Winter hisses from the pain of her wounds, but fends off their paralyzing touch. Backed into a corner, she fights back and takes down one of the undead with her own claws.
;
;
In a burst of restrained fury, Autumn lays in a crushing blow to a ghoul's face.
;
;
Aenian attempts to parry the blow, scared of the undead's touch.
the blow gets through and the investigator feels his muscles freeze up.
Aenian's elf blood courses through his veins and he suddenly bursts through the temporary slow down, stabbing back vehemently at his assailant.
Ven assumes his dark half and then points his finger at the ghoul that paralyzed Aenian. "Back to the grave, dead walker!"
He blasts the ghoul with a magic missile.
; +1 bleed
Ven's force missiles kill the wounded ghoul. Aenian shakes off a moment of doubt and moves up, taking down Autumn's opponent with a piercing stab to the head.
Despite their numbers cut in half, the ghouls continue to attack, driven by their unnatural hunger. Winter parries and ducks, avoiding slashing claws, but still gets bit. Autumn endures another claw rake.
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
Klades attacks the other ghoul again, pouncing from behind and ripping it to shreds. As he nears you, though, you catch wind of the awful stench surrounding the one-handed ghoul.
;
;
;
Terribly wounded and looking about to collapse, Winter's muscles freeze up just before Klades cuts down the offending ghoul.
Seeing Winter in danger, Autumn snarls and attacks the next ghoul furiously, hitting hard once but whiffing on the follow-up.
;
;
; bah
Sickened, Ven drops out of his dark half and fires a magic missile at Aenian's ghoul if it still stands. Otherwise he fires on the last ghoul.
He instructs the others not to attack the one handed ghoul. "This one may prove to be useful."
Ven's spell and Aenian's blade make short work of another ghoul, leaving just one, and Klades.
The ghoul makes a snarling roar and a desperate all-out attack on Aenian.
;
;
;
Klades comes up from behind and attacks the lone ghoul, rending flesh.
;
;
Autumn hits the ghoul in the side of the skull. With a loud crack, it crumbles to the floor.
;
Without pause (or regard to Ven's words), the phantasm steps up and punches Klades in the gut.
;
Ven addresses Klades from a safe distance, "We will spare you if you agree to help us."
Klades narrows his eyes at Ven, but Autumn has no intention of stopping. "No mercy for an abomination!" she snarls.
Klades defends and retaliates, clawing and biting at the phantasm, but is unable to find any purchase.
;
;
Ven shrugs. "So be it then. Sparing one ghoul may be worth whatever information it could provide on the greater evil we face. Alas, you Pharasmites can't be reasoned with when it comes to the undead."
He moves in with his quarter staff and attempts to aid Autumn.
Aenian looks askance at the phantasm and skirts around the ghoul (ghast?) to attack from the far side.
;
;
;
Ven taps at him with his quarterstaff, creating a distraction. Klades spins on him, roaring. Autumn takes the advantage and clobbers the ghoul in the side of the skull. Aenian shifts around behind and stabs it through the chest. Klades goes limp and falls to the floor, dead.
Ven detects magic and then searches the bodies. "The stairs are blocked by a cave in. We may be able to clear it, or perhaps there's another way up. Let's check the surrounding rooms."
He searches both the green room and the room where the ghouls attacked from.
Aenian ignores Ven and confronts Winter angrily, "What the hell is that?!" He shouts pointing at the flame-haired ghost.
Autumn reacts defensively to Aenian's tone, bowing up and stepping forward to intervene.
The paralysis wears off and Winter stands sluggishly. She puts a hand up in front of Autumn, shaking her head. "No, Autumn. They are friends, but I haven't yet had a chance to explain."
"Go now. I am safe for the moment." Autumn gives Winter a sour look, but then discorporates into an orange ectoplasm and merges with Winter. Winter appears invigorated by the contact.
Winter turns to Aenian, holding up her hands. "I promised before that I would tell my story when we had a chance -- Autumn is part of that. She was, or is still, my sister." Despite this claim, you realize that the two have no physical similarities. Winter is tall and lithe while Autumn's form was shorter and stocky. "She is a phantasm, a kind of ghost. She and I are bonded, in life and death, and she is also the source of my powers."
"There is more, if you care to hear it, but this is not a good place or time. The important thing is that she, and I, are no threat to you."
"Yeah, I want to hear it. Look, we don't remember anything about ourselves, and trust is a commodity I'm in short supply of. Hiding things like this don't help your cause. I'm watching you ..." Aenian says the last with the still resident hint of paranoia in his eyes.
Ven shrugs, "We need all the help we can get. But you need to keep her under control. Now, let's clear the area and then figure a way up to the tower."
Winter nods, "I agree. People do not react well to Autumn, despite my attempts to explain, so we tend to keep her out of sight as much as possible. My Pharasmin fellows have a tough time with her also."
Winter heals most serious wounds, but still looks winded. "I have expended what reserves I have. Any other healing will have to be potions or bedrest."
You search the surrounding rooms.
The room to the south with the collapsed wall holds several workbenches, all crushed beneath the partially collapsed ceiling. Rubble covers everything. You find little of note.
*
The eastern door opens to a room that reeks of sweat and rot. Multiple tables and chairs have been shattered and rebuilt into cages along the east wall, while a crate and an upended bed fitted with harnesses stand against the north.
A man dressed in patients' clothes is chained to the bed. He is unconscious and suffering from many small wounds.
You hear a whine from one of the crate/cages -- within is a frightened mutt of a dog. The other crates hold only gristly remains of flesh and bones. One of them was an orderly, whose possesions include a heavy wooden shield, 3 vials of antitoxin, and a fine silver necklace etched with the holy symbol of Shelyn.
*
Cracked, river-green tiles cover the walls and floors of this communal shower in wavering patterns. Dry metal spouts jut from several walls, overlooking grates in the tile floor. A sizable portion of the floor drops into a shallow pool, filled with something other than water: a vile stew of corpses and blood. The smell of rot and copper fills the air in this room. Three alcoves, providing minimal privacy, run along the south wall. In the center, a simple chair has been transformed into a gruesome throne covered with draped viscera and gnawed bones.
Ven cautiously breaks the man's chains and frees the dogs. He pockets the antitoxins and the holy symbol. "We can heal him once we have rested. Speaking of which, I suggest we rest now to regain our resources. This room seems as defensible as any other."
He holds his hand out to the dog and attempts to befriend it with scraps of food.
As soon as its free of the cage, the dog yips and licks Ven affectionately. It follows him around, sniffing and eyeing things hungrily.
The man groans in his sleep, but does not awaken. You can see his eyes twitching erratically from behind closed lids.
"Crazy dream stuff going on? I'm not sleeping anywhere away from relative safety. We either press on or head back. Maybe drag that man with us. Can we get past the apostles, you think, with him?" Aenian also eyes the dog sideline, unsure of it.
Winter nods, "Getting around to the chapel is a trek... though its just through that rubble," she adds, pointing to the southern collapse. "Doctor Elbourne seems friendly enough, but do we risk spending time among Zandalus's followers?"
Ven shrugs, "Good point on the nightmares. Let's cross the rubble and head back to the chapel then. We're too depleted on resources to press on."
Ven motions to the unconscious man. "Let's carry him back."
"We could spend a few hours clearing the rubble ... may be worth our while."
"She won't like it, but I can get Autumn to help," Winter offers. "If there were a way to get ahold of Vaustin, he could muster aid from the far side."
Ven looks at the pile of rubble, "Do we have to clear it to get through? If not, let's not waste the time."
"It's not a waste of time if we avoid the apostles from here on out. And if we need to fight them, we can bring helpful to flank. "
You begin the arduous task of clearing a hole through the debris, rotating work and watches. Winter summons Autumn and keeps watch while the phantasm begrudgingly helps move rocks. Autumn channels her anger into the work, and you are surprised by her sheer strength. The task is dirty, dusty, and occasionally loud as larger chunks of rubble roll down and smaller sections collapse beneath your work.
After seven exhausting hours, you finally see air from the far side. Your mostly-stable crawlspace opens up near where you encountered the crawling corpse pieces.
Aenian wipes his brow, exhausted, "Come on, let's go crash!"
He crawls through the mess.
Ven follows dragging the unconscious man and with the dog in tow.
With a way through the rubble, you return to the chapel, dirty and exhausted. Winter recalls Autumn within her before you approach the barricade and any of the other survivors can witness the phantasm. Once inside the chapel, she takes the unconscious man to a clear spot and sees to his health. The mutt stays close to Ven, nervous and never more than a few feet from his shadow.
As you sleep, your dreams are a formless miasma of yellow fog, closing in relentlessly, leaving you with a feeling of lingering dread when you wake. A violent tremor breaks your rest abruptly, filling the air with dust and frightened cries.
Ven wakes with a start. He quickly scans around to see if the ceiling is going to come crashing down. "Is everyone ok?"
He walks around to see if anyone needs help.
Ven checks around the chapel, getting nods of gratitude. No one appears hurt, and after a minute things settle.
Until he nears the now-conscious man you rescued from the ghouls. As soon as he sees Ven's mutt, his eyes widen in horror. He starts backing away, against the wall and points. "That's no dog!" he cries.
Aenian leaps up, whipping out Red Destiny in a flash, his paranoia latching on to the man's cry. He crouches low and approaches the dog cautiously.
"What makes you say that?" He asks the man, never taking his eyes off the dog.
Ven motions for Aenian to stay his blade. "Yes, tell us what you know. And tells us about yourself while you're at it."
Ven hones in on frightened man, looking away from the real danger before its too late. You hear a chorus of gasps and screams, and a gurgling voice, Yes, feed on your delicious fear!
The "dog" is now a hideous abomination, with its stout canine torso suspended by a long, wormlike body. Disgusting veins dangle from its face, and its tongue is like a twisting, elongated tentacle.
You recover from the shock quickly.
Ven summons his dark half and then levels a finger at the beast and fires a magic missile. "That's a very bad dog."
; +1 bleed
; using one inspiration (gain any weakness info at 10 over the roll?)
"An esipil, it is deserving of immediate extinction"
Aenian, never taking his eyes off the beast leaps to the attack before it can react.
You react before the monster can pounce on Ven, stabbing and then blasting it with magic. It collapses to the ground with a gurgling rattle.
The surprised and terrified cries subside after a few moments, becoming cheers and expressions of thanks from the chapel survivors.
Ven sighs, "It seemed like such a nice dog."
He searches the dead esipil for anything of value and then helps the others drag it off to the side.
Ven then turns back to the man. "Sir, I would still like to know your story. What can you tell us of the area where we found you?"
The man shakes his head, sighing sadly, "My name is Ilki Volost. I owe you my life, whatever little that its worth. Those ghouls grabbed me a few days ago. They were starving me, their leader was running some kind of experiment... or they were just leaving me to eat later, I don't know." He shudders at the thought. "I was strung up for days, so I can't tell you much, but I know there was something in the tower the ghouls were scared of. I can't say what though."