Pirknok nods at Eli. "Is this NORMUL fer places like this? We... we don't put ar sick people in uh seprit place, we jus' keep 'um with thuh tribe, an' their famlies take care uv 'um. This... don't seem right."
"I never said anything about healing being done here."
"I said it might be a Laboratory of some kind." Contemplating her words for a moment Ysme grunts in disgruntlement. "Pirknok, come over here." Pulling out a freshly turned, slender length of wood. "I keep forgetting I have this..." she mutters to herself as she turns the wand back & forth, finally flicking it slightly as though casting with a fishing rod. A single pulse of glowing light floats from the tip to Pirknok's heart.
The dwarf lets out a sigh and rubs his arm. "Thenks... thet's uh bit better."
Looking around again, he shrugs. "We shud move on. We need ta fin' thuh wun makin' thuh dead walk."
Hoisting his katana again, he moves carefully out of the room to continue the search.
Opening the western doors, Pirknok finds a storeroom with mundane supplies - linens, soap, food, and water and a bedroom with two sturdy beds, likely where the two tieflings rested.
The dwarf shrugs and turns to the southern door.
"How could no one have noticed this going on?" Ventus muses idly as he follows the implacable dwarf through the asylum.
Jessamy also follows, keeping an eye out for any sign of threats, especially from more devils. Or dead things. Or possibly drunk dwarves.
The southern door that's hanging ajar leads to a flight of descending stairs.
Pirknok looks to the others. "Downstairs first, or shud we go fin' thuh witniss?"
"We're here to talk to the witness. Let's see if we can find him. Just don't try to kill him?"
Why are dwarves so violent?
The tattooed face turns to study the newcomer. The voice that answers is flat. "Ah won't promiss, gurl. Evul things need killin'. Don't yer parints an' elders teach you thet much?"
The dwarf shrugs and turns away from the stairs to investigate the door across the room to the north.
Heading through the doors to the north, the group finds a small office and bedroom.
Resting on a desk in the office is a journal with notes about the establishment's patients.
Eli walks to the desk and opens the journal, skimming through it for the witness' name or anything else interesting.
"What? No!"
All they taught me was to scrub pots. Yuck! Still, I'm going to do something more than that with my life.
"What've you got there Eli?" Ventus says as he saunters over.
Looking over the journal Ventus and Eli quickly learn that Habe is just as mad as his patients. His treatments are all monstrously cruel, many involving forms of torture and/or lobotomies. More of his patients die than show any form of improvement.
The last entry refers to Grayst Sevilla. Habe mentions his partner being especially interested in the new patient because he was both mad and suffering the transformation of becoming a ghoul. The final few notes muse on the potential properties of partially undead brain matter...
"I guess we have to go downstairs, after all," Jessamy says dubiously.
I hope the dwarf goes first. Or the short one.
Pirknok nods grimly and leads the way.
Eli, his eyes growing wide as he reads the notes in the book, at the same has an expression of increasing indignation. "Oh yes, we're going to put a stop to this." he says grimly, following, pulling a vial from his bandolier.
"A ghoul," Ventus breathes.
"No heroics Eli, I'm not bringing a corpse back to your wife," Ventus ordered, following the others.
Descending down the stairs, Pirknok leads the party into a roughly hewn basement. This large room combines the features of a wizard’s laboratory and a catacomb several tables bearing bodies covered by drapes dominate the room, while tools ranging from shovels to dissection implements sit on shelves against the wall.
There are two doors exiting this room. One to the east and one to the west.
Eli looks a little less enthusiastic about seeking justice with Adventus' rebuke. He looks around the room, noting the laboratory apparatuses.
Pirknok opens the eastern door to find an unnaturally cold large chamber. Strapped to the walls are four large men, clearly dead, in various stages of decay. Almost in unison, they turn to face the tattooed dwarf and with casual ease snap their restraints and shamble forward!
"Mor unded," grunts Pirknok, moving into the room and swinging his sword.
Pirknok's ebon blade slices his target neatly in half.
Eli steps to the side and pitches the vial he was holding at one, trying to get as many as he can in the blast.
Oh, crap!
Ventus moves to draw the attention of the zombies and raises his shield, ready to hold off the inevitable assault.
Ventus's bomb slams into the western zombie with deadly force almost blowing the monster off of its feet. The one adjacent is badly burned by the close explosion.
The undead shamble forward and slam into Ventus.
Ventus's shield buckles under the blows but holds.
Moving around to the side, Eli bowls his bomb towards the enemies lined up against Adventus, resulting in a line of flame that rolls through all three of them.
AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 15
Fort +3, Ref +7 (+1 vs. traps), Will +2
CMD 18
HP 35/35
Effects:
Thinking the whole time what a bad idea this is, Jessamy moves into the room, slashing at one of the dead creatures.
This is a bad idea.
She grimaces as undead ichor coats her blade.
Blood's bad enough; this is gross.
This really is a bad idea.
Eli's second bomb finishes what the first started, blowing the zombie into pieces. The ricochet damages the other two.
Jessamy's quick blade cuts down another.
Pirknok steps forward and swings again.
Pirknok's blade cleanly separates the last zombie's head from its torso.
The room is suddenly a silent, if gory, mess.
"That was interesting," Ventus said, examining his shield for damage.
"Anyone hurt?"
Eli frowns and looks around the room.
Beyond a bit of onyx powder, Eli finds nothing of value on the zombies or within the room.
The dwarf looks grim. "Come on... we hed better find thuh two men bufore sumthin else nasty shows up."
Pirknok opens the door to find Habe pleading with a balding pale varisian.
"They're here to ruin everything. You have to help me stop them!"
The varisian hisses in anger.
"You brought them here? You fool!"
Tied to a stone table in the southern corner is a man with horrific wounds obviously undergoing the transformation into a ghoul.
"Yer gunna pay fer this," says the dwarf in a low tone, moving into the room swinging.
AC 23, touch 19, flat-footed 19
Fort +3, Ref +7 (+1 vs. traps), Will +2
CMD 18
HP 35/35
Effects: Total defense
Jessamy moves into the room, swords raised in a defense stance as she takes in the macabre scene.