Tassa gasps as she finally gets free.
She stands up and lashes out, the many mouths on her tentacles attempting to lash into her flesh.
Mya approaches the woman at the ground and attempts to stab her, positioning so her allies can flank the prone creature.
Baldrek skewers with his trident, then kicks the woman, then follows up with removing the impaled weapon, causing her to bleed.
Now that you can attack freely without worrying about strike Tassa, it's a simple matter to dispatch the woman.
Potential Loot
Harrow deck
Bag of assorted coins and jewelry
Pearl Tooth
Bite-sized piece of jerky x12
"That felt closer than most battles so far." Mya says, tapping an invisible quill on her nose, probably muscle memory from before the amnesia "Are you okay, Tassa?"
Mya moves to the bodies, examining the jewelry and the harrow deck but stops before the mysterious meat "Considering we have been fighting ravenous undead, I will not touch that."
Baldrek doesn't let his guard down, looking through the crack in the wall. "Close orr not, matterrs little. Zis discussion forr beoble zat have choices. We have not, we find Zandalus and flee frrom zis blace or we die in here." Or worse.
"So get yourrselves togezerr. We almoste zerre, uhn? You all doing good. We will make it."
Cracked pillars bent at broken angles support a sagging ceiling. While most of the walls look ready to fall apart, the northern wall has done so, creating a massive gap open to the strange weather beyond. Opposite it, the wall in the best repair is laden with parchment pages covered in stark lines of coal and chalk. A hall stretches to the west.
Near the collapsed northern wall, three figures can faintly be seen through the all-encompassing mist. Their lack of movement implies they either haven't noticed you or don't care that you're here.
"That felt closer than most battles so far." Mya says, tapping an invisible quill on her nose, probably muscle memory from before the amnesia "Are you okay, Tassa?"
Tassa looks down at her bruises. "I'm in much better shape than I would be, without Ephra'im's medicines."
"Why don't we try to stroll past those three in the mist as though we're supposed to be here...but I'm sure we should be ready for a fight if they don't believe us."
As you head toward the western hall, the papers on the wall flutter in an unfelt wind. You notice that they're covered in interesting-looking sketches.
"OoooOOoooOOooh. Check out this yeeelllllooooow!"
Mya shakes off the effect and studies the sketches on the papers.
The sketches mainly depict scenes of chalky mist filled with impossible, ominous shapes. Mya notices that many of them have text on the backsides.
The papers pick Mya's attention and she shares it with her companions.
"It's going to take a while, but I think I could piece th- What?" She started talking while still staring at the papers but lost her train of thought when she saw her companions. Tassa's reaction was particularly unnerving.
She matter-of-factly approaches them and shakes them on their shoulders, giving some light slaps, climbing on their knees if need be.
It takes slightly longer than you'd like, but Mya's eventually able to draw the focus of her companions away from the sketches and back to the present.
When Ephra'im shakes off the strange fascination with the sketches, he looks toward the figures they were approaching before. "They haven't moved, have they?" he murmurs. "I wonder if they are similarly affected by these unusual drawings, or if there is something else going on. Should we disturb them? I doubt we will be able to examine them in detail until we can return to the chapel."
"I'd say we leave them be for now and rest, the fatigue is catching up to me. With that said, who knows what is to become of them. Any chance they'll become like those undead we have to fight?"
Ephra'im shakes his head. "I do not know what will happen to them. I would think it is likely that they will starve to death, but they must have been here for some time already. Maybe they are like the oneirogens we have already dealt with?" He looks back the way they have come. "Going back seems risky, since our getting here was difficult. Is there any chance we can plow ahead, though we are tired? I would at least like to know what we are facing if we must return unsuccessfully."
After Mya shakes her away from the papers, Tassa looks to her little grey companion and says, "Thank you so much."
When Ephra'im points out that it might be hard to get back to where they are, Tassa nods. "I won't lie. My ribs definitely still hurt, but otherwise I'm sure I can plow on. And I suspect you're right, who knows what new guards they'll post to keep us out if we leave now. At present, if we're lucky, we'll catch them at least somewhat unprepared."
"I think that's acceptable" she says to Ephra'im before turning to Tassa [b]"You are welcome."
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Tassa nods. "OK then, let's hunker down over there. We'll at least hear someone coming in time to be ready for them, hopefully. And we'll be a bit further from that frigging mist."
While you rest and keep watch, the mist surrounding the oneirogens in the corner briefly fades, revealing an ancient Keleshite woman sitting on a stool at a simple table. She makes eye contact with you and utters a single sentence before the mist hides her from view. "Your past was the sacrifice."
The constantly-swirling mist is eerie, and the oneirogens' motionless presence is constant. Nonetheless, this is the first rest you've had in a while, and the silence - while unnerving - is also very welcome.
Ephra'im sits up suddenly from where he has been studying his formula charts, and says: "What? What did you say? What sacrifice?" He looks at the others. "Did you see her? She was right there!"
Baldrek waits with the others while eyeing the oneirogens with malice. "Do not forrget zat we need to kill zose. We cannot escabe until ze yellow mists arre gone."
Ephra'im sits up suddenly from where he has been studying his formula charts, and says: "What? What did you say? What sacrifice?" He looks at the others. "Did you see her? She was right there!"
Tassa's head and tentacles all whip to focus on their newest companion. "What do you mean? No one said anything, I've been keeping watch while you work. What did you hear? And see...?"
Ephra'im shakes himself. "It... it was an elderly woman, Keleshite I think... sitting at a table in the mist. I... I must have hallucinated it." He squares his shoulders. "Let's get this business finished. This mist is unnerving."
"Did you fall asleep? Was it one of our shared dreams? Well, not shared now, but you know what I mean. Regardless, I agree, let's move on."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -
Once you've finished resting and preparing yourselves, you cautiously pass by the oneirogens and make your way to the end of the hall. Comprising multiple toppled cells, this chamber looks as though it could collapse at any moment. Thousands of parchment scraps cover the walls, as if in a pitiful attempt to plaster the countless cracks. The flickering of dozens of candles illuminates the artwork’s subject matter: innumerable forlorn, surreal landscapes stretching into bleak infinities. The multitude of visions transforms the room into a threshold of nightmares.
A gaunt man with a ponytail of long and exceptionally straight white hair sits cross-legged upon the pallet like a Keleshite mystic. He wears multiple patients’ gowns that have been shredded and stitched to create a layered robe. His arms and much of his chest are exposed, revealing lines of charcoal and yellow chalk that streak his flesh, the most prominent of which appears to be a yellow flame on his forehead. When he sees you, his eyes go wide, and his mouth falls open. A voice like a tempest wind hissing over broken glass sheers from his split, motionless lips. "You're supposed to be dead. I already killed you. Why aren't you dead?" With that, his body jerks upward, as if a puppet held on invisible strings.
Keleshite, just like whatever Ephra'im saw...
Mya focuses her magic and hastens Tassa.
Ephra'im studies the figure to determine what he is and what he is capable of doing. He describes what he learns for the others.
Waiting until Tassa moves forward, Ephra'im follows, drawing his longspear as he goes.
A shiver runs down Tassa's spine as this horror seems to recognize them...and claim to have already killed them?!?
Stealing herself, she advances and allows the horror within her to spit a glob of goo over him, hoping to keep him in place.
Scout: BAB +3; no special weaknesses or vulnerabilities; no combat talents
"Zandalus floats!" He says, as he moves around the strange man to stab him with his trident.
Tassa's goo narrowly misses Zandalus, but the distraction is enough for Baldrek to rush up and stab him, pinning him in place.
The man attempts to cast a spell, but the pain from Baldrek's trident is currently too distracting.
Ephra'im uses Advisory Scout again, and stabs forward with his longspear in an attempt to distract their opponent from Tassa's attacks.
With Ephra'im's timely insight, Tassa lashes out with her tentacles, attempting to suck the life from this ban...if he indeed has any life in his body at all.
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Mya steps behind Ephra'im and keeps concentrating on her magic, conserving her energy. Something feels off here, what does he mean he killed us? Was it the dream?
Baldrek shoves the impaled lunatic, then forces him to the ground before twisting his trident and trying to kick his head.
Tassa bites Zandalus as Baldrek knocks him to the ground. A final stab, and the mystic goes limp . Thick, yellow smoke begins rapidly spewing from his wounds and orifices, but the man himself appears to be dead.
Mya releases her grip on Tasha's presence in the stream of time but she does not relax. "This feels... incomplete. He knew us, I assume from the dreams, and I think we might be visited again when we rest today. This mist bodes ill."
Grimacing at the suggestion of troubled dreams, Tassa says, "Well then let's not stop to sleep yet, eh? I have the feeling maybe we're close to this Zantus."
On a high from having recently 'fed' on this bizarre man, Tassa looks about the room for anything of interest.
Ephra'im, too, has a sense of foreboding. Quickly, he looks over Baldrek and Tassa to determine the status of their injuries.
He quickly applies a topical salve to the fighter's injuries.
A figure emerges from the smoke: the pursuer from your dreams! A sickly fog clings to him, and many of his tatters flutter freely and dissolve into mist. Without a word, he lashes out at Tassa before vanishing.
"Tassa!" the warning shout came way too late, the creature from the "nightmares" - actually he seemed very real - had already attacked. Mya ran and stayed together with her companions in case they needed to counterattack and scanned her surroundings for him.
Ephra'im gasps and his eyes widen. "That creature I dreamed about!" he cries out in shock. "It was Zandalus, or possessing Zandalus? Where did it go?" He looks around madly.
Tassa yelps in pain.
She strains her ears, trying to figure out where the nightmare-man disappeared to, and readies herself to strike out if he returns.