<em>Parlor/Guest Room<br/>Aloisa, Corinne, Faelyn, Michelle, Zoe, Doctor Noire, Masked Ladies (24) </em><br/><br/>With lunch concluded, it was time for the lunatics to return from the yard. Ladies in masks and drab dresses began to enter through the far parlor door before the guests were safely sealed in their room. At first there were a few, shuffling, dreading the asylum's stony heart even as the cold fireplace drew them like moths. More continued to arrive, to fan out, to claim every desirable seat and corner, until there were so many it became inevitable that some came to peek in the guest room.<br/>"I don't know you," said a masked lady to Corinne and Zoe. The tone was vicious, it did not match the substance of her words. There was no humanity to the mask, no mercy, and behind it dwelt a maniac.<br/><br/>Now the masks became aware that there were strangers among them, and all soulless, hollow eyes turned to the guest room in silent, eerie unison.<br/><br/>Last to arrive in the parlor was a woman without mask. Her frame was willowy, windblown, her hair drawn back from a feline face in strict Psyche knot, and in her thin hands a ring of keys.<br/>"Number fifteen," the woman called that maniac, like a dog to heel. "Don't bother them. Come and sit by the fire."<br/>Doctor Noire unlocked a drawer, and produced the tools needed to begin the room's grand centerpiece crackling. There was little need for the fireplace to be lit, little chill to dispel. A small flame grew to the limits of its iron cage, and began reaching upward, upward. Soon the heat of the parlor would become oppressive.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Doctor Noire</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/kF4Gkx8.png)<br/></div></div><br/><br/><br/><em>The Library<br/>Danae, Margaret, Rehner, Masked Ladies (2) </em><br/><br/>"If the need is serious," said Rehner. "Be careful not to lose yourself. Hurt can be instructive. With good reason, we suffer. You must be well acquainted, mademoiselle. Each moment hurts, but only the last one kills."<br/><br/>Once gazes locked, Doctor Rehner would not permit Danae to turn away. Purely imagined were chains holding Danae in place, compelling her to stare, and yet for the weak of will they felt no less real.<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Danae must make a Wisdom save, DC 12</div><div class="spoiler_body">Danae is the target of a gaze attack.<br/><br/>On a failure, Danae becomes charmed, incapacitated, and has a speed of 0 until the trance is broken. She can still speak.<br/><br/>On a success, Danae is aware she was the target of a supernatural power, but not its effect.</div></div><br/><br/>"I wonder what your stubborn friends will do when I take away this hurt. Will you be in trouble again? Must I watch you closely?"<br/><br/>Margaret took a breath as if to speak, but caught herself before overstepping Danae's wishes. Her eyes were on the placid surface of Danae's face, unaware of the dread presence beneath, threatening to lock Danae in an oubliette of her own mind.<br/><br/>"You can tell us your intentions, mademoiselle. There is trust between doctor and patient. Tell us, and we'll fetch the laudanum together."