Garrosh grunts at Winter, then moves off to join up with Tolman - "Well met friend, I am Garrosh" - he introduces himself - "Had a friend... A long time ago... She taught me some things about food preservation and cooking" - the half-orc adds - "Mind if I give you a hand?"
Caraid sits down near the small boy and the harassed looking woman, pulls out his drawing materials and begins sketching, pointedly glancing up at the small boy every so often until the child notices and comes over to see what he's doing.
Garrosh manages to reduce the amount of wasted Turnips by getting Tolman to peel and not hack off chunks of turnip in an attempt to get the skin off. "Oh thanks," Tolman says gratefully. "You see, I don't really do the cooking much."He looks slightly bashful. "But I don't want to seem like shirking off duties, you know."
Garrosh also prevents another culinary disaster by sniffing at the bottle that Tolman was about to shake into the soup, finding that it was a bottle of clove powder and directs Tolman to the right condiments - black pepper.
Caraid begins to draw while looking at the thin your man but his divided attention causes his drawing to look like abstract art, and the young man is too busy trying to evade the matronly woman and pays him and his drawing no heed.
Rozalia moves to assist the matronly Naysa chase down the wayward child. "Perhaps I can try? I have some experience with handling unruly youths," she says with a glance at her own son.
She calls out in soft, friendly tones, trying to calm the boy down.
Loric explains to Rozalia, "You see, when I take my medicine, I don't get to hear my sister sing."
The matronly woman Naysa pulls Rozalia aside and whispers to her, "His sister has been dead for 10 years. He's been living with hallucinations all this time."
Roz nods to Naysa. She kneels beside Loric and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I understand. You may not be able to hear her singing here--" She touches the boy's head gently. "--but you'll always be able to hear her here." She touches his chest over his heart.
"You carry your loved ones with you wherever you go. No matter how far away they are, all you have to do is look into your heart to see and hear them again. I'm sure if your sister was here now, she'd want you to take your medicine so that you'll feel better. So, will you do it for her?"
Garrosh manages to reduce the amount of wasted Turnips by getting Tolman to peel and not hack off chunks of turnip in an attempt to get the skin off. "Oh thanks," Tolman says gratefully. "You see, I don't really do the cooking much."He looks slightly bashful. "But I don't want to seem like shirking off duties, you know."
"Understandable" - Garrosh nods - "In a situation such as this, after the earthquake and all, the most important thing is making yourself useful - and you are doing just that" - he comments - "No more can be asked. And if in the process we can at least cook up a decent soup well... Even better"
Piotr looks ashen at the conversation of the boy and Roz, mouth open and clammy.
"It Is Not The Same." Ann insists, but Piotr has his doubts. "Sounds the same" he mutters while chopping wood, through his strength into it but no focus.
"For one I am not dead! I was... UMFFF" a mental stamping of her foot in frustration "Why can't I remember!"
"We lost years it feels like, so you could be dead couldn't you?" he said softly, with plenty of worry.
Ann decides not to respond.
"She had the sweetest voice in the caravan and we both wanted to go to the Kitharodian Academy...then there was the flash flood that washed our dreams away..."Loric says sadly. "Even though its been a decade... I still miss her. Though there are other voices besides her that aren't so nice.."
"Laura, you'd want me not to hear the other voices, right? Those that tell me to do bad things," Loric seems to be speaking to empty air. "I'm sorry. Maybe one day I'll be able to block the others out, then I won't need to take the medicine." He then takes the medicine from Naysa and drinks it while wincing at the taste.
Garrosh manages to reduce the amount of wasted Turnips by getting Tolman to peel and not hack off chunks of turnip in an attempt to get the skin off. "Oh thanks," Tolman says gratefully. "You see, I don't really do the cooking much."He looks slightly bashful. "But I don't want to seem like shirking off duties, you know.""Understandable" - Garrosh nods - "In a situation such as this, after the earthquake and all, the most important thing is making yourself useful - and you are doing just that" - he comments - "No more can be asked. And if in the process we can at least cook up a decent soup well... Even better"
"I'm not sure how useful I am as a cook," Tolman mutters, "Considering I can't tell clove from black pepper."
Garrosh chuckles - "What was your occupation before all this?"
"You hear voices too?" Caraid asks, his interest piqued. "What do yours say? Mine keep showing me far away places and saying things I don't understand."
"I draw," Tolman answers. "I like drawing plants and animals, but it doesn't pay well for a living, so I turned to nursing."
"Well,there's an angry voice who tells me all humans are scum and wants me to go and make humanity pay," Loric replies, "Then there's a persistent voice that keeps telling me I am worthless and it should have been me and not Laura who died that day and my family found me a liability and left me here to rot," Loric continues, "Then there's a voice that just urges me to take drugs to escape from all..this."
"Then there are other voices, but they're not so vocal. I guess this is my personal purgatory for failing Laura that day," Loric says bitterly.
"But sometimes I hear Laura singing, then I think it's all worth while."
Piotr chops wood and listens to the boys, then sighs and moves over to them, kneeling down he admits "I hear my sister too. Like she's right here."
"I am!"
He places his hand of the boy's shoulder, and looks over to Caraid as well, "We'll work it out, together okay."
"I draw," Tolman answers. "I like drawing plants and animals, but it doesn't pay well for a living, so I turned to nursing."
"That is an amazing coincidence" - Garrosh shakes his head in disbelief - "That kid over there is called Caraid, next to the big man - he also loves drawing, and can do some amazing stuff from what I hear. You really should have a word with him" - he adds, going over some pots and pans.
"So what does your sister tell you?" Loric asks Piotr. "I only hear her sing..."
Desman goes over to Caraid, "Your friend Garrosh said you draw? I draw too!"
"Oh, hi." Caraid says with a smile. "Would you like some paper? I was trying to draw that man over there but I can't get it right somehow." He holds up his rather 'abstract' drawing. "I think I do better when I'm not drawing from life."
Roz smiles as her son makes a new friend. She moves to help Garrosh with the cooking. While far from a professional, the mother knows her way around a kitchen and serves as a competent sous chef.
"How is he doing?" - Garrosh nods at Rozalia, his eyes on Caraid - "We've been encountering some horrible things..."
"He seems to be okay. He's always been slightly...out of touch with reality... I don't think these terrors are able to affect him as much. I'll give thanks for small miracles."
"Yes please, could I have some paper?" Tolman asks Caraid politely. "I'll give it a shot," Tolman says as he picks up a piece of charcoal to draw with, creating a life-like portrait in monochrome of Loric, and also conveniently getting distracted so Garrosh has full reign over the turnip soup.
"Yeah drawing from life can be tricky since my subjects usually don't cooperate and fly off if they spot me drawing them," Tolman remarks.
During lunch, Winter takes a bowl of soup, then joins the party. "All right, I'll admit I've misjudged you, and you seem willing enough to help out."She takes a spoon of soup, "Decent enough. Right, Mr curious half-orc, the yellow fog arrived at the same time as the earthquake," her lips give a sardonic twist, "As if some dark power out there was conspiring against us. [b]" Now since most of us were busy running for our lives away from ghouls and doppelgangers, I doubt anyone had the energy to ponder on where it came from."
As if to accentuate her statement, there is a deafening peal of thunder from the outside.
"The good news about ghouls and doppelgangers is that they both die under a sword." Says Kilarra wickedly. "We should carve through them and retake the asylum."
"Do we really want to retake the place?" Piotr asks Kilarra "I mean, I don't feel like I really want to stay no matter what I'm hearing." he had talked to the kid for a while, relating jokes his sister was telling him, amending them when they became more adult that required.
Turning back to Winter "You mentioned trying to get to the front door. We could focus on clearing a path there and then we can all get out of here together."
”Some of the survivors reported they were attacked by robed patients who call themselves the Apostles in Orpiment. And they yelled “For Zandalus” before attacking.” Winter sighs, ”Getting to the entrance isn’t that easy,” Winter gestures at the party to follow, ”Come with me, I’ll show you what I mean.”
Winter leads the party to a wall covered with a large brown curtain that gives small sobs, then lifts the brown curtain. The hall ends just beyond the dingy curtain, but the wall here suffers some sort of otherworldly paratism. A mass of stringy yellow fungus stretches across the stone blocks. At its heart bulges and blinks a watery eye the size of a wagon wheel. ”This used to be a door leading to the entrance,” Winter remarks, ”But when we first got here trying to escape, we found our way blocked with this.”
”We tried hacking at it but it gave a horrible scream and started biting us,” Captain York says from the back, ”So to prevent any further accidents we covered it up with a curtain so no one would touch it.”
Kilarra recognizes the eye as a persistent haunt. The only way to banish it permanently is to show it its own reflection. But since it's rather large....
"He seems to be okay. He's always been slightly...out of touch with reality... I don't think these terrors are able to affect him as much. I'll give thanks for small miracles."
"Resilient kid" - Garrosh nods his approval - "Guess 'out of touch' is good in this case. Let me know if you notice him getting more upset than expected?"
During lunch, Winter takes a bowl of soup, then joins the party. "All right, I'll admit I've misjudged you, and you seem willing enough to help out."She takes a spoon of soup, "Decent enough. Right, Mr curious half-orc, the yellow fog arrived at the same time as the earthquake," her lips give a sardonic twist, "As if some dark power out there was conspiring against us. [b]" Now since most of us were busy running for our lives away from ghouls and doppelgangers, I doubt anyone had the energy to ponder on where it came from."
"Thank you for sharing the information Miss Grumpy in charge" - Garrosh replies without taking the eyes from his soup - "Any idea where the doppelgangers and ghouls came from?"
”Some of the survivors reported they were attacked by robed patients who call themselves the Apostles in Orpiment. And they yelled “For Zandalus” before attacking.” Winter sighs, ”Getting to the entrance isn’t that easy,” Winter gestures at the party to follow, ”Come with me, I’ll show you what I mean.”
Winter leads the party to a wall covered with a large brown curtain that gives small sobs, then lifts the brown curtain. The hall ends just beyond the dingy curtain, but the wall here suffers some sort of otherworldly paratism. A mass of stringy yellow fungus stretches across the stone blocks. At its heart bulges and blinks a watery eye the size of a wagon wheel. ”This used to be a door leading to the entrance,” Winter remarks, ”But when we first got here trying to escape, we found our way blocked with this.”
”We tried hacking at it but it gave a horrible scream and started biting us,” Captain York says from the back, ”So to prevent any further accidents we covered it up with a curtain so no one would touch it.”
"Ragathiel's Wings... What is going on here..?" - Garrosh mutters as they stare into the eye aberration - "We need to find a way through that thing" - he adds - "But I also think Kilarra is right Piotr" - then turns to the others - "There may be others stranded out there, maybe surrounded by these ghouls and doppelgangers, maybe by those 'Apostles'? We may be their only chance"
"I don't know, Garrosh. Wherever they came from, they emerged soon after the earthquake. What’s strange is that some of the patients and asylum staff say that, in the nights before the uprising, they had nightmares of exactly the sorts of things that stalk the halls now.” Winter replies with a frown on her face.
Piotr can't recall anything about this Zandalus fellow.
Auryl reels back when Winter reveals what hides behind the curtain. The grotesque eyes makes him gag and instinctively, Auryl feels the urge to make the world burn. To cleanse it with a fiery rage so that none need suffer ever again. "Was this ... thing?! ... stuck underneath this place, only to be released by the earthquake? Or ... or did those crazy Apostles somehow summon it into our world? Gods Above, it is gruesome and ahh, ahh! I want to burn it!"
The sight of the eye is definitely enough for Kilarra to start. "It's a haunt. It needs to be shown its own reflection to disappear. Do we have any mirrors that would work?"
-----------------------
"In all honesty I don't think there are survivors. Maybe, but I thought it would be a good excuse to chop off their heads. The only good undead is a dead one, and doppelgangers too."
”My brother Debis fell behind as we were being chased here by those yellow robes. I dream of him in the darkness…calling out for me to help him,” Perhaps comforted by her motherly appearance, a young boy, around 8 years old, with large frightened eyes holding a shadow lantern pads up to Rozalia and confesses to her.
Just then another young boy who was previously drinking turnip soup calmly suddenly sits up bolt upright, screaming, ”I see him! The Gate! He who brings Nightmares!” Then the bowl of soup falls out of his hands and onto the floor as he begins to convulse. Winter and another young Varisan woman rush to his side. The Varisian woman makes muffled panicked noises, as if unable to speak, and Winter yells, ”Everyone stay clear.” Winter commands. ”Mura, clear the soup then get a towel to put under his head.” Winter tries to hold the young man up under his armpits while Mura clears the soup and grabs the nearest towel, then they both help shift him so that he lies down on his side, on the towel. Then Winter checks his patient robes to make sure there is nothing around the throat that might obstruct his breathing.
Piotr talks to the others "We need to get them out of here quick. Ghouls and Dopplegangers aside, if things like that eyeball are here too, getting out is our only hope. We can come back for others once the kids are safe."
Rozalia kneels beside the boy. "Debis is lost somewhere in the asylum? Don't worry. We will find him and bring him back safely to you." She does her best to comfort him. "Does he have a favorite song or toy? It might help us calm him down if we come across him."
"He's in the dark and all alone...I saw it in my dreams. "Brenton says forlornly. "And he's scared too.."Brenton murmurs.
"Well, he liked a pair of wooden knights that our parents bought for us before they were killed...but we dropped those while we were trying to run away from the Yellow Robes." Brenton answers. "He called them Sir Gareth and Sir Galahad."
Rozalia places her hand on Brenton's shoulder. "Thank you, Brenton. You'll see your brother again soon, I promise."
The sight of the eye is definitely enough for Kilarra to start. "It's a haunt. It needs to be shown its own reflection to disappear. Do we have any mirrors that would work?"
"In all honesty I don't think there are survivors. Maybe, but I thought it would be a good excuse to chop off their heads. The only good undead is a dead one, and doppelgangers too."
Piotr talks to the others "We need to get them out of here quick. Ghouls and Dopplegangers aside, if things like that eyeball are here too, getting out is our only hope. We can come back for others once the kids are safe."
"There may be other kids inside Piotr... And unless we can find a mirror around here, we may have to scavenge around for one" - Garrosh ponders - "Kilarra may well get her wish, and we have a chance to search for more lost ones?"
....... Winter tries to hold the young man up under his armpits while Mura clears the soup and grabs the nearest towel, then they both help shift him so that he lies down on his side, on the towel. Then Winter checks his patient robes to make sure there is nothing around the throat that might obstruct his breathing.
Garrosh rushes next to the young boy, trying to help in any way he can - "What can I do to assist?"
Caraid sits quietly, letting the others rush around, talk and make plans. He does seem intrigued by the eye in the wall however and examines it closely for some time.
"Should we go back past the barricade?" He asks, "Look for survivors or a big mirror that way?"
"Clear the surrounding area of bystanders. Triggers to light and sound may make matters worse, then let Yates rest for a while. It should subside on its own."Winter tells Garrosh as she ensures that Yates has nothing interfering with his breathing.
About half a minute later the convulsions begin to subside as Yates begins to breathe more normally as he looks around him, confused, "Er...what happened?"
Rozalia places her hand on Brenton's shoulder. "Thank you, Brenton. You'll see your brother again soon, I promise."
"Pinky swear?" Brenton holds out a picky finger to hook with Rozalia hopefully.
"Of course!" The witch hooks her little finger with the boy's.
Caraid sits quietly, letting the others rush around, talk and make plans. He does seem intrigued by the eye in the wall however and examines it closely for some time.
"Should we go back past the barricade?" He asks, "Look for survivors or a big mirror that way?"
Kilarra is standing near Caraid. She too is looking at the eye and thinking hard to come up with a plan. "We could do that. I'm sure we haven't explored everything back there. I remember Winter saying that she can create water. If we find a large bowl, probably the size of a cauldron, we could fill it with water and show it to the haunt."
Kilarra curiously takes out a flask of holy water. She approaches the eye and holds the flask out for the eye to see, letting it linger so the eye can get a good view of its own reflection.
If that doesn't work, Kilarra unstoppers the flask and pours it onto the eye.
Piotr stands with the tiefling, ready to help block... something... if it comes for her.
The flask, unfortunately does not give a very good reflection and even though the eye seems to shrink slightly away from it, it does not have any further effect.
Kilarra splashes the eye with holy water, and it gives an unholy shriek, "Who am I become!" in three overlapping, drowned-sounding voices, and cries a tear of ammonia.
The scorched area around the fungus heals itself slightly the following round.
The unholy shriek causes some of the survivors in the chapel to cower in fear, "What was that? It's close-by...will it get here?", while a few brave souls gather their makeshift clubs of table legs, as they look around nervously.
About half a minute later the convulsions begin to subside as Yates begins to breathe more normally as he looks around him, confused, "Er...what happened?"
"It's all good - you just fainted" - Garrosh nods.
The unholy shriek causes some of the survivors in the chapel to cower in fear, "What was that? It's close-by...will it get here?", while a few brave souls gather their makeshift clubs of table legs, as they look around nervously.
"Don't worry" - Garrosh stares in the direction where Kilarra and Piotr went to - "I'm sure everything is fine" - his hand rests 'casually' on his weapon.
"Nope, we don't have a mirror here," Winter replies after making sure Yates is fine. "Actually you should check the other rooms beyond the barricade to see if there's anything you can salvage. We certainly could use more supplies."
Killara puts her request to Winter to fill the soup pot with created water, but the reflection in the water does not appear clear enough to cause the eye to whither even though it starts shierking and twitching uncontrollably.