Page 2543

~~((National Senior Citizens Day -- page 15 of 24))~~
'What do you mean when you say it's a "unique" form of psychosis?' asked Ezura.

'Specifically, I am referring to the potentially supernatural aspect of it,' said Orric. 'Psychosis is a rather broad term that covers many different conditions, but many psychoses are characterized by delusions and/or hallucinations. Czort-jasnosc--or czorja, as some call it--is distinct in that the things it causes the person to experience... are always incredibly violent and gruesome. Those inflicted with it often believe that they are literally living in Hell--or something like it.'

'Wow,' said Ezura. 'That sounds... horrible. But not exactly supernatural.'

'Ah. Yes, well. The reason for that is because there are many disputed accounts of some of the "sufferers" having seen hallucinations that turned out to be real or surprisingly close to real. Some reports have even mentioned "predictive capabilities that occasionally made it seem like the patient could see into the future."'

Needless to say, no one had been pleased to hear that.

Certainly, Raul did not want to believe that the Killer of Krohin was capable of such a thing, but the more he thought back to that fight from the other day--and to that penetrating stare--the more he thought it might just be true.

And if it was, then this surprise attack strategy was even more important. While it might be tempting to get discouraged and say that there was no point in attempting an ambush if the enemy could see into the bloody future, Raul was convinced that it might still work.

Especially if they didn't attack Croll first. If they could ambush his subordinates while he wasn't around, then they could isolate him. And from there, they could overwhelm and possibly even capture him or his reaper.

That was the hope, anyway.