Rowan hold up the club and looks it over.
”See, I knew someone would come up with a better idea than me. This should work great. Hopefully we don’t run into any more of the shapechangers.”
Mara made her way with the others to the library. "OK, who wants to get up close and personal with ghouls? Daddy can thicken two people's skin for half an hour."
"Your magic is stronger than the amulet? Okay, take this."
Like the Kellids of his heritage, Dervak is wary of magic, but in this short time he has somehow come to trust Mara and Theophilus.
"I'm okay with taking either, just give me whatever's left." Julius says distractedly, as he quickly mixes up a few alchemical concoctions.
Oh, I know! When we come back, I shall make hats for everybody here!
Theo gets a serious look on his usually jovial face.
Materials! Fabric! We must be on the lookout for these things. Oh, and a good set of shears. Never have too many.
Mara accepted the amulet from Dervak and put it on; she clutched her 'Daddy' doll and said three prayers.
"Alright, let's go! Just remember, not everything is an enemy," Mara said. She opened the door at the far end of the library and turned left, following the slime trail to the first door on the right. She stopped and listened at the door.
Theophilus stands in the middle of the group. The Witch's blue eyes darting everywhere, as they proceed.
Dervak is happy to enter the room first.
Hearing nothing from the other end of the door the party enters. Two desks are crammed into this crowded office. More space has been dedicated to filing cabinets, bookshelves, and stacks of loose research than room for occupants. Two bodies are slumped over the desks.
The research notes and other loose paper are related to mundane asylum duties and unremarkable psychological evaluations.
Mara examined the skeletons. "They were killed by something with small claws, digging into the base of their skulls."
She looked around the room and inside the desks. She reached into the back of one of the drawers and retrieved a yew wand, etched with the symbol of Sarenrae. She read aloud the note attached to it with twine: "Mr. Lantz, this is a place of science, not faith. Please keep your religion at home."
"Theophilus, can you tell what this does?" She held out the item for the hatter to have a look.
Theo takes the proffered wand. He cast Detect Magic.
Wand of Bless. Useful, certainly.
"Very good! This will help us in the trials that lie ahead!", Mara replied, stowing the wand in her belt. After the group finished looking through the office, she went back out into the corridor, and proceeded to the next door, where she listened again.
Julius pulls a well-made backpack out from under a desk. "Oh, this looks pretty nice. Anyone need a backpack?"
"Anything in the backpack, Julius?"
Did these bodies look like staff, or patients, or cultists?
"Should we bury the bodies? Maybe if we can get the furnace going we can burn them. And all the other ones we have found. Don't have to do that now but with all these lying around maybe they come back angry at us."
I am a fan of them not coming back.
Theo smiles.
Angry, or not!
They are not wearing any clothes and don't have a yellow flame on their forehead like the other cultists you've seen. The only clue to their identities is there location, an office with unimportant medical records.
If Julius checks the backpack when he opens any of the many flaps a dark hollow void stares back at him, no normal pack to be sure.
"Well that's strange. I wouldn't reach in, or put anything inside, until we know what that bag is. Theophilus?"
Dervak skims the records. He can read, but isn't that fond of it. "This is boring. Anything in here? Any of these papers about us? Must be some somewhere saying how we got here."
Tipping his grand hat, the gentleman takes the proffered pack.
He wiggles his fingers a bit; pronounces an arcane phrase.
I would wager that this contraption would be useful in the event that you have need of carrying more than you can normally.
Theo smiles triumphantly!
The records do not pertain to any PC or Zandalus. They are diagnoses for simple conditions.
I would wager that this contraption would be useful in the event that you have need of carrying more than you can normally.Theo smiles triumphantly!
"Huh. Holds lots of stuff?"
Dervak begins rummaging through the pack.
"Oh, wow-that could be really useful. Is there anything in there, Dervak?"
Mara looked over Dervak's shoulder at the backpack. "This would be really good for carrying extra stuff, like camping gear. Why don't we put all these records in there, and take them with us? We can examine them later at our leisure."
The papers disappear into the haversack.
Intently shuffling a deck of cards, Theo cast Guidance on himself.
Shall we continue? Much to see! Much to do!
Dervak reaches into the pack to see if he can get the papers out (and if there is anything else in there).
"Next room down the hall? Ready to go."
Mara said another prayer, went back out into the corridor, and continued on to the next door.
When Dervak holds the pack and forms the intent in his mind to grab the papers, they emerge from the darkness and float on top. Touching them they are ice cold.
A once-handsome wood conference table now sits marred by the partially toppled southwest walls. In the northwest corner between heaps of collapsed stone, a door still stands. Several lab coats lie ripped and covered with the same slime from the hallway, now dried.
Theo whispers from the hall.
Remind me not to develop a style that involves white lab coats!
"There's someone behind that door!", Mara said in a low voice, pointing at the northwest door. She drew out her new wand, and prepared to activate it.
"That's where the slime trail ends, too."
Dervak opens the door and immediately grips the longspear again. He doesn't go through the doorway just yet.
Rowan nods to the others that he also heard the voice. He takes a quick drink from his extra water skin, then balls up his fists and gets in a defensive stance to show he is ready.
[dice=knowledge ?]1d20+8
** spoiler omitted **
Dervak opens the door, revealing a closet. At the bottom of the closet is a pile of ripped fabric and viscera shaped into a crude nest. Two shelves still stand in the closet. The lower of the two holding rows of fluid filled jars containing aberrant brains, spinal columns, and dissections. In the nest and on the second shelf are two tiny humanoids with too large heads. Their skin has a grey pallor and is dripping with fluid that smells of pickles and alcohol.
Immediately after the door opens everyone who was ready for it springs into action. Mara casts bless from a wand and the top shelf punk throws a mason jar filled with a horn like tumor at Dervak.
The jar crashes to the ground missing Dervak and spilling the tumor, glass, and preservative onto the floor. The other Punk runs at Dervak bringing minuscule teeth to bear.
But it's unable to pierce the leather on his boots.
Mara had no idea what this bizarre creature was. "What is that thing?", she cried. She dropped her wand and stepped forwards to slash at the creature with her loaned falchion.
Theo places both his hands to his face, as the tiny creatures emerge.
The Witch then points at one of them.
Many Misfortunes for you, I expect!
Misfortune (Su) (Advanced Player's Guide pg. 66 (Amazon)): The witch can cause a creature within 30 feet to suffer grave misfortune for 1 round. Anytime the creature makes an ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, it must roll twice and take the worse result. A Will save negates this hex. At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round. This hex affects all rolls the target must make while it lasts. Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day.
Theo then Cackles madly; dancing a bit.
Mara's swing with the falchion strikes the creature soundly but it doesn't cut it's leathery flesh a well as you thought it would.
How misfortunate!
Dervak will full Withdraw. That should avoid AOOs.
I fail too much by bleeding on the floor and needing help. Brave is not stupid! I need to find armor, be like Our Lord in Iron. Gorum is stronger than you, Voice! Until then, I fight smart.