Not too eager to hurry up and wait, Sedril nudged the unconscious man's shoulder with his toe. He drew upon the power of one of his consumed souls as he did and channeled a bit of healing magic into the guy. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he figured it wouldn't hurt. "Wake up, you lug," he muttered as he channeled the magic.

Despite his impatience, Sedril still listened curiously for any explanations Fenix might provide.

---

Used one of my 5 Cure Light Wounds SLA for the day. Maybe it will help rouse the man back to consciousness. Maybe not. Either way, he should heal for 1d8+5 HP (I rolled 6 for HP healed).

14:26, Today: Sedril Crovast rolled 6 using 1d8+5.  Cure Light Wounds.

The wizard chanted and with a flourish finished his spell. He felt the resistance of the spell before it broke and then watched the man pass out. Fenix winced as the others started to surround him. 'Shit. Did I mess something up? No. No I did it correctly, I think' he thought as the others started to try to wake the man. "I'm afraid I don't have much else to offer. The enchantment was rooted deep within him and I can confirm it is gone. That is the extent of my knowledge. Just poor some water on him or something and he should awaken."

The healing has no apparent effect, but as the water splashes on the man's face, his eyes open. They are strangely vacant, no hint of alertness or focus. His face is set in a blank smile.

Sedril snapped his fingers in front of the man's face a few times. "Anyone in there? What's wrong with him?" Once again, Sedril looked to the more knowledgeable members of the group to diagnose the man.

Ashell let out a sigh of slight frustration as the magic didn't seem to....'correct'...whatever was wrong with the person. "That is admittedly disappointing."

He walked in a slow circle as he pondered the situation. He spoke, almost to himself really. "We need more information. I think two of us sneaking in once more and poking around discreetly may be beneficial. Or we could all walk in brazenly and see if they even bother reacting. If they do, we learn something and can retreat. If they don't react, we can investigate with impunity." One finger tapped the 'chin' of his mask as he spoke.

"I could do a fly-by," Sedril suggested. "Draw their attention and see if or how they react? Then everyone can sneak in while they are gawking at me, or attack them if they harpoon me and reel me in." He shrugged, unsure if his suggestion had been a good one.

Fenix scowled at the villager who seemed to be in a daze. Surely that couldn't have been right? He scratched his forehead as he thought about the other suggestions. "Sending in one person to just go up and talk to them might not be the worst idea. Preferably someone who can reasonably outrun the villagers if they turn hostile. Even if they are under some magical influence we might be able to get some information. If the source of this magic is still around at worst only one of us would be incapacitated. Then they can retreat, cover their tracks, and meet back here so we can see what we learn. Meanwhile we can at least try to talk to this man here", Fenix said as he pointed to the man in a stupor.

Gabriel listened to the back and forth conversation but offered no input as yet, instead busying himself with looking over the man for any physical hints about his condition. As he did so, he attempted to engage their subject in conversation. "My name is Gabriel, can you tell me yours? Do you feel ill?"

ooc: 23:59, Today: Gabriel rolled 22 using 1d20+13.  Heal-does this man seem to be under the influence of some substance?

"I'm probably the fastest one here," Sedril replied to Fenix with a slightly boastful attitude. "I'm a fast walker, and I can even fly as fast as I walk when needed. I'm sure I can get people to answer questions I ask them too, whether they want to or not." He ran a thumb along the edge of his sythe intimidatingly. Then his face took on a much more sheepish appearance. "I just... Well. Maybe it would be good if you wrote down some of the questions I should ask though."

---

I'll volunteer Sedril to go into town head-on. He has walk and fly speeds of 50, and his Intimidate skill is his only real stand-out talent. (He is also decent with Handle Animal for some reason.)

The man says nothing in response to the inquiry, merely sits and stares into space.

Gabriel sat back, confused. "I can see no evidence of any narcotic substances inside him. Fenix, are you certain you purged the magic from this man?" As he spoke, Gabriel began snapping his fingers directly in front of the unresponsive man's face, trying to elicit any kind of reaction.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:52, Sun 16 May 2021.

Fenix's scowl deepened as he heard Gabriel's request. "I assure you my spell worked just fine!" Afterwards he turned again to face the man who seemed almost catatonic. "Okay fine, I will cast the spell to humor you" he grumbled as he started to cast the spell. His eyes once again glowed briefly. As he gazed at the civilian he pondered Sedril's question. "I would start by asking them some basic information. See if they can give you their name and the name of the town to confirm they are lucid. Then ask them if anything strange has happened in town lately, maybe ask if they have had any visitors? I'd ask a few different groups if possible, see if their stories collaborate each other."

OOC: Cast 'Detect Magic' to view any auras on the captive.

Fenix detects no magical auras on the man, who does not respond to the comments going on around him. He simply stares into space, seeming lost within his own mind.

Sedril nodded after Fenix gave his opinion on what to ask, then waited a few moments for them to wrap up what they were doing before he headed back toward the town. He approached on foot at a normal pace with his scythe in hand, but he did not wield the weapon menacingly. Yet. He tried to look casual. Like a traveler just entering town after a day of travel.

When he got near somebody, or it was clear he had someone's attention, he asked, "Hey buddy, what's your name? Could you tell me what town I'm in?" He figured he would try asking the nice way first...

Ashell shook his head. "No." He sighed. "No, this is not getting us anywhere." He tapped his masked chin once more in thought. Then he gave a small half-shrug. "Well. I think we should decide on a course of action, be it someone walking openly to see if they react while others sneak, all of us just entering the place together and seeing how they react, or something else."

He spoke again, "I personally say we just walk in openly and look around."

Gabriel sat back on his haunches, staring at the man before them with a look of dawning horror intermingled with pity. "Fenix," he said, his voice faint even by his own standards, "Would you perchance know any sort of magic to peer into the minds of men, and if so, would you gaze into this one's? I wish to confirm a suspicion of mine."

"M'name is Jacek the man in the village says, sounding friendly if distracted. "You're in Washaway. What can I do for you?"

Fenix snorted at the request. Could a wizard of his caliber peer into minds? Of course he could! If anything he wasn't sure if the drooling thing in front of him even had a thought worth noting. He had turned to tell Gabriel all of this when he saw the expression on the man's face. So instead he shrugged his shoulders, "I can view his thoughts but only on the surface. If the man isn't coherent I wasn't sure if his thoughts would be any better. Never hurts to be thorough I guess, everyone stand back." The wizard reached into his robe and pulled out a large copper piece. He chanted a few words and lifted the coin to his ear.

Fenix casts "Detect Thoughts". Unless something happens Fenix channels for 3 rounds which allows him to hear surface level thoughts. Will Save DC is 18 if he wants to resist.

"Jacek, eh?" Sedril replied to the man in town even as his companions were back with the blank villager doing their literal thought experiments. The vorpal knight looked at the villager with heightened scrutiny as he continued to talk to Jacek. "And this is Washaway? Good. Good. Say, um, uh... has something strange happened in town recently? Maybe related to a recent visitor?"

Sedril was mentally kicking himself for his own lack of subtlety. But then again, he always had been better at the direct approach when it came to these kinds of situations.

---

Might as well use Assess on this guy too, just in case the lucid guy is different from the guy they had kidnapped.

Assess: As a move action, I can focus on 1 target and determine its HD and class levels.

Fenix detects no thoughts within the man's mind - not few, but none. It's like attempting to read the mind of a tree.

Meanwhile, within town, Jacek shakes his head. "No, sir, nothing like that. Things are quite normal here."

Sedril detects that this man has 3 HD, and is a level 3 ranger.

Sedril gazed around skeptically to see if what the man said was true. Gabriel had reported that the townspeople were staggering around like dazed puppets. If nobody within sight was acting that way, maybe Gabriel had been wrong? Oh! Or maybe they only acted like puppets when they didn't know anyone was looking.

---

Does everything actually appear to be normal?

As reported, people are going about their business in a daze, clumsy and imprecise in their movements.

With abundant suspicion in his eye, Sedril slowly backed away from Jacek without another word, then headed toward one of the people obviously in a daze. He then repeated the same greeting he had given to the ranger. "Hey buddy, what's your name? Could you tell me what town I'm in?"

---

Trying to talk to another person to see if the new person becomes less puppet-y, and to see if Jacek becomes more puppet-y after no longer interacting with Sedril.

Edit: Might as well Assess them too.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Fri 04 June 2021.

Fenix blinked several times as he scanned the man's mind. The wizard had expected some nonsensical thoughts floating around, but to find absolutely nothing? He stroked his chin as he turned to face the others. "It seems whoever this man was his mind is completely blank now. Gabriel does this confirm your suspicions?" While he waited for a reply he physically inspected the man's head to look for signs of anything unusual.

15:51, Today: Fenix Laurefort rolled 9 using 1d20+7.  Perception on man's head.

Gabriel's face fell even further when he heard Fenix's findings. "Yes, it does. This man is dead in every way which matters," he said, looking down at the sack of meat and bone that used to be a person with a terrible pity in his eyes. "He reacts to absolutely nothing, he makes no sounds or movements, and his mind is devoid of awareness. Frankly, I'm surprised his body can even breathe on its own."

As he spoke, he knelt down next to the body, and with a subtle flick of the wrist, one of his knives was in his free hand. "This is not a person, nor is it an animal. This is a lump of meat that doesn't yet realize it's dead,"he said as he positioned the blade against the jugular. "This... This is a mercy," he said, in a tone that betrayed he didn't believe his own words as he tightened his grip and prepared to open the vein.