The storm begins to pick up outside. The wind slam the shutters against the window frames. Raindrops pelt the glass, causing small cracks to spread like a spider’s web. The yellow fog swirls and pushes against doors, bending their frames. Thunder booms overhead, the sound reverberating through the halls. Seconds later the accompanying lightning streaks across the sky, its light diffused in the unnatural, yellow clouds. As the light fades, the grounds return to their normal dimness. But the dim light continues to fade. All around becomes an inky blackness that obscures normal sight.
Something scaly brushes past you.
A muffled sound comes from the Kellid woman.
The wet, meaty thing slaps against the floor near the chute. The warm breeze subsides. The rancid smell lingers only a few moments after. Light returns.
And you are alone in the shed. Just you and your shadow.
Oh.
And the corpse of a beaten and bloodied creature in a doctor’s uniform.
A gold coin rolls across the floor to stop in the middle of the room. You reach for the coin but your chains are short and you grasp, inches from the small bit of gold. As you relax against your manacles, the coin stands on its edge and leaps into the air.
The clink of a soft metal breaks the relative silence of the cell and is followed by a soft, high-pitched ringing which hums in the air.
clink
huuuuuummm
The sounds repeat.
clink
huuuuuummm
And repeat.
clink
huuuuuummm
clink
…nothing.
The final, ear-piercing hum crescendos into a cacophony of metal being torn apart.
A disembodied voice screeches inside the room, adding to the chaos of noise.
Silence.
Yellow mist begins to creep into the room through the worked stone. A figure in tattered robes steps forth from the haze and grins as you writhe against your shackles. The lipless figure mouths something and you hear the words whispered in your ear.
...once he goes mad.”
A large blade erupts from your chest and you collapse under your own weight.
-------------
A dull ache in your wrist wakes you and you find yourself hanging from a pipe-like crossbeam. The chain that binds your wrists looped over the beam. Next to you a man in dingy yellow robes kicks at you as you open your eyes.
“Zandalus sees!” He exclaims, his eyes wide with terror.
On his other side another body thrashes and the reason quickly becomes apparent. A creature with pallid skin stretched across a bony physique is ravenously tearing into the corpse.
Something large pushes past the trio, shoving Zhao into the others. The touch of the thing stuns the Paladin and she drops her blade to grip the sides of her head.
Merius whirls to brace himself as the woman stumbles into him and, for the briefest of time, finds himself standing atop a crumbling tower in a gothic city. Though he does not recognize the surrounding buildings he knows the city nonetheless. Caliphas. Home.
A shot echoes in the hall followed by cursing from the strange goblin and brings the trio back to the present, ”Get off of me!”
As the darkness fades neither the goblin nor the thing remain.
Nodachi struggles through the pain and grasps her namesake blade again, trying desparately to ready herself against whatever that was.
Once she collects herself she examines the room for dangers.
Junior tentatively tests the chain and sees that it’s holding taut. What did I do this time? Hmmm can’t remember, feels really bad though. He looks to his side and is aghast as something is eating a body. He asks his new friend, ”Zandalus? Who’s Zandalus? Are you Zandalus? Wait, am I Zandalus?” He looks around for some sort of tool he could possibly use to break the chain or the pipe. Failing that Junior will try to twist around and brace his legs against the wall and pull as hard as he can against the chain.
Straining he asks, ”Hey buddy, a little help? Don’t want you to become lunch cause that means I’m dinner.” Junior didn’t want “Zandalus Sees” to become lunch not because he didn’t want to become dinner, although that was a side effect, but because he didn’t want the guy to get hurt.
Preacher helped rebalance Nodachi as she leant on him. He took a moment to savor the memory he had, knowing there was some kind of home. Erastil always placed such high value on home. Knowing there even was such a place was a deep comfort among the great sea of disquiet in his soul at the events ahead of him.
The Samsaran then looked over the corpses more clearly than he'd had a chance to before. Seeing if perhaps they'd offer any insight into what is going on in this mad place.
His mind still groggy, the skald is unable to determine exactly what is chowing down on the corpse. He is, however, quick to realize that while it has humanoid features, it is decidedly not human.
The man in yellow shakes his head violently and half-heartedly tugs at his own chains. Blood trickles from where the manacles dig into his wrists. He has clearly been attempting the same thing for a while. “Words fail.”
It doesn’t take much to determine what happened to the person here. Part of the building appears to have collapsed and pinned the person under rubble. An easy meal for carnivorous insects. Whether or not the person was alive before the centipedes began feasting, you do not know.
Confusion crosses over the petite halfling's face as she looks down at the familiar corpse at her feet. "Hello..." she says to it, head tilted to the side, her over-large eyes barely blinking. "Was there not a strange man that was supposed to come back with you?" She looks around the shed once more and takes in the lack of bodies, living or otherwise.
Was it my imagination? There were others with us. she sends the thought to Colenso, riding her shadow comfortably.
Fleeting. Untrustworthy. It responds back, indifferent to their current situation. You are safe. All that matters.
She ponders those thoughts for a moment and nods in response. "I suppose that I shall have to take you to the soldiers myself," she continues the conversation with the pseudo-doctor/fully-dead body. "Seems like far too much effort, but my options are currently limited."
She takes a few moments to make sure that no loose pieces of the body are dangling anywhere that may get caught, then proceeds the slow task of dragging the body by the lab coat, head first, through the door and back down the hall towards the bunkered soldiers.
“Ugh, now what?” Ironhand grumbles, “If reality could just stabilize for a little while, that would be nice.”
He looks around, shaking his head a bit. The critters were gone, and so was the goblin. “Huh, good riddance, I suppose.”
"We need to keep moving"
After saying a silent prayer Nodachi goes through the pockets of the corpse looking for anything of use, and glances around the room for the same.
If she fails to find anything she will lead the group north , switching back to her naginita to keep foes at a distance.
"Keep an eye out" she whispers. "I'll watch your backs. We'll get through this. Preacher, please keep the light on, I can't see as well as Ironhand here"
Preacher lets out a sigh of disapproval at Ironhand's pejorative retort. The goblin was, if nothing else, a person who deserved, if nothing else, a non-callous response to her exit. But this was not the time to pick a fight with this happenstance companion. Instead he bites his lower lip, opting to retreat to silence for now.
Preacher nods and keeps close to Nodachi. He renews his light on her new weapon of choice and stays right behind her.
As Preacher inspects the corpse, he notices a tarnished old silver necklace stuck in the blood matted hair of the body. When the samsaran disturbs the body, Nodachi catches sight of a cloth sack wedged between the remains and the rubble. No doubt a collection of supplies that the unfortunate soul was trying to gather.
Seemingly in response to Ironhand’s complaints the door to the courtyard slams open. The light from the outside silhouettes a figure standing in the doorway which appears to be dragging something.
The wind catches the door to the hall and yanks it from your hand causing it to slam against the wall.
The halfling girl is caught off-guard by the door's sudden exuberant movement. "Oh!" she says with her wispy voice. "Thank you."
As she continues to drag the doctor-thing through the door, her eyes are drawn to the light further down the hallway, and the shadows playing within. "Do you suppose those are our companions? Maybe they didn't leave us after all."
Wary, the shade says in her mind. Unknown.
"Of course," she responds back, out loud, no emotion coating any of her words. "This place seems to force caution into everything one does. I am no exception. But allies will be necessary for survival."
Perhaps, it concedes, though it offers no further thoughts on the subject.
Across the courtyard Preacher notices the small humanoid dragging something behind her. He considers hear appearance unsettling, primed by all the horror he's seen recently, he feels apprehensive about the new figure. Her simple attire made him think that perhaps she was unfortunate are they, but caution was warranted.
"You! Across the courtyard, what are you doing here?" Shouts the Samsaran, trying to keep his voice perfectly steady.
The doll-like girl stops mid-pull and turns her head to look in the direction of the voice she heard. Seeing with her friend's sight, the light is a little bit glaring, and everything appears in black and white (as all things should, really), so she can't quite see much in the way of details. As best as she can make out, there seems to be a human woman (though definitely not the Kellid woman; the hair is all wrong), possibly a dwarf, though something seems to be wrong with one of his arms, and an odd-looking person that looking kind of like the strange bald man that disappeared down the hole into the basement.
"I'm taking this body to the soldiers," she responds, matter-of-factly. Her voice is higher on the register, though soft in tone, almost breathy. Somehow, though, she manages to project it enough to be heard. "I'm sorry to say that I can't share. I need to provide proof that creatures do exist here." She cocks her head slightly, then turns to look behind her (her shadow?). "You don't have to tell me that."
Ironhand peeks out into the windy courtyard. "It's just some kid." he mutters, "What's a kid doing in a place like this?"
He steps out into the courtyard, slowly approaching the 'child', but remaining wary in case it proves to be more than what it seems. "Hello there, lass," he calls out in as friendly a voice as he can manage, "What is this place? Do you know where we are?"
Nodachi grips her naginita tightly as this folk-like creature emerges at the edge of her vision. She approaches the voice and is fooled for just a second. At the sight of the corpse though she gasps the hilt more firmly and peers at the girl using some sense she can't quite define.
Releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, she asks a question.
"Did you kill that thing yourself? It attacked us before"
Ironhand peeks out into the windy courtyard. "It's just some kid." he mutters, "What's a kid doing in a place like this?"
He steps out into the courtyard, slowly approaching the 'child', but remaining wary in case it proves to be more than what it seems. "Hello there, lass," he calls out in as friendly a voice as he can manage, "What is this place? Do you know where we are?"
The girl acknowledges the dwarf with a slight tilt of her head, her large eyes seem unblinking. "Please do not call me a 'kid'. I am fully grown, even if it is below average for my species. As to this place, I do not know. I have not been here long, myself."
Nodachi grips her naginita tightly as this folk-like creature emerges at the edge of her vision. She approaches the voice and is fooled for just a second. At the sight of the corpse though she gasps the hilt more firmly and peers at the girl using some sense she can't quite define.
Releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, she asks a question.
"Did you kill that thing yourself? It attacked us before"
"I was involved in it's death, yes," the girl responds with a nod, "though there were others with me at the time. They seem to have disappeared." She adds the last comment with slight increase in her tone, almost as if starting to as a question, but changing her mind.
"We know nothing about where we are either. We were hunting the creature as well. How many companions did you have that you're now alone?" Preacher asked, still wary of the girl, or just further enemies.
The thing on the end looks up from its meal long enough to snarl at the two of you before continuing to feast.
"We know nothing about where we are either. We were hunting the creature as well. How many companions did you have that you're now alone?" Preacher asked, still wary of the girl, or just further enemies.
"Oh. I'm not alone," she replies, head tilting quizzically to the side, "My friend is always with me."
”There once was a group chained in a bunch,
They struggled against a real time crunch,
A cannibal monster,
Had gotten to slaughter
And was slowly working towards its lunch.”
"Oh, um, ok then." the dwarf mutters, looking to change the subject.
"Well, good job with this thing, anyway," he says, kicking at the body. "Gave us a bit of trouble, it did. Good riddance, eh?"
Captain York calls from behind the barricade, “So you people really did kill one of the dopplegangers, eh?” His voice contains traces of hope and the man himself seems surprised for a moment.
He looks from the halfling to the group down the hall, “I thought I saw you go out into the courty-no...wait…that one was one of Erastil's...” York rubs at temple and mutters something incoherent.
”...two deals...or was it one?” York stumbles and the large guard catches him.
One of the other men speaks up, ”I believe the Captain said three corpses.”
Screaming suddenly echoes down the hall for all to hear. It originates from the northern end near the rubble.
Once the screaming stops, the large guard speaks, “Go on then. We’ll get that thing’s corpse.”
Preacher started walking towards the petite halfling, "Let's get behind the barricade for now and see if we can learn what is happening in this mad place." Preacher speaks hurriedly as he makes his way back toward the barricade.
The halfling stands up straighter, and her eyes seem to get even larger at the sound of the screaming. "That was loud!" she says. "Still need to find two more creatures. Maybe the creatures made the noise." She looks at the others, her wispy dress twisting around her legs as she turns. "Could you help me? I would like to leave this place, but the guards won't let me pass until the creatures have been killed and brought for proof."
Nodachi nods.
"Two more." She sighs heavily. "I will help you, small one. We are better off working together."
She looks to Preacher and Ironhand and gives them appraising looks to see if they agree before turning to the strange halfling.
"Do you know your name?" The look of fear she has shows that she doesn't know her own, but she doesn't want to say so and make it real. "You can call me Nodachi, and this is Preacher. The stout one is Ironhand. We're all going to get through this."
With that she sets off to find more dopplegangers
She tips her head slightly to the side again, causing some of her dark hair to fall across her face."I do not recall my name, or many of my memories. You may call me what you wish. It will not bother me." She pauses a moment, then adds, "And thank you for your help."
She turns her attention back behind her and says, "Make sure you say thank you."
A deep, whispy voice seems to come out of the air, "I'd rather not."
The dwarf blinks at the disembodied voice, then decides it's one of the least strange things he has encountered in the last hour. "Sure thing, doll, you can come with us." He looks toward the source of the distressed-sounding limerick. "Sounds like someone may have found one of these doppelgangers, let's go!"
Leaving the not-doctor’s remains with the guards at the barricade, the group heads down the hall toward the origin of the screams.
The walls between the hall and this office have largely collapsed, exposing debris-cluttered desks, toppled lockers, and several human bodies protruding from the rubble. Three other, almost human, bodies are tangled in the room. Each having been pierced by multiple crossbow bolts. Rubble crunches underfoot as the group traverses the area.
Lengths of flesh have been deliberately stripped from the corpses, human and doppelganger alike.
The man in yellow watches in horror as you scream. ”Words fail! Words fail!” He says once you finish. The creature eyes you and growls, though it never ceases to chew on its meal.
You hear the footfall of multiple people outside of the room.
"These doppelgangers seems to have some strange desire with defiling bodies. What could they be collecting the flesh of these bodies for?" Merius utters with disgust, shedding light over the area.
He stays close to Nodachi as he looks around.
If he sees no other foes, "Perhaps the voice is not from here, and we need to press on."
Coming up behind the others, the girl (Doll?) looks at the corpses with almost fascination. "Would they do the same to their own kind, though?"
All rotting meat, the shade whispers in her mind.
The half-ork looks over to his boon companion and says, "You're right. It wasn't very good. I'll have to think up a better one." After a moment of pondering he asks, "Hey cannibal monster! Can you stop that chewing? I'm trying to think over here."
Ironhand looks around the room. “Figures this wouldn’t be straight forward.” He cups his hands around his mouth and shouts “HO THERE! WHERE ARE YOU?”
"Perhaps they are further along... maybe in one of the rooms that haven't been decimated?" the girl suggests to the others, but she keeps her eyes and ears open for any sign of life.
The half-ork yells,
Preacher called out to the voice, "Your left isn't exactly the most helpful direction when we can't see you!" He shouts back as he begins to try moving rubble and motions to the others to do the same.
Both hands and the woman’s head are undead creatures. Crawling Hands and a Beheaded, respectively. Having been animated while still attached to the corpse, the creatures are ineffectually scrambling for freedom.
Crawling Hands are diminutive undead which are propelled by fingers that carry it forth at great speed like a deformed spider. Though not particularly strong, being an animated hand lends itself to being able to grab creatures of up to medium size. Some say the origins of the crawling hand lie in the experiments of demented necromancers contracted to construct tiny assassins. Other tales tell of gruesome prosthetics sparked to life by evil magic, which then developed primitive sentience and vengefully strangled their hosts. Regardless, the crawling hand is an efficient killing tool.
When not commanded to kill, the crawling hand remains still and can be handled and transported safely. Typically, owners carry them about in small, velvet-lined boxes. Crawling hands can also be placed as guardians and programmed with contingency commands, such as to hunt down and slay an individual who performs a specific task like violating a shrine, opening a warded door, or breaking the seal of a casket.
Beheaded are tiny undead which typically float silently and ominously, their graying teeth eerily clattering. Less hardy than their crawling hand cousins, Beheaded make up for their lack of strength with perfect flight .
A beheaded is a severed head or skull animated as a mindless undead sentinel that silently floats at eye level as it lies in wait for living prey or is sent out into the lands of the living to terrorize everyone it finds. A beheaded set loose near populated areas thumps ominously against shut doors and windows, biding its time until someone responds to the incessant knocking. The beheaded then assaults this victim.
Beheaded also guard grim crypts, abattoirs, and hideouts of murders who like to keep reminders of their past sins close at hand. Beheaded come in many varieties, usually based on the creature the head came from. A beheaded prefers to float at head height so it can more easily attack the face, neck, and shoulders of its victim.
Something is writhing inside of the torso of the woman. Her skin rolls as if large worms are crawling just beneath the surface, ready to burst out.
On seeing the woman stuck in the rubble, the halfling watches her with some degree of fascination. There is something moving inside of her. I don't think that that is normal. I would be cautious."
Marius takes a step back from the rubble he was unearthing and reaches for his bow. "Something is inside her. Be careful." he alerts his allies as he swears under his breath.
"Undead. Her head and hands have animated." Nodachi says in a mournful voice. "The hands will try to grab and the head can fly of its own accord, or so I seem to recall. Prepare yourselves; let's put an end to them"
When her companions seem ready, she will move forward slowly and attempt to skewer the head from 10 feet away using her Naginita
This is your left, you're gonna die. The half-ork shook the thought from his mind, "If you face my voice that's your..." The disembodied voices suddenly seemed like they had their own problems so he just added, "Be careful! I'm just going to l hang out her with my best friend and his friend's friend, whose more of a fiend really."
"Undead?" Ironhand asks, eyes going wide, "Then let's make these abominations RE-dead!"
He steps forward and attacks the corpse's head.
With a mighty swing of his mechanical arm, Ironhand crushes the animated head. The brittle skull splinters and the creature pops like an old grape. The rotting gray matter inside spurts in all directions.
With the head destroyed, the back of the corpse erupts in a spray of gore. Writhing organs whip about and attempts to entangle the dwarf.
As the organs flail about the tendons that held back the the crawling hands snap and the hands spring forth to attack.
Seeing Ironhand raise his fist, Preacher quickly knocks an arrow. His eyes quickly move to the slowest of the creatures and fires a shot.
Nodachi clambers over the rubble, naginita in hand, and tries to skewer the nearest hand.
The halfling girl steps up beside Preacher and, staring at the moving hands in a slightly unsettling manner, she reaches out her open hand towards the creature, causing a stone from the rubble to lift off the ground on it's own, then be sent unerringly towards it's target like a bullet.
Move Action: Move 5 feet.
Standard Actin: Cast Telekinetic Projectile at Claw 2.
The dwarf steps back from the flailing entrails, turning his attention to one of the disembodied hands. He brings his metal arm down upon it.