Zamanda tells the party that the necklace is an unholy symbol of Urgathoa.
"Thank you," Pel says to Kalem, giving him a weak smile. It's a bit embarrassing to be carried to the surface for Pel, but he supposes it beats slowly drowning at the bottom of the Jeggare with an Urgathoan.
Speaking of which... "Urgathoa, you say? Maybe the ship is involved in the plague somehow. We need to get that footlocker open, but if there are no plague samples or the like in there, and if the reports of the ship being empty... mostly empty, I guess... can be trusted, then this ship wasn't just a trap, it was a decoy. The source of the plague is something else."
Varor grabs and pockets the silver unholy symbol thinking, It's not like we haven't seen one of these before.
"We really don't need to bring the body with us, it's not like we could learn anything from it, best to just let nature take its course." And hopefully I don't need to explain why I'm personally against it.
Varor than swims over to the footlocker and says, "So does anyone have any idea how heavy this thing is?"
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Ilsa responds to Zamanda.
"I don't know if the corpse is going to be useful or not, but most of what we found down here is a lack of things. Lack of cargo, lack of a way to spread the plague, lack of a lantern. At least it's something to show as evidence..." she says, her voice trailing off.
She looks toward the surface. "I just want to get out of here. If no one else wants to bring it, let's go back. It would just be hard to find again if we needed it."
Zamanda can tell that Ilsa really wants to bring the corpse, so she helps her tie a rope around it, and then drag it to the surface. She suggests just letting it trail in the water until they reach shore though, just in case it is diseased (though it doesn't look it). They don't want to endanger the people on the boat.
Okay. Maybe it is proof that the ship itself and its only inhabitant were not plague victims. If it carried the plague, it doesn't seem to have been through people.
"Hmm. I guess the footlocker is the only remaining source, as you say Pel." He looks around the watery environment. "A sea hag, a dead follower of Urgathoa, or someone made to look like one at least, and otherwise an empty ship. And the follower didn't die of a plague, he died of drowning after he was struck in the head."
"None of this is making sense to me. Maybe once we get to the surface and have some time to think about it. The only thing that's for sure is that the ship wasn't carrying a load of plague victims. It's purpose otherwise...?" He shrugs with frustration.
Seeing that Zamanda and Ilsa are tackling the corpse, Bashiel picks up the footlocker and does his best to haul it up to the surface.
Bringing the metal footlocker back to the surface is as difficult as swimming up while wearing a suit of full plate which, for the right person, is apparently not so difficult at all.
You make it back up to the boat and the captain arches a brow in surprise as the first of you bob to the surface. "Ah... you're still alive." It's said in a tone that conveys something more like idle conversation than actual surprise. He takes another puff from his pipe before tamping it out and helping you get back aboard the small craft. Still, when he sees Kalem's injuries and Pel's weakened state, he refuses to touch the two men and returns to his preferred spot near the rudder. When he sees the body, he stops entirely and barks, "You'll not be bringing that aboard my boat!"
Never meant to. We're just going to tie the other end of this rope to your boat and drag it in.
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Ilsa takes a large breath and floats alongside the boat listening. It felt so good to be above the surface.
It felt like I was buried alive, even if I could breathe. I don't want to do that again...
She wipes the water out of her eyes and looks up at the man.
"You act like you don't care if there's a cure found. This corpse could be a clue...we'll drag it behind like my angelic friend said," she says sweetly.
Kalem nodded and pulled out his drake mark. "This isn't our first rodeo."
"Besides, if the corpse is infected, we would all be by this point."
Pel's not sure if his words are going to help or hurt...
My friend there is blunt, but the fact is, there are no signs of plague on the body. Death was from a blow to the head. We want it as evidence of what we found on the boat, not of the beginning of the plague. I give you my word.
Bashiel heaves the lockbox over the lip of the boat. Hearing the Captain's reticence, he adds his own "Come on now man, we wouldn't put you at risk. Just ferry us back to shore and we, and the body, will be out of your hair in no time."
The man casts a baleful glance at the lot of you, then turns with a huff and a grumble, chewing on his pipe and sitting by the rudder before barking, "Alright then, be yer health ye risk. Drag it along if ye like and let's be on 'r way."
After you're all back aboard and the corpse is secured with a rope, he instructions you on how to unfurl the sail then brings you back to the Old Korvosa docks. You catch the curious gaze of a few teamsters and other dockworkers but, with the corpse, are given a wide berth.
Ugh, I feel like adventurer. I never thought that I'd be the most moral person out of anyone. Or the one with the most common sense, I mean really, the body? Maybe I should start playing to the lady of graves for answers.
When they get to the docks, Zamanda jumps out and finds someone willing to barter with for a large tarp that they can use to wrap the body in to transport it.
When she comes back, she thanks the captain profusely (but doesn't give him a tip as he has already bargained himself quite a large one), and retrieves the body, wrapping it carefully.
Where to, Ilsa? Who did you want to show? The Field Marshall?
"The Field Marshal might be the right person..." Bashiel looks down at the body in frustration. "If we had some way to speak to the dead, perhaps we could work out how and why he was killed. Someone in the Guard might be able to help with that."
"Let's also check this trunk before we carry it throughout the whole city." Bashiel inspects the locker to check if it's locked and also surveys it for any traps that might await someone trying to open it.
"The Field Marshall might should be the corpse's final destination, but we should consider first taking it back to the hideout Vencarlo gave us. Speaking for myself, at least, I don't fully trust the Field Marshall's associates. Perhaps we can coordinate with her to find a secure place to drop off the corpse.
"Especially if we want to try talking to the corpse... we shouldn't just hand it over, unless we're willing to risk it disappearing."
When Bashiel goes to open the chest, Pel casts detect magic on it and suggests all but one person stand back, in case it's trapped.
Bashiel finds no traps on the footlocker. Pellius searches for any magical auras; the footlocker itself is not magical but he does sense a faint abjuration aura on an object within the chest. The chest itself does not appear to be locked, though a watertight seal is still intact.
Bashiel waves off his allies, just in case some kind of noxious, diseased gas escapes when the chest is opened. He opens the locker up.
"Alright, lets hope this locker can shed some light on what happened. Though I'm certainly not expecting it to."
As Bashiel opens the footlocker, he initially wonders if it is locked, the watertight seal and mud creating such a vaccuum he has to get some leverage before the lid pops open with a wet sound and the hinges grind from their exposure to the briny water. However, the locker does open and, inside it, he finds a leather pouch with some coinage and a finely woven cloak. Pel discerns it is the cloak that is radiating magic, though a subsequent inspection of the garment reveals it is embroidered with the unholy symbol of Urgathoa.
The footlocker also contains a copy of Serving Your Hunger, Urgathoa's sacred text. It is exquisitely illuminated and bound in black silk and velvet over darkwood covers.
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Ilsa frowns as she considers their findings.
"So the only evidence we have so far is that there was one person aboard the ship...a follower of Urgathoa, and probably a cleric. The ship was otherwise empty, but made to look like it had cargo. This cleric or Urgathoa was hit in the head. This isn't really making sense..." she mourns.
"What are we missing?"
Pel considers the locker’s contents, then replies to Ilsa, ”I’m afraid what we’re missing is information. It seems clear that a cult of Urgathoa is involved with the plague, but I think we’ll need more facts before we can get the whole picture.”
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The footlocker also contains a copy of Serving Your Hunger, Urgathoa's sacred text. It is exquisitely illuminated and bound in black silk and velvet over darkwood covers.
"Likely the possessions of our dead man." Bashiel holds up the cloak in distaste. "Though..."
He looks over his shoulder at the corpse the group hauled up. "The Urgathoans needed someone to captain that ship into Korvosa, so I suppose this was the one member of the cult that drew the short straw. Certainly its cruel and callous enough to sacrifice one of their own like that. But it isn't clear to what end." He checks through the coin pouch and flips through the urgathoan text, just to make sure there isn't anything hidden in either of them.
"Maybe we're wrong. There's nothing really convincing here to indicate the purpose and role the ship had. It wasn't a plague ship as far as we can tell. Yet someone went to the trouble of making it look like one, then sailing it somewhere where it'd be struck down. What if... What if this ship is unrelated? What if someone who knew about the urgathoans brewing something used the ship as cover to dispose of someone." He points a finger at the corpse. "After all, who would go check a plague wreck other than reckless people like us?"
The leather pouch contains nothing but coins, though it is a valuable collection (50 pp and 38gp). Flipping through the book, Bashiel can tell the pages are ancient and fragile yet the text, despite the unholy nature, is incredibly valuable.
The text is largely presented as a combination prayer book and cookbook for the preparation of various humanoids as meals, but also
serves as a primer for taking a conciliatory approach to dealing with the undead and for the transformation of oneself into undead.
Someone has blasphemed, though, and made their own revisions to the text. Whenever the name “Urgathoa” appears in the text, he’s scratched the name out and penned in the name “Andaisin.”
”It looks like this was well worth the risk. Several unholy items to sell to the Adabarians, and proof that the cult was behind this. Looks like we are going to be wealthy heroes, which is my favorite kind. Shall we go to the Adabarians or Cress first?”
Pel nods toward the Urgathoan text, “A bit of good news that we’ll be able to sell that text, even to non-evil churches. I suggest we give it to the Caydenites or Sarenites so they can destroy it, the Abadarans as a last resort.”
A pit forms in the arcanist’s stomach as he sees the name ‘Andaisin’ written in the book. He explains what he knows about the woman .
Then he says, “Perhaps this Andaisin is the mastermind behind the plague. The dead man was apparently obsessed with her, if nothing else, so much so that he was willing to think of her as a god. Cressida might be able to tell us more if she was in-charge when the Nidalese authorities sent out the alert to authorities about the priestess. Maybe we should also ask around, see if anyone has heard of someone named Andaisin being in Korvosa?”
Varor wants to speak up, tell them that selling the book would be wrong and that they should have it destroyed, but he doesn't, knowing that his voice would be overruled by the call of coin.
He looks over to the corpse then and consider telling them that Urgathoans are not so willing to throw away their own lives, and that it is antithesis to there desires in some cases, but decides not to, knowing that they wouldn't care anyway and decides to voice his only other concern. "So the long and short of this is it has all been a waste of time?" he asks.
I don't think that it has been a waste of time at all, although it is strange that we didn't find more. I think the most compelling discoveries here are the fact that the ship was not empty, and not carrying passengers or cargo of any kind, at least that we know about. We do know that the one crew member aboard was an Urgathoan, and that person may have met others to pass on whatever they planted the disease on, but it definitely wasn't people. The death of the one crewmember may have been accidental or purposeful, but we do have more information than we did before.
”Zamanda is right. Let’s get a move on. Especially as we now have a name for the cultist likely behind this.”
Bashiel spends a moment contemplating Pel's revelation and then says "Maybe she is, Pel. I suppose we might find out if we persist in investigating. Somehow though... I feel as though the evidence we've found here is both too tidy and not enough to serve as any significant lead." He shakes his head.
"You're right Kalem. We need to keep moving. There's plenty to still tackle before we can afford to sit around theorizing. I would suggest we regroup with Cressida to tap her for any information about Andaisin, any resources that may help us identify our dead cultist, and any current news. We can handle disposing of that vile book on our way. Both Caydenites and Sarenites would see to it that it's destroyed."
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I agree; Let's go see Cressida. Maybe drop off a couple of things at our new headquarters as well?
"Alright. Lets see if we can haul this fellow without causing a panic in the streets. Maybe wrap him in that cloak?" Bashiel takes a look over at the cloak Pel is inspecting.
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If Pel's being honest with himself, the idea of a dead body being in their hideout is unappealing to part of him as well. It's just his intellectual side that's willing to put that fact aside for the sake of better understanding.
Pel sighs and nods to his companions. "Let's take the body to Cressida, then. Smart thinking with that tarp, Zamanda. Hopefully we won't look too odd walking through the streets of Korvosa on our way to Cressida."
Zamanda can tell something is still wrong with her, ever since confronting the Sea Hag, so before she joins the group going to see Cressida, she goes to get Ishani, and invites him to join them. He should probably be there as a representative anyway, but she also wants to ask him if he can help her with whatever is wrong with her.
You wrap the corpse in a tarp that Zamanda procured and begin to make your slow path back to the Citadel. Zamanda has to make a stop at the Grand Bank to see if Ishani is available. When she mentions a belief that she has been cursed by the sea hag, Ishani nods gravely and promises to help her on the morrow after he's been able to pray for the spell.
The group traveling with the body is beginning to make their way across one of the bridges from Old Korvosa when you encounter a backed up crowd and delays. You can see up ahead there is a contingent of guards overseen by a pair of Gray Maidens who are stopping everyone and giving them a quick inspection for signs of illness or disease.
"Because of course there's a blockade. Alright Ilsa what's the plan?"
"True, but relegating tasks is what being a leader is by definition, and bringing the corpse was your idea in the first place." Varor says. "Besides I think we can all agree the best suited for the leading position here is you or Bashiel, and I don't think I need to go over the reasons why that is."
Cressida nods readily at the request for a pass, needing no convincing. "Of course, absolutely." She takes out some parchment, quill and ink, wax, candle and seal, and begins writing a pass for you in her own hand.
As she does so, "I don't necessarily disagree with the concept of a quarantine, but if people feel trapped, things may get worse. It's not that his idea is wrong, it's just..." Her voice trails off, then she continues, "I don't know what you'll find on that boat, if anything, but at the moment I don't have any better ideas, either. Even if it's a..." Instead of trailing off, this time her words come to an abrupt halt as does her hand with the quill. She takes a moment, sighs, then resumes writing and speaking.
"More samples? I don't know whether to be cross that you didn't tell me, or relieved. I think I'll go with relieved." She finishes writing the pass and applies the wax seal to it. As it dries, she looks up at the lot of you and Ishani. "It's a good idea. I wish I could say I trusted them to the doctor, and if you were one of my guards, I'd probably have to order you to do so, but... I think giving them to the priests is a good idea. Davaulus can get his samples from the afflicted; the priests and my contact, from you."
"Bashiel, don't you have a writ of passage from Cress? Just show it to the guards and they'll let us through."
"Us getting past isn't the problem, the corpse is."
Bashiel passes the tarp-wrapped body to Kalem and fishes about in his pack for the pass they'd been given. He flips it open and scans through to make sure everything looks like its in order. Once he's done he pauses for a moment to look over the crowd lining up.
'Not too bad yet. But... inevitably...'
He smooths his facial expression to hide his distaste for the methods that Davalus has implemented and walks on over to the Grey Maidens. Raising a hand in greeting, he extends the pass so they can inspect it. As he does so he looks over each of them to try to guess if one is Mirya. "Just passing through on Guard business." He waves at the rest of his group to proceed "Not an enviable job you have here. Have you had to turn anyone away yet?" His tone is serious but friendly.
As Bashiel said that, Kalem pulled out his drake mark and smiled.
Pel listens quietly to most of the conversation about their current situation. He might have a knack for leading if he had bothered to learn anything about the subject, but he hadn’t. He focused on the arcane arts at the Acadamae. Those studies could yet prove useful in this situation.
As the group approaches the Grey Maidens, Pel pulls out his spellbook and studies it for a few moments, drawing on the last of his magical reservoir. Then he walks over to Kalem who is now holding the tarp-wrapped body of the Urgathoan.
Pel mutters a few words under his breath before touching the man under the tarp. He shudders a bit at the unsettling feeling of the man’s dead flesh, but knows the touch is necessary. The man’s body vanishes.
The arcanist whispers to Kalem, “Try to act casual. No one should be able to tell anything’s unusual if you do.”
Pel also tries to aid in Bashiel’s diplomatic efforts.