Victor nodded as Alpha spoke his point of view on the Intelligent Ones, and was about to explain the letter in a little more detail when the Sheikah complimented him on his playing. The Bard smiled and thanked him, but when Alpha pointed out his pointy ears he couldn't help but reach up and feel the pointed end.

"Yeah, but... well, I mean... I thought I was being quiet enough, and..."

Suddenly, he remembered the letter.

"Whatever. Anyways, that letter I found... Well, it was addressed to Drejudar, but it was written by his brother. If the letter was true, then Drejudar's mother really was in this hospital's asylum, and he actually had a brother and friends. I don't know, the letter just made him seem so... normal. Maybe Drejudar really is less cold hearted than the rest of the Intelligent Ones..."

As they reached the second floor, however, Victor stopped speaking and looked down the corridor. Readying himself once again, he followed Alpha down the hallway...

Alpha chuckles as Victor almost unconsciously reaches up to feel his pointy ears. But his laughter dies as Victor explains about the letter and what it had contained. 'Drejudar had a brother?' He thinks for a second. 'How much do I want to bet that his brother's also an Intelligent One...a lot.'

"Well, Drejudar did say he used to be Hylian, so I guess we should've assumed he was once...normal. But while it could be possible that he's one of the less cold Intelligent Ones, remember that that doesn't make him warm-hearted. He still can't be trusted."

OOC: Sure, post a lot while I'm at work. I feel then need to express apologies too!
IC:

The stairwell in the Hospital is a replica of the one found in the castle. It winds downwards and upwards in a quadrilateral shape, but the long rise and fall is not nearly as cared for as the castle's. The entire basement area is inaccessible; the stairs leading to that particular set of levels have rusted and detached from the main staircase, and their remains lay crumpled and entangled five levels below, on the fourth floor basement.

It is too dark to see the entire wreckage, but the dim light shining from Derix's lantern allow Victor and Alpha to understand what had happened here. The only available route leads upwards, which is, fortunately, the companions' desired destination.

Victor sighed a sorrowful "Yeah" as Alpha spoke, and looked down at the wreckage of the collapsed stairwell. He wasn't exactly upset that the basement was inaccessible, since it would have probably been just as dark as the basement in the castle. So, instead, the Bard looked at Alpha and pointed upwards, then started up the steps...

The third and the fourth floors are inaccessible, although the Hospital is creepy enough that exploring seems out of the question. A thief, nomad or mercenary might have considered a full examination of the building for treasures and other interesting articles, but Victor and Alpha are supposed to be moving as quickly as possible.

As the companions reach the fifth floor, the stairs creak violently, and a horrible scraping sound is emitted; it resembles the sound made by a fork being scraped against a metal object repeatedly. Just as Victor and Alpha step out of the stairwell of the fifth floor, the stairs collapse and join their destroyed counterparts on the fourth floor basement.

The fifth floor is divided into two wings: East and West. Each wing is divided again into four quarters. And even still the quarters are divided into four separate rooms. Victor and Alpha are looking for Room B of the third quarter of the West Wing, which will not be hard to find. However, as they step onto this level, the sound of an animal creeping about somewhere nearby hits them. Whatever this could be, it sounds enormous.

Alpha glances back as the stairs crumble beneath them mere seconds after the duo has left them. "Ooooh, super-dramatic timing," he mutters, wondering if whoever is controlling the outcome of these events has a thing for cheesy dramatic destruction (OOC: ). As he walks forward, his ears picks up the sound of a creeping creature quickly, and brings his staff out again. He creeps forward, motioning for Victor to remain silent as he begins slowly walking towards the West Wing of the floor.

As the stairway collapsed behind them, Victor's eyes grew wide. His mouth hung agape for a moment, then he turned to Alpha frantically.

"How are we-"

It was then that he was silenced by the Sheikah and he heard the sound of the creature moving around somewhere on their floor. The Bard gulped and shakily readied his own weapon, then followed Alpha as stealthily as he could...

Room 3B is not difficult to find. In a matter of minutes, Victor and Alpha are standing in a sizable room that is actually quite bare. All that remains in the accommodation is an uncomfortable looking bed draped with slime-stained sheets and various cupboards. One can only imagine why there would be slime on Drejudar's mother's bed, and upon closer inspection one can see traces of cobwebs and blood.

The cupboards are the important feature of the room. Victor found a key that can open them, but which one? Only one of them is the correct cupboard; only one holds the Stone of Curse. Fortunately, only one of them has been given a lock. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which is the correct cabinet. Even a Cursed One could guess correctly.

Slightly disgusted by the condition of the room, a frown appeared on Victor's face and he tried not to touch anything. However, when he saw the locked cabinet and remembered the key, his frown was quickly replaced with a big smile. Fishing around in his pocket for the rusted key, he pulled it out and suddenly yelped in pain, letting the key fall to the ground. The Bard had temporarily forgotten its prickliness, and so he rubbed his hand for a few seconds and tried again, careful not to grasp the key too tightly this time. Once he had eased it into the lock, he turned it slowly, hoping beyond hope that the Stone of Curse really was in the cabinet...

As the key hits the ground, a metallic melody chimes and echoes through the West Wing, the result of the fall. A cloud of rust floats off of the key and settles on the floor. A screech can be heard from the East Wing, followed by a noisy shuffling. The unidentified monster has been attracted to the whereabouts of its potential prey, and is now coming closer.

Just as Victor turns the key, a devastating creaking rings out. The small, rusty object shatters in the bard's hand before turning the lock. The key has now been destroyed, and the cabinet has yet to be unlocked. The monster continues to get close; it has entered the West Wing. The remains of the key lay in a pile at Victor's feet, and there is now a chunk of rust filling the keyhole.

OOC: Oh yes. I did it. You read correctly Guess what kind of monster it is! It's actually kinda cliche!

OOC: ARGH! And I was even going to add that Victor was turning the key slowly so that it wouldn't break, but I thought better of it!

IC: As the key disintegrated in the lock and his hands, Victor stared in silent bewilderment at the locked cabinet. When he heard the crawling sounds grow louder, his eyes grew even wider, and he looked at the room's door in utter fright. Realizing that they had already been heard and located by the beast, the Bard threw caution to the wind and began kicking at the cabinet door, hoping that the hinges were as rusted as the key had been or the wood was rotted enough for him to break through it quickly and grab the stone...

OOC: I bet it's a big spider! That or a snake...

OOC: Blank...you and your cliches...lol.

Alpha's blood turns to ice as he hears the cracking key just before it shatters. "That's not good..." he mutters as he hears the beast getting closer to them. This is not going nearly as well as Alpha had hoped it would. While Victor starts trying to beat the the cabinet open - which Alpha doubts will work; that'd be far too easy and not nearly dramatic enough - Alpha rushes out into the hallway to await whatever may be coming.

He glances at Victor for a second. "You know, if you stop making so much noise, there's a chance I can distract whatever's coming towards us and lead it away from here. Then you could beat on that cabinet to your heart's content." He turns back to the oncoming beast and draws his staff out from beneath his cape. 'That's right...come straight to your death...'

OOC: Spider sounds like a good guess.

OOC: Augh! I've typed this up three times now thanks to the Refresh button and Power outages! Anyway, spider is correct. Just gotta have a spider somewhere. It's a Zelda code
IC:

Despite Victor's furious assault on the cabinet, it refuses to open. Alpha's thoughts are correct; if it were that simple, the Intelligent Ones would have done so long ago. All Victor manages to do by thrashing the cabinet with his limbs is summon the monster at a quicker pace. Predators adore the feisty prey.

As Alpha steps into the corridor to intercept the creature, a messy, sticky ooze flies at him and binds the front of his body, restricting his movements (Agi/2 for 2 turns). The material is flammable, and so it appears to be easy to remove. However, a fire attack against oneself is not entirely wise.

The creature is now revealed to be a Gohma. Most adventurers will understand what kind of creature this is (and scholars would certainly know extra information regarding such a beast), due to the current Gohma that infests the North-South passage. Just as the Oblivion Re-Deads and Skulltulas have resembled their surface counterparts, the Gohma bares the same cursed twist. Its eye shifts in at a crazed pace, noticing every movement in the room in its paranoia. The enormous spider shrieks violently as it prepares to feed on its prey.

Oblivion Gohma Stats:

AGI: 16 [2 Points per leg]

Head
Hp: 50
Spl: 0
Def: 10
Str: 5
Fang DMG: 10

Eye
Hp: 100
Spl: 0
Def: 15

Body
Hp: 50
Spl: 15
Def: 10
Web Status Effect: Confusion/Slow

Leg x 8
Hp: 20
Spl: 0
Def: 10
Str: 5
Claw DMG: 5

OOC: There are different ways for you guys to fight her. I felt it would be more interesting than just hitting a target until it dies. You guys get to choose your own strategy for subduing it!

OOC: I shouldn't've waited to see if it worked. Oh well. Spiders + me in real life = , therefore...

IC: When the cabinet held together after his beating, Victor sighed heavily and looked at the small pile of rust that was once the key to the end of their mission. He gave the cabinet one final kick out of pure spite and turned towards the door, hoping to find Alpha. Quite upset by his failure, the Bard wasn't really paying attention when he addressed the Sheikah from the doorway.

"It's no use, Alpha. The cabinet door won't budge. We're gonna have to find some other way to open it..."

It was then that he looked up at Alpha, expecting a reply. He didn't expect, however, to find his comrade covered in an odd goo. A puzzled look crossed the Bard's face once again, and he looked around the hallway for the source of the ooze.

Had there been birds in the cavern perched near the hospital, they would have flown off in fright.

Victor's screech echoed throught the hospital's walls, and he promptly jumped at least a foot in the air, maybe more. He fell backwards and crawled farther away from the spider, his eyes wide and his heavy breathing peppered with whimpers. Attempting to calm himself down by closing his eyes, the Bard tried not to think about the Gohma and focused on the mission; not to mention how the others wouldn't be too happy if they returned empty handed. The creature was an obstacle that he and Alpha - mostly Alpha - would have to overcome. So, with a loud gulp, Victor slowly opened his eyes and stood upright. He quickly sheathed his dagger, since he would prefer not to get too close to the spider, and instead pulled out his bow.

Choosing to focus on the monster's large eye in the hopes that he could possibly cripple its sight, Victor loaded his bow with an arrow and fired at the Gohma's eye...

As Victor's scream fills the hallways of the ancient hospital, Alpha's shoulders slump and his mouth hangs slightly ajar. "Of course," he mutters under his breath. "Victor's afraid of spiders. That figures."

The Sheikah slowly attempts to shake himself free of the goop before deciding that such a thing is not likely to happen. Surprisingly, he glances back at the Bard to see that he's stopped screaming and is actually trying to fight it. It does make an odd kind of sense: if Victor's afraid of spiders, the best way to get away from an evil spider coming to kill everyone is to just kill it instead. Though with a scream like that, Alpha had assumed Victor would be out of commission for quite some time...

He reaches beneath his cape with a sticky hand and grabs his previously clean staff. Since he's already covered in goop, it doesn't really matter if he gets...uh...gooped...again. He charges forward - as quickly as he can - and brings his staff down on the Oblivion Ghoma's body.