Enoch's blue eyes blink at the sudden sight of the gasping ghast.
Probably should quit. Bad for your health. Speaking of which; Pharasma wants a word!
Despite the "surprise" and the ghast failing to resist the smoke's effect, he dodges all the attacks thrown his way. The remaining ghoul is slain by Enoch through the door.
The coughing ghast whirls on Ethyl, lunging to swipe with his one claw along with his jaw. The half-elf doctor swats the undead's attacks away, her enhanced dexterity serving her well.
Enoch casually saunters over to Flank the ugly kid joe. He nods to Ethyl.
This guy bothering you?
Ethyl peevishly looks at Enoch and says, "Quite." The ghast wasn't the only one bothering her.
The ghast is torn apart by the paladin and the alchemist, falling into even more pieces. A search of the baths reveals nothing but the gnawed and ruined corpses of patients, faculty, and even some parts of stranger creatures - no doubt drawn to this place by the Dreamlands proximity.
The pieces of tattered clothing coalesce into a humanoid shape and disperse into dust, revealing Nyarai in the room once more. She is waving the air around her nose, frowning.
"Smells like something died in here. Twice. Ugh. Don't you people smell that?", she looks at the others. "Oh, by the way - Good job." She sticks her thumb up with her other hand.
Ethyl retreats from the ghast corpse as soon as she's able and does not join the search of the baths until the smoke has cleared sufficiently.
She responds to Nyarai crunching up her currently malformed face, "Quite. It takes great mental effort to ignore it. We should move on."
Iosif gags, and agrees. "Ghasts... they all smell that bad, something tells me. Horrid creatures. Let's get out of here."
Nyarai continues moving south to find rubble and debris blocking the hallway. She attempts to see whether she can clear a path , but give up after a while. She returns to the others. "Perhaps...", she looks at the sketch they got from the shrine inhabitants. "there should be a stairway around here."
Alvar rubs their six-fingered hands together, grimacing. "Foul indeed. Well done, my friends." They wrinkle their nose at the stench, their brow furrowing tighter. "Moving forwards would be wise - up the stairs, do you think? Ethyl, that spell won't last more than a few minutes longer, so it would be wise to fight while it's still active - assuming that our foes will be attacking physically."
They consider that thought for a few moments. "If the oneirogen upstairs is anything like our previous encounter, it won't attack physically, but from what I understand of them, most of them aren't quite so... inanimate."
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Ethyl says, "Noted." Her form blurs up to the nearest door and opens it after checking to make sure it won't explode in pus or bile.
Enoch bows formally to Ethyl as he steps in behind her to investigate the next door....
Alvar glances at their crossbow, considering it for a few moments, but doesn't yet draw it, preferring to keep their hands open for spellcasting - at least for now.
The plaque on the door reads "Group Therapy". The reek of sweat and rot mingles here. Multiple tables and chairs have been shattered and rebuilt into cages along the east wall, while a crate and an upended bed fitted with harnesses stand against the north. There are three crates towards the southern end of the room, the northernmost one lurching randomly, as if something is trapped inside it.
Three ghouls linger here, one picking at the remains of a corpse, one seated atop the lurching crate as if holding it down, and the third looms over a still-living human man chained to one of the beds. They are on edge, having heard battle moments ago but making no moves to leave this room, nor to they notice Ethyl peering inside.
Ethyl holds up three fingers and points inside, then closes on the nearest ghoul with violence in her heart.
The Paladin's blue eyes crease as he views the undead monstrosity hovering over the chained prisoner!
He Charges it!
Pharasma would like a word!
Nyarai will quietly move to a more advantageous position.
Alvar follows their fellow planestouched with careful footsteps, readying themself for the oncoming battle.
Enoch's attack lands, nearly knocking the ghoul off its perch looming over its victim.
Ethyl tries to rake with her claws, savoring the feeling of ripping flesh if she does. She picks her way closer to her next target.
Nyarai focuses her gaze at Enoch once again. The air shimmers around the man, and she lets out a loud, sinsiter chuckle. She steps away from Iosif, just in case.
Iosif fires once again, apologizing to Nyarai profusely over the deafening crack of gunpowder-fueled mayhem as he shoots the foe far in front of him.
Alvar hisses an incantation, unleashing a disruptive burst of positive energy at the unengaged ghoul.
With a nigh perfect display of teamwork, the party silences all three ghouls before they can raise their claws to defend themselves. Even the survivor's pained moans are silenced in awe.
"I ... I can't believe it ... please, help me."
From the northernmost crate, a canine whimper escapes. Searching the crates reveals two orderlies' corpses with nothing on them but bloody rags, but a third is in possession of a broken padded club, a +1 heavy wooden shield, three vials of antitoxin, and a silver holy symbol of Shelyn .
The crate from which the whining originates holds a tiny dog with pale, blood matted fur. It looks like it had been nibbled on along with the other humanoids and will look up pitifully at anyone who peers through the cracks in the crate's frame.
Enoch ignores everything else except the whining of the poor puppy. Sheathing his shortsword, the Paladin eases the tiny puppy from confinement. The Tortured Crusader attempting to ease some of it wounds by pouring water from his skin into a container for it to drink while he cleans its wounds.
It's ok now little fella. You're ok.
Nyarai walks into the room, looking around seemingly casually, but there is a wildness in her eyes if you look closer. She looks at Enoch tending to the whimpering box. "Don't touch it!", she shouts at the crusader. "Is it drinking the water?"
Then her eyes settle on the victims in the room. (one or more of them?) She walks closer to observe his bindings and wounds in silence, outside of arm's reach.
"Do you want to turn into a non-undead Zombie, Enoch. Because that's how you get rabies."
Alvar examines the dog carefully, before summoning up their magic to examine it for any signs of illusion or transmutations. "Be careful, Enoch." They say. "There's always a chance it's a... trick."
Ethyl comments on the dog situation while collecting the supplies, ”Rabid animals are usually aggressive and foam at the mouth, once it has progressed to an advanced stage. It may be hard to detect if it's early. But I’d be more concerned about ghoul fever, I’m unsure if dogs are a vector for that disease or if they can become undead that way.”
She carefully looked over the victim without approaching assessing if their injuries and condition are consistent ghoul fever.
Ethyl tends to the man chained to the bed, seeing he has been bitten and is missing an ear, three toes and two fingers from this. However, the doctor and the witch become confident that the man hasn't contracted ghoul fever, but he is greatly wounded and exhausted. The matted dog does ping as magical, but it is hard to get more information.
"... strange." Alvar muses. "There's something magical about this dog, but I can't quite put my finger on what that is. Troubling. I would stand away, Enoch, were I you." There's a resigned note to their voice, however, knowing as they do that the other planestouched is unlikely to give heed to their caution.
Nyarai will put a finger to her lips to suggest that the man remain silent. She pulls out a dagger... and starts undoing the bindings in silence.
Nyarai will put a finger to her lips to suggest that the man remain silent. She pulls out a dagger... and starts undoing the bindings in silence.
Enoch's blue eyes only blink at Alvar's warning, before winking and picking the puppy up and swaddling him in blanks....
Anyone happen to have treats?
The Paladin shrugs at the puppy.
Perhaps there was something in the kitchen...
Ethyl shakes her head, she considered poisoning it but she lacked the materials currently. "Better off killing and butchering it. That way it doesn't eat our food and we get an extra meal. But I know you won't let that happen so, let's get this over with."
She said to the victim, "You can stay here and bar the door or try you chances with the Apostles past the kitchen. Stay out of the fog no matter what."
With that she started towards the door intent on heading north but waited for the rest of the party if they wanted to linger here.
The victim groans a bit in pain, but otherwise is silent as Nyarai frees him. The dog whimpers a bit as well, but quickly calms in Enoch's arms.
At the mention of the Apostles, the man wilts even more. "I was hoping to escape the Apostles, ma'am. I was chased out by that lunatic bag woman. Said I was too sad and it irked her. It was either her or taking my chances out here. This was just my luck, honestly."
Nyarai thinks about the man's response. She looks to Ethyl. "It's baffling. It seems people flocked to Zandalus for some reason when... Well, whatever the hell happened here. But they are crucified, seemingly killed indiscriminately, live in fear and never actually see the man. Makes you think."
Then she looks at the puppy in Enoch's hands, and furrows her brow. "Are pets allowed in this kind of place? Is that normal?"
Ethyl frowns, "Of course, they could all band together and easily topple Zandalus' reign over them. But, it seems, people do not act rationally. Some of them will die and I think that is causing a lot of them to act selfishly rather than for the good of the group, so they are complicit in Zandalus' plan. Plus you must consider that most, if not all, were patients in an asylum, rational action may not be possible for a good portion of them."
Ethyl looks to the puppy squirming in Enoch's arms, "If I were the administrator I wouldn't allow it. Dogs are vectors for pests, which are vectors for disease."
Enoch just shrugs at the response to his new friend, pats him reassuringly and begins looking for something he can line with blankets and carry the injured puppy into while traveling....
After he secured the injured puppy, the Tortured Crusader stands next to Ethyl.
Ready. Think he'll let me name him?
Ethyl eyes Enoch peevishly, "I doubt the animal has a choice in the matter."
Iosif laughs. "Would an awakened animal give off a magical aura? Biut other than that, I assume it has no choice."
Enoch's blue eyes smile.
You hear that boy! I'm dubb thee The Survivor . A homage to Pharasma's gift.
Lady of Graves
Lady of Mysteries
Mother of Souls
Gray Lady
The Survivor
"Boxxy sounds more fitting, but it's you, who wants to takae care of it, so...", the sylph shrugs.
"Most of us needed someone who seemed like he understood what was happening, honestly." The man glumly admitted. "Zandalus, after he started speaking again, seemed to have all the answers. Plus, the strongest and most violent of the other patients were drawn to him, following and enforcing his orders. Besides, his disciples did guard us from the monsters prowling the mists and abandoned halls. We had no other options. Escape was death, and staying was safety in numbers."
The man looks at Enoch, a wistful smile on his lips. "Pets? Not necessarily, but therapy animals were a recent addition to the therapies provided here. They weren't common, but they were popular with the children and least dangerous patients. However, I don't recognize this pup."
Ethyl's scouting reveals - according to the provided sketched map - the base of the former castle's tower. A row of wicker rocking chairs faces this room’s tall windows, staring into the mist licking the outside of the glass . A heap of broken planks lies against the eastern wall, the wreckage of a wooden stairwell that still partially clings to the wall above.
Three ghouls in patient gowns stand in this room, noses and tongues turned upwards. Ethyl's observation through the door goes unnoticed.
Alvar listens to their companions discussion, though they have nothing to add to the matter of the animal, they do glance at the newly rescued man, troubled by the fact he doesn't recognize the dog.
"Offering answers to the many questions of life is one of the easiest ways to achieve dominance over the fearful." They observe. "It is the temptation offered by Cheliax and the Hellknights. Questioners must be removed, so that the fearful flock may be consumed and 'guided' as the leadership sees fit."
They pause, uncertain how they know that, then shake their head, addressing the rescuee directly. "Regardless, I suggest you remain here until we deal with the Bag Woman, at least." Which we hopefully will do soon.
"Best idea to not be harmed by claw and blade," Iosif says, signalling to stay as Alvar said.