"Sorry." The small creature says. "I wasn't... ready... for those things..."
He takes the necklace and, oddly enough, the manacles. "Next time, I will do better!"
Aww man! Roasted centipede would have been tasty!
”Well, that could have went worse. Nice job with all the smashing. One thing has been bothering me, though. Exactly how many of those doppelgängers must there be here, if we have been told to present at least four of them to the tribe back there? Where in the world are we,” the man asks glumly.
I have no idea, just what were we doing in those cells anyway?
”I’ve not quite worked through that either. I don’t feel like I was a bad guy, but I’m honestly not sure.”
"The man did say we were someplace called Briarstone Asylum. Perhaps we're all mad?" Domeric suggested absently, "Either way, there's no doppelgangers here that I can see. Where to now?"
Well a doppleganger WOULD say that! Maybe YOU are the doppleganger!
"Aye, and maybe you're a doppelganger. Might be any of us is a doppelganger. And yet, here we all are, having taken part in already killing one doppelganger, and trying to kill some more. Seems an odd thing for a doppelganger to go along with, instead of simply killing us in the cells when it would have been easier. Certainly, I doubt there's anything it could gain from covertly accompanying individuals who do not even know their own pasts. Regardless, as doppelgangers presumably use magic to disguise themselves, I'd expect that anyone present with a Detect Magic spell can rather easily determine whether an individual is a doppelganger," Domeric observed.
From your previous encounter you note that Doppelgangers bleed purple.
What/where next
Trevor points northwards to B-11 That way
At Domeric's words Akukho whispers something incomprehensible and then peers carefully at each of his companions.
"No-one magical. You are not doppelgangers." He seems reasonably satisfied by this conclusion. "Maybe we in cells because we are sick?" He asks, following Trevor northwards.
[i] Trevor you open the door. The walls between the hall and this office have largely collapsed, exposing debris-cluttered desks, toppled lockers, and several bodies that almost look human. A doctor, with his back to you appears to be examining the bodies and taking strips of skin from various bodies and lying them side by side.[i]
Trevor looks at the others and draws a finger across his throat.
Atajay pulls an arrow quietly, waiting for the doctor to notice the group.
Domeric waits as well, weapons ready.
*Ahem*
The creature turns round and you can see it is another doppleganger
Ah good, more subjects for my experiments
it moves forward to attack.
Initiative order
Domeric 24
Chakam 20
Atajay 19
Akhuko 16
Trevor 16
Doppleganger 9
Domeric your action
Atajay fires his bow at the doppelgänger.
Attack with PBS and Precise Shot
Damage
Once again, a frenzied song erupts around Domeric, as he steps five feet back from the enemy.
Trevor steps up and smashes!
Atajay your arrow strike the creature, causing it to howl in annoyance.
Trevor you charge forward, smashing into the doppleganger, it reels under the power of your blow but it is still there.
Akhuko your action.
Akukho snaps his fingers and sends a ray of frost across the room at the doppelganger.
Cold air and icy particles hit the creature.
The Doppleganger moves forward and attacks Trevor
Claw (1d20 = 16 + 8) = 24 Damage (1d8 =5 +4) = 9
Domeric your action
Ow! Mommy!
Maintaining his song, Domeric attacks with his starknives.
Attack:
Damage:
Attack:
Damage:
Domeric your first attack misses, your second attack hits the creature, biting deep into its flesh.
Atajay back to you.
Atajay continues to fire his bow at the doppelgänger, inspired by his friend’s bolstering words.
Attack with PBS and Precise Shot, IC
Damage
Atajay, your arrow just bounces off its hide.
Akhuko back to you.
Akukho fires off another ray of frost, with reasonable accuracy...
Have hope, men! Another enemy will fall at our feet today. - says the Paladin, as he advances with his greatsword, letting the weapon fall against the creature's flesh.
Akhuko your ray strikes the creature and it falls.
Apart from the one you just killed there are 2 Doppleganger bodies in this room. It appears that the creature was taking small sections of skin from human and doppleganger corpses, lying them side by side and comparing them. There is also a wooden holy symbol, a small steel mirror, a pair of gaudy red leather boots with cat skin lining (worth 20gp) and a masterwork silver dagger
"Well, I count three dead dopplegangers here, that, plus the one from earlier, makes four. Sounds like we've got enough corpses to satisfy those gentlemen from earlier," Domeric said, scanning the room with Detect Magic, just in case.
It is a holy symbol of Pharasma
Akukho moves quietly around the room and gathers up the various useful items, his small stature and limited strength means he is no use at carrying bodies - but he can help by carry the smaller goods!
"We should get back then - I don't like being aus der Kamp." He says, slipping through languages for a moment.
Trevor hefts a body.
Chakam helps pulling the bodies back to the group they saw earlier.
Atajay falls in and helps tote a body as well. ”That was easier than I had hoped,” he whispered to the others. Maybe this group can tell us more about this place, or more about us...assuming they let us in.”
Domeric helps move the bodies as they head back.
You arrive at the barricade with the 3 bodies. The guard captain allows you in and personally escorts you. You are taken to a chapel. Improvised pallets are clustered beneath sculpted divinities, and cooking fires bun beneath cracked windows in this chapel. Panes of violet and blue stained glass form spiralling patterns between prison like bars, while dozens of candles flicker from modest alcove shrines.
You are taken to a young black haired woman who appears to be in charge, she is introduced to you as Winter Klazcka
”Hello Winter. I’d introduce myself, but I have no clue who I am. Seems to be the case for all of us. Can you tell us anything about this place, or about us? How did we get here, for instance? And who are all of you? And what was that yellow smoke outside the building?”
You are in Briarstone Asylum. It's a hospice stuck on a rock sitting in the Danver River- a covenient place to forget inconvenient people.
It's a sanitarium. The doctors here endeavoured to treat and learn more about diseases of the mind. Briarstone wasn't a renowned institution, but it was far from the torture pits common folk often make asylums out to be.
I am as sister of Maiden's Choice Cathedral in Caliphas. My associates and I were helping a Royal Accuser investigate strangeness in Thrushmoor.
It's as if the outside world has turned against us. I don't know if its just Briarstone Isle or if its the whole world, but the hospice is surrounded by some repulsive vapour. Worse, the weather beyond is like nothing I've ever seen-thunder like laughter, rain like blood. And that's to say nothing of the shapes that scamper and flap within, vague forms that know when we sleep. Things are terrible here, but at least we can see doom coming.
I don't know why you were sent here. You wouldn't be the first ones to lose a piece of themselves here. If you were patients there must be some record of why you were comitted.
”And where might one find these records? Or, barring that, how do we get out of here?” Domeric asked.
I am not sure where the records would be kept, I had only just arrived when things all went to hell. As for getting out I am also not sure, certainly through the front door would seem to be suicide at present, the key to escaping must be somewhere within the asylum, however my duties here prevent me from searching it out.
”Your duties? What were you folks investigating here, that’s more important than getting out?” Domeric asked.
The Royal Accusers have a long, complicated relationship with the royal cathedral, but generally when they call, we assist as we can. In this instance, I believe my experience as a healer is useful. And so I and my companions help the patients who are still here with healing, providing them with food, warmth and protection. If I left to find a way out without them they would be unable to fend for themselves, and so here I stay.
”A noble enough cause, I suppose,” Domeric said, ”Though, I doubt you can afford to stay here forever.”
He looked to the rest of the party, ”Perhaps, then, it would be best if we try to find the exit ourselves, and return here once we have it?” he suggested.
”I think we have to find our records to shed more light on our circumstances before we leave here. Then, like you said, we could get everyone and get out of this place.”
Akukho just nods, looking around the room at the various people and their activities.
"Why is everyone hier?" He asks.
I think I need a rest, I am rather battered from all the fighting and confusion. Then we can try to find these books that will tell us who we are.
You are welcome to rest in the chapel, just beware of the door to the east