administrate the potion into the beasts mouth?
The Wolf-like creature tries to kick and buck away from the elixir but too many hands hold her fast and the liquid is soon enough gone down it's throat. A moment of stunned of silence from the creature is shattered by a raspy-gargling, scream/howl of pain and anguish. She strains mightily against her bindings but to no avail. The blood vessels in her eyes burst making the whites into a crimson red and bloody froth rolls down her tattered yellow dress from her lupine maw.
After a couple of moments of this the creature slowly ceases to strain at the ropes and finally with a rattling sigh, goes limp. Motionless but for an irregular pattern of shallow breaths.
"Wow, that was trippy."
"Wow, that was trippy."
"Hurrm... Woulda been less-mess-like to be killin' the beastie, eh?"
Keegan does not look happy.
"There's still the poultice. Cleff's instructions said that wouldn't be pleasant either."
...
Keegan does not look happy.
"Still poultry? Uhmmm... no she is still lupine."
Jaden is close to Hors, holding the shifter down. He looks to Effan with a huge smile.
"Now Effan, you can see she is not poultry. Now make quick with the rub before she shakes us off."
Effan begins applying the poultice, trusting Jaden and the others to hold the werewolf still.
"He said unpleasant, not down right disturbing." Morganst felt the shiver run down his spine. Ewww this is gross. It was horrible that this was a little girl, but... UGH!
"Don;t know about you all, but I could use a nice drink after all this." he stepped aside to help hold the wolfling down.
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Effan applies a thin layer of poultice to the creature, as directed by the note. A moment passes and it looks as if the creature is no longer breathing when suddenly she screams a cry that sounds like a cat and dog both simultaneously being slowly crushed to death under a cart wheel and bursts the ropes, tossing back anyone who was restraining her. Her back arches to the point that it looks to be surely broken and her entire body shakes like the palsied hand of the extremely aged, before she crumples onto the ground, writhing and wailing in pain. The hair upon her body seems to be slowly receding into her skin or falling off in various spots while several canine teeth are ejected from her mouth in a bloody spray. Her form seems to be reverting slowly into a more humanoid shape, though with tremendous amounts of pain. The treatment must be making her human body reject the wolfen aspects, purging her of the taint. As she writhes on the floor in an every more human-like state, there is a puddle forming from her. Vomit, drool, blood and possibly other waste fluids are making quite the mess of the basement's dusty floor.
Finally, looking like an innocent girl of 12, she looks up at the group on shaking arms. "I'mmm soorry......" she manages to breathe out before collapsing into the disgusting puddle, unconscious and barely breathing.
Jaden watches the event without a word, unsure how anything could live after what he just watched. He mutters a prayer to the old gods for the end to this horror
"By the gods. I would not wish that upon the devils in the pits what i just witnesed."
Keegan shakes his head, spits on the floor, and exits the room.
"Sick..."
"Fascinating. It is by Shelyn's good graces that I did not kill her."
Abe kneels down next to the girl and puts his hands on her. "Poor dear, you are back from the darkness now."
Morganst paled and steps back away from the girl. He pulls out his flask and take a deep pull. Wiping his chin he passes the flask to Keegan.
"I hope she's cured. Not sure I can watch something like that again. How long was she like that?"
Effan had screwed up his courage to apply the poultice, but once the task was done, the girl's spasm's and flailing sent him scurrying away toward the stairs. He watched in something close to horror as the girl morphed back into human form. Looking at her collapsed on the floor, he dare not approach. When Abe went to help her, the gnome was ashamed that he had not. The best Effan could muster was to ask, "Does anyone have a blanket for her?"
A few minutes later doubt begins to form. He draws Faldor and Jaden aside, "How can we be sure the cure will stick? Should we post watches over her ?"
Jaden walks as he talks with Keegan and Effan, keep his voice low
"We will not know till she shifts again.I will stay frist watch if need be,but we need to keep alest two on shift."
"Blanket? Why, yes, I have just the thing." Abe reaches into Leo's saddlebags and pulls out a thick wool blanket.
The kindly face of Elara is tear-streaked and red from watching the poor girl's transformation and she speaks, "She came to us a couple months back, her parents were killed in what we thought was a wolf attack with her being bitten before help arrived to drive off the beast. That is the story told to me by the merchant who dropped her off, he said it happened somewhere along the road from Korvosa to Falcon's Hollow, but didn't have any specifics as to the location."
She swallows hard before continuing "I...I...I'll need to get this cleaned up and grab some more blankets." There are several children's faces peeking around the slightly ajar basement door, trying to strain to get a look as she turns around, "Children! Get back! This is nothing you should see! Kimi and Jurin! Dishes if you please, clean up supper. Hollin and Mikra, unlatch and open the shutters. We could use some air in this house, and Savram, please fetch me the mop and bucket and a few lemons from the pantry. Leave them by the basement door, dear."
She scurries off to get the supplies, tossing a comment back to the group of adventurers "Thank you, gentlemen and please, make yourself at home. I have wash basins and a barrel of water in the kitchen, Kimi can let you know where washing clothes are, and afterwards please feel free to partake in dinner. I have a large pot of stew in the fireplace, it's probably still warm, and there is loaves of fruity bread wrapped in rags in the pantry. I don't have much to offer as drinks besides goat's milk in the cold chest by the pantry or water, but feel free to help yourself. After I get some order back in this house I would love to sit and chat with you all and properly express my thanks."
Hozs hears
The kindly face of Elara is tear-streaked and red from watching the poor girl's ...whwhahwhwhah...
...whwhahwhwhah...
...whwhahwhwhah...
...whwhahwhwhah... I have a large pot ..."
Hozs gulps and puts his hand to Miss Squeek. "Stay behind me..."
For a few moments Faldor can do nothing but add his sick to the rest. Finally with a sigh he wipes his mouth and goes over to pick the girl up and carry her as best he can away from the mess. Tears stream down his face as he lays her on a box a slumps down beside it.
Looking up to Effan, "Gods, I hope that it is really over for her but I'll watch first with Jaden as well."
Once again he pulls himself up and walks over to his crossbow and sits on another box staring directly at the young girl with his sights set upon her for fear of this being a ruse.
With a smile he stands and turns, "ABE! Abe, see if she has evil about her. That may be our true way to tell if all is well."
"Good thinking Faldor." Abe concentrates for a second looking at the girl.
"Good thinking Faldor." Abe concentrates for a second looking at the girl.
Not a sign of any evil in the area, although Keegan seems to be a bit unnerved at the mention of using the detection....
I dohn even exercise
"Good thinking Faldor." Abe concentrates for a second looking at the girl.Not a sign of any evil in the area, although Keegan seems to be a bit unnerved at the mention of using the detection....
As Abernathus' evil senses pass over Keegan, Abe begins to get a splitting headache. No sense of evil, though.
As Abernathus' evil senses pass over Keegan, Abe begins to get a splitting headache. No sense of evil, though.
Effan would like food and some sleep. He'll take the last watch.
Jaden takes the frist watch with Faldor. In that time Jaden readies his kit for the next day while talking over the day with Faldor. If possable, Jaden sees if Keegan and Morganst can make a wide scouting of the area. Jaden is still not sure about the new rogue, but he is hopeing he is up to the task. Keegan will fill in the blanks if he does not meet the task.
"It was a hard day for the girl, i would not wish that upon anyone. I do hope this takes, I do not wish to think of what could be."
"Can you both see if there is anything close to this place we should be ready for?. It would help to have a better knowledge of our area."
Abe gets weird vibes from Keegan, and headaches, but nothing evil. He remains seated by the girl.
"Leo and I will stay here with her all night."
"Leo, come." he says to the dog, who lays down beside him.
At Faldor's request Jahn snuggles up with the girl almost like a house cat hoping that a little comfort will go a long way with her.
"One would almost think death was a better option but perhaps the suffering was fully on the evil that had infested her." With a smile he nods, "Yes, I'd like to hope that the full pain was taken by the beast with none to the girl."
The night passes silently and uneventfully for the young girl resting amid the blankets. She seems to be sleeping the sleep of total exhaustion.
After all calms down a bit, and Elara gets the kids taken care of, she puts on some water for tea and brews some coffee for the group. She begins to relay her story of the last couple weeks and how soon after the girl came to her, the pet yard-dog turned up dead. Then sporadically woodland animals would be found torn apart in the yard until one night Elara happened to hear something outside and went to investigate. She only barely made it inside and bolted the door before the wolfen creature slammed into it and started trying to tear through the wood. The creature tried to come through a window nearby when the door wouldn't give way and Elara managed to grab a serving knife from the silverware on the table and jam it into the creature's hand before it got through the window, driving it away for the evening.
This gave her time to fortify the lower level a bit and check on the children. She realized that Jeva was missing and instantly made the connection between her past wolf attack, going missing, and this hybrid creature attacking. She sent a note with one of the older children and sent him on a horse into town to find some help for Jeva. He returned with news that Laurel was looking into a mixture that would require divine magic to help make it work, magic that would take some time to have done, but that she would have the shopkeeper at the general store send it as soon as it was ready. Townsfolk didn't need to know about Jeva's condition, in her opinion, because they may react in a violent fashion or hold some prejudice in the future against Jeva when she came to town as an adult looking to make a life of her own.
Midway through the story she notices the distinctively lizardfolk-made neck pieces that the party is wearing. "Ahh, so you've encountered the scaled ones? Was it in battle or in peace?"
"It was peace that brought these upon our necks. I'm guessing you've had your own run in?"
"Peace you say.....so you harbor no ill-will towards the lizardfolk?" she says while scrutinizing your faces to guess your true feelings.
"The Lizardkin aproched use with open arms, and aided us twice over. There is no ill-tideings towards them or from them."
Effan speaks up to support Jaden's story. "Aye. You heard about the sickness in the Hollow? The lizardfolk helped us deliver the cure, and they've given information that the kobalds north of here were behind it. We are headed out to investigate their claim." He gestures toward Faldor, " But if you want to hear the tale told properly, there's your man."
Faldor smiles with the idea of his newly formed ballad being heard by another audience even if it is such a small one.
Morganst quickly moves to wash himself up some before grabbing a bowl of the stew. "I'll take last watch too then, since the others are covered.", paused between spoonfuls to get the words out.
"What do you know of the merchant who brought her in? Does he travel these parts?"
"Uhmmm... I like the ssscalefolkssss. They have ottersss and are friendsss."
"Are you sure the otters didn't have them?"
"The merchant is a common traveler from Korvosa through The Hollow and down to other cities to the south. He passes through every 4-6 months bringing news and wares from other lands. He has always been amiable and I have no reason to doubt his story." is the reply that Morganst gets in response to his question.
"The Scaled Ones come to the house, every couple weeks, bringing me and the children fresh game, fish and a variety of tubers for food. They stay for a day and help with the care of the orphanage's grounds like clearing away brush and debris so the children have a good area to play in, general repairs to the house and such, and some of the young Lizardfolk come along with them and spend time playing with my children. They have always been a gods-send for us and their assistance has gotten us through some very tough times. I know some in town have a differing opinion of The Scaled Ones, but I think those that do haven't seen them and are prejudging them based on their differences. I find their company to be more welcoming then most of the folk in town, which is why I chose to leave town in the first place. There were so many things there to corrupt the children, the lumber barons, petty, thieving gangs, scoundrels and swindlers. All looking for the opportunity to corrupt my poor charges. Out here they can grow up slowly and be children like they should." she seems to be getting quite emotional in her manner.
"The Lizardfolk have always treated us as friends and shown us respect and I would keep them protected if I can which is why I hesitated to talk about them until I knew whether you got your accessories by sword or fellowship."
"The merchant is a common traveler from Korvosa through The Hollow and down to other cities to the south. He passes through every 4-6 months bringing news and wares from other lands. He has always been amiable and I have no reason to doubt his story." is the reply that Morganst gets in response to his question.
"The Scaled Ones come to the house, every couple weeks, bringing me and the children fresh game, fish and a variety of tubers for food. They stay for a day and help with the care of the orphanage's grounds like clearing away brush and debris so the children have a good area to play in, general repairs to the house and such, and some of the young Lizardfolk come along with them and spend time playing with my children. They have always been a gods-send for us and their assistance has gotten us through some very tough times. I know some in town have a differing opinion of The Scaled Ones, but I think those that do haven't seen them and are prejudging them based on their differences. I find their company to be more welcoming then most of the folk in town, which is why I chose to leave town in the first place. There were so many things there to corrupt the children, the lumber barons, petty, thieving gangs, scoundrels and swindlers. All looking for the opportunity to corrupt my poor charges. Out here they can grow up slowly and be children like they should." she seems to be getting quite emotional in her manner.
"The Lizardfolk have always treated us as friends and shown us respect and I would keep them protected if I can which is why I hesitated to talk about them until I knew whether you got your accessories by sword or fellowship."
He smiles in that equine way he does. "Uhmmm... I like the ssscalefolkssss. Ssscalefolksss are friendsss."
"The Lizardfolk have always treated us as friends and shown us respect and I would keep them protected if I can which is why I hesitated to talk about them until I knew whether you got your accessories by sword or fellowship."
He smiles in that equine way he does. "Uhmmm... I like the ssscalefolkssss. Ssscalefolksss are friendsss."
"Quite. They're not at all as the lumber barons, or most of the Hollow for that matter, believe." Effan pauses, before continuing, "But not all the scaled folk are so big-hearted. We're on the trail of some smaller ones, kobolds. Have you seen or heard anything about them?"
"That explains why the orphanage is way out here in the boonies. I imagine it is safer here than it would be in town."
Quite. No, I haven't heard of any other scaled folk. Of course, I do have my hands full with all these children so I don't hear too much, 'cept from the Lizardfolk that visit to help sometimes. I think they enjoy the time talking with me to practice the common language, and I've been picking up some of their tongue too.
If you have questions of them though, perhaps you should seek them out and pose them to some of their leaders.
Bedtime then? With watches on the weregirl? Effan will take the last watch.
Morganst volunteers for last watch as well.
"You ssspeeak lizzzzard?
"Uhmmm... I will go onest." Hozs carries his sleepy self to the basement to sit with the girl. He and Miss Squeek will practice katas to waken himself up. Before his shift ends he will send a cute, little, and ethereal bunny hopping to the wolf-girl.
Abe and Leo sit with Horz, Miss Squeaker and the girl. Abe keeps a short leash on Leo so he doesn't try to eat Miss Squeaker.
At some point he says to the dim druid: "My man Horz, I have heard your kind can sometimes talk to animals. Can you talk to Leo?"
"Nnghckhrrrgh..."
Keegan mumbles angrily and incomprehensibly, but seems inclined to take watch second watch.
"Nnghckhrrrgh..."
Keegan mumbles angrily and incomprehensibly, but seems inclined to take watch after Morganst.
Abe and Leo sit with Horz, Miss Squeaker and the girl. Abe keeps a short leash on Leo so he doesn't try to eat Miss Squeaker.
At some point he says to the dim druid: "My man Horz, I have heard your kind can sometimes talk to animals. Can you talk to Leo?"
Hozs nods genially, but a little warily. Most of the people asking this question are looking for the butt to some non-joke. Or a joke that he is never in know about. Finally he opens a bag with nearly a dozen bundles of leaves, fir, bones,rocks, sticks and some less identifiable bits. "Uhmmm... I have many secrets given to me by the forest. See?"