"People who don't think straight usually don't do tactics. We might be able to take advantage of that. " Damien muses.
"Look here, do I look like a lunatic to you? I'm perfectly normal. Why would I be treated here?" He gives the nurse an affronted look.
|
"That is... troubling. One of the Counts has gone missing, one who spent a fair amount of time here, and about the same time that things went crazy around here? I don't believe in coincidences," he says with a grimace. "Very well - if I spot anything that might be connect with this Count Lowls, I will be sure to pass it along to you."
Navin responds to the nurse a little more tactfully: "Yes, it appears we have each lost all memory of our time here. Did Dr. Losandro survive the uprising? May we speak with her? Or do you have keys we can use to access the records room if we reach it?"
When the children appear, he says, "Ah finally some little ones." He gives them a big smile and, squatting, ruffles the boy's hair. "This is a neat place for a big slumber party, huh?"
|
Faust frowns at the woman.
"These yellow mists carry some kind of hallucinogen. I am an alchemist and am familiar with such things. Trust me, I was not a patient here, except to the extent I have been kidnapped and experimented upon. I am a professor, not a lunatic."
The professor sniffs indignantly. "Even so, we had best get on with this. I don't have time to discuss this and need to get home."
Faust hefts his mace. "If we have to make it down this hallway to get out, I need to start now."
|
The nurse Damien and Faust address, an attractive, full-figured Varisian woman in her 40s, seems to struggle to maintain calm as she responds. "We don't use words like 'lunatic' here. They are neither informative nor constructive. Patients are here for a great many reasons, but only when it's judged medically necessary. We don't have enough beds for everyone who needs treatment, so we wouldn't waste space on anyone who doesn't belong here. A number of our patients suffer from memory problems. Is it possible your condition predates these past few days? You may not remember your admission."
Later, Damien joins the crew preparing firewood. He manages to break down a couple broken chairs and a shattered door into workable pieces.
Navin and Marconias rummage around the damaged closet and storage room you passed through while entering. He manages to retrieve an empty sack, a box with three tindertwigs, and a crowbar. Further digging uncover the remains of a desk. Prying open a jammed drawer, you uncover a vial of black ink and three pens, along with a stack of work orders. All are addressed to a Mr. Finchley, primarily from a Ms. Deliadde, and request routine maintenance tasks be performed.
The other survivors will identify Finchley as the groundskeeper, and Deliadde as the head nurse. Both are MIA. Other orders bear the names of Doctor Losandro, Doctor Chawwas, and Nurse Walika.
|
|
Mighty iron boilers crowd here, their pipes piercing the walls and ceiling. Shadows and rust fill the narrow gaps between the cold tanks. It seems the boilers would be heated by the furnace, in the room where you first woke up, if it were relit.
A thorough search reveals three sunrods which have rolled beneath one of the boilers. Damien uses mage hand to retrieve them from the cramped space.
These rooms once held spare linens and cleaning supplies crammed onto wall-mounted racks. Between structural damage and looting, all that remains are fallen shelves and broken containers which give the rooms a strong chemical odor.
About fifteen minutes of digging uncovers a lantern, a hammer, and six winter blankets in the southern. In the northern room, they turn up 10 feet of chain, two sets of manacles, three winter blankets, and a tarnished old silver necklace worth 5 gp.
The walls between the hall and this office have largely collapsed, exposing debris-cluttered desks, toppled lockers, and several bodies that almost look human.
Most of the furniture and supplies used by the modest operation, now in ruins, have been destroyed. In addition, the bodies of several humans lie amid the debris. Three doppelganger bodies are also tangled amid the ruins, most riddled with crossbow bolts.
Strips of flesh have been cut from bodies of both sorts, laid out in neat rows on some of the larger pieces of rubble.
An elderly Varisian woman lies in the corner, on her stomach. She reaches out a hand and calls out in a gasping voice. "Please help! One of those brutes in yellow! He took my chair! I can't move without it!"
Navin is pleased with their exploration and makes a note to make sure the furnace gets lit.
When they reach the office, he quickly makes sure the doppelgangers are dead then hurries to the old woman. "What's wrong, ma'am? What brutes in yellow?"
”Yeah, no thank you, I’d rather not believe that I was admitted here.” Damien huffs.”And I remember everything just fine. I was headed back home to have dinner with Bella. Everything was normal.Everything was fine.”
”Except how I got here. And I woke up in the basement with some shear wielding, shapeshifting psychopath trying to cut ME up.“
”That’s just wrong. There was a pile of bodies in the furnace. What if they used those bodies as fuel.” Damien gives a disgusted grimace. He rolls the sunrods out using mage hand, not wishing to stick his fingers beneath the boiler.
”Faust, can you determine what was once in these broken containers? I mean if Bella were here, she might be able to..” ’No wait, don’t think about it. You do NOT want Bella in this hellhole.’ He thinks to himself.
”At least some of the supplies might be helpful to those at the barricades. Chains can be used to reinforce the barricade, while the winter blankets are good for cold nights.” Damien remarks. ”Lets take those along and return them to Winter when we head back.”
”That’s sick,” Damien shakes his head sadly and with some revulsion. ”Who would be cutting bodies apart to lay flesh upon the rubble?”
”Granny, why don’t we help you to the barricades, then we help you find your chair?” Damien approaches the elderly Varisian, helps her up and offers. ”Which way did those brutes in yellow head to, again?” He asks politely
|
|
In the storage rooms, Faust examines the chemicals at Damien's prompting.
"Sure...I'll check it out," he says as he stoops over the broken bottles.
As they find the old woman, the Professor takes a tentative step backward.
"An old woman would be a great disguise...for a doppelganger," he whispers to his companions.
Morrick seems nonplussed by the discoveries, and nods to Faust.
My thoughts exactly. I have a spell that could make her tell me the truth, but I don't know if it's worth it.
Se'Liss, however, has a much more direct approach in mind.
Hey Lady! Yeah, you! How do we know you aren't one of those weird shape changey things? And why would they steal your chair? That seems random!
"Look. I know we're scared. But you can't let fear make you see doppelgangers everywhere!"Damien whispers back to Faust.
"And now you foul-mouthed snake imp. What I suggest is we help her up and we ask her questions to verify her identity on our way back."Damien grudgingly gives ground. "Sorry, Granny, we can't risk the barricade."
|
|
Though all that remains are spills and shattered containers, leaving nothing constructive for your own use, it's possible to determine what was here previously.
"Shape-changers? Talking snakes? Desna help me, we're all off your meds, aren't we?" She traces a set of butterfly wings in the air.
As Marconias approaches, she leaps to her feet with surprising agility, a wicked grin on her face.
Initiative
The obvious residues come from everyday cleansers, polishes, and oils, and most are harmless unless ingested.
However, some of the harsher chemicals can be abused, "huffing" them to produce a high. A well-trained alchemist might be able to use these as the basis for producing a wide range of alchemical weapons or tools, doing so would require specialized equipment.
"So you don't have any problems with your legs, afterall." Damien comments, as she leaps to her feet. "Why did you lie to us?"He asks, sounding hurt.
|
|
Professor Faust recoils as the woman's countenance changes. He had just let his guard down (mostly).
"Damien! I told you it was a doppelganger!" he cries. "But nothing is going to stop me from getting out of here!" he threatens as he hefts his mace and prepares to hit the old woman if she comes near him.
Morrick grins wickedly, and points a finger at the "woman".
Lay back down!
Damiem draws his silver mace and clubs the elderly Varisian over the head with it."Elderly women don't have claws. You're a wolf in sheep skin! Figuratively speaking, of course."
Navin is not amused by the old woman's ruse. Seeing the amount of rubble he must cross to reach her, he decides to set up in a likely spot and launch an arrow at her.
Damien gasps as the woman rends his chest, then crumples soundlessly to the ground.
Navin switches to his greataxe and moves in on the woman.
"Well this is certainly disturbing. We cannot trust anyone to be who they appear."
He wipes her blood from his blade then starts checking her corpse for anything of interest or value.
|
|
Faust nods vigorously. "I thought she might be, but no one would listen to me," he correctly points out.
"But still, their disguises are incredibly clever. We must be more careful," he says as he steps over to Damien.
"Fortunately, my new friend, I have some alchemical extracts that can help you. It is not as powerful as the mutagens I have used to increase my strength, but it should heal some of those wounds."
The alchemist takes a sip of something he has made for himself, and then uses some of the rest on the unconscious Damien.
|
|
Now that the creature has been defeated, Howard moves over, and attempts to staunch Damien's bleeding.
Satisfied that the man is in no further immediate danger, he then retrieves a small vial from his belt pouch, carefully unstoppers it, and waves it under Damien's nose, causing the man to splutter weakly, and regain consciousness.
"Glad I am to see that you still live. Sadly, I can doubt naught else about your wounds. Can you heal yourself?"
Damien sputters, "w-what was...t-that." He attempts to sit up, then finds out he's too weak to do so. "N-not n-now." He gasps weakly, his teeth chattering. "So...c-cold. W-winter." He then closes his eyes to conserve energy.
Damien does not look good. His complexion is pale, with a slightly greyish cast, and his skin cold to touch. His breathing is shallow and rapid.
"Perhaps there is someone back there who can help him if we can bring him back."
Damien felt light-headed and dizzy, drifting in a gray fog.He could hear his companions speaking around him, but their voices seemed distant, far-away and inconsequential. Nothing really mattered anymore...
Damien's body sags limply against Faust's, his head lolling. Faust can feel Damien's thready, weak, rapid pulse as he reaches for Damien's cold, clammy arm. That, combined with the rapid, shallow rise and fall of his clawed chest are the only indications he's dragging a living body and not a corpse.
Navin takes Damien's other arm to help pull him back to safety.
|
|
Dragging Damien back to the barricade, Winter rushes out to heal him. "Pharasma's Spire! They really did a number on you, didn't they? I know you weren't out there long, but did you learn anything about what's going on?"
As she speaks, she retrieves her holy symbol, and casts a spell to mend Damien's wounds.
If you've found items you don't want, Winter will reward you for turning them over.
Damien feels Winter's healing spell banish the deathly coldness and lethargy in his body. He becomes keenly aware of the burning sensation of pain in his chest, as Winter's spell spreads life giving warmth throughout his body.
He opens his eyes with a groan. "I'm still alive? Oh wait. I hurt too much to be dead." He gives everyone a weak smile as he attempts to crack a joke. With Winter's help he staggers to his feet, unsteadily and inspects the partially healed gnashes on his chest, as well as the rents in his armor. "How bad was it? Or do I not want to know?"
"I can fix myself from here. " He gently touches the wounds wincing slightly while chanting a healing sutra.
"Thanks for dragging me back here." He thanks the party. "I hope it wasn't too much of a bother."
"And thanks for saving my life," He thanks Winter, "Or I might've been facing Pharasma's judgement now."
"What happened?" He scratches his head. "We found some supplies, 9 winter blankets and a chain, then we came across an elderly Varisian in the office who claimed that some brutes in yellow stole her chair. I went to help her up, turned out she was a doppelganger. I remember her claws ripping through my chest, then having a brief moment of lucidity after someone stuck some really smelly stuff under my nose. Then felt myself being dragged and ended up here."
"We found no survivors in the storage rooms or boiler rooms, but found 3 doppelganger bodies riddled with crossbow bolts in the office." He informs Winter of the results of the party's investigations.
"Does it get cold at night here?" He asks Winter.
He pets himself over. "Oh, I'm also missing a silver mace. Did anyone see it?"
After he has reclaimed his gear he heads towards the south door , "Guess we'd better get investigating then. Hopefully we'll find a stash of healing supplies."
Navin says, "I'm itching to secure the facility. These doppelgangers are for the birds."
|
|
Returning back down the hallway,
Sturdy racks and toppled tables suggest this space once served as a sizable laundry. Much of the northern end of the room is filled with rubble.
A wall of pipelike crossbeams fills the western alcove of this room. Three figures are manacled to the rack here, from south to north: a human wearing stained yellow sheets as robes and bearing a flame-shaped chalk mark upon his forehead, the corpse of a partially eaten patient, and a man with bluish skin, a mouth full of fangs, and a long, lashing tongue.
The living man is horribly wounded. He turns to you, calling out "Praise! Zandalus sees!"
Navin has learned his lesson. "Show your true selves!"
Se'Liss raises her head to stare at the prisoners.
We just got whacked good by a dopple-granny, so how we know you aren't some kind of shifty freaks too?!
Morrick clamps the viper's mouth shut after the outburst, and speaks firmly.
As rude as she is, my companion is right. Who are you, and why are you here?