He looks around facetiously. "It was in my hand during the fight. I must have dropped it."
"I don't understand, are you trying to assassinate the whole city?"
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I have quite had enough of this miscreant. Segang says. The world will be a better place without him. I do not intend to give him a chance to escape. Segang lifts his hammer intending to put the man down.
"Segang! We can't kill him now, he's no threat to us. We're not executioners."
Segang's hammer descends but with a glance at the kitling Segang delivers a stunning blow and not a lethal one. You are too soft sometimes Cherias. he points out. I am fine with the roll of executioner, but I will defer to you in this.
Segang's blow renders Davaulus back to unconsciousness.
Absinthe returns to the hospice a short time later with Ishani Dhatri in tow. "What is this? You're not allowed back here!" the nurse moves to intercept them.
"Cherias, isn't Aka..Achaekek...summoned to kill someone in particular? Someone powerful or audacious? This disease is striking the whole town. Odd."
"Off-site medical expert to assist with holistic containment procedures as outlined under extraordinary measures," Absinthe bluffs, speaking out loud so the others might hear her.
"I don't know, but these are just worshippers of... that thing. Not the same thing."
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"Off-site medical expert to assist with holistic containment procedures as outlined under extraordinary measures," Absinthe bluffs, speaking out loud so the others might hear her.
The nurse frowns severely and shakes her head, but does not further attempt to block your passage. "Highly irregular..." she grumbles.
"Of course; hence the invocation of extraordinary measures," Absonthe says in a haughty tone as she leads Ishani past the nurse onward and to the others.
"Ahem. Yes," she whispers to the priest. "Do not mind the ah, mess. The people running the experiment were not reasonable at all."
"Well, that went well," Seren looks down at the unconscious doctor.
"Red Mantis Assassins behind all this, huh? Well, I guess not really. They only do something if they're paid. They love to do it, no doubt, but someone had to hire them, right? But it's the best lead we've had. He definitely indicated there was more to learn below. Let's rest and head there as soon as we can."
Seren settles in to peruse his spells and pick out some to study in the morning before he pulls a cot over and grabs some shuteye.
Segang takes his turn at watch but also gets some rest to regain his rage ability which was all but expended.
"Oh...I didn't know that, Seren. If there was a way to follow the money..."
"Did someone call for a money expert?" Absinthe asks as she sweeps into the room, Ishani in tow. "One has brought a banker -- and medical expert, as requested."
Melianthe stifles a yawn. "Greetings--apologies, it has been a long day. We need to triage these patients, and we need a way to find out who hired the Red Mantis. Oh, I am Melianthe, a doctor of sorts." Her scorpion scuttles about on her shoulders in a very non-doctorly way.
"Welcome back, Abby. Nurse "Irregular" didn't give you any trouble, I hope?"
"Not when confronted with an invocation of the extraordinary measures," Absinthe says with a brief smile.
"It is 'extraordinary' isn't it!?" Seren drops his disguise and winks at the tiefling.
The tiefling grins widely, exposing her inhuman teeth, and winks back.
"Yes. Astonishing how people so rarely bother to ask for the necessary details."
Cherias steps up to the Abadarian priest and explains in greater detail what they discovered here. "These men were working to make the Blood Veil worse, not better."
Grim faced, Ishani gets to work checking on the patients while you rest.
In the morning a few hours later, you are roused by a series of loud thuds from the front of the building. A moment later, you hear Nurse Irregular calling for you from below.
"Ah. A liar may be called for," Absinthe says with a straight face - then winks at the others and goes to meet the nurse, dressed once again in her doctor's clothes.
"I may actually be ....", Seren starts as Abby leaves.
"... better equipped to deceive ." He finishes lamely as the tiefling leaves.
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Absinthe finds Nurse Irregular waiting anxiously at the entrance to the foyer. She looks tired, which does nothing to help her irritable demeanor. "Four Gray Maidens are demanding entrance. They say they are here for shift change. I told them we are quarantined, but they remain insistent."
"Indeed," Absinthe says. "One moment, please. And may I just compliment you with your formidable determination and fortitude under these pressing circumstances? I will see to a commendation for your work, if possible."
The tiefling promptly returns to the others. "We have trouble - and Gray Maidens here for their shift change. I can put on that sergeant's armour and try to mess with their heads, but I think this requires at least a two-man con. Seren?"
"Not a good idea. These Maidens likely know each other by name and sight. Gotta pose as doctors to the Maidens and as Maidens to the doctors."
Seren ponders, "I say we bring them in and set up an ambush or I create an illusion of four other Maidens leaving."
"Speaking of which, how many Maidens did we kill?"
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Segang rouses sleepily. Shame to have to kill them. I do not think all the greys are bad. [b]Can you look like the doctor Seren? Maybe he could send them away.
"Sure, gotta wing it with his voice, though. That's why I prefer the masked guys."
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Segang readies himself for the possibility that Seren is unable to get the maidens to leave.
Seren will eye the doctor and use a veil pool point to change to look like him. He will then grab a scarf or similar sized piece of cloth and wad it up in his hand to.place over his nose and mouth once the Maidens or Nurse Irregular have seen him and before he closes with them.
He will then head downstairs to encounter the nurse, "Let them in so I can talk to them."
He will do his best to imitate the Doctors voice but use the cloth to sound muffled. Seren will stay near the entrance to this room (from where we are resting) however in case things go south and he needs to get back quickly.
Absinthe likewise dresses up in doctor chique -- full robes and corvid mask to completely hide her identity -- and follows after Seren.
Nurse Irregular nods to Seren and unbars the front entrance. Four Gray Maidens file into the foyer, and stand before the check in desk. The nurse moves to the side.
"Good morning, doctor. I am Gatlynn. Where are the Gray Maidens we are here to replace? Nurse Torthus mentioned a quarantine."
Cherias feels ill at ease with all this lying, but recognizes it is necessary. He tries to stay out of sight, keeps the hood of his cloak up to hide his ears, and tucks his tail into his jacket.
"Gatlynn, I'm sorry to say there's been an accident with one of the ... experiments. We can't let anyone else in for fear of further exposure. I'm treating the current Maidens, but, we will have to wait 8 hours to see if they took. Return then and I'll have either contained or eradicated the mistake."
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The Gray Maiden pauses a long moment before responding. "You plan to 'eradicate' my sisters if they do not respond to your treatment?"
"Your sisters aren't the mistake. I'll have eradicated what they've been exposed to or confined them to let it play out and hope they are hardy enough to weather it. Seems non productive to expose the rest of you."
"I appreciate your concern, doctor. Would you like us to remain here to maintain the quarantine?"
"That's an excellent idea. Enforce the quarantine while Nurse Torthus continues to monitor the patients in the room. I need to return to fixing the problem, now."
Seren heads back to the party and passes on the "sitch"
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Before they go back to the others, Absinthe bends her masked head close to Seren's and whispers: "Have them guard from outside, sir. Keep people at a distance. No need to risk their being infected."
"That's a good point, Doctor. Maidens, can you secure the facility from the outside? Closing up shop may gather a crowd ... we'd like to keep the attention away, if possible."
Segang paces nervously in the back room too far away to hear the conversation. What is taking so long? I will give this just a few more minutes...
Gatlynn nods curtly and signals the other Gray Maidens towards the door. "We will keep the street clear. Do what you can for my sisters." After she exits, Nurse Torthus moves to re-bar the door.
Leaving the nurse, Seren drags Absinthe back.
"I think we bought some time without fear of being intruded on. May even be able to get out of here when we are done. Priest is gonna have to stick with us for a bit, though. Sorry about that."
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Brother Ishani comes over, looking a bit haggard from hours of work. "Downstairs, all of the poor souls are afflicted with Blood Veil, but other than varying stages of progression, I can't see that anything has been done to them. Upstairs is a different story." His face darkens as he continues. "All of the victims in the ward up there have a few things in common. They are all Varisian, and none of them have Blood Veil symptoms. Based on what I saw up there, and the notes you found in Davaulus's office, he and the physicians had determined that those of Varisian blood are commonly immune to the disease, and were conducting experiments to find out why." He sighs and sits down, shaking his head. "I don't understand... I mean, I understand why you confronted Davaulus and stopped him -- those experiments are just... cruel and vile -- but what brought you here? What led you all the way from Brienna Soldado to this place?"
Cherias begins telling the story of the last several days, which feels like years as he thinks about everything that has happened.
He skips over liberating Trinia Sabor escape, as that has nothing to do with the blood veil, but describes their investigations in detail.
First, their scouting of the Lavender Perfumery, the docks, and the temples of Pharasma and Asmodeus;
Then the fight against the wererats, and the information it gained them, leading to the investigation of the Direption and the discovery that the Blood Veil was carried on coins;
The destruction of the vampire nest in Old Korvosa;
The fires and riot that started despite the best efforts to calm things;
The search for Ruan and the discovery of a house of animated corpses and the madwoman Jolistina, as well as learning the name of the necromancer Rolth;
The return to the pit where the derro made golems and undead, discovering a plague doctor's mask therein;
Following the clue of the mask to the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden, here discovering that the 'doctors' were a little too ready to engage in impromptu surgery on unconsenting patients, and that 'Doctor' Daedalus was a worshipper of Achaekek.
"Now we have only to descend in the elevator to discover what lies below here... we can only imagine what horrors might await us!" Cherias finishes melodramatically.
Segang looks on wearing a worried expression on his face. I hope this brother Ishani fellow can be trusted.
"Good brother, one would suggest you stay up here," Absinthe says after a moment of thought. "While your help would be invaluable, what is down there may be - terrible. And someone needs to be available to spread the word if it comes to that. If you do need to leave here, take one of the doctors' masks and robes so you can get past the Maidens. Trust no one in the government, but use the temples to spread the news."