Part 96: Healer’s House

Chapter 72 – Healer’s House



Hansel and the House of Secrets
Healer’s House - Main Floor
Bernard and The Basement




Music: The Living Shield (Aleroth Ministry)


I’m going to add this one back into Chapter 66.


Music: Healer’s House




Video: Hansel and the House of Secrets


(Yara) Fair enough. If you know of another way to get in.
(Tom) Oh, Good heavens, bless you, Slayer! I do not know where Luxurius brings his innocent prey, and I doubt he simply takes them up to his room. But try Taurus’ house on Lanilor Lane. He was the beast’s most trusted conspirator and might have left behind clues. My home is in the upper city, I’ll wait for you there. May the gods grant you, you can save my poor Anne from Luxurius’ clutches!

Beauty and the Beast
General Luxurius’ house is locked up tight, and they’re not going to let us in. But we got a key from Taurus’ body (well, okay, not really, but pretend that we did), and maybe there’s a clue in his house.  There’s actually the entrance to a puzzle dungeon there. And I get to complain about Aleroth’s insane architecture again! 




Tucked away near the Crow’s Nest teleporter is this unobtrusive building, with the intriguing name “House of Secrets”.






(Bellegar (Book)) You venture in a playground of hidden treasure,
So take your time and explore at leisure!
Tread wisely the paths of this little maze,
and for long its riches you will praise!




_{Yeah, I think I have better things to be doing right now. Like visiting the Healer’s House in the Great Market, for one.}

All the doors are locked, but the chest holds two troublesome keys. There’s no quest associated with it, although I’ll only come back later. This is actually a rather straightforward gimmick of Bellegar’s. The rooms are rather bizarre, but not actually dangerous.



We’re in the room marked with the red arrow, and have to make our way to the far end. We have two keys to start out with, and one route is better than the others.

Music: Market Square





(Hansel) Takes but one glance to see there’s been foul necromancy at play here!
(Dorus) Indeed! They ought to forbid that unholy wizardry altogether.
(Gretel) I hear even Deodatus practices these dark sorceries. If even the Archmage does it, there’s no stopping it!





Ah, Dragon Knight! Do you have my diary?
I have, and I had a quick read-through as well.
But… but you weren’t supposed to!
Are you an idiot? Never mind, you don’t need to answer that.
Look, don’t tell anybody anything and I’ll give you the key to my chest. Lots of treasure to be found there I assure you.
Let me think about it.
Please! You can’t say no to treasure!
_{I can, however, say “no” to those who are too foolish to continue breathing.}




Something I can do for you?
I think you may want to read this diary.
Hansel’s? What would he keep a diary for? Never leaves the house, he-
…
But… but… That underhanded skunk! That devious little turncoat. I’ll take it from here if you don’t mind!




Hey, Hansel! I had me a little read here and if you want me out of the picture, you’ll have to do it yourself!
My diary? But that was a joke, a fantasy! I knew you’d best this undead! Gretel, she means nothing to me!




What are you boys babbling about?
Here: read this, honey, while I take care of this surreptitious scum!




“Trail of Deceit” complete! Quest Reward: 5632 XP, 900 Gold. Bonus Chosen: 2815 XP.
_{Oh, and here’s your chest key on your body too. I can’t say no to treasure!}
Thank you for exposing that psychopath! Who knows what scheme he might have come up with next!
Least I could do, really.
My wife and I are very grateful. We owe life and happiness to you! Thank the Divine the Dragon Knight found that diary, my wife.
What a hero! That foul little Hansel would have kept on trying to kill you. To think I used to call Hansel a friend! That little creep tried to kill my Dorus because of me! It’s not always easy to be such a beautiful women, Dragon Knight!
_{Why do I keep getting the feeling that I’m chopped liver?}
Thank you, but it wasn’t too much trouble. Hansel was such an idiot. He summoned an undead, wrote about it in his diary, lured it to the market, and then tried to get me to fetch the diary? If he summoned the damn thing himself, why would- … If he summoned it himself… Dorel! I need to see Hansel’s diary again!
_{Ah… spotted the thread, have you?}




Uh-oh. Nothing. Hansel prepared his plan in advance. But there’s nothing here that says Hansel could summon creatures like this. So if Hansel didn’t summon it… where did it come from?

Crap.


Video: Healer’s House – Main Floor


Music: Healer’s House


I like this music, it fits well with the somber mood of the place. It’s especially poignant when talking to Decimus.




(Decimus) Over… over here! I have need of you, kind lady!






(Decimus) Dragon Knight, please, help a dying man achieve some peace of mind in his last hours!
What’s troubling you?
My wife died during the siege and soon I will follow her, but how will I find her in the Hall of Echoes? Should I have her favourite ring with me, her soul might find me! The ring… her precious ring…
(-22500 XP) _{Bernard put some of my stuff in a chest downstairs: says it’s safe. Bit I really hope he didn’t misplace my Shadow Archer’s Gloves.}
I think I might be able to help you out.
I knew you’d have a kind heart! The ring lies in a box in what used to be our house and is now, I take it, another den of the dead in Crow’s Nest. If you bring it to me I shall be very grateful.
When you’re in the Hall of Echoes, could you tell a soul called Amdusias ‘Maxos!’ and say it was I who sent you? He’ll know what it means.
A strange request, but I will do it if I can! ‘Maxos!’ I’m certain this Amdusias will be glad to hear from a friend even in death.
Goodbye!
Goodbye! Perhaps… forever.

Eternal Commitment / A Ring for Astridax
The dying man wants his dead wife’s ring from his house. We could of course, give the ring to Astridax. But that’s an even bigger dick move than giving the drunk’s earrings to him Because the drunk was the least sympathetic person whose jewellery we can give away, I don’t think I’ll bother with a pointless vote on what we should do with the other dead people jewellery.




(Yegor) So if you had ten gold pieces, what would you do with them?
(Beata) Come on, ten gold pieces? Nobody has that kind of money!
(Becker) I’m sure Deodatus does. He has a big mansion and two pairs of shoes!
I’m so very hungry, kind knight! Could you spare a coin or a loaf of bread?
I hope we can leave here soon! Took me years to claim that nice warm spot near the sewers!
Good of the healers to let us poor folks take shelter here. Life on the streets is hard enough without man-eating monster about!
So when was the last time you ate chicken?
I haven’t had any since I lost that rune!
I hear it turned up in High Hall, but that Beatrice girl might have been lying.

The key visible at the left opens the random-loot chest peeking from behind the curtain at the top-right.




(Jalen) So, em, just wondering: did you write your will yet?
(Mortimer) What? No! Why? What are you talking about?
I just thought it might be wise to write your testament. You never know, you know?
You’re supposed to be my doctor, not my notary! Heal me, for Divine’s sake, and I won’t need a will.
If only the Source were still as active as she used to be! So if worst comes to worst, have you decided who gets your house?
That’s it! I’m getting another doctor! Is there a healer in the room? Please, get this morbid fraud away from me!

(Jason) The wounds these monsters have caused! I thought I had seen it all, but this… not this…
(Forest) I’ll be all right, I’m sure of it! I’m a Champion, I’m invincible!




(Asa) Lay still, I’m trying the best I can!
(Janos) But I keep bleeding. That salve doesn’t work at all!
Aren’t you the Dragon Knight? You wouldn’t happen to possess some long-lost medical spells, would you?
Sorry.
Look, I can’t heal you if you keep squirming like this!
You want to switch places maybe? You try keeping still with an arrow wound the size of a fist!

(Galen) Who needs medicine when you have magic, they said. Now look at these poor sods!




This is a quarantined area, Dragon Knight, off limits for very good reasons. You may not pass my wooden frame unless you have the correct password.
_{Crap… what was it?}
Rosebud?
No! And don’t say that again. I don’t want a bunch of pigs to stampede right through me!


Video: Bernard and The Basement




(Bernard) Tragedy, Dragon Knight! A calamity, a disaster, a catastrophe has befallen us!
You can’t hide it from me, my good man: something is bothering you a trifle, no?
Such mishaps that plague us, such bitter adversities!
Could you stop spouting synonyms and tell me what is going on?
Of course, of course, my friend, I do apologize, but you’d lose heart too in the face of such dire tribulations, such hard ship, such-

Sorry, I’m doing it again. The problem is that there have been grave thefts of the food which we healers gather for the beggars and tramps in the city. I sent two of my most trusted disciples – Joramson and Otto – to investigate this atrocious embezzlement and now, oh dark hour, they too have disappeared!
I hate to spoil your sunshiny mood, but chances are they have both been killed in the streets. Undead spawn and all that.
Cruel destiny! Ruinous day! Heaven forbid such an outcome! I know a mighty Knight of your stature might not find the time, but if you could investigate I would be very grateful. And there is one piece of information I can give you. Before he disappeared, Joramson said he got a lead from Darvesh: a beggar who most commonly pleads for coin by the city gate. I pray he will prove to illuminate the darkness that has befallen this guild!
(-15000 XP) _{Divine, if only I still had a copy of “The Saucy Lass from Rivertown.”
Of all the things people have invoked my name for; this has to be one of the most… I’ll just say ‘bizarre’.}
What is this place, exactly?
Healer’s House. A guildhall of sorts where we nurse the wounded and the sick of Aleroth back to health and provide meals for the very poor. Deodatus is the guild’s master, but in title only. His political duties have corroded his medical oath and practice to a mere nominal shell. I am the guild master in practice, but alas that such despondency should have befallen Aleroth! Doom, woe, catastrophe!
I met Heleon, and from what he told me, he has no real healing powers.
Calamity! I always suspected him to be a fraud! If it wasn’t for these extraordinary potions he brews, he’d have been expelled from our order long ago. Tell you what: bring me his potions if you get your hands on some – five at least – and I’m sure I could figure out the recipe. Rest assured I’ll put it to better use than he!
This Decimus fellow told me about some valuables in a chest downstairs. Care to give me the key?
The key is yours if you wish, but – O calamity – the cellar downstairs is quarantined! There’s a sick man in there and his disease is as unknown to us as it is apparently incurable! What dark horror this is!
The cellar door here requires a password. Do you know it?
Oh, I have so many things on my mind I have quite forgotten. I worry so! But talk to Peter: he’s a healer also and in charge of the basement. If I’m not mistaken he is tending to some wounded soldiers down near the elevator on Mardaneus Plaza.
_{Peter? Oh! Now I remember the password for the door!}
Goodbye for now.
May Aleroth’s evil fortune have changed for the better when you return!


An Appetite for Murder
Someone’s stealing food – a precious resource in these days of the siege, and now the healers who were investigating the theft have gone missing as well. The only lead is a beggar in Mardaneus Plaza.

A Fraud a Day
We need to bring Heleon’s healing potions to Bernard. Of course, we’ll need to accept Heleon’s quest first to find out where they are.

Mind Over Matter: Bernard
Bernard wants a specific, probably smutty book: “The Saucy Lass of Rivertown”.

Hmmm… Joramson and Otto. Joram was a healer from Divine Divinity, Joramson sounds like his descendant. Otto sounds like a reference to Otho, maybe, except that Otho was a dwarf and they’re absent from this game.




(Halliwell) Calm yourself, my dear Bernard. Think of the Divine and his everlasting patience and perseverance.
_{Obviously the man never actually knew me.}
But I am not as firm of mind as he, O holy seeker. How can I remain stoic in these most turbulent, most disastrous of times?
Pray, plan and prepare. When the enemy is here, it shall be your readiness that determines whether you will scream in the joy of victory or the pain of bloody death! I assume you and yours are ready to treat scores of wounded? Dozens, maybe hundreds?
How can we be, your grace? We cannot even reach the source!
Have faith in the Divine and you will prevail. Also, brew healing potions like there is no tomorrow. Or there might not be.

Therapy Report


This can be found in Bernard’s office, along with a key for his random-loot chest.




Do you have the password?
Honeysuckle.
That’s it! The quarantined area is open to you.




Holy crap! Bernard wasn’t kidding!

Music: Chamber Theme





(Kelton) Oh, thank the gods that finally someone has come to cure me! But… but you don’t look like a healer.
And you look as if you are well beyond the patient stage.
This is a nightmare that never ends, quite literally so! It all started a week ago with the dream. In my sleep I dreamt I was being chased by a demon for what seemed to be hours until it finally got me and started to devour me. I woke up in a sweat only to realize the flesh on my left leg and arm had gone! Terrified, I stumbled here, but no one could help me. I dream the same dream every night and soon the Demon will devour what is left of me! The healers think that I might be contagious, so they locked me up. But I’ll die if no one helps me. I haven’t slept for two days. I can’t hold out much longer!
Hmm..
(???) (-7500 XP) _{Get out of his head, meatling. This soul is mine to feast on!}
Woah!
What? What is it?
Sounds like a severe case of possession to me. I’ll do what I can to help you.
Divine praise your name! I was hoping some cough medicine might to the trick. But your air will prove to be just as invaluable, I’m sure!
Are you an adventurer, perhaps? Did you stumble upon an ancient, cursed temple maybe?
No, I only ever leave Aleroth to fish for trout and I’ve never caught me an ancient evil!
Do you have any enemies? Someone who might have gone to great lengths to curse you?
Not at all! I told Gina her clams stink, but she knows as much about Demons as I know about… well… Demons, actually.
Did you meet any suspicious individuals lately?
Suspicious? No. But I did meet a celebrated man at my favourite tavern, the Phoenix Inn. I saw Halliwell, the famous man from Rivertown! Asked him for an autograph, I did, but I guess he didn’t want to be bothered. That look he gave me! Demonic, really. Never thought a holy man would be capable of it. He has a room up on the second floor of the inn – where no one dares to go because of some ghost. Not that Halliwell would ever be scared of such a thing. I don’t think Ricky the barkeep likes him either, but you know what they say: business is business!
Halliwell… I remember that he’s got a room at the Circle of Trust as well. What does he need two rooms for?
Don’t ask me.
Let me go find you a cure.
Do so, kind knight, quickly! I am so very sleepy!

Something Rotten
Something is very strange here. Halliwell is the only unusual encounter this man can remember recently, but there’s no proof. He’s talking with Bernard now, but confronting him with no proof won’t be helpful. We should investigate his room at the Phoenix inn.

You can’t spell skeleton without Kelton.




_{There’s that Healing Orb that Peter wanted me to fetch.}

A History of Healing Orbs









Another piece of the archer set.




_{Time to go the Phoenix Inn, and maybe see if Halliwell is hiding something.}







Hansel and the House of Secrets
Healer’s House - Main Floor
Bernard and The Basement


Maps





Can you figure out the best way through the House of Secrets to reach the chewy loot-filled far end?







(Decimus) My wife died during the siege and soon I will follow her, but how will I find her in the Hall of Echoes? Should I have her favourite ring with me, her soul might find me! The ring… her precious ring…
What a delusional story. Truly ridiculous.
The truth perhaps, even if it is a harsh one.

He still asks you to bring him the ring anyway, this doesn’t fail the quest.




(Bernard) Such mishaps that plague us, such bitter adversities!
I’m going to have to ask you for a bit more detail if I am to help.
Help? You’d be willing to help? At last a ray of hope breaks through the turbulent clouds of misery and misfortune! The problem is that there have been grave thefts of the food which we healers gather for the beggars and tramps in the city. I sent two of my most trusted disciples – Joramson and Otto – to investigate this atrocious embezzlement and now, oh dark hour, they too have disappeared!
I’ll keep an eye out for them if you like, and find out who stole the food the charity in the meantime.
Ten times blessed may be your offspring! Listen then, for there is one piece of information I can give you.




(Kelton) Oh, thank the gods that finally someone has come to cure me! But… but you don’t look like a healer.
Don’t be deceived by appearances: I am fully medically trained.
Then please use all your powers to drive out this terrible disease from my body!

The healers think that I might be contagious, so they locked me up. But I’ll die if no one helps me. I haven’t slept for two days. I can’t hold out much longer!
Sorry, I trust the healers on this one. Night-night!
No! I cannot sleep again. I must find the Demon and kill it! I’ll find it myself! Away with you, away!

Kelton then runs off. I completed the quest just to see what would happen, but I didn’t find him in the two obvious places I looked, and I didn’t want to rush around everywhere, so I guess giving him the brush-off means you lose that quest forever.


Reader Participation

1. Remember Henry and Eleanor, the couple from Sentinel Island? We’ve just met their son Ricky, and he wants to know how they’re doing. What should we say?

a) Hear about that the island Damian blasted with poison gas? Yeah, they were on it and are dead now.
b) They’ve… they’ve gone to a farm where they can laugh and play all day.


2. This is completely optional, a “just for fun” thing, so if you’re not interested, I don’t mind if you don’t want to fill this out. What route should we take through the House of Secrets to reach the loot-filled end?