Zellgato determines it would be possible to return the puma to her natural state, but risks would be involved. She could easily be crippled for life if he messes up. It would be safer to leave her as she is, but she will always be in pain. Moreau has left enough notes that he could finish the procedure, but that would take days and would leave her as a 'beast-woman' and would also be risky.
In the yard, some of the beast-men object. "No! He broke the law! Bring him to the circle!"
Other beast-men counter, "He is like the Master! He is a Five-Man!"
An Ape-Man you met earlier leaps from a tree and strides towards Montgomery waving his five-fingered hands and crying out, "I am a Five-Man! I am a Five-Man! Am I above the law?"
The Sayer-of-the-Law does not like this. He sternly warns, "I
am a the Sayer-of-the-Law"
The Ape-Man bows deeply and replies cleverly, "I am Five-Man and I bow down before the Sayer-of-the-Law! Bring him to the Circle!"
The beast-men, intimidated, hang back. Some slip away into the woods. Nissa's attempt to invite them to parlay slows their departure, but when she talks about not chanting 'their rules' some murmur in agreement, but one voice objects. "I am the Sayer-of-the-Law" says the old grey beast-man, stepping from the shadows.
He looks at Montgomery and Moreau, both defeated, only Montgomery conscious.
"What will you do with them?"
Inside the hut:
The beast on the table has been altered and will never walk like a puma again, but would live if allowed to heal. Transforming her back would take hours and carry risks. Having Zellgato and Henri both on the case makes it less risky. Make a Medicine check for more information.
The doctor goes down with a single punch. I guess getting chased out of Europe for doing unspeakable things to animals in what became known as 'The Moreau Horrors' doesn't earn you enough XP to level up.
Montgomery is sobbing on the ground.
The animals are roused by Theo's speech but found it confusing. They're pretty sure he wants them to tear Montgomery to shreds with their claws and teeth, which is also what they want to do. They creep closer.
Unity's sword has stopped thrumming as they are no longer in the house.
Henri monitors the patient, who sleeps obliviously.
Moreau waves his gun around, confused and not used to holding it. At this point he's aiming at Nissa if he can spot her amid her flames.
Montgomery surrenders his gun spitting out the words, "They must be taught the Law!" and moaning drunkenly.
The woods erupt in hoots and howls. Something bestial has awoken in the beast-men, if it ever slept. Given that it had to be outlawed, it must have always been there. It is not clear whether the aggressive noises threaten Unity and Theo or Montgomery. Or all of you.
Theo easily disarms Montgomery. While he did so there was a chorus of hoots and hollars. The beast-men were excited. Now that Theo has the revolver, the beast-men hold their breath as one.
Everything has changed.
Montgomery no longer has the gun.
This stranger has the gun.
None of them know what this means and they watch silently to find out.
Nissa is circling Montgomery, not Moreau. Moreau storms back into the house as quickly as he stormed into the yard.
Henri and anyone still inside sees ..:
Moreau opens a drawer and takes out a revolver and prepares to head back into the yard.
Oh, and Unity answered Theo's question. Make an attack roll to grapple. You have to have one hand free. He's got a low AC. He's drunk and unarmored. If you both succeed, you can disarm him before he fires agin.
Before Theo or Unity can reach Montgomery, he fires the gun in the air one more time. He then lowers it and points it into the darkened woods. Dozens of cries and whimpers shows they understand the threat and are offended by it.
Unity and/or Theo can try to grapple this drunken man and wrestle his gun away.
Inside the surgery, the Doctor scowls. "I've been itching to get to work again, and now I am forced to deal with these interruptions," he grumbles before turning to Henri. "Watch the patient. Keep it sedated. I must deal with these troublesome wretches!"
When Zellgato attempts to reassure the watchers from the woods that the puma will not be allowed to die, they murmur suspiciously. "His is the House of Pain!" one grumbles angrily.
Theo soon joins Zellgato outside. Theo can read the 'outside' spoilers above.
"Get back," says Montgomery, raising his gun in the air again.
inside:
"Outside?" asks the Doctor. "What the devil for? I have work to do here. By tomorrow morning I want to be ready to reconstruct her oral cavity so she is better able to speak."
He goes to a cabinet and takes out a small jar of white powder and snorts a tiny spoonful.
Is Unity going to intimidate? Is Henri going to persuade?
Montgomery yells at one set of glowing eyes peering from the dark. "What is the law? Do you even know the law? Do you want to go to the House of Pain?" This last question results in howls, yips, yaps, growls, and barks from all around. "'Not to jabber like men, I mean, like animals,' that is the law!". The outraged noises continue. Montgomery escalates the situation by firing his gun in the air.
Those inside:
Doctor Moreau stares at Unity as he speaks. His face betrays amazement, curiosity, jealousy, and fear. He wishes he could make something like Unity!
From outside you hear shouts and a chorus of animal cries and then a gunshot.
"Damnation!" cries Moreau moving to head outside. "My work is constantly being interrupted!"
As they had watched the surgery, Unity felt a cold rage build in them. Rage, because of the tortures the 'Doctor' in front of them visited on innocent creatures. Cold, because they were fairly certain... there was nothing substantial they could do about it. Oh, certainly, they could kill or maybe just intimidate Doctor Moreau, but they didn't think they would be staying around long enough to force him to undo anything he'd done... if he even could. If it would even be right for any but the puma on the table here.
That... powerlessness made them simply want to leave, but they wouldn't just leave without at least saying *something*. So after Nissa speaks her piece, they say, "Now that your 'patient' is in a stable condition, we do need to talk to you about that." "And perhaps also about just why that mirror has been buzzing, if you don't know."
"The mirror? Buzzing? I haven't noticed." It would be impossible for the Doctor to have not noticed. And, yet, he seems to honestly not be able to perceive it. Unity's sword continues to thrum.
"If you are going to lecture me on morality, I will insist you leave. We are not in Europe and I will not have the timid understandings of lesser men dictating what I do here. Yes, these creatures you have seen are animals carven and wrought into new shapes. To that, to the study of the plasticity of living forms, my life has been devoted. I have studied for years, gaining in knowledge as I go. I see you look horrified, and yet I am telling you nothing new. It all lay in the surface of practical anatomy years ago, but no one had the temerity to touch it. I will not be so timid!"
“This extraordinary branch of knowledge has never been sought as an end, and systematically, by modern investigators until I took it up! I will not have my time wasted explaining myself”
Zellgato starts tapping his heel part way through, and slowly gets more agitated as it continues. Around the time Moreau comments on his progress he steps back out the front door to the porch.
Breathing in deeply a moment to try and difuse his inner angst.
If any of the residents are nearby, is he able to clock any scar tissue on their exposed limbs from here? Or specifically bad limps. Idle curiousity rather than any intent on him
He'll think to himself, this would be easier if they were forceful, somewhat believing so due to the semi-fictional nature of the storytelling.
Zellgato finds Montgomery is standing about 20 feet from the house waving a whiskey bottle at the darkness beyond. He holds the revolver in his other hand. "Get out of here! Go home! His is the House of Pain and you all know it!"
Some of the noises in the woods are animal-like. Voices respond to the animal noises, reminding them of the law against making non-human sounds.
Nissa is pretty sure the puma won’t immediately die from her distraction now.
So she asks the doctor “Why?”
[dice=Diplo]d20+16+d6
She’s being sincere, as someone who herself had been changed and liked it… and as someone who saw the cost of Unity. —Charles Wilde!
“Does the puma want this change? And if she’s to become more human… at what cost?” She glances at the Sword of Truth. And her next word is as much for Unity as it is the Doctor. “In matters of life and death, the Truth must never be ignored.”
Moreau at first just glances up irritated but seeing Nisa is being sincere answers. "These are philosophical questions," replies the Doctor. "I am a Man of Science. The truth is what I manage to make it, as confined by the laws of physics."
“Why use the human form as a model? I might just as well have worked to form sheep into llamas and llamas into sheep. I suppose there is something in the human form that appeals to the artistic turn of mind more powerfully than any animal shape can. But I’ve not confined myself to man-making. Once or twice—” He falls silent and looks at Unity with excitement.
Unity is tall enough to reach the mirror in chimera form without climbing on a chair or on the operating table.
Unity's sword continues to thrum. Doctor Moreau glances over a couple times, distracted from his work.
He first injects the patient with more sedatives and then finishes a muscle grafting procedure that shouldn't be possible with the equipment he has and the science at his disposal.
"That finishes her calves," says Moreau. "Achieving a human-like gate will require cutting through the bones, here and here."
He describes an operation that would help turn this puma into a humanoid. He clearly has days of work ahead of him.
[ooc]Is Henri really going to help with the surgery? What do the others do while the doctor prepares to rebuild a creature for no real reason than his ego and belief in the superiority of humanity?
Unity pretend to ignore the Sword of Truth for now, even though it's telling them exactly what they need to know.
They observe the puma, trying to stop the growl rising in their chest... at least until they can guess at just how dangerous it would be to stop the process at this point.
[dice=Medicine]1d20+9
Only a surgeon could end these procedures and it would take hours to do and require days of aftercare.
"You're astonishing," says the Doctor. "And monstrous."
He quickly turns and re-enters the house. A large room has become a surgery room with equipment which would have been state of the art in 1888--for by now you would have found out that was the year the story was set in. A large mirror hangs above the surgery table.
A puma is strapped on a table under a tent made of cloth. The cloth is flecked with blood. She is mostly sedated. He has begun operating on her legs. You probably do not want to know what he has done to her, but it is horrible and painful and intended to allow her to walk upright, like a human would. This is clearly just the start of what will be at least a week of surgeries.
Unity's sword is thrumming so loud Montgomery and Prendick notice it. Prendick is more shocked by the puma though. He is horrified. The young man of science is right now muttering prayers to a god he claims not to believe in.
The mirror begins to thrum in response to Unity's 'Key Sword'.
"No medical training could prepare you for what we do here!" says Montgomery waving his whiskey bottle towards the house.
"The longer I am delayed the more difficult this will become," says Moreau. "Let me back to my work before we lose her."
Henri might convince Moreau with a Diplomacy check and some convincing. Moreau's clearly secretive about his work but the cat is also out of the bag. He's also clearly worried he'll lose his patient.
Nissa recalls that, in the story, the ship that rescued Prendick and dropped him at the island also carried a puma, which Moreau apparently did his strange surgeries on, turning the puma into a human-like creature. She does not recall the puma being in danger before it disappeared into Moreau's care. By 'saving' her, Moreau might mean, "saving her from her bestial nature." Moreau seems partly motivated by the notion that humans are better than animals and that he is 'lifting them up' but mostly motivated by his own hubris.
Moreau stares aghast at Unity. He stammers a bit. His face has a shocked-beyond-the-ability-to-judge look, like a man not sure if he's seeing a demon or an angel. The words 'terrible' and 'terrific' share roots, as do 'awesome' and 'awful'. He is terrified and awed. He says only, "In all my dreams, I never..."
The yowl of a large cat in pain interrupts his wonderment.
"I must give her more sedative. Please, I will explain everything, after I have completed this procedure!"
Another yowl from the house. Whimpers, yowls, and snarls respond from the woods.
"Not to yap like beasts; that is the law!" says the Sayer-of-the-law in the distance. The replies are varied. Some repeat the catechism; others whimper again.
Moreau looks startled as Nissa lights a circle of fire around him. When he recovers a bit from the shock, he says urgently, "Hurt her? I am a doctor! I'm trying to save her!"
A howl of pain comes from the room beyond.
He gestures to the house and says, "If I do not get back to her, she will die! You are the one who is endangering her."
“They will ruin the work of a lifetime,” Moreau says angrily to Montgomery.
“They do not understand. You could explain,” said Montgomery.
“I can’t spare the time yet,” growls Moreau. "I must finish her!"
His hands are red.
If Unity is wearing the Key-Sword:
The sword thrums slightly as you approach the house.
About 100 ft. behind you, dozens of pairs of eyes shine from the shadows. The beast-men are gathering. They are not chanting any longer. Just watching.
Montgomery comes out from the porch of the big white house as Prendrick approaches. He holds a bottle of whiskey in one hand. It's mostly empty.
“Moreau!” shouts Prendrick, storming towards Montgomery. “I know that name.”
“The devil you do!” Montgomery replies. “What an ass I was to mention it to you! I might have thought. Anyhow, it will give you an inkling of our—mysteries. Whiskey?”
“No, thanks; I’m an abstainer.” Prendrick pushes past Montgomery towards the house.
“Prendick, man! Stop!” cried Montgomery.
Prendrick continues up, onto the porch, and only stops when the sound of a gunshot startles him. Moreau has come around the side of the house and fired a pistol into the air.
The scream you hear is loud enough to be heard throughout the island.
It is not a human scream, but it is a scream … the yowling scream of a great cat in great pain.
Perhaps a Puma.
It comes from the white house.
Prendrick pauses for a moment and then continues towards it.
Prendrick stomps, reeling with confusion and desperation towards the white house that dominates the island. He cannot see anyone following him, but he sees eyes peering out from the bushes and hears hoots and growls as the beast-men observe him, tense and angry. He is goind to disturb the Master ... he is willingly going to the House of Pain. He must be mad!
Staying in the hut:
They grey furred Sayer-of-the-Law looks hurt at Prendrick's departure and asks, "Are we not men? Why does he leave? Why disturb the Master? Why go to the House of Pain."
Prendrick stumbles out of the enclave of huts and, gaining his footing, makes towards the big white house that looks over the island. "Insanity! Madness! I must see this Doctor Moreau!"
"The Law says you do not eat fish. Does The Law allow for climbing of trees to harvest food, or for fun? What does The Law allow you to eat?"
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 17
“Eat roots and herbs; it is His will,” says the Ape-man.
"I am the Sayer-of-the-law!" says the Sayer-of-the-law to Nissa.
"None escape," affirm the congregation of beast-men.
Prendrick, at this point, is no longer able to maintain the cognitive dissonance to disbelieve what he is seeing. He screams and runs out of the tent. The beast-men look concerned.
The hut stinks with the smell of the beast-men. Despite all being men they are no more interested in Nissa than one might be a dragonfly.
“His are the stars in the sky,” says the grey-furred beast-man stepping from the shadows. His face shone with perspiration.
The creatures that crowd around you are grotesque caricatures of humanity. With some the origin is hard to determine, but others bare clear hints of dog, great cat, boar, and goat. Moreau's ability to reconstruct these creatures to look like men with only surgical tools and early 20th century medicine is unbelievable, but this is a fictional sub-universe after all.
“Not to run on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men?” the Sayer-of-the-law said.
“Eat roots and herbs; it is His will,” said a brown-furred Ape-man.
“I am the Sayer of the Law,” said the grey figure firmly. “Here come all that be new to learn the Law. I sit in the darkness and say the Law.”
“It is even so,” said one of the beasts in the doorway.
“Evil are the punishments of those who break the Law. None escape,” warned the Sayer-of-the-law ominously, before finally breaking his gaze away from the brown-furred ape-man who dared to usurp his role.
“None escape,” said the Beast Folk, glancing furtively at one another.
“None escape,” said the grey creature glancing towards the ape-man.
“None, none,” said the Ape-man, “none escape. Once I did a little bad thing once. I jabbered, jabbered, stopped talking the words of men. I am punished. I am burnt, branded in the hand. The Master is great. He is good!”
“None escape,” said the Beast People, looking askance at one another.
“For every one the want that is bad,” said the grey Sayer of the Law. “What you will want we do not know; we shall know. Some want to follow things that move, to watch and slink and wait and spring; to kill and bite, bite deep and rich, sucking the blood. It is bad. ‘Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not Men? Not to eat Flesh or Fish; that is the Law. Are we not Men?’”
“None escape,” said a dappled brute standing in the doorway.
“For every one the want is bad,” said the grey Sayer of the Law. “Some want to go tearing with teeth and hands into the roots of things, snuffing into the earth. It is bad.”
“None escape,” said the men in the door.
“Some go clawing trees; some go scratching at the graves of the dead; some go fighting with foreheads or feet or claws; some bite suddenly, none giving occasion; some love uncleanness.”
“None escape,” said the Ape-man, scratching the branded hand guiltily.
“None escape,” said the little pink sloth-creature.
“Punishment is sharp and sure. Therefore learn the Law. Say the words.”
They have forgotten about you. They chant to each other, playing out the drama of their punishment, the worship of their cruel creator and neglectful master.
Is it possible to pause a subscription during the trade war the U.S. president is starting and pick up with the same issue once the U.S. president stops attacking allies' economies? The price is about to go up as the Canadian dollar dips, so I may have to stop, but I love what you have coming up so I'm reticent.
The figure in the shadows steps forward a little. It looks human in form, but is covered with grey fur. Something apelike about his features hints at its origins.
He recites and expects you to recite after him. All the beast-men do and watch to see if you do.
“Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men?” “Not to suck up Drink; that is the Law. Are we not Men?” “Not to eat Fish or Flesh; that is the Law. Are we not Men?” “Not to claw the Bark of Trees; that is the Law. Are we not Men?” “Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
The shadow-cloaked beast-man then swung around to a new formula:
“His is the House of Pain.” “His is the Hand that makes.” “His is the Hand that wounds. “His is the Hand that heals.”
Zellgato watches as the rest enters, but he remains near the flap. He does not hold the flap open-assuming the light in there is the preferene but remains listening in. He'll nod to Henri before they go in, letting him know he'll keep an eye out. A bit late due to work, but Zellgatos paranoid anyway!
[dice=Zellgato keeping watch if needed perception]1d20+16
Zellgato hears the shuffling of feet and muttering outside the hut. He detects the presence of at least a dozen of these beast-men. The hut is surrounded, but they have not been hostile.
Unity have Darkvision, they should be able to see into the darkness.
"We will live with you for a time, yes," Unity confirm, waiting to hear more.
“They are a man. They must learn the Law,” says one of the ape-men.
Now distinguishaable in the deeper blackness, you see a vague outline of a hunched-up figure. More of Moreau's beast men crowd in behind you. The thing in the dark says something, but other beast-men speak at the same time, demanding that you learn the law.
The thing in the dark repeated in a louder tone, “Say the words.". He repeats his last utterance in a sing-song voice, “Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law.”.
"Greetings to you", Theo steps forward. "I am a Man. I am Theo. We are visiting your island home. We want to speak to Dr. Moreau, when he is ready. Will you please tell us The Law?"
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 17
"The Master dwells in the House of Pain," replies a half-goat/half-ape that looks like some kind of monstrous satyr. "You cannot see the Master."
Unity sigh and take off their helmet, revealing their vulpine head. "We have... some knowledge of the Doctor here. Our creator took some... inspiration from him."
"My God!" exclaims Prendrick, looking at Unity.
"No! Not God! Whomever its creator was ...," starts the other man, trailing off before he says anything more offensive.
The two become quieter when Zellgato scolds them.
The strange figures hiding in the woods remain still. Their eyes glow.
A creature that looks like a naked pink sloth waddles out of the clearing. His face has been reconstructed to look like a human child's. Otherwise, he remains sloth-like in many ways. The pink creature beams at you and then makes a gesture that you should follow it. It leads you into the clearing and gestures towards a hut with torn canvas walls. It holds one flap opens and invites you to enter. The smell from within is off-putting. It smells of animals and their s&&!.
Prendrick stumbles, shouts, gasps, and proclaims noisily his astonishment.
This causes some commotion down at the huts. They have heard Prendrick and know that you are approaching.
They get quiet quickly, but you can see eyes peering at you from the darkness off the trail down near the huts. One set of eyes is high up in the tree.
It sounds like both parties are heading towards the row of huts then, occupied by the beast men.
You find yourself approaching a small gathering of poorly built huts. They are not as nice as the one you were invited to use. Just outside of the clearing in which the huts stand, you run into each other.
By the time Unity and Nissa realize Prendrick has joined the party, it is too late to hide.
"Out of an abundance of caution, I would counsel that we not be alone on the island. But I would like to have a look around. Care to take a stroll?"
"I too think that's a delightful idea. We have some time before nightfall!" says Prendrick assuming that the invitation includes him. He will get the hint if it doesn't.
Out for a stroll?:
The woods are thick and deep and cover the island. Evidence of animal life is plentiful and you've seen crates of animals delivered. Considering that magnificent large cat you saw being delivered, there is a surprising amount of small game. The rabbits shouldn't be so bold. It's like they have no predator on the island.
You catch signs of other humanoids, but they shy away unless you tell them not to. From a distance they all look like men, but from what you saw of the book, these would be Moreau's creations--animals reconstructed to look human through his amazing surgical talents.
You could head towards the main house and the huts nearest it or along the coast towards another spread of smaller huts you haven't seen yet. Do you communicate with Unity and Nissa?
"Much appreciation to the host,", and nods toward the two starving for the ood, not intending to imbibe himself here.
To the group, post departure,"I wonder if they keep goats then here. or if its imported."
"Wait," shouts Prendrick, as Montgomery starts to leave. "When could we meet our host? I'd quite like to thank him."
Montgomery turns, saying, "I'm not sure that would be possible. We are very busy here on our ... research."
"Perhaps I could be of some assistance. I did some studies of natural science and know my way around a laboratory. Could I thank our host by offering my services? My zoological sketches are of decent caliber--"
"I think not," says Montgomery, interrupting Prendrick before turning to walk away.
Nissa and Unity come across a dead rabbit under a tree. They hear, but do not see, the creature that killed it as it flees. The rabbits neck is broken and its flesh is torn. Search for clues? Pursue? Eat rabbit?
Unity hear the being fleeing their kill and, taking a guess, call out, "Peace, cousin! We will not blame you for following a law we do not believe in."
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20-1
The beast-man hiding in the woods barks a sharp, pained, "No! It is the law." before dashing off. A pursuit would not be stealthy, and would require a Perception check.
"I'd quite like to meet our host," says Prendrick. "To thank him. And, perhaps, a little out of curiosity."
Montgomery arrives a moment later. A robed man--likely one of the animal men--accompanies him, carrying a tray of food. The food includes some goat cheese, a small carafe of wine, honey, fruit, and bread. There is no meat.
When the robed figure bends to put the tray on a low table in the hut, you see the short grey fur that covers his muscular forearms. He stands up quickly and draws his arms back into his robes.
Nissa and Unity come across a dead rabbit under a tree. They hear, but do not see, the creature that killed it as it flees. The rabbits neck is broken and its flesh is torn. Search for clues? Pursue? Eat rabbit?
Nissa and Unity soon find themselves surrounded by forest. They hear something thrashing about not far from them, but the sound is gone before they can pinpoint it.
Let's play with an alternate rule. We'll use Nissa's Stealth as her initiative. Unity can make a 'Stealth as Initiative roll' as well. The opponent will make a Perception check-as-initiative roll.
"I was not a sailor," says Prendrick. "I did a few years of Natural History at the Royal College of Science under Huxley. When the chance presented itself to travel on the Lady Vain, I thought myself an amateur Darwin and took it. How I wish I had stayed in London!"
Still ravaged by weeks at sea, Prendrick's complaint is well-grounded. He suddenly looks alarmed
"Oh, but that's it!" he exclaims. "Doctor Moreau! The scientist who attempted surgeries so horrible my professors would only hint at them and even the yellowest of journals censored itself! Could this be him? He was chased out of the scientific community for cruelty to animals, which is usually forgiven in the name of science. That's all I know for sure."
