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Strange Aeons (blaze gamma X ShadowPlay) [NSFW]

Tiana followed Exilis, though hardly as fast as her companion. The armor did indeed slow her movement speed. Once on the other side she let out the breath. "Uhh! Let us get that doppelganger." She said and went to the corpse. It still lay where they had left it. Still as dead as ever. Tiana considered carrying the dead monster, but looked at Exilis. "Should we just take the head? I mean. They accepted the head from the other one."
 
Exilis nodded. "No need to fuss with carrying an extra body through that muck. But first-" Another ray of frost loosed from his fingertips, flying at the creature. "Just in the interest of being thorough." As he spoke, Exilis drew a dagger from his belt.

[ 1d20+1 = 19 ] Ray of Frost [ 1d3 = 2 ]
 
The ray of frost hit the dead body and froze some of the leathery flesh on the creature's chest. It remained as dead as it had been when they entered the room. Tiana appreciated the extra precaution. "The difference between carefree and not-paranoid-enough is death." She said. It sounded like a quote, but she had no idea where it came from.

Tiana drew pushed the dead man on the table to the side and moved the dead doppelganger to the table. Then she drew her sword and attempted to decapitate the creature.

The head rolled onto the floor, freed from the body of the creature. "If there were any doubts, then I belive it's dead now."

Coup de grace: [ 1d20+6 = 21 ] Coup de grace [ 2d8+8+1d6 = 21 ] Critical and sneak
 
"Well I was going to offer to cut this one as not to trouble you with the extra work," the mage sighed as he sheathed the dagger. "Best to get back. Hopefully we can get some rest. I don't know if we could get through another fight like that last one in our current state." He picked up the head and then started back towards the barricade.
 
Tiana looked at his small dagger. It would have been quite messy to cut off a head with that. "Oh... I'm sorry. It just seemed easier this way." She told him and continued, "Yes. You are right. I would love to get some rest and preferably in a safe place."

winter.jpg They arrived at the barricade and the door next to the barricade were unlocked. They were led in behind the barricade and were greeted by a woman. She was wearing black and around her neck she carried a silver holy symbol of Pharasma. "Welcome strangers to this last bastion of sanity in this place. I am Winter." Her hair was black like ivory and she had one green and one orange eye.

Asylum-B5.png
 
"Well I certainly can't fault the efficiency."

Exilis could not deny that he was grateful for the expediency of their moving along once they presented the second head. "Exilis. Cleric of the All Seeing Eye." He presented himself formally to Winter, drawing from what little knowledge of himself he was able to muster. "I do hope that my following of a mad god will not be too much of an issue here."

He looked to his companion, making no attemt to hide his slight amusement. Were it not for the eyes, he could have mistaked the two for sisters.

Exilis apparently be like
8fmzei.jpg
 
Tiana looked at the woman that greeted them. It was like looking into a distorted mirror. She had almost like an unknown sister standing before her. Of course, everything was unknown to her. But the other woman seemed just as perplexed by the similarities of their appearance. Tiana had to ask. "Do I know you?"

Winter shook her head. "I've never seen you before. I would most certainly remember having seen you." Then she nodded at Exilis. Formally greeting him. "And I'm Winter Klaczka, a sister of Maiden's Choir Cathedral in Caliphas. My associates and I were helping a Royal Accuser investigate strangeness in Thrushmoor. And to answer your question. No. You are of course welcome here in the sanctuary. As long as you keep from causing further havoc."

Behind her, they could see a chapel that had been converted to a shelter for about 20 survivors of whatever had happened in this place. Behind them the hall was stopped as a blanket covered the end wall from floor to ceiling.
 
"Given present circumstances, it would not be to anyone's benefit to cause havoc. Nethys' may be a mad destroyer, but he is just as much a protector. At any rate, Tiana here is presently acting as my bodyguard. We've ended up here through an accident, and are rather on the backfoot as it were." Nothing Exilis said was a lie, of course, he was confident in that much. Just as well, as he wasn't a competent liar. "Would you be willing to tell us a bit more about what's going on here? What exactly is this place?"

[ 1d20-2 = 15 ] Bluff [ 1d20+2 4 = 8 10 ] Diplomacy (Diplomacy modified to reflect actual modifier
 
Winter seemed to relax at Exilis' assurance. She nodded at his request. "Sure thing. We are in the Briarstone Asylum. It's a hospice stuck on a rock sitting in the Danver River - a convenient place to forget inconvenient people."

She glanced at a few of the tired and resting figures in the chapel. "Briarstone is a sanitarium. The doctors here endeavored to treat and learn more about diseases of the mind. Briarstone wasn't a renowned institution, but it was far from the torture pits common folk often make asylums out to be."
 
"Hmm, I see." Exilis was grateful that his story wasn't being questioned too much. He still felt the need to be on guard considering all that was going on. "Do you know how long this place has been under the; pardon my morbid humor here; care of those shapeshifters? Do you know what they are? Loathe as I am to admit it, my own education was unable to tell me anything about them." He then shook his head. "And I'm terribly sorry, I'm afraid that I was rather... Sheltered-cloistered, even- in my priestly duties, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the Danver. It may be a bit ignorant of me to ask, but what regions does it flow through?"

[ 1d20+4 = 6 ] Local Geography (max 10) - To recognize Danver River
 
"We don't know where the doppelgangers came from. They are a breed of shapeshifters that can take the appearance of individuals. They can mimic voice and behavior and have been known to start wars and feuds through history." Winter said. "But we don't know if they have always been here or if they turned up at a later point. The first report of a doppelganger was after the revolt. The strange thing is that several of the patients and staff have reported that in the days before the revolt they had nightmares, depicting exactly the kind of things that now stalk the halls."

She continued. "The Danver River. It enters the Avalon Bay at Thrushmoor, in the southren part of Ustalav." Winter explained. "I'm not that familiar with Thrushmoor myself, but I was sent here by Accuser Omari to investigate the strange happenings at the asylum."

"Ustalav?" Tiana asked. She was pretty sure that she had never been to Ustalav in her life. Not that she really knew where she had been at all. "A revolt you say? What happened?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but a patient led an uprising. It wasn't like any riot I've ever heard of, though. It was more like a religious movement. Most of the northern halls are now held by robed patients who call themselves Apostles in Orpiment. Those we've encountered are fanatically devoted to a patient named Ulver Zandalus." Winter told them.
 
Exilis raised a brow. As far as he knew, he'd never been to Ustalav either, though with the gaps in his memory, it was very difficult to say if that was true, or if it was simply something that he was unable to recall. Either way, this was rather troubling. "I have a couple more questions, if you're feeling generous enough to answer them. First, is there anything you can tell us about Captain York? And second, although it may sound rather tangential, have any of the patients here reported any memory loss or anything similar?"
 
Winter nodded. "Ask away." She said. "Captain York? You mean Vaustin. He's a good man. He worked as an orderly here, but has had some military training. So when hell broke loose here, it was natural for him to take command of security. He's from a good familty in Rozenport. He's very protective and he feels it's his duty to protect the youngsters here. There's not an evil bone in his body."

"As for memory loss. Well this is a sanatorium. There have been several people in this place that have left a piece of themselves behind here. But I'm not familiar with any patient records. But I'm sure the records of such things must exist somewhere in the asylum." She offered.
 
"I see. As far as getting out of here, I suppose the only way to do so will be going through this Ulver Zandalus?" He asked with a sigh. "Otherwise I'd imagine holing up in here would not be a necessity." He shook his head.

"Regardless, the hunting has rather exhausted us. Is there a place we can rest before we head out once more?"
 
Winter shook her head. "No sadly. If it were only as simple as getting by some insane cultists that want nothing but to kill us." She said. "The exit from the asylum isn't that far away." She nodded towards the curtain that hid the far eastern wall. "But... The door has been shut by some sort of 'growth'. And outside of the asylum the whole place is engulfed in a thick yellow for. Anyone that has ventured into it has become lost and ended up here again and they all spoke about being followed by some scary presence just beyond the range of their vision."

Winter led them into the chapel. "You can rest here. There is a place over there for you to put your stuff down. If you need blankets or a sleeping mat we can help you."

Improvised pallets were clustered beneath sculpted divinities, and cooking fires burned beneath cracked windows in this chapel. Panes of violet and blue stained glass formed spiraling patterns between prisonlike bars, while dozens of candles flicker from modest alcove shrines. The Briastone chapel were consecrated to Pharasma, but smaller candlelit shrines to other deities, including Abadar, Desna, Erastil, Gozreh, Iomedae, Irori, Nethys, Sarenrae, Shelyn, and even a modest donation box beneath the symbols of Asmodeus and Zon-Kuthon, were found there.

"If you have time there are plenty of people here that could use some help with more mundane matters than slaying doppelgangers. But first you should rest." She said.
 
Exilis' eyes widened. Whatever he'd expected her to say, it wasn't that. Almost instinctively, his hand drifted to his collar, fingertips brushing against the same spot where, not too long ago, he remembered his neck having been cut. "I... I see," he spoke, his voice shaky. He fell quiet until they were led to the chapel. "I'm quite alright. I've a bedroll on my bag, as it happens."

Once he'd recovered his nerve, Exilis went over to the altar of Nethys, somewhat surprised to even see one, considering how those of his faith could be. He spoke a short prayer, one that sounded more like spell incantations than words honoring a god, before finally sitting down.

"Well, then," He sighed.
 
The revelation of a yellow fog with something lurking within didn't sit well with Tiana either. Remembering the pain from the cut opening her bowels wasn't something she cared to relive.

She pulled out her own bedroll and put it down a little away from the others, setting up a place for herself and Exilis near the exit. Better to be prepared for a hasty retreat in case things went south. Then she began to remove her armor. While she felt at home in a heavy armor, it was a relief to be free from it again and to get her full mobility back.

Under her armor she wore as little as were practical. The heat of wearing a heavy armor would build up too quickly for her to wear too much underneath. She wore a simple leather outfit, consisting of a leather corset to keep her breasts in place and a pair of leather pants that hugged her well shaped ass. Her leather gloves that she wore under the gauntlets of her armor, she just kept on, they offered her a better grip of her sword.

Tiana watched Exilis in silence as he prayed. She had no recollection of serving any gods. But she knew that every day she would invoke the power and name of one of the dark powers of the lower planes. Not in a worshiping way, but more to tap in on that creature's powers and take a little of it for herself.


Each character gets:

Dream encounter: 400 xp
Slaying Doctor Scaen in the cellar: 400 Xp
Avoiding combat with the Zoog and the rats (½xp): 300 xp
Not attacking the guards and diffusing the situation: 300 xp
Slaying the doppelganger masquerading as an old lady: 400 xp
Befriend Winter and agreeing to help the survivors: 400 xp

Total 2,200 xp
 
Exilis laid down his bedroll, looking to a companion with a small smirk. For better or worse, the two had seen each other at their most vulnerable, but it wasn't a bad sight to see her with some left to the imagination. "... I wonder... before we woke up there, had we, perhaps already been here?" He spoke in a soft tone, barely above a whisper. "That mist could have some form of illusion to it... To make one feel as if they've died, only for whatever created it to deposit its victims back in this place."

Exilis wanted to close his eyes, but his mind was racing, and with inspiration having struck, he pulled out his spellbook. The stark realization hit that he didn't have a pen or ink, a morbid fancy struck him, and he pricked his pointer finger with a dagger, using his own blood to start scribing magical formulae into the book. The handwriting and coded language all matched that in the previous pages of his tome, though the other words were in a much less grisly script. At least this proved he was the person who wrote those spells.

"I can't help but wonder, though... who are we? Were my lies before simply truths that I cannot consciously grasp? Did we know each other before? Were we friends? Lovers?" While he found her looks attractive, Exilis was confident this wasn't the case, but a small mischievous bit of him wanted to stir the pot, now that they were in some relative safety.
 
Tiana was contemplating what had transpired during the day. Waking up naked in a cell with the man called Exilis. Fighting for her life at every turn until they finally were here, resting in this serene shrine inside an insane asylum. How had she ended up here? And in a cell with Exilis? Why had they been naked? Those and other questions ran through her head as her experiences settled in.

"Yes. Who are we? And who were we?" She said to his questions. "We woke up together and acted as one, as if it wasn't the first time. Perhaps we knew each other from before?" She offered. "We might have been friends or lovers. I honestly don't know. But I can say that I don't find your appearance displeasing, so that's at least something." She said, winking at him.



+6 HP
+1 BAB
+1 Saves (fort/ref/wil)
7 SP
+1 level 1 formula
Discovery: Bleeding Attack
Selfish Healing
Unholy resilience
 
"Hah," Exilis laughed in a small voice. Once he'd finished his writing, he fluttered the page to let the improvised ink dry in his spellbook. "Well, I'll remind myself to get you a nice meal once we're out of this mess. If someone can't get out of this odd mist it's because, simply put, they're not us." He wasn't sure if he was blustering or if he honestly believed those words, but at this point, he didn't much care. He was going to figure out a way out or he was going to die trying, and if he was going to die, he refused to go down easy. Speaking a small incantation, Exilis pressed a hand to his chest, closing up his remaining wounds from the earlier fight.

"But for now, I suppose it best to try and rest. With any luck we wake up here and not in some new and exciting hell." The man sighed, laying down and closing his eyes.

[ 1d8+1 = 3 ] Cure Light Wounds
+9 HP
+1 BAB
+1 Fort & Will
6 sp
Learned Ray of Enfeeblement & Coin Shot
 
Tiana laughed, "Alright. That's a date." She agreed. "A nice meal, and I want so sleep somewhere that's not the floor of a chapel." She said as she pulled the blanket over herself for some warmth. By habit she checked that her war razor was strapped to her ankle and her sword and shield were within reach. It was only after doing it that she realized that it was something she always did - something from her former life. She must have been quite paranoid. Or considering she ended up naked in a cell, not paranoid enough.

"Let's not hope we wake up here." She said with a chuckle. "There is some kind of serenity here in this chapel. As if the divinities are protecting us." She closed her eyes on this first day on her new life. Still confused and tired she closed her eyes.


A while later, they both awoke. The light, from the cooking fire and the strange yellow light filtering through the windows of the chapel, hadn't changed. The rest had been good and without nightmares. Pharasma really did protect this chapel.

Tiana got out of her makeshift bed and began preparing the day. She needed some quiet and solitude to conduct her rituals. Invoking the names of Zelishkar a daemonic demigod, was something best done alone. Once done, she returned to Exilis and started to don her armor.

Resting in the chapel will protect them from the nightmares of this place. And it allows them to heal 1 extra HP per level.
 
The mage was rather surprised at just how restful his sleep had been, considering the circumstances. "Good morning," he said politely to Tiana before he went to the shrine of Nethys with his spellbook in hand. He once again started with his prayers, which could still be interpreted as incomplete incantations to anyone who knew even a little bit about magic. Not long after he finished his prayers, he began meditating on his spellbook. Of course, to a god of magic, this, too, could be seen as a form of worship, and after an hour's work, he could feel himself welling up with magical might.

He nodded once meeting up with Tiana. "I think I have a course of action. These people are essentially cowering in the face of the unknown. I imagine most of them are weak and afraid. Not a huge surprise. I propose we figure out what it will take to rally them, and then we can all get out of here as a group." His intent, of course, was hardly altruistic. "I figure a part of that will be quelling the ambitions of this Ulver fellow, as well as extermination of the doppelgangers. But I think it wise that we get a lay of the land, so to speak. Find out a bit more of this flock of scared lambs. What say you?"
 
"It sounds like a good idea to get the lay of the land. Try to find out more about this place and all. But I don't see how it will benefit us to try to get everyone out of here." Tiana said as she fastened the straps of her armor. "A lot of them are weak, wounded, disturbed or worse. They would only slow us down and be more mouths to feed. Not to mention, more points of infiltration for a doppelganger." For Tiana, it was not a question of being paranoid, but if she was being paranoid enough.

"But perhaps we should also take stock of supplies. That could give us a time estimate of how long we'll have to figure out a solution." She said to him. She didn't want to say anything while they were in the proximity of inquisitive ears. But the five days worth of rations in her backpack were not something she was going to share with just anyone, if food became scarce in the chapel.

After a short conversation with Winter it became apparent that the needs of the flock of lambs were great.

There were a need for more firewood. The supply to keep the place warm and to cook food were not going to last another day. Luckily there were a lot of splintered furniture around as well as fallen support beams where the roof or walls had collapsed. It would be a simple task of chopping up wood if they had a handaxe or similar tool.

There was also a need for someone to cook decent meals. It was more of a luxury thing, but would improve morale significantly. Also the food stock were low. They only had food for another seven days with rationing. But they learned that in the north of the asylum were a kitchen. Hopefully some of the stores there were still stocked.

One of the asylum patients, Loic Ulsohnen, were experiencing hallucinations and were quite agitated at the moment. He could use the help of someone to calm his nerves. The nurse, Naysa Walika, was using almost all of her time, trying to keep him from running away to the hallway getting himself hurt.

Then there was the problem with the thing growing on the door to the east. It had warped the door and it was now impossible to get to the entrance of the asylum.

There was also the fact that more doppelgangers haunted the halls and the Apostles in Orpiment on the far side of the asylum. On top of that, it seemed like a lot of extraplanar creatures had been spotted in the past days.
 
"I do agree, that it is a lot of people to ferry, but looking at this purely pragmatically, the more we can move out with us, the less likely we are to be in danger if..." Exilis trailed off. The memories of the assault in the dream were still lingering fresh on his mind. "At any rate, all the more reason to cull the shapeshifters." He pointed out.

As the two discussed the situation with Winter, Exilis mused on the problems at hand. "Food should be first priority, I think. As long as I am here, we've no need to worry about rot concerns, although the smell may become irritating. I am no cook, however, so all I can be sure of is that the food will be safe to ear. Also, though it may be a bit morbid, meat is meat. The doppelgangers may be able to act as a food source, to stretch rations a bit further." It was clear that even though Exilis was suggesting this, it wasn't an idea even he was particularly fond of. "Though for the sake of morale, it would be best to not share that information if we need to follow that route.

"As far as the afflicted patient, I may also be able to help him tomorrow. Unfortunately the magic I have at hand is not necessarily geared towards calming malaise. Though I can look at him and try and see what the best course for helping him may be."
 
Winter looked a little horrified at Exilis. "Do you really need a priest of Pharasma to warn you of the dangers of eating the flesh of sentient beings?" She asked him, referring to the common and quite accurate idea that some ghouls were created by starving people, eating other sentient people. "I thought that such vile practices were only done in places like Geb. I will never condone such actions, there are things that are worse than death."

She was more relaxed that Exilis would help with the patient. After all a cleric of the mad god, could have inside knowledge that might prove useful.

Tiana remained quiet through their discussion. She wasn't disagreeing with Exilis that more people escaping, would mean more targets for their enemy and less chance of them getting targeted. But she saw no reason for helping the survivors with mundane needs like their mental health. Food and security was another matter as it affected her and Exilis as well.

"How about we set out to see what lies further north of here?" She suggested. "We might find supplies for the camp and then we can look at the patients when we return?"
 
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