Lets go to the closer guy then.
"Let us go see the loudmouth healer."
As you carry the wounded man your way back through the sewers, you meet the otyughs who you left behind. They stay quiet for a second, staring at you and sniffing the air, as if making sure you're real. They keep their distance from your group.
"No danger?" the alpha grumbles.
It's my imagination or you guys are wary about this man?
"He smell bitter... Like the enemy." moans the otyugh leader.
"He was accosted by the men who hurt you. I imagine I smell a bit like him too, since I got so close."
The otyughs wiggles his tentacles in a way that you can only assume is their equivalent to shrugging one's shoulders.
"No care... Not like him." he mumbles. A second otyugh approaches the alpha and drops a heavy, soggy potato sack in front of you...
"Yours now." the alpha says before the bizarre creatures quietly crawl away into the sewers' darkness, actively avoiding the wounded man as they leave.
The potato sack smells of spoiled meat and rotten eggs, buts once it was dropped, you get a glimpse of something shiny within...
Within the sack, you find a beautiful dagger... It's dirty and fetid, but miraculously, not corroded at all. A good polish can make it as good as new. Among pieces of putrid meat, there's some fine silverware, worth around 120 gp (if you clean and polish it). There's an odd object, maybe a charm or fetish , made of the skulls and bones of small birds. The central skull has blackened gems in its eye sockets.
There are also a couple fish left (mostly) intact... A small bite was taken from one of them. Probably not a healthy meal, though.
After the otyughs leave, you too go on your way. It isn't difficult to find Sir Dayne's house it's the only whose chimney is literally blasting fire. The house smells of sulfur, bat guano and... Paprika?!
As you approach the house, you can faintly hear a pleasant melody playing softly...
Eitylen takes the dagger - I hope you don't mind
When near sir Dayne's house
I don't have a good feeling about this... - Eitylen Knocks the door
"My condolences about your kin." Cyrus nods his head in respect to the Otyugh.
"Somebody tell me if this fetish is magical, please."
If Dayne does not answer Eitylen's knock, Leng knocks harder.
At Eitylen knocks once... Twice... And nothing happens. As Tai Leng slams on the door, you all hear a calm female voice speaking a short sentence in a weird, "hissy" language. It's answered by a loud male voice speaking in common...
"WHAT?!" it says.
The female voice repeats its words, this time louder.
"BAH! THEY CAN COME TOMORROW!" he replies.
Tai Leng knocks harder.
The female voice speaks another short sentence. The male voice grumbles in the same language as the female one, getting increasingly louder as uneven footsteps approach the door.
After the clicking of 9 different locks being unlocked, the door opens... Slightly. A small chain still holds it mostly closed.
A man looks at you through the opening. He's about Brother Cyrus' height. His eyes are grey and protected by large, thick goggles. His hair, beard, eyebrows, mustache and beard are dark brown, except for its many (many) spots where's they're burnt black. A couple of his teeth are made of metal, although they are certainly not gold or silver. The man's hands are enveloped in thick gloves, similar to those used by blacksmiths. A large burn scar goes from his neck and down his torso, although how far you can't tell, for the man's body is also covered in thick clothes and an even thicker apron. Oddly enough, he doesn't wear any thick layers on his feet, and is in fact completely bare-footed.
"What?" he says, grumply, but controlled.
"We need a healer. You were closest, and have a reputation. Will you help, or are you willing to let a man die?"
We have some gold too - Eitylen adds in case the man is not convinced by Tai leng words.
Brother Cyrus hoists the unconscious man for better grip and keeps his silence whilst waiting for Sir Dayne to respond.
He looks over Tai Leng shoulder to quickly inspect the wounded man...
"Tch... Bring him over." he says with the same grumpy tone, before briefly closing the door to open the chain lock.
The man leads you from the door, through the main room and down a short corridor.
The house is overall pretty tight and clean... The floor is made of very dark green, almost black tiles. It matches most of the vases and tableware you see around the house, as well as the doorknobs. The walls have a pleasant teal coloration, though.
It would be a pretty normal house, if not for some... Oddities. By the main room you see a fireplace, but there's no wood or even any ground there. Instead, A very bright red fire blasts from somewhere below the room and heats passes through the fireplace on its way out up the chimney... A number of smoked glass vials are present in nearly every shelf of every room and corridor in the house, all of them are extremely clean and carefully labeled, although all the information is written in some weird alpha-numerical code, rather than words. A few red/orange-ish flames float freely through the house, a few of which always hover around your host's head. He occasionally waves some of them away, but doesn't seem to actually mind their presence.
The doors on the corridor are all made of wood, but covered with a spotless pearl-white coating. Eventually, the man stops by one of the doors and enters the room to where it leads.
You follow him inside... Where you can see two large tables and a couple matching chairs next to them. Around the room, there's nothing but shelves filled with scroll cases and glass vials, all of which are properly labeled in the same odd code. Every single piece of furniture in this room is made of dark green ceramics on metalic frames that looks like steel, but slightly darker.
By the door, you see a pair of thick boots with copper-colored straps.
"Place him over that table." he says and points without even looking at you. The man stops by a few vials and checks the writing on them...
"You better have money." he adds. "This isn't a charity."
He has a subtle accent, but you can't quite place it...
He has a subtle accent, but you can't quite place it...
Yes, we have gold, just say a just tariff and I'll be glad to pay it
"And don't touch anything!" the man adds, this time more vigorously.
After checking a few vials and herbs from nearby shelves while Brother Cyrus places the man on the empty table, he grabs a couple of them and approaches the wounded man. He takes a quick look at the wounds and makes an intrigued expression before pouring the content of one of the glass vials down the victim's mouth.
The wounds close... Partially. The man is breathing easier, but the cuts and bruises aren't gone and pus and mucus are still being expelled.
"What the hell?!" the apothecary exclaims. "These are no normal wounds! What in the abyss happened to this man???"
Can't you try another of those potions? we can pay it, I think, what's their price by the way?
Leng shrugs.
"He was attacked by a humanoid monster in the sewers. We killed his allies, but he escaped. He was pale, and breathed poison clouds if that helps."
Theman seems confused and somewhat alarmed by the information, but briefly shakes his head and goes back to checking his vials.
"Well... Whatever it is that poisoned him, did a really good job!" he says. "The bleeding stopped, but the 'poison' is not gone. My salve barely affected it."
He stops for a second, mumbling to himself in the weird tongue you heard before he opening the door.
"I can seal the wounds, and maybe delay the effects of the taint, but I can't fix it with what I have here. I have a few ideas of what it might be, but I'd rather not say anything definitive before being sure."
He turns back to his vials for a moment, then looks back at you.
"Who are you, anyway?" he asks with a curious (and suspicious) tone "I don't remember seeing you around. And I have a damn good memory."
well, We have not settle a name, but I like to call us Eitylen and the mighty benignant troubleshooter
"We are new in town. Truth be told, none of us know each other very well, even. We were all hired for a job earlier tonight, and were going to drink away our earnings when we stumbled across a few connected crises."
"I am Tai Pao Leng. You may call me Tai or Leng for short if you choose."
"We are all in the profession, if you can call it that, of taking on dangerous tasks for money. If there is an ingredient you require to save this man, we could procure it for you."
"We were actually taking a look at what was causing the stink by the harbor. Whatever poisoned this man, he and his colleague killed a bunch of Otyughs down in the sewer before he vanished with some weird urn. The Otyugh corpses were left in the water by them."
"Why would anyone mess with otyughs? They are harmless and don't anything worth taking, unless you really like rotten meat, rusty nails and crap-stained junk." the man's voice shows honest confusion. "I'm Sir Pitus Baozha Dayne, but I'm guessing you already knew that."
he goes back to fiddling with his vials...
"In any case, I can't tell you where to get a solution for this guy's problem. I'm not even sure about what it is. I've heard of stories about similar cases in the Howling Mountains, but I've never actually seen one, so I can't be sure it's even the same thing." Sir Dayne adds, pointing at the wounded man. "I'll give you an elixir that might help him regain some of his strength... And a powerful enough priest might be able to do something... But, honestly... At this point, it might be better to just make him comfortable."
Cyrus gestures a thumb to himself before introducing. "Good to meet you Sir Dayne, I'm Cyrus Vance."
"Is there anyone of powerful faith within the city? I don't really want this man to die without knowing what that creature's mission was down in the sewer."
In case we would need to ask around for the information
"Well... There are many temples in the city, but I don't frequent them, so I don't know about specific clerics... I heard the head of the Gozreh church is damn powerful, even compared to the other local archpriests, but I can't personally attest to his skill. As far as I can tell, he might just have an overblown reputation. The churchs of Torag and Abadar are pretty big and always fussing around, so they must have at least one competent priest, right? And if nothing else works, you could try the Feathered Lady... Folk have asked her for aid before... With mixed results. And finding her is always a pain, but it's better than nothing."
In case we would need to ask around for the information
While you can find temples for pretty much every deity of Golarion, the churches of Gozreh, Abadar and Desna are particularly powerful and influential in Blue Shell. Torag has a pretty large following as well, mostly from workers from Stonybrook. Tsukiyo's church has been experiencing rapid growth for the past couple years, but is still not nearly as big as the "main players".
Every church has an "archpriest": A powerful cleric who is responsible for leading, representing and organizing their faith in Blue Shell while also making sure their church's interests align with the city's. Technically, they aren't part of the government, but they still have considerable political power and even the City Council thinks twice before crossing them.
You have no idea who or what the "Feathered Lady" is.
"And if nothing else works, you could try the Feathered Lady..."
"Whose that? I haven't heard of her."
"She's a hedge witch who lives by the woods, west from here. Talks to birds or something. I know a few people she supposedly helped... If half of them were really her doing, I can't deny her magical prowess." Dayne shrugs, showing no particular admiration or animosityabout the subject. "Well... I'm sure there is a hedge witch around. But whether or not she does all the stuff credited to her is a different matter... People love talking, and rumors spread fast. My wife might know more about it."
I wait for now. I keep my GI roll/action for after somebody interrogates the guy's wife.
eng goes and talks to the wife.
"Tell me about the hedge witch who lives near here. Please." he adds belatedly.
"She must be in the basement. I think she was about to ignite the heater before you came in... Just wait a minute. I'm sure she'll show up."
The alchemist is right. About 5 minutes later, a woman enters the room, whom you assume must be Dayne's wife... Her skin is has the color of brass, her eyes and hair are red, with the latter flickering and waving like flames. She wears a somewhat revealing vudrani dress and golden-colored rings, bracers and necklace. When she speaks, you recognize the female voice your heard through the door.
"Hello." she says with the same accent Sir Dayne has, only much thicker.
"Ah... There she is!" says Dayne. "This is my wife, Jalaana. Jalana, these are... Eitylen, Tai Leng and Kyros Vance. They were the ones knocking earlier."
"Pleasure meet you." she says with a friendly tone. "Forgive my mistakes. Speak common tongue is... Not easy for me. How I help you?"
"They'd like to know about the Feathered Lady." Dayne says before any of you can answer.
"Oh... She lives west from here. In forest. Seen her once. Helped me find way to..." - she turns to Dayne - "Nadee?". The man looks at you and translates. "River."
Jalaana goes on.
"But she can do more. Healed dying children before. Regrow man's arm too. Bring her a gift and she help you. Suggest something for birds. Something good. She likes birds. Talks to them. Sees through them."
Cyrus nods a bit at Jalaana's story and looks to Sir Dayne.
"How long do you think we have before the poison takes him?"
"I don't know. He's losing getting weak pretty fast..." says Sir Dayne, trying not to sound too pessimistic. "Medicine isn't my specialty, but I'd give him 2... Maybe 3 days."
"Damn. That doesn't give us much time. Splitting up might give us better odds."
"I guess... If you think you can get help in time." Dayne replies.
"My husband will take care of him." Jalana adds. "You look for help."
- Eitylen would go to the temple of Gozreh, in the morning, I guess is too late at the moment. In the meantime, I finally will use gather info to ask for what kind of things do the priests of the temples ask in exchange of spellcasting services.
"I'll go see this church of Tsukiyo. I'm not familiar with the deities across the sea, but a fast growing following isn't usually a result of nice words." Cyrus will try to relax overnight and head there in the morning.
"I will find an appropriate gift for this Feathered Lady."
Lord Waipukk is the archpriest of the church of Gozreh in Blue Shell. He's known as the most powerful priest in the city. Whether that's true or hyperbole remains to be seen, but he's very respected even among the other archpriests. Although he rarely stays put, many priests that studied directly under him can be found in the main temple.
You say your parting words to Dayne and his wife, adding that you'll be back soon.
"And take a shower the next time you show up!" Dayne jokingly shouts as you leave his house.
After that you return to the Mad Shark, where the red-haired girl and shaved-head boy who you "saved" from the Otyughs thank you for helping them... Hearing this, the brown-haired girl interrupts
"Oh... So you are the ones who protected Liz and Jabs!" she exclaims with a friendly smile. "Thank you for saving them! I'm sure mother and father would like to thank you as well." she adds, waving for Marina and Joel Ironblood to approach.
"Yes. You were very brave. We can't thank you enough" the older woman says.
"Tch... Otyughs are harmless. They wouldn't have attacked, they just wanted Jabs' fish..." his words are interrupted by a loud, disapproving cough from his wife. "...But we appreciate the intention." he adds quickly.
"You can have a drink on the house tonight. It may not have been a serious threat, but you still came to the aid of our family." Marina says, before adding the following words as politely as she can manage... "You... Uh... You must be tired. Why not take a hot bath to relax?"
Once again you're reminded that you still smell like people who fought skinless "monkeys" and reanimated otyugh in the sewers...
The Next Morning:
There are many small shrines dedicated to Gozreh around the city, specially by the shore.
However, you quickly find the "main" temple to the God(dess) of the Sea and Skies... It's excavated directly inside a large rock on the sea shore with no ceiling, just a number of "pillars" reaching to the sky.
On the area immediately around the temple, you see many sailors, fishermen, merchants, soldiers and other common folk praying and making offerings do Gozreh, but surprisingly few priests... the ones you see all look like hermits, dressed in long ragged robes and addorned with coral, pearls,animal bones and leaves.
Asking about, you soon find out that the price for services provided by members of the church greatly vary based on the preferences of the priest doing the deed. It usually includes a small fee in gold, but that's little more than a formality. The real price is usually a favor (or promise of a favor) to the priest and/or the church of Gozreh.
It doesn't take long for you to find your way to a notorious temple of Tsukiyo. You notice your presence attracts some attention, as there are still few people of non-Tian ancestry around...
As you approach the temple's entrance, a young man in green robes addorned with purple ribbons speaks to you with a friendly and excited voice.
"Welcome, visitor! My name is Johoshiro. Would you like to know more about the glory of Tsukiyo? I'd be pleased to help you!"
You also remember the weird object given to you by the otyugh... It's made of bones and skulls of small birds, and even contains two unusual gems in the central skull. You don't know if it's magical, but at very least, with some cleaning and polish, it could look like a interesting charm or fetish.
"It was nothing." Cyrus puts on a modest smile, but does appreciate the drink and the hot bath.
In the morning, he moves at a brisk pace to resolve the matter of the poisoned man quickly.
"Hail Johoshiro, I'm Cyrus Vance. I would be happy to hear more about Tsukiyo. Alas, I have a bit of a predicament I was hoping there may be an answer for here..."
"You see, my friends and I, we uncovered a strange plot down by the docks causing that smell. We found some strangers killing Otyughs and after running them off, a man dying of poison. I came here seeking someone who might be able to cure him to tell us more about what those men were doing down there."
Cyrus scratches his head.
"I'd be grateful for any assistance you could provide and by my word as a paladin, I'd be happy to return the favor in any way I can."