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"Mariner, why you got to be such a Cog? There's enough in the Fearless Galley for all four of us. The scraps can go to the dog "
He raises his mace for another swing. Preferring to tenderize his meal.
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Fearless wriggles free from the Mariner and tries to make a run for it, but a sharp pain in his back causes him to stumble. Looking down he sees the point of one of Cat's arrows sticking out of his shoulder. His head swirls from the beating he has taken and he collapses to the floor. As he falls unconscious his last view is of Brother Butterfly's drawing fallen to the floor a foot away.
The paper shows Pinkie holding an eyeball in his hand. Pinkie has a confused look, like something isn't right.
On a medical bed unconscious is Fearless - one eye open and another eye shut. The Open Eye has a strangely large pupil. Near the medical bed with his healers bag contents spread out is Brother Butterfly. Medical mask and all adorning his sweaty bald head - holding a few discarded medical wastes in one hand and the symbol of something other than the Desnan Butterfly on his forearm.
***
Fearless comes to with a start and looks up to find the Watchmen looming over him.
It was very difficult to wake Fearless from his nightmare. He trashed around and bashed his head on the ground a few times, then grabbed for his knife and cut himself before he was disarmed. He is just now waking up.
Cats sits next to Fearless, trying to wake him up. One hand lays on Fearlesses shoulder, the other pets Salvation (who wants to help as well).
"C'mon, Fearless, wake up!" Cats turns to Brother. "Looks like he injured himself a bit. I didn't get to his knife in time."
Cats looks for a container or bucket or bedpan laying about, bringing it to Brother.
"Fill this with water...maybe he needs a wet shock to get him awake."
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"good idea Cats. I will fill this with water. Then I can pull out some bandages from my kit to wrap his wound. "
He does this and applies his healing skill to Fearless.
Seeing Fearless come too, he is worried that his dream lasted far too long. He didn't scream that the Tatteeman got him, but he may be transforming into a ghoul.
"You are safe now. No more tatterman. Are you hungry Fearless? Specifically, are you ravenous?"
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Fearless wakes up with a start gripping his dagger, just as in the dream. Reality begins nearly the same way the dream did, which makes it difficult for Fearless to distinguish between the two.
He sits up and scoots back on his hands and the balls of his feet, his dagger drags across the stone.
"What happened?" He grabs the back of his head, glaring at Pinkie and his sap. "Bandage me, you all just tried to kill me! I was right. You and your paintings told me as such!" He points a shaking finger at Brother Butterfly.
Fearless realizes that no one has a weapon out but him, and the drawing is no where to be seen.
"What's all the commotion about?" the Mariner snacks as he sits up to find the others hovering over Fearless, " Is it time for my watch? Gods I'm hungry."
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"Calm down, Anagram. We're friends," Cats says, licking his lips. "You know us. We're the watchcats. You were having a bad dream. We woke you up. You're okay."
Seeing no weapons Fearless begins to calm down a bit as he lowers his dagger. His shoulders slump from exhaustion "Ok..."
He sits back down in his corner, letting his heart rate settle back down so he can get a few more hours of nightmare fueled sleep. As his eyes close he mumbles. "Don't let me die..."
"Yeah, don't worry for your soul, Fearless," Cats says soothingly as he keeps watch. "I'm chatting watch good. Don't you worry."
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About to speak.....because Brother Butterfly is always about to speak... to console and calm Fearless, he sees that the situation has defused itself.
The looks over Fearless and Mariner using his healing skill to both treat their wounds but to also see if they might be showing signs of turning into ghouls.
He doesn't say much, except:"let me take a few moments and recheck your bandages" to the Mariner.
To Fearless, "before you fully go to sleep, let me spend 10 minutes fixing the cuts your nightmare gave you.
******
Confident that they aren't ghouls, he goes back to sleep to spiritually recharge.. .he is certainly going to need it.
""Cats and Mariner, you are guard duty. Pinkie and myself are on next shift."
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As the Watchmen settle down for the rest of the night, Brother Butterfly tends to Fearless and the Mariner.
While Butterfly is checking a bandage on Mariner's arm he notices the list of names carved into the old man's arm. There are more than a dozen, and one of the names stands out - Kast.
Fearless begrudgingly sits back up as Brother Butterfly tends to his wound. A wound he paid little mind to as his mind was still groggy.
"Nightmare huh? Sure seemed real to me Shapeshifter." Fearless' eyes scan for any sign of painting supplies and a painting in the room. Finding none he settles back down but remains skeptical none the less.
As Fearless lies there he thinks back on Cats' words.
My soul? What does he know of my soul?
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Seeing that Fearless might open up his dream, he seems inclined to engage him.
"What happened in your nightmare? Was The Tatterman there and did you fight him with your knife?
To those of us awake, you tossed and banged your head on the floor a couple times.
My nightmare happened when we slept in the boiler room. He gave me cut on the arms and a gash on the neck. "
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Fearless flips over, pain and anger in his eyes as they well with fluid. "Tossed and banged my head alright. You lot tried to kill me. As far as I know you succeeded and I am in hell."
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"We tried to kill you?! Really?
That Tatterman is devious.
He is obviously scared at how potent and powerful you are. He is trying to drive a wedge between us - break us.
We just destroyed his army of ghouls and so this was one of his methods of revenge.
As for Hell, Desna is "the great traveler" and I can tell you that she doesn't like travelling to Hell.
"
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Nightmares continue to plague those who attempt to sleep. Fearless finds sleep impossible, the memories of his experience too raw to let him relax.
Eventually the watch shift changes, offering Cats, and then Pinkie, the choice to get some shut eye...
Cats, after the first and second shifts ends, does find some time for sleep...albeit just 4 hours or so while other are on watch.
will save (+1 more vs. evil)
If he wakes, he'll try to shake off his fatigue:
Fort vs. DC 15 or so.
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Fearless looks up at Brother Butterfly. "The worst part is..." He leans in to whisper and motions for Brother Butterfly to do the same.
As he does Adalgrim whispers low. "Cat's kept physically licking me."
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The hours pass by in a crawl as the remaining members of the group take their rest. Everyone seems to welcome the break, but for Fearless, the waiting is torture. Despite mounting fatigue he is unable to fall back to sleep. The walls press in, making him feel smaller than usual, Everything seems to rekindle the trauma of his ordeal.
The Mariner picks his teeth...
Brother Butterfly works on his sketches...
Pinkie sleeps, or pretends to...
Cats scratching at his dog's ears, acting like nothing's wrong...
Cats' dog stares across the room at him, its gaze unnerving, alien, and unreadable...
All of them seem too eager for him to just go back to sleep.
***
Eventually the time comes for the Watchmen to ready themselves for another foray into the asylum.
Neither Pinkie nor Cats suffer ill effects from their dreams, and despite less then normal sleep Cats finds he has enough energy to continue unhindered from fatigue.
Cats stretches out after his nap, pleased to wake up and not be a ghoul at all, not at all. He re-strings his bow, checks his arrows, and stretches out a bit as he preps his meager breakfast.
"Brother, we gunna get up there this morning, huh?" Cats asks the Brother before turning his attentions to Fearless. "Anagram, you doing okay? You had a cat night of rest, last night, I tell you what." Cats licks his lips and his fingers of some of his morning rations.
After breakfast, Cats will make sure the rope is properly knotted for climbing and discuss the plan with the team. "Who's going up first? Which of us cats is good to go?"
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"Cat's kept physically licking me."
To that, Jasper's face blanched.
That is pretty disgusting. Frighteningly so. No wonder you are almost to tears.I have expertise in healing physical wounds, but that's something that goes to the core.
******
Returning later to Fearless, after his own rest and rejuvination of body and spirit.
[ooc=gm] can you please add 3 more hit points for me, but also tell me how bad the diseases have affected us. It's time to use the scrolls and/or Wand of Restoration [/ooc]
Fearless, you didn't get more rest did you? You really do look terrible. I am going to pray to Desna for some aid. Is there anything that you think will best help you through this day? (ice) Armor? tough (Bark) skin?
Fearless sighs with bloodshot and baggy eyes as he looks up and silently shrugs his shoulders. "Save your goddess' words for later Shapeshifter." He raises a hand as if to swat Jasper away like a fly. "Let's just be done with this already." The lack of sleep has changed his demeaner to an even moodier halfling, if that was possible.
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Fearless - You only want me to wait, because you do not yet know the bliss that Desna can bring. Watch and see. Watch AND see.
now speaking to Desna.
RESTORE this Man-At-Arms, who has suffered greatly because of the mental mind-f$!~ of our enemy. You gave us warning to not sleep outside the safety of The Sanctuary bequeathed to us. Your soldiers have erred. Forgive us and heal us.
Mariner AND Pinkie, I gave you a +4 bonus for your Fort save
Brother Butterfly's magic removes the fatigue Fearless feels and clears his mind enough for him to relax and concentrate his mental energies.
The Mariner does his best to offer his concern for Fearless well being, aside from picking out very large bits of left overs from the crook of his teeth. After he thanks Brother for the healing, he squats down next to the childsized halfling, and reaches into his pocket...
...producing a shiny brooch. Somewhere along the way, the Twin had pinned it onto the Mariners cloak, uncharacteristically unselfish of the Twin. "I'm not gonna eat ya, see? Here, this will keep you safe, I don't need it. Besides, Brother is the first to be on any menu, he looks like a big turkey." With a grim smile and slap on the shoulders, the Mariner girds up and dons his gear, and checks the line to go first when everyone is ready.
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Cats follows Mariner up the rope, unstinting his bow when he gets to the top. He leaves Salvation in camp, not wanting to risk the wonder dog here and now.
Climb
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Fearless takes the brooch and attaches it to the cloak on his cultist out fit and humbly replies.
Feeling a small bit better after BB's spell Fearless sets out to checking out a bit of the unclaimed magic and tries to identify a bit more.
"This potion will help heal more wounds. This candle here seems to be able to protect a small area from haunts and ghosts for about an hour." Fearless grabs and holds the Maximo talisman aloft. Slowly he removes the brooch and hands it back. "With last night I think I would like to wear this talisman for a short while if that is ok. When frightened it will only make me shake instead." Fearless passes the brooch back to Mariner.
Scooping the equipment back up Fearless climbs the rope last as his mind shields itself from the nightmare fueled sleep earlier.
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With his armor and gear still near his bedroll, Brother Butterfly gathers them together on top of a blanket and ties the four corners together with rope. Letting the other end of the rope tie to his waist, he looks up.
The inverse of looking off a cliff and marveling " that looks like a farther distance than I thought" - BB sees climbing 20 feet on a knotted rope with the same distortion of distance.
He is not amused.
With no real weight burdening him -except his large girth and lack of athleticism - he tries to just put one hand over the other and climb.
Roughly three total feet off the ground, he stops trying to climb.
Guys, I think I need some help.
Fearless' nightmares aside, the Watchmen head to the tower feeling relatively good. Brother Butterfly's careful tending to the injured has helped greatly to cure the various diseases that have spread among the group. All signs of filth fever are gone, though some rashes remain in awkward locations. A concern remains about those bitten by ghouls, but so far no symptoms have presented themselves.
***
Setting a rope makes the climb a lot less challenging, and even Brother Butterfly is eventually coaxed up to the stairs above without incident.
At the top is a large storage room with dusty crates of every size crowd the space. The asylum staff stores obsolete medical equipment here. The tower itself exists as an example of an outdated treatment method—some quack theory involving higher, more rare ed air.
Across the room a hazy figure stands in a yellow cloud that spills through broken windows, flowing into the sea of churning saffron fog outside.
INITIATIVE
INITIATIVE
Cats (24/24)
Mariner (31/40) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex
Oneirogen
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 0/2 hours
Butterfly (18/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex
Pinkie (27/27) *ghoul fever (1 save)
Round 1
"What the hell is that?" Cats asks, looking into the yellow mists as he listens to BB. "Sort of reminds me of that thing we saw downstairs? Right? Didn't we just smash it or something?"
Cats moves up and readies to shoot anything that he sees in the mists, uncertain what others will be doing.
to hit; (PBS)
damage.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP: 24/24
[ dice]1d20+6[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+2+2d6[/dice] damage.
Mini Smite: 0/1: Once per day as a swift action, you can add your Charisma bonus to your attack rolls and deal 1 additional point of damage for each class level you have against evil creatures for 1 round. You must have a good alignment to take this trait.
The Mariner rolls over the top of the rubble climb, into a low hunch and scurries to the nearest cover like an assault trooper. His instinct is to charge like a loose dog, although that's proven to bite his own leg off, so he waits for the rest to finish the climb and gather.
"Dunno" he answers Cats in a whisper, "Piss aura maybe. Just hold your nose. Hey, can that dog be any use here?" He then draws his longsword and straps the new magical shield with the big W like some sort of captain.
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"Salvation? The cat?" Cats wonders why if the dog somehow followed them upstairs. "No, I left him downstairs. I figured this would be too dangerous." Cats thinks about drawing his sword.
Cats fires an arrow into the mists, but a clattering against stone tells him he missed a soft target.
The Mariner takes cover.
The sound of a female laughter ripples from the mist, sounding distant, like the echo of a voice down a well.
"My master has been waiting for you." It calls, and the mists begin billowing closer as the figure within crosses the tower floor, casually weaving among the crates. "Let me bring you to him."
Stepping close, the figure coalesces into a vacant-eyed woman. Thin scars on her young face are recognized by Pinkie and the Mariner, who last saw her at Aggra's side in the Dining Hall, rooting for Klades as he tried to strangle the Mariner.
The mists pouring from her mouth flow around the Watchmen at the stairs, seeping into their very souls. Time seems to slow. The mists sap their strength, and their eyes feel suddenly heavy.
INITIATIVE
Oneirogen
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 0/2 hours
Butterfly (18/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex
Pinkie (27/27) *ghoul fever (1 save)
Cats (24/24)
Mariner (31/40) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex
Pinkie climbs over the boxes to the right trying to circle around a bit.
"If thats who I think it is Mariner and I have qa bone to pick with her"
Before Fearless even has a chance to identify the creature or let alone speak his eyes roll back into his head as the nearly full night of unrest takes its toll on his body.
His limp body falls, knees stroking first quickly followed by hischin on the pavement as he begins to snore loudly.
"I'll show you who's the mas-! CLANG!....zzzZZZzzzzzz....."
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Reaching down, and shaking The Mariner to get him conscious and back on his feet - Brother Butterfly puts the Mariner's Long sword in his hand and then moves off to spread out and make the Oneiregon's abilities less effective. Choosing to move towards another friend so Desna can impart luck on them
So, Spouting Spring of Stench, why did your "master" leave you all alone in this out of the way tower? Why did he leave you defenseless?
I bet it was because you were a reject to him. A defective gateway to the world of dreams. I bet the other one (Dr. Losandro) was better. Much better for his plans.
Cats nods at Brother, thinking it a good idea to have Mariner awake. Cats isn't fond of the idea of charging into the mist without backup.
Round 2
Cats fires twice into the mists, hoping for a lucky shot.
"Take *that* you cattlespotting mists!"
to hit; (PBS)
damage.
to hit; (PBS)
damage.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP: 24/24
[ dice]1d20+6[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+2+2d6[/dice] damage.
Mini Smite: 0/1: Once per day as a swift action, you can add your Charisma bonus to your attack rolls and deal 1 additional point of damage for each class level you have against evil creatures for 1 round. You must have a good alignment to take this trait.
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The Mariner wakes at Brother Butterfly's urging, coming to just in time to see the big priest dash off into the mists. Looking up he sees the scarred woman standing close, smiling down at him with vacant eyes. Arrows zip past, but she ignores them.
"He comes for you!!" The words cry out, but her mouth does not move. The sounds come from a misty dark void where her tongue should be.
Behind the woman comes the sound of chains, rattling across the floor of the tower. A tall silhouette approaches in the mist, draped in yellow rags that cover its eyes and trail from it's limbs. The Tatterman raises a hooked blade and slashes down at the Mariner!
The blade sinks into the Mariner's chest and twists into a lung. The Mariner's vision dims and he spits up blood.
"Tell me, old man.. The creature rasps through sharp teeth in a lipless grin. "..who are you?"
INITIATIVE
Tatterman
Oneirogen
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 0/2 hours, Sleeping
Butterfly (18/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex
Pinkie (27/27) *ghoul fever (1 save)
Cats (24/24)
Mariner (4/40) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex