Madge whimpers at Talib's hand tightening its grip and she darts a glare at the impassible inquisitor—"first of all, I could not care less about you, Patrissa, or any of the other decrepit losers. Everyone's out for themselves here. Except Cole, but he's an idiot. Second, my daddy, differently from other parents, was not some stupid distant hoodlum. He was a guy looking out for his daughter and was framed and that stupid Mord killed him with a smile. He killed his wife for pleasure and if there's any chance he didn't do it it was because someone got there first. Perhaps that's why we're in this mess! Perhaps that murderer is just pissed he can't kill more people!"
Shadows seem to coalesce around the nooks and crannies of the corridors and the air seems suddenly charged by something beyond the two angry women exchanging barbs.
Madge whimpers at Talib's hand tightening its grip and she darts a glare at the impassible inquisitor—"first of all, I could not care less about you, Patrissa, or any of the other decrepit losers. Everyone's out for themselves here. Except Cole, but he's an idiot. Second, my daddy, differently from other parents, was not some stupid distant hoodlum. He was a guy looking out for his daughter and was framed and that stupid Mord killed him with a smile. He killed his wife for pleasure and if there's any chance he didn't do it it was because someone got there first. Perhaps that's why we're in this mess! Perhaps that murderer is just pissed he can't kill more people!"
Talienda screams back. "I wanted to... I saw... Halgrak..."
Her voice trails off as Halgrak's death hits her like a ton of bricks. She buries her head in her hands tries to hold back the sobs.
"What am I going to tell his family?"
Sinésiel, wanting to interject on Tali's behalf, stops short as she notices the darkening in the room. Gods, no more of this, please...
Sinésiel has not seen anything like this before; the first thought that springs to mind is that visible or not, manifested or not, the spirits that inhabit the courthouse might be watching and listening.
"Enough!" snaps Talib. "Something is wrong here..."
The inquisitor more-or-less carries Madge to Talienda. With one practised motion he grabs the manacles from his belt, snaps them onto the halfling's wrist, and then latches other end onto Talienda's. "It appears to me that Miss Madge has been supplied with false information, or else is blinded by sentimentality. Nevertheless, I would rather not have her running off before we have some tangible answers. Please, look after her."
With that done, he moves to the door opposite the archive, and cracks the door slightly.
"I hate to sound paranoid, Talib," Sinésiel begins, the crushing atmosphere of the room and the present events adding a quavering to her voice. "But the spirits of this place might well be watching us right now. If I had to guess, I think they're waiting for us to turn on each other so that they can strike."
After giving her thoughts on the situation, she positions herself on the other side of the door and prepares an attack with her weapon should anything that appears malicious break through.
Madge tries to escape Talib's grasp as he reaches for the manacles; though he is caught somewhat unawares, her efforts are again fruitless. "Why the hell are you arresting me? So far you are the only ones who have been throwing accusations and threats around!"
Ignoring this comment for the moment, Talib opens the door.
This room is cold and obscured with frosty mist. Two of its walls are covered in rows of small steel doors, probably used in the past for storing corpses. The doors, however, are all open. Bodies of all sorts are piled up on the floor, others have been fixed to makeshift hooks on the remaining walls; most seem to have been clawed and destroyed in a fit of rage, though the icy sheen that covers every surface of the room makes the scene look considerably less gruesome than one would expect, partially masking the colour of blood and very slowly decomposing flesh.
"What's inside? Is it an exit?" Madge asks, standing on her toes to try and see above the human's shoulders.
Talienda isn't aware of Talib's actions until he pulls her arm into a more convenient position to latch the manacle around her wrist. The action has her letting out a soft yelp of surprise, but she doesn't argue.
"O-okay," she says, her voice a little husky, "I'll try."
She uses her unbound hand to wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes and tries to move so that the others can get into better positions, likely to Madge's annoyance.
Rissi just stares at Madge as the deluded woman turns away every reasonable explanation. Once she is shackled she makes one more statement. "You are seriously foolish if you think you can escape by finding a door to the outside. People are dying and if you think you're immune to whatever is doing it because you don't care? Then be ready to say hello to your daddy, 'cause you'll join him soon!"
She turns away, not waiting for a response, and moves toward the cold room.
Rissi scans the room, but finds no source of magic inside. As she does so, Madge pushes inside the room, dragging a confused Talienda who is caught by surprise and can barely utter a protest before they're inside the room.
Before Talib can rebuke her, the halfling screams and throws herself against one of the piles of corpses. "Daddy! It's you!" Crying, she caresses the face of a dead halfling.
Talienda stumbles along behind Madge as she rushes headlong into the room. She manages to keep her feet up until Madge launches herself at the pile that apparently contains the corpse of her father. The young sorceress falls with a cry that is cut off as the breath is knocked from her lungs. Getting up with one hand anchored to what may as well be an immovable rock proves to be a more awkward endeavor than Talienda could have imagined. The embers of her anger go out as she sees Madge crying. She sympathizes with Madge in that moment and feels the hollow pangs of grief that have been her companion over the past week. Meekly, she sits beside Madge and reaches out to give her as comforting a hug as she can given their current situation.
"I'm sorry, Madge," she tells the halfling acrobat, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so mean to you. I'm scared and hurt, too. If we work together, maybe we can get out of here."
"Dammit, don't go in alone!" Siné yells after them. She flashes a glance and nod to Talib, a sort of sign to tell him to keep an eye out. Rushing in after the two women, Siné stands behind Tali protectively, sword drawn, examining the room.
Talib moves into the room, but stays near the entrance. He lets his gaze sweep across the room, moving the falchion from his stiffened arm to his other. Almost instinctually, he mutters a prayer under his breath, and for the briefest of moments his eyes gleam like golden coins in firelight.
Talienda sees only Madge's back trembling and her sobs. As time passes, however, she realises the halfling's sobs are not born out of sadness, but joy. "Daddy! You're alive! You don't know how hard it has been without you! You were stuck here, just like us? Oh, daddy, don't you worry, we'll find a way! Here, let me help you," Madge says.
It is hardly a surprise to some in the room to see yet another juror apparently succumbing to madness; they did not expect, however, that, as she tugs the corpse's hand in an attempt to free it, the dead man responds by hugging Madge with a macabre tenderness and then sinks its pointy teeth on her neck, sending a spray of blood over Talienda's face and neck.
Meanwhile, Talib readjusts his vision as whispers of evil seem to float all around them. Focussing further, he sees those black strands of energy pool in four areas: the first, and strongest, is right where Madge is receiving her deathly embrace, another from a second pile of corpses and two come from the half-open steel doors.
1. Talib
2. Talienda
3. Rissi
4. Sinésiel
5. Madge's father
"What? NO! MADGE!" Talienda cries out as she tries to pull the halfling woman out of the way, but finds herself too slow. All she can do is turn away and close her eyes to avoid being blinded. by the blood now splattered over her face.
Not knowing what else she can do without hurting Madge, Talienda tries to grab her by the arm and pull her away. despite being taller, she's not very strong, and even with the leverage advantage, she can't pull herself and Madge free.
"T-TALIB! SINÉSIEL! I NEED HELP!" Her voice is full of panic as she finds herself trapped and unable to break free.
"There are more of them," calls Talib, "in the other pile and the drawers! Retreat to the chokepoint!"
"Get the key from my pocket," he grunts to Talienda as he wades in, before slashing at the undead halfling. From the way he swings his sword—not taking into account Madge's safety—it is not hard to see he has already written the acrobat off as dead.
Sinésiel moves past Talib and swings her scimitar at the undead creature with deadly accuracy. "Don't look, Tali! Do what you can, but we'll keep you safe!"
Whilst Talienda squirms ineffectively, Talib and Sinésiel bring their swords down on the creature that was once Madge's father just as it detached the head of its daughter with a grisly, wet snap. Its body goes limp, though its teeth refuse to detach from Madge's neck. The young halfling's lifeless eyes stare at Talib, accusing: yet another ex-juror fallen under his protection.
As if on cue, other corpses rise from the areas in which the inquisitor had seen the accumulated negative energy: two crawling out of the metallic doors and another rising from the top of the southern body pile.
Talienda wastes no time in grabbing the key from Talib's pocket and unlocking the manacles. Her fingers fumble a couple of times, but she manages it very quickly. She scrambles to her feet and backs up against the wall on the verge of panic.
Sinésiel moves to get between one of the zombies and Tali, lashing out at the creature with her scimitar.
"Try not to get caught between the other two, Talib!" Siné yells to him. "If you have to corner yourself to keep from getting stabbed in the back I'll be right over there to back you up!"
Talib huffs and tears his eyes off Madge, focusing instead on the imminent danger.
"I can handle them!" he shouts back at Sinésiel. "Rissi and Talienda, get back in the hallway!"
The inquisitor steps in between the walking corpses and the others, raising his blade in anticipation.
Seeing the apparently very dangerous situation, Rissi calls out a battle chant to aid her allies, then readies her bow and tries to stay out of the way of the stronger members.
Sinésiel's blade opens a gash on the zombie's chest, pushing it backwards for a moment, whilst Rissi's chant echoes in the cold room. Covered in what once were expensive silks, the creature wraps its hands around Sinésiel's neck, but the half-elf kicks it away before long.
The undead on the northern part of the room clamber forward, their movements slow and disjointed. Talib attacks one, but the resulting wound is far too superficial to cause any real damage.
Talib moves with his previous swing, ineffectual as it was, using the momentum to cleave through the midsection of the other corpse.
Talienda heeds Siné's warning and fleesout the door. She pauses in the doorway just long enough to draw the rune she's been using to summon the bolt of lightning that never seemed to miss. As she finishes the last stroke and takes in a breath to say the word of power, there's a flash, and the rune shatters. Talienda cries out as she stumbles back and sparks of lightning crackle around her.
The steady pounding of leather boots on stone announces Mylok’s arrival seconds before his dishevelled figure bursts from the dim hallway into the light of the open doorway. Dark circles hang under the gunslinger’s one eye and the graying hair adhere to his forehead with sweat. White knuckles grip Mylok's battered pistol, as if the man is desperate to cling to something real.
Misfire's face lights up at the sight of Rissi and Talienda, "Chatterb-" he begins to greet them but the sounds coming from inside the room pull his attention away.
Seeing that Rissi and Tali made their way out of the room, Siné focused completely on her target.
"I'm gonna angle back to the doorway, I think it'd be best to bottleneck them!" Siné yells over to Talib. Hope these creatures can't understand what I'm saying...
Talib nods over his shoulder, taking a coordinated step backwards to stand next to Sinésiel.
Talib's cleave is precise and brutal; in the span of a few seconds, the zombie in front of him is partially cut in half and falls to the ground, twitching. He takes a step back, trying to lure the creature's companion -- the corpse of what used to be an old woman dressed in rags. His move is successful: the zombie follows him and attempts to punch Talib, but barely scratches his tunic.
Whilst Talienda creates minor pyrotechnics that are as loud as ineffective, Sinésiel lands another blow on the undead in front of her, severing its right arm. The zombie follows her, flailing aimlessly.
And that's when missing Mylok's familiar voice comes from the corridor, startling Rissi and Talienda.
Talienda's reaction probably isn't what Mylock was expecting. After all of the horrors the harrowed group has borne witness to, She isn't ready to accept that this time the return of someone that was missing is a good thing. Her magic having failed her, and no fighter with the dagger strapped to her leg, she stumbles backwards, going behind Rissi, as she fumbles for the knife and pulls it out.
"S-stay back," she tells him as she holds the dagger in both hands and levels it at Mylock, who can clearly see the point dancing around as she shakes with fear.
Mylok glances at the wavering knife and back at Talienda, ”I just went through hell to find you lot.” The gunslinger motions to Talib and Siné to come on through before slipping a vial of simmering, green liquid from his pack and lobbing it over Talib’s head at his follower. Mylok ducks behind the wall before seeing if the vial of acid hits its mark. ”Please don’t make it all a waste of time, Duchess,” Mylok forces a grin and listens for the shattering of glass.
Too cramped to properly aim, he thinks and snaps one arm out to his side, sending the stored dagger into his hand.
"Mylok?" Sinésiel exclaims from inside the room. "Is that really you? Gotta say, you've got some timing!"
With that, she takes another swing at the zombie in front of her. She can't get through the doorway from where she is without creating an opening, so for now she stays still.
Seeing that Mylock is indeed himself, Talienda finds her grip slipping and hears the dagger as it clatters to the floor. She falls to her knees as she hugs herself and tries not to cry.
T-too many... Too many turned and dead,"" she whimpers, trying to explain why she drew a dagger when he apppeared.
Not one for sentimental greetings in the best of times, Talib simply glances over his shoulder at Mylok and grunts, before turning back for an overhead chop at the collarbone of the next cadaver. The inquisitor tries to make room for Sinésiel, clearly intent on being the last person to leave the room.
Talib once more swings his falchion with brutal precision, opening a wound from the old woman's collarbone to her stomach. The undead creature takes one step forward and is about to pounce on the inquisitor when it is bathed in acid. It squirms for a moment before falling to the ground, the skin on its flesh horribly burned. Noxious fumes burn Talib's nostrils and trigger a heavy coughing fit.
A few steps away from him, Sinésiel takes two swings with a fiery red scimitar, cutting the zombie's other arm and then its neck. The corpse falls on its back and goes completely still.
As soon as she's sure that all of the enemies are downed, Siné sheathes her weapon and makes her way over to check on Madge. She knows that there isn't much to hope for, but considers it her duty to check up on the woman before leaving her here with her "father".
"Is everyone alright?" Siné asks in a soft tone as she kneels next to the halfling. "Much as I'm glad to see you're back Mylok, we've been through hell here. Then again, judging by your appearance and your tone you have, too. Luckily for us, far as I can tell, there isn't much of this place left to explore. We must be getting ever closer to the truth."
Talienda curls up against the wall, hugging her knees as she tries to calm down. She had tried to cast a spell, and it had failed. She doesn't know what that means, and it scares her. She doesn't know if she'll be able to cast again, or if she's lost the ability forever. Perhaps it was something about this foul place that was trying to keep her weak enough to be easy prey.
It hardly matters at the moment. She cannot cast spells, and that means she is back to being useless once more. Out of frustration, she tries to summon the bolts of lightning she has been using. Each time, the magic in the rune fizzles or it breaks apart before she's done, giving her a nasty shock. She tries again, this time moving her arm as quickly as she could.
*SzZZNAP!*
"AGH!"
The others find her curled up in a tight ball, a wisp of smoke rising from between her fingers as she clutches her right arm below the shoulder. She breathes in and out through clenched teeth as she tries not to let the others see her eyes tearing up.
With a hint of glumness, Mylok starts to work the dagger back into the sheath and reset the locking mechanism.
“Starting to think that vendor grossly oversold how often I’d use this thing,” he grumbled.
Mylok finally wrestles the lock back into place, “Yeah,” he grunts as the sheath pinches his arm, “you all have that ‘just had to fight a rotting corpse’ look about you.” He looks up to see Sinésiel kneeling over the body of Madge and finally realizes the extent of the fight as he deflates. "Set’s disciples.”
“Well, ” Mylok starts as he slips into the room with Talib and Siné, “I can tell you that whatever is going on, we have to deal with it before we can even think about getting out of this place.” The gunslinger kicks one of the undead and immediately regrets it when his boot pulls a glob of...ooze loose. “I went back to look for…” he blinks as if struggling to recall an important fact, “something...in the western courtroom when I noticed a large crack in the ceiling. Long story short: there’s nothin’ outside of this building. And I don’t mean nothin’ like it’s all normal. I mean nothin’ like I ran around in nothing for ages. I finally stumbled onto a set of stairs and, well…” Mylok gestures around at the room. “Something strong is keeping us here. And it is pissed.”
Sinésiel approaches Madgeand cannot help feeling nauseated when she sees the halfling's "father" ripped his daughter's head and took a bite off it before Talib destroyed him.
Before anyone can notice Talienda's struggle or reply to Mylok's story, they hear someone coming down form the stairs. "Hello? Is anyone there?" asks Killian, the elderly ex-juror.
Talienda tries to push herself into the wall as she sees another of the jurors coming, but finds that stone is still stone, and she can't hide in it. Not wanting to let him see her in her distraught state, she turns away from him to look at her arm. Her skin where it peeks through the tears in her jacket and shirt sleeves is an angry, raw red. It stings, but its already fading, unlike her frustration.
Why? Why don't her spells work?
More to keep her mind from dwelling on what had happened in the room, she starts to doodle in the air. As her fingers move, she feels a tug, as if they are tracing on paper rather than in the air, and blue glowing lines form in the wake of her fingers. Now genuinely curious, and too tired to pay attention too much else, she draws in the air, practicing with the new medium and learning how it works. After a few minutes, she even manages a smile as she draws out a pattern that she'd seen on a ballroom floor a couple of years ago that she'd loved the flow of.
Rissi moves up by the clearly distressed sorceress. "Magic takes power to cast. Once you've done what you can in a day you need rest to recover that strength. Unless you also have a cantrip that can be useful? Cantrips are the least of magics but you can use them all day. Mine are only useful as tools, detecting magic, mending things and such. But I know some real magi also cast electrical arcs, beams of cold or small orbs of acid. ??"
Talienda looks up at Rissi, then back down at a spot on the floor.
"I guess I'm back to being a wallflower again," Talienda replies. "There's spells, I guess, that I haven't cast, but I don't know if they are the big ones or the little ones. I don't even know if I can cast anything else today. All I've managed since the fight is to hurt myself. I," her voice catches as the shock of it all wears off, "I'm scared, and angry, an-and hurt, and sad. I couldn't do anything to stop Madge, and sh-she died. I-I-I was right there. I saw her die! There's so much anger, and hate, and sorrow, and pain in this place. Even if I had magic still, wh-what can I do? I'm not a fighter! I'm just a stupid, naive girl that's never left the Petals, and n-now I'm l-learning that my father was some monster and people want to kill me and why? Why me? Why us? What did we do to deserve this besides being born into the same family as other people?"
She buries her head into her knees, sobbing loudly enough for it to echo.
"I-I don't want to die, Rissi! I don't want anyone to die!"
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Rissi stands quietly letting Talienda talk, waiting for the inevitable crying. If anyone tries to come over she shoos them away. After a few loud sobs she quietly works to get Talienda's attention. "Wallflower? Hardly that! You're a sorceress! You were throwing lightning around like there was nothing to it. I wish I could do that, but I'm just trained to be a trader or diplomat, and a bit as an entertainer. I'd love to be at a tavern about now, dancing on the bar and singing to the crowd. I'm actually pretty good at that, enough to earn a coin or three after my room and board are covered."
"So you've used the magic that you had today and there's nothing left today? Well, you're still a full grown human woman. You've got your smart and skills, and if things get desperate you can stick a knife in the enemy. I assume you have a knife? Mine'd be like a toy in your hands.... None of us want to die, so we all help each other with what we can do! We've had some successes, and some less than successes, but we'll keep on trying. Forget your father, you're not him! I'm not my Gran but apparently I'm here because he was here on the jury too. Stick with us. Stick with me! We need all of us going forward to figure this out and survive.
“I went back to look for…” he blinks as if struggling to recall an important fact, “something...in the western courtroom when I noticed a large crack in the ceiling. Long story short: there’s nothin’ outside of this building. And I don’t mean nothin’ like it’s all normal. I mean nothin’ like I ran around in nothing for ages. I finally stumbled onto a set of stairs and, well…” Mylok gestures around at the room. “Something strong is keeping us here. And it is pissed.”
Talib nods. "We have arrived at a similar conclusion."
"Hello? Is anyone there?" asks Killian, the elderly ex-juror.
The inquisitor strides to the base of the stairs and peers upward, sword in hand.
"Yes, Mister Paltreth," he answers evenly. "The basement is clear of danger, for now. Are you alone?"
Killian nods. "Yes, yes, quite alone. It's such a refreshing sight to see someone alive!" He produces a metallic flask from an inner pocket on his jacket and takes a sip. "After that spirit appeared, I hid in a broom closet for some time, then went back to the courtroom…and waited, but no one showed up! But what is this danger you speak of? Where are the others? Anyone wants a drink?" He offers the flask to Talib.
It takes a moment for Talienda to calm enough to stop crying. The young woman's psyche has taken a beating in this court of horrors, but she still has enough wits left to stay in control once she has regained it. Rissi's words cause her to shift uncomfortably, even more so as she tries to close the split in her skirts that reveals the dagger strapped to her right leg when it comes up.
"I'm afraid we've all seen the extent of my skill with a dagger, and fighting for that matter, Rissi," Talienda replies. "If I thought it would work, I'd try singing to soothe the spirit, but that's more likely to just get it to try strangling me."
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Killian nods. "Yes, yes, quite alone. It's such a refreshing sight to see someone alive!" He produces a metallic flask from an inner pocket on his jacket and takes a sip. "After that spirit appeared, I hid in a broom closet for some time, then went back to the courtroom…and waited, but no one showed up! But what is this danger you speak of? Where are the others? Anyone wants a drink?" He offers the flask to Talib.
Talib eyes Killian with practised suspicion, but finds the old tippler more or less inscrutable. His involvement in the conspiracy was still a mystery, and there was little time for such distractions at this point in the night. The inquisitor sighs, absently massaging his venom-numbed arm.
"I do not drink," he says coolly. "You are welcome to accompany us, though I cannot guarantee your safety. We are trying to investigate the circumstances of Mord's death, but multiple jurors have already perished. If you have anything useful to share, now would be the time..."
"Oh, that's very noble of you! My memory from those times is all foggy and such, but I am your humble servant, inquisitor Abd Al-Abadar. And if you don't mind, I would rather stick around…safety in numbers is what they say!" Killian takes another sip from the flask before putting it away.
Ignoring the man's comments for the moment, Talib goes through the archives searching for information on Mord's case. Familiar with the recording system used in courthouses, he quickly finds the file for Mord's case and opens the folder with bated breath, only to involuntarily mutter a curse under his breath. The folder was completely empty and had probably been so for a very long time, judging by how the cabinets seemed undisturbed.
Trying not get dispirited, he presses on and searches for files on associated parties, first finding one on Daben Blossomheart. According to the court proceedings, the halfling had been sentenced to death due to having robbed and stabbed a visiting diplomat. The only person who had confirmed his alibi was his overtly emotional teenage daughter, Madge Blossomheart.
Another few cases involving Malgrim catch Talib's eye: the hobglobin had more than once been spared a sentence due to a certain barrister, A.W., pointing out loopholes and technicalities.
It takes a moment for Talienda to calm enough to stop crying. The young woman's psyche has taken a beating in this court of horrors, but she still has enough wits left to stay in control once she has regained it. Rissi's words cause her to shift uncomfortably, even more so as she tries to close the split in her skirts that reveals the dagger strapped to her right leg when it comes up.
"I'm afraid we've all seen the extent of my skill with a dagger, and fighting for that matter, Rissi," Talienda replies. "If I thought it would work, I'd try singing to soothe the spirit, but that's more likely to just get it to try strangling me."
After a moment of thought and realizing just how negative she sounds Talienda shakes her head and chuckles a little before pulling Rissi into a hug.
"Thank you, Rissi. It's strange, but now that this has happened, I've found some people I can trust. If we make it out, you're welcome in my home anytime," She says, a hint of a young and vibrant woman peeking through the despair and depression.
Feeling a little more like herself and feeling bad for how she'd reacted to Mylock's arrival, she finds the Alkenstari man and gives him a hug.
"I'm sorry, Mylock. This place has frayed my nerves pretty badly," she apologizes. "I'm happy to see you alive and not controlled by whatever spirits haunt this place. Can you forgive me?"
“You hid in a broom closet? From a spirit?” The eyepatch on the gunslinger’s face shifts as the muscles twitch underneath while the working eye looks Killian over. Mylok relaxes a bit at the offer of the flask.
”I suppose there are stranger things happening,” Mylok says as he holds out a hand to accept the flask. When Killian slips the flask back into a pocket Misfire shifts the motion to a faux stretch, his elbow popping in the process.
Feeling a little more like herself and feeling bad for how she'd reacted to Mylock's arrival, she finds the Alkenstari man and gives him a hug."I'm sorry, Mylock. This place has frayed my nerves pretty badly," she apologizes. "I'm happy to see you alive and not controlled by whatever spirits haunt this place. Can you forgive me?"
Mylok pauses mid stretch, surprised at Talienda’s sudden hug, and hesitates before awkwardly patting the girl on the back.
“It’s, uh, it’s okay, Duchess. Someone once told me that it’s better to shoot an approaching croc twenty times than hope he’s just paying your boat a visit.”
Mylok holds Talienda at arms length, "The important thing now is that we get out of here."