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"What's this stuff? Does it ward off creepy flyers?" the Mariner eyes the liquid in the vial Brother gave. "Maybe those bat-worms are carrion, toss out these two bodies, see if they go for it first, buy us some safety and time." He gets to work of prepping the bodies for a heave.
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Sputtering a bit. Taken aback at the pure and simple genius of The mariner's suggestion. Brother Butterfly moves back from the doorway. Mariner speaks wisdom. Great Wisdom, but even better -- words that keep me from being overrun and injured. I tip my sweet stylish (red) boots to you in appreciation.
Giving a toe tapping acknowledgement to Mariner with his feet.
As for the vial - Yes, it'll help you when you need it.
Thinking to himself: I just don't know what it does.
We have items that are exceedingly useful. I am glad that none of you are greedy like Campre.
"What is making him more greedy than we are? he is going out, risking his life and collecting same as we are. We are not sharing all of these items we found with the survivors within." Fearless swats his hand through the air. "So e got lucky and took out one of these cultists." He leans in real close to Brother Butterfly, pausing for dramatic effect. "...Or maybe he is one of the cultists?"
The little halfling grabs the bottle of alchemist's fire by the neck and prepares to hurl it when he sees the little bat-like creatures.
Cats readies one of his two acid flasks as well, not in the same state of readied readyness as Fearless, but good to toss when there is an opportunity.
"Let's cat this!" Cats cries.
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Readying themselves for the horrors outside, the Watchmen throw open the door and...
... see an empty stone path to the far door. The pallid wrigglers seem to have moved on.
Moving carefully, the group crosses the short distance to the far door. Pinkie jingles Doctor Losandro's keys for a painfully long moment, looking for one that fits the lock.
Meanwhile, the other Watchmen cannot help but notice the vague forms of unnatural figures moving through the mist in the distance—hunched giants shuffling on spindly legs, lurching amorphous mounds, slithering and whipping tendrils. Horrifying noises echo weirdly, the hiss of an indrawn breath, a distant scream, a sound like something scuttling upon a forest of sharp legs, and the flapping of wings somewhere above.
After what seems like minutes, but was likely only seconds, a startling clank alerts the group that Pinkie has found the correct key, and the Watchmen begin to file through into an admitting room for new patients to the asylum.
Pale paint peels off the walls of the spacious chamber. A desk sits next to a an open curtain that leads to a hall to the north. Just beyond the curtain, resting in a stool, is a lit hooded lantern.
Bringing up the rear as usual the Twin is the last to the door, and just as he reaches it a black shape drops to the ground behind him. It has a vaguely humanoid shape, but an unearthly slenderness, and too many joints in its limbs. It has a horned head, but it is devoid of any other features. Rising from a crouch, it spreads batlike wings and flicks a sinuous tail.
The creature's long arms snap around the Twin like a spring-loaded trap and lift him off the ground. Before anyone can react the monster launches back into the air with its catch, its wings leaving swirling eddies as it rises into the mists above. A moment later the Twin's dagger tumbles to the ground, stabbing into the wilting flower bed near the door.
Seeking its master, the Twin's Serpent darts outside, then slithers up the exterior of the building, vanishing into the mists as well.
The Twin's tortured screams echo down for some time, and the group can only imagine that the winged horror is taking its time, toying with its prey. The Watchmen are haunted by the screams long after they stop, for at the end it almost seemed as if the Twin was laughing.
INITIATIVE
Fearless cringes and cowers as the beast snags the Twin. His whole body shakes in the fear of the beast the dropped down and took their companion. Grabbing his crossbow he follows behind the snake as fast as he can.
"Hurry, we have to get to him before that beast kills him!" Fearless watches the snake climb the wall with ease but has a hard time finding a way up himself.
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Cats fires an arrow into the mists and after the horror...but he doesn't step far in pursuit.
"What the cattlespot was that? What just happened!?" Cats looks around, agog. "Did you all see that!? We should get back inside!"
Cats looks like he needs a chair to rock in, his eyes wild. He shuts the door (whether people are in or out...but preferably in) and leans against the wall.
"That wasn't catting right."
Seeing cats ready to shut the door, Fearless dives back inside. He sloops down to the floor, his back leaning against the door as his chest rises and falls quickly. His tear-filled eyes look up to the others. "What just happened?"
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Grinding his teeth together, the gravity of the situation leaves him in near silence.
"Not on my Watch." Angrily exhaled in low rumble. Those words hallow and untrue in that someone did die on his watch.
Feeling the need to speak, as he is supposed to be a spiritual leader, he opens his mouth to say something. But nothing comes to mind except the terrible pall of death. He closes his mouth and restarts.
A candle that lights the way in this darkness has gone out. The task of brightness falls on the rest of us.
Bottle the sad feeling in the pit of your stomach. It is okay to feel sad, but it should NOT feel natural to be discouraged. We have our mission to escape this island and bring survivors with us. But now, we have another mission. To shine brighter than before. With that bottled up feeling, let us search for that horned monster and extract our retribution.
With that, he walks to a blank wall. Quickly pulls out a brush and a stoppered vial of blue paint. Composing the words.
THE TWINS WAS HERE.
May he
RWD
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Whatever hidden courage or reckless instinct that came forth in that moment, the Mariner leaps at the Twin as the creature snatched him up. "No, NooO!", managing to grab fingerful of shoe and hanging on, hoping to save the sarcastic but useful bastard. By the moment he draws the longsword with his free arm, the Twin was gone. Only his left shoe remained in his hand, as the Mariner dives inside before the door slammed shut. He gives the others a horrified look of finality.
Once recovered, he places the shoe under Brother's fresco, barely noticing a glimpse of what could have been a ticket to a place far away, stuffed in the sole.
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"What just happened?"
"Cat just happened," Cats confirms to Fearless. "You saw it as much as I. Anyone know what that thing was? It happened so fast! I can't believe it. I just can't."
Cats shakes his head and joins Brother Butterfly in helping memorialize the Twin. He has his head bowed and speaks a few words.
"I hardly knew him or his other half. I wish them a swift journey to Pharasma's judgement."
"Goodbye Twin." Cats puts his hand on the shoe as a ending gesture of goodbye.
That creature was a nightgaunt.
Nightgaunts haunt the deepest and darkest chasms of dreams. They lurk in the shadows that loom at the edges of sane slumber, but are ready at any moment to snatch a blithe dreamer away, carrying it off into realms of endless nightmare and tickling it terribly all the way. They appear as stooped, emaciated humanoids, yet possess a remarkable strength in their sinewy limbs. With inky black skin, batlike wings, a long spiny tail, and demonic horns protruding from its skull, a nightgaunt is a fearsome foe—yet the lack of any facial features is what makes it truly nightmarish.
Cats looks around for a way to get his mind off things...and goes to the door.
"Maybe I can cat this door off it's hinges. And we can crawl back through here rather than going outside with that 'thing' out there."
Cats goes to remove the door.
Disable Device
Cats moving on shakes Fearless out of his stupor. He wipes the tears from his eyes.
The unnatural fear takes hold, blocking his memory from remembering exactly what nightmare that creature came from.
"Let's keep moving before more of us get snatched." His voice quavers.
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Brother Butterfly looks carefully at his surroundings. Especially towards the area with the hooded lantern in the table. Something about it seems odd.
But, the disarray of the separation curtain grabs his attention. He takes a few moments to properly spread it to its proper alignment. Inspecting each pleat to make certain the hooks are sequential and latched in each grommet.
Once his brain has check marked that he is: clean shaven, clean clothes, and the cloth curtain is functioning properly, he can move onto normal actions.
So....he takes out the magical rod with Desnas butterfly freshly painted on it and uses it to bless the Watchmen.
Sad that it is blessing one (two) less allies.
cast bless from wand.
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when we move to outside areas, I think we should tie ropes to each other. Give it some lag, but THAT will serve as a surprise to the bastard if it tries to fly off with another of us!"
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Pinkie starts rummaging around the room as usual mumbling quietly to himself "We are all already tied to each other in this damnable place whats one more rope.....I listen to you as much as i listen to the others.....No......the more I do the more people think I'm crazy......you could show yourself.
The Watchmen create a small memorial and ceremony in honor of the Twins. Afterwards, Cats successfully removes the door along the western wall. As it comes loose some rubble collapses inward, and with a little more work a way is cleared back to the admissions hall. Meanwhile, Pinkie searches the room, going through the desk and examining the curtained area. Observing the lantern he notices that the faint lantern light doesn’t flicker as it should, being cold and weirdly paralyzed. However, other than the strange lantern, Pinkie doesn't find anything useful.
Pressing onward the group enters a hall with doors to Briarstone's private rooms.
The first room on the left belonged to Zandalus, but a search reveals nothing but the standard accommodations for these rooms - a plain bed, low table, and a lamp. If anything of a personal nature was kept here it has been removed.
The first room on the right is partially collapsed. Fortunately, no one seemed to be in the room when that happened.
You find a gold signet right with a holly-and-hawk emblem. It is worth 50gp. (Knowledge Local to identify the heraldry)
The second room on the left you discover three bodies. Two wearing yellow robes lie slumped on the floor, having suffered repeated vicious blows to the face. The third—an old man easily in his eighties and wearing a light cloth dressing gown—has fallen back across the bed. He is dead, but has a satisfied smirk on his face and still grips a sturdy leather boot with blood on its heel. The boot’s partner lies on the floor nearby.
The boots are well worn, but come from Angier’s—a famed shop that holds the royal warrant for leatherworking. If cleaned, these boots could still fetch up to 200 gp from a buyer.
The second room on the right is empty.
Cats, Fearless, and Brother Butterfly recognize the third room on the left as the place they spent a few days in quarantine.
The third room on the right is a scene of carnage. Blood and viscera cover the bed near a broken window. It appears empty, but then the bloody sheets on the bed shift and two bloody masses, like bloated pustule ready to burst, drop to the floor and scuttle forth on a bristle of slick hairs!
This appears to be some kind of ooze!
This is a boilborn.
Purulent wounds that crawl out from piles of diseased dead and areas of massive contagion, these oozes slop about thoughtlessly, quivering and ready to burst and infect anything that moves. The creatures manifest in areas wracked by plagues, where rot and ruin run rampant. Crawling from the afflicted areas, boilborn spread out in all directions to disperse their infection.
Though carefully studied by healers and naturalists focusing on oozes, living boilborn are dangerous to experiment upon. This is because their death throes can sometimes be triggered accidentally, even when the creatures are handled gently and no harm has been done to them. Some posit that boilborn have only a limited lifespan, and self-destruct when that period ends. Others have labored for years under the hope that the infectious fluids contained within boilborn might somehow be used to find both cures and immunities to any number of diseases that plague the world. Though this experimentation has resulted in certain indicators that boilborn might indeed be put to such positive use, a reliable concoction has yet to be developed.
Boilborns are resistant to acid and carry disease - usually leprosy.
When destroyed a boilborn pops in a spray of acid.
INITIATIVE
INITIATIVE - All PCs are up!
Cats
Fearless
Brother Butterfly
Pinkie
The Mariner
Pustules
Round 1, Init 25
"Cat the dang door!"
Acting quickly, Cats goes over to close the door.
The Mariner pats Fearless on his heavy shoulders, "Come on, he took one for us, let's not waste it cryin'." They picked off a strong one... I could be next.
At the sight of what he recognizes as living things called ooze, the Mariner reached for the door as Cat does, doubling the effort of closing it quicker if possible, "Get back!"
Cats moves quickly to slam the door, sealing off the ooze-infected room. A moment later you hear a sound like a rotting ham slapping against a butcher block.
"Phewww...good thinking Cats.", glad they don't have to deal with mutated snot. The Mariner shuffles to the corner, leading with the polearm, and checks both sides.
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Frustrated that each time one of these companions goes through the white separator curtain always leave it open and disheveled." where you cats born in a barn? You need to close the curtain when you've gone through."
.. .........
Hey I found a valuable ring. It has a Crest on it maybe someone can look at it? I also found that the boots the feisty Old Gentleman had are from a prestigious cobbler and worth a significant sum.
...... ..
BBs glad for the fast reflexes displayed by cats and the additional knowledge given by the Mariner.
"Ooze? how do we fight an Ooze? What are we supposed to do? Desna can grant us luck comma but you also requires a game plan period will my mace work against these things?"
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"Mariner, wait!" Cats stops the man. "Can you go back and get that door that I unhinged? We'll need it here." Cats pulls out his lockpicks.
"Lemme cat this door so it doesn't open by accident or easily...one moment," Cats disables the door.
Disable Device
Cats will jam the loose door over the regular door and try to wedge it shut, just in case. He pulls out his dagger and begins to etch on the door...
D-A-G-N-E-R! B-A-D I-N-S-Y-D-E. B-L-O-B-S. Cats steps back to admire his work.
"There. Cat should protect people." Cats is then ready to move on.
"You wanna put the door back? -oh I see why"
PERCEPTION
INITIATIVE
Cats is putting finishing touches on his carpentry and woodcarving project when a snarl is heard from up the hall. A moment later a thin woman prowls into the light at the intersection. Emaciated and pale, her chin is stained dark under sharp jagged teeth.
It's a ghoul!!
INITIATIVE
Cats (17/17)
Pinkie (17/17)
Fearless (16/16)
Ghoul
The Mariner (26/27) *diseased -2 Dex, -1 Con
Brother Butterfly (19/19) *diseased -2 Dex
Round 1, Init 23
"'Cat'ch out! It's a ghoul!" Kast cries a warning, dropping what he has in his hands and drawing his bow (move). He pauses for Pinkie to move out of his line of fire, then shoots before the ghoul can realize its been spotted.
to hit vs. FF; (+PBS)
damage.
Cats moves out of the room after shooting.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP:17/17
[ dice]1d20+5+1+2[/dice] to hit; (+bless)
[ dice]1d6+2+1d6[/dice] damage.
Fearless inspects the ring from BB.
Fearless' thoughts are jumbled and thrown off as Cats quickly slams the door shut and an even worse nightmare slowly crawls out from down the hallway.
His mind does everything in its power to protect and mend itself from the encroaching horror. The Mariner's comfort does little in the way of losing a companion, even if that companion was more than likely out to kill you.
HP 16/16
AC 18
Spells 1st 0/2
Inspiration 2/3
Tactician 1/1
The ghoul is met with the Mariner's braining stick, as he side steps and swings a wide arc.
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Pinkies eyes seem to quickly roll back exposing the white of his eyes and snapping back into a sharp gaze as he notices the retched creature and he speaks in a low whisper as if talking to himself."Sorry Son but your in no mindset to handle this." As he speaks he draws his sword and dagger and crouches into a fighting stance apparently waiting for the creature to close distance."Besides since your friend and his snake are gone we are gonna have to take up some of the slack"
Readying his weapons, Pinkie takes a step forward and gives Cats a clear shot. The arrow sinks deep into the ghoul's side, and a moment later Fearless sends a psychic bolt of energy into it's face.
The ghoul screams and charges! Pinkie points the magic shorsword Red Destiny at the undead creature and lets it run itself through! The ghoul is stopped just inches from sinking its rotting teeth into the young man.
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The Mariner flips over the ghouly pastry with the pole arm. If there's no movement from the woman, he checks her body for any personal possessions that might remain before she turned. Noticing the three windows, he motions for Fearless Pinkie Cat to take a peek while he holds the intersection.
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"Truly amazing fighting. Fearless, how did you make those arrows of energy fly out? I saw that happen once before, but I didn't think you did it. Are you (magical) Tower Trained? Anyway, let's search this area thorough. " The draw of the specially crafted boots is too much for the man once called Jasper. He uses the steady lantern light to begin cleaning them. Speaking to anyone in earshot. "did you know, these boots are super expensive! Worth like 200 gold! That's if cleaned up right. One thing I know is how to clean leather like this. Some people would ruin it with hot water or well water to get out blood ,but no! Good cold rain water, plus some of that ammonia stuff. " When done, he replaces his nice (and well liked) red boots with these boot masterpieces.
He twidles his toes inside the new shoes testing their fit.
When satisfied he is ready to continue exploring.
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Cats goes back to retrieve his tools after the ghoul is dead and to review his work on the blob-barrier.
"I think this will hold for a while. We'll want to check it every once in a while...because I'm sure I don't want those blobby things out. I've seen enough blobs already," Cats' eyes flicker to Brother Butterfly.
Cats keeps an eye open as the party peeks in windows and decides which way to move. His bow is ready.
Fearless, how did you make those arrows of energy fly out? I saw that happen once before, but I didn't think you did it. Are you (magical) Tower Trained?
"Eh? Not that I know of. Just happens. I can't really control if or when. It just does."
Making sure his crossbow is loaded Fearless moves further down the hallway to scout ahead while the Mariner searches the bodies.
Nothing is found on the corpse of the ghoul.
Inside the last of the private rooms is a shapeless mess of sheets and pillows piles atop two plain beds. Bold chalk letters high on the opposite wall proclaim this to be “Brenton and Debis’s Room.”
Glancing ahead, Fearless finds that the intersection breaks off to areas with large windows, or it did. The left side has collapsed, though it appears that someone has tried to clear some of it. A few more hours of work could open it. The windows to the right look out upon the exterior grounds of the asylum, wreathed in yellow mists.
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Hmmm... I seemed to have found two figurines in the shape of knights. It's a bit tough to gauge the craftsmanship at this time.
Brenton... Brenton... that name sounds familiar.
From a past post when we were exploring:
The second door in the Chaplain's Shrine is also locked, but easily bypassed through the other door in the hallway. Inside a nest of cushions and linens squeezes between the room’s rear wall and a battered desk covered in folded paper animals. A sculpted emblem of a spiraling comet overlooks the otherwise ransacked room.
This room once served as the office of Briarstone’s chaplain. After the survivors holed up in this area, they ransacked the room for fuel, turning bookshelves into rewood and stu y ecclesiastical treatises into kindling. The desk proved too awkward to break up swiftly, but its time may soon come.
With noise and disturbing outbursts common in the chapel, Winter asked a soft-spoken nurse named Tolman to handle two of the more fragile survivors, Brenton and Maeve, to keep them calm and safe. Tolman has done so admirably, distracting them with paper folding crafts. Maeve is working on animals, while Brenton is perfecting an orchid-like shape.
........
Looking at the pile of rubble, he is CERTAINLY not interested in doing any of the needed work to clear up THAT obstruction. Talk about getting sweaty and tired and possibly getting dust/dirt on his brand new Imperial shoes.
That side area doesn't look to go anywhere we can get to another way. Let's keep heading North.
Perception
Cats moves in to check out the room, spotting the toys moments after Brother Butterfly.
Cats moves up and covers the hallway, giving time for those behind to explore to the right and left.
"Cat that door there, why don't you? I'll watch to the north. Watch out for ghouls. Thems dangerous."
Nodding at Cats, theThe Mariner opens the door marked as the women's ward, and leads the entry with his polearm. Muttering into the room, "All-ye all-ye ghoully, come out come out and meet this toolly."
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Pressing ahead the group arrives in familiar territory - the common wards where the Watchmen were first assigned as patients shortly after waking in Briarstone. The wards each contain rows of beds for nonviolent patients to rest. The ward on the right is reserved for female patients and is empty. The ward on the left, reserved for men, has one groaning man strapped to one of the beds at the far end. Some of the Watchmen recognize him is a patient named Jeprin, and he seems to be in the throes of a nightmare.
"No! Not again!" He screams in a panicked voice, “Keep away!”
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A nightmare. Oh no. A nightmare almost certainly means the Tatterman.
Bb rushes to Jalpins bed and tried to wake him. Pulling out the tin of smelling salts.
"wake up Jalpin. You need to wake up from the Fog city and come back to Briarstone. "
With the application of smelling salts, Brother Butterfly tried to check his pulse and vital signs.
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Cats looks in at Jeprin and gives Fearless the "I've seen that before" look.
"Better cat Brother handle it. I'll cat guard," Cats says, keeping watch on the hallway.
"See that Pinkie? Sleeping is nothing but trouble, I tell you. Something ain't right with our dreams. The Catterman almost got me and I think he's trying to get that man in there."
"Maybe give him a nice bucket of water", the Mariner scans the room for any source of water, even chamber pot, so not as to waste the groups own supply. "If that don't work, maybe a good slap."
Fearless grabs and jiggles one of the bottles of ammonia. "Didn't this wake Cats up when he was dreaming of the Catterman?" Fearless unstoppers the ammonia and swings it underneath Jeprin's nose.
Those who cross the room see that Jeprin is strapped to the bed by strong restraints that secure his arms, legs, and waist. Brother Butterfly tries everything to wake him, but nothing works. Meanwhile, Jeprin continues to flail and cry out, and thin, shallow cuts appear on his hands and face.
“I don’t want anything from you! Get away from me, bastard! Get away!!”
Then, suddenly, Jeprin gives one last terrible shriek and ceases thrashing. It’s obvious to anyone who examines him that he is dead.
Fearless leaps back from Jeprin as the man gives out one final scream. He pounds his fist into the wall.
"How can we stop something we can't see!" He tries to over-analyze the chaos and supernatural to make sense of the situation.
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Strange. I saw a wisp. Just a wisp of yellow vapor leave Jerpin's mouth when he gave his last death rattle. i will have to pray to Desna for some insight on what that might mean in the celestial scheme of things.
"How can we stop something we can't see!"
Turning to Fearless, and trying to be inspiring:
It is written: You must accept the world as it is, not as you wish it to be.We will tackle what comes our way. The Gods have prepared us and will prepare us for the task of the future. That includes smiting the Tatterman. We already have Pinkie's Magical blade. We will accumulate more.
"but I now must attend to the present"... he thinks to himself.
Poor Jerpin. He is almost certainly turning into a Ghoul and once he does, he will chew his arm off to get out of those binds. We need to wait a minute and finish him off.
BB stands. Mace at the ready. Taking a few minutes to gauge movement and striking down on the tied and immobile foes to smash him - but only when he turns to a ghoul.
Cats kicks back, wishing he could be rocking in a chair. He waits, looks at Mariner. He waits for BroFly and Fearless to come out of the room.
"So...Mariner? Do you think you were some sort of mariner, or something?" Cats asks.