1.3 - In Search of Sanity - Never-Ending Nightmare

Razhel moves north, as the mist envelops them again. She feels her way between her companions, reloading as she goes. Near the northern wall she emerges from the mist, turns, and fires at Zandalus once more.

Axon did his best to resist the mind fog while still keeping up the fight against Zandalus! A rift in midair appeared, and the cold of space rained onto where the madman hopefully was!

ሜትሮይትስ

Elias ignores the demonic shapes in the mist and runs strait to Zandalus, knowing that he is the source of all the nightmare.

The mist overwhelms Iosef as he's encircled by it, though everyone else seems to shrug off the more otherworldly aspects of it (Iosef: Shaken).

Axon does his best to recall where Zandalus had been just before the fog set upon them, bringing icy meteorites to bear though the puppet-like man deftly avoids all of them (Zandalus: Reflex Save Success, no damage).

Iosef similarly uses his memory to fumble through the mist, finding Grim and healing him (Grim: +2hp)

Razhel steps to the very edge of the mist at the north wall and peers out, firing at Zandalus - her bolt tears through the air, sticking into his chest with a dull thunk (Z: -4hp) as Grim and Elias take up flanking positions around the man and strike! Zandalus, overwhelmed by the attacks suddenly blanketing him, tugs to the side, out of the way of Red Destiny (miss), but right into the path of Elias's sword, which slices deep into his body (Z: -8hp)

Zandalus laughs hysterically, jolting in mid-air toward and into the edge of the mist. He reaches a hand toward Elias and the laughter attempts to permeate his mind, tearing its claws into the soft tissue inside his skull (Elias: -9hp, Will Save vs DC 15 for half (-4 instead)). He then drinks down the contents of his potion, grinning as he fades away into nothing.Swift Action: Maintain Dark Half
Free Action: 5ft step

Standard Action: Cast Spell - Mind Thrust I
Move Action: Drink Potion

Name	Init	Status
Zandalus	A	AC 16, 4/46hp
Axon	B	18/18hp, Mage Armor (+4 AC, .5hr)
Iosef	B	23/23hp, Shaken while in mist
Razhel	B	21/21hp
Elias	B	6/23hp, Bleed 1
Grim	B	18/22hp
Haunting Mist	C	Yellow Overlay, 40 turns

Razhel moves toward where she saw Zandalus and makes a sweeping punch, but misses the enemy.

Elias focus on the possessed corpse, ignoring his dissonant laughter and tries to bring the cursed thing down before he manages to disappear and escape.

Grim immediately thrusts forward with the point of his blade, as Zandalus vanishes from quaffing yet another potion.

Axon couldn't see the madman anymore but his armed friends had much better chances of nailing Zandalus. He couldn't risk blasting the room with fire, so Axon stayed his burning hands.

Trying to suppress the fear Iosef stumbles out the most next to Elias before touching him with the wand.

Axon fumbles in the mist, wary of hurting his companions, but Razhel, recalling approximately where Zandalus disappeared steps close and punches into the space he had just occupied, missing.

Elias shrugs off the worst of the enemy's last attack and similarly slashes into the area he just saw the man, but also fails to make contact.

Grim closes in on the same location, intent on taking Zandalus out before he has a chance to escape into the room and recover from their onslaught against him. The keen blade held firmly in his hand slashes wide through the area and stops mid-air as it sinks into invisible flesh. Zandalus makes a sound, as if all the air in his lungs is being driven from him, and his body becomes visible again.

The body falls to the ground, sickly yellow, thick mist spews from the wounds (Zandalus: -6hp, DEAD). A dreadful laugh fills the air, quiet at first, but growing louder by the moment.

Name	Init	Status
Zandalus	A	DEAD
Axon	B	18/18hp, Mage Armor (+4 AC, .5hr)
Iosef	B	23/23hp, Shaken while in mist
Razhel	B	21/21hp
Elias	B	13/23hp
Grim	B	18/22hp
Haunting Mist	C	Yellow Overlay, 38 turns
Obscuring Mist	C	Yellow Overlay 2, 40 turns

Elias looks at the dead Zandalus. "That's it? He was the source of the mist right?" he asks just before thick mist spews out of the corpse as if answering his question. The growing laughter lets them no that, no, that is not it. Elias steps back, calling on Pharasma to give him the strength to fight whatever nightmare is coming for them now.

Razhel reaches down, grabs Zandalus' body and throws it over her shoulder. She moves as quickly as possible retracing their entrance. "Help me get this corpse as far away from the lingering mist in this area. I have an idea, but I don't know if we have time to do it."

Grim rushes along with Razhel to watch her back as they move through the mist and back toward the previous area. "What's our plan Razhel, besides getting clear of the mist as much as possible?"

"Grab mattresses." Says Razhel as she continues to move. "Mist-spewers are physical gates to somewhere else. The mist burns away with fire. I remember a small confined alcove just ahead on the right. Stuff corpse in, mattresses too, light them up when Zandalus' voice comes through his corpse's physical gate."

"Fire. I can do fire," Axon grunted as he backed out of the mist. As he went, he grabbed bedding fit for burning.

Iosef goes to touch the wa d to Elias again before his wounds start to knit together by himself, so instead the half-elf swaps his focus to Grim trying to not get in the way of what he is doing as he heals him,

As Razhel picks up the body of the fallen Zandalus and hurries down the hall, most of the others follow. The laughing continues to echo throughout the mist. As you move away from where Zandalus fell, it becomes clear the sound is not coming from the corpse itself, but instead effuses from the air itself, filling the room. "Freed from my shackles, the dreamer will hold me back no longer!" the voice echoes from the walls of the room.

Shadows dance within the mist taking on bizarre, twisted forms. The forms materialize into familiar aspects, and you feel as if looking at cruel reflections of yourselves. A shadow with a wide-brimmed hat pushes another figure into a lake. The monstrous form of a hooded man looks on as another, larger, wields a wicked sword, cutting down a pleading figure. Another, thin figure with elven ears leans over a table with a human figure strapped to it, injecting something. Another figure, lithe in frame and with dragon-like eyes, confronts a man, grabbing his wrist and snapping it like a twig. Are these visions of what you fear to have been, or of what you truly were before the asylum? Your minds wrestle this amidst the growing tension in the air, the hairs on your arms standing on end.

Name	Init	Status
Zandalus	A	DEAD
Axon	B	18/18hp, Mage Armor (+4 AC, .5hr)
Iosef	B	23/23hp, Shaken while in mist
Razhel	B	21/21hp
Elias	B	23/23hp
Grim	B	22/22hp
Haunting Mist	C	Yellow Overlay, 37 turns
Obscuring Mist	C	Yellow Overlay 2, 39 turns