1.1 - In Search of Sanity - Prison of the Mind

Elias and Grim head to the table at the south end of the room and find an oil lantern illuminating many items of varying interest and usefulness. Amongst scraps of cloth and pieces of dirty, broken tools there sits a small key next to the lantern. It appears the kind of key that might fit a object.

One section of the table, much more organized than the rest, has a series of blades laid out, one after the other. Though all of them would make for serviceable weapons, one stands out amongst the others as being particularly well-made, with an intricately carved handle. While it appears quite deadly, it also looks like it could have been designed as a gift for someone, due to the care of workmanship visible upon the item.

Near that is a rolled cloth, that when unfurled displays a collection of well-kept surgeon's tools that could be of use to a practiced hand. Next to the bundle of surgeon's tools is a book with a ragged cover. Opening the cover and reviewing its contents, it appears to be a journal, kept by someone of erratic and sadistic thought, hell-bent on learning about the shapeshifting creatures you've been encountering.

Finally, sitting on the ground near one of the table's legs is a finely-stitched backpack, within which you rummage to find 3 platinum pieces, a small drawstring pouch containing a single, average-sized pearl, and a tiny wooden box affixed to a leather cord. Opening the box reveals religious scripture written within.

Nearby is a six-foot-tall standing mirror, leaned against the wall.

Meanwhile, Axon and Razhel move to investigate the splashing sounds in the south-western basin of water. The ladder there allows one of them to climb up and look inside. Whoever does, finds the living head and torso combination of a creature not unlike the one you found in the prior room chained up before killing it. This one, while alive, is missing it's limbs almost entirely. Everyone once in a while, its head and face bob to the surface of the water as its torso jerks and twists, splashing amongst the liquid. It seems to try speaking, but its mouth is unable to remain above-water long enough to get any meaningful words out.

Grim grabs up the key and holds it up to examine it closer in the lantern light. "I wonder if this is the key to those manacles in the last room?"

"Ugh! Another undead! This time it's just a torso bobbing in the water!" he said with disgust to the others. "It's trying to speak."

ማጅ እጅ

His spectral hand manifested under the rotting thing's head, cradled it, and tried to keep it at least temporarily above water.

"What have you to say to the living, undead?"

Razhel looks around to see there are paddles or hooks that may have been used to stir or pluck things from the vat nearby.

Studying the key, Grim confirms the key is of the right size, shape, and design to likely fit the manacles in the prior room.

Axon attempts to use his magic to lift the creature's head out of the water enough so that it might speak, but finds the summoned, spectral hand loses its strength once it touches the creature's flesh. He comes away from the experience knowing a little more about the limits of his magic, while Razhel grabs a nearby pole, about 10-feet in length, which must normally be used for agitating the laundry in the basins. This pole could be used to prop the creature's head up as Axon was attempting to do magically.

"Thanks," he said to Dragon Eyes for her quick thinking with the pole. "Now speak, undead."

If there was anything in the water, he'd try to snag it with his mage hand. If possible, he'd trawl the hand along the bottom to search for anything down there.

After fixing up the Knight (at least to consciousness once more), the Healer once again grappled with his own inadequacy. He was certain there was more to his abilities, but he seemed to keep coming up short on this horrid night. He popped open his grimoire, and the page it opened to jogged his memory immediately, filling him with a sense of both pride and success at remembering more of what he knew in his core he could accomplish, and regret and remorse over not remembering sooner.

He swiftly went to stand between the Knight and the Pugilist, and put a hand on each of their shoulders. He focused for but a moment, and they would each feel their souls and stamina be tugged towards and knitted into his own.
"Your lives are mine, and mine is yours." he said, right as the Knight's wounds began to heal almost instantly, the stress and injuries seemingly transferring themselves across space to his own body in a morbid display of martyrdom."I will make sure you never again fall before me, as long as we are together." he says, not looking them in the eyes, and moves to more closely inspect the items assembled on the table. He had a suspicion about the backpack, and wanted to confirm. "HK JRT" His eyes glowed faintly as he examined the item.

Axon uses the pole to lift the creature's head from the water. It spits out several mouthfuls of water as it chokes the dirty liquid up from the recesses of its undead lungs. "T-thanks, friend," it says, "I c-couldn't seem to find my legs in here. You'll free me, yes? So hungry, I've been, s-so starving, yes." It gnashes its teeth, ineffectively biting at the air.

Meanwhile, after Iosef binds his lifeforce to both Razhel and Elias, Elias indeed finds his wounds knitting closed. A bond formed, it is now evident that significant wounds suffered by one of his companions may be transferred to Iosef, giving them his own lifeforce in exchange.

The scholarly half-elf then looks to examine the backpack and after several moments of careful study identifies the item as something incredibly helpful for any adventurer of the unknown - the backpack is a magical bag known as a Handy Haversack, and contains the ability to hold all manner of things, far greater than it appears on the outside.

Razhel holds the pole steady to keep the undead's head above water. She feels the healer's light touch and odd feelings of the magical bond he has made.

"Of course we'll help you. How did you get in there?" he asked the thing with as much of a forced cheer in his voice as he could muster.

The creature lets out a rasping sigh, "The doctor, she took me. Took me, killed most the others. She cut me and toyed with me. Told me I was sick, she would cure me. Then I dreamt of the one in yellow and the hunger took me. GAH!" The creature bites at the air, writhing as if remembering terrible pain. "Please come closer. Closer to me, I have a secret I wish to whisper in your ear." It's unnaturally-long tongue almost hangs out of its mouth in anticipation of you drawing nearer.

"You don't have to keep secrets. We'll have you out of there soon. You must be hungry."

He held onto the pole along with Dragon Eyes and moved it and the torso around slightly.

"We've got to be careful not to hurt you. Tell us your name and this secret while we help you out of there."

Satisfied with his analysis, he began transferring his belongings into the haversack to take it as his own, along with the pearl, the nice surgery set, and the potion. He also put the strange journal away and made a mental note to review it later, but paused and turned to the bobbing beast when he heard what it said.
"I am sorry to interrupt, but I wish to be certain. You mentioned dreaming of someone in yellow? Could you please describe this dream and figure in more detail?" He moved in preparation to make immediate use of his new tools on the doppelganger's corpse.
"There is a nice juicy thigh in it for you."

Seeing the that other things were being taken care of, Grim lowers his crossbow and grabs the dead doppelganger's corpse by the ankles to being the long drag down to the barricade. He stops just outside the door to look at the man still hanging in the manacles over the pipe. "Oh...almost forgot you." He drops the shapeshifter's ankles and meticulously removes the manacles from the two dead bodies, then pauses at the yellow robed man who speaks nonsense. "You ready to tell me who Zandalus is?"

Elias follows Grim out of the room. Just as he was about to help him drag the body, Elias sees Grim start to release the man from the manacles. I'll help drag the body.

"Give me a hand with this guy first, will you?" Grim asks the paladin. "I'm going to unlock him from the pipe, but keep the cuffs on until we know what's going on with him. I don't want him taking off..."

"So hungy, yes," the creature says in a raspy voice, "but not secrets. My name? My name is, was, Loch. Closer please, I just want a NIBBLE!" It screeches the last word and writhes around in the water again. As it does, something comes loose from within the folds of its clothes and starts to sink before catching again, just below the surface of the wash-water: a small trinket, not much bigger than a coin, flecks of red upon a purple backing.The creature seems distraught and thrashes its torso around, largely ignoring Iosef's questions until the half-elf mentions the gift of flesh. "The yellow one, the man in rags, the one who brings us gifts as we sleep! Yes! Meat now, make good on your promise!"

Meanwhile, Elias and Grim leave the room to the north and step closer to the manacled figures in the western alcove. Grim finds that the key fits the manacles attached to the two dead bodies easily enough and the corpses fall to the floor upon release.

Upon hearing the question, the man, tears still staining his cheeks, looks up - fear and hope a desperate mix upon his face. "Zandalus...sees," he says. Though they can't be brought close the man sticks a finger out towards his face and pulls his face as close as he can to the digit, adding, "words fail." He sobs, distraught in his thoughts.

Razhel holds the pole and awaits patiently while the two men try cajoling and lying to the ghoul for information, while she would rather simply bash the thing in the head and move on.