"You have no need to thank me, I almost got you executed, remember?" Daud glumly says before his shoulders slump. "Just try to keep your head down out there, okay?"
Amira smiles as Trinia thanks the group and makes her exit, happy to have gotten her safely outside the city and realizing that their return to her city would be the best course of action.
Turning to the others she gives voice to her thoughts. "We definitely need to inform someone. The Bank of Abadar is the best chance of stopping circulation, though it will raise all kinds of hell. The Church of Sarenrae is also a good idea in terms of finding possible sources of healing, and the watch needs to know to pull the infected off of active duty. These are all good ideas, and all things we need to accomplish starting tomorrow."
She turns to face Doud for a moment, staring up into the big man's face. "Being a dick isn't helping anybody. Cut it out."
Without waiting for a response she turns to the others. "We go back, any of us who touched or came close to touching a plague carrier, burn's the clothes wear now. Tomorrow morning when I can cast the spell again I'll check each and every one of us for ant sign of the disease."
She turns to face Doud for a moment, staring up into the big man's face. "Being a dick isn't helping anybody. Cut it out."
"What would you suggest I do? Be happy that a plague is running rampant?" despite the question his voice sounds sincere, rather than caustic.
"Focus on how you can help rather than being malicious because you can't think of anything else to do."
A few breaths pass as he keeps his eyes locked with Amira's, her words weighing on his mind before he opens his mouth. "... I'll try."
"Take care of yourself, okay? Hopefully we'll see you soon." Terri returns the hug as she says goodbye to Trinia.
As the group heads back to Korvosa, Terri nods in agreement with Amira.
"I think those are all good points, but I was thinking more of cleansing the coins rather than trying to stop the flow of coins. I can talk to the Shelynites and have them know about it, but there's one church I think we're overlooking. What about the Asmodeans? Surely they wouldn't want the city to fall further into chaos because of this plague?"
Terri then turns her attention to Wednesday.
"As for you mister, what is it gonna take for you to not be so gloomy? We still have a chance of saving lots of people."
"Unless the Asmodeans see it as an opportunity to step in at the right time and "Establish Order" as only they know how." Amira counters. "But either way let's get back and we can figure our what to do next."
Terri then turns her attention to Wednesday.
"As for you mister, what is it gonna take for you to not be so gloomy? We still have a chance of saving lots of people."
Daud scratches his head as he has to think for a moment. "I... don't know? I'm just a sad, broken man. Maybe I forgot how not to be gloomy." He lowers his head as he retreats into his thoughts, deciding it would probably be for the best not to mention that the plague affecting a bunch of people he didn't immediately know didn't really bother him that much. But know that he was thinking on it...
Tolenn had held back until she'd seen that the others had passed through the gates safely, hidden among the constant stream of merchants and commonfolk entering and leaving the city.
Sliding off of her horse, she gives Trinia a hug, "A Blessed Day! Your freedom gladdens my heart, Trinia. Be well!"
She then turns to the ongoing discussion, "Our fate lie within Korvosa, for good or ill. Uncertainty does not shake my intention to help. I will inquire at the Temple as to what assistance we might expect there."
The group makes its way back through the gates they just passed through a half hour before. No real effort is made to search anybody entering Korvosa, just those leaving, so no problems are encountered. Spirits are mixed, at best. The five feel elation that Trinia, the Queen's scapegoat, has escaped the rotten justice that awaited her and is now safely on her way to a safe haven in Harse. But they can practically feel the slow creep of the disease through the city, tainting all within.
You make your way back to Zellara's, hoping to get a good night's sleep and start working on an answer to the plague on the morrow. The night passes uneventfully for all except Cassandra, who wakes up multiple times with a coughing fit, feeling flushed.
In the morning, Amira prepares her spell to cast on her companions, but it seems relatively unneeded, as all four others can spot the telltale rash on Cassandra's face and arms, the wet rattle in her lungs.
"... I was on the rooftops and didn't bump into anyone infected. I hate you all." Cassandra says as she huddles in front of the fire, trying very hard to keep warm.
"No, but you did walk on your hands when you were back down on the street." Daud muses as he gets another blanket to wrap around Cassandra.
Cassandra huddles in the extra blanket. She begins coughing so hard she ends up gasping, blood on her inner elbow.
"I hate you most of all, scarecrow."
"I don't hate you at all." he echoes while sitting aways away.
"Don't worry Cass, we'll get you cured of this. I promise." Amira says in probably the gentles tone any of the others have heard her use so far.
"Do you know of any other way to cure it? Aside from scrolls?" he asks those present, turning inquisitively to each one of them.
Tolenn upon seeing Cassandra's condition, gets a damp cloth from the kitchen and presses it against the girl's feverish brow.
Looking up at Daud's question , "The power of that scroll comes from one steeped in the mysteries of their god. I will do as I said and go to the Temple and see what they know of this disease. "
She turns to Terri, "Where did you obtain the scroll you used for Brienna? We will need more. "
As the group confers and worries over Cassandra and the City, they hear a knock upon the door. (It is roughly a half-hour after dawn).
"From one of the priests at the temple. I'll see if there are anymore, but I don't think I can buy another one. I don't have the coin, and I can't bestow that blessing with out a scroll," Terri answers, "Really all I can do for Cassandra at this point is try to make her comfortable and help fight this off as best I can. And seeing how quickly this sickness acts, we need to warn as many as possible. I can go to the temple of Shelyn and the temple of Abadar. Tolenn, you're a Sarenrite, aren't you? You should probably be the one to tell them. And we still need to tell the Guard and the Acadamae," Terri leans back against the wall and sighs heavily, "I just hope it's enough."
Hearing the knock, Terri goes to the door.
"Hello! May I help you?"
Daud will hurriedly accompany Terri to the door, incase it was another beggar that would try to lunge at her.
The kindly Terri goes to answer the door, Wednesday at her side, ready to plant his boot in another face if need be. It turns out to be a boy in his early teens, nearly drowning in the Abadarian tabard he is wearing over his patched jeans. "Ummmm...is this where..." He looks up, trying to remember, "Where Terri, Wednesday, Meera, Cassandra, and Tollin reside?" The boy's cheeks redden in his nervousness, his feet shuffling back and forth.
"Yeah, ummm, if it is, then Vaultkeeper Dhatri requests that you meet with him at the Bank of Abadar at your earliest convenience. No wait, that's what I usually say. He said as soon as you can."
"I-I-I've got 63 gold and 9 silver in my belt pouch." Cassandra says. "If that can help buy a scroll I'll give it all over. This is misery."
She starts coughing again.
Nodding in the affirmative to the boy Daud will retun to Cassandra. "Might not need to, can you walk."
"Here, I'll try to make you a bit more comfortable, Cassandra." Tolenn says, before placing a hand on Cassandra's forehead and beginning a quiet prayer.
A feeling of warmth and goodness flows into Cassandra from Tolenn's hand, lifting the weariness she was feeling somewhat.
She then helps the Conjurer get to her feet.
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Daud will hurriedly accompany Terri to the door, incase it was another beggar that would try to lunge at her.
Cassandra groans as the divine magic seeps over her. But both the shaking and the coughing subside. Slowly, she gets to her feet.
"Sorry, Amira." Cassandra says, voice as hoarse as a frog's. "No fighting evil together right now. I think I can walk, though."
Daud will hurriedly accompany Terri to the door, incase it was another beggar that would try to lunge at her.
"Okay, but let us know if you need to rest." Daud says worriedly.
Tolenn observes Cassandra carefully, then nods , satisfied she won't fall on her face.
"Lead on." she says simply to the boy, gathering her gear.
"Don't worry about that right now. We need to take care of you ad stop this thing." Amira says calmly.
The group of companions follow the adolescent through the streets to the Bank of Abadar in the North Point district of Korvosa. Towering over the surrounding buildings, the Grand Vault of Abadar offers a vision of divine luxuriance amid a sea of mortal troubles. Radiant, as its grey-veined white marble reflects the midday sun, there’s little question that this place is the house of a god.
Yet, for a deity of law, the steep stairs and ramps leading up to the temple’s great bronze doors offer a strangely discordant scene. Dozens of citizens—mostly of the working class, although the silks of a few merchants show through the crowd—throng the entry, scarcely being held back by a group of gold-armored Abadarian clerics. All seem intent on gaining entry to the temple, but the clerics turn away nearly all comers. The clerics’ reasoning becomes clear as one desperate believer is turned away, his pitiful countenance mottled with violent red sores.
You are currently approaching this bedlam. There are around 100 people crowded on the steps, being held back by a dozen Abadarian guards. A couple more guards stand apart from the others, and seem to be interrogating the few folk who have business that is not disease-related. To reach them, one would have to fight through the throng.
"I can create a distraction to get us in but it's as likely to gemerate a panic." Amira says quietly to the group. "But it's preferable to having Wednesday start booting people down the stairs."
Wednesday doesn't even bother responding, thinking anythig he says would just incense the woman further.
"There may be another way." Tolenn says calmly, looking at their guide, "Boy, is there another entrance? And what is your name?"
"The priest sent for us. Gave us a guide. Why don't we ask the kid if he has a way in?" Cassandra asks before she begins coughing again.
The boy turns almost terrified (social) eyes on Tolenn, shaking his head. "No other entrance. And I'm Eric."
Someone in the crowd starts pointing at Terri, and begins shouting, "Look, a cleric of Shelyn! They're not greedy like these Abadarians!" Most of the crowd starts surging towards the group.
"This isn't working. Cover your eyes." Amira growls.
"Oi! Back the f@~~ off!" Daud shouts in a growl as he steps in front of Terri, his scrapped sword drawn as a deterrent.
"Eep!" Terri squeaks as the crowd stampedes towards them. She may not be stingy with her goddess's blessings, but she couldn't cure the sick or undue the damage that illness had caused, not without help or access to mundane healing supplies.
"Um guys? I don't have a way to help this many people. What do I do?"
Tolenn pushes Eric behind her and Daud , as she steps up beside her friend, holding her hand up in the air, shouting "In the name of Saranae, the Dawnflower, stop!"
She steps ahead of Daud a little, hoping that Sarenae's Grace will help calm those closest.
"When it all goes to hell, head for the entrance." Amira says as her hands slip into the pouches in her belt, ready if Tolen is unable to stop the burgeoning riot.
As likely expected, the warning of Wednesday and the request of Tolenn are summarily ignored, the crowd surging forward, threatening to spill past the two warriors. The temple guards keep the few remaining back, seeming to have no desire to try to break the crowd, especially since it is flowing away from the temple doors.
Snarling as the rabble surge onward Daud curses under his breath as he forces a hand free from the grip of his blade, blood already dripping from his fingernails as he raises his hand towards the crowd. A split second later a flash of light bursts forth from those closest.
As Wednesday and Tolen attempt to affect the crowd Amira reaches out to the city, calling upon it's protection for her group, a shimmering aura rising from the ground to surround them.
As things boil to a head she immediately follows Wednesday's action with one of her own, hurling a packet of flashpowder directly at the oncoming crowd's feet seeking to clear a path to the doors.
"Go! Tolen support Cassandra, Daud carry Eric, go straight for the doors and don't stop."
At the cobblestone Druid's order Daud hefts the boy up and makes to move with the others.