Malugar roars. His face displays his revulsion as he touches the body, delivering a pulse of positive energy.
"And if this doesn't work, I'm taking her head!"
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Malugar runs into the room. "A wound? A--" he gasps at the sight of the corpse. "Should we try healing it, then?"
Malugar turns to Shirrin, the man who seems to know more than any of them most of the time. "Gods! This--Gah! What should we do?" He hefts his ax. "I could take off her head!"
"Fine!" Toad kicks the door shut. "But I think the chair si the root of it! We need to reach the chair!" Then he runs back to the end of the hall and into the adjacent room from which they'd came, bracing himself against the doorframe in case there's another wave of blood.
Toad crawls to his feet, clutching his head where it banged against the wall. "Disgusti--Ow!"
"We can't let that happen again. We need to figure out what's causing that. Let's hurry before we drown!" Toad moves forward, this time bracing himself against the wall in case the blood flows again.
"Looks like whatever's behind it's gonna burst out into the hall." Maulgar steps back, securing Toothy in a pocket. "Sit tight, little guy." He nods his head toward Ragnar. "Okay, ready," he lies.
"Is that... is that blood? Don't open that door!"
"Wait--" Toad whispers, tapping Ragnar on the shoulder before the door is opened.
Mal offers the Red Destiny, hilt first, to Shirrin.
"But a little too slick for me. Anyone good with a short sword?"
"Detective agency, huh. Somebody was paying to snoop around, I guess.
"If that doesn't work, let's just smash it open."
"Nightmares. Sounds familiar. I wonder what to make of the standing stone? Maybe we should try to locate it ourselves. And what became of Zandalus?"
The new names seem artificial, meaningless, as Toad's come to know the others as Amy, George, and Victor. And Toad, he thinks. He hefts his ax and his rat, following Ragnar into the next room.
Malugar's looking terribly confused and uncomfortable. "Well, we haven't found them yet, so like Victor, um Ragnar, says, they're probably somewhere much better than this. Once we figure out how to escape from here, I'm sure we'll be able to track them down." Toad nods at Shirrin, and wonders about his own family, or if he even has one. "This bastard Lowels put us in here, and I aim to figure out why."
"Z...Z for Zandalus..." Toad mutters, brushing aside piles of paper with the handle of his axe. "Wait a second--" his jaw clenches, his pupils dilate as he glances through the papers. "But not all Z," he glances at Amy. "A patient with a silver ring and heterochromia." He hands Amy her file. "And others with distinctive scars." And Victor's and George's. He examines the file for the half-orc with a rat. He has to read it twice, as the words don't make any sense the first time. Amnesia. Fugue state. Malugar. Half-orc. Early twenties. Unresponsiveness. Malugar. Counter Hasteron Lowels. Half-orc. Malugar. Herbalist. Pet rat. Malugar. "Malugar." The words feels strange in his mouth, and sounds even stranger to his half, no, quarter-orc ears. "My name is Malugar."
Toad glumly fishes through the sea of papers, not expecting to find much...
"We can't just attack people on sight remember that. The folks back at the chapel gave us a chance though it was a close thing I'll admit. There's good people still trying to hold on despite this place, not that I amn't advocating against caution with strangers here." "I can't remember anything, that's the problem!" Toad snaps back. "And don't lecture me on safety when just about everything in this place is literally trying to stab us in the back. If we aren't paranoid, we die!" He gaze droops to the floor. "Sorry Victor, I don't mean to fight, it's just this place is starting to get to me... And this--" he motions to the ransacked room, "another useless room, with no answers or escape. It's just frustrating. C'mon, let's keep going."
"Necessary." Toad finishes George's sentence with finality. "These people and things will kill us if they have the chance. We have to strike first or else we'll end up like these cultists, or worse. It's gruesome, I know, but it's us or them. Kill or be killed." Toad wipes his brow, smearing fresh blood across his forehead. "Let's keep moving."
"Yea...no problem..." Toad clicks his tongue and the swarm begins to dissipate, the rats diminishing, running off into the shadows, and almost evaporating into thin air, until only Toothy, his fur red and slick, wobbles around the corner back to Toad. He picks the rat up with both hands and places him back on his shoulder. "Good boy." Toad then searches the remains and the room along with Victor.
"Are they, are they dead yet??" Toad asks anxiously, covering his face with his hands but peaking out between his fingers.
Unable to reach into the doorway, Toad continues stand flat against the wall, waiting for the gruesome inevitable.
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Toad clutches Victor's shoulder, trying to pull him back but inadvertently discharging a healing spell (he's got to learn to control this). Then he throws his back against the nearby wall and shuts his eyes tight, not wanting to see the carnage inside the room, or hear the screams of the men as his rats bite them to death.
Toad and Toothy both bare their fangs in surprise (it's amazing how alike they are, really). Toad gestures, and Toothy is flying off of his shoulder, fracturing and splintering into the hundred-fold mirror images of himself until they fill nearly the entire floor, moving forward at Toad's will so that they consume the northern man and his little dolls.
These recent revelations are the most profound they've uncovered since awakening within the hospital. Yet behind every door, another horror. Their only chance of escape, or at least of learning the truth, stands beyond those doorways. Toad digs for crumbs from his pocket and feeds them to Toothy as they approach the first door.
Hi guys, work has been ridiculously busy this past week, and the next 1.5 weeks are going to be intense. Please forgive me if I seem a bit spotty in the meantime.
"That was...unpleasant," Toad remarks, unsure of what else to say. The keys jingle in his hand as he slowly walks the perimeter of the room, taking in the titles of the books. Then he approaches the desk, checking if the drawers of locked in case the keys might unlock them.
Toad tries not to lose the contents of his stomach. He approaches the body, looking for clues or useful items...
So it seems this is some kind of residue or side effect, and not a portal itself. Toad looks with some sympathy at the husk of a person, feeling bad that he hit her with a book. Let's put her out of whatever misery this is.
Brash, Toad searches for a piece of debris and throws it at the portal.
"Close it? Maybe it's a way out of here!"
Toad puts a finger to Toothy's face, reminding him to be quiet, as he waits to see if the...woman?...reacts to George.
"It's vile..." Toad remarks, though secretly he finds there's something familiar, almost comforting, about the slime. He thinks of Amy and her strange, cold goo. He glances back and forth between her and the smear, but ultimately decides there's no relationship. "I'm ready when you are," he calls behind Victor, his axe ready.
Toad carries Toothy on his shoulder, petting him and chittering at him, making a show of the fact that his rat is regarded as a friend.
Toad tries to smile reassuringly, but he doubts his incisors, small but pointed, are helping.
Not needing to be told twice, Toad slams the door shut once Victor is back inside. "Maybe not that way..."
"This is bad. This is so bad..." Toad says with worry as he watches Victor from the perceived safety of the doorway...
Toad casts guidance on Victor as he opens the door.
Again, I think our
"Undead residue pulled Amy into the air, and did the same to these people??..." Toad has no words...
"This...place...is insane. It's like it's trying to deceive us, make us paranoid, and, and drive us mad..." "Victor, here carry these, they're curative potions. Amy, can you make sense out of this amulet? I'm pretty sure it's magical but can't figure out what it does." Toad then moves to the door exiting the room, listening for sounds beyond.
"I'm guessing the answer is no..." Toad mutters weakly while Amy is lifted away. He fears he understands how these bodies ended up bludgeoned to death. But, gods, he won't say it out loud for Amy to hear. "Is it the song???" Urgently, he grips his ax and strikes at the birdcage.
Toad is just joining the others in surveying the auras on the potions and the amulet when he begins to hear the birds singing. "That's not...natural. Is it?"
At first excited to see the birds, Malugar frowns at the taxidermy. "Such a waste to reduce once-beautiful things to mere toys." Only then paying much attention to the corpses, he moves to help Victor examine them.
"Is there passage through the library? Will they let us come and go to explore if we leave the books alone?"
To all of my games: I've come down with something that might or might not be serious. I don't know yet, but I might even need surgery. I'll try to keep you all updated as I learn more. Please forgive any unannounced absences from the game in the coming days.
Always one to spare living creatures an untimely death if possible, Toad enthusiastically agrees, waiting to hear the rats' response.
Shouldn't we get a blunt weapon before trying this again? I'm sure there's a club to be found near the chapel. |