KHAZUUL

At Flint’s admonishment, and then the loon’s outburst, Sow withdraws her hand — re-lighting the shadowed sun. Turning to face the bespectacled man, the girl with the broken voice finally speaks up.

"Why? Is that what happened — to them?" She points at the poor souls Cutwell inspects from a distance, then gestures back to the star map surrounding them on all sides. Those strained, slightly warbled tones continue. "Have you tried activating these in some order, starting with the lowest or smallest… the one with the most connections… or the fewest? Or bringing a flame closer?"

Cutwell can see the men are severely dehydrated. Their faces are sedate but anguished, like a person trying to wake up from a dream. Something is very wrong with one of their arms. A bulge, or growth perhaps, the size of a gourd is wrapped up under the bloody bandage that holds his arm.

"I have yet to isolate the cause, but it is no mere disease. I did not believe it at first, for it flies in the face of reason and science. But, the fact remains: the only explanation is the myth of Euz, who banished the demons in ages past, is true. Somehow, we have touched The Other Side, the realm of demons. We broke the First Law..."

The way he speaks those three words would send chills down the spine of the most hardened man, though the words are meaningless to you.

Cutwell leans closer, the stranger grows more irate.

"Keep away from them! I have stabilized them. But I had to break the second law the Second Law... god forgive me!"

This confession seems to utterly wreck the stranger, who falls to his knees, weeping uncontrollably for a short burst.

"But I have staved off the transformation. These were my friends! I had to do it, you see. You must see! I was the only one! We were alone for so long ... god help me..."

As the stranger collapses without answering any of Sow’s questions, the girl walks over to Cutwell and lowers her voice.

"Can you tell what’s wrong with them?" she whispers hoarsely. "Is it some… fungus or plant infection do you think?"

Freki is very unsettled by the whole situation. He had been looking forward to a nice simple shelter from the storm and now they have this mad man and worse a terrifying disease. At least they'd finally found a relic, but it was hard to see how they would be able to take any value from it yet.

He backs away as close to the entrance as he can. When Sow triggers the loud crack with her curiosity, Freki leans outside into the storm to check the outside of the building to see if it still seems structurally sound.

The strangers continuing explanation and the site of the poor man on the ground jogs Freki's memory. He remembers the first night in Khazuul, overhearing Saffron's conversation with her brother about a man who had things growing out of him. He looks over to see her reaction to the story and the invalids and asks her quietly, "Have you seen this happening before? Do you know anything about it?"

Flint backs up, afraid of contagion and the madness of this place. Give him a solid battle and he'll fight happily, but this? This was foreign and unsettling. He watched and listened, taking cues from his friends on what to do next. He didn't want to go back outside but to stay ... well who knew what would happen. The delirious man, what had he done? He was off his head surely.

"What do you mean by a transformation, man? What has happened here?"

"Spose it depends, don’t it?" Cutwell replies to Sow. "On if you believe in all that stuff. But they look dry, don’t they?" he says, drawing attention to their condition.

"Shrinks the brain, having no water, don’t it? Could explain him, I suppose." he says, meaning the raving lunatic. "Plenty of water about though. Means they could have some aversion to water, for some reason. Rabies, maybe?" he says, shifting uncomfortably.

"Thats if you don’t believe in all… well, that stuff he’s saying."

The groaning and creaking of the stone continues as the company files in, each inevitably casting their shadows upon the stars. Freki steps out to examine the exterior; it seems improbable, but the ruin seems smaller now than when they approached. Whether this is just a trick of perspective now that they are upon the steps, or the result of interacting with the six-pointed stars, it is difficult to know for certain without more investigation.

The stranger answers to Flint with his voice finds strength again "You are so fixated on the what, but the how and why are more important. The who, now that is the most important question of all! Who pays for the relics? Who built the Winches? How did they get all this gold? You're going to focus on the wrong thing, like the others. Is it not enough that I saved their lives? Is it not enough that they are still human? You'll call me a monster, but then you'll deliver the relics to the real monsters and take their coins with a smile on your face!"

Saffron is quiet and unsettled. When Freki returns, she whispers her answer to him and the others nearby: "Yes - the relic we are searching for that I left in the lightning-struck tree? I took it from a man who was dying after trying to cut off some ... thing ... that was growing out of him."

"We need to leave. Do you know the laws of Euz? My tutors had me commit them to memory."

"The First Law states, 'It is forbidden to touch the Other Side direct. Forbidden to communicate with the world below, forbidden to summon Demons, forbidden to open gates to hell.'

"The Second Law states, 'It is forbidden to eat the flesh of men'."

"They had to make a law about that, did they?" Cutwell asks, with a cocked eyebrow to Saffron. "Seems like common sense to me." he says, and decides the man is a raving lunatic.

One to be ignored… and so the man reaches out to examine the men more closely.

The beast handler tightens his grip on his shield at Saffron's words.

The building is getting smaller, will it shrink out of existence? Is it a portal to the Other Side? Has this lunatic made a bargain with Gods or Demons? He's asking for our forgiveness, why? If there's any truth in these Laws then won't he be the one to atone for his sins?

Saffron's words bounce around his head. Unless, are we the payment, the bargain, the medicine, the meal?

He really doesn't want to go back out into the storm, but he suddenly has a bad feeling that this is a trap.

Freki grabs Cutwell's arm to stop him and whispers, "I think we need to go, NOW!"

He gives a look to the others to communicate that sentiment and starts backing towards the entrance, keeping an eye on the strangers.

Crouched down near Cutwell, unable to look away from the stricken men for long seconds, Sow turns to Freki when he grabs the man next to her. Gesturing to the structure's exit, to the storm still raging outside, she asks, "Back out into that? Into the storm?"

The stranger's answers give Flint a long moment of pause as he untangles the logic of what he has said. That and the intense oppressiveness of the place help him realize that they need to leave.

Men eating men? Bargains with the devil perhaps? Freki's rising concern and panic were enough for him to decide, raging storm or not it was time to leave, and leave quickly.

"Yes, Sow. Yes."

Rising, Sow moves closer to Flint and lowers her splintered voice.

"This is the only cover we have! You were out there. What if we... make them leave?"

"Even if we could, the place is no good. No Sow. It's a bad idea," he replies softly, shaking his head. . No, they're crazy it won't work. Terrible idea."

Sighing, Sow shoulders her heavy pack and pushes past both Flint and Freki, leading the men (and Saffron) back out into the storm.

Cutwell couldn’t be described as a bleeding heart, but he did carry out his work with some grim determination. Took little pleasure in it, and none in the suffering of those he tended to.

"You lads alright?" he mutters to the wounded men, as Sow gets ready to depart. "Want any… Wanting any help from me, are you?" he asks, knowing that a quick death was often better than the alternative.

One of the hapless men on the ground croaks weakly in response to Cutwell's offer.

"Kill us... please..."

Freki stops short at the entrance hearing the man's plea to die ...

... He had taken care of enough animals to know what must be done when misfortune had come knocking and there was nothing else that could be done. It was tougher with animals because you couldn't always intuit their wants, so you had to make your best judgement of the animals temperament - Were they ready to go gently into the good night or did they want to fight to the bitter end. Everyone's different and everyone deserves that choice. But these were men, not animals, and they could communicate their choice. What horrors were they experiencing because this stranger was determined to keep them alive for the sake of his sins ...

... Freki shares a grim look with Cutwell .... FUCK! This is a bad idea ... he thinks shaking his head with a sigh, and then hands the doctor two of his darts. They would put the men to sleep so the surgeon could do what must be done. He leaves the decision to Cutwell, but stands ready with his shield to protect him if the stranger interferes.

"Alright, lads. Alright!" he says, clapping a hand on a covered part of their shoulder, so as not to catch any skin affliction that might be going.

"We’ll send you off to sleep." the man says, as reassuringly as he can. Then he clears his throat and turns to Flint and Sow.

"Maybe you want to step out, do you?" he asks, solemnly, palming the two syringes to keep them out of view.

Then he goes about the sorry work of putting the poor bastards out of their misery!

Flint had seen many things in his life but nothing quite like this. He decided that stepping outside was the right thing to do. What man would want an audience to witness such a thing as the purposeful taking of his own life? Such a misery was hard for Flint to imagine and he hoped he would never be so low in his own life as to feel such a need.