1.2 - In Search of Sanity - The Dead Don't Dream

The horrific creature, like a gargoyle borne of the infinite space between light itself, flaps its terrible wings and begins to lift Axon into the air.

Seeing the creature start to flap it's wings and rise up, Elias reverses his sword and attempts a backhanded swing at the creature.

Nice hit, Elias!

As the monster attempts to pick up the robed wizard, Razhel hops off the ground and slams her fist into the creature.

The weather picks up...

Moderate Winds: -2 to Ranged Attacks, -2 to Fly Checks

The monster starts to lift Axon from the ground. In its focus on tormenting the robed man, it fails to see the danger around it, taking severe damage from Elias's sword and Razhel's fist.

It shrieks in pain but still manages to lift itself through the flurry of wind and blows, flying straight up in the air.

Iosef feels a deep ache in his gut as his life force is exchanged with Axon's own. He shrugs the pain off as best he can and instead beseeches the spirits that haunt him to bless his party against this creature.

Razhel brings up her crossbow again and finds a bolt to fit into the firing channel. She takes aim at the rising fiend and fires.

"Loathsome thing!!!" he shrieked as he was lifted into the air! All he could do was stab again at the thing's ebon face!

Elias watches as the creature flies up higher and out of his attack range. Preparing to attack Elias holds his action until the creature is in range.

Grim blows air through his nose in frustration. He readies his crossbow once more and fires at the rising faceless creature clutching the spell-caster.

A bolt from Razhel's crossbow tears through the creature's wing, causing it to spin this way and that. It seems as if barely holding onto Axon as the man tries to angle his dagger into the monster's thigh. A final bolt streaks through the air from Grim's crossbow and sinks itself into the midnight flesh just near the thing's jawline.

It's grip grows slack and Axon's body, 15ft in the air, falls to the ground. The creature itself twists and turns in the air before plummeting to the ground a distance away from you in the courtyard.

The wind dies down...

Seeing the creature drop Axon, amidst it's final actions, Elias drops his sword and shield and tries to catch his friend.

From flying to falling into a compatriot's arms, he had one Abyss of a ride. He wanted to say something cheeky but only found himself shaking and looking at the faceless horror's corpse.

"The shed," he said shakily as he stood unsteadily, "quickly."

Once he's sure that Axon was okay, Elias picked up his shield and sheathed his sword. Indeed my friend, lead on.

Razhel will go over to the fallen creature, retrieve her bolt, and make sure its dead, before joining Axon and Elias. She does not wish to be out in the open against the odd weather and the chance of other things swooping in on them from above.

His head still swimming, he tried to focus on opening the shed door. If there's a lock, he motions for one of his stronger compatriots to smash it.

Seeing Axon falling through the air, Elias acts with urgency to place himself below the falling sorcerer. He makes it just in time and the body falls, not all too graciously, into the paladin's arms.

A moment later, Axon feels a surge of vigor as Iosef invests more of his life force to heal the robed man.Razhel moves to inspect the fallen creature. A couple kicks to its motionless body seems to confirm it no longer lives. Searching nearby she fails to find any recoverable bolts.

The weather remains calm...for now...

The others make their way to the sturdy wooden shed leaning against the far courtyard wall. Happily they find the door is unlocked, swinging open easily and immediately. Inside they find what appears to have been a shed belonging to whoever once took care of these outdoor spaces.

Unlike many of the other areas you've seen in the asylum, it doesn't appear to have been pillaged. Judging by the state of the body sprawled face-first across the floor and the creature you just fought, you can imagine why.

There is a solid, wooden bench against the northern wall. It is covered with tools and shelves are stocked with containers filled with dried plants. Labels, some too smudged to read, others difficult to read, cover the containers. Some bottles of acrid substance and a bag, mushy to the touch, sit undisturbed.

Axon, if scanning the room for magic, notes an aura coming from a shovel that leans against the bench, and a less significant aura leads them to search the body - upon which they find a masterwork studded leather cuirass and a rolled piece of parchment (the source of the magic).

In the far corner is a set of stairs that leads down into pitch black darkness.