"Hey! Don't think you're fooling-GRAWR!" the ghoul snarls as Narcisa tries to stab him and nearly does finish him off.
"สรรเสริญดวงอาทิตย์!" Smallest Sun calls, channeling energy one more time.
Helena steps up and swings.
Narcisa stabs into the ghoul, whose shriek is cut short by a wave of positive energy. It starts to turn ashen and gray, and Helena's longsword cuts through it, sending it to the ground in a shower of ashes and dust. Two crumbling clawed hands dangle from the shackles, the edges of the limbs turning ashen and crumbling away slowly.
"Praise!" the man exclaims, nodding his head emphatically.
Helena turns to Smallest Sun, and while pointing the longsword at the half eaten corpse, "Will this one stay dead? Or is there some right we should observe to make sure it stays that way?"
Smallest Sun nods "There could be. Check her pockets to see if there was any clues to her faith."
Helena will search the woman for any symbols or other religious paraphernalia.
The only thing you find in her pockets is a handkerchief wrapped around something small and roughly coin-sized. When you open it, you find a single eyeball with an X shaped pupil. The eye seems to be inside a membrane that blinks every few seconds and the pupil rotates up to look you in the eyes, but does nothing else. It's... not even that warm.
Smallest Sun scratches his head. "I've no clue if this means anything." he admits. "It isn't a holy symbol I've ever... well, I guess I might have seen it, but I don't remember anything like this."
Helena blinks back at the eyeball a few times before passing it towards Elren'dor. "Is it something Arcane in nature then?"
The wizard will mutter a few words and his eyes will briefly glow blue. "No. It's just... an eye." he replies. "Not magical, but it could be valuable to the right people."
Okay folks, there's a door to the south, do you take it?
"You are not in danger of being eaten anymore my friend, but you will need to be quiet, unless you attract any more of the grey skin ones. We will be back for you once we find a safe place." Helena says to the remaining bound man, as she removes the corpse from hanging next to him.
She then rights her shield and sword once more and proceeds south. Hopefully, I did not just become a liar..."
However silently you were planning on going, the man in yellow is not pleased to be kept chained up. he shouts once the door opens, struggling against the chains noisily.
The door to the south leads into the laundry rooms. Several wide tables and gigantic washbasins fill a laundry equipped to service hundreds. The place looks as though it were repurposed as a failed surgery, though, with at least one table heaped with remains while corpses lie discarded in corners. A stained sheet hangs between two of the basins, dividing the room roughly in half. A lantern shines on the far side, projecting a silhouette of a doppelganger as it turns towards the door and the noise being generated.
Narcisa growls to herself, ducking behind an object to remain unseen for the moment, intending to attack the creature as it comes towards the group.
The Doppelganger on the other side of the sheet doesn't charge through at you, instead, the shadow turns and flees deeper into the room, disappearing from the source of light.
Helena swears to herself and moves up to the curtain, pulling it down.
She searches for where the doppleganger fled or hid.
You rush past the table you found on this half of the room and yank on the sheet, dragging it out of the way. The gleam from a hooded lantern temporarily blinds you even though you were expecting it, and you have to take a moment for your eyes to adjust.
On this side of the room is another operating table, and several bodies piled in the corner. The giant cauldron on the right of you has smears of blood on the lip.
You do not see the Doppelganger. There are a number of bodies here, and it might be possible to escape up the water chutes, which would lead to the boiler room you had used before, but the sheet didn't cover that high up...
Smallest Sun will enter the room and stare, his mouth agape at the bodies of the dead piled around. He stops at the first table where Narcisa is ducked and places a hand on the wooden tabletop, looking over the bodies laying on the table.
"I don't think it's still around." he says.
"Stay vigilant. I can't see where anywhere it could have gone. It must be here somewhere."
Helena moves towards the giant cauldron to look inside.
"You boys check the tables & bodies, I'll take this big thing over here. Helena hopes that Narcisa picks up on that little inflection and remains silent in her hiding spot.
Elren'dor quietly curses as the remaining prisoner cries out desperately, his mad words having no meaning to him but the inflection is desperate and terrified. He catches the sight of the doppleganger's shadow just before it rushes off into the darkness out of sight.
When Helena pulls back the curtains, the light blinds Elren'dor for just a moment as he steps through and looks over the macabre scene that is left. More bodies. Always more bodies.
"It can hide itself, even pretend to be one of the dead." Elren'dor says as he makes his way through now, going from one body to another.
Your search comes up with nothing. The bodies all appear to be dead bodies, and that half of the room is empty except...
Helena, you climb up the short ladder to see a humanoid figure crouched in the giant cauldron. It appears to be a battered, starving ghoul. It looks up at you and makes weak desperate noises as it claws at the side of the cauldron, too weak to climb up the side to get at you.
Narcisa remains in her hiding spot, glancing around the room.
She'll wait for Helena's signal to pounce on anything.
Elren'dor moves from one body to another, carefully looking the place over and examining each one. Nothing but the dead and the pitiful sounds that barely come from the cauldron and a look of irritation spread along his face.
"It has to be here somewhere." The elf mutters to himself, another series of quick words and his eyes would flash that mystical blue once more.
Helena climbs back down the ladder, "Ghoul. Too far down inside to reach."
Looking around, "Where did that damnable thing go? She sighs. "We can't look around here forever. We may as well move onward. Anything useful found?"
"Hmm, possibly." Helena will check the other 2 cauldrons, the vent chute, and then start tapping along the back wall with her sword.
The walls yield no secret passages that you can see, and the other two cauldrons are bare save for a smattering of debris and dust from the recent quakes.
Suddenly, one of the corpses that Narcisa was using as cover literally springs off the table, it's pale and bloodied flesh turning gray and smooth as the doppelganger returns to it's normal form, garbed in a gray dress and blood-spattered white apron bearing the stitched-on name "Dr. Oathsday". She gets a swing a surprisingly sharp-looking knife at Narcisa while she's caught off guard, but fortunately, her armor took the slash and saved her any harm.
Narcisa yelps as the doppelganger slashes at her, "SHIT!" She swings her blade at the "Doctor".
Helena moves up to the creature. "Oy! Pick on someone your own size."
Elren'dor moves across the room as the doppleganger attacks, dropping his disguise and rising from the table. The wizard's lips move and another acid dart sails through the air.
Smallest Sun moves around the table, trying to cut off the enemy's possible maneuvering.
His attacks keep the doppelganger at bay, but does little to cause her any real harm.
Though he tried his best to keep her at bay, Doctor Oathsday manages to slice into him as he maneuvers.
Seeing that she's now getting surrounded, the good doctor laughs with glee as she slices into Narcisa in retaliation. As she does so, something about her focus on the rogue causes the cut to inflict greatly more pain than usual.
The doctor's knife cuts deep enough that it would have been dangerous on its own, but whatever pain-enhancing power she added was enough to cause Narcisa to let out a "F%$@-" before passing out from the pain.
Helena
Elren'dor
Smallest Sun 5/10
Narcisa -4/9
Dr. Oathsday -14 HP
Helena lets out a growl of rage upon seeing the creature cut Narsica down. She channels all her frustration into the swing.
"No, she can't be dead." The though goes through Elren'dor's mind as Narcisa is caught by the blade and goes down to the ground as still as the dead that surround them. Fear strikes into the wizard's mind for a moment, the dreams surging once more. That terror threatened to grip his heart, to provide the numb luxury of hesitation, of freezing, and letting death come to them like it did in that awful, awful fog...
Elren'dor shouts, the fear burning away underneath something just as primal; anger. He begins to chant, the words escaping out of his lips as blue arcane energy shimmers from his eyes and lips.
"Γίνετε σαν Τιτάνες!" The words of power echo in the room, almost as if they were louder than could be possible. The arcane energy would flutter through the air and surround the mighty warrior. Helena would feel strange but powerful as the arcane energies surged through her. Her limbs and muscles would grow, her weapon would become heavier and more deadly, yet her size will have allowed her to adapt to it all. She was now an even greater force to be reckoned with, a weapon of vengeance empowered by the wizard.
Helena suddenly grows larger, her form pushing the table over, spilling corpses and surgical implements to the floor. Her sword cleaves down as she reaches large size. The doctor just cannot avoid such a powerful hit, and she crashes to the ground underneath the solid blade in a spray of pale blood. The Doppelganger loses consciousness and lets out a gurgle from its strangely shaped mouth.
Narcisa loses 1 hit point and continues dying. I will remain in combat rounds whenever a player is dying until they are cured or dies.
Helena
Elren'dor
Smallest Sun 5/10
Narcisa -5/9
Dr. Oathsday -4
Smallest Sun runs to Narcisa's side and lays hands on her body, praying as he does so for intervention.
Narcisa is healed to 1 hit point and is now stable. Combat ends.
The group can finish off the doppelganger or sit and watch it bleed to death. It won't be making the con checks to stabilize anytime soon.
On her body, you find a potion of Cure Light Wounds, a +1 Dagger, and 48 GP.
Helena ackwardly squats next to Narcisa's side, the large size a bit unwieldy. "I am sorry, I never suspected she was hiding right next to you." She hands Narcisa the doppleganger's knife after wiping it off on it's lab coat. "Would you like to do the honors?"
Helena will then stand, giving Narcisa room to reach the creature and look around for any useful items, now that they aren't focused on finding the creature.
Besides her personal gear, there's an obviously working hooded lantern and a key laying on the table beside it. Across the table is a set of masterwork surgeon's tools. Looking at the leg of it, you'll see a Handy Haversack slumped against it. Its front pouch contains 3 Platinum, a Pearl of Power (1st) and a phylactery of faithfulness.
Nearby the cauldron with the ghoul is a 6-foot tall standing mirror. Additionally, there are 2 10-foot poles by each cauldron, likely for doing laundry.
What does the group do with the ghoul? If you look down at it again, you can see that it's wearing a mostly destroyed chaplain's outfit.
Naricsa looks a bit wobbly after she's brought back from the brink of near death. She looks up at Helena, "You're really big." She takes the dagger, then glares at the dying doppelganger. She mutters something under her breath, sounding suspiciously like an angry string of mismatched curses, she then stabs the doppelganger in the throat.
Helena will use one of the poles to try and put the ghoul out of it's misery.
"Narcisa, check that potion, with luck it's a heal." Helena will call from the ladder.
The Doppelganger dies, thrashing weakly as you drive her own knife into her throat and twist the blade. No force on golarion could keep her alive through that, and she expires after much twitching and gurgling. The doppelganger's wide eyes lock onto Narcisa's, and the rogue watches the thing stare at her spitefully until the light leaves its eyes.
Swaying, you rise to your feet and swallow down the potion at Helena's suggestion. It tastes pretty nasty, but there's no aftertaste as you swallow, a warmth spreads through your body.
The potion is in fact a cure potion, and it makes you feel better, much better!
The ghoul gets conked on the head and something breaks, causing it to slump to the bottom of the cauldron. It's hands are clasped together almost as if it had passed while uttering a prayer.
"Smallest Sun, looks like this ghoul was the Chaplain. We should take him to the others for proper burial."
Helena looks over the cauldrons, checking to see if there is an easy way to remove the ghoul.
Narcisa returns the spiteful glare, "That's what you get for trying to kill us first! B@~+$."
She uses the wall for support as she rises to her feet, taking up the potion and swallowing it. She makes a 'bleh' face as it goes down, but relaxes a bit as the warmth passes through her. Feeling bettering, she rubs at her chest, looking down at the hole in her leather, "Grr.. stupid b&$~~.. I liked this piece."
"Indeed. I'll help with the chaplain if you will carry the doppelganger to the barricade." Smallest Sun offers.
You carry the ghoul and the final Doppelganger to the other two in the hallway, where you unceremonially dump the doppelganger among its peers. Captain York, who has been watching you whenever you are in the hallway, pales a little when an enlarged Helena enters the main hall but relaxes when she shrinks back to normal size.
He looks over the three Doppelgangers and whistle. "All right. You haven't convinced me that you're not one of *them*, but you've convinced me that you're not on their side." he admits, turning to the other guard. "Go let them in."
The door to the west of the barricade, just 5 feet from it, opens, and one of the guards waves you four over. "C'mon, I don't want to leave this door unlocked." he says. Once he's got you four inside, he closes and locks the door.
The room is a relatively small closet, ten feet by fifteen. Wooden furniture and cleaning tools are shoved into a corner. A huge hole in the wall south connects the room the one below it. Captain York meets you at the hole in the wall, his crossbow held casually in his hands.
"Good. Now, if you'll kindly disarm, I'll take you to our leader." he says evenly, like he's preparing for trouble. "If she says you're all okay, then I'll happily give you your weapons back. Please understand that some of the survivors with us are a little... on edge, and for their health we'd like to keep their surprises to a minimum."
1912 XP! Juuuuuust shy of level 2!
Elren'dor smiles in grim satisfaction as the massive blade strikes down the doctor with a forceful strike. The magic slowly begins to unravel but, in a worry of further ambush, leaves Helena the giantess that she had become now. The bald cleric's divine magic washes over Narcisa and her eyes open, a soft sigh of relief coming from the wizard as he looks around the room carefully and in further detail. Perhaps things would've been displaced after Helena's enlargement.
Keymys moves between the wizard's legs, appearing in and out of the robes he wore while looking around the room with a curious stare. The death rattle of the doppleganger makes the wizard shiver however, as the sounds from the cauldron finally ceased. Elren'dor picks up the handy haversack and follows Smallest Sun and Helena back out into the hallway. The magic begins to fade from the strong woman, the world seeming to grow in size before her eyes before she realized that it is she who has just shrunk back down to her normal form once more.
Inside past the barricade, Elren'dor listens to the captain as he asks them to disarm. There is a dangerous look in the wizard's eyes but after a moment, he seems to reconsider and nod. "If this is a trap, we're already quite within it. I yield." He will offer out the sole dagger he has, the hilt towards the good captain.
Helena removes her shield and leans it and her sword along the wall. She suddenly frowns at the piece of steel, feeling overwhelmingly naked. Composing herself as she stands upright, she says in she hopes is a clear voice, "Lead on."
The guards seem relieved when you all disarm without complaint. Captain York takes the elf's dagger and tucks it in his belt, giving the wizard an appreciative nod.
"This way, please." he says, leading you into the chapel. You count somewhere near twenty survivors in this area, and many of them look at you with fearful eyes when you pass by.
Improvised pallets are clustered beneath sculpted divinities, and cooking fires burn beneath cracked windows in this chapel. Panes of violet and blue stained glass form spiraling patterns between prisonlike bars, while dozens of candles flicker from modest alcove shrines.
You can see this chapel is consecrated to Pharasma, as a prominent statue of the goddess is standing before the sanctuary's westernmost wall and her image is depicted on the spiral stained glass windows. However, there are smaller, candlelit shrines to other dieties. You see Abadar, Desna, Erastil, Gozreh, Iomedae, Irori, Sarenrae, Shelyn, and even a modest donation box underneath symbols of Asmodeus and Zon-Kuthon.
Praying at the altar before Pharasma's statue is a beautiful woman with straight black hair, fair skin, and a black suit with knee-high boots and a black cloak. She rises as York clears his throat, turning to look at you. She's pretty, with full lips and one green right eye and a light brown left eye. Around her neck is the spiral of Pharasma, and on her chest is a badge of some sort.
She looks the four of you over, her pretty face stern but so far appearing like she's the only one in control of the situation. "Are they?" she asks.
York shrugs, but also shakes his head. "Can't say for sure, but they killed three of them, and they let me take their weapons." he also jerks his thumb at Smallest Sun. "That one brought back the chaplain."
"Is he?" she asks. York shakes his head. "Ghoul." he replied. "They put him out of his misery too."
The woman nods. "You may go, York. Thank you." she turns to you four without waiting for York to leave. "I'm Winter Klaczka." she introduces. "And I am in charge of these survivors. Come, join me for a meal."
She goes over to a table and sits, and pulls a cookpot from the fire. The stew she doles out into simple (but large) wooden bowls is vegetables and rehydrated beef, but it is decently seasoned and very filling. As you eat, she takes a bite of her food and sighs.
"I am sure you have a lot of questions, and I'll answer what I can. I don't know everything, of course, but I will help you... if you'll at least consider helping us." she says. It's obvious to see that she's hoping that you'd help with the survivors, but not expecting much from you at this point. "Why don't you ask what you can while we eat, and then if you can do me some favors by helping around the camp, I can meet you for the next meal and answer some more."
Helena sits to eat, the smell causing her stomach to growl and realize how hungry she truly is. Forcing herself to eat slowly she takes a few bites, not knowing how long it has been, she doesn't want to make herself sick overdoing it too fast.
"Should probably tell you what we do know first. We all woke up about two hours, maybe three, ago down in the boiler room. Naked and locked in cells. A man was strapped to a table, a woman slicing into him. He was calling for us to wake up and help him."
Helena pauses to take another bite before continuing. "We distracted her long enough for the man to kick her, causing her to hit the cell wall where I grabbed her thru the bars. That's when things got weird. The woman's face started changing, she turned into one of those grey things. Doppelgangers Elren'dor called them." Helena's spoon points at the elf, before scooping up more stew.
"We managed to get the keys and kill her. Campre was the guy on the table. Told us we were brought here, all together, basically comatose a few weeks or so back. He said he was an orderly here and this place was Briarstone Asylum, in Ustalav, but didn’t say where. Said he thought it was yesterday, maybe longer, he started having nightmares and the patients and some orderlies started turning into ghouls and more doppelgangers. “ Helena will gesture to anyplace with rubble or damage, ”and apparently an earthquake.”
”Only things we can seem to remember consistently are our names, I’m Helena, and that we all feel familiar to each other." Helena shrugs. ”I have a few flashes of my childhood, but definitely nothing recent. Campre said the doctor’s offices up here should have our records: diagnosis, treatments, who brought us here. We were hoping they’d help us recall anything.”
Helena makes a disgusted face, ”Stairs down are broken. The garbage chute is full of bodies, and heaped at bottom. Looks like the thing was burning them before it got distracted by torturing Campre. We used the boiler vents to get up. That’s when Campre recognized where we were and ran into hallway and your man shot him.” Helena doesn’t say this with ire, just resignation.
”I guess biggest questions are what exactly happened? How do people just suddenly turn into ghouls and doppelgangers? And how come you all just don’t leave?"