The Strangler Strikes

Seglun led the party toward the Salty Dog through the darkened streets of Egertus.  She turned into a narrow streets just as another bolt of lightning illuminated the sky.  It was almost fully night and a torrent of rain fell from the rumbling sky.  The rain hammered at the party like small stones, for the drops were large, cold, and filling with great velocity.  It took only a few moments for their clothing to become drenched, and they could hardly see more than a few feet ahead through curtains of pounding rain.

There was so much rain falling that it almost felt as though the party was under water, as though they were at the bottom of the sea.  The feeling was so strong and the scene in front so surreal that for a moment the group was sure this must have been a dream.
Another bolt of lightning shattered the darkness.  In a flash, the group saw a shadowy form drop toward them toward then as though carried out of the sky with the rain.  The lightning flash reflected off a long strand of silver that the figure held between his bloody hands.  Sharp jagged tangles jutted from the otherwise taut line, and it appeared as though the figure held a bolt of lightning in his hands.
The figure landed between Drovic and Baru then flung the silvery strand over Drovic's head.  Drovic felt the pressure of the strand dig into his neck, along with barbs that pierced his skin.  The party stood in awe for a moment, finally reacting as they saw Drovic fall to the stone pavement.
Seglun and Baru attacked immediately, while Arvien threw magic missiles.  Varrid moved up to a flanking position and Grunyar struck with his mighty hammer.  Ralom was interested in Drovic;s condition moving to cast healing on the prone body. 
The figure executed a backward flip over Baru's head, landed and again struck with the strand of barbed wire.  Baru twisted and turned to attack the madman while the rest of the party continued to press their attacks.  Ralom was surprised that Drovic did not regain consciousness after the healing, but he continued to see if something else was affecting the Drow.  After a couple more rounds of attack, Baru succumbed to the strangulation of the wire and he fell to the pavement.  The rest of the party finished off the attacker, who Arvien was convinced was the escapee from the Clinic.
After the end of the battle as Seglun and Grunyar were strapping up the madman to carry to the Inn, Drovic and then Baru, coughed, wheezed and spit out some bile as they recovered consciousness.  Arvien was in a hurry to get to the Inn to eat a nice meal and get out of the rain.
The party hauled the corpse to the Salty Dog, whence Grunyar said outside with the body as the rest of the party entered and related their experience to the Innkeeper.  He immediately called for a young man to fetch the guard.  Off ran the boy while the party negotiated meals and a large room for the evening. 
After the guard came and collected the corpse Grunyar joined the rest of the party in the Inn where they ate their fill and swapped stories with a pair of locals who were enjoying the ale.  Around midnight the group headed to their room with Varrid sitting outside the door on watch.  A couple of hours later Varrid saw a huge, bear of a man dressed in pale clothing under a rain drenched cloak climb the stairs.  He approached Varrid and said "Excuse me, but Dr. Illhousen of the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed has sent me to fetch you."
"Who are you?" queried Varrid.
"I am Hoerring, an orderly at the clinic.  If you'll come with me, I'll take you to see the Doctor."
Varrid responded that they needed some rest and they would come to the Clinic in the morning.  Hoerring continued to insist that they party come NOW, but Varrid was firm and convinced him that the group would be at the Clinic in the morning. 
When the sun rose, darkly through the clouds that continued to pour rain down, the party was roused and Arvien headed for the kitchen to pack away as much food as possible.  Shortly Hoerring arrived again insisting that they come see the Doctor apace.  After eating their fill the party allowed Hoerring to guide them toward the Clinic.  Moving through town in the "daylight" the party could see that most of the buildings were made of stone.  Everything had an ancient, weathered but they did notice some magic and provisioning shops along the way. 
The huge, foreboding building rose above the banks of a river, all stone and glass.  If the storm buffering Egertus had a center, this place was it. As the got closer, the noise of the storm grew louder.  In addition to the drum beat of rain and the rumbling thunder, the group heard the river rushing by and sloshing over the rocks along the shore.  And every once in a while, between peels of thunder, a bloodcurdling scream was heard.  Two lanterns burned in front of the main entrance, one on each side of massive doors.  A weathered sign above the door: The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed. 
Hoerring led the group into the large lobby and up the main stairs.  Most of the interior was dark, with only a few dim lanterns shining in the distance.  At the second floor he turned left to a door at the end of the hall.
"Doctor?" Hoerring asked as he paused in the doorway.  Compared to the rest of the place that they had seen thus far, this room was practically bright and cheery.  No less than six lanterns were set around the room, as though the occupant was attempting to eliminate the shadows.
"Thank you, Hoerring," said a man sitting near a window behind a large desk.  "I won't be needing your services again for some time."
Hoerring nodded, then walked back toward the stairs and the main entrance of the clinic.  The man behind the desk stood, and Varrid recognized him from her recent dream.  The rest of the party had a recollection of this man from the Introsia nightmares, standing with them along a forest road.  He was a tall, rotund man, with thick hair and beard, and thick spectacles.  Arvien seemed to recall him as more neatly attired.  The man before them now was disheveled, his clothes appeared wrinkled, and he didn't look like he'd slept in a month.
"It's good to have your company on a day such as this," the man said as another bolt of lightning sliced through the sky outside the window.  "I'm Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, chief physician of this clinic.  I believe you have a copy of my journal.  Will you tell me how you've come to possess it before we get on to the business we must discuss?"
The party related the story of finding Thorin, his friend and being given the journal, there confusion about what was in it and the inability to get to Egertus any quicker.  Illhousen interrupted them to offer something to drink, "Some tea perhaps, or a spot of brandy?"
"Now tell me everything you remember since gaining my journal," he urged.  "I have a feeling that you've already run into the villainous cabal I call the Nightmare Court."  The party explained all of their experiences, of which the Doctor was most interested in the Introsia affair.  He was most sympathetic of the trials, especially the toll taken on Arvien.  "The work of the Ghost Dancer," he said.  "Of that I'm almost certain."  When Varrid asked about meeting him in their dreams, Illhousen smiled.  It's a sad, tired smile.  "It's a skill I call dreamwalking," he said softly.  "I'll tell you all about it in just a little while."
When the party related the curse that was placed on them in Forfar, he also perked up, "I believe I have a way to help you remove that curse."  Arvien and Varrid brought up the ghostly thing called Mandalain, but the Doctor replied, "The ghost of Mandalain can wait.  There is someone in greater need than I.  Come.  It's time I introduced you to Sylus Andropov.  Illhousen grabbed a lantern and led the heroes to the far end of the hall.  He used a set of keys on his belt to open a heavy door.  The door led to a stairwell that descended to the clinic's basement.  The doctor led them down a twisting set of stairs, through another door, which he locked behind them.  "Brace yourselves, my friends," Illhousen said. "We are about to enter the wards where my most troubled patients are kept.  What you see and hear may be frightening, but try to remember that these poor souls are ill and in need of compassion.  Still, some of them can be dangerous.  Please walk along the center of the corridors, keeping well away from the cells on either side of you."
Illhousen walked down the center of the hall, ignoring the wails and reaching hands of the patients behind the cell doors.  The patients reach through the barred door windows, "Please free me!"  "Look at the little ones, what I could do with one of them."  "Look an angel, do those legs go all the way up?" 
"Big boy what do you use those horns for?  I have a place you can stick them."  "Renee misses you, she wants to know when you're coming back.  She says she's all burned up over your leaving."  The voice then laughs with manic glee.  Another shouted "Mandalain has something for you!  You'll love it.  The pain she inflicts is exquisite in its agony." 
"I know where Vonkriz's spellbook is hidden wizard!" another patient calls.  "If you give me your eyes I'll let you see it."
Eventually, Illhousen stops at a door, which he opens with another key.  When the lantern shone into the cell, the heroes saw a man curled up on a thing bedroll.  The cell reeked of perspiration and fear.  After a moment, the man sat up.  He's a large, burly man with a tangled beard.  Though once strong and robust, he now appears weak and weary.  "Aylor?" he asked with a cracking voice.  "Aylor, son? Is that you?"
"No, Sylus," Illhousen said.  "It's just Gregorian.  Come it's time to free you from the nightmares you've been suffering."  Illhousen helped Sylus to his feet, then led them all out of the wards.  Along the way, the doctor explained:
"Sylus is captain of the sailing ship Wayfarer.  We've been friends a long time. Sylus guided me on my last trip to the place I call the Nightmare Lands.  Though we accomplished some of my goals, I failed to recover the item I had sought and a few members of the crew died.  One of those crew members was Sylus's son, Aylor.  Since we returned, Sylus has been having progressively more terrible nightmares.  I'm sure these are the work of the Nightmare Court.  They torment him in an effort to hurt me.  For this reason, poor Sylus is force to suffer.  I want to end his nightmares.  Will you help me set him free?  I believe this action may cure your curse."  The party reluctantly agreed to this plan as they made their way out of the wards.
Dr. Illhousen opened the door leading out of the maze of wards and let out a startled gasp.  A light in the all beyond was a tall, thin man in a neat white smock.  "Who's there?" the man called out. 
"It's just me Harrod.  What are you doing prowling around the wards now?"
"You're not the only dedicated doctor on this staff, Gregorian." the man returned.  "I wanted to check on one of my patients.  Poor Caryko hasn't been responding to my treatments as quickly as I would like.  And who are these people, Gregorian?  More patients for our overcrowded wards?"
"No, Harrod, these are friends of Sylus.  Allow me to introduce Dr. Harrod Tasker, one of the doctors here."
Tasker scowled, "One of?  Toher htan you, I'm the only one left."  He turned to regard the heroes with an intense stare.  "Should these people be wandering around down here?"   Baru noted that an evil aura surrounded Doctor Tasker. 
Illhousen opened the door to a bright, padded chamber with only two pieces of furniture: a chair and a reclining table with attached restraints.  The doctor placed Sylus on the table and strapped the bindings loosely around his arms and legs.  He then turned to the party, "You must now put your trust in me, my friends.  Lie down upon the padded floor and we'll begin.  I'm going to hypnotize you, place you in a light trance, and then send your dream-selves in search of Sylus's nightmare.  There's no need to worry.  I'll watch over your physical bodies the entire time.  The party lay down on the floor and relaxed.  As they fell into the trance they were suddenly on the deck of a great sailing ship.  The ship was caught in the grip of a terrible storm.  It rocked and bucked beneath their feet as waves crashed over the deck and sailors struggled to secure the sails.  At the massive wheel, Captain Sylus Andropov battled to keep the ship on course.  He called out orders to the party, shouting to help secure the ship before the storm hit with all its fury. 
The party set about securing items on the decks, furling sails, tying down cannons.  As they scrambled a frightening sight appeared.  Great daggers of stone exploded out of the water like newly born mountains.  Each one rose near the ship, and any one of those jagged peaks could easily slice open the ship's hull.  Sylus turned the wheel this way and that with all his might, somehow navigating Wayfarer through the terrible obstacle course.  Another dagger of stone jutted out of the sea, scraping the side of the ship and splashing the sailors and party with water.
"Look alive, son!" Sylus called, and the party saw a younger version of the captain tying down a cannon.  That's when a jagged peak pierced the hull and stabbed through the deck near their feet.  The heroes managed to keep their balance as the ship broke apart around them.  Captain Sylus remained at the wheel, valiantly struggling to keep his vessel afloat.  His son, however, wasn't so lucky.  Monstrous tentacles reached out of the water and snatched the young man off the deck.  Before anyone could move, the tentacles pulled back into the sea -- taking young Aylor with them.
Sylus screamed, and the sound followed the group back to the waking world as they sat up on the padded floor of the therapy room.
The scream died down after a moment, Sylus didn't wake up, but his scream had stirred the heroes from the trance.
"Good work for you first attempt," Illhousen said with a weak smile.  "You must allow me to send you back.  Sylus is still asleep and dreaming.  We can beat these nightmares tonight if you're willing to return to the dreamscape."
The heroes agree and as Illhousen placed them into a trance again.   The party stood on the deck of Wayfarer as a raging storm tossed it about.  The scene played out as before: the storm, the giant, jagged rocks covered with sea spray like the teeth of some beast; the tentacles, even as the party moved to protect Aylor.
Aylor disappeared over the side as the deck broke apart.  In a moment everyone was in the water, sinking like stones toward the bottom of the sea.  As the party sank, they noticed that the undersea realm glowed with a faint but steady light.  What's more, they seemed to be breathing water as though is were fresh air, but this didn't seem strange.  Then they reached the bottom and were standing amid the litter of wrecked ships and monstrous sea plants.
"We've got more trouble, crew," Captain Sylus shouted, pointing to the dark shapes approaching from the distance.

DM's Notes:  The party earned 914XP for the night and now have 62,298 XP.