Wednesday, 3 October 2012

In hopeless pursuit of a cause… (part 1)


The last of the physician’s cursed us with his dying breath as he took his own life in the name of Urgothoa. It was done, Justice was served upon the charlatan Dr Davalus.  Justin informed us that there was a lingering evil about his body, as with the other so called “Queens Physician’s”, however I couldn’t believe there wasn’t any more proof. It was obvious he was slightly mad and worshipping an evil god, but without more solid evidence there was a growing tension in the group that it just wouldn’t be enough to justify our current situation. The Queen herself had given them nigh-unlimited powers above the law to solve the epidemic and had proclaimed the death penalty to any who interfered with her physicians, which is where we found ourselves.
As we searched the rooms we came up empty handed and there was a quiet heated debate as to what to do next, particularly about the Varisians which I found quiet distasteful. It was obvious to me, and so I set about freeing them of their bonds and reassuring them as much as was possible. Suggesting waiting for more help to arrive with the guards, or to head to the nearest temple were all that I could offer as I had used the majority of my given power for the day. Mandraiv mentioned that he had found a key, of sorts, on the Doctor which would lead us to the proof we were seeking and I knew we would all need every ounce of our power and energy if we were to continue.
It also occurred to me that Justin didn’t care about anything but his own skin as he tried to reason that the Varisians should be left restrained to their torture beds. He must have taken a lot of beatings at the hand of Garian Lamb as a child to have such a numb heart, and at that moment I pitied him.
There was really only one cause of action for in the past we had let too many of our adversaries flee, or get prepared and nearly overwhelm us, so we pushed on.
At Mandraiv’s suggestion we found that the key actually made the elevator in the old warehouse go down under the city, much to my amazement. I said a quiet prayer to Abadar, asking for his forgiveness as the cramped elevator descended down into the unknown, likely evil catacombs. The elevator ground to a halt and the smell of death and decay assaulted us as we stepped out in to what we discovered wasn't a cavernous area or the rambling tunnels of the Vaults, but fully functional temple to Urgothoa, Goddess of Disease & Undeath.
We were able to endure a lengthy skirmish with physicians, clerics and some of their evil undead skeleton and zombie constructs, as we moved through the first few rooms of the complex. At this stage my fury had subsided and even though I was calm and using my powers to keep our group going, somewhere inside me there was a yearning to utterly destroy the walking death that was around us with the positive energy I was blessed with. “wait, your time will come” a celestial voice said as I shook off the urge and we opened the doors into the Anti-chamber to find Fyffe waiting for us.
The Anti-chamber was truly disgusting to behold. The walls looked like they were made of bodies, some dead, some mutilated, some diseased and some still alive. The floor was clear and underneath laid bodies writhing and screaming in silent agony. Pain that only they could feel in rivers of blood and guts and unmentionable bile.
Luckily for us, we didn’t have time to fully comprehend the foulness of the complex as we had Fyffe cackling with glee as he charged towards us, his entourage of clerics and physicians pelting us with arrows, spiritual weapons and alchemical concoctions. No longer did we have to chase and fight for proof, this whole complex was proof.
But it soon dawned on us, now we had to fight for our lives....

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