but fails.
Blue Skeleton has been destroyed.
Green Skeleton steps toward Varor and attacks with his claws, but can’t breach the cleric’s defenses.
Red Zombie sways back and forth as it awaits Ilsa’s instructions.
Yellow Zombie moves forward and swipes at Bashiel, but its blow bounces harmlessly off the paladin’s armor.
Blue Zombie has disintegrated.
Green Zombie stretches a hand toward Varor but misses.
The zombies were surrounding him. Good. That just meant he didn’t have to chase after them. Now to remove this inconvenience as quickly as possible.
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Ilsa's mind reaches out to the minds of the undead--almost involuntarily, the same way that her mind could brush by the living when she cast spells or otherwise affected a mind.
What she felt causes her to recoil in horror. She could sense a near-vacant mind...cold...hunger...almost nothing. And yet...she could sense something else, too. A small sliver of the creature's soul, almost infinitesimally small, but it was still there.
He can't go home...he can't rest!
She could sense a great evil that had taken place in this room, and the sliver of soul left in this shell was unquiet. She could sense a source of terrific mental and physical anguish endured by living, tormented creatures.
Forgetting almost everything else, she wonders what this connection of minds can achieve. She wills the zombie to attack the skeleton next to it, with Bashiel directly opposite. Like a puppet on a string, its arms reach out to bludgeon its fellow.
Her mouth agape, she watches as if a bystander to some violent crime.
What am I becoming!? How can I reach the minds...even of the dead?!!
She tries to unlock her mind from the creature, but a connection endures. She closes her eyes and tries harder, but the link remains.
Ilsa screams.
Zamanda shoots at Green Zombie.
After getting her shots off she hears Ilsa screaming and says
What's wrong Ilsa, are you okay? Do you need healing?
For a moment, Bashiel thinks he sees one of the undead striking at another one, but before he can pay it any more attention, he's set upon by his own adversary. He delivers a focused swing of his longsword at the yellow zombie next to him, then if that one drops, he steps eastward to aid Varor against his own foe with a second swing.
Ilsa's scream cuts through the air and he's left spinning towards her in alarm. "What, Ilsa, did they get behind us? Wait- I'll cover you!"
Varor continues to attack the undead when he hears Ilsa scream. “Oh great, now what?”
Ilsa’s mind reaches out to the minds of the undead--almost involuntarily, the same way that her mind could brush by the living when she cast spells or otherwise affected a mind.
Forgetting almost everything else, she wonders what this connection of minds can achieve. She wills the zombie to attack the skeleton next to it, with Bashiel directly opposite. Like a puppet on a string, its arms reach out to bludgeon its fellow.
She tries to unlock her mind from the creature, but a connection endures. She closes her eyes and tries harder, but the link remains.
Ilsa screams.
Red Zombie slams its arms into the yellow skeleton and the skeleton collapses, destroyed.
Zamanda shoots at Green Zombie, but her arrows bounce harmlessly off the zombie.
After getting her shots off she hears Ilsa screaming and says, “What's wrong Ilsa, are you okay? Do you need healing?”
Varor continues to attack the undead when he hears Ilsa scream. “Oh great, now what?”
His scimitar slashes into the green zombie, wounding it. The zombie looks close to collapsing.
Kalem see that the zombies were surrounding him. Good. That just meant he didn’t have to chase after them. Now to remove this inconvenience as quickly as possible. He easily smashes the red skeleton, destroying it.
Bashiel, for a moment, thinks he sees one of the undead striking at another one, but before he can pay it any more attention, he's set upon by his own adversary. He delivers a focused swing of his longsword at the yellow zombie next to him, then he steps eastward to aid Varor against his own foe with a second swing. His first swing slays the yellow zombie and his second finishes off the green one.
Only the red zombie and the green skeleton remain animate.
Green Skeleton claws at Varor again, but misses again as well.
Red Zombie simply sways in place.
Kalem let go of his rage, confident that the others could handle the last two skeletons. He ran over to Ilsa.
”Are you alright?” He asked, with concern.
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Ilsa stops screaming, but her gaze not not leave the zombie. She feels psychically tied to it, like a chain joins their minds. A darkness at the back of her mind reaches out and binds the two tightly.
Oh...no...
With all her mental energy focused all it, she barely hears her companions yelling to her.
I can't...let go...
Unsure how to proceed, she wills the zombie to fall prone on the ground.
Almost like she were controlling her own body, the creature collapses in a fleshy heap.
Zamanda sees Ilsa concentrating, so she hopes she was just screaming in frustration and not in pain.
Her arrows don't affect the zombie at all, but others seem to be able to hit it easily, so Zamanda assumes it was immune to arrows for some reason, because her shots were good... at least she thinks so.
She is starting to second guess herself, but tries to shake it off. She moves forward to the doorway to see what is left to fight.
She fires a blunt arrow at the Green skeleton. Her confidence is somewhat blown, but she is pretty sure/hopeful that it won't bounce off.
Bashiel hurries westward to see up north to see what is attacking Ilsa, but when he sees nothing there - but Ilsa clearly somehow indisposed, he calls out "Hold on Ilsa!". He heads to the last zombie to finish it off and see what seems to be afflicting the mesmerist. Distracted as he is by Ilsa's sudden torment, he doesn't even stop to think why this particular zombie has collapsed rather than fighting normally.
Ilsa stops screaming, but her gaze not not leave the zombie. She feels psychically tied to it, like a chain joins their minds. A darkness at the back of her mind reaches out and binds the two tightly.
Unsure how to proceed, she wills the zombie to fall prone on the ground. Almost like she were controlling her own body, the creature collapses in a fleshy heap.
Zamanda sees Ilsa concentrating, so she hopes she was just screaming in frustration and not in pain.
She moves forward to the doorway to see what is left to fight. She fires a blunt arrow at the Green skeleton. Her confidence is somewhat blown, but she is pretty sure/hopeful that it won't bounce off. Zamanda’s confidence is well-founded as her arrow finds its mark. The arrow’s bluntness crushes the skeleton and ends its existence.
Kalem let go of his rage, confident that the others could handle the last two skeletons. He ran over to Ilsa.
“Are you alright?” He asked, with concern.
Bashiel hurries westward to see up north to see what is attacking Ilsa, but when he sees nothing there - but Ilsa clearly somehow indisposed, he calls out "Hold on Ilsa!"
He heads to the last zombie to finish it off and see what seems to be afflicting the mesmerist. Distracted as he is by Ilsa's sudden torment, he doesn't even stop to think why this particular zombie has collapsed rather than fighting normally. The paladin destroys the zombie with a single blow, ending the last of the room’s threats.
Ilsa watches in slow-motion as Bashiel turns to cut down the last zombie--the one her mind is connected to.
is all she can scream, but the paladin's blade is irrevocably in motion.
Zamanda casts detect magic and looks around the room to see if there is anything valuable, and if the doors could be magically trapped.
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Ilsa watches in horror as Bashiel's blade bisects the zombie, their minds still linked.
Suddenly, as if a hundred swords thrust into her brain simultaneously, the link is severed. With it, that small fragment of the creature's soul spirals off into the void.
Ilsa reels, then doubles over in agony. Then, driven to her knees, her arms cradle her head as she rocks back and forth.
"No...you shouldn't have done that...you shouldn't have..."
Bashiel rushes over to Ilsa, concerned that something invisible, or mental, might be attacking her. He casts detect evil, sweeping it around to try to find invisible but malevolent threats. When it comes up empty (presumably), he sheathes his longsword and crouches down to Ilsa's level.
"Ilsa, what's happening? What do you mean, 'shouldn't have'?"
Detect Magic
Zamanda doesn’t see anything valuable and doesn't notice any traps or detect anything magical on the doors leading out of the room (besides the double doors that lead back to the entry room). Bashiel and Kalem are also certain there’s nothing amiss with the new doors.
Bashiel doesn’t see anything physically wrong with Ilsa.
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It takes some time to calm Ilsa down. Her extreme pain seems evident to everyone, and tears stream down her cheeks. But when Ilsa looks up to everyone to explain what happened, the cause is surprising.
"I--you know that I have power to affect minds. Kind of--kind of like when I made that one physician babble uncontrollably, and the rest of the physicians and guards couldn't stop looking at him. I don't understand these things--I just started having these bizarre things manifest in me when we started searching for Briget."
She sits against the wall and continues explaining.
"Anyway, the same way I can touch the minds of the living--I can do the same with the dead."
I'm a monster.
She waits several seconds for this revelation to sink in.
"When we came into this room, I don't even know how to describe it. I could sense a near-vacant mind--and yet--a small sliver of the creature's soul, still clinging to its body. Not all of them--just, that one," she says, pointing to the one Bashiel had bisected.
"It was strange--some great evil had taken place in this room, or to these--these people. Most of them had gone to their rest--but not that one. Because of what happened, part of his soul was still trapped here."
She wipes the tears off her face, but continues.
"That one was unquiet--I've heard of things where someone dying in some horrific manner can make them into a ghost, or a haunt, or something like that. I think that's what he's going to become now. It was almost like I could help him or something, though I don't know how. My mind connected to that sliver of soul, and I could tell it what to do, kind of like I can with the living."
She looks up at the others, worried what they are going to say.
"I--I made it attack its fellow. I--made it lay down. But I couldn't let go. I couldn't sever the mental connection. Not yet, anyway. That's why I said you shouldn't have killed it. I don't think it can rest now."
“Ilsa,” Varor says exasperatedly, “do you have any idea what courage is?”
”It is facing your fears. There is no courage without fear. Given what she has gone through, I’d say that she is the most courageous of us all.” Kalem had an idea of what she was going through. It made him feel protective towards her.
”But let’s keep moving. My enchantments won’t last forever. And once I stop being able to see those invisible, the doctor will really be as good as gone.”
Bashiel runs through a full gamut of emotions as Ilsa explains her experience, from concern for her, to outright confusion as she mentions touching the mind of the undead creature, to shock at her capability to sense the presence of the creature's tortured soul. But then also to alarm when she describes being able to control it without being able to separate herself.
He ends up wordlessly extending a hand to Ilsa to help her up from her sitting position. "I can't say I understand everything Ilsa. You've spoken before of something dark touching you, oppressing you, and attempting to cow you into submission. And I fear that whatever you're experiencing now is some part of that evil force's machinations."
"To be able to get a sense of the evil that is tied to a place, to be able to touch a soul in the way you just described - in some ways you could see that as divine or miraculous. To interact with souls directly like this is the domain of great clerics... but also the foulest necromancers."
"And creating a connection to the living dead to direct their actions..." He shakes his head slowly, eyeing Ilsa with deep concern. "I'm afraid that whatever haunts you might be trying to seduce you with that power. Forcing you to maintain whatever connection you established. And then hurting you when its broken." He squares his jaw as he considers the cruelty at work.
"But if what you say is right - if a fragment of a tortured soul has been damned now to linger here... then I've done a terrible thing as well." He turns back to where to body of the zombie he slew lies broken. "Hopefully by consulting my ancestors, and communing with Osiris, I can work out how to set things right."
He turns back to Ilsa. "But until then... I hope you can resist Ilsa! Turn only to this power in the direst of straits. I worry for you, for your mind, and for your soul, if you begin to rely on it..."
As distraught as he is at the revelation here, Bashiel closes his eyes and utters a prayer, then opens his eyes and gives Ilsa a tight smile. "Are you feeling more steady now? If so, Kalem's right - we need to continue."
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When Ilsa had completed her emotional explanation of the terrible things that had happened, Varor had been the first one to speak.
She wasn't surprised at his chastisement. It wasn't the first time he had rebuked her for being afraid or showing emotion. Sometimes, she had wondered how someone with his temperament had found his way to the clergy. But he was right--she didn't belong with this band of heroes. Everyone else soldiered on, unafraid. She was scared. He hadn't said as much, but she was a monster.
Kalem defended her, as he often did. Ilsa was glad for that, but Varor was right.
Bashiel had been the one she had been most afraid of. She worried mostly that the code he followed might be the end of her. He was the one who was always in the right, who always thought and did the right thing. Everything he said to her now was right, too. She had felt some dark force at the back of her mind. She had worried, and told her companions, that she feared greatly it would turn her into some creation after its own kind.
But Bashiel hadn't condemned her. Though greatly concerned, he had even been understanding and supportive. All she could do when he spoke was nod. He was right, as he always was. She had felt some dark thing urging her on. But at the same time, she had felt an unquiet mind that was not completely ready to depart this world.
"You're right. I will do all I can to resist. But it's true that we haven't much time. We need to hurry," she says quietly.
Taking Bashiel's hand, she rises up, wipes her tears, and prepares to face more of her fears.
After listening to Kalem answer Varor realizes that Kalem is only half right, but does raise a valid point. So Varor decides to stop being afraid of treating Ilsa like a grown woman.
And if Varor’s wrong and Kalem is completely right to then it’s time that Ilsa starts facing her fears.
“Ilsa, I’m sorry,” Varor places a hand on her shoulder after she gets up, “I wasn’t being clear when I asked you that straightforward and direct question. I’ve been having a bad day, with everything that happened at the manor house, everything that happened not even an hour ago, to all of the imagery we’ve seen down here I have been having a really horrible day. Not helped by my worsening headache.
“And I should also apologize for how I acted back at the manor house. I was angry and taking it out on everyone I could, and I wrote off your opinion without a second thought. I’m sorry.”
Varor takes his hand off her shoulder and waits for the briefest acknowledgment of his apology before delivering the backhand. “With that said, thank you for proving me right to write off your opinion, don’t talk to me ever again. I won't be talking to you, you simpering little coward.”
Varor turns his back to Ilsa; challenging her to say something.
He knows she will, and it won't be now.
“Let’s go people. The sooner we clear this place out the sooner we get out of here.”
Kalem’s hands tightened on his hammer as he considered taking the elf’s head off. Blame it on the cultists, would be easy enough. But this wasn’t his fight. He looked expectantly at Ilsa to see how she would respond.
Baffled as usual by Varor's insistence on trying to undermine his allies, but confident that Ilsa can handle him, Bashiel focuses on the dangers ahead. He quickly steps over to each of the doors and puts his ear against them - trying to suss out if there's an ambush waiting on the other side.
You should talk, you absolute soul-crushing blowhard says Zamanda. You wouldn't raise a finger to help the people who were hurt upstairs, and you can never resist acting like your opinion is the only one that matters. Ilsa was honest, telling us what is going on with her, and she is doing her best. If you can't communicate without being offensive, then you should probably leave. Ilsa is awesome, and I'd rather spend a lifetime with her supposed cowardice than one minute with your foolish pride. We've all been tiptoeing around your sneering, cruelty, and bullying, and I'm done.
From where she is, Zamanda casts Open on the double doors to the east.
Varor stares at Zamanda as she gives him a down dressing. ‘Not the one I was expecting to react but what I was expecting to hear. Double win. Let’s see if I can get a triple.’
His eyes flick over to Kalem. “Well Kalem, you’ve been strangely quiet through all of this. Are you actually trying to figure out my reasoning this time or you just restraining yourself from punching me in the face? Because if you are, feel free to. One black eye or broken nose is not going to bother me.” ‘And if the group wants to make me the punching bag... so be it.’
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Ilsa, having been beaten down by recent events, initially looks shocked at Varor's insults, as if she's going to back down.
But then her eyes flash with anger, and abruptly they fill with a dark purple light. Her voice is powerful, almost as if it's not her own.
After holding Varor's gaze for a few more seconds, her eyes cease to glow, she averts her gaze, and prepares to enter the doors.
Kalem shook his head. ”Varor. I don’t know much about you’re goddess. But if this is how she expects her followers to act, then she is an evil deity indeed. I don’t pretend to know you’re motives, and honestly? I don’t care. Nor do I want to help you flagellate yourself. Why don’t you leave? Take a few days off. Get some rest. We’ll take it from here and you can come back when you are less...addled.”
“She stood up to me,” Varor said happily and unaware that he's thinking out loud. He also forgot that Kalem was still in a place where he could see the smile on Vaaror’s face. And Varor clearly didn't hear what he said. “It’s about time. Maybe she’ll finally ask someone for help. Probably won’t be me though. Well at least everyone else will feel better.”
You heard him, Elf. Take a few days off. Get out. Now.
Varor is silent for a few moments, then he says, “Perhaps I should leave. I may be able to do more good among other Sarenites anyway.”
The elf nods and waves goodbye before returning the way you came. You hear the lift a couple minutes later.
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Once the four of you are ready, Zamanda flings open the double doors to reveal the large chamber beyond.
The stinging scent of harsh chemicals chokes this high-ceilinged chamber. Three huge metal vats bubble here, each more than six feet tall. A sturdy series of catwalks ten feet off the ground stretches over and around the vats, allowing those above to attend whatever slurry produces the foul green-brown mist emanating from each gigantic vessel.
Circling the upper portion of the room is an elaborate mosaic of white, black, and green stones that depicts a giant half-skeletal woman in black veils dancing among fields of the dead, undead, and dying.
While many of those features would normally be worthy of immediate attention, even more urgent matters need attending to first. On the ground floor and on the catwalks stand six hooded, scythe-wielding cultists wearing heavy armor. Two bird-beaked physicians wielding clubs also stand near the recently opened doors.
Doctor Davaulus greets you with a sliver of a smile. “After all that screaming we heard, I was beginning to wonder if our undead friends had taken care of you. Alas, it seems we’ll be required to end your pitiful siege.”
Standing in the middle of the catwalks is another distinctive face, this one belonging to a man giving you a toothy grin. Pale and blotchy from scars, the man wears thick leather robes lined with dozens of pockets that bulge with surgical and mortician tools.
Still grinning in a way that makes him seem half-mad, the leather clad man says, “Well, well, well, such excellent specimens you are! It would have been a pity for the zombies and skeletons to tear you to pieces. No, no, no. I will make works of art out of your remains. You will be beautiful displays once I’m through with you!”
The man suddenly stops grinning and adds, “You should be grateful, since I suspect you were the ones who didn’t allow me the opportunity to give the same treatment to my father. There was nothing left after that shark was through with him.”
As suddenly as his grin left, it returns and he concludes, “All of Korvosa is a tapestry in waiting. Yes, yes, yes. You will not prevent that tapestry from being woven.”
There can be little doubt: this is the Key Lock Killer, Gaedren’s son, the necromancer - Rolth Lamm.
Rolth, Davaulus, the cultists, and the physicians all move to attack.
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Something was not the same. Whether it was her polluted link with the undead, her confrontation with the ever-foolish elf, or the appearance of the son of her original tormentor--or perhaps all three--something changed within Ilsa.
She was still scared. Scared of death, pain, loss of loved ones, and especially that 'It' that willed her to become a monster--the monster she was becoming. But fear wouldn't rule her. She was not immune to fear--that much was clear. But she could stay calm in terrifying situations. Perhaps she could even become fear. She could hear a voice laughing behind her, but suppressed it.
I'm tired of playing by the rules of someone else's game.
Her eyes flash with anger again.
I am the fear. They will come to fear ME!
Her resolution boiling, she confronts her enemies, addressing the son of Lamm.
"Your fate will be worse than his," Ilsa promises. "I would tell you to run. But you will never escape me. You will wish you could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon you to hide you from my presence."
With the advance warning, Kalem put his shield back up and asked Zamanda to be ready with a fireball.
Once the door opened, Kalem planned to run in and attack the nearest foe.
[spoiler=Coming right after the fireball, whenever that is]
In response to Kalem asking her to be ready for a fireball, as soon as Zamanda sees His Evilness Davaulus, she points at the middle of the room, attempting to burn Davaulus, the crazy man she doesn't know, and all of their several henchmen.