The Doctor lead Plaga in through the back door, through a makeshift infirmary. Several severely injured were there, crushed by rubble or frostbitten.

They look slighlt nervous when the Doctor and Plaga enter, at least the ones that can turn their head.

He leads you down the stairs of the next room into what was once the castle basement. The rock is ancient here, and utterly unworn, the construction of some pre-sundering miricle.

The potent smell of antiseptics and chemical scents premiate the place, as did the faint screams Plaga heard, muted from a large locked door.

Kanoa and the doctor did not seem to acknowledge them, and he began leading the two to another door.

Plaga considered ignoring the screams, but then decided against it. If the Doctor was to be her servant, he should know about his practices, or else she would have to answer for them.

"Those screams... are they your doing, Doctor?"

The doctor stopped, as did your servant. Both looked confused. "I'm sorry? I don't hear anything.

I assure you, there is no one down here. I am obeying the new laws."

If he was lying your servant was in on it.

"Huh. Curious. Endulge me for a moment Doctor, I need to see to this matter before we carry on with our deal."

More curious than worried, Plaga heads for the large door.

"What is on the other side of this door?"

"That is for my other workshop. My lab is where I study medicine. This is where I study pain."

He opens the door, leading to what a layman might think is a surgical room. At least until they saw the chains on the beds and tables.

The floor was still stained, here and there.

"Forgive me for the mess. It takes a few days to work out the fluids, and I've been busy with the living.

Empty, though, as you can see."

Laying on one of the 'operating' tables is a ghostly apparition of a man who's been savagely ripped into. He doesn't seem to notice you, he's more intent on pulling against the chains that we're slowly dragging him down, and fighting off the shadowy black creatures that were ripping into his spectral flesh.

No one else seems to notice this, though the creatures flee to the corners of the room upon exposure to the light from the doctors lantern.

Kanua puts her hand on her sword. "This room isn't right. I sense foulness. I can't quite lay eyes on it.."

It takes a second. You are seeing a manifested soul being attacked by a lesser unknown called spectrespawn or shades. They appear where there is much death and anguish. They cannot directly effect the living while awake, but large numbers can drain vitality and leave red marks. Huge numbers can form into more troublesome things.

They are fairly easy to banish.

"Tsk. You and your sick practices have caused too much suffering."

Plaga's gaze pierces onto the shadow, banishing on the spot. She then focuses on the tormented soul.

"Be free, damned one. May you find rest with your Gods."

Once this was dealt with, she turns to the door she came from, ready to go with the Doctor.

He blinked but took it in stride. The soul subconed to Lethe.. oblivion, and the shade spawn was banished instantly.

Soon they made their way into the other room. This was more clinical, though there was a cot and a number of books here and there on a variety of medical subjects, some of which Plaga was totally unfamiliar with.

The instruments were from all over, some quite standard (The Doctor had practiced in Vissio after all) and some truly esoteric. A wide variety of drugs and toxins were available- actual medical ones.

On the table was a young woman who had died of near instant hypothermia. There were a few marks here and there, but the body was in otherwise good condition. The soul battled the chains dragging it down.

Physically, the woman was unremarkable. Slightly sinewy arms from pulling the ballistae crank, and a few minor scars from combat. Her complexion, though difficult to read, marked her as having Ren ancestry. A pirate perhaps, from the Archipelago?

"There's a few minor incisions for tissue samples. I was curious about nerve damage.

If you wish I can see these and apply preservatives."

"That won't be necessary."

Stripping down of her clothes, Plaga stood in front of the body. First, Plaga cut the chains tiying the soul to the body. "Rest in peace". Standing naked in front of the dead woman, Plaga reached for her mask and took it off, placing it on the woman's face. As she did so, Plaga crumbled onto the floor, turned into a pile of bones.

The pain that cycled through her new nerves was intense, but familiar and in a twisted way comforting. Everything hurt, the freezing corpse of the Ren pirate punishing it's new wearer. When she finished dressing herself up with the clothes piled up on the floor, Plaga picked up her former skull and inspected it from up close. She spoke with a new voice, unfamiliar to her old one.

"You have fulfilled your end, Doctor. Now i shall grant your wish". Seemingly out of nowhere, Plaga produced a small bottle with a dark green liquid inside. She passed it to the Doctor. "Drink from this, and die".

He saw the content took a sniff and laughed.

"Ah, I see you are a woman of culture as well!

This is one of my favourite poisons to execute with. I offered it as a 'mercy' to those facing execution. Ah, the look on their faces!"

He spent a moment relishing the memory.

"Very well.

If we have similar interests, I shall not deprive you of your show and release my nerve block. Or is this a test of my abilities?"

"You indeed deserve a painful death for your wrongdoings. But if you wish to bypass it with skill, I don't see why you should restrain yourself. Life isn't always fair. And neither is death, contrary to what some say."

He bowed. "That is my hope." 'And also that you don't leave me dead' he thought, but there was little to be done in that case. This was his best shot at life cnow that the scales were beyond his reach. And this dead woman seemed like someone he could work with.

He took several deep breaths, then some shallow ones, and identified key meridian points on his body, carefully neutralising the nerves. He went all out, willing to do damage. It was not easy- his art was not No Mind, and was difficult to use on oneself, but he considered himself a master.

He felt his pulse slow, and numbness began to spread. "To life."

He drank.

"I did not realize how pleasant it would taste. Minty."

He began to slump forward, and collapsed upon his own table.

His extremities began to shake.

"How odd. I don't think I've used" he gasped "This technique before with this poison. My body is seizing as if in pain, but I don't feel it. An interesting result. Should have recorded.."

His head slammed against the back of the table, and his body began to convulse as he lost autonomic nervous control.

He flopped around the table and ground after a while, his body seizing up.

"So. Were just going to leave him here, right?" Asked Kanua, hopefully.

"It is a temptative choice. But he will be of more use to us in this realm. And if he proves to be a bother, then it should be an easy fix."

Plaga focuses her energy on raising the Doctor, and immediately after releases him from his bond.

"Welcome back to the realm of the living, Doctor. As per our agreement, you are now my servant, and as such you are under my protection. You have mentioned that you are taking care of obeying the new laws of the island. I wish you to keep it that way. Doing otherwise would be considered a direct offense to your servitude, and you'll force me to act on it."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:28, Thu 18 Oct 2018.

Kanua nodded. It mattered little to her. He gasped for air and rose.

"Interesting. Intriguing even. Yes, of course, I will do as you command."

He rose with some difficulty and bowed, feeling out the new body.