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<blockquote data-quote="ThirdWizard" data-source="post: 6660542" data-attributes="member: 12037"><p>The Godsman guard contingent outside the house was loaded for bear. They numbered five crossbowmen, two wizards, and six heavily armored individuals, plus four more who constantly patrolled around the building. It was obvious that they didn’t want anyone getting out of this house, and they were serious about stopping anyone who tried. It was also worrying. If they needed this much force, how dangerous a situation was the group stepping into? As Mozzy approached the front gate, a winding criss-crossing of black iron snaking it’s way around the building haphazardly, she looked up at the house. It was a dark brick, vines and moss not having been trimmed back or cleaned off for some time, although otherwise it looked well maintained. The first story of the house had lots of windows, although they were blackened from the inside. The second floor had a wide balcony overhanging the front door, the same iron fence around it that snaked around the house. The third story was smaller than the other two and had a lighter brick. It was probably a more recent addition, although that could still mean it was a hundred or more years old.</p><p></p><p>Grimacing, Mozzy met the gazes of the posted guard. They were serious bashers. They had been stationed here for well over two weeks with nary a peep out of the house, and yet they still carried themselves like something serious was about to go down. She wondered if this was because of her, because she was going in, and now they were starting to get apprehensive. Maybe yesterday had been a good day until they heard they were getting a visit. She licked her lips and took a deep breath. Time to sound professional. Time to sound confident. Looking up at the large building she felt anything but confident. But, she had promised her Faction she was going to go in, so at this point, they didn’t really have much of a choice.</p><p></p><p>The captain let the group into the courtyard, an ear piercing shriek of metal on metal as the gate swung open then closed as the last of their group passed inside. The small yard of the house was fairly sparse except for what looked like an old attempt at a vegetable garden that had been left to rot the last couple of weeks. All eyes were on them as they crossed toward the front door of the house.</p><p></p><p>“About time they sent somebody,” said the captain. He was tall and wore a shirt of chainmail, a morningstar at his side. His voice was raspy, and he walked with a slight limp.</p><p></p><p>“I didn’t even know about this place until yesterday. Nobody seems to want to talk about it,” replied Mozzy. “You know anything?”</p><p></p><p>The man shook his head. “It’s been quiet. Nobody’s tried to get out, although we hear noises or see movement through the upper windows every once in a while.” He hooked his chin over toward some of the guards stationed by the building. “They’re getting jumpy. Every day we think ‘today’s the day they make a break for it’ but it never happens.” The man scratched the back of his neck and looked up toward one of the third story windows. “I see somebody looking down at me every day at the same time, just before nightfall. Put’s ya on edge. You know?”</p><p></p><p>“I know the feeling,” said Mehen. “You know he can’t be thinking anything good. You’re his jailer. And, he wants out.”</p><p></p><p>The captain nodded. “You do whatever it is you came to do. If you end up killing every sod in there, so much the better.”</p><p></p><p>Mozzy secretly hoped that they could avoid everyone in there. There weren’t many living there who were caught inside when the Godsmen put the place on lockdown, maybe only three people in total. But, supposedly they were all quite mad, and all some kinds of mages. She hoped she wouldn't go mad today.</p><p></p><p>After they crossed the threshold, the captain shut the door quickly behind them as the last of them, Aurian, stepped inside. Standing in this large mansion looking around and wondered which way to head first. They didn’t sense any strange magical auras or mind numbing enchantments, but then they had only been inside for a few minutes. That might come later. The hallway in which they stood was finely decorated with several lavish red carpets laid out end to end over a marble floor and tapestries lining the walls. Thram and company must have been very well off to afford such a place in the Clerk’s Ward. Several oak doors led to other rooms off the entranceway, all lined up on the one side, windows which would overlook the fine courtyard outside on the other, had they not been covered in some kind of tar or black paint.</p><p></p><p>Mehen took the lead, and Jer the rear, as they made their way to the closest door on the left to start their investigations. They were supposed to find Thram’s research, although they weren’t really sure what it would look like. They figured they’d need to find an office or other personal space of his, go through a bunch of papers, and hope everything was clearly labeled. It wasn’t a very good plan, but they doubted they would be getting a tour with one of the mad inhabitants.</p><p></p><p>A quick look for traps on the door showed nothing. You could never be too careful. The others retreated a good distance for Mehen to open the door. The dragonborn gave them a scowl when they did so, but said nothing as he turned the knob and slowly peeked inside.</p><p></p><p>The dimly lit room smelled like excrement and wet dog, which made sense because the room was filled with large caged two headed dogs. Aoskar hounds, the one remnant of the old god left in Sigil. These were dying or dead. It looked like they had been breeding them here, probably to sell. Mehen closed the door. Nothing in there for them. He turned to the others and shook his head. They turned the other way, ignoring the stairs down to the basement. It was unlikely that the research would be that way. Instead, they would try to find a way up, so they repeated their precautionary steps and opened the closest door on the right side of the entranceway.</p><p></p><p>This way led to a dining room. A long oak table sat in the middle of the room, paintings and other decorations abounding on the walls. A chest of drawers, some decorative armor, and potted flowers now dead were all in the room. To the side, a door opened into what looked like the room that the far right doorway of the hall went into. Mehen waved the others to come follow him into the room.</p><p></p><p>He stepped inside, as quietly as possible, which truthfully wasn’t incredibly easy with the metal armor he was wearing. Still, it was important to at least try he told himself. There were crazy mages somewhere in this building, after all, and despite the fact that he wore a suit of chainmail, he wasn’t about to just start stomping about without at least trying a modicum of stealth. He jingled loudly.</p><p></p><p>The others followed suit, Mozzy first, with Aurian behind, and Jer taking the rear watching the rest of the hallway to be sure no one was following them. As soon as they went in, Mehen heard the familiar metallic sounds of metal sliding against metal. He looked around. The statues were moving! One stepped off of its short platform, the other unhooked itself from the wall.</p><p></p><p>“Back into the-” Mehen was cut off by muffled cries.</p><p></p><p>Looking back, they could see Jer on the floor, wrapped in one of the luxurious brightly colored carpets that had been adorning the floor moments before. It constricted, and they heard a muted shout emanate from the carpet, cut short as the air was pushed from their ally’s lungs. On their other side in the room, the armor headed toward them.</p><p></p><p>“Do something about him. I’ll take the armor.” Mehen stepped forward, this time a bit more cautiously than the previous battle. Today he wore a shield in one arm and wielded a flail in the other. He took position blocking the way so that the armor couldn’t reach his companions. With a few swings, he dented the armor on his right, and blocking with his shield he managed to keep their attacks from connecting while he left the others to deal with the carpet behind in the hallway.</p><p></p><p>“Do you know how to get it off of him?” asked Mozzy? “This seems more like your thing.”</p><p></p><p>“This is not my thing,” Aurian responded. “Why would you even think that?”</p><p></p><p>“It’s… well, you know. A moving carpet. Seems like a wizard thing is all.”</p><p></p><p>“Have you ever known me to do anything like this? I don’t even own a carpet.”</p><p></p><p>“Fine fine. Well, it seems like if we hit the carpet, it will just hurt Jer.”</p><p></p><p>“That does seem like a reasonable supposition.”</p><p></p><p>“MrhhhhrhrhhhrrrMMMMRRRHHHHHH,” came from the carpet.</p><p></p><p>“Okay okay, we need to try something.” said Aurian.</p><p></p><p>Mozzy frowned, forming bubbling green liquid floating between her fingertips. Flipping her hand, the magic flew from her to the carpet, dousing it in acid and burning a hole into the carpet. They could see fizzling skin underneath. Another cry of pain came from the carpet’s general direction.</p><p></p><p>“I think it’s safe to say that our hypothesis was correct,” said Aurian.</p><p></p><p>“Hey, Mehen! You can heal, right?” Mozzy called back over her shoulder.</p><p></p><p>Mehen was busy holding back the two animated sets of armor. A bit of blood trickled from his mouth and he was favoring his left leg from a blow he had taken. “Um… yes, but… I might need-”</p><p></p><p>“That’s all, thanks!” With that, Mozzy formed a large ball of fire in her hand and let it loose at the carpet. Auran followed with a spell of his own, and the carpet caught aflame and started to burn away.</p><p></p><p>Soon, the carpet was rolling around on the ground back and forth instead of constricting. “Stop! Stop!” came the voice from the carpet. “It’s dead! It’s dead!”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t really think it was ever actually ali-” started Aurian.</p><p></p><p>“Shut up. Just. Don’t talk. Ever again,” said Jer.</p><p></p><p>Sighing, Mehen, having just finished off the armors, started preparing his healing spells.</p><p></p><p>A short minute later, Mehen stepped through the door from the dining area into an array of bookshelves lining walls up to the second floor. The library must have housed thousands of books, several ladders moving up into stacks, and two going up to a second floor with more bookshelves. This was a treasure trove. Aurian, coming in behind him, couldn’t help but just stare in amazement for a few moments, taking it all in. What he wouldn’t give to call such a collection his own. The last two entered, setting their gaze at the books.</p><p></p><p>“It’s outstanding,” said Aurian.</p><p></p><p>“It’s okay,” replied Mehen.</p><p></p><p>Aurian shot him a look. “We can’t all be members of exclusive orders that cost thousands of gold to join. Some of us have to slum it like this.”</p><p></p><p>Mehen shrugged. He wasn’t going to point out that it cost tens of thousands of gold.</p><p></p><p>As they stepped out from one of the stacks, a voice called down from above. It was a woman’s voice, and it trembled a bit as if it were unsure of itself. “What… what are you doing here in this place? Our place, not yours. My place.”</p><p></p><p>They looked up to see a woman in fine robes. She was leaning against one of the banisters, her head tilted to the side, looking down at them from above. One thin arm wrapped around the banister, the other held a staff. Her dark hair was long and unbrushed, with dark circles under her eyes like she hadn’t slept in days.</p><p></p><p>Mehen slowly stepped forward between her and the others as best he could. He made quick note of the fastest way up to the second level, a ladder just to his right. “We’re just here to find something of Thram Kip’s. You remember Thram, right?”</p><p></p><p>The woman curled her lips downward. “No. No no no no. You can’t have anything. I can tell! My books! You want MY BOOKS!! Destroyers, Interlopers!” Her voice became high pitched.</p><p></p><p>“It’s okay, I’m a Godsman just like he is. We just need something for him,” added Mozzy.</p><p></p><p>But, she wasn’t listening, and in a flash she crouched downward, pushing the tip of her staff between one of the gaps of the railing. A bright red flash of light appeared on the tip of the staff and three fiery beams of light stuck Mehen in the chest. He grunted under the fiery force, but he was able to partially shrug off the heat due to his dragon ancestry, and he stepped back gasping at the wound. That was all he needed, and he made his way to the ladder to climb up to the second floor as fast as he could. If he could close with her quickly, maybe this wouldn’t go badly.</p><p></p><p>As Mehen approached the second level, he could see flashes of spells flying through the air, and pulling himself up onto the platform he looked down to see Jer crouching behind a bookshelf, his shoulder burned with acid, and Mozzy and Aurian likewise injured. The woman on the top level had obviously taken a few blows from their spells. Her right arm had a large hole in the sleeve with a nasty burn underneath, and bruises were already beginning to form on her neck, but she was giving better than she was getting.</p><p></p><p>With a grunt, the dragonborn lifted his flail above his head, ready to swing down on the mad wizard’s frame. He hoped he could end it quickly. However, just as he was reaching her, she turned and looked at him. Her eyes wide not with fear or malice, but with nothing. As he took his final step to confront her, she mumbled a short incantation and those eyes seemed to pierce straight through him. Suddenly, Mehen could not move an inch. He pulled and struggled against the binding magic, however for now he was paralyzed in place, unable to bring his maul down upon the her. His muscled flexed to no avail, but he kept trying, hoping that he could break through her magic before it was too late.</p><p></p><p>Smiling, she laughed an empty, joyless, laugh and let loose another spell below, and Mehen heard a cry of pain from Mozzy, movement, and and a thump followed by a stream of acid and then ice flying up to strike the woman. She was burned by the first and then threw up a magical barrier against the second. Still struggling, Mehen found himself yet unable to act as he heard Aurian loudly speaking some kind of spell from below, different than the ones he had been using. His eyes transfixed on the woman, Mehen pulled on his flail with all his might.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly the mannerisms of the wizard changed.</p><p></p><p>“What…? What are you doing here? I didn’t notice… I didn’t realize… What have I done?”</p><p></p><p>Did he hear… lucidity in her words?</p><p></p><p>Aurian’s voice came up from below. He could tell the wizard was out of breath, but he sounded confident. “Please stop! Look at what you’re doing.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t… I don’t know what is happening. Something is wrong with me. I can feel it. I can feel my mind bending in ways that it shouldn’t. It’s like everything is wrong. The world is wrong. I’m wrong.”</p><p></p><p>“You’re okay now. It’s all going to be okay,” Aurian’s voice was smoothing out. Mehen could hear shuffling below, Mozzy or Jer were moving around.</p><p></p><p>“No. It isn’t okay. I know something is wrong with me, but I won’t remember for long. Soon I’ll forget like I always do. I’ll think you’re here to take me away. To take my books from me. To lock me up and throw away the key. That’s all that I’ve been able to think about. I’m finally in my own body again, but soon I’ll want you dead with all my heart. I can feel it clawing at my eyes and ears. Wanting to see red. Wanting to hear blackness.”</p><p></p><p>“We can help you.”</p><p></p><p>The woman shook her head. She was crying now. “You can’t help me. What’s done is done. Leave before I go mad again. Leave me in peace amongst my books. They… they mean more to me than you can know. They’re all I care about now.” She raised her head and looked around. A glimmer ran across her eyes as she did so.</p><p></p><p>Mehen could finally move again. He shivered now that he could. The flail slowly lowered, and he took a look around. There was a door behind the woman. He knew they had to move on before she lost what little sanity she had left, but he needed to know where to go, where to find the research. Here, or…? This might be their only chance.</p><p></p><p>“We’re here to get Thram’s research. Where can we find it?” asked Mehen.</p><p></p><p>She turned to him like she had only now just noticed he was there. For a moment, her eyelids half-closed like she were falling asleep, but she jumped with a start and took a sharp breath. “Third floor. That’s where he worked. You should go. You shouldn’t be in this place. There’s another stairway down. Don’t come back here.”</p><p></p><p>“We have a job to finish.” Mehen waved the others to come up.</p><p></p><p>She nodded. “Remember, use the spiral staircase in the back. If we meet again, I’ll try and kill you.” It wasn’t a threat. Her words didn’t have an edge to them that normally comes with that phrase. Instead she was afraid. “If you kill me, I won’t hold it against you.”</p><p></p><p>Mehen nodded as the last of them made it up to the top of the ladder. They made their way by her, carefully, not knowing how long she would go before reverting to her previous state.</p><p></p><p>“What’s your name?” Mozzy asked before going into the large room through the door.</p><p></p><p>“Helena.”</p><p></p><p>“We’ll be careful.”</p><p></p><p>Mozzy closed the door, leaving Helena to her fate.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ThirdWizard, post: 6660542, member: 12037"] The Godsman guard contingent outside the house was loaded for bear. They numbered five crossbowmen, two wizards, and six heavily armored individuals, plus four more who constantly patrolled around the building. It was obvious that they didn’t want anyone getting out of this house, and they were serious about stopping anyone who tried. It was also worrying. If they needed this much force, how dangerous a situation was the group stepping into? As Mozzy approached the front gate, a winding criss-crossing of black iron snaking it’s way around the building haphazardly, she looked up at the house. It was a dark brick, vines and moss not having been trimmed back or cleaned off for some time, although otherwise it looked well maintained. The first story of the house had lots of windows, although they were blackened from the inside. The second floor had a wide balcony overhanging the front door, the same iron fence around it that snaked around the house. The third story was smaller than the other two and had a lighter brick. It was probably a more recent addition, although that could still mean it was a hundred or more years old. Grimacing, Mozzy met the gazes of the posted guard. They were serious bashers. They had been stationed here for well over two weeks with nary a peep out of the house, and yet they still carried themselves like something serious was about to go down. She wondered if this was because of her, because she was going in, and now they were starting to get apprehensive. Maybe yesterday had been a good day until they heard they were getting a visit. She licked her lips and took a deep breath. Time to sound professional. Time to sound confident. Looking up at the large building she felt anything but confident. But, she had promised her Faction she was going to go in, so at this point, they didn’t really have much of a choice. The captain let the group into the courtyard, an ear piercing shriek of metal on metal as the gate swung open then closed as the last of their group passed inside. The small yard of the house was fairly sparse except for what looked like an old attempt at a vegetable garden that had been left to rot the last couple of weeks. All eyes were on them as they crossed toward the front door of the house. “About time they sent somebody,” said the captain. He was tall and wore a shirt of chainmail, a morningstar at his side. His voice was raspy, and he walked with a slight limp. “I didn’t even know about this place until yesterday. Nobody seems to want to talk about it,” replied Mozzy. “You know anything?” The man shook his head. “It’s been quiet. Nobody’s tried to get out, although we hear noises or see movement through the upper windows every once in a while.” He hooked his chin over toward some of the guards stationed by the building. “They’re getting jumpy. Every day we think ‘today’s the day they make a break for it’ but it never happens.” The man scratched the back of his neck and looked up toward one of the third story windows. “I see somebody looking down at me every day at the same time, just before nightfall. Put’s ya on edge. You know?” “I know the feeling,” said Mehen. “You know he can’t be thinking anything good. You’re his jailer. And, he wants out.” The captain nodded. “You do whatever it is you came to do. If you end up killing every sod in there, so much the better.” Mozzy secretly hoped that they could avoid everyone in there. There weren’t many living there who were caught inside when the Godsmen put the place on lockdown, maybe only three people in total. But, supposedly they were all quite mad, and all some kinds of mages. She hoped she wouldn't go mad today. After they crossed the threshold, the captain shut the door quickly behind them as the last of them, Aurian, stepped inside. Standing in this large mansion looking around and wondered which way to head first. They didn’t sense any strange magical auras or mind numbing enchantments, but then they had only been inside for a few minutes. That might come later. The hallway in which they stood was finely decorated with several lavish red carpets laid out end to end over a marble floor and tapestries lining the walls. Thram and company must have been very well off to afford such a place in the Clerk’s Ward. Several oak doors led to other rooms off the entranceway, all lined up on the one side, windows which would overlook the fine courtyard outside on the other, had they not been covered in some kind of tar or black paint. Mehen took the lead, and Jer the rear, as they made their way to the closest door on the left to start their investigations. They were supposed to find Thram’s research, although they weren’t really sure what it would look like. They figured they’d need to find an office or other personal space of his, go through a bunch of papers, and hope everything was clearly labeled. It wasn’t a very good plan, but they doubted they would be getting a tour with one of the mad inhabitants. A quick look for traps on the door showed nothing. You could never be too careful. The others retreated a good distance for Mehen to open the door. The dragonborn gave them a scowl when they did so, but said nothing as he turned the knob and slowly peeked inside. The dimly lit room smelled like excrement and wet dog, which made sense because the room was filled with large caged two headed dogs. Aoskar hounds, the one remnant of the old god left in Sigil. These were dying or dead. It looked like they had been breeding them here, probably to sell. Mehen closed the door. Nothing in there for them. He turned to the others and shook his head. They turned the other way, ignoring the stairs down to the basement. It was unlikely that the research would be that way. Instead, they would try to find a way up, so they repeated their precautionary steps and opened the closest door on the right side of the entranceway. This way led to a dining room. A long oak table sat in the middle of the room, paintings and other decorations abounding on the walls. A chest of drawers, some decorative armor, and potted flowers now dead were all in the room. To the side, a door opened into what looked like the room that the far right doorway of the hall went into. Mehen waved the others to come follow him into the room. He stepped inside, as quietly as possible, which truthfully wasn’t incredibly easy with the metal armor he was wearing. Still, it was important to at least try he told himself. There were crazy mages somewhere in this building, after all, and despite the fact that he wore a suit of chainmail, he wasn’t about to just start stomping about without at least trying a modicum of stealth. He jingled loudly. The others followed suit, Mozzy first, with Aurian behind, and Jer taking the rear watching the rest of the hallway to be sure no one was following them. As soon as they went in, Mehen heard the familiar metallic sounds of metal sliding against metal. He looked around. The statues were moving! One stepped off of its short platform, the other unhooked itself from the wall. “Back into the-” Mehen was cut off by muffled cries. Looking back, they could see Jer on the floor, wrapped in one of the luxurious brightly colored carpets that had been adorning the floor moments before. It constricted, and they heard a muted shout emanate from the carpet, cut short as the air was pushed from their ally’s lungs. On their other side in the room, the armor headed toward them. “Do something about him. I’ll take the armor.” Mehen stepped forward, this time a bit more cautiously than the previous battle. Today he wore a shield in one arm and wielded a flail in the other. He took position blocking the way so that the armor couldn’t reach his companions. With a few swings, he dented the armor on his right, and blocking with his shield he managed to keep their attacks from connecting while he left the others to deal with the carpet behind in the hallway. “Do you know how to get it off of him?” asked Mozzy? “This seems more like your thing.” “This is not my thing,” Aurian responded. “Why would you even think that?” “It’s… well, you know. A moving carpet. Seems like a wizard thing is all.” “Have you ever known me to do anything like this? I don’t even own a carpet.” “Fine fine. Well, it seems like if we hit the carpet, it will just hurt Jer.” “That does seem like a reasonable supposition.” “MrhhhhrhrhhhrrrMMMMRRRHHHHHH,” came from the carpet. “Okay okay, we need to try something.” said Aurian. Mozzy frowned, forming bubbling green liquid floating between her fingertips. Flipping her hand, the magic flew from her to the carpet, dousing it in acid and burning a hole into the carpet. They could see fizzling skin underneath. Another cry of pain came from the carpet’s general direction. “I think it’s safe to say that our hypothesis was correct,” said Aurian. “Hey, Mehen! You can heal, right?” Mozzy called back over her shoulder. Mehen was busy holding back the two animated sets of armor. A bit of blood trickled from his mouth and he was favoring his left leg from a blow he had taken. “Um… yes, but… I might need-” “That’s all, thanks!” With that, Mozzy formed a large ball of fire in her hand and let it loose at the carpet. Auran followed with a spell of his own, and the carpet caught aflame and started to burn away. Soon, the carpet was rolling around on the ground back and forth instead of constricting. “Stop! Stop!” came the voice from the carpet. “It’s dead! It’s dead!” “I don’t really think it was ever actually ali-” started Aurian. “Shut up. Just. Don’t talk. Ever again,” said Jer. Sighing, Mehen, having just finished off the armors, started preparing his healing spells. A short minute later, Mehen stepped through the door from the dining area into an array of bookshelves lining walls up to the second floor. The library must have housed thousands of books, several ladders moving up into stacks, and two going up to a second floor with more bookshelves. This was a treasure trove. Aurian, coming in behind him, couldn’t help but just stare in amazement for a few moments, taking it all in. What he wouldn’t give to call such a collection his own. The last two entered, setting their gaze at the books. “It’s outstanding,” said Aurian. “It’s okay,” replied Mehen. Aurian shot him a look. “We can’t all be members of exclusive orders that cost thousands of gold to join. Some of us have to slum it like this.” Mehen shrugged. He wasn’t going to point out that it cost tens of thousands of gold. As they stepped out from one of the stacks, a voice called down from above. It was a woman’s voice, and it trembled a bit as if it were unsure of itself. “What… what are you doing here in this place? Our place, not yours. My place.” They looked up to see a woman in fine robes. She was leaning against one of the banisters, her head tilted to the side, looking down at them from above. One thin arm wrapped around the banister, the other held a staff. Her dark hair was long and unbrushed, with dark circles under her eyes like she hadn’t slept in days. Mehen slowly stepped forward between her and the others as best he could. He made quick note of the fastest way up to the second level, a ladder just to his right. “We’re just here to find something of Thram Kip’s. You remember Thram, right?” The woman curled her lips downward. “No. No no no no. You can’t have anything. I can tell! My books! You want MY BOOKS!! Destroyers, Interlopers!” Her voice became high pitched. “It’s okay, I’m a Godsman just like he is. We just need something for him,” added Mozzy. But, she wasn’t listening, and in a flash she crouched downward, pushing the tip of her staff between one of the gaps of the railing. A bright red flash of light appeared on the tip of the staff and three fiery beams of light stuck Mehen in the chest. He grunted under the fiery force, but he was able to partially shrug off the heat due to his dragon ancestry, and he stepped back gasping at the wound. That was all he needed, and he made his way to the ladder to climb up to the second floor as fast as he could. If he could close with her quickly, maybe this wouldn’t go badly. As Mehen approached the second level, he could see flashes of spells flying through the air, and pulling himself up onto the platform he looked down to see Jer crouching behind a bookshelf, his shoulder burned with acid, and Mozzy and Aurian likewise injured. The woman on the top level had obviously taken a few blows from their spells. Her right arm had a large hole in the sleeve with a nasty burn underneath, and bruises were already beginning to form on her neck, but she was giving better than she was getting. With a grunt, the dragonborn lifted his flail above his head, ready to swing down on the mad wizard’s frame. He hoped he could end it quickly. However, just as he was reaching her, she turned and looked at him. Her eyes wide not with fear or malice, but with nothing. As he took his final step to confront her, she mumbled a short incantation and those eyes seemed to pierce straight through him. Suddenly, Mehen could not move an inch. He pulled and struggled against the binding magic, however for now he was paralyzed in place, unable to bring his maul down upon the her. His muscled flexed to no avail, but he kept trying, hoping that he could break through her magic before it was too late. Smiling, she laughed an empty, joyless, laugh and let loose another spell below, and Mehen heard a cry of pain from Mozzy, movement, and and a thump followed by a stream of acid and then ice flying up to strike the woman. She was burned by the first and then threw up a magical barrier against the second. Still struggling, Mehen found himself yet unable to act as he heard Aurian loudly speaking some kind of spell from below, different than the ones he had been using. His eyes transfixed on the woman, Mehen pulled on his flail with all his might. Suddenly the mannerisms of the wizard changed. “What…? What are you doing here? I didn’t notice… I didn’t realize… What have I done?” Did he hear… lucidity in her words? Aurian’s voice came up from below. He could tell the wizard was out of breath, but he sounded confident. “Please stop! Look at what you’re doing.” “I don’t… I don’t know what is happening. Something is wrong with me. I can feel it. I can feel my mind bending in ways that it shouldn’t. It’s like everything is wrong. The world is wrong. I’m wrong.” “You’re okay now. It’s all going to be okay,” Aurian’s voice was smoothing out. Mehen could hear shuffling below, Mozzy or Jer were moving around. “No. It isn’t okay. I know something is wrong with me, but I won’t remember for long. Soon I’ll forget like I always do. I’ll think you’re here to take me away. To take my books from me. To lock me up and throw away the key. That’s all that I’ve been able to think about. I’m finally in my own body again, but soon I’ll want you dead with all my heart. I can feel it clawing at my eyes and ears. Wanting to see red. Wanting to hear blackness.” “We can help you.” The woman shook her head. She was crying now. “You can’t help me. What’s done is done. Leave before I go mad again. Leave me in peace amongst my books. They… they mean more to me than you can know. They’re all I care about now.” She raised her head and looked around. A glimmer ran across her eyes as she did so. Mehen could finally move again. He shivered now that he could. The flail slowly lowered, and he took a look around. There was a door behind the woman. He knew they had to move on before she lost what little sanity she had left, but he needed to know where to go, where to find the research. Here, or…? This might be their only chance. “We’re here to get Thram’s research. Where can we find it?” asked Mehen. She turned to him like she had only now just noticed he was there. For a moment, her eyelids half-closed like she were falling asleep, but she jumped with a start and took a sharp breath. “Third floor. That’s where he worked. You should go. You shouldn’t be in this place. There’s another stairway down. Don’t come back here.” “We have a job to finish.” Mehen waved the others to come up. She nodded. “Remember, use the spiral staircase in the back. If we meet again, I’ll try and kill you.” It wasn’t a threat. Her words didn’t have an edge to them that normally comes with that phrase. Instead she was afraid. “If you kill me, I won’t hold it against you.” Mehen nodded as the last of them made it up to the top of the ladder. They made their way by her, carefully, not knowing how long she would go before reverting to her previous state. “What’s your name?” Mozzy asked before going into the large room through the door. “Helena.” “We’ll be careful.” Mozzy closed the door, leaving Helena to her fate. [/QUOTE]
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