DM NomadSage's Curse of the Crimson Throne (Inactive)

Game Master nomadicc

Cherias arrives in the house, panting from the exertion of moving as fast as his legs and walking stick would let him.

He holds up the scroll. "Diagnostic magic, " he says after catching his breath. If Melianthe wishes to take it, he'll give it to her. "I can cast restoration magic too if it will help."

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Melianthe takes the scroll gratefully. "Cherias, you are a sight for sunburnt eyes. I've been too busy as a lackey of the Crown to remember any of my medical procedures. Would you like to ascend to see the patient? ...once you can walk again, that is."

"Do you think I should wear a mask as well?"

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"Cover your face and hands and don't come too close," says Melianthe. "Or don't come in--no need to expose yourself to risk," she adds.

"I'll come, it's my duty to help those I can. " Once Cherias has recovered from his hustling through the neighborhoods, he improvises a mask with some of the scarves of his dancing outfit in his pack, and makes sure his gloves are on, then heads upstairs with the witch.

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Upstairs

Tayce thinks and gives Melianthe a small shrug. "Well, my family has been around her the entire time, including Grau. Brother Dhatri, a few of the mothers, my neighbors, tried to help."

*

Downstairs

Seren does not find anything out of the ordinary.

Cherias murmurs a prayer in Celestial, asking Arshea, and his unknown agathion ancestors, to grant the child relief from her suffering. Lesser Restoration

Con damage healed: 1d4 ⇒ 2

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Upstairs

Cherias's healing has an immediate effect upon Brienna. The rash and pox remain, but her coughing subsides significantly. The young girl settles into an exhausted slumber.

Cherias discusses the disease with Melianthe. Neither of them recognize it, but the symptoms are not dissimilar from other fevers, coughs, consumptions and agues the elf and aasimar have seen before.
"The herbs are good but, hmm, needs some other ingredients I think. As much heat as she can bear, to burn out the disease as it were, and..." Between the two of them, they work out a partial course of treatment, but they both know that the strength of the young woman's body will determine her fate in the end.

Heal check to treat disease: 1d20 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 3 + 4 = 23If it matters, this will give her a +4 to her next save against the disease.

Before they leave, Cherias says a restorative prayer once more over the patient. Con damage healed: 1d4 ⇒ 4 "That's about all we can do right now. I've strengthened her, so she may be able to heal further on her own. Complete Bed rest is a must, of course."

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"I am in your debt, Cherias," says the chastened dusk elf. "I was rather at a loss for both diagnosis and treatment. You're far more the healer than I."

Once outside the room she regains some professional stance about her. "Tayce, send word if anyone else falls ill. We will come back to check tomorrow--but do not hesitate to contact us beforehand. May the gods watch over you and your family."

Amen to them Life Oracles.

Brother Dhatri nods in agreement. "I will leave this mixture with you, good mother. Give it to her in a hot brew thrice daily. I believe it will keep down the coughing and help her rest."

Tayce, on the verge of tears, is exultant with her thanks. "I cannot repay you enough. It is such a relief to know that Brienna is in good care. You are welcome here anytime." She embraces each of you in genuine hug.

When the time for hugging arrives, Absinthe is abruptly nowhere to be seen.

Stealth 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32

She reappears shortly after the group has left the house, her aspect... subdued. "One hopes she has not given any offense," the tiefling mutters as she clops along, "but one had little desire to take even greater risks of infection. ... You must find one a coward."

"I thought your kind were hardy, Absinthe," says the dusk elf with a smile. "You are wise, though--however, as I have mentioned, this could be an airborne contagion. We shall see. Four days from first symptoms to possible risk of death is not a good time span for a city of this size." By the end of Melianthe's train of thought, she is no longer smiling.

"Good news is though, we will probably all die before it has a chance to spread further!"

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"If any of you feel anything -- a cough, lassitude, an unexpected melancholia or phlegmatism, let Melianthe and I know. We have things we can do. I only hope it doesn't spread -- I only have so many spells."

"Mayhap the two of you should report your findings to any and all benevolent faiths in the city, not to mention any secular doctors you may know," Absinthe suggests. "It is not impossible that someone may have heard of this disease before, or even knows a cure which does not require expensive spells."

"Good idea!"

Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Cherias knows of some doctors and healers. Melianthe probably knows more.

Heading back to the city?

I guess. I can't think of anything else we can do right now...

Cherias will do what's suggested to tell local healers. If there are any nearby he'll go to them first, then head back into the city.

We should also work with this cleric of Abadar who I already here. He seems to be a good man and not only interested in coin.

Did the pseudodragon find out anything about the neighborhood?

Majenko swoops back to Absinthe's shoulder just as you are leaving Trail's End on your way back to Korvosa. He has little information for you -- none of the people he saw around the village appeared infected. Reconnoitering the greater city and his kind there will take more time.

You take a meandering path through the city on your way back to the Three Rings, stopping at a handful of temples and notable healers along the way. None recognize the specific symptoms Brienna had, but they take the information and warnings with thanks.

The night passes slowly with spans of fitful rest. Images of a headless ghostly woman and the drifting ashes of burnt Harrow cards fill your dreams.

The next morning, Theandra hands over a folded paper note, delivered by courier at dawn. It reads, 'Please meet me at my academy at your first convenience. -VO-'

Upon awakening, Absinthe calls the others to a private corner of the Three Rings' common room.

"Ere we go to the academy, one feels we should consult the Harrow deck. One's dreams were... suggestive that our first employer has someaught to say."

She glances apologetically at Cherias. "This is not a pleasant secret, but know we did not keep it maliciously."

"First employer? Hmm, someone sent you on that rescue mission for the orphans?"

"A spirit did, Cherias. A woman named Zellara drew us as if from a Harrow deck. There were two others with us, but any good game requires a few draws and discards. We did save the orphans...and a bit of ourselves, I think...I do certainly hope we didn't lose any part of ourselves in ridding the city of Lamm. He was a horrible person, Cherias; he killed children, and enslaved me and others. It is no secret we need keep from you. I agree, Abby, let's draw a hand."

Melianthe remains calm during her brief narrative, although her eyes do flash a brighter red at the mention of Gaedren Lamm.

"Oh yes, I know who Lamm was. Horrible man. But a spirit sent you, how fascinating! Is this harrow deck how you speak to it?"

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I don't recall who was actually carrying the deck. Was it Demitri?

If it were, we would have asked it back from him before he left.

Yeah, that's no problem. We can assume one of you has it, if no one actually remembers taking it way back when.

"Come," Absinthe says, rising from the table and beckoning the others to follow her.

The tiefling precedes the rest of the group to her room, where she takes Zellara's Harrow deck out of her belt pouch. With quick, sure movements, she removes the silk wrapping, shuffles and then spreads the cards on her table, the pictures facing upward.

"Zellara?" Absinthe asks. "Have you a message to impart to us?"

"Segang, there is no way a priest of Abadar is doing this for free. The temple is getting paid somehow, of that you can be certain. Death and taxes."

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Upon Absinthe's call, Zellara appears in the corner seat and runs her hands over the arrayed cards. Her face carries a wistful smile as she regards the Harrow deck. "I now exist between the realms of the living, and those of the dead. I cannot enter either permanently, but I can see things with Desna's eyes. To me, these cards are no longer the mysterious cyphers they once were, but are now windows looking into the future and past."

"Like before, when our common tie to the monster Gaedren Lamm allowed me to draw you like cards from a deck, I can sense a powerful doom surrounding you. If you like, I will perform another Harrowing, to send you on your path with Desna's blessing." Zellara takes up the cards and begins to shuffle them with practiced grace.

If you wish to participate, draw a card for the Choosing with a 1d9 roll.

hard to post from my phone with poor internt, but Segang would have offered to walk back into town with the prlest of Abadar talking to him further about this disease and what his church might be willing to do to help the girl and help the disease not spread. He would also make sure he knows how to contact the man in the future.

Segang almost reverently draws a cards.

Card: 1d9 ⇒ 3

Cherias is awestruck as the spirit appears, and draws tentatively.

I seem to recall from reading the thread before I joined that each roll should be one less than the one before?

If so: 1d8 ⇒ 4
If not: 1d9 ⇒ 9

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1d9 ⇒ 4

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1d9 ⇒ 3

You can always subtract if I accidentally stole Segang's card. ;)

Absinthe's lips press together into a harsh line, and the tiefling frowns at the mention of a new doom. But she also draws a card.
1d9 ⇒ 8

Zellara sits and holds the deck quietly while you each choose a card. Segang goes first, pulling The Desert. Cherias picks The Waxworks, Seren The Brass Dwarf, and Melianthe The Survivor. Lastly, ominously, Absinthe draws The Sickness. Zellara remains silent, taking each of the cards back before reshuffling and starting the Harrowing.

The first three cards that turn up are The Snakebite, The Foreign Trader, and The Mute Hag. "Darkness clouds the past... pacts made in secret that are deadly to those bitten by their fangs. An outsider is key, and a ship that carries the winds of death in its sails."

The next three cards are The Fiend, The Rabbit Prince, and The Lost. "A great calamity is befallen us, and it capriciously knows no allies or enemies. Many will lose their way, lost in the unease, scattered among the mass graves."

The final cards drawn are The Paladin, The Tyrant, and The Inquisitor. "Axiomatic powers in contention: those who inflict pain, and those who endure. The immutable reality of conflict is not the winner or loser, but rather the carrion birds who feast upon the dead left in its wake."

Zellara blinks, looking up at you. "None of your chosen cards are revealed in the spread. You are not tied to a specific destiny. Desna's wisdom is for you to use or discard, at your whim."

No pretty pics this time... =/

Melianthe looks at Zellara and nods at the benevolent apparition. "Perhaps we are not tied, but this drawing hints at many things for Korvosa. Segang," she says to the Shoanti, "You once said we could put a plague-sign on the door here. ...I fear that we may be facing such an occurrence on many a door in our town. This is a port city, and diseases can come in on ships...I do wonder if the sickness that Grau's niece contracted is from a ship. The rest of the drawing speaks of death, unallied death afflicting many."

She contracts her eyebrows in thought. "A pact...did someone arrange to bring a disease here and fall ill from it...Segang...where are those books on contagion and disease that we brought back from the Derro lair? I'd like to look at them again."

"Zellara," Absinthe says, her voice stern. "One wishes to thank you for your help. But you have not yet finished this draw." The tiefling points at the ghostly woman. "Your own fortune. Draw it now. Let the Harrow tell us whether your service in this day and age is completed or not. This I command."

Zellara raises an eyebrow at Absinthe's command. "I obey only Desna, my friend. My own fortune is not mine to tell. She will see to it that my destiny is fulfilled, whatever it may be."

"Then instruct me," Absinthe says. "I will lay the cards for you. I would be certain whether it is your duty to continue in this state. Or not."

She did mention herself that Pharasma would be ticked off by her ghostliness. The longer it continues, the more peeved Her Paleness is likely to become, right?

"I... cannot," Zellara responds, hesitantly. "I will remain so until Desna sends me onward."

Cherias is puzzled by Absinthe's insistence.

"Is there any way to know what we must do?"

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Melianthe looks at Zellara and nods at the benevolent apparition. "Perhaps we are not tied, but this drawing hints at many things for Korvosa. Segang," she says to the Shoanti, "You once said we could put a plague-sign on the door here. ...I fear that we may be facing such an occurrence on many a door in our town. This is a port city, and diseases can come in on ships...I do wonder if the sickness that Grau's niece contracted is from a ship. The rest of the drawing speaks of death, unallied death afflicting many."

She contracts her eyebrows in thought. "A pact...did someone arrange to bring a disease here and fall ill from it...Segang...where are those books on contagion and disease that we brought back from the Derro lair? I'd like to look at them again."

We've not yet sold them Mel. I can fetch the lot for you if you like. If there is really gonna be a plague what should we do now to safeguard ourselves so that we may try to fight it?

Buy Anti-plague for sure before it become rare and expensive. Hmm. a non-good character would try to buy it up then sell it at a premium. I suggest we lay in a small store for ourselves if available, and commission more from some as many alchemists as we can find so that it is available when needed. What else can we do? Scrolls of remove disease are expensive.

On a small scale, Cherias can do four Lesser Restores per day. That should be enough to keep anyone who does contract the disease from dying, and Heal checks will help with saves against the disease. Two or so saves should usually be enough to cure a disease. This will keep our group alive, but if a plague breaks out, we'll just be one small part of any effort to cure it.

"Well, we could start wearing masks. Melianthe could wear her doctor's mask regularly, and the rest of us could get silk scarves to cover our faces. That may help if it's something that spreads through the air. It might be touch, or vermin, that spread it instead."

Cherias thinks for a moment, and adds, "Too many people wearing masks could cause a panic, though. I guess it wouldn't hurt for just us."

"Let us go see Orsini first, and then go to the market, buy silk for masks and so forth. Melianthe, I think you'll need another scroll diagnosis scroll, since your first one turned out to be a dud?"

I'd like to recommend that at least two of us start taking ranks in Craft (alchemy) so we can brew up our own anti-plague, just in case.

"Indeed," Absinthe says, nodding to Cherias. "Let us adjourn for now and attend the university."

Ach, I've been avoiding that Brew Potion hex...maybe next time. Seren's a smartypants and could take a rank...as can I...

"Yes, Segang, let me take another look at those books, and Cherias...indeed, I'll need another scroll. The last attempt was quite unfortunate, although Hloire got a good meal out of it."

She bows to Zellara. "May Desna and whomever else keep you safe in the spirit world before you move onward. We are ever grateful for your help, Lady Zellara."

Zellara bows her head to Melianthe. "Until next time, go with grace." The ghost disappears, leaving only the Harrow deck behind.

Anything before or on your way to Orisini Academy? Segang, we can sidebar your interaction with Brother Dhatri, if you have any specifics.