Let us move onward... Temujin ties up his yak outside and moves to go inside the building.
The brief hallway beyond the front door of the care home is bleak and gloomy. A large meeting area with several tables is completely devoid of patients and family members. Two offices near the door feature small windows—the only light within the building appears to be from the exterior windows.
The main office is furnished with two disorganized desks and shelves covered in flat papers, quills, and inkwells. Two middle-aged administrators, a man and a woman, look at one another as if they’re surprised to receive visitors. The man stands and looks down his nose through a pair of spectacles, saying nothing.
The man is silent for a moment, as if unsure what to say. He is certainly an awkward person. "I. . . um. . . no. Sorry, we're not. . . um. . . taking visitors right now and I don't know. . . ah. . . who that person is."
He stands in uncomfortable silence for a moment before mumbling, "I need to get back to work." He pushes past you, the woman following suit, and leaves you in the office by yourself.
I guess we just help ourselves. Tobian will start to look about the office for anything that looks important.
Tobian finds nothing of note in the office.
Galtar follows the man, yelling after him "Hey there! My friend was talkin to you! We are looking for a man named Dern! Can't walk. He sorta looks like..." Galtar describes him from the painting he saw at the house.
Galtar bursts out of the office to follow the two administrators but upon swinging the door open is met by quite a different sight: two smaller humanoids clothed in tattered rags from head to foot, only their sinister eyes and pale hands visible.
Good heavens, what have we here? Tobian sees the humanoids and elects to cast Flaming Sphere on the one he can see through the doorway!
Ruckus psychs himself up for the fight. Tobian's ball of flame hits the dark slayer in the face!
red: 11 dmg
These must be the souls of the damned... The inevitable for us all as we are all damned... Temujin muses darkly.
Galtar rushes forward, drawing his FALCHION OF DOOM! Trying to clear a path for his companions, he tries to take a super awkward spin move to avoid being attacked but fails.
"You don't belong here" Galtar shouts
Galtar cuts down the injured slayer and it implodes violently into nothingness, its gear crumbling to the ground!
The other one casts a spell and reaches out to discharge the spark on Galtar!
You then easily clean up the remaining dark slayer, who can do little to fight against your onslaught on his own!
Zeldones lowers his cane, but it takes him a couple of tries before he can talk. "What wretched crypt did those things crawl out of?"
"What manner of terrible things go on in this place?" Galtar seems slightly weakened from the counter. "Where did those other two go?"
"If you plan to twist its mind, I will provide some assistance. The mesmeric arts are useful in weakening wills."
Zeldones focuses his gaze on the captive, frowning slightly in concentration.
|
"Yeah, yeah, I got this.." Ruckus says pushing rudely past Zeldones. Oh crap.
As Ruckus looms over the fallen dark slayer, his face becomes a fearsome scowl. His voice takes on a furious tone, laced with profanities.
"Listen up you primitive I'm gonna make a nice F@%$in suggestion and you're gonna , or I'm gonna take your evil fugly face and shove it up your evil dead buddy's bloody "
After letting that sink in for a second he speaks again, his words empowered by psychic energy. "Now, tell us everything you F@%$in know about what's goin on here."
The dark slayer mumbles, "Flinn contracted us to stay here until the remaining members of the Golden Watch died at his hand. Flinn has a bargain with someone named Anobaith that must be fulfilled before we are paid and allowed to leave."
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"Who's Flinn!?" Ruckus presses, even though his psychic spell has been fulfilled. Grabbing the dark slayer by the collar, he lifts him up and slams him to the ground. "Talk you dirty b@astard!"
That's enough! He probably doesn't know more than that! Stop!
"Bah.. you SHUTUP! Damned p#$$y!" He slaps his fist against his temple and squints his eyes.
Stop, STOP!
"STOP!"
Ruckus releases the stalker and stumbles back, gasping for breath.
Dammit! FUUUUUUU#%!!! Let me at him!
No no no..."
Zeldones strokes his goatee thoughtfully. "Taergan Flinn is the half-elf whose house was infested by minor daemons...though I have not heard of this 'Golden Watch' before. Let us find Dern and ask him."
Listening to the darkfolk speak, Galtar can't help himself, "The spirits were right."
You search through the rooms of the Care Home and find them mostly empty. Four of the rooms house elderly patients who are somewhat medicated. Inside the small nursing station you find some cabinets full of useful medical supplies: bandages, cotton balls, syringes, four doses of alchemist's kindness, two doses of wismuth salix, three doses of meditation tea, one dose of padzahr, twelve doses of indigo dreams poison, two potions of cure light wounds, one potion of lesser restoration, one dose of antiplague, one dose of antitoxin, one dose of twitch tonic, and eight doses of smelling salts.
Outside a frail man sits on a wooden rocking chair. He faces northeast as if looking at a place far away. He rocks slowly, muttering quietly to himself.
Zeldones approaches the man. "Master Dern?"
"No, no," the old man says, "I'm Gill." He continues muttering, as if to himself, "I never should have listened. My fiancee was as beautiful as sunset over the sea. I had everything I wanted, until that other woman convinced me to leave my love. I tried so hard to resist, but how can you escape the one you've dreamed of all your life? I told Bethany before the wedding that I had met the girl I'd always dreamed of. We argued. I told Bethany to leave, and to throw her ring into the river. She stole my carriage and fled north. I never saw her again. I never saw the other woman again, either. I drank my sorrows away till my health failed. Been here almost forty years now. Forty lonely years."
The life of man is to be lonely... Temujin sits in a nearby rocking chair and joins the man in his depression.
"Ah...I apologize most sincerely for disturbing your reverie. Do you know any of the other patients here?"
"Yes. . . several. . . but I don't talk to them."
He then starts to repeat his story, word for word, as if rehearsed many times over.....
---
Looking over the last few rooms in the place, you eventually find what you are looking for:
A single candle provides the only illumination for this dark room, which has a pungent, sweet odor different from the rest of Mother’s Care Home. A human man in the grip of a fitful sleep lies on a bed within.
It is obvious that he’s been neglected, bled, drugged, and even had his injured legs amputated. He doesn't react when you enter the room.
Good heavens, how could anyone be left in such a condition! Tobian then looks to his new friends and says, Is there anything that might help him?
Looking at the others, Galtar says, "This is our guy, right?"
Galtar moves in and easily scoops up the frail man. "[We bring him to Oppara right? Let's beat feet."
You make a break for it with the old man you seek!
"Perhaps we should consult a healer. This place does not seem to be the safest if evil manifestations are patrolling the area." advises Temujin.
Hope's Hollow is a small town of only several hundred citizens and the leading healer is a cleric of Pharasma named Gilda Marsh. She agrees to help Dern and casts a few lesser restorations to improve his mind. She tells you that he has been poisoned and will need some time to fully recover.
Dern sputters a few seconds, working his dry mouth and choking out a rasping cough. “There’s no time,” he says in a hoarse whisper. “Taergan Flinn kept me there. He plans to murder Crandel and Tulles. Don’t let them go to the woods. Fiends and nightmares lurk there.”
The elderly priest struggles visibly, as if forcing memories to the surface of his mind. His eyes widen momentarily. “A house in the Hollow. My strong box. My old treasures, and my piece of the watch. Take them to Tulles. She will know you speak for me.”
He breathes heavily for a few seconds, then continues, struggling against his weakened his body. “Find Flinn. Make him confess. And tell the town about the Care Home so the families can save their own.”
Dern Fosimuth closes his eyes, exhausted by the effort. His breathing slows but appears even.
After Dern confides in you, he gives you the location of his strongbox in Hope’s Hollow. Armed with Dern’s gifts and the knowledge that Taergan Flinn intends foul play, the next step is to warn the remaining members of the Golden Watch not to trust him.
The safe house in Hope’s Hollow is a simple affair, a modest shack intended to keep Dern’s equipment and wealth nearby if he needs it. A locked coffer is hidden under a small bed. Dern's scimitar, which he loans to you, and his magical watch, are nearby.
+1 holy scimitar
"Your timepiece interests me. The passing of time is an illusion that we force upon ourselves and it seems that yours shows this to the world..." states Temujin.
"We shall save your comrades. It is only right and proper."
---
After investigating his hovel, Temujin will set off to prevent Flinn from exacting his plan. He will speak to the townspeople on his way out about the atrocities being committed at such a forlorn, depressing place.
Indeed we will. We shall leave immediately.
Done with Hope's Hollow, you return to Cassomir to deliver their dire findings.
When you attempt to deliver your news to Igneous and Branda, the owner of The Sword Point tells them the pair left in a considerable hurry. He confides that they purchased horses and left fully equipped, but paid for their rooms for the remaining 3 days.
The innkeeper was told to let you into their rooms. Most importantly they left a note:
We received word that Taergan is being held against his will in the Verduran Forest north of here. We have set out to find him at a place called Tristeza House. Please bring whatever you need and join us as soon as you can. Bring word of Dern’s safety with you.
—Branda Tulles
Crandel and Tulles left a few supplies behind on the table with the note: 10 +1 evil-outsider-bane arrows, a scroll of dimensional anchor (divine, CL 7th), and three potions of cure serious wounds.
"It would seem that they do not know of their onetime ally's perfidy...best we make haste."