Shohreh does what she can to keep Jevar on his feet. Then, in a flash of inspiration, she decides to ward herself with an aura of inviolability that she hopes the swarm will dash itself against.
Boodiddly heals Jevar.
Jevar moves over and touches Shohreh’s shoulder to heal himself.
Shohreh patches up Jevar and protects herself.
Kolgradd swings at the mass of bodies…
Failure
…and somehow manages to only slice between the various bodies.
The humanoid swarm does a Mob Rush!
Failure
Failure
Success
Success
Round 6
==============
Boodiddly (-57) [20’ above ground]
Jevar (-64) {+2 status vs mental} [20’ above ground]
Shohreh (-95) {Sanctuary: Round 1 of 10} [20’ above ground]
Kolgradd (-41) [20’ above ground]
Humanoid Swarm <Red> (-223 from “4” attacks [before resistances]) [20’ above ground]
==============
Once again, Shohreh pushes past the swarm's tangled limbs, firing a bolt of divine energy over her shoulder as she moves.
From the relative safety of a stone's throw away, Boodiddly claps and whistles encouragingly.
Ruuuuuuuuuuun. Jevar flees the elbow and knee slapping machine.
Frustrated at how fast the limbs seem to be moving to evade his strikes, Kolgrad lets out a cry of frustration but keeps up his rapid onslaught of sword slashes.
◆ Step
◆ Strike
◆ Strike
Boodiddly harmonizes.
Jevar runs.
Shohreh patches herself up and sends a bolt of holy energy at the swarm!
Failure
Kolgradd swings his sword at the swarm and hits once!
The humanoid swarm is beaten and bloodied . Its constituent members stare blankly at the former-amnesiacs as they
The former-amnesiacs wait in preparation for the swarm to come back, but it never does.
Jevar looks around the room, wondering where it might be safe to rest.
I think we could all use rest, but we might need to post a watch.
*
Failure
Success
Kolgradd has a disturbing dream about the whistling and the lake, but is otherwise mostly unaffected.
The chambers begin to zigzag in strange and unpredictable ways, and Kaklatath suddenly gets a shine of recognition across their face.
”Wait…this old mind is coming through with…YES! Yes! I recognize where we are! We are getting close to the stasis chamber—where I and my fellow Yithians placed ourselves in stasis to guard over the flying polyps.”
The group continues down this passageway until they reach a set of passageways that eventually opens into a brief side chamber filled with rounded alcoves. Kaklatath’s face drops as the group enters this side chamber, for it seems to be covered in broken glass, sickly vines, and other organic matter that stubbornly resists decomposition. More notably, though, are the bodies of Yithians in differing states of decay. Some seem to remain in their glass “pods,” their skin decolored from an apparent lack of oxygen—or whatever other gas Yithians breathe. Yet others seem to have had their pods broken and were mangled and cut up in a struggle. One or two, however, have had their pods broken into, but they remain inside, large pieces of their flesh completely missing and nowhere to be found.
”This…this doesn’t…no…some of their stasis capsules failed and they choked…and others were attacked. But…” Kaklatath moves over to a broken, empty pod. ”this one is mine, but none of these bodies are mine. So…where am ‘I’? There…there’s another side chamber with more stasis pods nearby.”
Kaklatath begins leading the way down a side passage, and as they get closer they hear the sounds of whispered conversation. When finally they approach, they first see a disturbing sight: A Yithian, standing upright, but with fungal grows coming out of its body, creating a strange mossy substance on its skin. Nearby are two dog-faced humanoids that seem to have dragged a Yithian corpse out into the hallway and are feasting on it—It has been some time, but the former-amnesiacs recognize these as ghouls from the nightmare plateau of Leng.
The fungal Yithian seems to be simply swaying, almost standing guard. The Leng ghouls, however, rise to their feet upon noticing the former-amnesiacs.
”Well, this is new. Boys! We have visitors!”
Two more Leng ghouls poke their heads from around the corner and seem to smile, but are clearly still wary of the heavily-armed newcomers.
”We have not seen any mortals come through here. Now why might that be?”
As these ghouls are musing, Kaklatath stares at the Yithian in a mix of abject horror and morbid curiosity. Kaklatath’s “voice” echoes in the former-amnesiacs’ minds, clearly not “heard” by the Leng ghouls.
”That…that is me. That is my body! The…Elari! The woman whose body I inhabit. She…she must have succumbed to the infestation. The Great Old One has wormed into her mind while within my body! I…that’s why. That’s why I couldn’t dismiss my mind swap! I was being blocked by the direct interference of the entity in the lake! And…it seems to have had an unexpected effect—the infection granted her—me?—more strength. I…we can still get me back in my own body through a…strongarm solution: ‘killing’ my body, then killing Elari’s body, then using resurrection magic on my body, which should call MY mind rather than Elari’s. But…I…I’m sorry, but Elari is gone—even if somehow brought back to her body, her mind has been taken by the Innmost Blot, and this is a corruption of the mind, not the body; bringing her back the same way as me would just bring the corruption with her…”
"Come now, wipe your chins and stand up straight. Show some respect for yourselves." Boodiddly's voice has the same unyielding sternness as a governess raising a willful second-heir who is on a quest to put their breakfast in their hair. "Now then. You may address me as Mr. B., here to find a missing friend. Your names would be? And your business?"
Meanwhile, the conversation with Kaklath continues silently. You said you've exchanged with several people, yes? Why hasn't this... corruption happened before? You had safeguards to protect the innocents you abducted here, right? Could they keep Elari's mind safe while Shohreh treats the infection? He lets a taste of his distaste slip into his mental tone - both for the thought of killing an innocent bystander and for the person who abducted her and abandoned her in such a dangerous place.
"Yaz. Ignoc. Dustchewer. Gox." The ghouls introduce themselves one by one. "Oh, a friend, is it? What kind of friend would bring you so far down here? We are merely...engaging with the local repositories of knowledge." One of them motions to a nearby Yithian corpse.
Meanwhile, the conversation with Kaklath continues silently. You said you've exchanged with several people, yes? Why hasn't this... corruption happened before? You had safeguards to protect the innocents you abducted here, right? Could they keep Elari's mind safe while Shohreh treats the infection? He lets a taste of his distaste slip into his mental tone - both for the thought of killing an innocent bystander and for the person who abducted her and abandoned her in such a dangerous place.
"I don't know! Genuinely! Perhaps Lowls's delving into the Great Old One caused it to stir, which ignited a wave of the infestation. We did have safeguards but...I...I'm sorry, I genuinely don't know what happened...it's been safe for centuries...She was supposed to remain in stasis, with maybe a couple flashes of consciousness that I would have wiped from her memory."
Kolgradd holds Teralindar's Honor cautiously, but makes no move against the ghouls yet. He is focused on the voice he can hear in his mind.
Jevar's expression takes on a mixture of grave concern and skepticism.
Kaklath seemed like one much more under control before. What other assumptions have we grown comfortable with that will not hold.
How quickly can you find out what caused this? What can be recovered from this grim scene? Are there others unharmed that we can protected from these... ghouls. If it is infestation, it must be stopped!
His grip on his staff tightens, as he suspect they may have to dispatch these leng ghouls soon.
I don't care if they have names...
Shohreh shoots Boodiddly a sharp glance before turning to the ghouls, her nails tapping rhythmically on the wood of her staff.
"What an unusual style of discourse," she remarks dryly. "Is that just for hunger's sake, or do you actually learn things from your prey?"
How quickly can you find out what caused this? What can be recovered from this grim scene? Are there others unharmed that we can protected from these... ghouls. If it is infestation, it must be stopped!
”I’m not sure. Leng ghouls learn from consuming flesh much like you might read from a book. It’s entirely possible that they have consumed as much as they could already. I would need time, and I’m not sure if these ghouls would be willing to give us said time at the moment.”
Absorb Memories ◆ (manipulate) Requirements The Leng ghoul is adjacent to the corpse of a creature that retains flesh on its bones; Effect The Leng ghoul devours a chunk of the corpse and regains [REDACTED] Hit Points. At the same time, they also absorb some of the memories stored in the flesh from when the corpse was alive, gaining a +1 status bonus to all skill checks for 10 minutes. The Leng ghoul can immediately attempt an Occultism check to learn one non-secret memory the corpse had when it was alive (use the standard DC for the creature's level). The exact memory learned is determined by the GM but is typically something of use to the Leng ghoul. The memory can't be one the creature was trying to keep secret unless the check was a critical success. A Leng ghoul can Absorb Memories from any given corpse only once.
"What an unusual style of discourse," she remarks dryly. "Is that just for hunger's sake, or do you actually learn things from your prey?"
The ghouls each giggle. ”It can certainly be for more than one reason, can’t it? And this ‘friend’ that you are looking for, it wouldn’t happen to be this one, would it?” The ghoul motions to the Yithian—Kaklatath’s now-fungal body. ”A crowning achievement of ours, for it has been changed based on the strange influences here. While we are adherents to the Bloated Woman, the strange influences here are fascinating indeed. It is a simple creature, easily controllable, so I’m sure we could make a trade of some kind. A minion for knowledge, perhaps?”
Jevar doesn't quite get the reference, but he is intrigued. He thinks he might be able to interest them from his own reserves.
What sort of knowledge are you seeking?
Droskar's hairy arse!
Kolgradd's unguarded telepathy is more coarse than his usual spoken conversation.
That's another name for Nyarlathotep. The outer god of being an utter <dwarven obscenity>. This conversation is going to end in death or I'm the Queen of Kyonin!
What sort of knowledge are you seeking?
Shohreh doesn't let the sudden rush of hatred show on her face, but shifts her body slightly in anticipation of the coming violence.
Kolgradd, I agree entirely. Let's be quick about it.
Boodiddly helpfully masks Kolgradd's most colorful word with a sour trombone note in the group's mental conversation. Yeah, not a fan, he adds, including an image of a shaking head. But I'd rather do this trade they speak of than risk harming Elari.
"Truly a fascinating approach to literature," he states dryly to the ghouls, "but perhaps you might consider a means of transferring knowledge that doesn't involve the active destruction of that medium? Take, for example, the humble book." He plucks a tome from thin air and lets it fall open to a random page without breaking eye contact with Ignoc.
"Fascinating. Now I can learn facts about the Veiled Voice, such as what they prefer to eat for breakfast, but you too can learn those same facts. And your friend, and then their friend, and so on until the cows come home." He snaps the book shut and tosses it over his shoulder back into thin air. "Perhaps I have piqued your interest?"
I can't imagine eating to gain information, but all the same I might have something for you.
He plops down his pack and begins fishing around in it.
He fishes out...
the scroll of paralyze (6th rank, 300gp),
the scroll of planar tether (70gp),
the scroll of translocate (70gp)
The ghouls take whatever texts the former-amnesiacs offer them and are ultimately off on their merry way, leaving behind the massive, fungal body of Kaklatath.
Jevar looks over the body briefly, and then asks Shohreh
Can this be fixed?
"If we can ressurect Kaklatath, can't we at least try to ressurect Elari too? If the gods will it..."
Kolgradd is made deeply uneasy by the idea of this corruption being so profound that even the gods can't reverse it.
After some time spent trying to solve the puzzle they have been presented with, Shohreh shakes her head sadly.
"It's as Kaklakath said. If we resurrected her, it would only restore the mutilated remains of her mind to her body, and the power to heal that is beyond me, even now. The best thing we can do for her at this very moment is to simply put her out of her misery."
Very well. If that's the best we can do, we should be quick about it.