Narg and the Necromancer

Doctor in the House.

The door was made of plain metal with a wheel lock set into the middle, the sort you find on large ships. The whole thing gleamed a dull grey in the gloomy light. It blocked the corridor off with a finality that was rather, well, final. Narg and the others studied it.

“I suppose we’d better get on with it then,” said Shogun. He pushed Narg in the back. “Open it up hero.”

Narg stepped up and twisted the handle. It resisted at first, and he had to strain to finally get it to spin. He pushed on the door and it opened with a slow moan.

The three stepped through, clustered together with weapons at the ready. Beyond the door was a large bare room, tiled with those horrible plain white tiles that somehow make the place look dirty. The air smelled of medicine, and something else unpleasant. A long white corridor twisted off into the distance. Narg thought he could hear the echoes of distant screaming.

“Nice décor,” commented Shogun.

They moved forward slowly. “Can you detect anything sword?” hissed Narg to Bloodletter.

“Everything here is distorted in some fashion. There are things here though, that’s for sure,” the blade responded. It was the first time Narg had ever heard it uncertain, and he didn’t like it.

They walked down the corridor. Solid looking doors with small grills set into them started to appear on each wall. Narg peered into one. An empty cell, decorated with the same white tiles as the entranceway. Rusty chains were attached to the wall. There was nothing else. Narg grunted and moved on.

The next room was the same, and the next, but the fourth held a woman. She was clothed in torn rags and had blank white eyes and hair. She was foaming at the mouth and throwing herself against the walls as hard as she could. b****y marks lined the tiles, marking the territory the restraints would allow her to reach

The fifth cell held the skeletal remains of a small form, still attached to the chains. Soiled brown bandages and the remnants of a small rag doll were the only clues to the person who had been held there. Shogun, whose legs were slowly getting shorter again, peered in and shuddered when he saw the doll.

“I see you are admiring our facility. This patient is one of our many successes. A total cure!”

The three spun around to see the form of an apparently perfectly normal human in white robes addressing them. He looked to be in his elder years, but otherwise in good health, and appeared to be carrying no weapons. How he had arrived behind them without Narg hearing was a mystery.

“Yes, total cure,” he went on, running a hand through shoulder length grey hair. “Happened only recently as well. I put it down to our advanced magical research. The cutting edge you know.” He slashed his hand in a way that made Narg think he was being quite literal.

The man stopped suddenly as if noticing their expressions for the first time. “Of course! How silly of me! Here I am babbling on and I haven’t introduced myself. Doctor George Ademaenous, most people just call me Doctor George. I’m head of this little facility,” he waved his fingers about, “at your service.”

“Er, Narg,” said Narg deciding to play along. “Gorgus and short… Shogun.” He gestured at the other two who nodded.

“Delighted!” responded the Doctor. “Want to have a little tour first do we? Splendid, splendid, come along then.” He started to walk down the corridor.

Narg looked at the other two. “Play along for now eh?”

“I want to know what comes after ‘first’ myself,” grumbled Shogun under his breath as they followed the doctor.

George was talking away as they caught up. “…our rooms for the more seriously ill patients, but as you saw for yourself, we have our successes, yes indeed we have them.” He pushed his way through a large set of swinging doors to enter a spacious hall.

The walls here were a dull brown, age and neglect prominent. Around the room were various ancient furnishings, all in a bad state of repair. However, the furniture wasn’t what attracted their attention, it was the people.

There must have been about 50 of them, all wandering around the aimlessly, with blank expressions on their faces, at least on the ones who still had faces. They all wore black robes, most of them torn and ragged, and they all wore a black studded leather collar. Despite their animation, most appeared to be in an advanced state of decomposition.

“Here is our recreation area, where the inmates can gather and enjoy themselves,” the doctor carried on cheerfully, seemingly talking about a different reality from the one Narg was looking at.

One of the inmates, perhaps newer than the rest as he showed no signs of ageing, rushed at Narg. “Helllp me! Gett me outt of heeeee…” The ending was cut off as several huge creatures dressed in white, and human in general shape only, leapt on the poor unfortunate and dragged him off screaming.

The doctor tutted. “Ah, poor Marcus, I can see another round of treatment needs to be scheduled for him.” He turned back to Narg and the others. “Now then, what next? Perhaps I can show you the straining device, it’s just up this way…”

“Ah, Doctor,” said Narg, holding his hand out. “It’s been lovely looking around and all that, and the straining device sounds wonderful, but we have business that we need to be attending to. If you could just point us to the exit…”

“The exit? Oh. Oh no, there’s no exit from the asylum. Not until you are cured.”

Narg began to have a bad feeling. “Honestly Doctor, we’re all perfectly healthy…”

“I am the doctor! I will decide when you are cured!” There was a sudden change to the doctor’s voice, it deepened and boomed around the room. At the same time his skin began to marble with dark lines, and his shape began to twist and convulse.

“Er, Narg. I think we should leave. NOW!” said Shogun, and the three moved swiftly to the nearest door.

“I dooon’t think so!” came the doctors voice, distorted nearly beyond recognition, and suddenly the exit was full of several huge humanoid shapes wearing overalls.

Narg drew Bloodletter and brought it down on the nearest white figure. The sword cleaved its head in two, and grey and black gunk sprayed the doorway. The others fell back several paces, leaving a space.

“Hurry Narg!” cried Shogun anxiously. “Dr Crazy is taking a turn for the worse!”

Narg glanced over his shoulder as he pushed the large corpse out of his way. Doctor George did indeed seem to be suffering from some kind of metamorphosis. His skin had now turned completely black. The eye sockets had shrunk and his veins throbbed a dark blue. He raised a hand and pointed a long claw at Narg. “You need an enema!”

“Run!” shouted Narg and he took off with Gorgus and Shogun following closely. Behind them ran the huge orderlies and Doctor George.

“They’re all mad!” huffed Shogun as they skidded around a corner and up another long corridor.

Narg took a running swipe at an orderly who appeared from a side-door, cutting through half his neck and leaving him on his knees, grasping at his throat which fountained blood.

The doctor and his huge staff were keeping up though, and now George pointed a long digit and uttered a Word. Lighting spewed forth from his finger and smashed into the wall next to Narg, showering him with debris.

“Use the box!” shouted Shogun. “Use the Bob box! Use it, use it!”

Narg reached into his pouch and pulled out the box with some difficulty, ducking as another lightning bolt crackled past his shoulder. “This better work,” he mumbled as he took the top off the box and threw it over his shoulder, causing a strange feeling to creep over him…