Outta the darkness finally, Grine? Edison steps forward with a growl, looming over the gnome. You're done. Surrender!
Edison steps forward, keeping his composure enough to keep his shield raised as he chops across with his sword at Grine's neck-height.
Aduard desperately threw the rope to the roof, screaming at it to attach.
Battered and bloody, Karras steps forward into Vorkstag's slashing grasp. Fiery pain burns across the Doctor's chest, and yet he pushes aside the alchemist's hands and hobbles closer. Pressing his body against his enemy, the Doctor wraps his hands around Vorkstag's neck and rakes his own claws across the man's throat, Karras's voice choked and gravely as he leans in to bite. "We all have a beast inside us, Vorkstag. But I'll set yours free today..."
Ignoring Grine, Esta sprints through the darkness to the ladder, clambering upwards towards Karras as she prays quietly to herself that she makes it in time to offering healing.
Although his blurred outline protects him from the majority of Karras's onslaught, Vorkstag pulls away from the doctor's grasp, hobbled and bloody. He gives Karras a stiff smile. "I'm afraid I must decline, doctor. I'm too bloody fond of this life." He produces a vial of clear liquid and drinks it. Almost immediately, the alchemist vanishes.
Below, Edison's blade slashes into Grine, slicing through multiple layers of filthy clothing and into the pale flesh beneath. The gnome yowls in pain before being engulfed again by Esta's swarm of bats. Giggling maniacally, Grine steps sideways out of the swarm and slams his axe into Edison's hip.
Outside, the magical rope lands on a grimy windowsill and begins to slither upwards.
Panting as she finishes her frantic ascent up the ladder, Esta rushes to Karras' side, grasping him by the arm before he can dart away. Warm light emanates from the hands wrapped around his forearm and spreads throughout his body.
"Stop movin' away from me when you need t' be healed," she says through labored breathing, but there's more relief in her tone than condemnation as she looks up at him with a frown of concern.
Edison takes the blow to his hip with a grunt, stepping backwards towards the wall to keep Grine between himself and the bats.
You're a madman, Grine, the paladin growls, angling his buckler towards Grine's axe-hand. But you don't have to die! Give up! Sounds like your partner's met his end up there, with all the snarling stopping on a dime!
Despite his speech, Edison keeps the pressure on the gnome, feinting at shoulder-level again before redirecting the cut towards the alchemist's leg.
Deadeye this man has done terrible wrong and seeks to do more! For the good of the people, his violence must end! His sword glows with a harsh white light as it lances down towards Grine.
As soon as the rope seems to have latched on to something above Aduard starts climbing - or at least, attempts the act.
'Well, at least no-one can see me at the moment.' he comforts himself.
The Doctor snarls and turns to Esta as he feels her hand on his arm, claw raised to end the next threat, the Beast within him's instinct moving quicker than the transformed man's mind can adapt. Stopping just short of her head, Karras ducks his head and instead pulls two vials from his satchel drinking them one after another, then spitting the last back into its vial. His form shifts again, stretching and jagged, a wild thing of flared black and brown fur whose pelt juts out from its body at freakish angles. The Doctor's ears are large and floppy, draping shoulder-length, his eyes are too big for its head. His panting mouth is filled with bristly needle-teeth spiderwebbed in disgusting strands of yellowish saliva. One yellow eye focuses on his companion while the other cirles in its socket on the other side of Karras's patchy head, probing the spot where their enemy just was. The Doctor raises his head to the air and sniffs, a long red tongue falling from his toothy maw. The man's voice falls like hail against a window, at once rattling and soft.
"Sorry and thank you. He's still alive and here somewhere..."
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Edison hacks the gnome again, throwing Grine to the floor, bleeding and unconscious. The swirling darkness in the center of the factory floor fades away.
Above, the odor of bloody meat fills Karras's nose and fades away as Vorkstag retreats.
Edison stands over the fallen, murderous gnome as the colony of ravenous bats descend on them, clearly intent on the psychopath's destruction.
Deadeye...damn it! The paladin reaches forward, grabbing Grine by the scruff of their neck, heaving them over his shoulder like a sack. Steadying the gnome on their unstable perch, the paladin backs away from the curtain of flapping wings and high-pitched squeals, his sword raised ineffectually between himself and the bats.
Got Grine! Y'all alright!? What about Vorkstag!?
'Alright. I just need to climb up this damn wall, and make way over the roof. Then I need to smash a hole in the roof, while ensuring that I don't smash so far I fall thirty feet onto solid ground or into a vat of bubbling acid, which dissolves my body so completely that even magic wouldn't be able to save me...'
Aduard pauses 'Is this how I die? This plan is madness! Still, while Grine lurks in that damn cloud of darkness they need me to dispel it with sunlight, no matter the risk.'
"Got Grine! Y'all alright!? What about Vorkstag!?"
"Thank the Good Gods!" Aduard half-prays as he hears the shouted news. Quickly he drops to the ground and runs back to the entrance.
Esta gives Karras an understanding pat on the arm and leans back against the wall to catch her breath. "We're... we're okay," she calls back to Edison. "I'm... not sure where Vorkstag went." She looks up at the transformed man next to her. "I reckon th' doctor might have an idea, though."
Goblinoid nose chuffing at the air, Karras sprints forward along the ramp, hoping to catch up to Vorkstag's scent. Passing the second door, Karras sniffs deeply, giving the room a quick pause and glance over, before heading further down the gangway.
"Hello, Vorkstag," Karras says, a wide, toothy, smile spreading across his face as he stares at the air where Vorkstag is hiding in plain sight. "Might as well give yourself up, before you're splattered like your mate down there."
Esta watches Karras' focus hone in on what she can only hope is their hidden foe. She mutters a quiet apology to the doctor before sending a spell his way, a cloud of golden glitter floating down and enveloping the area.
The air around Karras explodes in golden glitter, the thousands of conjured particles reflecting the muted lighting of the factory's interior. A second figure—visible only by its coating in the magical dust— stands nearby.
"My eyes," Vorkstag cries. "What have you done to my eyes!"
He rubs feverisly at his face before sensing the approaching Karras. "Give myself up?" the alchemist asks. "And face the headsman? I think I'll take my chances."
Vorkstag drinks another potion and climbs onto the wall of the factory, clinging to it as a spider would. He moves tentatively at first, but soon is descending towards the basement floor.
Aduard pants under his kerchief as he runs back in. Stopping at the door, he does his best to take the situation in, then stoops for the bow with a muttered word.
"Well done comrades! We have him on the run now!"
Grine's ragged breath hisses in Edison's ears as he adjusts the miniature murderer on his shoulder.
You're not moving off this mortal coil yet, Grine the woodsman mutters. You've got some questions to ask. Both of you do.
Tossing a wary eye to the tumbling swarm of bats, Edison weaves his way between the burbling vats to the base of the wall Vorkstag's glittered form is scrambling down, he sword ready in his hand.
Esta releases the spell that has kept her summoned swarm active, the bats beginning to disappear slowly, one by one, and retrieves her crossbow from its holster. She nocks a bolt into the device and aims it at the man clinging eerily to the wall.
"You should just surrender," she says, watching Vorkstag carefully. "It's four 'gainst one. I don't see that workin' out in your favor."
The doctor blinks, and blinks again, shaking away the light that - for a moment - turned everything a brilliant white. Snarling, he reaches a claw out as the now visible Vorkstag runs past, trying to rake it across the man's leg and stop him before he flees.
Vorkstag grunts as Karras strikes him, but he continues climbing down the wall. He pointedly ignores Esta's suggestion.
Esta fires a bolt, but in the swirling clouds of steam coming off the vats, her missile goes wide.
Seeing Edison waiting below, Vorkstag steps onto the rim of one of the vats. Showing an impressive display of athletics despite his blindness, the alchemist deftly moves across the rim and onto the eastern wall. Perched there, he drinks a potion, visibly healing some of his wounds.
Aduard stands helplessly for a moment... then curses and casts a simple cantrip. A tiny blob of acidic paste condenses out of the air and arcs towards Vorkstag.
Esta sighs loudly as Vorkstag attempts another getaway, and moves to the end of the catwalk, crouching low to line up a shot.
Cursing under his breath, the Doctor a vial from his bandolier and stuffs a small paper pouch into it, shaking vigorously. Rearing his arm back, Karras tosses the bomb towards Vorkstag and a large BANG! rebounds around the Chemikalworks.
Will you just...Gods, will you just STOP!? the woodsman snarls as Vorkstag evades him at the base of the wall.
Edison follows the alchemist from the floor, wincing and flinching away from Karras' explosion before resuming the hunt. The paladin stands below Vorkstag, hefting their sword in the air as one would wield a rolled-up paper to menace a particularly vexing fly.
You're not getting out of here, but if you come willingly and cooperate, you may evade the headsman!
The party's combined efforts knock Vorkstag to the ground, blood pooling from his motionless form.
Edison quickly moves over, laying Grine next to his compatriot with unearned tenderness. The woodsman's eyes move over the battered duo, before, alighting on the ragged breathing of Vorkstag.
Lord Erastil, this man appears whole-heartedly unworthy of your mercy and may well be a blight upon this already-besieged nation. But his testimony may yield absolution for a being unworthy of riotous judgement. Be it of your will, may this cruel soul be spared.
Clutching his holy symbol, Edison bends over Vorkstag, a soft light emanating from the wooden holy symbol clutched in his hand. If you listen closely as the light recedes, you may just barely hear an easing in the alchemist's breathing.
"Well done, comrades." Aduard calls quietly. "Search them, tie them, and then we need to find their cursed cabinet. In the meantime, however..."
He turns to the Mongrelmen. "They're in custody! Are any of you injured? Is there any chance that poor fellow..." Aduard glances at the vat the screaming mongrelman fell into "No. I suppose not." He sighs "Come. Let my colleagues see to you, and then come to me to sign up."
The mongrelmen shuffle forward, eying the unconscious bodies of Vorkstag and Grine. Their impromptu leader, a grey-skinned man with a furry, semi-ursine face approaches Aduard. Despite his stooped posture, he bows low and introduces himself.
"I am Tacitus, my lord." One of his cat-like ears twitches.
"Delighted to meet you Tacitus!" Aduard smiles, producing a shiny gold coin. "As promised - a signing bonus in gold for the first four, and twice what you were paid here. We need to find these scoundrel's books, and set up a signing desk, but I'm happy to consider a handshake binding."
Aduard stretches out his left hand to Tacitus, and in his right holds a large gold coin.
Aduard sighs "As for your first task, I'm afraid it is a grim one. That poor person who was so callously killed, and fell into the vat. Do you know who they were, and if they had family?"
Edison's eyes shift from Vorkstag as the alchemist's breathing eases from the healing. After lower his ear to the lunatic's chest -a faint but steady heartbeat thrumming in their breast- the paladin breathes a sigh of relief, rock back onto his but and taking a moment to ease the tension.
The sound of Aduard's voice nudges the paladin from his repose.
Both of 'em are alive, he calls to the room. Doc? Ms. Esta? You both alright as well?
As the party begins to take stock and plan, Edison quickly searches both of the alchemists, taking everything from them he finds, from crumpled pieces of paper, to vials, to any hidden weapons.
After depriving the villains of any tools he can find, Edison pulls out his rope and begins to hog-tie both of them.
Tacitus bobs his head. "We all knew him, yes, but no family. We are outcasts, dregs. The masters were wicked men, but they gave us shelter and food. Treat them no more harshly than they deserve."
"Their chambers are above, along the catwalk."
"Well, one small mercy. If we can retrieve his body, he deserves a burial at least. You're a good man to worry about these scoundrels. Speaking of such things - I will need to arrange shelter and food for you all as well! And new clothes. Let us see to the chambers, set up a signing desk, and start bringing people in. I'll need to know who has dependents, any medical issues, and what skills they have trained so I can calculate the livery costs."
"Mr Wyatt, can I assist you in taking inventory? Doctor - can you safely identify those vials?"
"Aye, I'm fine, Master Wyatt," the Doctor mumbles, slowly making his way down to the floor. In his younger days, Karras would have practically bounded down the steps. But now? It was best move to slower when possible, so that one could move could move quicker when needed.
Grimacing, Karras stoops and pulls Vorkstag's formula book to the light, wiping some blood from it and sliding it into his pocket. "You're a more merciful man than I, Wyatt. Neither of these two deserve another breath.
Turning his attention to Aduard, the Doctor scratches absently at his cheek. [b]"Aye. Give them here, I'll get my kit out and test them. And then let's look through this foulsome place."
It's not about what they deserve, Doc, the woodsman calls as he lugs the bound alchemists to the base of the ladder up. Its about the folk of this city learning who they are; and its about the folk of this city learning what part they have to play in doin' better.
The paladin pauses, looking up the ladder and back to Vorkstag and Grine before tying what remains of his rope to their restraints, clamping the end of the hemp in his teeth, and climbing the ladder up to the platform on which Esta stands.
Once there, Edison take a couple heavy breaths before using the railing of the scaffold to help haul their murderous bounty upwards.
Got keys here, team, he grunts as he heaves the morbid load upwards. Wouldn't put it past these folk to have traps around. Know anything 'bout those, Tacitus?
Esta plops down where she stands, resting her back against the wall and stretching her legs out in front of her. "Aye, I'm good too," she calls out tiredly. "Does anyone need any healin' right away?"
She moves out of Edison's path when he hauls the bodies up the ladder. "D'we wanna wake 'em up? For questionin', I mean." She does her best to assist the paladin with his cumbersome load. "I can try t' wake 'em up."
Turning his attention to Aduard, the Doctor scratches absently at his cheek. "Aye. Give them here, I'll get my kit out and test them. And then let's look through this foulsome place."
Aduard speaks more quietly to his companions. "No need to wake them up now, I think. Let's look for evidence first. Best we beware traps; they seem the kind to leave nasty surprises."
Aduard considers "The techniques used to create the 'dog' outside could be used to create someone like Adam. That means Adam's 'brother' could be lurking on the premises, so caution is still needed. My reserves are depleted, and my tricks all but spent. Pass me a wand or I'll be useless. Indeed, even with a wand I may be of limited use."
"Finally - I picked up something about a 'cupboard' or a 'wardrobe' - so be on the lookout."
"Agreed, Master Bookman. Let's look through the Works first, and then get them back to town for arrest. Miss Vyrelian, I think I am fine for the moment, thank you."
"Tacitus, have you been in other parts of the Chymikal Works? What can we expect to find? Any more guardians like the one out front?"
Tacitus bobs his furry head, drool slipping from between his misshapen lips. "There are more of the tribe here. I will talk to them, keep them from attacking you."
"Master Grine kept some sort of creatures in the tower, and both of the Masters did business in the basement, but those are places we are not allowed to go."
Edison grunts in satisfaction as he and Esta tighten the rope restraining Vorkstag and Grine to the scaffold. Nodding in satisfaction, Edison makes his way up and down both ladders to the room at the top of what was Vorkstag's artillery position.
Thank you, Miss Esta. Gonna start scoping out these rooms. Creature in the tower, huh? Guess we might not be done.
As Edison approaches the open doorway, he draws his sword, and keeps his buckler high.
"Thank you Tacitus. Rest assured that my offer of employment applies to all those here you can vouch for. Even those you cannot vouch for I have no desire to injure unnecessarily."
Following Edison, the Doctor growls, wolfish and rumbling. "Not done? Gooooooood. Let's cleanse this blighted place..."
"I'll go with you." Esta quickly follows behind Edison and Karras, peering cautiously around them and into the doorway ahead with her crossbow in hand.
The open door leads to a room that appears to be the study of a scholar. A roll-top desk with a leather chair stands against one wall, holding a variety of alchemical equipment and surrounded by hundreds of books piled on every available surface. A narrow cot is crushed into one corner behind a wall of books. A door stands in the north wall.
Despite the heaps of books, this room is fastidiously clean. A large bell jar atop the desk contains the alchemically preserved head and shoulders of a human man.
Esta's eyes go wide as she takes in the abundance of books, tomes, and fascinating alchemical equipment set up and littered around the room. Though always inexorably cautious, she finds her fingers itching to leaf through as many books as she can get her hands on.
Putting her crossbow away, she walks through the room, careful steps ushering her towards the desk.
"This is amazin'," she breathes quietly and to no one in particular. "I've never seen so many books in one spot."
She stops in front of the desk, studying it as she makes a decision. She raises a hand, and after a brief moment a cloud of faint, shimmering light emanates from it, and she begins to inspect the room.
Edison eyes the room warily, relaxing slightly when Esta takes the lead in approaching the imposing challenge before them. At the young woman's remark, he chuckles.
My son said the same thing the first time I brought him to the library here in town. I thought I'd never find him when he disappeared into the shelves.
Now smiling, he moves carefully around Esta and the desk to head off the door, stopping short and closing his eyes, listening intently.
"Not a bad setup." Aduard allows "Do you want to give me a minute to see if I can make sense of it, or push on before spells lapse?"
He looks at the had "More and more I suspect these people of being the creators - or at least being involved with the creators - of Adam."