Lia approaches the field, a couple steps beside Ro, then stops before stepping on the freshly sawn ground.
She closes her eyes, but her lips are moving.
Flutter, using flight, approached closer to the farmhands, before starting to talk:"Why would you advise us to stay clear of the sanatorium? One would think they are good business for you - and thus welcome neighbours? Did something happen there, recently?"
The farmer visibly jumps when the butterfly begins talking to him as he makes a sign of protection over his heart.
"Argghhh! Hmm? What? No, no, just a weird guy who keeps to himself with his crazies."
You feel that you've gotten about all there is to get out of the local farmers. It's clear they are disturbed by the sanitarium, but you're not sure whether that is simply because the process of caring for the mentally ill is off-putting to them or there is something darker afoot.
Continuing your journey to Habe's Sanitarium you soon arrive at its door following Matrim's clear directions.
It's a simple two-story wood-framed house on a stone foundation with a brick-red tile roof and a veranda that covers about half of the front of the building. There seem to be two doors into the Sanitarium: the front door near the steps that lead up to the veranda, and a side entrance for the employees on the far side of the veranda. Matrim lets you know that the last time he was here, Erin Habe just had two assistants who helped him take care of the patients, but that was some time ago and things may have changed.
The only other structure part of this complex are a small stable to the right and an outhouse around the back.
Leading the group inside, Karmid immediately looks for someone who might help the group.
"Hello? The sheriff sent us..."
"So... Here we are. I thought it would be bigger."
Ro goes to the front door and knocks.
The front door is locked, but Ro's knocking brings some noises from inside.
"Go away!" says a male voice with some gusto. "I'm busy. Come back tomorrow!"
Matrim identifies the voice as belonging to Erin Habe.
Ro raises her voice so she will be heard through the door.
"Mr., Dr. Habe? We can't come back tomorrow. We're here on official business from Sandpoint. It will not wait. We must speak with you about one of your patients, and time is very important in this."
There is a rattling behind the door and the sound of a key in a lock and a bolt being opened. The door opens and a human man with a small chin beard and a large hat pokes his head out (Picture).
"Oh, official is it? From Sandpoint? What does Mayor Deverin want with me and which patient are you looking for? I'm a very busy man and in the middle of an important experiment."
Matrim looks at the man and says, "Tell Erin that Matrim Shadows is here."
The man at the door sees Matrim when he speaks up.
"Ah, Matrim, nice to see you again. Feeling better, I hope?"
Matrim nods, "I thought I recognized that face. I'm good, old ghosts are still around sometimes, but all is good." Matrim moves up besides Ro, "What kind of experiment are you doing?
"Oh, you know, nothing too unusual, but the next big discovery always feels like its just around the corner," Habe intones nonchalantly.
Matrim Shrugs, "Knowing you, it will help someone.
Ro is glad Matrim is there to ease things along with Habe, but she gets a weird feeling from the guy.
"Great, we're not strangers. So can we come on inside and see the man brought in by the Sandpoint Militia brought in a couple of days ago?"
Habe nods at Ro's request and invites the group inside the entry room of the sanitarium.
The reception is a small chamber with two exits, a desk, and three chairs. A cord hangs from a hole in the southern wall above a sign that reads, “Ring for service.”
Habe leads the group through the southern door into a much larger workroom, which looks like a combination kitchen and sewing room. It contains two very large tables covered with sewing projects in various states of completion. The room also contains six other doors, and Habe walks over to two of them and knocks.
"Gortun! Gurnak! I need your help"
A few seconds later two tieflings who appear to be related to one another emerge looking like they were napping.
"Bring me the new patient and keep him quiet. I don't want to scare our guests," Habe orders them. They nod and the first one takes a key from his pocket which he uses to unlock a door that leads to a staircase going up to the second floor. They both leave through that door and can be heard locking the door behind them before they ascend the stairs.
"They'll be right back with the patient. Don't mind the locked doors. I am caring for some very disturbed people who could come to harm if they were given the freedom of the building."
As soon as they're up the stairs, Ro starts listening at the locked doors. She does it as quickly as she can. Then returns to quietly ask Matrim "What's this guy's story?"
Matrim smiles to Habe, "The locked doors are okay, as long as I can still leave when I want." Matrim listens to Ro's whisper and slowly shakes his head. "I'll tell you later.
There are sounds of people moving around on the floor above you, but no other sounds coming from the chambers on the floor you are on.
Habe nervously points at the door you came in through. "The door outside is unlocked. You may depart at any time."
"Are the people you care for happy here?", Lia asks of Habe, while taking a closer look at the sewing projects.
Habe responds to Lia matter-of-factly. "Madam, the people here are very disturbed and have severe issues that prevent them from feeling much of anything. You'll see what I mean when you talk to the man that was brought to us a few days ago."
Drasven has being keeping quiet all this time but his sense of disquiet has being growing since entering this village and even more so upon stepping into Habe's home.
"What is it exactly do you do here?" he asks. His voice sounding a lot lower then his companions would have noticed.
Habe looks to the door the tieflings disappeared thorugh and shouts for the orderlies. "Come on, we don't have all day. Get the man down here!"
He then turns to Drasven. "I try to help people who are suffering from maladies of the spirit, not of the body. It is a form of healing that is still in its infancy in this land, but I hope to make some important contributions."
"I think happy people are content, blissfully apathic. While unhappy people go to great lenghts to share their discomfort with others. Maybe they miss going for walks in the sun?", Lia continues - as long as they were waiting for the poor guy, one could as well keep wondering and inquiring.
Habe grunts in a noncommittal fashion at Lia's comments and seconds later you can hear the sound of people walking down the stairs from the second floor.
Habe unlocks the door in preparation for their arrival and opens it, ushering in the two orderlies half-guiding/half-carrying a nearly comatose man wearing a straitjacket. They plop him down on a chair, but have to hold him up as it seems he would otherwise fall over.
The man has pale and near-gangrenous looking skin. His hair is wild and his eyes are milky white, showing no pupil. He mumbles something undecipherable and drool runs from his mouth.
"This is the man Grayst the sheriff brought to me several days ago. He has sadly been quickly deteriorating, and I don't think you'll be able to get much out of him."
The man indeed looks half-comatose, but it's possible he could be coaxed into saying a few words.
Karmid instinctively recoils at the sight of the man.
"What is wrong with him? He barely looks human!"
Without waiting for a reply Karmid speaks loudly and clearly towards the man, while staying out of his reach.
"Speak man! What happened to you? You and your friends...you were waiting to meet someone? Who was it? What attacked you?"
"This men will die soon. Are you aware of that?", Lia comments, then looks closer, at both the man and Habe.
Ro checks the man Grayst along with Lia.
Karmid shakes his head, and pulls out his earth-breaker 'Angela.'
"He already looks dead. Should I just put him out of his misery? I doubt he can even hear us."
Drasven peers suspiciously at the man....
"Help them with their mind? This one looks like he's already lost his mind....." he mutters.
"He was bitten by a Ghoul. The fever weakens him. He is close to death, and when he does die, he'll raise as a Ghoul himself soon after. I don't think we can still save him, unless we are quickly using magic to restore him."
Lia turns to Habe: "It makes you nervous we know. It is almost tangible. You are...afraid. You already knew what will happen...and you decided against calling on the cathedral for help. Because you were looking forward to the next big discovery..."
Lia looks back at the man, trying to estimate if there would be enough time to transport him back to Father Zantus before he would succumb to his illness.
Hearing Lia's voice, the man jerks his head toward her and a near-rapturous expression crosses his face.
"He said. He said you would visit me. His Lordship. The one that unmade me said so. The Skinsaw Man. He has a place for you. A precious place. I’m so jealous. He has a message for you. He made me remember it. I hope I haven’t forgotten. The master wouldn’t approve if I forgot. Let me see... let... me... see..."
The sick man howls as he tries to dredge a memory from his quickly deteriorating mind.
"Oh yes! Oh yes!" he screams in exultation. "He said that if you came to his Misgivings, that if you joined his Pack, he would end his harvest in your honor."
Grayst then collapses and lets out a low moan.
Hearing the odd name, Matrim raises an eyebrow. "And where is his pack?"
Grayst does not look like he will answer any more questions at the moment.
Hearing Lia's accusation and Grayst's words, Habe goes white as a sheet and backs up against the wall, holding up his hands defensively.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do and thought he was beyond curing!"
Karmid sighs, lifts his hammer with both hands suggestively, and nods at the man.
"A ghoul? That follows our reasoning that a Ghast may have been involved. Misgivings? Pack? Ravings or truth? Can we help him now? In time? Really heal him? We might get clearer answers if we can. If not..."
Just now realizing that the person was bitten by a Ghoul, Matrim backs up a little and draws his dagger. "If there isn't time left, should we putt him down now and save the fight later... Or tie him up so if he turns, he wont be a danger to others?
The sight of the poor man is unsettling, but that his caregiver would simply let him turn into a ghoul is truly disturbing.
Uldar, being new to town, has no idea what the "Misgivings" are, but it sounds to him like some sort of queer festival. Like something where you celebrate everything that's gone wrong in a year, perhaps to ward it off for next year.
"Skinsaw man. Not really an inviting name," he mutters.
Ro is too busy thinking about Grayst to think too carefully about his message. She looks at Habe with narrowed eyes and asks with obvious disgust "Lia's right isn't she? You decided you'd let the infection take him because some sort of research was worth more than his life? What kind of research would be helped by letting him transform? What do you do here?"
"What is this Misgivings and Pack? Also where did you get a ghoul?" Drasven slowly primes his crossbow expecting resistance.
"Karmid? Laddie?" he attempts to catch Karmid's attention.
"Put down the problem before it gets worse. I doubt we have anything to save him now." he asks.
"As for you Habe..." he trials off.
"We need to have a serious talk on what you're doing here and where did you get this one and If there's any others..."
Lia stops any attempts to harm the man on the floor, without commenting on anything he or Habe said just yet.
It was a long shot, but the Cathedral was only hours away, and one of the priests was likely to be able to do something about the mans condition, if he managed to cling to live until then.
Conflicted t both his friend's answeres, Karmid will stay on guard.
"How do we transport him? He's essentially tied up, but...dangerous. Is there a cart and horse nearby we can borrow?"
"The Question would be... Are there any more like him?" Drasven says.
Karmid shrugs at Drasven's statement, Angela still posed in a possible blow.
"At least one more, right? It takes a ghoul to make a ghoul? Or a Ghast maybe?"
Karmid looks sadly at Ro.
"What do you think Ro? I realize this is beyond our approval for leader that we agreed upon, but your opinion holds great weight here. What do you think we should do?"
Ro wants to know what Habe is up to, but the only decent thing to do is trying to save Grayst's life. If that's even possible there's no time for anything else to come before it.
"Lia's right, somebody has to finally do something to try to help this man" she says while staring pointedly at Habe with disgust.
"We'll have to get him back to Sandpoint as fast as we can. Check for horses. If there are any take them. Otherwise we will try the first farmstead we come to on the way back."
Grimacing, Karmid complies to Ro's suggestion, putting away his hammer and grabbing the man by the straitjacket and lifts/drags the sick man towards the door.
"Anybody want to grab his feet?"
Matrim feels the tension rising in the room, He is ready to jump in to stop any fights that might break out between Habe and his new companions. Seeing Drasven getting his crossbow ready, Matrim moves to stand between the two of the. "Woah Drasven. Put down your weapon and help Karmid. he looks over his head, Habe, Do you have transportation so that they can get the man back to town?
"Would you like to know if there are others like this man in here? Also getting this man and other possible others like him might mean that he might turn and rise as a ghoul en route if the good priests are not able to cure him?" Drasven asks the youthful members of his team.