Post by sythus on Jun 10, 2015 22:01:18 GMT -7
Rewards: 1875 XP, 1000 GP
Players:
Melinda (Jlunio)
Jack (Cleru)
Usiel (Ironfang)
Teros (Gryphyx)
Camellia (Zen)
Saugrak (Sythus-GM)
Summary:
Alys had been stuck in this godsforsaken dump working alone for weeks. Her father, Arno, had taken ill, and was unable to run the tap. In all honesty, things ran smoother around the Spigot, but there were a lot of complaints about her stew. Her only patron sat next to the bar’s unofficial mascot, a tiny goblin orphan she had discovered living in the back alleyway. The man, Nemith, was an adventurer who never really seemed to go on any adventures. He’d come in everyday, ignore any jobs, and sit talking to Jozzy, the young goblin, or sometimes a few of his friends who would join him.
As the afternoon wore on, some adventurers began to trickle in. First was the quiet woman, who never really ordered anything, but seemed to sit around waiting for work. Best to just leave her be, Alys thought, adventurers were a dangerous lot. She could almost her Arno saying that, he’d reminded her of it so often. “Careful around adventurers, peanut!” he’d warn, calling her that absurd nickname she’d hated since she was a child. The next to arrive was Jack, the guy with the boar. He seemed nice, but she couldn’t look him in the eye, because of that awful joke Arno had told her about a ranger, and his pig. She felt at ease when Usiel came in, which she thought was funny, but even though she was one of the dark elves, a paladin is a paladin. Arno told her to watch out for paladins, as they were “the pinnacle of crazy”, but Alys always figured she had nothing to worry about.
A loudmouthed woman came in second to last, and ordered up a bowl of stew and a drink. There were a lot more women adventurers these days, Alys remarked to herself. She wondered sometimes what it would be like to hit the road, and see where it took her. Hell, even little Jozzy had been pretending to be an adventurer as of late. A *big* rat had scared her in the kitchen earlier, and Jozzy burst in, and snapped the things neck with his bare hands. He spoke of vanquishing the beast, and called her a damsel. She couldn’t help but smile, when she thought about that. Hopefully dad wouldn’t kick the little guy out when he got back to running the tap. Hopefully he’d get back to running the tap, and out of his sick bed.
The last one to entered was Teros, she’d remembered him. He’d been here a few times before, and a lot of people always seemed to listen to him. “You’d do well to remember folks like that by name, peanut” Arno had told her. Teros slammed the butt of his spear against the ground, and said, “I got work, and I need some adventurers.”
It watched them all, like a person might watch ants scurrying around. It would wait, it always waited.
Lt. Hodd found Teros easily enough. The man lead a structured life, and Hodd respected that greatly. It made his job a lot easier, because sometimes tracking down adventurers was a real pain in the ass.
“I need you, and your team to head out and collect Mr. Humes at Stonebrook Asylum and return him to H.Q. in the Castle District.” Hodd said, looking the stern cleric over. “My team?” Teros asked, as he pondered the situation. Hodd assured him he’d need some adventurers, “You’ll need a few more, I suspect. We sent a formal request to set up transport of the patient into our custody, but our runner just came back empty handed.” Teros grimaced, and asked, “Usual rates?” and Hodd nodded, “Yes. Oh, and another thing, the women you inquired about, they’re safe. If you’d like to head out and question them yourself, we can book a ship for you, it’s just going to take a bit of time, with the war looming, and all.”
It watched Teros, and Hodd. It calculated a moment, and chose Hodd. Soon.
Delilah leaned heavily on the old wooden desk. She was tired, and not feeling all too well. Dr. Kottage had left her in charge. The doctor trusted her. She had a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about it. He’d be back soon enough. They’d all yell, and scream when he returned. Delilah never did, maybe that’s why he had chose her? She’d let him down with the kitchen, she hadn’t meant to cut so deep. Why’d he trust her there in the first place? He knew she couldn’t help it, and his eyes had looked so sad when he arrived after it happened. He turned his back, couldn’t even look at her.
She was told to watch the desk for a few days. Gregar, the dwarf would handle the kitchen. Gregar was one of the full on lunatics. He’d pretty much just echo the last few words you said back at you. She felt betrayed, but knew she wouldn’t be much help in the kitchen for a while. She had lost a lot of blood, Sometimes she wondered why this place didn’t have proper staff. There were no orderlies, and the patients handled all of the maintenance. The doctor would simply talk to someone, and just like that, a raving lunatic would become a mild-mannered janitor. Even Godfrey, the guy had murdered his entire family, claiming they were ‘interlopers’. He got to go outside to tend the sheep!
As she pondered this, fighting her own mixed feelings about the doctor’s methods the door swung open, and in strode a group of armed men and women. A man in armor displayed a writ, and said, “We come on behalf of the Rook guard, and will be taking Leofreck Humes in for questioning.”
The doctor would fix this. He always told her to just have people wait, that he’d be back soon. It always took him forever to get in. It was spring, so the days were getting longer. He came in later and later in the summer. He loved to observe his patients at night, when the effects of the moon were at their strongest. Something to do with lunatic being from luna, and luna meaning moon. Deliliah figured he knew what he was talking about, because as soon as it got dark, is when they all began to scream. “Here comes Kottage!” “THE DOCTOR IS IN!” and a cacophony of babble always heralded Dr. Kottage’s arrival.
“The Doctor will be in soon” she explained to the adventurers, smiling wistfully. The blood loss in the kitchen had her feeling funny. They were explaining something about the paper they were showing her, and saying “Leofreck Humes” so she just went with it. She’d stall them like the young man with the other letter. She riffled through the ledger, and some papers to buy some time. It was dark, he’d stroll through the front door any moment now and fix this all. Before she knew it, they were unbarring the door, and trying to enter the asylum. She stood up, a bit too fast, and stumbled. Thankfully she got a hand on the chair before she fell. It gave them pause, but not for long. They asked about her cut, and she lied to them. She knew it was a lie, and the doctor wouldn’t be happy. She told them it was an accident in the kitchen.
It bought a bit more time, but the impatient adventurers soon unbarred the door entering the asylum, and found themselves in an open courtyard between the administrative building, the kitchen and laundry, with the womens, and mens wings stretching to the east, and west respectively.
At this point, she knew she’d better fall in line. The doctor always told her that her safety was first priority if any dangerous types ever came in. This lot was not going to take no for an answer. She showed them to the men’s wing, hatching a plan which was soon foiled, as they removed the bar to seal the door, and insisted that she joined them within. Women weren’t allowed in the men’s wing, for obvious reasons.
She saw Geoffrey standing in the center of the hallway, and she knew what was about to happen. Geoffrey’s hand was behind his back, and that could only mean one thing. Teros pointed his spear, and ordered his hands in the air, and then to put them up against the wall. Geoffrey was insane, but the madman did know what spears did. He raised both hands, revealing one to be covered in his own shit. She was going to try to slip out, and seal them in had Geoffrey launched his“Geoffbomb” at them. They quickly shoved Geoffrey back into his room, and barred the door.
She was dragged further into the ward, and she saw Gregar standing naked in the fountain. He was scrubbing himself clean with a bar of soap, and the adventurers who had most certainly viewed the ledger asked Gregar, “Which one is number 8?” to which he replied, “Number Eight, Number Eight” as he dutifully scrubbed, standing unabashed in the fountain.
Down the hall, Edmund the liar had gotten Melinda’s attention, and was trying to convince her that he was in fact Julio, and to hurry up and get them out of there before the mad doctor’s return. The adventurers were searching each room, and they seemed to overlook Mr. Humes. The other girls called him potato, because he was little more than a vegetable, they explained. The doctor had explained it as a catatonic state. As soon as they settled on Humes, and began to escort him out of the ward the screaming began. “THE DOCTOR IS COMING!” and howls of equal delight, and terror filled the air. The adventures steeled themselves, and quickly exited the ward.
Dr. Grioghari Kottage woke in his villa. They sky would be dark soon at the asylum, and it would be safe to continue his work. The sky here, as always, was a sheet of black satin, completely devoid of stars. He rose from the centuries old antique bed, and made his way through a home that would be considered luxurious, even by noble standards. He extended a hand, trailing a finger across the crushed velvet covering the walls. He was incredibly tactile, even for a vampire. The feeling of the physical world, he asserted on many an occasion, helped anchor him to it. While many of his kind were driven by base desire, the children of Bylas, his sire, were instructed to fight their curse, and never accept it, or their situation at face value. While the raw instinct that fills the core of every vampire is not easily overcome, his teachings always, eventually, guided his children back to reason. Many of the children had dealings on the prime material, and Dr. Kottage’s was charged with the protection of an individual of importance to the order of Bylas. The namesake of Sir Leofreck Humes, the man who had sacrificed everything so that the beast could be contained.
As he reached the kitchen, his thrall, Richard, presented him with a plump rabbit. Kottage closed his eyes for a moment, and he whispered a single word: temperance. He had come close to stumbling, when the girl had cut herself. Had she done it on purpose? Was it the act of someone from another faction? He began to mull it over, running his fingers through the soft fur of the bunny, as he reluctantly sank his teeth into the squirming rodent, and pulled a long drink of the bitter blood. He had almost fallen to his hands and knees, to lap up the puddle. His will should have been strong enough to ignore a simple puddle of blood, but the contamination from the spire was driving his people mad with their own base desires. The Spire was failing, and he could feel the energies from the demon that exuding from the place.
He finished his lackluster breakfast, and strolled out of his dining room stepping from the balcony to float gently to the garden below. He intentionally pricked his finger on a thorn as he passed the sickly rose bushes on the way to the tree at the center of the his garden. In truth, like many of the trees in this realm of night, it was a portal. It lead to the prime material, specifically to the central courtyard of Stonebrook Asylum. Pressing the keystone against the trunk, Grioghari incanted a single word of Abyssal. He wished he didn’t have to use the portals, because he hated speaking the foul language. In a moment's time, the portal was open, and the he spied the courtyard behind. He knew immediately that something was wrong, The door to the men’s ward was ajar, and he saw a man, a woman, and pig guarding it.
A litany of curses sprang from his tongue. The namesake was in there, and in a moment his worst fear was recognized. More adventurers exited the ward, with Leofreck Humes in tow. At this point, he likely had failed the order of Bylas, but reluctantly stepped through the portal. Even if he must die, he needed to keep the namesake safe. He strode through the portal, facing the adventurers without time to grab his rapier.
It tried reaching into the vampire, but encountered some difficulty. In time, it would be easy. It had almost forced him to lap blood from the ground like a dog. Things were getting easier, and all it would take is a little more time. It waited patiently, enjoying the anticipation of something so near.
*********************************************************************
The party exited the ward as soon as the patients began proclaiming the arrival of the doctor. Little did they know, the white oak in the center of the courtyard had grown an ominous shade of black that seemed to drink the light around it. For some reason, the lunatics could always sense it. A phenomena that baffled even Dr. Kottage, but likely resulted from the recently returned demonic corruption of the shadowplace.
Jack and Melinda stood sentry on either side of the heavy iron door, as the rest of the party came through. Bacon uneasily turned to face the tree in the central courtyard as it grew darker, and darker, drinking in the light around it. Teros saw the tree, and yelled, “BURN IT!” and began digging through his bag for some alchemist fire. As the group prepared for the worst, a regal looking gentleman stepped out from within the tree itself and strode forward. Usiel leapt forward and smote him mightily with several blows from her quarterstafff. Dr. Kottage winced, his fangs elongating on reflex alone as the positive energies tore through his long dead body. He hissed, as the rest of the group pressed an attack, and he turned to gaze into Teros’ eyes, speaking softly, but firmly, “Stop them, and return Mr. Humes to his room.” They struck him several more times, and he fought back the urge to rip into them. He prayed both for strength, and forgiveness, as he retreated towards the blackened oak. If he remained, these people would suffer at his hand, and as each new blow from their vicious assault landed, he came closer to falling into a feral state.
A vicious slice from Camellia’s sawtoothed saber left him teetering on the precipice of wanton bloodshed, and with every last bit of what kept him in control he stepped back, and retreated into the portal, knocking the keystone out of place as he passed through. It would take a moment to deactivate, but perhaps he could subdue any who came through, and simply shove them back through to the prime material. With the portal closing, he made certain to direct his thoughts towards Teros, and explain, “Humes is not safe outside these walls. You must make certain he remains at Stonebrook.” and moments later the portal closed.
Teros leapt into action as his fellows tried to nudge the aging catatonic man towards the exit. He tripped several of them, and they attempted some nonlethal attacks at him. Through the grace of luck alone, he turned the tides enough to slip out of the front door, and slam it shut. Thus began a brief tug of war with the monstrous asylum door, but Teros managed to keep it closed, and slide the bar back into place to lock it.
He began bracing the doors with furniture, as his party mates tried feebly to break through the solid iron castings with little success. Within the courtyard, Melinda began enlarging herself and her comrades, as they noticed Usiel had levitated out of the courtyard and dropped a rope for the others to escape with. Jack, now a giant by way of Melinda’s magic, took a moment to stuff their captive into his backpack. Usiel and Teros battled each other in front of the Asylum, and Teros darted back, to summon a hellhound in her face. While she was distracted, he threw a rope and grappling hook, and made his way up to the roof.
Both sides of the party met in an epic rooftop battle, as Teros repeatedly shouted for the others to stop, and began tripping, and hindering his gigantic partymates. As all three of them towered above him, standing on the overhang along the western side of the courtyard the combined weight of the three giants caused the roof to begin cracking. Melinda dived out of the way, while Jack, and Camellia fell to the courtyard below. They stood, and Jack checked to find Humes unconscious from the fall within his backpack. Camellia readied herself for another attempt to scale the rooftop, when Usiel, who had managed to dispatch the hellhound, and scaled the wall now confronted Teros from behind. The grim cleric took a running start and leapt boldly down into the courtyard to face his companions once more.
“WHY WONT YOU JUST STOP?” he screamed, as the battle pressed on. A few more blows was all he could take and he fell unconscious. The party secured him, and Leofreck Humes the 3rd,and returned to Rook to collect payment, and dispel the mind control affecting their cleric friend.
Players:
Melinda (Jlunio)
Jack (Cleru)
Usiel (Ironfang)
Teros (Gryphyx)
Camellia (Zen)
Saugrak (Sythus-GM)
Summary:
"The Asylum"
*********************************************************************
Alys had been stuck in this godsforsaken dump working alone for weeks. Her father, Arno, had taken ill, and was unable to run the tap. In all honesty, things ran smoother around the Spigot, but there were a lot of complaints about her stew. Her only patron sat next to the bar’s unofficial mascot, a tiny goblin orphan she had discovered living in the back alleyway. The man, Nemith, was an adventurer who never really seemed to go on any adventures. He’d come in everyday, ignore any jobs, and sit talking to Jozzy, the young goblin, or sometimes a few of his friends who would join him.
As the afternoon wore on, some adventurers began to trickle in. First was the quiet woman, who never really ordered anything, but seemed to sit around waiting for work. Best to just leave her be, Alys thought, adventurers were a dangerous lot. She could almost her Arno saying that, he’d reminded her of it so often. “Careful around adventurers, peanut!” he’d warn, calling her that absurd nickname she’d hated since she was a child. The next to arrive was Jack, the guy with the boar. He seemed nice, but she couldn’t look him in the eye, because of that awful joke Arno had told her about a ranger, and his pig. She felt at ease when Usiel came in, which she thought was funny, but even though she was one of the dark elves, a paladin is a paladin. Arno told her to watch out for paladins, as they were “the pinnacle of crazy”, but Alys always figured she had nothing to worry about.
A loudmouthed woman came in second to last, and ordered up a bowl of stew and a drink. There were a lot more women adventurers these days, Alys remarked to herself. She wondered sometimes what it would be like to hit the road, and see where it took her. Hell, even little Jozzy had been pretending to be an adventurer as of late. A *big* rat had scared her in the kitchen earlier, and Jozzy burst in, and snapped the things neck with his bare hands. He spoke of vanquishing the beast, and called her a damsel. She couldn’t help but smile, when she thought about that. Hopefully dad wouldn’t kick the little guy out when he got back to running the tap. Hopefully he’d get back to running the tap, and out of his sick bed.
The last one to entered was Teros, she’d remembered him. He’d been here a few times before, and a lot of people always seemed to listen to him. “You’d do well to remember folks like that by name, peanut” Arno had told her. Teros slammed the butt of his spear against the ground, and said, “I got work, and I need some adventurers.”
It watched them all, like a person might watch ants scurrying around. It would wait, it always waited.
*********************************************************************
Lt. Hodd found Teros easily enough. The man lead a structured life, and Hodd respected that greatly. It made his job a lot easier, because sometimes tracking down adventurers was a real pain in the ass.
“I need you, and your team to head out and collect Mr. Humes at Stonebrook Asylum and return him to H.Q. in the Castle District.” Hodd said, looking the stern cleric over. “My team?” Teros asked, as he pondered the situation. Hodd assured him he’d need some adventurers, “You’ll need a few more, I suspect. We sent a formal request to set up transport of the patient into our custody, but our runner just came back empty handed.” Teros grimaced, and asked, “Usual rates?” and Hodd nodded, “Yes. Oh, and another thing, the women you inquired about, they’re safe. If you’d like to head out and question them yourself, we can book a ship for you, it’s just going to take a bit of time, with the war looming, and all.”
It watched Teros, and Hodd. It calculated a moment, and chose Hodd. Soon.
*********************************************************************
Delilah leaned heavily on the old wooden desk. She was tired, and not feeling all too well. Dr. Kottage had left her in charge. The doctor trusted her. She had a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about it. He’d be back soon enough. They’d all yell, and scream when he returned. Delilah never did, maybe that’s why he had chose her? She’d let him down with the kitchen, she hadn’t meant to cut so deep. Why’d he trust her there in the first place? He knew she couldn’t help it, and his eyes had looked so sad when he arrived after it happened. He turned his back, couldn’t even look at her.
She was told to watch the desk for a few days. Gregar, the dwarf would handle the kitchen. Gregar was one of the full on lunatics. He’d pretty much just echo the last few words you said back at you. She felt betrayed, but knew she wouldn’t be much help in the kitchen for a while. She had lost a lot of blood, Sometimes she wondered why this place didn’t have proper staff. There were no orderlies, and the patients handled all of the maintenance. The doctor would simply talk to someone, and just like that, a raving lunatic would become a mild-mannered janitor. Even Godfrey, the guy had murdered his entire family, claiming they were ‘interlopers’. He got to go outside to tend the sheep!
As she pondered this, fighting her own mixed feelings about the doctor’s methods the door swung open, and in strode a group of armed men and women. A man in armor displayed a writ, and said, “We come on behalf of the Rook guard, and will be taking Leofreck Humes in for questioning.”
The doctor would fix this. He always told her to just have people wait, that he’d be back soon. It always took him forever to get in. It was spring, so the days were getting longer. He came in later and later in the summer. He loved to observe his patients at night, when the effects of the moon were at their strongest. Something to do with lunatic being from luna, and luna meaning moon. Deliliah figured he knew what he was talking about, because as soon as it got dark, is when they all began to scream. “Here comes Kottage!” “THE DOCTOR IS IN!” and a cacophony of babble always heralded Dr. Kottage’s arrival.
“The Doctor will be in soon” she explained to the adventurers, smiling wistfully. The blood loss in the kitchen had her feeling funny. They were explaining something about the paper they were showing her, and saying “Leofreck Humes” so she just went with it. She’d stall them like the young man with the other letter. She riffled through the ledger, and some papers to buy some time. It was dark, he’d stroll through the front door any moment now and fix this all. Before she knew it, they were unbarring the door, and trying to enter the asylum. She stood up, a bit too fast, and stumbled. Thankfully she got a hand on the chair before she fell. It gave them pause, but not for long. They asked about her cut, and she lied to them. She knew it was a lie, and the doctor wouldn’t be happy. She told them it was an accident in the kitchen.
It bought a bit more time, but the impatient adventurers soon unbarred the door entering the asylum, and found themselves in an open courtyard between the administrative building, the kitchen and laundry, with the womens, and mens wings stretching to the east, and west respectively.
At this point, she knew she’d better fall in line. The doctor always told her that her safety was first priority if any dangerous types ever came in. This lot was not going to take no for an answer. She showed them to the men’s wing, hatching a plan which was soon foiled, as they removed the bar to seal the door, and insisted that she joined them within. Women weren’t allowed in the men’s wing, for obvious reasons.
She saw Geoffrey standing in the center of the hallway, and she knew what was about to happen. Geoffrey’s hand was behind his back, and that could only mean one thing. Teros pointed his spear, and ordered his hands in the air, and then to put them up against the wall. Geoffrey was insane, but the madman did know what spears did. He raised both hands, revealing one to be covered in his own shit. She was going to try to slip out, and seal them in had Geoffrey launched his“Geoffbomb” at them. They quickly shoved Geoffrey back into his room, and barred the door.
She was dragged further into the ward, and she saw Gregar standing naked in the fountain. He was scrubbing himself clean with a bar of soap, and the adventurers who had most certainly viewed the ledger asked Gregar, “Which one is number 8?” to which he replied, “Number Eight, Number Eight” as he dutifully scrubbed, standing unabashed in the fountain.
Down the hall, Edmund the liar had gotten Melinda’s attention, and was trying to convince her that he was in fact Julio, and to hurry up and get them out of there before the mad doctor’s return. The adventurers were searching each room, and they seemed to overlook Mr. Humes. The other girls called him potato, because he was little more than a vegetable, they explained. The doctor had explained it as a catatonic state. As soon as they settled on Humes, and began to escort him out of the ward the screaming began. “THE DOCTOR IS COMING!” and howls of equal delight, and terror filled the air. The adventures steeled themselves, and quickly exited the ward.
*********************************************************************
Dr. Grioghari Kottage woke in his villa. They sky would be dark soon at the asylum, and it would be safe to continue his work. The sky here, as always, was a sheet of black satin, completely devoid of stars. He rose from the centuries old antique bed, and made his way through a home that would be considered luxurious, even by noble standards. He extended a hand, trailing a finger across the crushed velvet covering the walls. He was incredibly tactile, even for a vampire. The feeling of the physical world, he asserted on many an occasion, helped anchor him to it. While many of his kind were driven by base desire, the children of Bylas, his sire, were instructed to fight their curse, and never accept it, or their situation at face value. While the raw instinct that fills the core of every vampire is not easily overcome, his teachings always, eventually, guided his children back to reason. Many of the children had dealings on the prime material, and Dr. Kottage’s was charged with the protection of an individual of importance to the order of Bylas. The namesake of Sir Leofreck Humes, the man who had sacrificed everything so that the beast could be contained.
As he reached the kitchen, his thrall, Richard, presented him with a plump rabbit. Kottage closed his eyes for a moment, and he whispered a single word: temperance. He had come close to stumbling, when the girl had cut herself. Had she done it on purpose? Was it the act of someone from another faction? He began to mull it over, running his fingers through the soft fur of the bunny, as he reluctantly sank his teeth into the squirming rodent, and pulled a long drink of the bitter blood. He had almost fallen to his hands and knees, to lap up the puddle. His will should have been strong enough to ignore a simple puddle of blood, but the contamination from the spire was driving his people mad with their own base desires. The Spire was failing, and he could feel the energies from the demon that exuding from the place.
He finished his lackluster breakfast, and strolled out of his dining room stepping from the balcony to float gently to the garden below. He intentionally pricked his finger on a thorn as he passed the sickly rose bushes on the way to the tree at the center of the his garden. In truth, like many of the trees in this realm of night, it was a portal. It lead to the prime material, specifically to the central courtyard of Stonebrook Asylum. Pressing the keystone against the trunk, Grioghari incanted a single word of Abyssal. He wished he didn’t have to use the portals, because he hated speaking the foul language. In a moment's time, the portal was open, and the he spied the courtyard behind. He knew immediately that something was wrong, The door to the men’s ward was ajar, and he saw a man, a woman, and pig guarding it.
A litany of curses sprang from his tongue. The namesake was in there, and in a moment his worst fear was recognized. More adventurers exited the ward, with Leofreck Humes in tow. At this point, he likely had failed the order of Bylas, but reluctantly stepped through the portal. Even if he must die, he needed to keep the namesake safe. He strode through the portal, facing the adventurers without time to grab his rapier.
It tried reaching into the vampire, but encountered some difficulty. In time, it would be easy. It had almost forced him to lap blood from the ground like a dog. Things were getting easier, and all it would take is a little more time. It waited patiently, enjoying the anticipation of something so near.
*********************************************************************
The party exited the ward as soon as the patients began proclaiming the arrival of the doctor. Little did they know, the white oak in the center of the courtyard had grown an ominous shade of black that seemed to drink the light around it. For some reason, the lunatics could always sense it. A phenomena that baffled even Dr. Kottage, but likely resulted from the recently returned demonic corruption of the shadowplace.
Jack and Melinda stood sentry on either side of the heavy iron door, as the rest of the party came through. Bacon uneasily turned to face the tree in the central courtyard as it grew darker, and darker, drinking in the light around it. Teros saw the tree, and yelled, “BURN IT!” and began digging through his bag for some alchemist fire. As the group prepared for the worst, a regal looking gentleman stepped out from within the tree itself and strode forward. Usiel leapt forward and smote him mightily with several blows from her quarterstafff. Dr. Kottage winced, his fangs elongating on reflex alone as the positive energies tore through his long dead body. He hissed, as the rest of the group pressed an attack, and he turned to gaze into Teros’ eyes, speaking softly, but firmly, “Stop them, and return Mr. Humes to his room.” They struck him several more times, and he fought back the urge to rip into them. He prayed both for strength, and forgiveness, as he retreated towards the blackened oak. If he remained, these people would suffer at his hand, and as each new blow from their vicious assault landed, he came closer to falling into a feral state.
A vicious slice from Camellia’s sawtoothed saber left him teetering on the precipice of wanton bloodshed, and with every last bit of what kept him in control he stepped back, and retreated into the portal, knocking the keystone out of place as he passed through. It would take a moment to deactivate, but perhaps he could subdue any who came through, and simply shove them back through to the prime material. With the portal closing, he made certain to direct his thoughts towards Teros, and explain, “Humes is not safe outside these walls. You must make certain he remains at Stonebrook.” and moments later the portal closed.
Teros leapt into action as his fellows tried to nudge the aging catatonic man towards the exit. He tripped several of them, and they attempted some nonlethal attacks at him. Through the grace of luck alone, he turned the tides enough to slip out of the front door, and slam it shut. Thus began a brief tug of war with the monstrous asylum door, but Teros managed to keep it closed, and slide the bar back into place to lock it.
He began bracing the doors with furniture, as his party mates tried feebly to break through the solid iron castings with little success. Within the courtyard, Melinda began enlarging herself and her comrades, as they noticed Usiel had levitated out of the courtyard and dropped a rope for the others to escape with. Jack, now a giant by way of Melinda’s magic, took a moment to stuff their captive into his backpack. Usiel and Teros battled each other in front of the Asylum, and Teros darted back, to summon a hellhound in her face. While she was distracted, he threw a rope and grappling hook, and made his way up to the roof.
Both sides of the party met in an epic rooftop battle, as Teros repeatedly shouted for the others to stop, and began tripping, and hindering his gigantic partymates. As all three of them towered above him, standing on the overhang along the western side of the courtyard the combined weight of the three giants caused the roof to begin cracking. Melinda dived out of the way, while Jack, and Camellia fell to the courtyard below. They stood, and Jack checked to find Humes unconscious from the fall within his backpack. Camellia readied herself for another attempt to scale the rooftop, when Usiel, who had managed to dispatch the hellhound, and scaled the wall now confronted Teros from behind. The grim cleric took a running start and leapt boldly down into the courtyard to face his companions once more.
“WHY WONT YOU JUST STOP?” he screamed, as the battle pressed on. A few more blows was all he could take and he fell unconscious. The party secured him, and Leofreck Humes the 3rd,and returned to Rook to collect payment, and dispel the mind control affecting their cleric friend.