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Strange Aeons (blaze gamma X ShadowPlay) [NSFW]

Exilis closed his eyes. "Fair, I do not know what came over me there. Regardless, there are other sources of food that we may be able to find, even if they're less than ideal, I can at least be sure they are free of disease." He corrected himself.

Once the two were out of the camp, Exilis nodded to Tiana's suggestion. "Lead on. I do think food should be the greatest priority, if we can find it." He cast a spell to armor himself once more. "I think I have a bit more in me today than I did yesterday, so hopefully things won't get quite as dicey."

[ 1d20+8 = 9 natural one1 ] Sense Motive
Casting Mage Armor
 
Tiana nodded. "Food will be out greatest priority." If nothing else then to put Winter at ease."

She lifted her shield and sword and they began their further exploration.

The two of them moved forward until they reached the door on their left hand, just after the palce where they had killed the last doppelganger.

Tiana looked at Exilis, "Do you think we should try this door?" she Asked her companion.

Asylum-B11.png
 
Exilis nodded. "Best to be thorough. This is as much an equipment run as it is a cleanup operation. The more we take care of now, the less we need to handle later." He said, blessing Tiana in case of a surprise behind the door. "Besides, we may be able to find our own sanctuary, depending." Strange as it was, he felt a bit more at ease now that they had a plan of attack, and was feeling a bit more jovial along with the simmering fury at the situation.

[ 1d20+9 = 22 ] Perception
 
The door seemed to not pose any threat to them. And apart from a distant mumbling sound, everything seemed quiet behind the door.

Sturdy racks and toppled tables suggested that the space once served as a sizable laundry. Much of the northern end of the room was filled with rubble. A wall of pipelike crossbeams filled the western alcove of this room. Three figures were manacled to the rack here, from south to north: a human wearing stained yellow sheets as robes and bearing a flame-shaped chalk mark upon his forehead, the corpse of a partially eaten patient, and a ghoul in the process of devouring the middle prisoner

Asylum-B13.png
.
 
Exilis curled up a lip in disdain. He held up a hand, pointing at the ghoul. To Winter's point, such abominations did not have a place here, and as he saw it, something that could spread such a contagion could only cause problems. He looked to Tiana, as if to ask if she was ready, while he prepared to launch a spell.

[ 1d20+9 = 11 ] Religion, [ 1d20+2 = 6 ] Ray of Frost [ 1d3 = 3 ] Cold
 
Tiana nodded at Exilis, this creature was indeed a ghoul. A dangerous undead with a paralyzing bite and touch. Seeing the creature being chained, she sheathed her sword and took out one of her javelins.

As Exilis let the spell fly, Tiana released the javelin. The spell missed, but the javelin did penetrate deep into the ghoul, causing it to hiss as it tried to attack the two explorers. However it's chains were too short for it to reach them and as it was held back, all it could do was hiss in anger.

[ 1d20+5 = 24 ] Knowledge religion
[ 1d20+3 = 15 ] Javelin throw [ 1d6+4 = 9 ] Damage
 
Exilis putted. It was going to be one of those days, it seemed. If he'd know there would be undead in the facility, he would have planned his spells around it, at least a bit more. At least it was just the one. For now. And so the mage continued blasting the proverbial fish in the barrel.

[ 1d20+2 = 8 ] Ray of Frost [ 1d3 = 1 ] cold
 
A failed spell and a javelin that all but hit the captured human, were just the luck the two had. Tiana cursed. But try as it might, the ghoul had no where to run and eventually the two brave undead slayers managed to kill it.

The captured man looked relived that he wasn't going to become the ghoul's next meal. "Praise." Was all he said, as if he tried to get more out, but that was all that his brain would say.

There were a closed door to the south.

[ 1d20+3 = 4 natural one1 ] Javelin throw [ 1d6+4 = 9 ] Damage
 
Exilis frowned. Considering the situation, he felt it unwise to release the man, at least at the time being. He'd neither prepared magic to confirm the presence of disease, nor had he forgotten the results of his previous attempt to aid someone. He held up a hand. "You may wish to hold any praise, for consumption may have been a mercy compared to what may come next, either at our hands or a result of the bite of that beast. If you can speak, speak, tell me who you are. Why are you chained up here?"

[ 1d20+5 = 19 ] Diplomacy
 
The man in chains, though not for lack of trying, were not able to be more communicative. "Praise." He said. Shortly thereafter followed by "Words fail." And finally, "Zandalus sees." He kept repeating the three phrases as if he would convey some sort of meaning to the two that had just rescued him from the fate of becoming an undead cannibal.

"He doesn't sound very communicative. How about we just end his suffering now or perhaps leave him until we go back to the camp?" Tiana suggested.
 
"..." Exilis raised a hand to his forehead, scrunching his face with frustration. "I see no reason to slay him at present. Likely the best course would be to leave him here for the time being. I've no interest in bringing a plague to the encampment. It would ruin a place of sanctuary, and right now that's not something we can afford to do." He sighed as he started to the southern door.

"Praise... Words fail... Zandalus sees, hm?" Exilis muttered the addled man's words to himself, trying to figure if there was any significance he could glean of it all. It did remind him somewhat of an old tale he'd heard of Nethys before his ascension. 'I am your god and your king.' Exilis must have drilled the words into his mind to a point that he knew them better than he knew himself at this point.

[ 1d20+9 = 23 ] Know (Religion) [ 1d20+9 = 20 ] Know (Arcana)
 
The only meaning that Exilis could glean at the moment was that Zandalus was mentioned by Winter as the leader of the cultists in the other parts of the asylum. Other than that, the man seemed like a prime candidate for a permanent stay in an asylum, not capable of making his thought understandable.

Tiana nodded. "We'll leave him for now then. I just don't hope another ghoul comes along and make dinner of him." She said as she followed Exilis towards the door.
 
Exilis nodded. It seemed likely that this man would not be welcome in the camp from his words and state, but those were decidedly problems for later. For now, it was best to continue clearing out threats, and procuring supplies. Exilis quietly as he could, opened the door, peering inside.

[ 1d20+1 = 9 ] Stealth [ 1d20+9 = 13 ] Perception
 
Opening the door they saw into a larger laundry room. Several large washbasins were situated in alcoves along the western wall. Large tables filled the center of the room. The place looked as though it were repurposed as a failed surgery, though, with at least one table heaped with bodily remains while corpses lay discarded in corners. A stained sheet hung between two of the basins, dividing the room roughly in half. The light of a lantern could be seen on the far side of the fabric.

As the two entered the room it looked like a shade behind the sheet began moving away from the alcove to the west.
 
Exilis looked to his partner. "Dead end, it seems." He was fairly certain that the figure moving behind the curtain was another one of the 'doctors' they had encountered. Today, that was what he had prepared for. "Well, if it's an enemy, death, and if not, a bit of time unconscious will no doubt be the least of their worries." He spoke a few words of blessing, to give his ally a boost to anything she might wish to do.

Blessing of the Faithful to rolls for Tiana
 
"Dead end. And a death end." She said ominously. She like her companion was weary of the shapeshifting monsters and would, perhaps more than Exilis, attack first and ask questions later.

She raised her shield and readied her sword as she began moving towards the curtain.

Behind the curtain the shape moved to the right of the middle of the room. It looked like it was doing something at the table in the middle of the room, before moving to the west wall again.
 
Exilis approached cautiously, standing 10 feet behind Tiana and drawing his dagger as he did so. He continued speaking blessings upon her. "We can apologize to them after if they're not one of those things." He spoke softly.
 
Apologize to the dead will be hard. Tiana thought, but she didn't share her thoughts. "You are right." She said as she moved towards the curtain and sliced a hole in it with her sword, stepping through.

It became apparent once they stepped through the curtain, that the silhouette they had seen on the curtain, was just that. A silhouette on a curtain. It was almost frozen onto the fabric and began dissipating once the couple stepped through the curtain.

Tiana looked perplexed at the disappearing image on the cloth. But Exilis realized that some sort of illusory magic had been used.

Around them there were several severed body parts in various states of decay. On the table in the room lay a dead female patient, wearing a simple dress.

Perception checks - please
 
Exilis frowned, looking around, and quickly saying a few words, gesturing in the air. Magic floated from his fingertips, then wrapped around him as he scanned the room.

Casting Shield CL2 +4 AC for 12 rounds
[ 1d20+9 = 13 ] Perc
 
Neither Exilis nor Tiana could determine where the shapes that had been on the screen moments ago had gone. The only thing they could hear was the scraping sound from the basin in the alcove. A ladder stood leaning on the basin so a person could climb up to look down the basin. Several chunks of flesh lay in a pile next to the ladder.

Tiana looked at Exilis. "You hear that?" She asked, pointing at the basin.

[ 1d20+5 = 13 ] Perception Tiana
 
"Unfortunately," Exilis said, already not liking what he was seeing. He decided to cast a spell, scanning the area in an attempt to find the source of the magic he'd seen the signs of.

Casting Detect Magic
 
The magic that had made the illusion earlier seemed to have been dismissed. But Exilis did detect a magic aura. It came from within the clothes of the dead woman on the table.
 
A suspicious look crossed Exilis' face. He would not yet approach the body, a part of him suspecting that it could be another shapeshifter playing dead.

[ 1d20+9 = 14 ] Spellcraft
 
Try as he might, Exilis couldn't identify the magic aura from the dead woman on the table. But it seemed to originate from something that was tugged into her belt.

Tiana tried to investigate what, if anything was in the basin where the ladder was leaning against. She climbed a few steps of the ladder and looked into the basin. "Awwwh. Fuck. There's another ghoul down here!" She said to Exilis. "It looks rather hurt. Both legs seems to be broken. But it's well fed. It's eating something that looks like a leg..." She glanced down at the pile of severed body parts next to the basin. Somebody had been chopping people up to create food for this ghoul. Whoever had done that, was clearly insane.
 
"Someone has one hell of a hobby," Exilis grouched. The fact that the woman wasn't radiating magic herself was a decent sign, but he wanted to be careful at this point. Cautiously, he approached the body, dagger in hand, attempting to pull whatever it was off the body's belt so that he could take a closer look at it. "I suppose it would be just as well to put that thing down. No need to risk it breaking loose." He spoke, preparing to blast the ghoul until there was nothing left of it once his current task was completed.
 
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