Sanitorium.P2 Conclusion

Sanitorium.P2 Conclusion (Essie, Peter, Jimmy, Riche)

5pm Thursday, Feb 14th, 1924: Peter unlocked the double-doors to the first-floor patient hallway. Richie reported, “No luggage as Captain Ebenezer never made it up. I could see the boat skuttled and sinking. Looks like we’re stuck here awhile.” Peter revealed their own find, “We were just on our way upstairs to the doctor’s office. Maybe we can find Phillip and the doctor up there!”

2^nd Floor, East Wing: They climbed the stairs in the foyer. Peter took the time to check out the 3 northern rooms which proved to be empty and prepared for their overnight stay. “Let’s check all the rooms; don’t want any surprises from behind us.” The southern rooms proved to be the staff’s rooms. Also, empty. They entered the east wing with Jimmy graciously letting the others lead the way thru the doors (his hands occupied holding his tommygun at the ready):

Exam room: The first door on the right proved to be an empty examination room. Richie took the time to gather medical supplies “since my own medical bag was left at the dock.” Jimmy bothered the wanna-be doctor, “Any drugs worth resale value?” They left Richie behind as they continued thru the wing…

Office: The first door on the left proved to be Dr. Brewer’s office. Peter was the first to enter, followed by Essie, with Jimmy pushing into the room on his drug hunt. Richie came running at their gasp. [Sanity check] They stared at the mutilated body laying in the puddle of blood: his appendages hacked off, his chest carved open and stuffed with his own head facing outward! “Gee-Sus Christ!” [Occult] Peter studied the bloody symbols finger-painted on the man’s bare ribs and forehead, “Some kind of ritual… sacrifice.” Essie gasped at the bloody nametag, “It’s Dr. Brewer!”

Not thinking, Jimmy reached for the side door (failed POW) before realizing demons were just on the other side. He panicked in his jump backwards, almost knocking Essie into the puddle. Peter searched the desk as Richie led Jimmy through the side door where they found the drugs. Jimmy gathered 4 syringes he filled with Laudanum, “In case we run into any more crazies!” He also perused the cabinets for those drugs with black-market value. The wall-safe drew his attention. He grabbed the stethoscope from Richie’s bag and began to spin the dial.

Meanwhile, Peter opened the desk drawers, finding writing material and mundane items. But he also realized the bottom drawer was shorter than the space allowed. 

Thus, in the secret space behind it, he found Brewer’s journal which he read aloud, “He talks about some of his patients only using their initial. The sheer power of H’s voice, D’s reference to ancient history. Both patients evoked an eerie chill. He also mentions a book sent by a London friend that references some of the conversations by H and D. 

There is also a newspaper clipping about an Egyptian temple to RA and mention of a princess named Annephis.” Essie remembered her Egyptian history, “Not much about her other than reference she helped route an enemy of their nation.”

Essie searched the wall filing cabinets for Phillip Vance, “Says he’s a patient as per the room we found. Mentions regular treatments.” 

She also checked the staffing cabinet and found, “There is a Charles Johnson hired as an orderly and noted for his exemplary work. He used to be a patient himself at another institution. Mentions his size and strength comes in handy to deal with the more violent patients.”

Peter perked up, “Didn’t Mrs. Randolph mention a Charles took Phillip up for his treatments?!” He turned to the filing cabinet to look up the B’s [I didn’t make them know her last name], “Got it. Blanche: friendly 60yo with frizzed grey-haired. Not a threat while on her meds; thus, allowed to help Melba with daily cleaning duties. Talks incessantly about her 3 children, accusing them of having her locked up for her money. Truth: she murdered all on Christmas Eve 1922!”

Essie overheard Jimmy grumbling about a safe “Damn combo lock. I’ve almost got it.” Essie reasoned maybe the combo was on Dr. Brewer’s body: she squeamishly dug through his pockets getting some blood on herself. “Here it is! Jimmy, try 9-30-70… could be his birthday.” “Spin, spin, click!” Jimmy pulled out legal papers, tossing them on the floor. He kept the investment bonds for himself. “Here’s a book in Spanish titled Castro Manuscript with Brewer’s notes in the margin.” Richie grabbed the book and settled at Brewer’s office desk to read under the oil lamp. He was fully engrossed and didn’t hear the others leaving, or Peter’s comment, “Lock the door behind us so no one sneaks in to kill you.”

Shock Therapy room: When they entered the hall, Essie heard a familiar voice from a room to their left. When she whispered, “Sounds like Blanche” Jimmy readied one of his syringes in defense. She stepped through the open door of the therapy room where she saw Blanche standing over a body struggling on a table, “Lay still and quite loosening your straps. Dr. Brewer will be in shortly for your treatment.” The only response was a muffled protest and kicking of feet. Jimmy slipped past Essie and crept up on Blanche, jabbing the needle in her neck just as she turned, “Oh, Dr. Brewer. I was just getting him ready… You’re not doc… tor…” Blanche collapsed to the floor, revealing Phillip gagged on the table.

[Sanity check] And that’s when they noticed the still body on the other table. Electrodes clamped to his skull, wired to a box. The man’s hair blackened and burned and his eyes bulging… one burst! “Someone turned it full strength and fried the poor man!” They unstrapped Phillip who couldn’t wait to thank them and tell what he knew…

“Started last night. I could hear one of the patients in the basement loudly repeating some nonsense that sounded like chanting to me. Sounded like Harding but I couldn’t tell. He screamed then went silent. I called for the nurses, but no-one responded… probably still at dinner. Anyway, long minutes till I heard something dragging up the stairs beside my room.  I was too afraid to call out, but I heard Mrs. Randolph across the hall say something about ‘All these bubbles. Mrs. Melba must have put too much soap in the wash.’ And that’s when I heard Melba scream. An ungodly scream. Then a loud crash as the walls shuddered. Then just Melba moaning.”

Phillip caught his breath and continued, “It felt like hours before Charles came to check on us. He had this crazed look in his eyes. Next thing I know, he grapples me and bound me and drug me upstairs to then tie me to this table. I could only watch in horror as he hooked poor Cecil up to the electrodes. You remember Cecil Hunter: that insane forger of the witch papers?” [https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2023/03/crimson-lettersp1.html] Yeah, him! Anyway, Charles was repeating some chant as he cranked up the electricity. I must have passed out because Charles was gone when I awoke. I was struggling to get out when Blanche came in and re-tied my bonds. She wouldn’t listen; just gagged me and acted her normal self as if she was doing staff work.”

Essie wanted to lock Phillip back in his room “for your own protection.” Phillip resisted, “Are you crazy?! There’s a madman on the loose with keys to every room. I’m going with you guys!”

Castro Manuscript (30 minutes gone by): Meanwhile, Richie was fully engrossed in the book and margin notes. He read the Spanish text and Brewer’s English notes from front to back. [Sanity check-fail-BOM: Gloating] Richie fully comprehended what he read. If there was only time to learn the spell to create an Elder Sign! He bragged with glee, “I have found the answer! Et is Darlene the connection!”

Peter returned to the office files to look in the patient records for the H and D and Hw referenced in Dr. Brewer’s journal, “Must be Harding, Darlene, and Hawkins. Here we go:”

Basement: Before they left, Jimmy tied the unconscious Blanche to the table Phillip had occupied. Richie pridefully gathered the drug concoction listed per patient in the files, “In case I need to treat anyone. Or to induce the appearance of princess Annephis per Brewer’s notes.” While the others found it disturbing, Richie took glee in pointing out the slime trail on the stairs, “Just like Phillip said: it must have come from the basement.”

[4] They found Leonard Hawkins (the one Jimmy stabbed) in the first room to their left. Just where Blanche had deposited him instead of “disturbing the sleeping doctor.” Richie pulled out the appropriate pills and syringe, “time for your meds.” It wasn’t long before Leonard drifted into memories that puzzled him, “I saw it frothing at its mouth. Well, no mouth; just all those bubbles that flowed down the hall toward the stairs.”

[End of the hall] Jimmy prompted Richie, “You’re the smart guy; where to now?” They went beyond the end door toward more stairs, another boiler room, and Charles Johnson’s bedroom.

[1] Room 2 was empty except for the lone picture of Cecil. Thus, Peter stopped at the last room on their right. [Sanity check] Essie stayed in the hall as Peter entered and froze at the sight: Allen Harding stood at the wall, scratching with his bare fingers, ground to the bone! Bloody stumps! “What have I done?! I must close it. Put him back in his box. Close the door. Get him back. No, no, close it…” Peter couldn’t help but notice the circular symbols painted in blood. He remembered similar markings around a ‘gate’ in Iraq at that ziggurat [https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2022/09/armored-angelsp3-conclusion.html].

[3] And that’s when Essie noticed the name on the room behind them. Essie cautiously entered, “Darlene?” No answer as the woman laid in her bed. “Annephis?” The woman stirred and spoke in an Irish accent, “Who ye be looking fer little lass?” Essie corrected herself with her own accent that sounded more cockney, “Oh, you must be Fanny.”

She spoke loud enough to draw her allies. Richie stepped forward as if her doctor, “I’ve come to administer your meds.” He used the concoction listed to draw forth Annephis. It took long enough that the others thought he got it wrong. At first, Fanny spoke as herself. Then switched to Darlene’s voice they had heard in the library. Finally, Annephis arrived. It was Peter who asked, “How did you defeat the armies at your gates?” 

The princess turned toward the peasant, “Those Who Wait came unto our lands to lay waste to our country. Yet it was I, priestess of the Temple of Bast, worshiper of the sun god Ra who learned the secret. How they moved by night in fear of Ra and fire and shunned the rushing water. Thus, we held high the stones tablets etched with the symbols and with torches drove the creature into the Nile.”

Annephis knew not what they meant when Richie mentioned finding a spell to create the Elder Signs. But Richie knew in his gloating manner, “If only I had time to create the signs on stones!” He thought of Captain Ebenezer’s necklace, “Do we have time to go to the dock to look for his body?”

Peter thought about the hospital boilers, “Maybe we could lure it inside and flood it with hot water.” Essie commented, “It is an island surrounded by water. How can we drive it into the sea?” She grabbed a shovel from the coal room while Jimmy handed his flare-gun to Peter, “You’re the better shot.”

8pm: Armed with only one flashlight Peter had found, and the oil lamp Richie carried, they decided to go outside to find the creature. They were halfway up the stairs toward the first floor when the lights went out! Pitch black till they lit their flashlight and lamp. Phillip mentioned the generator out back that ran the hospital lights, “Probably needs gas. I was allowed to perform those duties.” They exited the laundry room… Essie used her hand to block the vision of poor Melba dead beside the washer.

And that’s when Essie heard the distant scream coming from across the woods to the northeast. “Sounds like a male. Who is missing?” Phillip rattled off the list of patients: all accounted for. Richie remembered, “Didn’t Ebenezer say something about dropping off a young birdwatcher named Shelly?” Peter kept them on track, “Generator first, then track the scream.”

Generator shed: They found two 5-gallon gas cans in the maintenance shed. They used one to fill the generator, “Best keep one to use against the creature.” Essie started the generator, “The one can should last about 30 hours.”

Follow the Scream: Even though they had been out back in the daylight (when they checked the captain’s and maid’s cabin), they ignored the roads and decided to cut through the trees, directly towards the originally scream that was no more. Richie led the way with his lamp, “I got this!” Next was Essie who had crafted a torch from part of her skirt and a branch dipped into the gas can. Jimmy followed carrying the gas can, which meant Peter brought up the rear with his flashlight. [Track-fail, Luck-fail] “Clunk.” He stumbled, fell, and broke the flashlight. At least he had his cigar lighter.

It was a half-moon that barely added light to the dense forest. [Listen- only Richie in the lead] Peter didn’t hear it coming but he felt the blindside punch that rattled his brain! 

He spun at the hit and came face-to-face with a huge brute (Charles) wielding an axe. Richie didn’t have enough time to give warning but was able to react: he rushed toward Charles and [Throw] splashed his lamp oil on the man. Peter drew his pistol and fired point-blank. [Point-blank bonus offset by shooting into melee penalty: still got an extreme! 18 damage.] The shot left powder burns on Charles who still stood (Constitution save per damage over half). Jimmy dropped the gas can, swung his shouldered tommygun, and fired 2 bursts [Point-blank bonus offset by shooting into melee penalty.] Charles dropped dead. Essie held her torch near: they could see fresh blood and gore on his dried blood-stained orderly shirt. [He'd recently killed Shelly.] Just to be certain he didn’t come back to life; she touched his body (covered in lamp oil) with her torch.

Back to the Hospital: Richie noted, “Those loud shots surely will attract something or someone else.” He helped the wounded Peter back to the hospital where they decided to wait till sunrise. At least he had a full compliment of hospital gear to treat his patient. But it was a fitful night with taunting sounds outside the hospital walls. [failed Sanity check] Jimmy drew his knees into his chest as he sat in a chair as he had an overwhelming feeling of the walls closing in. And maybe he was right as more screams filled the night.

[While they had locked a few patients in their rooms, Colonel Crandall Billings charged forth out the laundry room to continue his Bull-Run attack. The creature had easily taken control of his mind and lured him out for sacrifice.]

Morning: Richie carried the gas can and his medical bag and sword-cane. Peter had used the night to make Molotov bombs (one each) using some of the gas. He also had Jimmy’s flare-gun and Charles’ axe. Jimmy carried his tommy while also arming himself with 4 syringes of lethal meds. And a lump of coal he had convinced himself equated to Annephis’ stones. Essie had crafted flaming arrows using hospital cloth and flammable petroleum gel.

They followed the slime trail that led north along the dirt road toward the lighthouse. “For something that fears Ra, don’t you find it ironic it hides in a lighthouse?”

Lighthouse: Multiple slime trails flared from the tower, “It must have moved about in the night. Do you think it is still here?” One way to find out: Peter kicked in the door to reveal an interior circular staircase rising to an upper floor. They vaguely glanced at the ‘nest’ that must have been Charles’ bedding arrangement. Peter took the time to cast Flesh-Ward on himself. The others… maybe they felt more confident. Fools! [Said in a teasing manner. $>)]

They couldn’t tell if the ooze on the steps was fresh. Peter led the way, followed by Essie, then Richie who left the gas can at the entrance, then Jimmy. An overhead trapdoor stopped them. Peter put his shoulder to it but couldn’t budge it. Peter was about to swing the axe when Richie’s confidence flared, “Let me give it a try.” It gave way, way too easy. [The creature was laying on the door when Peter pushed. It moved to investigate when Richie put his shoulder to it.] Richie was about to gloat, when…

[Sanity check: 20% threshold for Peter, Essie lost 5 and passed her INT check: oops; knew what she saw!]

They could only watch as a pseudopod of bubbles descended through the opening and engulfed Richie’s head and shoulders, lifting him off the stairs!

Richie kicked and struggled without success as he tried to remove his coat as added resistance to dislodge the threat. He realized if not freed soon, he’d suffocate. If not worse!

Peter (BOM: Crazy Plan) spoke with conviction, “We brought these Molotov bottles for a reason.” Without regard for his fellow man, Peter threw his: it crashed against the back of the wall and splashed flaming gas onto the top of the stairs.

Jimmy screamed, “What’s wrong with you?!” Knowing he didn't have the strength to pull him free, Jimmy ducked under Richie’s flailing feet and reached up toward the nearest bubbles to stab with a syringe. [100] Another bubble engulfed his hand. An acidic feeling began to burn his fingers.

Essie (BOM: Relaxed) shrugged her shoulders in denial of any threat, “It’s just bubbles.” She casually lit her arrow from the flaming stairs and fired it into the bubble closest to Richie’s head. [1 damage+1 fire] It penetrated… the bubble looked like a glowing snow-globe.

More of the creature began to billow out of the upper trap door, avoiding the flames at the top of the stairs.

Richie couldn’t really see what he was doing as the bubble was mostly opaque. Since his hands were free, he unsheathed his cane and stabbed with his rapier tip. [Rapid attack] And stabbed again. The bubble burst, dumping him on the stairs below. At least Peter deftly dodged out of the way. Richie fell hard and tumbled down, colliding with Essie who was notching another arrow.

Peter drew the flare-gun and fired, ignoring Jimmy now caught in a bubble before him. [Extreme] “Pop, pop, pop.” The pseudopod appendage burst, separating Jimmy from the main bubble body. But his hand was still engulfed and it was growing larger to consume more of his arm!

Jimmy used his free hand to grab his letter-opener from his waist and sliced at the bubble. It burst, freeing him. [The knife damage wasn’t that much. It was his captured hand that reflectively tightened per the burning sensation, thus ejecting caustic fluid from the syringe into the bubble.] Jimmy took off running down the stairs, pausing near Peter to exchange his Molotov for the flare gun. Peter accepted the trade, “I already shot its only load.”

Richie tugged at Essie to drag her downstairs as she calmly remarked, “Peter, will you leave those silly bubbles alone and come on down.”

Jimmy already had the gas can set inside the doorway as he reloaded the flare-gun. Richie had to convince him, “Wait till Peter exits.”

Still inside and near the top, Peter attacked with the Molotov. [Extreme] More bubbles burst, yet more of the creature descended through the trapdoor, flowing toward him. Peter leapt over flicking flames of the recent smashed Molotov bottle. [Failed Jump, failed push: 2d6 damage] He landed with a hard thud yet stood unscathed. [Remember the Flesh-Ward he cast?] The creature was in hot pursuit. [Pun intended]

When Peter rushed out the door, Essie calmly fired at the gas can. “Woosh!”

Everyone flinched and grabbed their head as if in pain. [The creature’s scream was a mental attack on them.]

EPILOGUE

It wasn’t long before the local Coast Guard came to investigate the lighthouse fire. They were on edge when they pulled up to the dock where they found the skuttled Lady Amanda. And even more guarded when they found captain Ebenezer dead; his throat cut. It took some explaining before the coast guard believed the survivor’s story, “That orderly, Charles? Read here where he once was a patient himself. Must have cracked. He killed the rest of the staff and a few patients before we cornered him in the lighthouse. He had a shotgun and Molotov bombs to hold us off. We had no choice but to torch the thing.”

On the boat ride back to Arkham, Essie tried to convince Richie his face burns weren’t that bad, “You can hardly notice.”

Before leaving, Peter gathered the patient records so he could contact family members. Condolences for the departed and letters of survival for those that came out alive. He made no mention of any expected reward but did provide his office address.

Back in Arkham, Jimmy stepped into the bank to check on the investment bonds’ worth. “Put them in my account.”

Richie kept the manuscript and studied the spell to craft his own Elder Signs.

THE THREAT

 Bubble creature: semi-solid composed of luminescent bubbles. Feeds on life forms to transform into another form able to leave the planet.