"Pardon me, ma'am, but I'm quite certain that creature had you under his magic spell. I sensed an aura of enchantment on your person... and fey creatures such as Ilquis are widely known to beguile even the savviest of mortals. I assure you, we are dead-set on discovering the origin of this disease, and quenching it for good. Can you remember what tasks Ilquis was having you perform? They may give us some clues as to how we can purge this vile sickness from the town."
Luke glances at Medraut, hoping to notice whether his magical detection has picked up any auras remaining in the room, especially on Fane and Oana.
Oana just stares blankly at Luke, obviously not understanding what the cleric is talking about. She opens her mouth a couple of times to say something, but for now remains speechless. Instead she turns around to help Fane back on his feet.
Lorzub stands over by the door, knowing that his presence is not necessarily the most comforting. He just keeps an eye for any quick moves.
"Please," Adalieh says quietly, walking up to Oana, letting the sting of benevolence wash over the woman. "We're here to help. Tell us everything you know."
"We're friends," she continues her voice solemn yet kind. "We were asked by the Lady Anya to investigate the strange happenings in town. Please. Aid us. Tell us about Baron Boroi, about his Lady Wife, about the sickness, the fetchlings. What is going on here? What do you know?"
Pulling Luke aside, Medraut whispers softly - "It is my belief they are still under some sort of enchantment magic - if they consider Ilquis their friend it may be useful to use a parallel approach, as if we ourselves mean no harm to the wretch..."
Oana stares blankly at Corso, raising an eyebrow. "Wha..?" She then turns to Adalieh and says "Listen, I appreciate you taking an interest in our troubles here. But we really don't know what's going on and Ilquis was our last hope! That's why the Baron hired him to work his magic here. I don't know why you would bring the Lady in, she never did nothing to nobody. I'm sure those damn fetchlings have some hand in this but Ilquis apparently didn't think so. He was preparing some kind of ritual. For 'cleansing' he called it. We have the first lucky ones right there!" She points to the large vats in the back of the room. "They never got sick with this strange plague. So it works!" Fane just nods while his companion talks, rubbing his arm and bruised chin. "But now you spooked him and we're lost!"
Luke searches the room for anything else of interest, and then begins opening the three doors on the right wall.
Lorzub peers around curiously from his post at the door. Still seeing how delicate the situation was he chose not to draw a lot of attention to himself. He would continue to watch Oana and Fane like a hawk.
Luke checks the two bodies in the closet, searching for signs of life.
Luke calls from the closet, "These men appear to have been sacrificed! Adalieh, perhaps you could learn something more about what was done to them?"
Lighting a torch, he carefully examines the nooks and crannies of the closet.
Luke then walks over to the vats.
"Thank the gods these poor wretches are still alive! Let's extricate them from these vats and see if we can awaken them."
With that, Luke pulls out a dagger and begins to gingerly carve the wax off the bodies in order to lift them out of the vats, starting with the young girl.
Luke talks back to Corso in a low voice, "If the fey beast was truly working to stop the plague, why did he attack us after we offered to help? Why would he have ensorcelled Fane and Oana? No, there is something dark at play here..."
Adalieh glances over at Luke, her eyes lowered with a sigh on her lips. She walks over to Luke as he presents the corpses. She kneels next to the bodies and examines them carefully.
Luke chips away at the wax encasing the young girl, making little but steady progress.
Oana stares blankly at Corso, raising an eyebrow. "Wha..?" She then turns to Adalieh and says "Listen, I appreciate you taking an interest in our troubles here. But we really don't know what's going on and Ilquis was our last hope! That's why the Baron hired him to work his magic here. I don't know why you would bring the Lady in, she never did nothing to nobody. I'm sure those damn fetchlings have some hand in this but Ilquis apparently didn't think so. He was preparing some kind of ritual. For 'cleansing' he called it. We have the first lucky ones right there!" She points to the large vats in the back of the room. "They never got sick with this strange plague. So it works!" Fane just nods while his companion talks, rubbing his arm and bruised chin. "But now you spooked him and we're lost!"
** spoiler omitted **
Medraut's analytical mind works furiously to correlate all the information gathered so far - he comments as much to himself as to the others:
"So, it seems we are receiving conflicting inputs, so some things clearly need clarification..."
Turning to Oana he asks: "What is exactly that Ilquis was supposed to assist you with - the removal of the so called curse that has been affecting the region, is this what you are talking about?"
After having taken a look at the corpses in the next room he adds disgusted - "And what about these poor murdered souls - were they being cleansed also, you fools?! You have two murdered ones in your closet and you talk to us about fetchling guilt?!"
"Killed by a brutal stab to the chest, the both of them," Adalieh mutters, leaving the bodies after her examination. "Likely a sacrifice of some sort..."
She rises from the ground and glances at Medraut's outburst, nodding in quiet agreement.
Watching the whole scene as it goes down, Lorzub grips his axe just a little tighter. He didn't think that these two would fight anymore, but he didn't want to be caught off guard. If they were capable of sacrificing these people, even under the influence of Ilquis, who knows what they are capable of?
"No...", Oana slowly produces when she sees the corpses in the closets. "That can't be Ilquis fault! He wouldn't do that, he's here to help! Oh Midnight Lord help me... That's Irini... and Neliana... and... Durvik... no, no, no, it can't be true!" She bursts into tears upon recognizing the victims and runs into Fane's arms. He comforts her and says gruffly, but with watery eyes: "You're lying! You stashed them there while we were out! Ilquis would never betray us like that! He's our friend!"
Meanwhile, Luke keeps hacking at the cold wax, painstakingly clearing inch by inch.
"Catalina?" Oana sobs and hurries towards the room next door, freezing in the doorway. "She... she's been sick for a while... we were working extra hard to find a cure for her... you... oh, dear Lord..." The devastated woman breaks down crying. Fane walks over to her, putting a consoling hand on her shoulder. "Darling, I think they have a point. Look at all this death around us. Irini and the others are already rotting. They couldn't have stashed them just a few moments ago." He turns towards the group. "Please, explain this to us. All we were trying to do, was help! And Ilquis came with the baron's authority! I don't know what exactly he was planning but it made perfect sense when he explained it to us. He told me to bring Delian, the butcher's son here for cleansing and so I did." He points to one of the vats. "Please tell us what's going on here!"
Without a sound the bright light in the large room suddenly winks out and the strange workshop is once again only illuminated by the dim light radiated by the furnace.
"It appears that the one you called Ilquis was secretly working on a dark ritual. Whether the baron knew about this work, I can't say. It was his wife who charged us with finding these missing townsfolk in the first place. We did notice the baron was acting strangely... perhaps he himself has been subverted by some dark magick. Whatever the case, we need to know more about facts before we can figure out how to end this plague for good." Luke reaches up to touch his medallion. "Tell us everything about how the baron introduced you to Ilquis, what he told you about this project, what Ilquis said and did when you were with him, and who else might be involved."
Fane takes on a puzzled expression, obviously struggling to keep up with Luke's explanations. "Well, the Baron never actually introduced us to Ilquis. Ilquis just said that he would come with his authority and we never questioned that. He was very convincing and why would you claim such a thing if it weren't true?
Ilquis told us to get some of the villagers here. Catalina had already helped for some time when we joined them a couple of days ago. I got Delian to come here and helped keep the furnace lit. Oana is much more nimble than me so she helped with the waxing.
I really don't know what it is exactly that Ilquis was going to do, all I know is that there wasn't a doubt in my mind that it's for the good of the town. And then you showed up."
Luke, still chipping away carefully at Olya's wax prison, says "Our first order of business should be freeing these poor souls from their entrapment. We must do what we can to revive them and restore them to their families."
Adalieh sighs heavily as Fane explains himself, shaking her head. She moves towards the exit. "I need fresh air. Call for me when you've cast off the wax."
She leaves without a second word.
She raises her elbow as she steps out into the open air, as Greywhisper descends and lands on her person.
"The Grey skies beckon, caw!"
"Yes, yes, Greywhisper," Adalieh says wearily, stroking down the bird's back. "Riddle me this, will you? What toil has struck this village?"
The bird cocks his head and looks at Adalieh, almost puzzled. She smiles and shakes her head. "Yeah, I know."
She gazes up at the sky.
The morning sky is grey and unfriendly. If you didn't know, it would be hard to tell what time of day it was in the depressing, diffuse light, attenuated by the thick, closed clouds.
Back in the cellar below the chandlery, the rest of the group works hard to free the captive townfolk. Fane tries his best to help while Oana is still drenched in tears and obviously on the verge of a complete breakdown.
It takes quite a while until the two men and the watch captain's daughter are cleared enough to pull them out of their paraffin prison. Carefully you lie them down on the floor, still unconscious.
"My blood boils at the foul play taking place here..."
Kneeling down next to Oana Medraut adds in an unusual soft tone - "Things will be set straigh. You can be sure of that..."
Luke examines the unconscious bodies, to see if there is any sign of damage.
"My energies are depleted from the fight, or I'd do my best to revive them. I'll go summon Adalieh to see if she can help these poor souls."
With that, Luke goes upstairs to find Adalieh.
Lorzub lightens up on the guard duty and offers his hand at helping carry any of the unconscious bodies. He backs up once they are placed, watching the others curiously.
Luke finds Adalieh outside the house, her gaze fixed on the sky.
Corso waits for the healers to return: "medraut, any trick up your sleeve to even the odds? He took on all of us without too much trouble..."
Medraut nods at Corso with a smile - "One thing I can guarantee you my friend - Ilquis will not be catching us offguard again. After pondering our last encounter, I would say that he does not present much of a threat, except for his invisibility" - his eyes narrowing, the wizard adds - "I will make sure to deny that advantage the next time we meet..."
"Adalieh, we've freed the missing persons from their wax prison, but my powers are sapped and I haven't been able to revive them. Perhaps you could lend your expertise?"
Medraut calls out to Corso as he finds the interesting objects, to assist him in carrying them outside, describing what he has found to everyone so they perhaps can put them to use.
Lorzub walks over and makes a grunt when he looks in the barrel. Patting his axe he smiles, "This is all that I need when it comes to weapons." Taking a second glance, he pulls out the masterwork chain shirt. "Now this is something I could use!" Holding it up to himself, he turns to Corso. "What do you think?"
Adalieh stirs as Luke calls for her. "Oh... I did not notice you there, Luke..."
She sighs and looks up at the wistful sky. "You wouldn't think it's morning, with this looming over us."
She shakes her head.
"I never thought this... catastrophe would greet me when I agreed to travel here. And yet here I stand, watching my...Watching my companions get flung onto death's doorstep by creatures of wax, shadows of dread and invisible terrors. I have yet to be harmed here. I am unwounded."
She turns to Luke, biting her lower lip. "So why does it hurt so much? I didn't care for the fetchlings when we arrived. Lady Anya was unharmed, so the village's superstitions and foolish fear... I wouldn't have cared if they did execute those fetchlings. It is none of my business. Yet watching this... this... wretched insanity play out, I can't stand it, Luke. I can't stand this."
She throws her arms out wide, and Greywhisper takes to the skies, croaking.
"No matter," she sighs, burying her face in her hands. She looks at Luke, handsome as he is, through her fingers. "Do you feel it, Luke? The... ache? The shadows? The lingering... that..."
She stifles a laugh, smiling solemnly. "You must think me mad."
"Whatever cannot be used by our group, we should find a way to convert into currency that can be applied in further provisioning us" - Medraut adds.
"Now... I am wondering where Ilquis could have gone off to - I don't think we can track him down..."
@Corso: "I have ways to magically outline and reveal invisible creatures - I will be better prepared next time we meet with him" - the wizard comments with a smile.