Tarphrex shakes his head vigorously, still hiding behind his armored friend.
"Chirp, sniffle" The druid contemplates shifting back, but doesn't want to reveal that he had not intended to shift in the first place and remains as a badger.
@Loth: I think at one point I spelled it Alderaan (from Star Wars). I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I'm terrible at spelling.
@Razkiv: Did you go back and read that second spoiler?
@Tarphrex: No need to hide. Everything is fine here. He probably just needs a Kobold hug. Get right up next to him....
"The killer's appearance," Zenaida prompts.
The badger seems to catch a whiff from the patient and it's form shifts back into a dwarf. "This man has ghoul fever, if he was this far gone in the Quah we would have put him down for the protection of the rest. He is a danger to everyone here if he is not cured. He is as good as dead without the grace of the gods."
Not knowing how his news will be taken he places his hand on the ax hanging from his belt.
Doctor Habe looks up harshly at Razkiv's words, then begins denying them vehemently, "He is sick, true. But he is not inflicted with.. gout . . or ghoul . . or whatever you said!"
To punctuate his words, Grayst's head comes up and he screams a final scream as he rises from the chair, his arms ripping through the constraints of the straight jackets. He points his arm at Loth, the over-long sleeve dangling, and he shouts, "His Lordship LOVES YOU! AND IF I KILL YOU, HE'LL LOVE " Grayst lunges for Loth as Doctor Habe falls backwards and the orderlies begin to rush forward.
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Looks like Tarphrex and Razkiv both get actions before the enemy. NPC's will act on the 'enemy' turn.
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Tarphrex is not sure what is happening, but he thinks that Razkiv the Talking Badger - no, now he’s a dwarf again - will have to work on that one later - Razkiv the Dwarf-Badger said this man was a ghoul, but he looks like a very sick man…
Tarphrex has an answer for ghouls and it won’t hurt a sick, mis-identified man. He falls back from the warriors to be out of their way and gestures.
'Too slow, always too slow'
The druid snaps forward even as the first belt snaps on the jacket, his axe coming out and around only one thought on his mind. 'protect Loth!
he moves too fast at the ax catches the table before he can begin his swing.
Gortus and Gurnak charge forward, grabbing Erin Habe and pushing him into the corner, flanking him on both sides.
Grayst. Grayst, however, shrugs off the beam of light from the tiny kobold, dodge's Razkiv's swing as he twists to the side, using the momentum to bring his other arm around in a haymaker at Loth. "I will be his FAVORITE!'...
... as Loth ducks out of the way, he feels a small twinge from his scalp as Grayst rips out a few strands of the Halfling's hair.
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Everyone is up for their turn. The lack of affect from disrupt undead would be obvious to all the spell casters.
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Even though Grayst is suffering from ghoul fever, it doesn't look like he's turned just yet, and the doctor will be pissed if they kill him without at least trying to restrain him. Zenaida touches her holy symbol and chants a spell, feeling the strength of her goddess surge through her. With that done, she moves forward next to badger-Razkiv, waiting for a chance to tackle the madman.
Loth, loathe to hurt the man at all, feebly tries to grapple Grayst.
Dropping his axe, [i]'Did I read everything all wrong?'[/b] the druid moves around the table to draw Grayst attention.
once he gets to the other side of the man he tries to grab his arm.
Grayst completely ignores the dwarf, his attention completely focused on Loth. And so is completely unprepared for the strong arms that wrap around his waist.
@Krug: You're turn before the NPC's go. I don't have a base from you yet to be comfortable doing a bot on your first ever turn in Initiative.
As the crazed man tries to beat Loth to death, the halfling dodges his wild swings, Razkiv gets a thick, burly arm around him, and Krug buries his fist into Grayst's gut. But the adrenaline is still running to high and the asylum patient continues to rave...
I WILL PROVE MY WORTH!!! he screams as he takes another shot at Loth...
.... but the aforementioned burly dwarven arm yanks him to the side, sending the attack off target.
Meanwhile, one of the orderlies moves across from Krug , draws out a sap from deep within his coat , and tries to smack Grayst with it ....
non-lethal
.... clubbing him over the head and raising a small lump. But Grayst is STILL going strong, saliva beginning to roll out the sides of his mouth.
The other orderly stays protectively in front of Dr. Habe, who seems to be fumbling with a set of keys for the door he is in front of.
________
Everyone else is up. Grayst has been smacked a few times, but doesn't seem to be going down easily.
Tarphrex frantically looks around, unsure of what to do.
Zenaida steps up to the melee and punches Grayst in the gut with a gauntleted fist, her strength enhanced by Falayna's power.
Loth pulls out his sword and hits Grayst with the back of it.
Razkiv manages to force Grayst down onto the ground, where a few quick blows render him unconscious and only bleeding a small bit.
The orderly nearest him, Gortus, alerts Dr. Habe of this, who immediately stops trying to get the door open and takes a few very deep breathes.
Finally composed, he address you all, "Thank you very much for that. I have no idea why he had such an outburst. He's only ever been docile before. And thank you for not killing him. This will be stain enough on the reputation of the Sanatorium as it is. Unless I can convince you to not spread word of this around town?"
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Grayst is drooling onto the floor, and the orderly with the sap, Gurnak, is checking his vitals and attempting to salvage the straight jacket.
What do you all do now?
With a unabashedly shrewd look on his reptilian face, Tarphrex says, "Mmmm, is fair. You not control sick man. Maybe you know other information to share so we not share information you not like?"
Loth nods at Tarphrex. "I suspect you may know more than you're telling us, doctor. Anything you can share would be phenomenal."
|
While Krug is not a fan of pressuring someone to give information, he does agree that the doctor seems a little dodgy. What is the bad reputation that he has? Perhaps he and his companions should have asked a bit about him beforehand.
As he considers these issues, he forgets to react to the situation.
The druid walks back around the table and pickes up his axe. "This man is still very ill, and may die. If he dies he will rise as a ghoul."
Zenaida nods somberly in agreement. "I hope you have a solitary room with a stout locked door and thick walls to keep him in. Unless the gods grant poor Grayst a miracle, he will die of this sickness and awaken with a hunger for the flesh of intelligent beings." The warpriest frowns, trying to remember the details of how a ghoul reanimates. Is there time to destroy the body between death and undeath? She quietly chants a quick spell to help her memory.
"Healer. Sick man needs holy man healer to heal body. Then doctor can heal his mind. No healer to heal body, no healing the mind."
@Zenaida: Possibly. The body rises as a ghoul at the next midnight. So anywhere from 23+ hours to seconds.
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Dr. Habe takes all of this in, listening to those of you trying to convince him to 'spill the beans'.
To Loth's words specifically, he responds, "I imagine I know a great deal that you do not. And I am sure the opposite is true as well. As to anything that might help your investigation, I do not believe I can be of any further use. If you remember, I tried to convince you that you were wasting your time to begin with. But I thank you for your discretion."
At Rakziv's and Zenaida's words, he grows pale, "Oh, surely not. You must be mistaken." He looks between you two, thinking better of what he was going to say. "We do have secure rooms on the second floor. You're welcome to check on them yourselves, with Gurnak of course. And I will send Gortus for the priest. Would that accommodate your concerns?"
Aha, now she remembers! "Yes, I would like to take a look. I also recommend that you have someone stationed outside the door to monitor his condition. When someone dies of ghoul fever, the body will rise as a ghoul at the next midnight. Hopefully you'll have enough time between his death and midnight to burn the body. Burial may not be enough to prevent his rise, even in consecrated ground."
Not clear on my part, but it was Tarphrex's recommendation for the priest to see to Grayst
@Krug: That's enough to know some things. Anything specific you're wanting to know?
"I would like to see these rooms. Loth can you come too, you will have a better idea then I how secure they are." He turns to the guards having no idea which is Gurnak and which Gortus.
He seems to have a thought and turns to Tarphrex, "Little Wyrm, what do your frills tell you about this place?"
Tarphrex stares at Razkiv for a moment, then his eyes dart back and forth as if looking for a way out. Seeing none, he replies, "Uh, Tarphrex not know how to ask frills question...?" His confusion is obvious.
"The twins could tell much of what what had or would happen, they always said they could 'feel' it in their frills. No matter, frills or not I am glad to have you with me."
"The twins could tell much of what what had or would happen, they always said they could 'feel' it in their frills. No matter, frills or not I am glad to have you with me."
”Tarphrex not have twin, but Tarphrex had many brothers and sisters in clutch. But all are gone, nest is gone, sadness long time. Tarphrex find new family, new sister.. sisters, new brothers. Much happier now.” He steps toward Zenaida as he says this, subconsciously confirming that she’s still near.
Loth nods at Habe, deciding it best not to pry any further. He joins Zenaida and Razkiv in checking out the rooms.
Zenaida smiles down at Tarphrex, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry about your brothers and sisters, Tarphrex, but glad that you're happy with us." She regularly gives thanks to Falayna that she stopped and listened to the kobold when she first met him, rather than thinking with her sword. Truly an example that a good and valorous heart may be found in the most unlikely of places.
"Right, let's go take a look at the secured rooms."
@Krug: For all its origin, Ghoul Fever can still be treated as any more traditional disease could. You know that if you can stop it from getting worse for 48 hours, it should clear up on its own. It isn't one of those that needs to bypass a curse as well.
@Razkiv and Tarphrex: What a mysterious glimpse into your pasts....
@Everyone: The lot of you follow the tieflings and the doctor up the stairs, using the door on the right. Up the stairs, one of the orderlies holds Grayst tight while the other unlocks a door. A guard post, of sorts; an open room with a small table and chairs and several doors into smaller rooms. Another stair case goes even further up on the opposite side of the room. The same orderly opens one of the cell doors and you can see a heavily padded room with a thick, leather sleeping mat in one corner. They gingerly lay down their patient under Doctor Habe's direction, who then tells them to open one of the empty cells for your inspection while he tends to Grayst.
They do so, and allow you to poke around to your heart's content. After several moments of this, some of you notice a face peeking at you through one of the door's barred windows. Once one of you makes eye contact, you hear a female voice whisper, "Are any of you the moon?"
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Any specific things you folks are looking for up here?
The mmmooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonn.
From the direction of the woman whispering to you all, the smells of human and rat. You also think that there might be some cheap liquor stashed somewhere in this floor. A poorly made grain shine.
"Looks secure enough to me, but I'm not an expert." Zenaida looks at Loth questioningly. A rogue would know about these things, right?
When the female patient speaks up, she shakes her head. "Sorry miss, none of us are the moon."
"Which moon does you seek? Does moon speak to you sometimes?"