"Firstly, don't call me a braniac. Secondly, there IS another way around. Some kind of service window right over here. It'll take some squeezing, but we could circumvent this.....thing....if we chose. I say let's NOT deal with creepy demon children thingies?"
Urzok rolls his eyes. Testy again, this Elf is so thin-skinned. I wasn't even insulting. "That's a plan I can get behind. The only things that hide in darkness are those who can see through it. Seeing as we can't, we'd be ripped to shreds on arrival," he concludes darkly. "Oh, wait, there's a door beyond that window too, this'll be easy."
________
A low desk sits behind a window that passes into a room beyond. Behind it an empty doorframe opens into a ransacked storage room, its floor covered in broken glass and opalescent stains.
Getting through the service window proved far easier than expected, but when Urzok makes his way through, he immediately locks eyes with an Apostle in Orpiment that’s lying down in the next room over. The twitchy woman points right at the half-orc and shrieks!
The three cultists all stand up from the ground and grab the closest thing that they can use as a weapon.
”Monster!”
“Beast!”
“Die in the name of Zandalus!”
The last apostle then moves up to be right next to Urzok.
Round 1
=================
Red
Yellow
Green
Boodiddly
Shakur
Urzok
Jevar
=================
Oh thank goodness - they’re just people and not more horrifying blobs - though those were pretty mean things they called Urzok!
Boodiddly twongs his jaw harp, then chucks a rock at the cultist closest to Urzok. ”Hey! Don’t say mean things like that to my friend!”
Are all cultists trained to just attack on sight? We couldn't have a civil conversation with any of them?
Jevar glides past Boodiddly to get a straight view through the service window.
Round 1
=================
Red
Yellow
Boodiddly
Shakur
Urzok
Jevar
=================
Urzok looks at the Cultists in disbelief. "That's.. That's it? Of all the things you could have said to a f~*+ing Orc, you chose 'monster' and 'beast'? Don't Orcs have a horrid reputation around here, rightfully earned?" What's an Orc got to do to be feared around here?
As he pulls his weapon, leans onto the balls of his feet, and bounds forward, he only gets angrier at the "insults." As soon as he gets close enough, he takes a low lunge and tries to sink Red Destiny into a cultist's stomach.
________
"I mean, there are things I really should kill on sight for my god, so, uhh, yeah, cults do kinda just kill things on sight. Apparently this Zandalus cult has decided the things they kill on sight are everything."
Shakur moves in and magically throws the dagger at yellow.
Red Steps forward and tries to Feint against Urzok.
But as she does so she quickly loses her balance and spends far too long trying to regain it.
Red then swings at the half-orc.
Round 2
=================
Red
Boodiddly
Shakur
Urzok (-7)
Jevar
=================
As Urzok and Shakur recede through the service door, Jevar grunts and resigns to pushing himself through to follow the moving battle line.
What do these cultists have to gain by throwing themselves at our feet? Is the joke that they're all planning to come back and haunt us as more undead?! That has to be it...
He stands in the doorway past the service window and takes aim at the final, pitiful wretch.
"I'm simply going to call it 'they're stupid' and leave it at that."
Shakur once again throws the dagger, but he raises his shield this time.
"You know, we might be able to ask them if we don't kill all of them every time." From the sound of Boodiddly's voice, the gnome is getting tired of the senselessness of it all. Even the twang of the jawharp sounds weary.
"They always manage to stick me with something" Urzok grumbles as he lines up a wicked stab to the cultist's gut. "Where is the fun in that, Gnome? How else am I suppose to pay them back for the wounds they keep giving me?"
________
With the gnome’s spell, the final apostle falls.
The three cultists each had padded armor and several, mostly-mostly empty vials of opium in their pockets.
The amnesiacs manage to scrounge together some bandages, medicines, and tinctures together from the room to form some healer’s tools. They also find two minor elixirs of life.
A couch and small desks covered in paint flakes and thick dust fill this otherwise unremarkable room.
As Boodiddly searches one of the desks he finds a rectangular book with the word confiscated written on the butcher’s paper that wraps it. Inside is a Taldan quarto titled Her Majesty’s Honorable Nightcap by Charent. The gnome would guess that it’d be worth about 5 gp.
The amnesiacs open the door to the west and are met with the sight of a wall of pure darkness and a familiar sound.
”Brenton?! Wake up Brenton!”
”̲̪̣̟̼͔̝B̼̟͓̲͕̜ren̯͈̬t̬͚o͔̟̟̥̤n͔͔̜͚?͇̖̥̖̟̤̹!̞͎̰ ͕̱̟̥͍̲̼Wa̱̩̹̺͎k̖̖̻͎̮̻e͎̯ ̝͉͙̫u̠̤͉̺͍ͅp̜̝ ̖̘̳̱̥̰B͈̖͎͓̲̙͎r̤͕͚̜e̦̬̦̥n̻͓͈̥̲t̫͚̜̞̗͍͔on͚͚̪̩!̻̘̬̹̞̮”͎̮̠̮͔ͅ
”̺̞̗͈͓͙̩B̩̲ͅr͓̳̭e͚n̲̟̭̜̮t̬̝o͇̙̩͖ͅn̞̘̙͇̠̖̣?̖̰!̫͉ ̞͖̯͙̖Wa̳̗͖͎̙̘ke̙͇͖͇ ̲͇̩ͅu͎̩͔̱͓p͔̫̥̣ ̰̭͇̭̮͔͎Bͅr͉̜̲̰̹e̹̞̠̗̰͚n͔̭̭̥̭to̹̪̤̼̙̬n̦͙̣͖̺̳ͅ!”̯̪̣
The cries’ primary voice clearly have a source in the room, but it nonetheless sounds like the other whispering cries are whispered out from around the primary source.
Jevar's mood sinks as they face the haunted blackness again.
Sighing, This again. Now that we've seen it from two sides, it appears to take up actual space. What are the odds the way out is blocked by this... We... may have to venture into that eventually.
Urzok glares at the darkness, willing it to suffer at the hands of his frustration. "Well I'm not going in there without a plan. Even then, I want a rope tired around my waist. Darkness always wins eventually," he declares before looking at the others for direction. Why does my head hurt? And always when I try to plan something, when I need it to work. The others can do it this time.
"Let me try something real quick. May work. May not." Shakur casts a dispel magic, attempting to target the darkness.
Shakur's magic silently envelops the impenetrable darkness before becoming completely engulfed by its inky blackness.
"Brenton? Brenton, the lamp went out!"
"͈̗̘̦̺B̪̥̩̫͕̲͕r̳̥̬̥͖ͅen̪t͔͉̠͈̗̣̹o̝͓̺̖̙̺̣n̻̥͕͓͕?͙̗̠̪͓͉͈ ͇̬̝Ḅ̰̥̩̭r̲ͅe̠n̠̻̹̳̳͖̼ṯ̱̥̟͈̭͎ọ͍̯ṇ̖,͈̝͈͍ t͕̤͈̣̠̬̜h̲̭̣e͉̟̤̩͍̼ ̹͚̫l̜̠̣̺̲a̹͚̳͙̝̣̬ṃ̳͈͍p̭ ͇̗w̫e̜̥̭͓̥̥n͇̘̥͈̼͓͙t̘̦͕̲ ̣̣̯̥o̯̜̦̫̖ͅu̮͇̟̫̘ͅt̪̩͚̮!͙͖͇̘͇͉̭"̭͕̟
"̰̯̥̭͚̗B̹̰͔͓r̖̪̬̳̟en̠̠̼̹̰̘t͇̜o̖n̦̤̙͙̱?̙̺ ̲̘͚̝͚̙B̟̗͓͉̜̣r̼̼̫̭̮e̞̙n̬̯t̼͙͙̤o̗̗̣n͉͇̱,̞̘͉̗̠ ̯͙̰t̟̥̮̗h̟̤̯̹̮̳̺e̼̤̣͕ ͉͓̘̯̩̩l͕̮͙ͅa̰̳mp̬̫͓̘̦̺ ̞̠̗̖̪w͓̘̱ͅe̹͙̣n̪t̹͕̻̖ o̜̬̥̩̜u̠̻̝̖͈t̤͎͎ͅ!̤̝̲͇̣̗̦"̬̣̞͇̫͉̦
While the others decide what to do, Urzok cups his hands around his mouth. he shouts into the void.
If Urzok's attempt at screaming at the thing doesn't work, Shakur will draw his dagger. "I think we're going to have to attempt to stab this...dark horror of some sort. Urzok, I'd prefer you go first."
Stab the... darkness? I think the most you're getting out of that is a feeling in your stabbing hand.
Jevar scratches his head while he tries to reason about what they're attempting.
Shakur looks at Jevar like he's a genius. "Actually, yes."
Shakur thrusts his dagger into the darkness, hoping to draw the attention of whatever's inside.
While the others decide what to do, Urzok cups his hands around his mouth. he shouts into the void.
The sobbing children quiet down to a whimper, almost in fear of the half-orc. Then the voices snap into a deafening cacophony!
*
*
The voices sob in an overwhelming cacophony that hurts the amnesiacs’ heads!
*
The sound of spellcasting erupts from within the darkness as a light purple wave pulses through the doorway moving a southeasternly direction and a wave of pure anguish moves over the amnesiacs!
Unless you critically succeeded at the save, you are unable to take reactions for 1 round and you must attempt another Will save at the start of your turn
If you succeeded on this second save, then nothing further happens.
If you succeeded on the initial save but failed the second one, you are slowed 1 for that turn as you sob uncontrollably.
If you failed on the initial save but failed the second one, you are slowed 1 for 1 minute (including that turn) as you sob uncontrollably.
If you critically failed the initial save, then you are automatically slowed 1 for 1 minute as you sob uncontrollably.
Darkness Areas of darkness cause you to effectively become blind, meaning that all terrain is difficult terrain , you automatically critically fail all visual Perception check, and you take a -4 status penalty on all other kinds of Perception check.
Random Asterisks I'm putting in an asterisk after the children's words so that i make an extra paragraph break so the text effect I'm using doesn't overlap (and potentially hide) important stuff in the rest of the post.
Shakur Delays until after Boodiddly
Round 1
=====================
Crying Children
Boodiddly
Shakur
Jevar
Urzok
=====================
Jevar sobs uncontrollably.
It's just so saaad, what's happening to the children.
Pathetic. Get it together man!
The raven looks at her master sideways.
Jevar wipes the tears away, and prepares to cast a spell at the ghost children.
It's time for your punishments. Remember kids, this hurts me more than it hurts you.
Urzok staggers back, wide-eyed, at the force of the soundp coming from the room. Fortunately, he is able to brush off any emotional implications of the outburst and steels himself for the inevitable slaughter. Ha! That's a side of the human I didn't expect to see.
he tries to shout over the deafening noise. Red Destiny in hand, he cautiously treads into the black to fulfill the will of his sword.
________
Boodiddly also starts weeping, his face turning blotchy and red enough to match his hair. "Kids... Stop..." he manages to say as he brings his jaw harp up to playing position once more. He gives it a good twang - for the kids, he thinks to himself.
The familiar sound - so simple, so child-like - seems to cut through the cacophony of voices. Boodiddly almost smiles as he sniffs deeply, hoping that whatever is inside the room has a strong-enough scent to trigger some sort of memory in him.
Feeling like the epicenter of the cacophony is just within reach, Urzok reaches out to strike at it twice. Unfortunately, his thirsty blade catches nothing but the infinite darkness.
________
"Why is everybody...crying......You're aware these are DEFINITELY not kids, right?"
Shakur will quickly launch his dagger one of the cultist's weapons into the room at the location of the sobbing.
But it just clangs to the ground somewhere.
”There’s a monster, Brenton! A monster!”
”͟͏̡̡̧͎̺̦͓̖̭̬̞͇T͇̝̮̣̖͎̤̤̼͖́͢h҉҉̻̺͍͈̬̖͚͟͝e҉̷̫̫̫͔̟͇̮̻̱̜͎̩̠̙̥̝̞̹͕r̛͡͠҉͖̦̝̲̠̙̦͍ ̀ȩ̸̷͈̥̻̥̳̱̫̳̙̞͈̣̥̪̙͚͡’҉̛͓͚͙̭͖̗̞͇̼̻̝̦̗̘̤́͜͞s͏̧͓͓͈̺̲͙̜̤͖͈̣͎̠̦ ̡͉̺̣̬͕̝͙̱̺̪͚̥͍͉̭̠͙͈̣͝a҉̷̦̯͓̭͓̫̲̞̼͡ͅ ҉͚̝͖̳͖̼̫͙͔̖͉̰̤̩̱͠m̳̝̻̱̀͞ǫ̖̹̦̦͙̟̪̖͍͍̪͚͕͇͎̞̻͓́͘n̴̴̩̬̜̹̳̪͉̞͚̪̺͉̱̤̪͍̮̩͉͢͡s̶̢͙͔͓ ̜̝͔̝͡t̷̡̨̢̤̜̘͖̼̲͕̪͓̬͇e̶̴͎̣̠̩͈̹̥͈̥͕̣͎̹͉̳ͅr̛̩̻̭̪͓̜̩̯̬̞̹̳͜ͅͅ,̶̨҉̭̹̪̝͞ ̀͏͙̱̝̞̤̻̖̹̬̠͖͉͚̱̗̠̲B̸҉̬̥͉̩͙̩̳̞̳͍͙̩͉̰̠́͠ͅr̩͈̗͙̪͕̮͡ͅę̸̬̹̭̥͜n̴̳͔̪̱͚̺̪̥̲͖̘͘͝͞t̕ ͡͏̼̠̟͚̰̪̳̝̲͎̹̪̭o̴͖̟͙͕̝̪͎͎̞̕͡ǹ̘̠̰͇̪̻̦̮͉̬̯͙̗̯̯͠ͅ!̀͘͏͏̼͈̼̪̬̪̫͍͇̘ ̧̹̜̬͖̠̪͈̺̥̭͉͈̬̻̩͜ͅͅA̵̙͈̫̝̣͡ ̴̻̣̩̮̠̪͇̖̟͓͕̟̫̯̩̙͇̪̀́͟͟ͅm҉̷̨̻͙̜͞ͅo̴̮̭̼͈͠͞n̛̛̜̥̪̺̯̠͇̱̙͢s̥͍̦͎̟̠͎̭͔̖͍̮͉̳̻̲͇̤̀̀ ͅt̴̜͖̯̬̹̻̤̺̯̤̝͙̻͉͕̖̣̝͖͝ḙ̘̙͖̻̯̻̜̥̭̖̰̖̳͇̪͢r҉̸̬̖͎̗̘̘̳̺̮̭̥̫̙̺̮͈̦̟͠!̛͚̞͉̳͔̲̮͚͝ͅ” ̧̞̝͎͖̲̳̰̖̭̮̕͝͠ͅ
”̵̶̟̲̙̠̙͔͙́̕T̶̨̛̲̗̖̘̣̭̣͚͉̞̻̪͖̭̭͢h̡̡͕͚͖̗̖̗̱̘̲̳͕̭̳͟e̸̴͈̠͇̬̬̮͇̝͝͡͠ŕ̨̢͉̗͖͉̳̭̬͕͚ ̪̟̰̦̭ͅȩ̷̡̨҉̯͎̥͙̠̫͕̲̤’҉̧҉̭̩̫͚s̡̲̩̝͉̗̟ ̱̞͓̖̘̘͉͎̥́͘̕͠͝ạ̴̸̱̭͈̪̹͈̮̣̗̠̰̗͈̥ͅ ̛̗̬̣̱̗̯͎͙̦͉ḿ̦̮̤̰ó̷̴̖͈͎͖̟͍̘͚͇̭̺̝̞͕͎̝̼̱ǹ̴̺̹̠͙̫̬͓̱͍̲̤̠̯͕̬̰́͠͞ͅś̢̡̨͖̳̖͚̮̬̭̥̲̟͍̗ ͉̤͔͈t̷̮̹̟̦̲͇͖̺̠̣̪͙̮͇͈̘̙̳̩̕é̵͉͈̟̩̫̯̝͈̱̮͜ͅŗ̴̷̴̖͕̟̦͖̼̝͎̫̖̬͍̦͔͚̮̳͙,̷̡̲̳̤͙̪͖͇̗̫̮ ͞ ̷҉̨̱͙̦̗̟͇̹̘̩̩̱̜̯͖͘ͅB̢͙͙̲͎̠͖̮͉̦̝̙̻͈̀̕͠ŕ̨̡̥̺͉̬̥͓̱̦́͘e͈̟̞͙͚̼͢͞͡ͅn̶̛͢҉̯͍̞͓̳̹̳͔͈ ̟̼̝̫͉̖ţ̨̱͈͓͙̭̫̠́̕͠ͅơ̷̡͖͕̗̺̤̱̭͝ǹ̳̺̮̘͇̭̫͇̬͓̼͎͙̠͇͠͝͝!̵̸͏͖͍̬̥̟̥̲̲͔̯̰̻ ̷̭̼̼͓͜͞A͏͈̟̖̝̼̰͈̬̀͝ ̲̳͓̲̟͇̩̻̞͍̯͚͎͈͍͖̝̀͢m̡͏͔̮͓͓̞͓̻̝͍̮̕ơ̖̙̰͙͔̤̳͈̺̜͚̺̲̙̙͓̲̟͘̕͝ͅn̟͚̯̼͟͠s̷̵̵̫̥̗̱̪̹̮̜ ̝̹͡ͅt̶̸̫̖̞̗̥̹̖̬̀̀͢e͏̼͖̮̞̥̞̻̭͙̼̥̗̮̲̜̕ͅr̶̸̛̟͕̯͓̖͍̝̙̲̝̩̝̥̀ͅͅͅ!̀͡͡҉̖̳̟̺̮”̴̺̤̲͕̲ ̪͖͜͜
*
The children continue sobbing loudly, completely overpowering the gnome’s upbeat song.
Clat. Clat. Clat.
The amnesiacs hear the faint sound of something small periodically clattering on the floor of the dark room as the sound of sobbing comes closer and closer to Urzok until they are right next to him!
Round 2
=====================
Crying Children (-7)
Boodiddly
Shakur
Jevar
Urzok
=====================
”Hang in there, folks!” Boodiddly tries to ignore the endless sobbing with another strain of one of his favorite songs.
With few other options, the gnome throws another piece of rock into the room. Maybe...?
This is so sad... we have to make it stop!
The normally cold wizard seems ready to break down. He sends another spell in the direction he believes the "children" are hiding.
Shakur grunts angrily, "Ya know what's more sad, our pitiful situation! Jevar, get it together man!"
Shakur will chant a few holy words before pointing a ray of strange light into the room.
"It's moving!" Urzok calls out as he thrusts Red Destiny in the direction of the movement. Whether by skill or luck, the blade does seem to catch on something.
"Luring it back!" he says as he backpedals to where he hopes the door is.
________
Urzok chops down at where he believes the children to be and hits something hard, and feels what he can only describe as bits of shrapnel bounce off of his skin as he violently hits the whatever-it-is.
”Owie! Owie! OWIE!!!”
”̡̺̙̞̺͕͚̹̮̗̞̥́Ơ҉͏̷͏͓̪͓̣̮̠͖̯ẃ̵̢̫͇̰̱̰͕̦͜͡į̙̣̲͎͢͞e̸̮̞̝̗͍̙̖̥̖̰̥̩̠͈̗̯̣͠!̵̨̛̦̮͈̟͡ ́͠͏̳̳̰͍̻̗̻͉͇ͅǪ̷̫̠̱̳̯͢͜ͅẁ̶̶̝͉̞͇̳͇į̻̹̣̫͙̠̗͕͢ͅe̷̵̛̛̜̪̦͔̟͇̩̻͙̹̻͈̖̺͎̜!̷͔̰̖̪̖̳̤̙̤ ͉̺̲͈͚͖̰̤͇͎͘ ̶̨̪̬̲̺͔̣̮̫͍͙̪̞̪̣͔̕̕͝O̢̢̗̫̹̣̜̼͔̬͎̠͉̮͈͓̹̬̮̯̬̕͟Ẁ̯͇͇̲̙̯̮͔̩̬̬̰͘I̶̵͉̮̟̥̠͈̜͇̼͈̦̻͉͚ ̪͠ͅͅE̷̖̭̭̬͓͙͞͡!̶͢͠͞҉̮͎̯̦͓̦̥̤͖̫͉̲̱̼̪̠̮̖̼!̴̣͕̜̬̫͉̰̫͇̜̞̹̤͔͉!̷̴̰̲̱̝̀͟”̵͖̭̻̥̱̠̫̩ ͈͟͜͡
”̕͝҉̖̞̙̮͙̼̖̞͉͓͚̥͢͜O͝͏̞̗̱͓̠̰̻͎̦̩̬̱̲͓͓w̛͏̝̞̣̣̻̻̫͈͎͎̰͎̦̝̩͇͓͕̭̕į̵̛̘̼̥̘̟͈̤̱̜͉͙̪̕ ͟ͅͅę̸̪̻̳̟̻̀͘͝!҉̡̦̙̩̼̘̗̠̜̣͎̝͘͟ ̧̛͢͏̰͚̹̫̱̕O̢̺̙̘͇̝̦̰̜̦̻̘̖̖͢ẃ̫̯͓̝̤̩̫͔͚̺̮͔͓̭̳̯̺͈͔͡͠i̝̞͇͔̮̣͔̯͈̘͘͞e̶͍̺͕͚̥̳͈̝̹͔͚̝ ̝̤̩̝͘!̡̮̥̯͈̜͕͘͜͝͞ ̵̷͢҉̯͍̹̯͓̗̹̖̤̻̳̱ͅÓ͙̜͎̪̝͝W͘͟҉͕̦̫͈͎̬̭I̷̶̸̤̝̹̣͈E̶̢̛̤̤̺̪̗̙̲̗̬̝͈̯̹̝͜!̵̱̫͓̰͔̪̮̹̠̙ ͜͝!̢̛̛̮̗̪̪̣̖͖̟͇̫̥̰͍̠͔̪!̴͡҉̫̱̭̙̥͙͙̺̮̬͉͇̳̭̼̤̟̕”̴̞̦̻̲̙̖̭̝̖̜͈̥͕͔̻͈̪̗́͢͜
*
Clat. Clat. Clat.
The sobbing comes closer to Urzok.
Round 3
=====================
Crying Children (-35 from “1” attacks [before resistances])
Boodiddly
Shakur
Jevar
Urzok
=====================
”That’s the spirit, Urzok!” Boodiddly cheers. ”Let’s keep it up!” The gnome chucks another rock into the room to put some muscle where his mouth is.
I'm almost out of tears. I'm so exhausted from the crying. It might soon switch to... blood or some other fluid when I run out of tears...
He steps closer to the door, but still avoids entering the darkness.
Boodiddly magically chucks another rock into the darkness, which is followed by the distinct sound of a crack!
*
The area falls into an unnerving silence as, over the course of the next few moments, the darkness begins wisping as though it were smoke, gradually revealing the room that Urzok currently stands in, and the amnesiacs' lingering irrational sadness vanishes. As if an explosion tore this room apart, furniture, racks of blunt weapons, padded restraints, and glass lamps lay shattered to pieces and scattered to the corners. The walls are bare and and room’s center lies perfectly open. At the half-orc’s feet lay a pile of papers, each of which contains an incredibly crude drawing—the artist likely a toddler—of very childlike things: a small stick figure holding hands with a larger stick figure with a triangle around its waist signifying a dress, a simple house made of rudimentary shapes, a stick figure sitting with an incredibly anatomically-incorrect rabbit with hearts in the air around the two of them, and so on.
The amnesiacs search the room, but find nothing of interest. The door to the south leads back to the room with the trail of blood that they initially came to the door from.
The amnesiacs open up the doorway to the north from the room with the crying children, and are met immediately with a dozen people forming a circular barrier around the door on the other side. The people hold various items—crowbars, large chunks of wood, two hold trays, and one is lifting a wooden chair over his head—and hold a rudimentary battle stance as they tensely seem to have been waiting for the door to open. Each of them wears a stained yellow sheet like a robe or dress, and most of them bear a chalk mark of a flame on their foreheads.
*
*
The gigantic space beyond the Apostles in Orpiment surrounding the doorway might have once been a cafeteria or assembly hall. Now, it’s the village of a savage tribe of yellow-clad denizens. Wildly burning braziers stand amid yellow tents and scrap structures. Portions of the western and northern walls have collapsed, but ramshackle barricades have risen to surround them, four apostles squinting through the barricade to the west in an attempt to look beyond. To the east, two sets of wide stairs climb to the floor above. Around the stairs nearly a dozen bodies hang crucified upon the walls, dried crimson streaks below them, sacks cinched around their heads. Tendrils of yellow mist creep throughout the entire space, wisps endlessly lapping and fondling the bizarre encampment.
The dozen apostles surrounding the doorway the amnesiacs came through stand tensely, staring intensely at the four men.
Jevar whispers back to the others. I suppose if we stayed here they could only come through a couple at a time... my confidence in reasoning with them is not good.
”Oh, hello!” Boodiddly chimes in from the back of the group. ”Do you all know Zandalus?”
Well, these ones haven’t attacked yet, so maybe they’re willing to listen? Hopefully?
"They didn't attack on sight like the others, and...they aren't that buff. Maybe they would listen to reason?"
Shakur addresses the cultists. "We've taken care of the nightmare in this room. Were you trapped? Or were you waiting for us?"
Urzok rolls his eyes but keeps his grip on Red Destiny firm. If I open my mouth, I just know their weak sensibilities and their pink skin are going to be hurt. Let's see how this plays out, I'll bring the muscle and fear in if I need to.
While the others talk, he can't help but stare at the crucified people.
________
Before the apostles have a chance to respond, a voice echoes. The sickly yellow fog obscures most of the sight of the cafeteria, but emerging from beyond the wisping fog emerges a Taldan human with a chiseled jawline and hazel eyes—he has a surprisingly well-kept appearance when compared to everyone else in the asylum. He wears a doctor’s coat that has been covered with splotches of yellow chalk of various hues.
The man in the doctor’s coat pushes through the barrier of apostles, putting his hands on two of the cultist’s makeshift weapons and lowering them toward the ground.
”For shame, ladies and gentlemen. For. Shame.” He snaps at the barrier of apostles. ”The darkness is gone and these men emerged, clearly having bested the...” He shudders as his voice trails off.
The man stands between the apostles and the amnesiacs. ”These brave men have slain the vile...whatever-it-was in an exodus to our holy land!” He turns heel to face the amnesiacs with an ear-to-ear grin. He opens his arms wide. ”More come to gaze beyond, to serve the orpiment! Welcome, friends!”
The man in the doctor’s coat steps forward and grabs Urzok in a bear hug, his chin resting on the half-orc’s left shoulder. He looks at the other three amnesiacs, a toothy grin plastered on his face but his eyes showing something more. He whispers just loud enough for the four men to hear, his hot breath billowing on Urzok’s neck.
”Nod and follow me if you want to live.”
The man releases Urzok and pats his shoulder heartily.
”What say you, gentlemen?”
Yeah... not buff. I wonder if any of these are the former doctors of this institution.
Then an actual doctor arrives through the yellow fog.
Oh.
He nods back knowingly at the doctor, holding his gaze for a moment.
Yes! We are... uh..... here to gaze beyond.
"Oh, I love gazing!" Boodiddly winks at the strange doctor-man and does his best to follow along. Well, hopefully it's nowhere too bad...
"Yes. We have most certainly come to gaze. Why else would we have braved that...thing!?"
Shakur sheathes his dagger as a sign of peace, but he doesn't buckle it so that it's still loose for telekinetic projectile.
"Why, we've only been told THAT we SHOULD gaze. Nobody has bothered to explain WHAT we gaze, though. Can you confirm my suspicions? Details were a bit vague on the other side of the darkness."