Hareton notices Ianez has pulled his hand free from the lobotomy needle. "You..." he sneers. The next second, the wall of sound slams into him. "Grrnnnth...UH!" He throws his hands up, as if pressing against the soundwaves and trying to resist. But cracks form, then deepen into stress fractures...then...
He shatters into a thousand pieces!
The explosion cascades outward, and blows out the windows of the laboratory. Glass shards burst into the dark night, and rain down to the ground below.
The fires in the room are raging now, whipped up into a blazing inferno. Amid the flames lies the dead body of Dr. Hareton Grey.
As if in slow-motion, Sandru leaps into the air, swings his sword high overhead, and brings the full weight of his wrath down upon Hareton. He crashes down on his feet and swipes laterally for another blow. He follows up with another crushing swing. His onslaught snaps the golem's skeletal frame, severs joints, rips out ports, and smashes glass jars! Each hit splashes Sandru with caustic ichors...two splashes of acid, a splotch of cold, a glob of fire. This last one he resists.
"AAARRGH!!"
2 hits plus 2 criticals minus DR, but elemental damage bypasses DR, for a total of 71 damage. Unruhe takes 71 damage.
Hareton considers Caromarc's words. In his mind, Urgathoa hangs onto him, and caresses him. A mortal dare challenge a vessel of a god? Her voice is sultry, but an ugly croak at the same time.
Hareton twitches. "But his indictment..."
She puts a finger to his lips. Shhhhh, my prince! Lofty words will never do. You are mine... She opens her mouth. A large constrictor slithers out of her mouth and into Hareton's ear, muffling the sound of Caromarc's voice. The snake exits out through his other ear, then slowly, menacingly, starts to coil around his body...
Caromarc's assertion sparks Hareton's curiosity. He looks over at the battered journal and the slumped Manservant, to where moments before La Siréene deposited the necklace...the familiar momento that he once gifted to her himself after the flight from the zombies at the hospital.
"WhA...?" he begins. "cAn ThIs Be TrUe?"
The Manservant's body comes to life. Its eyes glow brightly, and it straightens its posture.
"oLiViA, Is ThAt ReAlLy YoU?" Hareton inquires skeptical...hopeful.
The construct that was the Mechanical Manservant does not reply, but instead awkwardly lifts its feet, and makes its way over to the person who wore Olivia's Heart around her neck...who was gifted the pendant and is now the true owner. It glowers at Hareton and clumsily wields the scythe. (The 'Manservant' body isn't participating in combat, but at this point moves to M-17 and stands next to La Siréene).
If Hareton Grey had a proper mouth anymore, he would have snarled bitterly. "YoU EiThEr LiE," he yells at Caromarc, "Or YoU HaVe TuRnEd HeR aGaInSt Me!" He continues to fight.
Caromarc's instructions re: how to defeat alchemical golem:
This proxy body of Hareton's can inflict very strong slams, and mix and throw bombs. The animating force is a curious combination of alchemy and elemental spirits bound into the fluids and metals of its body. The alchemy swirls and transmutes with different energies that splash random types of energy damage or conditions. The golem is hardy and resistant to damage, except from adamantine or bludgeoning weapons. An alchemical golem is immune to spells or spell-like abilities that allow spell resistance (including lightning), except for spells with the sonic descriptor. Shatter and similar spells damage the golem as if it were a crystalline creature.
It also occurred to Caromarc that if someone wants to use a spell like lightning bolt...Phoebe has set fire to the room, and manipulating the surrounding environment of the burning lab might be useful.
Hareton surveys the laboratory, the preserved brain swimming loose behind the unnerving, floating eyeballs. He reaches into a compartment on his new frame, and pulls out a small metallic sphere.
"TiMe FoR sOmE PaYbAcK," he says. He gives the sphere a shake, mixing its reagents into a bomb. "WhAt'S tHe SaYiNg? Oh, YeS...aN EyE fOr A dEaDeYe." He hurls the bomb directly at Quinn! It detonates on impact, releasing an explosion of shrapnel and frigid blue energy. The policeman takes the brunt of the damage, but Blackacre and Elspeth catch some of the splash too.
Quinn's second arrow finds the heart. Hareton cries out in pain, and falls to the floor. He raises himself up on his arm, and reaches out with his hand, fingers twitching. He winces as all the blood pumps out of him.
Unruhe takes 19 damage.
The next few moments are experienced by everyone in beats, like the rhythm of a heart.
Lub... Hareton groans and clutches his chest. His face is ashen.
Dub... A crackle of residual arcane energies around Caromarc. His hair stands slightly on end.
Lub... A gasp from Hareton. He slides to the floor, and dies.
Dub... Agnes blinks and comes to in Caromarc's arms.
Lub... Phoebe looks at Hareton's corpse scornfully. "The poor fool," she says.
Dub... Another spark of arcane energy. Lights on the wall start blinking.
Lub... Agnes sits up, looks at all of you, then at Hareton, her expression one of stunned relief.
Dub... A panel in the wall opens, and reveals an upright metal coffin-like chamber. The coffin opens with a gasp of hydraulics. An alchemical golem emerges and steps into the room...a rickety construction of glass tubing, metal, and wood convey the brain and two eyes afloat in the figure's glass skull.
Lub... Agnes whimpers in fright. Her eyes roll back. She faints in Caromarc's arms.
Dub... The alchemical golem laughs. Streams of binary float, spinning around the globe of the brain case. When it speaks, the voice is smooth, synth tones. "Hello again, so-called friends. You didn't think yoU WeRe GeTtInG RiD oF Me ThAt EaSiLy, DiD yOu?" With booming steps, it advances.
Sandru leaves silvery-blue flames in his wake as he charges at Hareton (to M-10).
The alchemist tries to fend him off, but buckles under the avalanche-like force of the blow! The cutlass cuts especially deep, cutting deeper than the accusations and entreaties he refuses to hear. Only by utmost force of will does Hareton remain flying. He rallies, and with reserves of ghoulish vitality presses on.
Hareton's eyes well with emotion, and his face crumples with grief. He falters. "I..."
In the haunted halls of his mind, Urgathoa caresses his cheek. The Goddess of Undeath presses her sullied bosoms against him, her croaking whisper in his ear. No, Hareton. Don't lose your resolve.
He hesitates.
For Olivia... she coaxes.
Hareton looks down at Agnes, unconscious on the table. His eyes sweep up and fall on your party.
A drop rolls down his cheek. The tears of the damned. "Please forgive me, my love," he says softly.
He raises an outstretched arm, preparing to fight.
"Never!" Hareton retorts savagely. "I see we are at cross-purposes. You never cared for Olivia like I do. You never wanted me to have happiness. I have lost patience with your interfering meddling!" He looks at Sandru and Phoebe. "I will kill you again!" La Siréene...Caromarc... "And again and again after that if I have to!"
His robe whips around him and he readies himself to destroy you once and for all!
You can still converse with Hareton, but we'll also roll initiative for combat.
________________________
This is the MAP. (Also posted to the 'Campaign Info' page).
Hareton mutters to himself, all the while glancing fretfully at the Manservant. "The spine, not the brain? No...no... The construct is trained as a doctor? Knows something I do not? What if...? No..."
"I knew the other oracle, the twin sister, wouldn't listen to reason. She would never give up trying to rescue Agnes, and thus was a thorn in my side. So, I had to kill the whelp. It was unfortunate that Sandru was so protective of her."
He goes on. "This one..." he says, motioning towards Agnes, "has the power to manipulate and bend time. Yet, when prevailed upon to rewind events and bring back Olivia...curiously...maddeningly...she won't do it! She refuses! I think to myself She can do it. She is being difficult. Obstructionist. Cruel. When I ask why, she rattles off some offal about 'Some things are within her power, but some things aren't meant to be', and 'Time is mysterious, and works through her, not the other way around'. Ha, ha, ha! Do you know what I hear? 'Blah, blah, blah...sidetrack, sidetrack...prevarication, prevarication...'
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT TO HEAR?!!" he screams. His tone is getting pitched, stressed, on the verge of insanity. "It occurred to me that...she is a time oracle...her oracular abilities must come from somewhere inside her brain, somewhere in the head. So, I said to her, If you won't give me what I asked for, I will rip it out of your pretty little skull!"
He pauses, choked up with frenzy at his deranged theory.
"Hello, Quinn," Hareton says. "Good to see you've not lost your innocent outlook. I've walked a path of darkness and despair ever since my dear Olivia's passing. Of course, I know you don't mean that, but instead refer to the ramification of my actions...to all the innocent lives I have taken, regarding them as mere collateral damage...to how I've unleashed my armies of undead upon the world." He lowers his head, as if turning away, deep in thought. "In the beginning, I saw nothing beyond my work to revive Olivia. Eventually, when I did look around and notice the consequences, it horrified me." A pause. "But then...if you can believe...I started to like it." A twisted chuckle.
