"Cherias, can we heal those poor souls? And kill the zombies...maybe by dropping them into a pit where they can't hurt anyone." She goes over to the coughing people, being sure to put her doctor's mask back on.
"We need to destroy these vats of poison too. Dilute them or pour them out?"
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The vats are huge, holding about 1,000 gallons of the phlegmy liquid.
Cherias is visibly keeping his emotions in check as he looks over the bound patients. "I can't help them much here. They need to be taken out of this vile place and given long-term care." He frowns, caught between despair and anger. "This evil needs to be stopped, now!"
"I'm afraid to ask, but who are in the cells?"
we need to help them, but they might also be able to help us.
Segang dons the ring and makes sure Cherias puts on the belt for now. You need this little friend. It will help you be tough like me. If told that two of the people strapped down have already turned to zombies he will put an end to them. And he asks about the book that was found on Rolth. Was it some kind of spell book?
The two people on the tables who are not zombies are alive. The other two will explode if you attack them.
"One recommends we release the live ones and get them upstairs so the Abadan can commence treatment, out of this filthy hole, first. We can come back to finish these filth and check the cells, after."
Seren passes the headband to Mel, "Put this on ... need every edge we can get." He pockets the wand and asks the witch, "Did you have an acid arrow wand as well? I wouldn't mind using that for a bit if you're focusing on hexes."
"Abby, I agree we should release them, but I'll remind you the cultist left to warn someone. We shouldn't leave ... need to keep them bottled up in here, instead of following us up. There is no obvious way out of here other than through us"
"Seren, perhaps we can just spoil the batches. They are bubbling from some sort of heat source...snuffing that out would help. And pouring something in, like an acid, might help...hmm..no, no acid arrows here. That sounds like a capital suggestion, though."
Melianthe slips on the headband. "Ha, that's a strange sensation," she comments. "My head feels slightly balloon-like for the moment."
She turns to Seren again, her pupils a little dilated from the effects of the headband. "Do you need to retrieve a low level spell? I have a pearl for that. Oh, my hexes will be a little more fun now," she says, rubbing her hands together.
"They're badly infected with blood veil. Be sure not to touch them directly." Cherias dons a doctor's mask and helps Melianthe move the two living prisoners out into the entryway. After they are situated, you are able to destroy the two bloated zombies with a few arrows each. Like the others, they each burst in a sickly spray of pestilence.
As you work, a man's voice calls out from one of the cells. "Who's there? Can you help us?" The desperation in their voice is bridled by their sheer exhaustion.
"Yes, we can," calls out Melianthe. She goes towards the cells, boar spear out just in case. She looks for keys along the way. "Segang, can you accompany me?"
"If there are doors in need of opening, might one not be useful as well?" Absinthe asks, one eyebrow raised in enquiry.
Segang goes to help free the prisoners. My hope is that some of these can help care for the sick, if they are not too sick themselves. And they might have valuable information. He pauses for a moment before adding Can we somehow jam the elevator down here with us so that it cannot be recalled to the surface? If so we should do that now.
Melianthe is about to touch the door handle when Abby's comment gives her pause. 'Oh... Yes. Absinthe. If you please. And Segang, if it is a standard elevator, there may be gears at top...and a pulley at top and bottom. Perhaps you can stopper up the bottom pulley."
Absinthe takes point, checking for traps as she leads the way into the cell block.
The keys from Rolth and the cultists work on the cell doors as well. Five of the eight cells are occupied, holding three men and two women. As you unlock the doors and release them, a few details become immediately clear. They are all Varisian, and unlike every other patient you've encountered in this place, they show no signs of blood veil. They are weak from imprisonment, and lack of food and water.
As they emerge, they are initially grateful for their unexpected freedom... until they catch sight of Seren.
"Is this some kind of trick?" one man asks, clearly hostile towards 'Rolth'. The others back away, a mixture of fear and distrust in their faces.
"Aye, 'tis, but not at your expense," Absinthe replies. "Rolth is dead, but our comrade Seren has assumed his guise to deceive anymore of that swine's lackeys that might lurk about."
Absinthe reaches up to tickle Majenko's chin.
"Take heart; when have you ever known a pseudodragon to ally with those as corrupt as Rolth and his Urgathoan lickspittles?"
Segang laughs a deep laugh and the confusion. Yes our friend is a trickster of sorts. He thought it might be helpful to wear that face for a time as we searched this place and freed its captives.
"I'll try and disable the elevator, but I can't guarantee I can fix it and it won't be available for a quick escape, but if that's what you want ..."
Seren speaks in his normal voice, "Right, we slaughtered this fool,", waving his hand at his face before he starts rapid firing questions at them.
"His body is in the other room if you want to make sure, maybe kick it a couple times. Any of you Ruan Mirukova? Any of you know him? Who else other than Rolth did you see in here? How many of them are there? You know of Arkminos or Lady Andlasin? Any of you willing to eat some food and pick up a blade and fight with us as we finish clearing out the cultists?"
Seren wedges a blade from one of the cultists' scythes into the lower gear mechanism, setting it for easy removal but preventing the elevator from moving.
*
After you explain Seren's disguise, the prisoners relax somewhat. Although relieved that Rolth is dead, they are still on edge from their imprisonment and seeing his doppelganger walking around.
As Seren fires off the questions, the lead man introduces himself as Tobar and tries to answer. "Ruan isn't here?" He double-checks the others, then says, "They took someone away a few hours ago -- that must have been him. If Rolth wasn't experimenting on Ruan here, Arkminos must have him. He works in a small laboratory off to the side of the vat chamber."
"Arkminos is a... well, I don't know what in Hells he is. Some kind of vampire, really strong, ice-cold hands. He didn't speak much, but at least he wasn't a psychopath like Rolth." Tobar sighs, shuddering. "He'd poke and prod, draw blood, but then left us alone. Rolth, though, would carve..."
"I never saw this Lady Andaisin," he adds, glancing to the other Varisians for confirmation. They all shake their heads. "Rolth and the others would talk about her, fearful like. I think Rolth had a crush on her, sick as that may sound." He spits to accentuate the point. "I don't know how many cultists are in here, but there can't be more than a half-dozen or so."
Lastly, the prisoners are all too weak and fatigued to help, but Tobar stands up and puts out his chest. "I'm not decked out like you lot, but I'll do what I can. Desna is smiling on me so far today."
"Lady Andaisin, is she...undead? Something else? Sounds delightful. I suppose Rolth completely forgot about his little day elf harlequin." Melianthe scowls--she truly dislikes the memory of Jolistina.
"Tobar, you're a brave soul, but I don't think you should help us attack a vampire. That sounds like a recipe for a quick death." Melianthe rummages through her things and looks disappointed. "No mirror, no garlic, no wooden stakes. Do we feel ready to kill another damned vampire?"
"Well, he's not like any kind of vampire I've heard about in tales. He got long ears, pointy oversize teeth... more like half-bat."
Perhaps some kind of fiend then? Segang speculates somewhat wildly. And after a moment he adds It is no accident that these few were locked away in cells. They all seem free of this sickness. Perhaps they are immune?
"And they are all Varisian, confirming Dr Davaulus notes on their immunity. Probably need that info and a healthy supply of volunteers to manufacture a cure."
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"Or to discover how to circumvene their immunity. Smash some furniture into stakes and let us be off."
Segang will remove the metal head from his longspear and sharpen the haft. So stakes really work? he asks skeptically. And I'll take that Cat's Grace now.
"Yes, I recall Cherias giving us a mini-lecture on vampires...stakes, sunlight, garlic, holy symbols, and something about weapons that are silver and magic...remember when we were stuck in that horrid little crawlspace with several of them?"
Melianthe fiddles with her boar spear haft, but it doesn't budge. "Um...Segang...how did you take yours off?" She gives a guilty shrug and smile.
"That particular spell would suit one admirably as well," Absinthe says in a placid tone. "When dealing with vampires, need must we not also guard our minds against ensorcelment?"
Let me assist you. Segang says. He takes a moment to remove the metal head even if he has to cut it off.
When we are ready to proceed, Seren will hit everyone with cat's grace that wants it (please sound off, currently its Seren and Segang) and cast magic weapon on anyone's silver weapon that wants it
"Once this spell is cast, we move quickly, no looting or tarrying until all hostiles are taken care of."
If Tobar doesn't have a weapon, Seren will offer him his rapier and pass him a breastplate from one of the cultists.
You cast your spells and head back into the vat chamber. Tobar points to the door in the north wall. "That leads to Arkminos's lab."
"I don't know what's through those doors," he adds, referring to the eastern doors.
You move up onto the catwalks and array yourselves around the northern door. With a heavy shove, Segang throws the door open, revealing a grim laboratory. An elegant operating table dominates the center of the room, an unconscious Varisian man strapped onto it. Crossed with iron restraints and encircled by a gore-encrusted gutter, the macabre device sports various cranks and levers, and is large enough to accomodate an ogre.
Along the walls stand several tables strewn with all manner of alchemical accouterments. Their contents appear extremely old: rusted iron tools, beakers of purpled glass, and deep pols of wax from countless melted candles.
At the head of the table stands an ancient-looking gray-skinned man. His features are somewhat beastial: elongated, pointed ears, heavy brow and glowing-ember eyes. His teeth are needle-like, and his hands end in elongated black claws. You sense a profound age from the creature. As you break in, he looks up from a flask he is stirring and regards you with a flat stare.
"You must be the ones making all the racket outside," he says with a voice between a sigh and a grumble, with a thick Ustalav accent. With a glance at Seren, he lets out a short chuckle and his mouth curls in a dour half-smile. "Rolth is dead then? Good riddance." He puts down the flask carefully and spreads his hands in a welcoming gesture. "I am Ramoska Arkminos. How may I help you today?"
"Are you prepared to surrender?" Absinthe asks, coolly.
"Are you?" Arkminos counters.
"Nay," Absinthe replies, her rapier rocksteady as it points at the creature. "By Hei Feng, one would not yield to purveyors of such crimes."