The shadow creature glides between the bars and reaches for the key ring at the woman's waist. The Kellid woman suddenly calls out to the doctor causing the woman to step just out of the shadow's reach.
The doctor snarls at the Kellid woman oblivious to the shadow's attempt. “Pipe down. You’ll have your turn soon enough.”
She then goes about her business, agonizing over where to make her next incision on her patient.
Zylah frowns at the failed attempt to get the keys, but otherwise doesn't move from her position.
Come back, she silently sends to Colenso. Unless we can do something about that light, there's no reason to expose you.
The shade just mentally nods in response and slips back through the bars to Zylah's position.
After a moment to make sure that the 'doctor' hasn't noticed them, the petite halfling turns her staring gaze towards the half-elf ever-so slightly. "Can you help?" she asks in a soft, sweet little voice. Once would almost think that she was a doll whose pull string had been just used.
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The half-elf notices the doll-like halfling turning her head towards him. She's creepy, but the young man feels a strange thought forming in his head, something is telling him that he should try to protect her as best he can. What's this, another strange feeling? he asks himself, then hears the almost inaudible request for help from the girl.
How? he asks with just the movement of his lips. He had been stripped of all his belongings, even his scarf, what could he do to help the halfling? Then an idea comes to his mind.
"Doctor!" He shouts at the figure standing by the table, "Please, I need... Water... Please..." He starts coughing violently, pulling himself near the bars of the cell, "Please, I'm... Feeling sick..."
The doctor wheels on the half-elf and screams.
”I SAID QUIET!”
The woman’s face transforms into a mimicry of Sebastian’s when she looks at you.
The man on the table seizes his opportunity and slips one leg free. In desperation, he kicks the woman in the small of her back, throwing her up against the cell that houses Sebastian and Zylah.
Eldako gasps quietly when the Kellid woman shouts at the doctor. “shhhh , do you want Her to take you next ? Be smart. “ , when the man makes his move Eldako tries the only thing he can think of while the woman is distracted by flinging himself suddenly at the bars on the door hoping his great strength will be enough to snap open the doors, then pulls back into the shadows
With the half-elf distracting the doctor, Zylah sends out her shadow again to help in retrieving the keys.
Sebastian nearly misses the set of key but the shadow pulls his hand and he is able to snag the set of keys from the doctor with little issue.
The doctor glares at Eldako before turning back to the man on the table.
"Patient is showing signs of..." she paused as if to consider the multitude of wounds on the man, "..infection. Course of action: euthanasia."
She slams the point of her makeshift dagger into the man's chest. He screams out. Blood pours from the wound then pulls back in.
"Oh no!" she shouts. "A sucking wound! If we don't hurry the patient will drown in his own blood!"
She can barely contain her maniacal laughter as she brings the blade down again and again. With each schlunk of the blade the woman's features melt away leaving a figure that looks more or less humanoid, but slender and frail, with gangly limbs and half-formed facial features. Its flesh is pale and hairless, and its eyes are vacant and white.
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The Kellid woman turns pale at the scene she is witnessing. Her hand clutches at her chest as if searching for something familiar, but with nothing to grasp it turns into a fist. She then smashes her fist on the bars as she shouts at the supposed doctor.
"How could you?" she calls out. "You clearly a more sick than those you supposedly care for. Let me out, NOW! So I can try and save this man!"
The creature pays no attention to the Kellid woman and continues to "operate" on the man.
The not-doctor begins to cut off smaller pieces of the man's body. She begins with the fingers on his left hand. The blade appears to be rather dull and she has to work to cut through the bone.
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The angry woman looks on as her cell mate batters himself against the door. She whispers to him as she prepares a little surprise for the monster.
"Be ready my friend."
She then holds out her hand past the bars and calls out to the world.
"You should not anger the storms!" she shouts as the air around the monster condenses into a small storm and tries to batter it.
- Non-lethal
We can't just sit here waiting for her to cut into someone else, Zylah mentally sends to Colenso. Other than minor adjustments, her body hasn't moved from it's current place.
I will distract, the creature replies, and moves through the bars once more to stand beside the doctor, where attempts to backhand her/it.
sooo much blood... Eldako could do nothing be stare at all the blood on the table . Watching it pool and drip he barely heard the kellid woman next to him. Slowly Eldako made his way to the front of the cage mesmerized before shaking off the trance. Nodding toward the woman to make sure she knew he would help her if she tried anything Eldako waited for the oppernunity.
Not content to wait, the Kellid woman summons a storm cloud which does little more than add a little but of humidity to the already stifling room.
Similarly, the doll-like halfing’s shade slips into the main room once again. This time the shade easily reaches the creature and brings its fists down on the doctor’s back.
A flicker of darklight flashes with hit and the not-doctor lets out a soft groan.
The creature spins to face Colenso and its eyes widen with surprise.
”No! Not real!”
The thing catches sight of the half-elf with the keys and fumbles at its waist.
”NO! You are not-NO!”
A groan escapes the things throat and builds into a wail.
Watching Colenso strike at the creature, she suddenly recalls how to make him better, if only for a short time. Take him out quickly, she sends to the shade.
Zylah - Standard Action: Cast Magic Fang on Colenso.
Colenso - Full Attack Action:
Eldako opens the door when the half-Elf unlocks it, Nodding at the girl and the others, " We Should run! We don't have any weapons!" Eldako takes a half step way motioning towards the others. Going slightly into the darkness instinctually to keep the lights off.
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Seeing the woman rushing towards the man on the table, the half-elf understands that running away isn't an option. Dammit he swears in his own head, then turns to his goddess for help: Desna, grant your child a bit of luck, so we can all leave this nightmare. He then tries to disarm the doctor-thing, both to render it less dangerous and to gain a weapon for defense.
"Blast it!" Eldako shouts in frustration at his group. when he sees they are not leaving.
The Kellid woman presses her hands on the largest of the man's wounds in an attempt to save the stranger's life. It only takes her a moment to realize that the blood no longer pulses from his body but simply oozes out of the wounds. The man is beyond saving.
Easily avoiding the half-elf's attempt to take her makeshift dagger, the creature screeches and buries that blade in Sebastian's unarmored flesh.
"If you wanted it so bad, why didn't you say so!"
It pulls the shear out and drives it into the quasi-flesh of the shadow.
The creature blinks its pale eyes as it realizes that it is surrounded and takes a step backward.
Still sitting on the floor of her cell, unmoving, Zylah noticed the futile attack from the doctor/creature and grins a very un-doll-like grin.
The shade, Colenso, seems to grin an almost identical grin at the same time, a deep red tear spreading across the area where it's face would be, as the shiv pierces harmlessly through it's body. It continues to smash it's claws into the creature once more.
It is unclear who is mimicking who.
Colenso - Full Attack Action:
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The half-elf instinctively takes a step to position himself between the thing and the halfling girl, as to protect her from the doctor-thing. As if she needs my protection, with that shadow with her he thinks.
What now? he asks himself, now facing the monster. He is no brawler, he can't take down the thing bare-handed. But he knows how to call to his goddess to help him in dire circumstances, so he tries to give a little help to the shadow.
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"You blood will mix with his, I swear to you!"
"May the spirits of beyond watch over you."
The Kellid woman snatches up the other half of the broken shears from the table and drives the point into the not-doctor.
A gardening trowel, forks, and several long pieces of broken glass and metal remain on the table.
Eldako Shouts at the others "There is some equipment over here!" Grabbing two of nearest weapons in the pile. Eldako turns and tosses one to the half-elf because both in the dream and this fight he seems to be the most proficient "Here!".
Move action to search and standard to throw one of them towards the Elf.
The not-doctor takes another step back and slashes at Kayalenta. In its panic and fury, the Kellid woman is able to bat the assault away with ease. When she does so the thing rakes one of its clawed hands across the woman’s arm. It glares at shade, clearly aware that the shadow creature is keeping it from inflicting more harm.
”This is MY operating room!” The creature shouts, ”You will NOT take it from me!”
The half-elf manages to finish casting his cantrip just as a strange, four-bladed weapon is tossed in his direction.
Damage Dealt: 23
The shade continues his assault on the creepy doctor, protecting it's host (and supposedly the other fleshbags, too).
Colenso - 5-foot moove, then Full Attack Action:
Zylah is busy focusing on keeping her connection to Colenso as the shade moves further away, straining the tether.
The shade looms over the creature. Colenso's form elongates then contracts as whatever it is made of swells into the shadow creature's fists. Colenso brings his fists down in a powerful, two-handed strike on the not-doctor's skull. The not-doctor's scream is cut short as she/it crumples to the floor and blood begins to pool under the creature's head.
Only the heavy breathing of the group breaks the silence that has returned to the room.
Feeling very pleased with itself, Colenso stalks back over to the halfling girl, who is now, for the first time, starting to move and stand up. As she does so, the shade shrinks and shifts as it starts to meld into the floor, and attach itself to the halfling girl to the points where a shadow would normally be. A moment later, it looks just as if it were a regular shadow again.
She stands in the doorway to the cell that she just recently shared with the half-elf, looking at the other three people in the room, then at the fresh cadaver on the table. She takes a moment to ponder their situation before she turns towards the pile of equipment, pulling out items that seem familiar to her.
Finally, she turns back to the others, that blank expression still on her face, and says, "I dreamed about you. We died together. Do we know each other?" He voice is higher pitched, even for a halfling, almost as if a mockery of a young girl's voice, but her expression is very monotone.
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The Kellid woman drops the broken shears to the floor and examines the creature on the floor, checking to assure herself that it is dead. As she does so, she glances at the halfling girl.
"I remember the dream." the Kellid woman says. "I do not remember much before that though. If we knew each other, I do not recall it. What of you others? Do you know how we are connected?"
Now that the battle is over, Eldako puts away a dagger he found in the pile.
"No, I don't know any of you." Eldako says as he slowly slides forward. " I think I found some equipment, though. Motioning towards the darkness. As he heads back to the equipment he looks for anything he would recognize, and doesn't bother looking to see if anyone follows him there.
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The half-elf catches the starknife, and he's sure that the weapon belongs to him. Then he moves toward the chest with the equipment, to check if he can find his other belongings.
Watching the woman checking the monster he asks "Is it dead? Are you sure it won't come back alive to kill us later?" his voice fails to hide a little nervousness in his words.
"I remember the dream." the Kellid woman says. "I do not remember much before that though. If we knew each other, I do not recall it. What of you others? Do you know how we are connected?"
Zylah nods at the response, expecting the answer, and finishes looking through the equipment until she is satisfied that she has everything that she needs.
Once she is finished, she starts looking around the room, trying to find any indication of where they are, or how they get out.
The sight is odd, to say the least. The halfling girl is small, even for one of her people, and very slight, with nearly alabaster white skin that looks more like porcelain, overly large eyes, and straight, raven-black hair that falls past her shoulders. Her only clothes of note is a simple white dress that goes to her knees. If it weren't for the fact that she was walking and (occasionally) talking she could easily be mistaken for an over-sized doll. The sight is only made the more strange when a keen observer notices that her shadow doesn't seem to match her form and shape completely.
AS she is moving around the room, she eventually turns her gaze back on the others and says, "I suppose it would be polite if I asked for your names, if you happen to remember them. Mine is... unknown. How strange..."
As the Kellid woman confirms that the creature is truly dead, the group of amnesiacs begin to dig through the assorted equipment. Strangely enough, each of the four knows which item belongs to their person. Eldako slips the silver bracelet on, Kayalenta holds up a healer’s kit after finding both her shield and spear, and Sebastian wraps a pocketed scarf around his neck, covering a wooden carving of a butterfly. Only Zylah takes pause as she watches the strange man slip her dagger into his waistband.
As the halfling girl walks towards the door at the end of the hall, she passes by the strange, pale humanoid, she is staring at the familiar-looking dagger that he acquired.
"Do you tend to use such a small tool as a toothpick, or is it a personal preference?"
"oh, Is this yours, but, but... your just a child." Eldako stammers a response, "Truly you shouldn't play with these kind of tools they are dangerous." Eldako holds the dagger up. "are you sure, little one?
Once the halfing takes the dagger (if she doesnt take it i'll stay close to help for awhile to "protect her"), assuming she does, Eldako looks around the room for any kind of weapon that is not claimed. In addtion he checks the darkened corners and the Gory clothes to see if there is anything, including the "doctors" body.
Zylah just stares at the strange man, just a blank expression on her face. Eventually she takes the dagger back from him and ties it to her belt, next to the other. "Thank you," is all she says in response before turning back to the door. She doesn't correct him on his mistake. I don't remember much, but I know that I'm not a child, she things to herself, which is silently answered with a mental nod from the shade.
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"I too remember the nightmare" says the half-elf, finishing to taking back his belongings from the pile, "I remember the slaughter, the monster with the razor, and all of you. But I can't remember my name, either."
He pauses, going back to the center of the room. He watches the central table with the body on it. "I wonder who this man was, he wasn't in our dream..." he says, then starts checking the room.
Shortly after Eldako begins to sift through the discarded, bloody scraps of clothing his hand brushes against something hard and smooth. From the pile of refuse he pulls a finely crafted viol. Though the bow is missing, the instrument itself is undamaged.
Likewise the half-elf illuminates the shadowed corners of the room before examining the corpse of the man who, quite possibly, saved their lives. On the tattered remains of his clothing a name tag is embroidered into his shirt:
“C. Linweigh”
”Staff: O”
The halfling wastes no time in looking for a way out. And while the door does not appear to be trapped or even locked, the stench of rot and decay assaults her senses as she nears the door
Zylah covers her face to try to mask the smell, then remembers something and pulls out her censer and incense, quickly lighting it and holding it up close to her nose to mask the smell.
"Something unpleasant is on the other side of this door," she says out loud, not willing to elaborate any further.
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C. Linweigh, Staff: O... the half-elf tries to search in his few memories for these name and words, but nothing comes to his mind. "Hey" he says to the others, "Do any of you know this man? Or does the name 'Linweigh' ring a bell to you?"
In the meantime he's walking toward the closed door, and the stench starts filling his nostrils. "Hugh, what's this smell? It's almost unbearable!" he says, now standing near the little halfling.
Looking up at the half-elf with her too-large eyes, the girl responds, "Perhaps previous 'patients'? Despite the expected sarcasm with the last word, there is very little emphasis made. [b]"Should we open it up? I don't currently see any other way out of here."[b]
In her mind, she hears the shade says, "Perhaps it's a food closet."
when the Cleric casts a spell of light Eldako gives a slight hiss as pain shoots through his eyes. When he sees the instrument Eldako carefully lifts up the piece. "I wonder if this belonged to him." he nods to the victim on the table. Packing away the instrument carefully. No need to do any more damage to it.. he waits till its secure. when the others mention opening up the door Eldako prepares to either fight or flee; also grabbing the makeshift weapon just in case.