Razorback's Strange Aeons - In Search of Sanity

[u-b]

"Rest assured, you are up to some pain, but in no real danger. Provided you are a human, that is." Notes Ebert as Zapka continues to attack the woman until she passes out from the shock.

Spoiler

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So, she successfully performed a free action (talking), which means that Ebert's Daze has failed. There are more than one reason why this might be the case, but upon preponderance of evidence...

Bite: (1d20+1)[6] for (1d4+3)[6] nonlethal
Claw: (1d20+1)[13] for (1d3+3)[5] nonlethal
Claw: (1d20+1)[2] for (1d3+3)[4] nonlethal

[razorback]

The woman tries to swat off the blows from Zapka, with some success, as she tries to scurry away. "You sadists! Why are you doing this to me?!?!" she cries out in anguish.

[Spore]

Vadok Half-Orc Inquisitor of Gorum AC: 15 HP: 8/10 touch: 11, ff: 14, CMD: 15 Conditions: Brand (Gorum) (1day) If you were a simple nurse, this spell should have stunned you. If you were a normal nurse this beast should have knocked you unconscious. What REALLY are you?

[u-b]

"By the way, she has some magic active on her. My, are you a spellcaster?" The question is mainly rethorical, but Ebert does not mind if she tries to respond. Meanwhile, he blocks the most probable exit and lets Zapka continue what she does.

Spoiler

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Bite: (1d20+1)[11] for (1d4+3)[4] nonlethal
Claw: (1d20+1)[11] for (1d3+3)[6] nonlethal
Claw: (1d20+1)[7] for (1d3+3)[6] nonlethal
Bite AoO (if applicable): (1d20+1)[15] for (1d4+3)[7] nonlethal

Cestus strike AoO (if applicable): (1d20-2)[9] for (1d4-1)[2] nonlethal

[razorback]

The woman fends off most of the blows Zapka aims at her but the bite clamps down on her, causing her to scream out in pain, causing more tears of pain to stream down her face.
"Why are you doing this, you monsters!" she cries out as she scurries away, as she uses the back wall to stand.

Spoiler

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Map.

Zapka can take another swipe at her.

[u-b]

"We do it because we don't want to kill you even though we pretty much suspect that you might be a monster. Trust me, there is no sadistic pleasure involved." In contrast to the woman, Ebert seems pretty much calm. Also in contrast to the woman, he is not being attacked by an unknown monster and some random gang.

Spoiler

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Bite: (1d20+1)[17]for (1d4+3)[4] nonlethal
Claw: (1d20+1)[20] for (1d3+3)[6] nonlethal
Claw: (1d20+1)[3] for (1d3+3)[5] nonlethal
Bite AoO (if applicable): (1d20+1)[21] for (1d4+3)[4] nonlethal

[Ghostfoot]

Hazel

"Hey, nobody's getting killed around here. Can't you see she's no monster? She's a nurse, a caregiver. This place is supposed to be a refuge." Hazel moves forward trying the get a handle on things.

Spoiler: rolls

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Hazel is confused and feels empathy for the injured woman.

Sense motive (1d20-2)[16] on the nurse. Also on those party members attacking her, for completeness. 'Cos hey maybe they are the real monsters?!

[razorback]

As Ebert and Hazel are speaking out to the woman, who looks very confused, Zapka rushes forward and strikes the woman several times.
With a scream, she crumbles to the ground unconscious.

[PeacefulOak]

Lizbeth

This... this was chaos. Nothing is right, nothing is true... Lizbeth stood back, holding her head in her hands as an innocent woman was mauled to unconsciousness by the strange fey creature that accompanied them.

"Are you satisfied now? What have we learned, what have we accomplished?" Her voice is firm but has an edge to it, whether angered or vulnerable up to the impression of the observer.

[u-b]

"A tough, headstrong, spellcasting nurse. And we aren't done with her. I wasn't able to determine the school of magic involved, so please help me do it. Vadok, can you cut a lock of her hair for me to look at?"

Spoiler

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Planning to take the lock of hair aside, check it for magic, then take it back to compare with the rest of her hair.

[infomatic]

“Eh, maybe you have to be tough to work in a place like this,” Elia says, searching the woman’s unconscious form. “I’m a little worried that none of these creatures came to help her — they must be within shouting distance.”

Spoiler: OoC

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(1d20+5)[20] search

[Ghostfoot]

Hazel

"What do you mean she's a spell caster? I didn't see any hocus pocus. Just looks like a scared old lady to me. Go easy on her."

As it becomes clear that the beating has stopped, and is not about to start again, Hazel starts to wander about the room poking about the rubble. Not really concentrating on her search she keeps one eye on her abusive companions.

Spoiler: Actions

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A cursory search of the rubble-filled room
Perception (1d20-2)[0]

Listen outside door H6
Perception (1d20-2)[5]

[Spore]

Vadok Half-Orc Inquisitor of Gorum AC: 15 HP: 8/10 touch: 11, ff: 14, CMD: 15 Conditions: Brand (Gorum) (1day) I assume her shapeshifting ability is subconscious. Vadok said as he debated ripping the hair out, but stayed sane and just use his dagger. Then, in a more gruelling turn, his large hand enveloped her face and burned a large stylized mountain upon the left half of her face. A quick second orison stabilized her after she started groaning in pain. This will keep her marked for the day. As the cut hair is given to Ebert, it becomes greasy. Spoiler Show 1 point of fire damage, cursing her for a day with Brand, then Stabilize to keep her alive.

[u-b]

Ebert takes the freshly-cut hair aside and checks it for magic. He then comes back to compare it with the rest of the nurse's hairs. Then he checks the nurse for magic again, for good measure.

Spoiler

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Any other differences e.g. in color? Spot, touch, etc. (1d20+0)[19]. Also checking if the magic aura remains on the nurse, but is either absent or lingering on the lock of hair. If lingering, waiting for it to fade and keeping track of time.

[razorback]

Hazel, seeing how Vadok is acting, move furter away near the closed door by Lizbeth.
Vadok, for his part, has no use for the woman. "If the rest of you are too blind to see the trickery of this creature or are two afraid to act, at least tie her up so she can't further hurt us. If she escapes from tight bindings, then we know she has some witchcraft about her." he says as he turns to the unconscious nurse

Spoiler: Map

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Spoiler: Ebert only

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He notices something strange about it but can't quite put his finger on it. Its hair but it seems almost too greasy like it hadn't been washed in some time.
It doesn't display any form of magic.

[u-b]

"By spellcaster I mean she has appearance-changing magic of her. Either illusion or transmutation, judging by the effect. It could be possible that some passer-by has cast it on her for some reason, but we are looking for some doppelgangers, are we not? This lock of hair that Vadok cut off her looks quite different from what it looked like when it was still attached. I wonder if we'll see something fancy if we are to detach a finger, or, maybe, a head." Ebert lets the suggestion sink in, then contines. "I am hesitant to do anything irreversible, especially given that we do not have to, but the captain wants them dead, so..." Ebert shrugs. "I'll check with him if a bound one will do."

Ebert helps Vadok tie the nurse, then drags her over to the barricade and explains the situation to the captain, including all relevant details he has discovered. He says they might reproduce the effect by cutting more hair if they want to. Otherwise they are free to detain her somewhere safe or do as they please. He then inquires whether more bound suspects will do or a license to kill would be granted.

Meanwhile, Zapka paws the door leading west open a bit and peeks in there.

Spoiler

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Assuming that:
1. The nurse still has magical aura that does not extend to the cut lock of hair
2. The hair still on the nurse look relatively normal and thus different than what Ebert has in hand

Will rewrite the post if any of these assumptions is incorrect.

[infomatic]

Elia nervously watches the pair drag the unconscious — whatever it was — back toward the barricade, half-expecting the guards to let loose another fusillade of bolts. Or, worse yet, exclaim that the captive was really the hospital's kindly old cook or something.

[razorback]

The guards, watching the group approach, keep their bow leveled. One disappears and, when you are about halfway back, you see the captain reappear. He squints at the body being brought to him and, realizing what he's seeing, shakes his head. "Well, good on you. Found a helpless old nurse to try and trick us? Thought you were bringing one of the shapers back to us?" One of the guards snickers but keeps his crossbow raised. "Well, just one of ya can bring her here. The rest of you keep back unless you want to look like a porcupine."

[u-b]

Ebert drags the nurse to the barricade. "Take a close look at her hair. Then cut some of it and take a close look at what you have in hand. Then ask questions."

[Ghostfoot]

Hazel

Hazel spends a moment standing next to Elia watching Ebert & Vadok drag the unconscious woman back to the suspicious guards. She sighs, at least know the poor woman might get some help. She turns her attention back to the area around her and, finding nothing of interest, helps Zapka open the western door.

[razorback]

The captain points at the barricade and says with a shake of his head "You can leave nurse Betzi right there, we'll take care of her. Go back with your friends." His gruff manner and speech leads you to believe that he knows said nurse, but Ebert notices that they don't unbide her while in their view, though they take her further back around a corner, where you loose sight. The captain returns to view a moment later and yells out "Remember, if she is one, we still need a few more, eh?"

[u-b]

"Yeah, sure, will bring you more of the same. Just handle with care, she has some magic active on her and you should know better than me whether that nurse Betzi was a spellcaster." Ebert says as he departs northwards.

Spoiler

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Will we finally open that door?

[razorback]

"Yeah, yeah, we have some experience with ferrreting these out. If she's one, we'll know soon enough." the captain says with obvious menace in his voice as he disappears around the corner once Ebert has moved back to a safe distance.

Spoiler

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Will we finally open that door?

?

[infomatic]

"Hm," Elia says as the guard captain's word carry back to the group. "If she was a doppelganger, I don't think that injury was faked. Whatever caused all this rubble, it might not have been them." She turns her attention back toward the door.

[Ghostfoot]

Hazel

With Ebert and Elia returning, Hazel opens the door. "Keep an eye out for any more old nurses" she half-jokes.

[razorback]

As the group move back towards the door, Hazel opens it. Through the opening sturdy racks and toppled tables suggest this space once served as a sizable laundry. Much of the northern end of the room is filled with rubble.
At the edge of view to the southwest, Hazel and Lizbeth can see a person chained to pipelike crossbeams. He seems emaciated but is leaning over towards his left, his upper body and head just out of view, and a weak male voice can be heard saying "No, Argade... stop while you can..." the trails off into a rattling scream.

Spoiler: Opened door

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[u-b]

After the scream, Zapka sneaks south-west to take a closer look at the situation.

Spoiler

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Move three squares west and two squares south, then peek into the room to the south to see all of it and retract into cover. Taking 10 on stealth for a total of 29 and taking 10 on perception for a total of 14.

[razorback]

As Zapka moves forward, she blends into the shadows that leaves no trace. The room, like the hallway outside, was hit especially hard by the rumbling the shook the ground. Stone and dust cover each spot and the Eidolon can see that baskets and half-cleaned laundry litter the area. The smell of lye irritates her nose but not anything she can't handle.
In the southern corner of the nook, she sees the sight of a human that looks male, tattered with skin loose upon what meat and bone it still possess, hanging from chains wrapped around a thick metal pipe that goes north to south along the ceiling. Another human of unknown gender, obviously dead by the loss of flesh and amount of dried blood on the ground underneath, also hangs from the pipe from chains. Zapka notices that the first human is leaning over as if trying to take bites out of the corpse and its mouth is covered in gore.
A third human, male, hangs in the northern corner of the nook by chains from the pipes. He looks emaciated as he whimpers and cries. After a few moments Zapka can make out the human saying “praise,” “words fail,” and “Zandalus sees!”.
No one seems to notice Zapka as she peers around the corner.

[u-b]

After getting a silent report from Zapka, Ebert casts a spell and enters the toom with the trio. He keeps some distance as he's looking at them. "Hello! What's going on here?"

Spoiler

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Detect Magic

[razorback]

Ebert, as soon as he speaks, the man hanging on the southern corner turns quickly and, before Ebert can blink, he lunges. As the man rushes forward, skin gaunt with our reached hands like covered in gore, he falls wells short of Ebert as the chains lock tightly together and the moment pulls him back, causing him to land roughly.
The man hanging in the middle doesn't react but the man hanging in the northern corner snickers as he says “Words fail...” that drifts off into incomprehensible muttering before he laughs again. This man looks emaciated, his dark hair lank and greasy hanging in his face as he hangs and Ebert wonders if the mans are have been pulled out of their sockets by the angle and turn of his shoulder that the man is hanging in a leaning forward fashion.
As he watches, the southern most man stands, dark eye full of hate as stands while watching Ebert, drool escaping his mouth to run down his chin and on to his chest. He steps back as he grabs the chain and leans against the back wall, eyes still on Ebert.