Session 6: We're All Mad Here.

Monday, November 7th, 2020 6:30pm-

General Summary

Arriving back to the estate with the original Alistair Oglethorpe, they meet back up with Thimbald, who is not surprised by the new development, but certainly disappointed. He informs them that Wynne has already left the estate, leaving Emyr at a loss for what to do with the baby. Thimbald interjects in their conversation to offer to care for the child and find a proper home for him. In the meantime, he informs them that Apprentice Avrainn Coppermender believes that she has a lead on Lodun's current location, a mental institution on the coast near the town of Fairgate. He informs that Ghozun will also be unable to join them as he received a letter and took off. Taking the child and offering them supplies for the trip, he sends them on their way. Among the supplies are Emyr's new quiver saddle for Chompsky. Prior to their official departure, the party goes to look into research, with Duul finding a book from which he learns Ray of Sickness. Eldin takes care to learn about the city near their destination, learning that it's simply a more run-down port city, as it took the brunt of its fair share of the Calamity. He also took a bucket of water for his bow, and Slab drops off the hag cauldron, leading to the students immediately studying it. Slab then seeks out a dark room and attempts to, "razzle dazzle" the crystal ball, obtaining another vision of a giant eye. He locks the crystal ball in the room, warning the others not to go in there. After prompting from Emyr, Duul checks out the flesh-stitched book that was retrieved from the hag lair, finding that it is a dark fae spellbook, making notes of things such as absorbing the powers of demonic souls. Considering to, in the future, stitch his own spellbook to this one, he focuses on the task ahead. Not long after the party departs, Ghozun returns, realizing that he should notify his brother of where he was going, only to find that they've already come and gone again. Informed by Thimbald of their location, he Wild Shapes into a pony and takes off after them.
An uneventful journey followed, and when they made their way to Fairgate, they found the place to be undergoing renovation... and the wealthy riding bears. While the party gets hounded by peddlers, Slab notices a neglected statue to Zumna, and tells them to go on again, stating that he is, "going to see the lady." With this, he sets up to polish and care for the statue. While he walks off, the rest of the available party consider their approach to the hospital. While walking, they discover the road leading up to the hospital, which rests on a hill outside of the city. Approaching around midday, with harbortown grey skies, they take in the site of the tall fences outside, people walking pleasantly about, on, and off the grounds, though the walls themselves are at least fifteen feet in high to prevent the wayward escape. They happen upon the rough equivalent of a checkpoint shack at the gate, where the gateman happily lets them in for visiting hours and provides them with instructions for where to check in for visitation. Making it through the gate, they take note that one wing has been fully renovated while the other, left wing, remains boarded up and seemingly run down. The gatekeeper informs the party that they simply haven't finished all of the renovations as of yet.

"You are beneath her, and for that matter, beneath me." - Slab Goremount

In the meantime, Slab has an interaction with some of the townsfolk, who seem almost offended that he's bothering to polish the statue. The citizens claim that Zumna has done nothing for the town, never saving them from the horrors of the shores, daring to say that she doesn't even have the power that Slab claims. He blows them back with his power, telling them that no, they are merely faithless and are not due her boon. Slab warns that she is not a kind mistress, but can be a fair one, and that she does not toy with their fates. Sometimes, simply, people must help themselves. Dismissing them, he goes back to his work, where Zumna communes with him directly, stating that the citizens aren't entirely wrong; she cannot hold back the tide of the monstrosities the Calamity brought forth. She requests that Slab, as her champion, rids the oceans, and perhaps the world, of them, to which he agrees and says that he will do what he can to gain more powers and followers in her name. No one bothers him for the rest of his cleaning.

Sacred Heart Sanitorium 

Leaving the carriage, Eldin knocks on the front door to the hospital and is greeted by what appears to be a nun acting as a nurse. She lets them in when they state that they are there for visitation, going to check the books for one, "Ghozun Painted-Hide" while leaving them to sit in the reception area. They then convene in concern, wondering what they're going to do from this point, as Ghozun is very obviously not a patient at this location. Duul and Emyr debate the prospect of getting themselves committed, while Eldin suggests causing an uproar to demand entry to the back areas of the hospital. While the party talks, Ghozun smuggles three lockpicks, shoving them under the skin of his palm before wrapping it. This later idea doesn't appear to be their best bet, and right around this time the nurse lets them know that Ghozun is not there. Rolling with the idea, Eldin goes on about how Ghozun has in fact been dead for ten years and they've been merely trying to appease the man, as he thinks he sees his brother everywhere that they go. The nurse smiles reassuringly as she goes to talk to the doctors, leaving the party to discuss plans on how to extract Duul after they get him committed. He hands a field mouse to Eldin, in preparation for their "mouse bear" plan. The lady returns not long after with a doctor in tow. Duul expresses disappointment at Ghozun not being with him, and explains that he and his brother have a very close connection, in part due to "shared trauma" and their greatgreatgreatgreatgreat grandmother's demon blood. He states that he can tell when Ghozun's nearby, and that he can feel him in the area. Eldin, Emyr, and Lavug are escorted back to the main gate, where they are told that they may visit in six to eight days, following the transitional period. Lavug is absolutely aghast at the entire situation, thinking that after all of Duul's plans he might ACTUALLY belong here anyway, though of course this is discussed away from the grounds. Outside, spied upon by Duul via the mouse, Eldin provides the nurses at the gate with a list of things and special care requirements for their friend, though it really only succeeds in making the elf himself sound like the madman, in a seeming attempt to make Duul harder to deal with, so that they can claim neglect in the future. She states that they may visit in two days. To keep up with the rouse, Eldin purchases a Stuffed Buck Plush for 5SP.
Duul is lead away to the communal area for the patients, where many of them are doing recreational activities like puzzles, painting, and socializing. Most of his belongings are locked up and he is handed a set of garbs for his stay. The doctor inquires about his cut, to which he states that he cut it getting out of the carriage and that it is fine, but he doesn't want anyone to hurt themselves checking it out, what with his demon blood. He is locked into his room after asking for water and to know when they are going to look for his brother. Duul is told that they will have his first session tonight, and is later brought the water, though the glass is taken from him immediately after he finishes it. When they leave, he works to vomit up the water to clean his wound, managing to do so fairly successfully. The tiefling-orc is summoned from his room later that night, brought to stereotypical therapy room, completed with a fireplace, table, pitcher chair for the doctor, and a chaise lounge for the patient in question. Duul takes his seat and is joined shortly by the doctor. The doctor pours two glasses from the pitcher, a red liquid that is designed to put consumers at ease. Therapy then begins, with... really nothing of Duul's statements being a lie.
As night falls, the party begins to work towards springing their friend from the joint that they very specifically just shoved him into. Eldin flings his grappling hook over the wall, where it hooks onto the "spikes" at the top, offering him a secure hold, though he fails to properly scale it; after all, the wall was designed to discourage and prevent scaling. He is able to find a weak point in the wall, however, and Slab makes use of Thaumoturgy and the illusion of thunder to chip away at the wall; soon, the weather takes a turn in their favor, as if by an act of Zumna itself it begins to rain, hiding their attempts. Successfully making a hole big enough for people of Slab and Ghozun's size to crawl through, they gather the party to join them, though Chompsky must again be left behind. Together, the group opts to break in through the eastern, condemned wing, prying the boards off one of the windows to climb through. Of course, the next obstacle lays in the old iron bars that block the inside of said windows. Lavug takes lookout while the others climb through into an abandoned cell. Opening the door, its locks busted, they peer into the dark, gloomy hallway. From where they stand, they can hear the faint echoing of Duul's chorus distantly down the halls. 
After returning to his cell, Duul eventually begins to sing aloud to himself, joined by presumably other patients. Casting Detect Magic, and obviously turning up an affirmative, Duul does what he can to spy on the area around him, eventually using a struggling Hobgoblin on his way to therapy as cover to use Mage Hand. Retrieving a set of cell keys, he sets about looking through the keys for the one for his cell. Locating it, he makes a copy of it as one of his lockpicks, returns the lockpick to its hiding spot, and unlocks his cell. He then proceeded to Pass Without a Trace and toss the keyring out the window of his cell and into the courtyard.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party ends up fighting seemingly normal bats, though they spawned out of thin air. Slab, however, left momentarily to retrieve the keys once Chompsky notified the party, and returns with the keyring Duul had stolen and tossed away. Combat begins. As is his luck, Eldin becomes increasingly more haunted the longer their stay; it's simply not a good idea for beings with his such curse to be in places of trauma. Seemingly tormented by his visions, Emyr moves to climb out a window. Slab, bored with these attempts, instead decides to just... walk in through the front door. With the desk unmanned, he checks out the patient records, finding that once people check in, they tend to not check back out. He does not, however, find any specific evidence of Lodun's presence. With no leads to go on, Slab begins to investigate in the hope of finding a proper records room. Far from stealthy, Slab manages to get caught... though thankfully by Emyr, Lavug, and Eldin, rather than the staff. Luckily for them, Duul seemed to have the same line of thinking as Slab, and ends up inadvertedly following in his footsteps. He is able to find the name of the doctor --- Dr. Gòth. In a stroke of luck, he gets contextual usage of the name as well, with some of the staff shuffling past saying that the doctor has plans for Duul (though not by name) and wants him found, especially as him being a "little pet of the spellcaster". 
What will happen next? Tune in next session to find out more!

Report Date

07 Dec 2020