Fort:
Kerrec loads his crossbow as Grayst advances on him. He levels the crossbow at Grayst. "Who is the Skinsaw Man, Grayst? Why must I join him?"
"I doubt you will receive an entirely coherent answer from someone in the throes of possibly disease induced madness master Valorian, but I applaud your quest for knowledge."
"However, I do believe that stopping the escaping caretakers might be the key to more...laudable information."
Grayst continue his advance unheeded, his voice rising into a ferverant yell, He is YOURS! You are HIS! You MUST go to HIM!
The clearly deranged man attempt to beat upon the paladin with clenched hands but the stout armor on Kerrec's chest null any force the fists may have had.
Clearly threatened Kerrec lets loose with a bolt at close range. The bolt thuds square in Grayst's chest but the man persists in his wailing and thrashing despite the light sizzling sound of electricity that hums from the bolt.
Kithian
Cam
Rullis
Vidar
Power Attack:
Damage:
Vidar points a finger at Hebe or whatever the doctor’s name was.
"You posses greater knowledge of this than you let on! Attempt to leave and I shall be forced to make your corpse smoking like a Sunday roast.
Give me an excuse, I pray of you..."
Kithian fights the rat man toe to toe and though he strikes a solid blow the creature seems remarkably uninjured compared to the power of the strike.
"You.Were.Warned!"
Camillo draws his longsword and readies his shield as he moves to flank the wererat with Kithian. With a word, he invests arcane power into the sword as he stops his recitation.
Seeing his last attack was fruitful, he continues his strike on the ratman. This time though, he chants and calls upon Gozreh to bring him a trident to strike with. He keeps a good distance from any of the threats as directs the trident against him.
As almost an afterthought, Rullis remembers his ring of shielding and activates it . Suddenly a field of force appears before him, helping to protect him against any sudden attacks.
Sensing immediate danger from the rat-man Cam and Rullis press the attack to put the beast down.
Cam maneuvers into position and channels his arcane energy into his blade. Like Kithian, Cam finds the blade might do more damage but the blow is a solid one and the rat hisses in anger.
Rullis's voice fills the void, the group now well versed in the solemn intonation of Gozrehan casting. The spell erupts into a light formed trident. The trident soars through the air and takes its place with the bard and barbarian all working to winnow at the rat man. The trident proves to be the final blow as the rat falls to the persistent efforts of the group.
Vidar meanwhile scowls at Habe, You. Were. Warned! A beam of intense heat flies from Vidar's hand and the doctor bellows in pain s he is caught full in the chest. All that keeps him from collapsing is the well timed grab of the nearest tiefling who drags Habe out while the other stops just long enough to scowl at the group before following his brother..
Kerrec is up
Kerrec, alarmed that the bolt did not fell Grayst, loads his crossbow and once again fires at the man.
"I am Abadar's."
Grayst, obviously out of his mind does not seem to take the opportunity that Kerrec's loading presents. At point blank range there is no missing as another electrified bolt strikes the man in the chest and he falls to the ground. Suddenly there is only the sound of the two orderlies dragging Habe down the hall yelling at each other to make their way "to the workshop".
Kithian
Cam
Rullis
Vidar
Kithian roars and runs to follow Habe down the hall.
Camillo follows the barbarian following the orderlies.
Vidar kneels down next to Grayt, confident that the rest can deal with the orderlies.
"We need to stablize him in case he can be saved and cured...he MAY have been an innocent..."
Vidar kneels over the unconscious Grayst, We need to stablize him in case he can be saved and cured...he MAY have been an innocent... but finds that he cannot seem to staunch the damage done by the party. The man continues his descent into death.
Meanwhile the Tieflings close to the main door off the foyer, maneuvering between themeselves to get into the entrance and handle the seemingly unconscious or barely conscious Grayst. Rullis and Cam manage to get about half way to them with Kithian a few feet ahead. (Little bit of a bottle neck. Kithian will be able to charge next round on the one with Habe while everyone else will be stuck behind the oracle.)
Kerrec and then I will roll for Grayst.
Kerrec looks down on Grayst,conflicted. Shaking his head in frustration, he calls upon Abadar for healing and lays his hand over the bolt wound.
Kerrec gets the exact opposite effect he is expecting. The body surges under the healing light and Grayst moans and thrashes about as the light of Abadar does its work. Grayst moments ago placid and subdued shocks the paladin by opening his eyes and lunging for Kerrec.
The eyes, as before, are milky and unclear but in a few short seconds Grayst's teeth have blackened and his breath smells like rot and decay.
Ineffectually Grayst moves to stand and scratch at Kerrec but the blows merely scrape against the paladin's armor.
"Gods be god, undead! THAT'S the fever that was inflicting him! Whatever he may have been before, now he is one of the walking dead!"
Hearing Vidar yell "undead" stops Rullis in his tracks. He'll turn around and look back into the room where Kerrec struggles with the ghoul. If able, he'll direct his trident at it and channel positive energy to disrupt undead .
Rullis turns back and pushes past the wizard, guiding the trident of force to assault the undead Grayst. The man now undead moves slow on his feet and is caught full in his chest from the trident, the crackling energy of Gozreh's power piercing the creature's flesh. Wounded but not down Grayst utters a frantic Skinsaw! SKINSAW!" and then collapses to silence as the pure power of Rullis' channeled energy radiates throughout the room and drops Grayst to the floor unmoving.
Vidar raises an eyebrow as he looks at Rullis.
"Rather impressive work master Stillman, not a lot left to work with however. Shall we go after the others and see if the curator holds some knowledge? Assuming we can catch him."
Vidar follows Kithian and Camillo out the door.
Rage!
Charge!
Damage:
Kithian charges the nearest Tiefling the one of the pair that is still in the hall and unencumbered by the passed out doctor. Brandishing a long knife the orderly seems trained for combat but not for the raw power that Kithian bowls into him with the powerful sweep of the blade from a full charge down the hallway. The orderly is cut deep into his torso and drops to the floor. His twin can only gasp as he then drops the doctor and looks to be moving for a full out run.
Camillo stops and puts a square of Grease directly behind the soon-to-flee tiefling. "Stop, you fool - we want answers, not blood! Give us one, you can keep the other."
"Mission accomplished, but it would be ill adviced to leave anyone to run and spread tales. More violence is in order.
...
Unless someone sees sense and surrender..."
Vidar notes coldly in the general direction of the second orderly.
The orderly sees the magical grease coat the floor and he turns to the group, his hands held high and open. Save my brother and I will tell you everything you want to know.
"Rullis! We've got a live one - he needs Gozreh's blessings and soon! Unless Kithian wants to take it away and give it right back. Funny, isn't the phrase 'the gods giveth, the gods taketh away'? Here Kithian gets a chance to do the reverse..."
Kithian shakes his head as a dog returning from a swim and them moves forward placing his hand on the down man. A snarl still on the half orcs lips as he keeps his eye on the other orderly. "Maybe next time you can honor The Lord in Iron more and not go down like a fat girl on Naming Day."
Cure light Wounds:
Vidar quickly covers his mouth to hide the smile at Kithians crude joke. He then harumphs loudly to get back into the proper mindset.
"There, your brother have been healed, now, let us go back inside and get some information."
Camillo coughs into the back of his hand to try to hide his grin, but moves forward to the doctor to check his status. "What's your name, orderly? What can you tell us about what's going on here?"
Kerrec looks down at his hands in astonishment, truly surprised at the turn of events with Grayst. He shakes his head at Grayst's charred dead body still wondering as to what this Skinsaw Man might be.
Seeing the others have secured the orderlies and the doctor, the paladin's anger rises, realizing the doctor probably knew more than he was letting on about Grayst's condition. He waits for the orderly to respond.
"Before we go too far in our investigation, we should send for the sheriff. If one person in this place was infected with ghoul fever there is a risk there might be others. We need to secure this place and have the father of Sandpoint look in on any other "patients" they have here. I suggest myself and master Stillman goes, as the rest of you will no doubt be able to..."subude" anyone who is resistant at this point."
"I think Rullis is one that should remain. His gifts and knowledge will be of more use against ghouls. I have little to offer other than my sword."
"You make a fair point Master Duin, very well, you have the honour of accompanying me back to report. Let us tarry not a moment longer."
Vidar heads for the door, intending to saddle up and ride back to Sandpoint posthaste.
"Ah..." Camillo looks around at the others for confirmation or argument before following Vidar outside.
The orderly sees to his brother who is still in poor shape, but alive, moving the body to a bench. The doctor is alive but remains unconscious.
As the group asks for information and talks about leaving the orderly speaks up, his voice tinged thick with a Chelaxian accent, I'd not leave alone. Not the two of you. The doctor worked with a necromancer, that's where we were running to. Beyond the easterly hall his laboratory is hidden through the library. I'm Gurnak. Brother is Gortus. The necro probably not yet knows something is amiss but surely will soon when Habe does not check in.
"You have earned your brother more healing, I think. Tell us exactly how to find this laboratory. Can we get there and surprise the man in his lair? What defenses will he have against someone like us?"
"A necromancer...I believe our plans have changed. Tell me master Darlok, how would you like to add another..."fat girl" to your collection? I do believe your naming day is coming up fast."
Kithian wipes the tieflings blood from his weapon as he shakes his head. "No problem killing a necromancer, but I am done with fat girls. They are like donkeys, fun to ride but you guys would give me 9 kinds of hells if you saw me on one."
"True enough, but I'd just as soon you kept your donkey-riding to yourself. There is such a thing as knowing too much about your friends."
Kerrec loads a bolt into his crossbow.
"It will be nice having the element of surprise on our side for once."
"Humph, indeed not. I imagine that if we were put in such an unfortunate position as to observe your..."equestrian escapades" we would swear a mutual wow to never speak of it again, upon pain of most hideous torture."
"The very idea...I would be forced to play nursemaid to master Stillman as he recovers his shattered mind."
His trident fades out of existence as he retracts his force shield back into his ring. Hearing the call for him, he climbs the stairs. But seeing that Kithian has already has this situation under control, he merely holds his spear in the direction of the recently healed to remind him not to try anything funny.
"I would of thought you'd like at least ponies. We should find this necromancer sooner than later." Gesturing with his spear, "Let's keep this one prisoner here until its done, just in case Gurnak decides to deceive us."