"Yer research looks wrong fer curin tah mine eyes, I see only tha holy werks o a good God ken return yah tah human. How bout I ask round an see iffen anyone has an better cures. I think tha whole o tha town an royals themselves might be willin tah put money in fer yer cure."
He looks over to his two test subjects.
"Well that one." he points to Cedric "Is already dead and will wake as a vampire soon. I plan to test my latest cure on him."
"However the other one is still healthy if you want him back I am willing to part with him for a mere two-thousand gold"
He laughs "I have spoken to priest before and none have been willing to help, most try to destroy me outright, others try to control me. One offered to destroy me and raise me afterwards for a ludicrous amount of coins but I could not trust him."
"Ken yah tell me how yer curin werks err how it might werk?"
"I ain't interested in destroyin yah err controllin yah, tah mah thinkin tha greatest thing tha could be done fer yah would be returnin yah tah a man and sharin a keg o ale till we ken neither one stand!"
"Ken yah let go tha man an take tha two thousand coins out o tha costs fer fixin yah up?"
"2000 gold buys a lot of ale. I'm going to need to hold onto my gold to get the memories of this house of horrors drowned. Take your vampire kin, leave us the other one, and let's go our separate ways. "
"Vampirism is at it's core a disease. I am working on a cure. An elixir that will reverse the process and return me my normal self. I have no wish to be revived by a priest I will do this my own way. I supposes two-thousand is a bit much. I will accept to release this specimen for a mere thousand gold but no less." he says.
Remembering that he had not yet made a deposit on his last reward from the Field Marshall, Sgt Drakus felt around in his pack to pull out three 100gp platinum plaques. He looked at the others for the rest.
Crain pulls out a small sack with 200 gold of his own, and pitches it forward toward he monster. "There's 500 between the two of us. If the others agree to kick in, it looks like we have a deal!"
Donagar kicks Gregor and some coins fall out onto the floor.
He repeated the Gregor pinyata process for a few more times until he obtains the proper share.
"I assume tha deal wer makin now means tha in tha future should we ever meet again yah will still see we err men o our words an we ken werk out any future issues like tha gentlemen we err?"
@Crain
"Keep yer gold lad a bloodrager werks up a mighty thirst an yer gonna need yer coin!...my secret is I ken make drink from jus water when I need tah."
"I'll pitch in the save the lad who is still alive."
"Very well. Take the lad and I will evacuate my lab tonight." he says
The deal is made and you leave the vampire be.
You take the young man and head back out and report that the matter is dealt with.
Thanks to the notes you recovered and with With Davaulus and Lady Andaisin defeated, the creation and spread of blood veil suffers a mortal blow. The disease remains at large though and deaths continue but the number of sick is steadily decreasing.
Field Marshal Cressida Kroft personally thanks you for your extensive aid during the plague. You each receive a medal of valor usually reserved only for full members of the Korvosan Guard, she also opens Citadel Volshyenek’s armory to you. Allowing each of you to chose and armor or weapon worth up to 4000 gold.
Crain is all too happy to rest a bit after his last few weeks. "You know Marshall, you could probably use some relaxation time. How about you and I go out for a few drinks and see where the night leads us?" He glances at the lovely Pai out of the corner of his eye to see if there is a reaction there at all.
When offered a new weapon, he carefully considers his options, before he locates a a falchion made of a strange metal he had only heard tales about. It was sharp as all get out, and he knew it could cut through things even his magical sword could not.
Donagar inspects the array of weapons and armors....
"Any chance we could go in together on a weapon or item?"
Donagar looks at the others....
"I was thinkin o a mace err warhammer o disruption in tha case we ever have tah face off gainst any powerful undead, it would take two o us tah get one iffen tha feild marshal has one."
"Sorry Donagar; but I've had my eye on this new shield for a while now." Drakus said, shaking his head at Donagar's proposal.
Go ahead to take some time to rp and do some shopping and such.
Let me know when you are ready to proceed and we can move on to part 3.
To no one's surprise, Crain spends the majority of his downtime enjoying the local bars and brothels. He was having a great old time!
To his surprise Crain finds himself being hailed a town hero and find himself constantly being given free drinks and no shortage of women willing to spend time with him for free.
After being cured, Drakus spends two or three days drinking and debauching at his favorite bar/brothel (gladiator girl mud wrestling!); but after that, the itch grows in his hands.
He cleans up and goes to his dad's forge to help his family business, crafting arms and armor.
At Zellara's old town house, he cleans up the house as best he is able, installing reinforced exterior doors and armored shutters for the windows. He gets keys for his team members.
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To his surprise Crain finds himself being hailed a town hero and find himself constantly being given free drinks and no shortage of women willing to spend time with him for free.
Mai does her "usual" work and listens in on the rumors and information flowing around town.
She also does some shopping.
Is anyone tracking loot? You had quite a few things to sell I think.
I was tracking this...
Loot collected:
-+1 vicious scythe
-+1 breastplate
-Cloak of resistance +2
*Periath of wisdom +2, bumps wisdom from 18 to 20
*wand of cure serious wounds with 37 charges
*wand of remove disease with 8 charges
*scroll of dispel magic (divine)
-three blocks of incense of meditation (4,900/block)
-several sticks of rare exotic incense (worth 500 gold)
*added to my gear....
I think everything else was to sell.....
"You drive a hard bargain I will sell you all the extra stuff if you want it, or we can donate it to the church."
Moving on.
You are enjoying some well earned time off when you get a message delivered to you from Cressida croft.
The message says that the queen will be making an announcement tonight at a public gathering. She explains she has a bad feeling about it and that she would like you to attend.
Crain is only too happy to attend the Queen's speech. "Hell yeah, I'll go. I'm famous now. Might be all kinds of cute young ladies in the crowd! You don't want to tag along with me, do you, Cressida?"
Worried that Crain was addressing the message with such familiarity, Drakus wondered if it had a Message spell on it. He saluted it just to be on the safe side.
"You like to live dangerously don't ya Crain?" Drakus said grinning.
"I think we outta attend as a loose group. Just in case something blows up, right?" He asked the others at their mutual house in town.
The piece of paper doesn't respond to crain.
"Har Har, Drakus! I was just practicing my lines for the next time I see the lovely Cressida! She's getting keen on me...I can tell."
"Thought I might craft a wand err two, anyone got a request?"
Donagar thinks if he has a big enough table by the fire he can both craft and drink.....wouldn't be the first time....
"The Queen giving a speech tonight,
I think we can expect some rotten news or rule."
Not much more to say here so will proceed to that event of that night.
You make your way to the castle and you can see that security is thick. Everywhere you look there seems to be a grey maiden standing guard. It seems the queen is not looking to have another event like the botched attempt at executing Trina Sabor that was ruined by the appearance of Blackjack.
After the courtyard is full the queen makes and appearance wearing a new crown than the offical crown of Korvosa, one made of black thorns rather than gold. She is accompanied by Sabina Merrin who is now clad in a breathtaking suit of grey maiden armor, field marshal Cressida croft, the commander of the sable company Marcus Endrin and a fat bloated man dressed in the fashion of a noble from Cheliax.
"People of Korvosa! We have been trough some difficult times of late but do not despair better times are coming! The plague has been defeated! While small pockets remain it is only a matter of time until it is completely eradicated. Although regrettably this came at the cost of the good Dr.Davalaus's life. His body has already been shipped back to Cheliax for burial in his family vault."
There is a ripple of murmuring in the crowd many had heard the rumours that the good doctor was responsible for the plague. The queen continues ignoring the murmurs.
"As such I announce that the order of the queen's physicians had to be disbanded as they no longer had a leader and were no longer needed. Yet even with the plague beaten Korvosa remains wounded, the order of the nail has shown it's true colours and they have fled back to their citadel completely evacuating the city and both the Korvosan guard and the sable company have taken terrible loses over the past weeks to both riots and sickness. Neither group is capable on continuing on as Korvosa's protectors, and thus, to shore up this fault I appoint the newly created order of the grey maidens as the new protectors of Korvosa with Sabina Merrin as their leader who will be taking the position of General of Korvosa. I would also like to announce the appointment of Togomor Arkana as the new Seneschal of Korvosa" she says pointing to the fat bloated chelaxian man.
A new ripple of concern and surprise can be heard in the crowd but the queen continues.
"We will hereby dissolve the order of the Sable company and it's remaining troops will be absorbed into the Korvosan guard and the guard will continue to serve under the command of Field marshal Cressida Kroft as a reserve force under the grey maidens for maintaining peace and order in Korvosa. Commander Endrin please step forth and surrender your badge of office." says the queen.
Commander Endrin is white as a sheet and visible trembles as he steps forth to surrender his badge...He tears it of his chest but rather than handing it over he throws it at the queen striking her right on the cheek with it.
Everyone is shocked into paralysis for a moment as there is a large gasp in the crowd.
But Endrin doesn't pause for a moment reaching for his crossbow he loads it screaming "Your shameful reign ends now! Korvosa will be free again!" and he fires at the queen.
His aim is true. The crossbow strikes Queen Illeosa right in the temple. Yet she does not fall.
With a crossbow bolt sticking out of her skull the queen still stands with a shocked looked on her face. She regains her composure and rips the crossbow bolt out as blood runs down her face unto her shoulder and neck.
With incredible speed she moves and is suddenly standing before Endrin.
Her hand whips out and seizes him by the throat, lifting him off the ground effortlessly with a single hand. An instant later she buries Endrin's own bolt into his eye.
As Endrin's lifeless body crumbles to the ground the queen casually shakes the blood of her hands and cries out in a strong clear voice "This shall be the fate of all my enemies in Korvosa! Mark well his death! It is only the first!" a moment later Togomor grabs her by the shoulder and teleports himself and the queen to another location.
Field marshal Cressida kroft runs over to Endrin and kneels at his body clearly distraught it is not hard to tell she is in tears. She quickly grabs his badge which was left on the stages and pockets it before running off somewhere.
The crowd for the moment is still in a stunned silence but the grey maidens are ordering everyone to evacuate the courtyard and go back into the city and so everyone is making their way out.
Crain looks to see if he can tell where Cressida was heading, trying to meet up with her. Assuming the rush of the crowd made that impossible, he headed out with the ra st of the group, in mostly stunned silence. "Did you see what the Queen did? That ain't natural..."
"That's not something yah see ever day.....Thinkin I might ave a word wit tha field marshal bout resigning!"
"Oh boy, The S*** is going to be flying now.....
And I don't think the queen is human...."
"Ho-leee ceeerap!" Drakus exclaimed.
He would have surged up to the platform, but the gray maidens were warning people back. With everyone leaving there was no point forcing his way in, so he turned back to his companions.
"Downgraded to reserve status. No wonder he snapped. And that shot..." He shook his head.
"How the hell did she take that shot to the head? And just walk away?"
With nothing better to do for the moment you decide to head to the citadel. You ask a guard and you learn that Cressida Kroft arrived here ahead of you and is in her office.
You enter and find her at her desk holding Endrin's badge and staring at it. She notices you enter and puts the badge away.
"Korvosa is being murdered. Killed by our queen. The evidence linking her to the plague was damning enough, but this recent display at her address....Endrin is dead. She is more in control now than ever. I did the count and her grey maidens now outnumber the guard. I cant move against her directly the guards would be cut down to the last man by her grey maidens by sundown. Even so I will do what I must and make my own attempt at deposing our queen. What I speak of is of course treason. Will you help me?" she says.
"Wha is goin on? It seems too many unanswered questions err afoot. On bein fer certain who err wha is tha queen err taken tha form o tha queen, as far as I knew she was a normal woman, but no normal woman can do wha she did. So tryin tah find out who tha fake queen is, or how wha we saw is possible is not treason in mah mind."
"Perhaps yer thinkin o things differntly."
Mai replies to Ms Croft
"I'll be blunt.
This Queen has been a b**** since she came, and only within the past what few months ranked up to super B****.
And you are not the only one thinking it, a number of folk currently hate her.
I think sooner or later a revolt or riot will break out, and one side will be aiming for her head on a pike."
Mai's replies to Donagar
"I don't think she is human after that, For all we know she could of been replaced by one of those devil things from Cheliax."
"Good luck getting that b+*$+'s head on a pike after what we saw today. I'm tough, but I'm not sure I Could take a crossbow shot to the noggin," Crain says, almost reverently for the crazy scene he had just witnessed.
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Donagar thinks that maybe a crossbow bolt already went through the bloodragers head at one time or another resulting in his current personality......
"All well an good, but jus sayin we need tah know who err what we err goin gainst. At one time even tha most outspoken enemies thought they faced a human woman, an if she is human she's either a powerful spellcaster err has powerful magic at her disposal. Fer all we are fer knowin thas a nasty half-demon doppelganger wizard thas hunnerds o years old up thar."
"It's true whatever foul magic the queen has wrapped herself in is obviously of the highest order. Endrin's aim was true-his shot should have dropped her. I had feared he was going to take matters into his own hands like this but I had advised him to be patient and it seemed like he was going to listen. If only he could have waited...You see just this morning I receive a letter from my friend Vencarlo Orisini. The first I heard of him since the queen put old Korvosa under quarantine. A message that I now see in a new light. Vencarlo speaks of discovering something of great importance about the queen. He mentions dark magic and a pact with a devil. I was sceptical at first when I saw the message yet now I believe him. This could be the key to bringing her down. If queen Ileosa has entered and infernal pact of some sort we must tread carefully indeed. Vencarlo asked for you specificity in his missive and I had intended to send you tomorrow. He remains in his home in old korvosa now and asked that I send you to him to hear what he has to say. The queen's quarantine has cut off old Korvosa entirely and for some reason she shows no sign of lifting it even with the plague "beaten" as she says. I don't think I can get you permission to go in so you will need to sneak in somehow. Once you find Vencarlo hear what he has to say and do be careful. I suspect the queen already has it out for you after you killed Davalus. I have protected you from any reprisal so far but my protection may no longer amount to anything. Once you find Vencarlo it may be best if you leave Korvosa for a time. I have contacts in the village of Harse just outside of Korvosa, Vencarlo knows them. After you find him take him there and we can plan our next move. I suspect as Field marshal I will remain safe so long as I comply with the queen and I shall...For now." says Cressida.
"Looks like a trip to Old Korvosa for us."
"Any ideas the best way to sneak out to Old town without getting recognized? Unfortunately for you, I'm pretty popular right now!"
Mai replies both jokingly and seriously
"The answer to that is; go jump in the river."
"It will be dark soon. You could swim across the channel instead of taking on of the bridges. You could also try taking a skiff if you can get one from the docks on the north bank of the Jeggare and cross under cover of darkness. You could also try flying across or using invisibility." says Cressida she grabs a backpack from a corner of her office.
"Take these, they should help you. I'm afraid it's all I can spare.
The bag contains:
-potion cure serious wounds x4
-potion lesser restoration x4
-potion remove disease x4
-wand of invisibility (10 charges)
-wand cure moderate wounds (30 charges)
Drakus stamped to attention and barked, "Ma'am! Yes ma'am!" in response to the Field Marshals order.
He turned to the others.
"Hey, you guys have any more of that stuff that let us breath underwater that one time?"
Mai adds
"So we'll need to decide on an entry method and entry point for when we do this?"
"Magic draws attention, if yer trying tah not draw attention, likely any alternatives err guarded in several ways. I say hop a small boat an be ready to either go fer an unexpected swim err flight in tha middle o things, even if tha means turnin round an tryin again."
"Drakus, I thought we still had tha..."
"From wha I'v seen its likely a tunnel err two goes under tha cannals, an possibly unner tha river."
"If we are all in a boat or two, and we get made, those of us in armor will sink like rocks if we end up out of the boats. That worries me. Want to go looking for one of those tunnels?"