"Hmm."
Kargas is shaking his head and chuckling before the tiefling has finished speaking. "Do I look sick to you?" Hooking a chain with his foot the half-orc sits across from the tiefling and glances about the room, trying to figure out where Colvyn is.
"My name's Kargas, here with some others to talk to that Grayst fellow who was just brought in. Has the news gotten here yet?" Kargas turns back to the tiefling to study his reaction.
Habe looks anxiously over at Rig and Flo before turning towards Guiness to answer his questions. "The other patients? For all manner of reasons, really. Master Sedge was blinded in a goblin attack and brought here by the mayor. While Wald's family brought him here as his advanced age made him senile. I've been doing my utmost, and applying the latest in psychiatric treatment from Magnimar, to those in my care. You see-" His attention is drawn to a sound coming from Grayst's cell.
At the same time, Flo steps forward to try to calmly tease some information out of Grayst. The moment she comes into view, Grayst turns his clouded eyes upon her and groans in something between fear and excitement "Ah. Ha. Ah. He said. He said you would visit me. His Lordship. The one that unmade me said so. He has a place for you. A precious place. Jealous. He has a message. For you. Made me remember it. The master wouldn't approve if I forgot." He surges to his feet with alarming energy, eyes fixated on Flo "Ah. Ah. Here. Message. Come to his Misgivings. If you join his Pack, he will end his harvest in your honor. Yes."
----
Downstairs, Kargas can't spot Colvyn anywhere. The tiefling orderly over toward the stairs where the rest of the party ascended, then back to Kargas. He shrugs and picks up a pot to start adding corn. "We don't get visitors that often, and none strange like you. Usually people wanting to drop off their brainless old aunts and uncles. Whats this news about? Something to do with the murder the most recent fella saw?" The tiefling orderly seems largely disinterested, making conversation just to pass the time while he works. He doesn't seem to be lying or otherwise concealing anything.
Kellek waits to see Flo's reaction before revealing what he knows away from the sanitarium staff and 'guests'.
Flo's mind goes blank and her vision tunnels briefly as her body responds to the phrase faster than her brain can even process it.
A brief moment of shock passes before she recovers. "I- What? Lordship? His Pack? What- what do you want from me? There are more?!" she stutters, starting to back away to the door now. What the hell is happening? Is he one of them? I can't be carved up!
Spooked at an instinctual level, she barely makes it to the door before spinning her back against the wall and slowly sliding to a seated position on the floor in the hallway. Her skin has become quite pale and is verging on being visibly clammy, her eyes staring through the floor. Grayst's words and the note she received that morning maddeningly replay in her mind over and over, faster and faster, eclipsing all rational thought.
But something doesn't seem quite right. Snapping her back to clarity is a sudden realization of danger. Not her own, but someone else's... RIG!
"RIG GET OUT! GUINESS LOCK THE DOOR! NOW!"
"Yes Floredana, what is going on?"
Even as Flo's warning is leaving her lips, a change seems to come over Grayst. His mouth cracks open a little too far for a human jaw and a keening shriek begins to emit from it. He launches himself forwards, trying to get past Rig. As he does so, a surge of supernatural strength fills him and his straitjacket bursts open, revealing swollen grey arms!
--
Before Guiness or Rig can take action, Grayst grabs a hold of Rig and tosses the bard aside on his warpath towards Flo! Rig hits the eastern wall of the room, but manages to keep on his feet despite the force of the impact.
|||| INIT ||||
Guiness
Colvyn
Flo
Kargas
Kellek
Rig
Grayst
Bold Are Up
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"GUINESS! KEEP FLO AWAY FROM HIM!"
|
Guiness grabs the shocked priestess and moves her away from the feral beast, then steps to where she was just standing, drawing his angry red hammer as he goes. ”Protect the priestess!” he snarls at Habe, turning to face this unnatural creature Grayson just transformed into.
Five foot step to go east and move action to draw Dragonfist (his shield was already drawn from before).
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Colvyn hears the noise upstairs, but he is unsure if he can make it upstairs without being seen. The first thing he does is to pull his sword out. Holding his breath, he then tries to make it to the second table.
Kargas' head whips around when he hears shouting from upstairs. Surging to his feet so quickly the chair is knocked to the ground, the half-orc bolts through the door even as his falchion clears its scabbard.
"If you're in here, Colvyn, it's time to move!"
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Flo reflexively shouts as the unmistakable sound of bones popping from hyper-flexion and Grayst's urgent charge fill her ears. Yet, before she knows it she is whisked away to safety by Guiness. When Kellek pushes a potion into her hands, she downs it without hesitation. "WHERE ARE KARGAS AND COLVYN?" she continues, shouting more at the stairs than anyone in particular. They'll come! I know they will. They have to...
________
As half the party work to get Flo out of danger and shielded from Grayst's sight by magic, Habe seems completely stunned by this turn of events. It's not until Guiness shouts out to him that he snaps out of his shock. "Eh? Ah. Dear, step away if you will." He holds a hand out for Flo to join him outside the hallway. As he does he also unhooks the keys from his belt after a few fumbles. "Oh... this is not good. Not good at all."
Meanwhile downstairs, Kargas breaks out into a run and manages to get most of the way up the stairs to the second floor. The tiefling orderly picks up a kitchen knife and runs after him, though he's not able to keep pace with the unusually fleet bloodrager. With all the commotion, Colvyn easily slips between tables.
The ghoulish Grayst continues to shriek as his quarry is swept away from him by a quick-thinking dwarf. He swings a bloated fist at Guiness, but strikes the dwarf's banded armor without causing any real harm. Nevertheless, the weight of his punch seems far more than that of a normal man.
|||| INIT ||||
Guiness
Colvyn
Flo (hidden)
Kargas
Kellek
Rig x2
Grayst
Bold Are Up
Great, just great. That Tiedfling had to stop there. Colvyn grabs the first item on the table he can reach and make it slide across the floor of the room. Then he moves slightly faster than he probably should to reach the stairs to the second floor.
Rig is busy pondering what the hell the sick man is talking about when Flo shouts his name, and Guiness tries to grab his arm. But he's quickly alerted by the horrible sound that the transformed Grayst makes as he rushes to the door.
Rig steps behind the ghoul, pulls a blade, and tries to shank him from behind.
Steadying himself, he tries again.
Without further encouragement, Flo accepts Habe's invitation and tucks back further into the hallway. Just as she steps behind the corner, she funnels a steam of butterflies towards Guiness. "KARGAS! COLVYN! Where are they Habe?!" she demands, looking their host straight in the eyes.
________
The ghoulified Grayst is set upon from all sides, doing almost nothing to defend himself against blow after blow that rain down upon him. Dragonfist breaks an arm while a fair of deep slashes from Rig's longsword send red blood gushing to the floor. In moments, Grayst's shrieking dampens to a choked gurgling and he collapses to the floor.
Immediately out of combat!
Habe's eyes bulge half out of their sockets as he sees his monstrously transformed patient lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He starts to stammer "Oh-oh oh no." as he backs away from the scene. Flo's urgent demands fall on deaf ears. Seemingly to himself, he mutters "This will look very... very bad. Very bad. Bad for business. Can't have that." He turns and...
...bolts down the stairs!
----
Meanwhile downstairs, Colvyn drops an expensive piece of china on the floor, attracting the tiefling's attention rather than pulling it elsewhere. No amount of quick, stealthy movement can cover that, unfortunately! He dashes towards the stairs. Behind him, the tiefling orderly blinks in surprise. "Hey! Hey! Where in the hells did you come from! Get back here!"
----
"HABE! WHAT THE HELLS HAVE YOU DONE?!" Kargas plants himself in the stairwell, firmly blocking the other man's line of retreat. "Where are you going?"
Glancing over the asylum-keeper's shoulder at whoever is visible he shouts, "Flor? Rig? Everbody okay? What happened?"
Habe runs right into Kargas, then shies back when the half-orc begins yelling at him. "Ah, ah... I have... some... business... to attend to." Half-hearted excuses fall from his mouth as he searches for a way around. He's visibly sweating now.
With Guiness on the other side, Habe raises his voice and shouts out "Gortus and Gurnak, to me please! I have - uh - unruly visitors!?"
The two tieflings slowly make their way up the stairs, in no rush to jump to Habe's command.
Unable to fully block the Tiefling with his small stature, Colvyn swings his blade at the first one. "Stop right there! No one is going anywhere." He hopes that this would be enough to keep them at bay while he figures out what is happening.
Rig follows after the others chasing Habe. Hearing Kargas yell, he hollers back, "We're all okay! Stop Habe!"
Turning his head to check on Colvyn and the tieflings, Kargas growls "Don't hurt them, Colvyn. They're just keeping an eye out, they won't start anything. Right fellas?" The half-orc gives them an unpleasant grin, tiny arcs of blue lightning sparking across his teeth.
Turning back to Habe he jabs a finger at the man. "You, or someone. Talk. What in the blazing black hells just happened. Rig, why is there blood on your clothes?"
Unable to fully block the Tiefling with his small stature, Colvyn swings his blade at the first one. "Stop right there! No one is going anywhere." He hopes that this would be enough to keep them at bay while he figures out what is happening.
[dice=Shortsword]1d20+6
[dice=DAmage]1d4+2
Flo runs with the group after Habe and waits to see how things unfold. "No more violence, please!" she pleads, still pretty shaken from the whole ordeal. What is happening in Sandpoint? What just happened in here?! Are there more people like Grayst in the city? Is that the Pack he was talking about?
________
Colvyn's stab sinks deep into the first orderly's gut and he lets out a strangled cry of pain. "YAAAUGH! The rat stabbed me!" The orderly backs away, hand clutching his bleeding wound. He looks around wildly in case there's more ratfolk lying in wait somewhere. His fellow tiefling arrives to see his friend grievously injured.
The second tiefling's eyes widen. "Shit, they're nuts Gurnak! This ain't worth the pay, lets f!+&ing split!" The two of them turn to run.
----
When it rapidly becomes apparent to Habe that no help is coming, he raises his hands in a gesture of surrender. "What do you people want from me!? You killed my patient, and now you hurt my orderlies." At the sight of Kargas' sparking teeth, his voice begins to squeak. "I'll answer whatever you want!"
|
|
"Sure, I've got a question," states Guiness, asking, "Seeing as poor Grayst transformed into a ghoul and attacked us, I'd say you are the one who killed him by denying him the proper treatment to stop his disease--and we just saved you and your orderlies from being slaughtered by the ghoul he changed into."
Continuing, Guiness asks, "So my question is this: were you up here trying to hide evidence of his disease because you are really that incompetent, or are you working for this Lordship fellow and complicit in the unspeakable murders committed in his name?
Looking over at Floredana, he says, "We should check on the other 'patients'. They may be in danger as well given what we just witnessed."
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"I'll see what I can do!" Flo says as she books it out the door behind the orderlies.
"Wait! Stop! I can heal your wound! That was impulsive of our friend, there is no need to leave your work! You do good work here!" While chasing after the Tieflings, she pulls a twisted wooden rod from her bag and raises it over head. Starting to radiate a gentle blue light, the wound on the Tiefling's stomach begins to close.
________
Habe looks positively distraught at Guiness' line of reasoning "This is, uh, quite outrageous. How was I to know he would transform into that, that thing? Up until all of you arrived, he was sick, yes, troubled, yes, but hardly a monster! You have to believe me. I had his best interests at heart."
Habe looks baffled at the accusations. "I hid nothing! And I have no idea what you're talking about. Who is the Lordship? The murderer? I swear I know absolutely nothing."
He's being honest about not knowing Grayst would transform into a ghoul, as well as the part about Grayst not being like this until the party arrived. On the other hand, he seems nervous about that last part - he's lying about having Grayst's best interests at heart. Though you don't know enough yet to tell what his true intentions are.
He's also being truthful about not knowing anything about 'His Lordship'
He wrings his hands, seeming to calm down. "Now please. You can't go telling anyone about what happened here. No one would be willing to send patients here if a story like this gets out! Even if none of this has ANYTHING to do with my practice." He throws up his hands "One man with a mental condition - that I was making progress on, I might add - and a PREEXISTING affliction that he did not inform me about upon being brought in! This... this isn't my fault."
----
Meanwhile downstairs, Flo has to chase after the two orderlies, eventually catching up to them outside the building. She heals away the entirety of the stab wound Colvyn inflicted with a wave of her wand. The two orderlies pause their escape. The one with slightly redder horns raises an eyebrow "What's your angle here. The rat stabs Gurnak, and now you're out here healing him." While the other tiefling interrupts with "Does it matter? Habe's in deep shit. We're not going to stick around to find out if there's more pay on the horizon."
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”We’ve been through some horrible events this past month, and even more just today. That’s not including what just happened upstairs at Habe’s. I doubt he knew what was going on and considering our recent experiences, he probably thought that was the best choice. I know it seems absurd, I don’t expect you to believe me, but that’s where we stand,” Flo says as quickly as she can, knowing their patience is likely short at the moment.
Taking a deep breath, she keeps speaking. ”Don’t you think steady work is worth at least a few moments of your time? He suggested you both have had a hard time of it based on your appearances. An understanding employer is hard to come by. I also know what it’s like to be judged for my appearance and not my actions. The lack of control it makes you feel about your life. Sure, it might work in my favor more than you, but the helplessness despite your efforts is the same.” Heaven forbid our own actions define who we are and not assumptions about our race, real or otherwise. Jealousy cuts too. Sander, if only we could have spoken instead of fought.
________
"What do you even do here? What were you hiding when you were shuffling around up here?!" Kargas glares at the Habe, but spares a baffled glance towards Guiness. Not sure what else to do, he starts up the stairs, forcing the other man to give ground.
"Maybe we should search the place," he suggests to the others.
Rig looks over to Kargas. "He's right, you know. Even if he didn't know what was going on, a few rumors about him mistreating patients, and he'd be totally out of business. Even if those rumors weren't accurate. And hey, coming from some of the people who recently saved Sandpoint, seems like some serious damage could be done to a fella's reputation. Yes, sir. Would be a shame to see that happen, wouldn't it?" He turns back to Habe. "A damn shame, don't you think?"
”Don’t you think steady work is worth at least a few moments of your time?"
The two orderlies look at Flo, then look at each other, then back at Flo. The more even keeled one speaks up "Hey I'm not going back to get stabbed and deal with f~!*ing monsters or whatever you lot just killed. Work's hard to find, but it ain't worth risking your life." They turn and begin jogging away from the Respite.
One looks over his shoulder and shouts "You be careful lady. Dark shit around here. Dark f+@@ing shit." as they disappear into the night.
----
Back inside the building, Rig and Kargas have Habe physically and emotionally cornered. His eyes are wide with panic at the thought of his business being ruined. "I - I heal people. I'm a doctor! And I wasn't hiding anything. You can look in the rooms yourself if you want!" He takes the key ring off his belt with shaking hands and passes it over to Kargas.
As Rig runs him through the potential future for him, he looks about to cry.
Taking the ring of keys, Kargas demands Habe explain what each one goes to, then goes to check on Flor. "He said we can search the place. Not sure what there is to find, he doesn't seem to be involved or anything like that."
Flo slows her pace, frowning, before doubling back. Dark shit indeed... and they didn’t even see the bodies.
Kargas catches Flo on her way back to the house. ”Still worth the look though. Anything I need to know happen in there? Tried to get the workers back, but they aren’t interested in risking their life for some gold. Can’t say I blame them,” she admits.
Following the Half-Orc back inside she accompanies him on a search of the property.
________
"Sure, I've got a question," states Guiness, asking, "Seeing as poor Grayst transformed into a ghoul and attacked us, I'd say you are the one who killed him by denying him the proper treatment to stop his disease--and we just saved you and your orderlies from being slaughtered by the ghoul he changed into."
"Instead they can be slaughtered by Colvyn." mutters Kellek upon hearing the commotion downstairs.
"We need to be very careful, Kargas. If this 'doctor' can't recognize the symptoms of a dying man, who knows what other things he may have missed." He adds sotto voce, "Plus we don't want to hurt anyone who's legitimately sick."
|
|
Guiness will follow along as they search the place floor by floor. When we get to the rooms with ‘patients’, he will watch as Floredana checks them out. During th whole time, Guiness watches Habe carefully for reactions that might give away that they are close to finding something he is hiding.
”Well, let’s get started,” grunts Guiness.
You start with the top floor. To the north-east portion of the building, you find a large examination room with a pair of operating tables dominating the space. A cabinet along the north wall is well stocked with all manner of medical implements, surgical tools, and strange unlabeled tinctures. Currently both operating tables are empty and the room smells strongly of incense.
---
To the east, you open up a supply closet stocked with cleaning supplies.
To the center south, you carefully unlock the room and find it to be empty. There's no signs inside of any patients recently occupying it.
Throughout all this investigation, Habe stares morosely at the ground, ocassionally muttering things like "All I've worked for, my reputation, all ruined just like that. Oh dear..." But when you approach the southwest room, he speaks up to say "Ah, that's the room belonging to Pidget Tergelson. He is rather unstable, paranoid really. If you insist on speaking with him, please do so in the most calming fashion you can manage."
Guiness and Flo get the sense that Habe is trying to be as cooperative as possible, holding out hope that you might change your minds about letting news of this event leak.
---
Inside the south-western room, you see a small ratfolk reclining on a bed, perusing a well-worn book. He twitches slightly at the sight of people outside rubbing at his nose intently with one paw. "Eh... heh... heh... Is... Is that you Habe? You look... different."