"Not that I know off, but I've never been inside there myself." Winter answers.
"I've a bad feeling about it. Maybe I'm just afraid of getting another blast of blood to the face. If this leads to a lower level perhaps we should finish searching this level of the asylum? There's got to be another way into that room with the geyser."
As he says so he asks winter about that room and alternate entrances.
He notices Seamus is still wounded and uses the wand on him.
As Vincent describes the room, Winter answers, "You could get there from the admitting room which is just east of here. " Then she notices the east side has collapsed and looks at it in dismay. "Well, before the earthquake, that is."
"Otherwise try the foot path from the Visitor's room. " Winter suggests."Wait a minute. What geyser are you talking about and what about blasts of blood to your face? Do you need to lie down for a while?" Winter looks at Vincent, concerned.
Vincent chuckles, "Do you really want to know? I'm not crazy if that's what you are wondering."
He looks at the others.
Do we want to try the foot path?
"Well after that mauling you got...I was expecting that statement more from Seamus rather then you, but the body sometimes works in strange ways." Winter replies.
"If you're talking about supernatural phenomena, I may be able to help unravel it." Winter offers. "Why don't you tell me, in as much detail as possible."
Vincent explains in exact details a recounting of the door, it's appearance, and the effects.
"Hmmm - that sounds like a haunt. An unquiet spirit - did you see what caused the blood beyond? You would need to get to the source." Winter listens to the rest of Vincent's explaination," A rotound old woman did you say? And a gaping wound on her chest that was the source of it? I suspect that the old woman was once a patient here. Do you know who the old lady in question was, and why she would have a gaping hole in her chest? It may be the key to closing the hole and stemming the blood flow."
As the party turns to leave, Winter and her guards head back to the barricade.
Rustic flagstones create a path through a bed of wilted flowers and shrubs, the foilage shriveled as if drowned by the surrounding sea of dense yellow fog. Though the unnatural mist muffles every motion, a sound like the flapping of giant wings splits through the fog bank, causing it to swirl as if seeking escape.
Everyone except Dakash hears digging n the earth around them and see disturbances in the mulch. They run for the door at the end of the garden path and Vincent opens it using one of the keys they picked up earlier, just as pale headless like wormy bats with too many limbs burrow forth and begin flopping and snuffling impotently.
The party manages to get into the room and slams the door shut, as those wormy bats with too many limbs burst into the air as one.
Vincent and Howard recognizes the swarm of wormy bats as a swarm of pallid wrigglers. As they are diminutive, they are immune to weapon damage. The pallid wriggler swarm can also make strange noises that makes them even more distracting.
Pale paint peels like scabs from the walls of this spacious chamber. A bent desk guards a broad hall stretching away to the north, while curtained frames shroud the room's eastern quarter. This place smells faintly of rubbing alcohol.
Curtain frames that stand 7 feet tall and 5 feet wide divide a portion of the room. These adjustable, utilitarian walls are made of nearly transparent fabric and can be opened or destroyed with little effort. On a stool burns a lit hooded lantern. The light glows through the curtains but doesn't flicker as it should being cold and weirdly paralyzed.
Slopping from a pile of dirty gauze, two grotesque oozes of diseased matters crawl towards the party.
Vincent cannot remember what these oozes are, but Dakash and Howard know that they are boilborns.
Howard guides Vincent with maddening voices.
"Spread out. These boils can burst." Dakash says as he moves to the center of the room and draws his crossbow.
Seamus moves up and fires his bow in quick succession, sticking the northern most boilborn with his two arrows. It's still quivering around though.
Vincent groans. "Great. Exploding pus."
Keeping his distance per Dakash, he pulls a shortspear and chucks it at the same one Seamus hit.
He watches it clatter harmlessly a good 10 feet from it's target and rolls his eyes.
One of them charges at Dakash and tries to whack him, which Dakash just sidesteps, while the other moves towards Vincent.
A tired Vincent doesn't quite manage to spear the tiny thing.
Howard fills Seamus's head with maddening voices.
Seamus manages to stick another arrow into into the already arrowed ooze, but it's still quivering!The second arrow arcs too high, over the ooze.
Dakash steps away from the ooze chasing him and fires a bolt at the quivering one.
His hands slip on the unfamiliar weapon, and he curses softly as he reloads.
Vincent moves back into the corner and attempts to spear the slime thing.
The boilborn with 3 arrows sticking out is speared by Vincent and it explodes, showering him with yellow caustic fluid, which he manages to dodge the worst of it.
The remaining boilborn goes after Dakash and rams him in his ankle.
Howard continues to give Seamus guidance of maddening voices.
Vincent motions for Seamus to give Dakash a chance to move back. "Ware the acid!"
He then tosses his other spear at the thing and moves to the other corner where his first spear landed.
Dakash withdraws from the creature as his allies press the attack.
Seamus easily sticks two arrows into the creature but its still up and it charges at him, giving him a shin slap.
Howard gets the heck out of there, reading to shoot it with an acid splash as soon as Seamus gets out of the way.
Seamus moves away from the creature then shoots it with an arrow.
Vincent tosses another spear at it.
It explodes harmlessly since it is now far away from everyone. Searching the room yields nothing of value.
The party returns to the barricade and settles down for a meal of watery onion broth and dried fish.
Howard volunteers to do the night watch, since he tells the party he doesn't sleep, as he knows what lies in wait for dreamers.
Howard notices Basily Harbour sneakily trying to approach the Statue of Desna while everyone is asleep. So does Vincent, for that matter.
The guards, except for two of them, are asleep.
Basily notices Howard and Vincent getting suspicious, then shifts to her doppelganger form and attacks.
Howard sends Claude to wake Seamus up, and Seamus feels a dinosaur sink its teeth into his calf. Howard moves over to shake Dakash up.
"I guess all of you have to die."The doppelganger answers chillingly,as the arrow bounces off her rubbery skin.
She then moves over and claws Seamus, but he manages to dodge even while on the ground.
Howard greases the area she is standing on.
She manages to maintain her footing.
Vincent grabs his spear, standing up, and after stepping back (5ft diagonally) stabs at the creature.
It claws Vincent in the chest as he gets up and he spears it on its torso.
Seamus manages to put an arrow into her arm and she looks badly injured.
Dakash grabs his staff and stands.
The doppelganger steps forward and tries to rake Vincent with her claws, opening a wide gash in his chest. He collapses onto the ground, bleeding profusely.
Then it tries to claw up Seamus.
Seamus manages to dodge out of the way.
Howard steps back, hiding behind Seamus.
Vincent's breathing is ragged and in shallow gasps.
As the doppelganger rends your chest, you feel a flash of agony, then you mercifully black out.
Then you are somewhere else. You see Dethan, worn out and haggard, with a haunted look in his eyes, trudging across some unknown desert with gnolls and camels loaded with heavy packages. He is muttering to himself, "He calls. I hear his call. All I need to do is to find him and he will restore Mina to me."
Both arrows fly wide as Seamus's hysteria is affecting his aim as he releases them too soon.
Then the scene fades and you fall back into darkness...you sense there are two minds nearby you could possibly hitch in, but you have also overstrained your psychic senses and further taxing them may have consequences...
The party also recognizes from the voice of the doppelganger that it was the one that was trying to prove doppelganger skin was tougher then human skin.
Dakash uses Spell Combat to attack.
After Dakash smashes her in the chest, breaking ribs, she looks about to fall over. She does manage to get out of the way of his backhand quartstaff swing, though.
She turns on Dakash, trying to rip him apart.
Dakash feels her claws rend into his abdomen and can barely keep himself standing.
Howard gives Seamus guidance of maddening voices, then runs for the guards, yelling, "Baisily Harbour is a doppelganger in disguise! Vincent's down and she's trying to kill us all!"
"We're under attack! Barrett! Go get Winter up!" One of the guards yell, then fires at the doppelganger.
It flies overhead.
The other goes to another room yelling, "Winter! We've got a doppelganger in our midst and someone's down!"
A trickle of blood dribbles out from Vincent's lip onto the chapel floor.
The arrows do not penetrate the doppelgangers rubbery skin.
Dakash makes one last attempt to smack the doppelganger.
Then he collapses from the effort.
Winter comes out of the room and brandishes her holy symbol at the doppelganger, declaring, "In Pharasma's name, be judged!", smiting the doppelganger with holy fire, turning it to ashes.
Howard recognizes it as a burst of radiance spell.
"Quick! Attend to them before they slips away from us!" Winter orders the guards.
The guards move forward, trying to staunch Vincent's bleeding and one of them succeeds.
The other tries to stabilize Dakash.
He doesn't quite manage it, but Dakash manages it on his own.
You find yourself wandering an endless, alien city pursued by mists. Soon, a wall collapses, revealing a disproportionately small room. Inside, an ancient Keleshite woman sits on a stool at a simple table. She looks up at the dreamer and offers a simple piece of advice “Beware the yellow walkers.” Then you awaken with Winter looking at you with a concerned expression on her face.
Winter stabilizes Dakash, then treats Vincent first.
Seeing him finally come around, she then sends a wave of grey holy energies to everyone.