Shirrin backs away from the swarm, still holding the dagger, but NOT menacing anybody directly.
"I saw all of you in my dream. At least, I dreamed that I saw you. Who ARE all you people? Where are we? Does anybody have ANY idea what the heck is going on?"
Malugar sighs in relief, realizing just how tense his entire body has been. He closes his eyes and relaxes his shoulders, trying to calm his nerves and comprehend the situation. What is this place, how did he end up here as a naked prisoner, and who are these others?
His thoughts melt into one another, just as his rats, who slowly meld together in a mass of twisted, bloody fur, until a single rat is left in their place. Toothy perches atop the disemboweled remains of the nurse creature, licking his red, sticky paws lustily. With a self-satisfied chitter, he lumbers lazily across the floor, his belly full, places a paw on Malugar's bare foot, looking up at him with expectation. The half-orc lowers his hand and scoops up the filthy rat, transferring the critter to his right shoulder. "...G-good boy," he manages weakly.
He knows he should be disgusted, horror stricken by the rat. But, strangely, he's filled with a an unexpected pride.
What sort of creature am I?
"You dreamt it too?" He asks, his voice trembling. "The yellow mist, the strange city streets and alleys. The, the...thing that lurked..."
"I don't know what's going on. I can't remember anything, even my own name, much less what I'm doing here with you. This looks to be a prison? Some medical laboratory? Whatever it is, that creature was not normal."
And neither am I.
"Do any of you remember anything?" He looks hopefully toward the remaining male and female human.
His eyes fall on the naked female. It's clear she is the most vulnerable, the most afraid. But also powerful. He had seen her use some kind of magic. There was nothing stopping her from using it on them if she felt the need.
"Don't worry lady, I'm not gonna hurt ya. We're not going to hurt ya."
"What... What was that?" Amalthia exclaims, pointing at the crazed nurse. "Oh, Desna have mercy... She wasn't human!"
Amalthia paces back and forth for a while, naked and terrified.
She shakes her head and turns back to Shirren at his words. "You... dreamed... I. I dreamed of all of you as well and something... dark. Something terrifying! What was...?"
Amalthia looks confused for a while, clearly trying to sort things out in her head.
"I don't remember anything. I don't... I can't... How did we get here? Why are we here? Do you know?" She looks at the others, each in turn. "Do any of you know?"
Eyeing the rat nervously, Amalthia asks Malugar, "That... that thing is yours?"
At Malugar's words she looks uncomfortable. "If you don't know who you are you don't know what you're capable of doing... And neither do I." She shakes her head and looks at her hands nervously. "Of course... The same thing could be said about me. About all of us..."
Suddenly her voice gets a steely resolve. "We need to get out of here."
Ragnar listens to the others his brow furrowing. He had hoped they might know something. He saw them too but lost track of them and now they were here, he had hoped they could tell him what happened and who he was.
He begins removing the tunic from the 'nurse' and offers it to Amalthia. "It's not much but if you'd feel less awkward with it..." The sentence trails off and he clears his throat. "I remember it too, I lost track of ye and couldn't protect ye from that thing."
Looking grimly at the mutilated man's corpse he speaks "We do, and since we have little else to go on I think we need to stick together until we can figure some of this out. There might be more creatures like that nurse that might try and stop us."
Amalthia suddenly remembers she's naked. Her eyes widen and she takes the torn up clothes from Ragnar, quickly putting them on.
"Thank you," she tells him.
Amalthia thinks on Ragnar's offer. Eventually she nods. "Yes," she replies hesitantly. "Together."
The chamber the party finds themselves is clearly underground somewhere. In addition to the two cells the party were placed in, an additional cell was in the north wall. The wall curved around the south, blocking sight to another part of the room
A small hallway lead out of the room to the east. A sack lay forgotten in the corner of the room by the hallway leading out. A small pile of rubble from a collapsed ceiling blocked off the western portion of the room.
"yes, we definitely need to stick together. Everybody, you'd better arm yourselves as best you can.
Now is definitely not the time, but I think that I may be able to help us retrieve our memories later. At least, I think that I can do that. Its hard to concentrate, its hard to be sure. I don't know how that I know, but I'm sure that I can sometimes get access to more information than most people can. I'm very good at putting things together. At seeing if you're a good person or not.
Lets all give ourselves names so that we can at least talk without pointing. I feel like I'm a George. You can all call me George"
Malugar reflexively turns away as the woman dresses. He isn't sure why, but it seems, well, polite. The notion of etiquette seems odds with his monstrous rat.
"That thing is yours?"
He considers the plump rat clinging to his neck and shoulder. It ignores everyone, cleaning its head and ears with his little clawed hands.
"I think so..." He remembers his dream, and finding rat bones in a pocket. "Yes, he's mine." He concludes with conviction. "He won't harm anyone, unless I ask him to." He hopes that's true, anyway.
He nods when the others agree to stick together. "Good. Since we've got no idea what this place is, or how we've come to share cells and dreams, our best chance of escape is working together."
He can feel still the magic within him. Does he know how to use it?
He knew how to help the man with the dagger. He can try it again. He closes his eyes and tries to concentrate, the smell of wet, rich soil filling his nostrils. He opens his eyes and smiles.
Carefully, he looks into the remaining cell, then peeks around to the south to the hidden part of the room.
"Your welcome." Ragnar looks away and listens to Shirrin. "You can call me Victor I guess."
He looks around towards the corner. "We should check here first. There might be someone else in another cell still knocked out. I don't see any reason to leave anyone in this place."
He glances at the rat on his shoulder. "I think I've got a weapon."
"A name..." He struggles to recall what he might have called himself. He's orcish. Sort of green. He has a rat. He thinks he likes other animals as well. "Call me Toad."
"My name is Am... Am... I can't recall the rest... Amy, maybe?" She scrunches up her nose in distaste. "That's not quite right... But it will do. You may call me Amy."
Amalthia examines the tray of tools. Eventually she shakes her head. "These don't feel right to me. I feel like I don't... need anything." She moves away from the tools without taking any.
Amalthia looks at the dead man and the dead nurse, curious if they stir up any memories.
Around the corner, Malugar found a long dead furnace, its four-foot-square entrance standing open. A grizzly pile of burned clothes and charred bones lay scattered just beside and within the furnace itself. Many of the bones were humanoid, from at least half a dozen bodies. Looking up, Malugar spotted a small exit via a particularly wide vent in the ceiling, though the vent was still too small to fit anyone of his size comfortably. Buried among the remains of so many bodies lay weapons, armour and various gear that seemed oddly familiar to Malugar and the others. In addition, a small viola, that was remarkably undamaged but missing its bow, lay in the pile of refuse.
Nothing was to be found in the other cell in the room. Amalthia could gather nothing from the dead man or nurse, though both had been so brutaily attacked that little of them remained but flesh and blood. The nature of the nurse still eluded her. On closer expection, the nurse appeared to have pale skin that looked grey in the torchlight, was completely hairless, and had pupilless white eyes. Of the dead man, it was only clear he had been tortured for some time before the nurse murdered him.
After putting on his equipment, "George" looks around seeing if he can find ANY other exits from the cells or this room.
Amalthia wanders over to the furnace. She gasps at the sight of the charred bodies and bones. Then something catches her eye...
Amalthia digs her hands into the remains and pulls out a silver necklace with a butterfly charm. She wipes the soot off the necklace and holds it up. "This is... mine. Praise Desna," she intones, locking the necklace around her neck. She digs back into the pile, pulling out a grooming kit in a red satin bag, now smeared with soot and stinky. She opens it up to find her combs, brushed and a vial with a clear liquid inside. She gets up to leave but stops.
These were in my dream... There was something else. Something more important I had... What was it? Driven back to the pile, Amalthia digs around in the bodies some more until she comes out with a simple silver wedding band.
"I... I was... married?" Amalthia breathes. "I can't... Oh, gods! I can't remember my husband's face! I can't remember anything!" Tears well up in her eyes and she sobs for a minute.
Eventually Amalthia slips the ring onto her finger, wipes her eyes and stands. She tucks the potion back into the smeared satin grooming kit and turns to the group.
"Apologies. I'm fine now. I'll BE fine now. I won't slow you down."
"No apologies are necessary. We're all very, very confused right now and just trying to manage. I know that I'm only barely holding it together myself."
'Victor' picks up a holy symbol of Saranrae and starts cleaning some smudges of soot from it before donning his armour and picking up his shield and scimitar. He looks a little guiltily at the holy symbol before saying a quick prayer and putting it around his neck.
'Victor' clears his throat. "Hopefully with time our memories can be healed but it is clear there is more at work here. That creature could not have felled so many by itself and still remained hale and hearty."
The only other exit to the cells, aside from the large vents in the furnace, was the hallway leading to the east out of the torture chamber.
"Lets get out of here. No way out this way, I think that we have to take the hallway. Victor, you seem pretty heavily armoured. Are you willing to lead the way?"
"Only seems sensible given the circumstances. If that thing had allies I'm glad I've got this now. Perhaps some kind of cultists... or some Chellish influences?"
Toad takes in the chamber quickly, his gaze darting over the crumbled wall, the cracked foundation, the pile of equipment, the furnace. The furnace.
It is significant for him, somehow, but he can't put it into words exactly how.
He tiptoes over toward the pile and kicks the items around a bit with his foot. "There are some useful items here. Some that might do us some good." First he finds some worn patient garb, dirty and torn. Then he finds a sling, its cup and leather straps in tact. He wraps that loosely over his shoulder. Then he picks up a suit of hide armor, its chestpiece old and worn, with severe claw marks scarring its surface. Whoever had worn it had clearly faced some trials. Maybe they're in that furnace now.
He pulls the armor over his head, drawing the straps tight, then loosening them a bit. He turns to look for a mirror, and a gleam by the wall catches his eye. An enormous, macabre axe rests serenely against the stonework. Its crooked, gnarled ashwood handle snakes up the wall as its long blade curves wickedly to culminate in a razor tip.
He lifts the weapon, surprised by how natural it feels in his grip. He spins around, cutting the air in a long, graceful slash. It feels too familiar, like it would be wrong to remember. He hefts it over his shoulder, the one unoccupied by a rat. He's determined now. "Lead the way."
Once everyone seems ready 'Victor' will move to open the mysterious door to see what mysterious will be answered by opening it or what horrors revealed. There had been nothing but grizzly sights so far and he doubted things were going to be any cheerier on the other side of the room.
With a degree of trepidation he began putting his sword in his scabbard he held the shield ready and opened the door.
Amalthia picks up the viola from the pile and looks at it, unsure if it should seem familiar.
From there, Amalthia examines the rubble pile.
---
---
After searching the area, Amalthia falls into step behind the others, ready to move on down the hallway.
Inside the viola, Amalthia found a tiny scroll of parchment that read "Auseil" . She also found a small backpack. Though the fabric was tattered and torn in places, it seemed safe enough to store thing inside. Nothing of use could be found in the cupboards.
Opening the door lead to a small cellar and wall of flies. A small chute extended halfway down the north wall, under which was piled more than a dozen mutilated humanoid bodies. All have clearly been dead for days, with some in advance stages of decay. The stench is nearly unbearable, clearly having been blocked from the prison by the door in the hall. A set of stairs run up the wall to a door set high in the wall, but it had collapsed and was of no use to anyone, least of all the current inhabitants of the room. The rocks from the stairs are too low to be of any use either, leaving only the chute as a means of escape from the room. The bodies are piled in just the right way to lead up to the chute entrance.
What have ya got there? he asks Amy.
The sweet smell of decay is awful, so cloying he can taste it in his mouth and feel the burn of it in his eyes. The buzz of the flies creates a steady thrum, a musical accompaniment to the gore.
It makes him feel nostalgic, and isn't entirely unpleasant.
With the flat side of his axe he tries to examine the pile of bodies, searching for the cause of death.
Well, it looks like our options are squeezing through a furnace vent, or shimmying up a corpse chute...
It's hard to tell much from the bodies, given their state of decay, but looking over them Malugar is able to determine there were multiple causes of deaths, from stab or slashing wounds of bladed weapons, to crushed skulls of blunt weapons, to long claw marks and bite marks of animals. About half of the bodies were dressed in once white, now very much soiled, uniform that buttoned up at the front, identical to the one the monstrous nurse wore under its apron. The others were either naked, or wore loose gowns of a paper-like material.
George realizes that he is no stranger to dead bodies. Not a killer, he thinks (hopes?) but he has examined them in the past.
"I don't know what happened here, but it looks like it may be mostly over.
Some of the people wearing that uniform look like victims. We need to be very careful when we make it upstairs. Anybody in uniform could be a monster. Or an innocent.
Great choice, huh? I think that I vote for the corpse chute. At least we'll be a LITTLE less vulnerable coming out.
Can you possibly send the rat to scout ahead? Is that something it does?"
"Hmm," Toad turns his head to appraise the rat perched on his shoulder. It sniffs at his hair and paws through it, searching for fleas. "He seems pretty obedient. Rat, er, Toothy, let's call 'em that. Toothy, can you run up that chute and back down, boy?" He places Toothy on the ledge of the chute and points. He places a finger on the rat, guiding him on the path.
"If anyone has any rope maybe we can make some kind of make shift grappling hook and use them to help us get up the chute. It's clearly not meant to be climbed up and I do not relish the idea of accidentally sliding down." This place was foul and the body count kept rising, these monsters had killed many people with varied means, a dangerous foe.
Toothy jumped up from Toad's shoulder and quickly scampered up the body pile, up the chute and out of sight.
gm rolls
As his friend climbed the chute, Malugar first felt a thrill of excitment, a sense of exploration or discovery at finding new places. Soon, that excitement soured, and turned to anxiety and the slightest hint of fear. While he there was nothing alive or overtly threatening in the immediate area, something about the space upstairs set poorly with Toothy. He felt...watched . He was only too happy to turn and scamper down the
It seems to be clear, Toad explains, But Toothy feels like he was being watched. There might be something hiding up there.
"Best if I go first then I guess." Ragnar looks at the chute grimly and then at the pile of bodies before grimacing and trying to climb up onto them to get to the chute.
"Good luck. We'll be right behind you."
Toad nods and uses his axe as an aide to climb up the pile of bodies, trying not to look them in the eye. His foot sinks into someone particularly ripe and he grimace but continues on.
What have ya got there? he asks Amy.
"It's a note," Amalthia replies, holding out the rolled up piece of parchment to Malugar. "It says 'Auseil.' I found it in the viola." She eyes the paper and the viola for a while before eventually pointing out, "I don't think either is mine." She puts it in her backpack anyway.
---
If the others make it through the climb, Amalthia follows. She eyes the pile of bodies with a look of sadness but as she puts her first step on them her face turns into a look of complete disgust.
"Ewww! Eww, eww, eww, eww!" she exclaims.
She freezes in place, takes a deep breath, "Oh, Desna give me strength! This is disgusting!"
Finally she scurries up the pile of bodies as fast as she can, exclaiming 'eww' the entire way.
---
gm rolls
One by one the group emerged from the chute into a small building. A single door to the south was the only exit and feature to this barren room.
Shirrin whispers to the others
"Well, that was extremely, extremely unpleasant. Do any of you possibly have magic to wash that filth from us?"
Shirrin looks around the room and then heads to the door at the south and sees if he can hear anything.
Shirrin does not find anything in the room. Outside he hears a crash of thunder and the sound of rain
"I don't think I play the viola," Toad replies to Amy, trying to determine which end of the instrument is "up."
After he's made it through the chute and into the upper level's room, he crawls to his feet. He shakes his head in response to George's question. In truth, the filth wasn't so bad...
He raises his hand and sweeps the room, trying to determine the presence of magical auras. He keeps his other hand tight on the handle of his axe.
'Victor' raises the holy symbol and sees if he can get any kind of a magical feeling but finds no benefit. He sighs and shakes his head. "I don't think so, but it was worth a shot."
'Victor' moves to open the door and is halfway to reaching for the handle when he pauses. "Traps. What if there are traps? That thing seemed cruel."
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Suddenly brightened at the idea of magical cleaning, Amalthia waves her hands at Shirren, but nothing happens. She tries again, muttering strange words for good measure, but still nothing happens.
"Damn." she remarks. She wipes her filthy hands on her cloak and then looks around.
The room continues to be featureless, having no residue of magical or items of note.
'Victor' looks at the door and is extremely confident there are no traps and opens the door slowly a shield in his other hand. He seems to be focusing on the situation as a tactical problem rather than pondering the mystery of the thing. Hopefully they could find some sage who could fix or at least explain what has happened to them.
Malugar utters a word and peeks through the door. If the cost appears clear, he steps through, trying to be quiet.
Wary at mention of the word 'traps' Amalthia hangs back until Toad and Victor are though the door safely before following them.
Arrow on bowstring, ready to shoot at anything obviously hostile, Shirrin also advances.
The door opened to a courtyard. Trampled flowerbeds and withered trees lined the the muddy ground. Foreboding grey walls stretched up on all sides opening to the sunless sky. A strange, warm rain pelted the ground and the unmistakable crash of thunder reverberates through the night sky. High above the building, a sickly yellow fog swirls through the air. In breaking nearly every natural law known to man, the fog seemed content to stay a set distance above the building; never lowering into the courtyard, but close enough to make travel over the walls without entering the fog impossible
gm roll
The rain is so thick it makes it hard to see much in the courtyard, however a few features could be spotted. In the north end, a collapsed shed sat ruined. In fact, the entire northern wall had collapsed, making travel in that direction impossible. The only other door out of the courtyard was a small door to the east.
Looking around, Toad spotted thick tracks and scabby stains through the mud leading from the door to the east up to the building with the chute the party just exited.
Toad cringes at the yellow fog, and even Toothy cowers behind his shoulder. "That's impossible. It's like the dream." Now he begins to doubt whether it was a dream at all, or whether he's even woken. He pinches himself, praying he wakes somewhere safe. No such luck.
"And look there. Tracks leading from that doorway to where we've come from. Did someone drag themselves, or others, who'd been injured? This could be from the bodies we've found, or even that creature in the nurse's uniform. I just don't know."
Feeling dejected, he looks toward the eastern door. "But I guess that way is our only immediate option, unless someone wants to brave the rain and fog?"
Toad looks for a pebble or piece of debris which he could try to toss over the wall. He avoids the rain as best he can. He desires it, craves it in a way. But something about the rain scares him.
Amalthia lets out a shriek of terror at the sight of the fog, before slapping her hand over her own mouth to silence herself. Slowly she lowers her hand.
"It's... impossible!" She grips her butterfly necklace firmly in her filthy fingers and mutters quietly, "Desna protect me."
Amalthia looks at the tracks with worry. She looks nervous and afraid. At mention of entering the yellow fog she shakes her head. "No!"
She eyes the door, then the collapsed shed. "There might be something we can use in the remains of that shed." she suggests, moving towards the rubble with shaking hands and hesitant steps.
"Your dream also had the yellow fog? Maybe it wasn't a dream. Well, except the part where I was killed."
George suddenly stops speaking and his face turns ashen
"Unless it was a vision of the future. I think I get them sometimes. Maybe a very near future?"
"Well, at least nobody is attacking us yet. That is a bonus. I don't think I can climb that wall so the door seems the best choice to me. Well, least bad is probably more accurate"