The Devil's Dreams, Chapter Five

[ewancummins]

While Alain is still working on a way to smother the fire in the escape tunnel, Thom deftly works the lock of the small chest.

It opens with a click.

The small chest contains several items. There is a sketch on a piece of creased, worn yellow paper. The drawing depicts a boy who looks like a younger version of Gauderic, a pretty young woman who looks a little like him, and a man who looks very much like him. Beneath the paper is a lock of yellow hair tied in a black silk ribbon. An ornate silver letter opener is laid atop a fat parchment envelope in the bottom of the small chest.

[RocEter]

"Gauderic hold these.." Thom says to the young man as he hands him the sketch and lock of hair. Thom takes the silver letter opener and sets gently on the ground and begins to inspect the parchment envelope to see if it is still sealed. If it is he will use the letter to carefully open it and have a look inside.

[ewancummins]

The envelope is sealed with a blob of wax, pressed flat as if someone had rolled his thumb across it.
Inside the packet is a letter that begins-


Dearest Gauderic,

(Does Thom read on? If so, is he reading aloud, or to himself?)

[RocEter]

Thom folds the letter closed again and stands looking at Gauderic. "This letter is address to you Gauderic. I will admit I am curious to know the contents of this letter or at least to confirm what I believe they are. However it is not my place to pry." He says to the young man. "If you choose not to share what insight you may gain from this letter I will not hold it against you. I believe it is some from some one dear to you. I will hold the sketch and lock of hair.." Thom takes the sketch and lock hair from him while handing over the letter.

[ewancummins]

Thom folds the letter closed again and stands looking at Gauderic. "This letter is address to you Gauderic. I will admit I am curious to know the contents of this letter or at least to confirm what I believe they are. However it is not my place to pry." He says to the young man. "If you choose not to share what insight you may gain from this letter I will not hold it against you. I believe it is some from some one dear to you. I will hold the sketch and lock of hair.." Thom takes the sketch and lock hair from him while handing over the letter.

While Alain works on clearing the escape tunnel, the others drink down their vials of medicine, or just pause to rest.

Gauderic reads...

The young man goes pale as a sheet. His eyes water. He drops the letter from nerveless fingers, and suddenly rushes past Alain, nearly knocking the 'practical man' to the ground! Gauderic passes through the terrible chill zone of the dark, mold-infested tunnel and the leaps over the pools of burning oily stuff! He vanishes in the dark before anyone can stop him.


The chill of the tunnel is such that a weak man, such as most members of the party, might well collapse from exposure to it.

The thin paper missive lies on the floor of the small cavern- near one of the dead monsters. Its edge is now stained with the foul ichor of one of the demons slain by Zandor. The black blood is spreading across the page...

[Lord Skybolt]

Alain quickly grabs the parchment up so as to read what made the Gauderic react as he does . Thinking to himself in the split second he picks it up : That all information must be shared so that a sound plan can be implemented and carried out with all knowing as many details of things unlike another obvious screw up by the people in this party that wanted to keep information to themselves for some reason again . So as he starts to read aloud the parchment ...........

[RocEter]

Before Alain can grab the letter, who is in the other hall, Thom picks up letter and safely stows away in his pouch along with the lock of hair and the sketch. Then turns to chase after Gauderic. "Zandor follow me, my good man!" He says as he chases after Gauderic.

[Ail]

(edited)
Eustace is frankly relieved when he sees the creatures around him fall down. Looking around for his saviour, he sees the fallen frame of Dorgio on the floor. He rushes to his side, and exhales forcefully as he picks a feeble pulse and resumes the breathing he had unawarely suspended.
Thank Belenus, he's alive.

He casts a healing prayer on his ally, and eases him to get up. As no one else seems to be in view, he urges Dorgio to run with him in the direction everyone had previously fled through. He arrives late, after every thing is settled down, and sees Gauderic and a woman he hasn't met before.


"Lady Gennifer, I believe. I'm so happy you are alive. And Lord Gauderic too. Can I assume we have been successful?"


He looks around for anyone still in need of healing.


"I can give some succour to those in need. Who is the weakest at the moment?"


OOC: I assume he doesn't know anything of the bottles. Does he notice everyone is healed from the disease? What does he see of the chest and so forth? I'm sorry I missed all the action, but I didn't get much time to post, not because I did not want to, but because I had to work.

OOC: Eustace has forgone Close Wounds to cast Cure Moderate Wounds on Dorgio. That's 2d8+4 = 9hp
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3061869/

[Adam]

Benn, after gratefully downing his vial of antidote, will see to the Weathermay girl. Using the old rituals, he channels positive energy to try and heal her wounds before asking if she is alright. "Did he infect you as well? Will you be needing any of this medicine to hold off the spores?"

"I would try to save one of those vials, if we can," he adds to the group. "If any are sick above, we may be able to use it to cure them. If not, I'm sure there's a publication for Doctor's Toddlestone and Rotwang to be had from writing of this horned fungus and its cure."

He is just ready to let a relieved smile creep onto his face when Gauderic bolts through the brown mold. "What? Where did he-what the hell did that letter say?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

As soon as she is able to, Everline lurches to her feet. "Filth-eating, demon-summoning piece of filth," she growls, eyes narrowed to angry blue slits.

Her voice mellows a little as she nods at Toddlestone and Thom. "Thank you for the rescue. Allow me to return the favour..." Everline flicks her wrist, and a slender wand slides out of her sleeve and into the palm of her hand. The girl makes a round through the room, tapping anyone still suffering injuries with the slender thing -- and where the wand brushes flesh, injuries close!

"Now then," Everline says after she has put the wand away, and goes to disentangle the fungoid. "Are you alright?" she thinks at the creature as she takes it back in her arms. "The cold mold... It bars our way to the Circle and the leader of the bad-eaters. Can you make it back down? We have to destroy it, otherwise."

(OOC: Everline uses a wand of Cure Light Wounds to bring the party back up to full hp. How many charges shall I subtract?)

[ewancummins]

The fungoid sends a mental picture of Alain to Everline. The man looks distorted, twisted- an inhuman caricature of unthinking hatred and fury.


THE BAD HUMAN HURT THIS ONE. HE THREW THIS ONE.

(OOC- Remember, guys, no one else know what the fungoid is 'saying' to Everline.)

[ewancummins]

Thom snatches the letter from Alain. He tucks it away in his pouch along with the lock of hair and the sketch. Then turns to chase after Gauderic. "Zandor follow me, my good man!" He says as he chases after Gauderic.

Zandor is busy fawning over Gennifer Weatherway, and is more than a little surprised by Thom's sudden action.

Gennifer, largely recovered after recieving help from Benn, looks about in confusion. She asks-

''What's going on? Why..."

[Lord Skybolt]

"What the hell !!!!" I hope he enjoys the cold then . We all needed to know what in that letter instead of just a select few !!Thinks as he see's the idiot Thom and Gauderic run through the cold . He just remembers that they have some liquid death . So he will use some by throwing it at the back of cave to see if it is effective against the mold since they don't want this stuff any where near them .

[Ail]

Eustace is amazed and disheartened that there doesn't seem to be any more medecine for him. As he sees the others bolt away into the tunnel, he stands by Gennifer and waits to see the others' reaction.

He grows thoughtful for a while contemplating what has happened. He barely escaped death moments before, but now all hell seems to have broken loose. Alain has left the cavern, without even explaining to him if there were more cures or not. In fact, without even addressing him with any sort of explanation. Eustace was simply non-existent.

He turns to Gennifer and says


"Dear miss, how are you feeling? Are you recovered now? Does anything hurt or do you have any wound I might heal? Except for the grief, that is beyond me I'm afraid. What did that monster man do to you? Did he harm you?"


He then looks around and faces the professors.


"Do you think you will ever be able to make a cure for this disease, professor? I feel like I'm going to need one, sooner or later."


He makes no effort to follow the others. After Thom's sudden reaction, he seriously thinks the whole group is starting to fall apart, and that more than one of them may have been faking their morality up to now.

[ewancummins]

(Alain has not left the lair-cavern.)

Alain hurls a bladder full of 'liquid death' down the tunnel through which Thom runs. The bladder strikes the unsuspecting Thom in the back of the head. It bursts with a wet pop, splattering the book-printer with caustic goop. Thom screams as the liquid death scorches the back of his head and neck. He stumbes against the tunnel wall to his left, right into a patch of the icy mold!

.

Zandor stares at Alain in shock.

''What in the name of all the gods are you doing? Are you insane?''