Kioshi manages to fight through the pain, his body rejecting the ghouls poison's attempts to shut it down... but the ghoul does not seem like its going to let up, ready to continue its assault before the young wizard can recover. But Masym's reactions are much quicker, as he ducks past the creature's claws to suddenly come up behind it, sword thrusting up and under its rib cage, the blade piercing its dark diseased heart. For a moment it spasms, teeth still clamped down on Kioshi's arm... then its jaw loosens, and it falls to the muddy ground.
Fifi is doing well on her own, fighting off the ghoul's attacks, then returning with her own blade that is almost glowing with the divine heat of Sarenrae. She cuts a long deep slash across its chest, the flesh searing as it passes through, and it steps back with an angry hiss!
The last ghoul, its job playing decoy done, charges at Londo with a ravenous howl, easily dodging past the aging half-orc's defenses. It is all he can do to shift to the side so the creature's teeth sink into his shoulder instead of his neck . The pain that follows only dredges up reminders of other pains, in other battles, long past.
- Round 1 ------
Londo, Kioshi, and Marcus are up!
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Londo's fort saves
The old soldier has a hard time shaking the rust.
He does however have an enemy directly in front of him, loosing his old war axe from its sheath and lets loose a wide chop.
His chop goes wide, but Zarisha, exhibiting uncharacteristic care for him, slides into action and attempts to slam the foe
Though his reflexes may have slowed over the years, years of fighting in the Crusades have not made him any less tough. He easily fights off the ghouls necrotic poisons, bringing his greataxe around, trying to destroy it before it can test his constitution yet again. He rushes the swing a bit though, and the ghoul easily ducks under the blade. It can't completely dodge all of Zarisha's attacks though, as the phantom glides up beside her host, and smashes the ghoul across the side of the head with one ghostly fist.
Kioshi quickly runs around to join them, not expecting to harm the creature himself, but hoping at least to continue distracting it for those more suited to the task!
Marcus moves in to assist Fifi with the other ghoul. He remembers what biting their foul flesh was like from earlier, so his attempt this time is a little tentative, more a threatening snap than anything that might break the skin. But his blade, that's a different matter as he brings it around with a furious swipe. The honed edge cuts through the ghoul like a hot knife through butter, and nearly takes its head completely off! That ghoul too collapses to the ground, no longer a danger to anyone.
- Round 1 ------
- Round 2 ------
Midge, Masym, and Fifi to go (since the black one goes down!)
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Fifi moves towards the last ghoul, with the hopes that this may be the last of them.
The young paladin will try to slash once again at the creature, her flame strong and dancing like a burning torch. She goes for a lunge at the Ghoul's chest, and using her right leg as an anchor, tries to slash her scimitar all the way up the creature's clavicle and head.
"May your soul reach the heavens, poor man."
Fifi quickly moves over towards the last remaining ghoul, her blood hot with righteous fury. The same fury that powers her sword as she impales the ghoul through the back, just below the shoulder. She doesn't quite manage to drive it through the creatures clavicle, but she does enough damage that when Masym comes in to aid, his sword releases the last of the foul energy that was holding it to this world.
With one last mournful wail, the ghoul falls into the muddy street at your feet, and soon only the gentle pattering of rain can be heard from out in the hamlet.
______________________
You spend the remainder of the evening working your way through the town, checking to see if more undead monsters are lurking, ready to assault the villagers once more. Everywhere you go, you see signs of the ghouls' rampage, buildings damaged by ghoul claws, people nursing wounds from ghoul teeth... bodies of those unable to withstand either.
When the sun finally rises, you are all exhausted, but thankful to see it finally arrive, none more so than Fifi. Even the rain cooperates and lets up, if only for a moment, to allow the first few rays of the morning sun to shine through, before the clouds press in once more.
In the morning light, you are finally able to take stock of the damage.
The citizens of Railford slowly come out of their cottages in a daze, few of them really able to process what happened or sure that it is indeed over. Over half of them bare hideous wounds of one sort or another, vicious gashes and jagged reminders of the claws and teeth of the ghouls. You find six bodies in all, most of them partially consumed, including one unlucky member of the Taldan legion. But more troubling... of those townsfolk who survived the night with injuries, almost half of them are already showing the early signs of ghoul fever... never mind the fact you know Becher has contracted it too, and Jessup still only barely hanging on as well.
It is clear that the town is not out of the woods yet, just the battlefield has changed.
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Marcus has a bit of a dazed look as he surveys the battlefield. "No rest for the weary... myesss..."
He shifts back to his human guise and looks over towards Fifi. "The dead will have to be disposed of lest we have a repeat of this disaster tomorrow... And Masym's comment from this afternoon, whist an overreaction of the events at that particular moment... are likely... hrmmm... accurate. Fifi, the blessings of the Dawnflower may not be accepted here, but if you would be willing to provide last rites for those who fell... well... at least it would make me feel better. There is an old tradition from the Land of the Linnorm Kings where fallen soldiers would be sent off in a canoe or raft down river, packed with kindling and mementos. After final blessings are given, a flaming arrow would be fired into the canoe, igniting it. I think that would be... hrmm... most practical given the current situation, and given prevalence of the Ulfen Guard in Taldor... I hope acceptable to their kin. Do you think you could help preside over these?"
"As for the rest of us... we'll need to provide whatever treatment we can to the survivers. Including.... hrmmm... ourselves as it were... myess. It will be a long road ahead towards recovery. We should get that chest of Becher's open and secure the deed to this site. I'd rather not be overseeing medical care of a hamlet and defending against another lot of ruffians at the same time. We can discuss the lodge with him later... for now we just need to make sure everyone who is still alive stays that way."
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"Those are pretty words Marcus," Masym's voice is ragged with exhaustion yet there is still a note of steel in his voice, "It's gonna take a lot of effort to build these canoes, effort that we can't afford to waste now. I think a simple cairn will have to do here. If the Ulfen want to follow their traditions, then THEY can build their own canoes!"
Glancing up at the gathering clouds once again Masym shakes his head firmly, "No we have to get these people indoors, keep them warm and dry. We will have to take care of the corpses ourselves as none of the infected can afford to waste their energies here."
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"A makeshift raft would do as well... the point is... well... that the bodies should probably be... hrm..." Marcus coughs and stammers for a bit as he tries to come up with a way to phrase this without sounding cold. Finally he gives up. "...hrmmm.... disposed of in a manner that precludes them from rising in the morning. Or in a year from now when the cairn is disturbed."
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"I will take care of the dead. I'll build a mournful pyre, and give them their proper rites."-she says getting to work immediately.
Fifi will try to build a pyre from the nearby trees, using a lumberjack axe from any of the townsfolk. Even though she is fatigued, she will continue to work way past the point of exhaustion. "With every drop I sweat, I am remembering those that have lost their lives here."
She will also like to ask for the name of everyone deceased, in order to remember them well, too. If anyone is willing to help her, she will accept the help but will not rest.
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Kioshi Is unbelievably happy that this threat is over and he does everything he can to support the group to attend to the sick and wounded.
”We definitely have to save as many people as possible! We should try to find a suitable building and bring all the sick in there so that we can treat them all simultaneously and hope for the best so that they recover! I also hope that gratitude is including permission to build a lodge here!“ Kioshi contemplates.
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Kioshi tries to organize the treatment.
"So one of us should ride back to the city we came through to get medical help. I hope they have a horse here!"
Kioshi will then speak with the town people to convince them that they should come together to the main building where Becher is also being treated.
Kisohi also aids to heal these people.
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Londo spends his time - and Zarishas though she moaned and whined about all this ceremony. The dead are gone. Their souls have returned to tbe void and all knowledge they once held is lost. A funeral ceremony is waste of effort!
She whined aloud to both Londo and Fifi. Despite that, Londo persisted in helping to build the Pyre and lend his aid. The kld soldier had seen his share of death...hell he had seen his sharr of dead civilians, many of them at his own blade. But this was the first time since his soul was literally cleansed by an angel in heaven that it had happened and he felt its weight. He felt....the heavy burden if responsibility. Portions of himself that he had killed off in youth now back with a Vengeance.
Working alongside Fifi helped with that. He could finally answer Zarisha The funeral is for the living. To help cleanse the stain of witnessing senseless death from our souls. Zarisha this is important.
All of the cottages in Railford are small single room dwellings, for the most part. The only building big enough for the number of injured you have, is the distillery, and it has no beds or furniture, so everyone would be on the floor, which won't really help.
As well, while you are surveying the damage, and starting relief efforts, Dalard will come by, most of his wounds gone, though not all due to being infection himself. He will have a couple of scrolls that no one in the town is able to utilize. Both of them have a remove disease spell on them.
Despite Marcus' best efforts, none of the townsfolk are willing to lay on the floor in the distillery. All of them insist on staying in their own homes, or insist they're fine and don't need any help.
When you do finally get back to the distillery, you find Becher moving around already, having made his way up from the basement while you were away. He is clearly still feverish, and weak, but at least conscious and relatively aware of his surroundings. He is up in the loft/office, making even more of a chaotic mess of it than it already was.
"I know I saw it somewhere..." He mutters, as he rifles through piles of paper, and boxes.
He doesn't seem to notice Marcus for a while, though finally manages to shift focus his way... if not managing to get his eyes focused too well.
"Still alive." He mutters. Not like that bastard Grald. He tries to laugh, but fails, ending up coughing instead... the motions causing him to wince in pain and clutch at his side. "You guys do that to him?" He points absently downstairs.
"Still trying to get this damn thing open." He halfheartedly kicks the box he'd been carrying since you found him, where it lay on the floor.
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Midge surveys the scene in stunned silence. Eventually she sees the wounded, gives her head a shake and starts tending to their wounds. She pulls out her wand and heals as many of their injuries as she can, then resorts to her healing potions. When that runs dry she asks Marcus if she can borrow his healing wand from Londo and uses that to heal the rest.
Once she's healed everyone's wounds she gets to work seeing them to some of the more whole homes. When Marcus discusses bringing them to the distillery, Midge shakes her head. "The poor conditions at the distillery won't help them recover, Marcus. We need to get these people some proper rest. We can fit as many of the infected into multi-bed homes as we can. Then the healers will have to go back and forth."
Turning to Londo, she says, "Would you mind taking a break from helping Fifi to take a look at these scrolls? I can't use them."
Afterwards she gives Londo a wan smile. "Thanks."
Midge sees that Marcus is going to work on getting into the chest, and nods in approval. Then she hurries off to get healing the infected citizens. She works through the night, pushing herself past exhaustion in an effort to save as many people as she can.
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Londo makes his way back to Belcher once someone hands him the scrolls and he realizes that he is the only one that can use them.
He quickly makes his way to the man and asks him to hold still while he casts the spell.
Marcus can I get some assistance?
He opens the scroll and treats the man.
He then gestures towards Zarisha to assist as he attempts to pry open the box and gesture for Marcus to do so as well.
He takes in a deep breath and for a moment draws upon the painful experiences of his youth to send forth a burst of his power.
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"Be careful Londo... don't want to destroy the documents inside by pulling too violently. Hmm.... this is a distillery, I'm sure there is a prybar here somewhere..."
Marcus will look around for a prybar, then help Londo open the box.
"And make sure to use one of those scrolls on Jessup. I suspect that case may prove to be... terminal if left unchecked another night.... myess...."
As soon as you start trying to mess with the chest, Becher gets a little agitated.
"No, no." He warns. "Dad was sure to have put protections on it. We need to use the key."
He sighs. "Who knows what will happen otherwise. Old codger was always too clever for his own good."
His face gets a little dark at talk of his father, and he turns back to the clutter of the office. "I know I saw it. Was back during spring, last year, I think... when we had that big order for Zimar... Yes! Where did I put those..."
He starts trying to get at some boxes of files up on a shelf, but his weakened finally catches up to him, and he collapses in a chair, breathing hard, holding his sid.e
"Up there. I think its up there." He says, pointing.
You will be able to pull down the box in question, which contains mostly innocuous documents on the sale and purchase of spirits and supplies, but as you go through them, you eventually find that there are a half a dozen loose keys apparently discarded on the bottom of the box itself.
"Ya, I think it was one of those." Becher says, excitedly, at the sight of them... though its clear he's not sure which.
Despite the magic on the scroll being slightly above his current skill level, Londo is familiar enough with the rituals to activate the spell thereon. As the healing magic washes over Becher, he starts slightly, then leans back with a sigh.
Checking the wound on his side, the dark blotchy areas of disease have completely faded, leaving just the uneven scaring where the flesh healed around it and some bruising. It would seem he has been cleared of the infection!
Three of the keys can be eliminated almost immediately as obviously belonging to much larger door locks and the fourth key is clearly far older than the lock on the box... which has you deciding between just two, both of which look like the right size and shape for the lock in question.
Marcus, Londo, and Kioshi each examine it for a moment, and all agree that one in particular looks like the right one.
Hard to argue with a second and third opinion!
The key easily slides into the lock, and one turn later, the chest clicks open!
"Finally!" Becher says, as he pushes himself up to go over and open the lid.
Inside the box is a pair of worn leather-bound journals, and a sheaf of official looking papers.
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”So Becher are these the papers we were looking for? Ehhem... has anybody talked about the proposal of the Pathfinder Society with you, yet ?“ Kioshi says a little shyly.
He starts to think about the right logical arguments.
”Dear Becher, as you have witnessed this town is in need of protection and funding to be able to prosper. I hope we were also able to provide evidence that we are genuinely concerned about the people living here. The Pathfinder Society would very much like to establish a Lodge here on your premises and we hope that you agree that it makes a lot of sense to walk together on the journey to bring back prosperity to this town!“ Kioshi says with a serous expression.
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After helping the townsfolk deal with their ghoul infections Masym hurries over to see if the others needed help revealing the contents of the chest. On seeing their success, he nods in approval yet also shakes his head slightly.
All this fuss...over some papers that would not last two seconds in a fire...
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Without the required materials to build a proper pyre, Fifi will try to gather as many flammable materials she can get and pile them on top of the bodies.
With Londo's help, if she is able to finish the pyre before the day's end, she'll light it up and say a prayer.
Without taking rest, she'll continue to work, this time tending to the sick
Much to no one's surprise, except possibly Marcus... no one seems interested in reading to him like some sort of servant.
_______________________
Fifi, although there are no convenient trees to use for your Pyre, you will be able to find other materials that will suffice, though it takes a lot more work gathering it all together. You are not alone though, as a number of the Railford townsfolk will help out, once you explain why.
It takes most of the day, but you will be able to get a large pile going, just down at the base of the hill, and all five dead townies, the four dead soldiers, and the nine dead ghouls will all be gathered and transported down, ready for the torch!
Though she will get a few uncomfortable looks once she starts saying prayers, as it is unlikely she would do so without mentioning her goddess.
________________________
Becher has no problems at all, allowing the Pathfinders to start a lodge at the distillery.
"Of course!" He will interject with barely a second thought, as Kioshi and Londo try to talk him into it. "Hell, if you folks hadn't come along, most of us would probably be dead right now... or worse. Perhaps you can set up in the basement area, I'm sure we can clean it out... and hey... secret passage, right?"
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Fifi's prayer will be about Sarenrae, but she will not mention her name. Still, anyone knowing anything about her will probably be able to realize she's praying to Sarenrae. As the bodies burn, the fire in her head seems to go low and red, almost as if embracing her scalp.
"With this torch, and this fire, we say goodbye to those dearly departed. With this tragedy, the embers of their future and identity have gone out."-she says while pausing, creating some moments of silence.
"As such, it is up to us to carry on their legacies. To hold on to the warmth they created within us, and to spread that warmth onto others. For while the memories of them remain within us, they shall still live in spirit."-Fifi says while holding her amulet tight to her chest.
"With these losses, we recognize that a duty has been pressed onto us, the survivors. A simple duty: to continue living. To make them proud. To look towards our future, and to hold on to hope."-the paladin says while letting out a huge breath and looking towards the sky, tearing up a bit.