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Jan takes a moment to ponder what the rest of the group has said and replies, "There are things we don't know here, but is apparent that whatever killed this village's people started in that grove of trees... was the grove sacred to some unknown spirit? I don't know but we certainly won't find out unless we go and investigate it."
Jan then asks, "I know we have a task to complete but we also know this sickness is rather deadly. Do we all need to go? Maybe the child and someone else should remain behind to tell the Society of what has befallen us if we don't return."
"That fool woodcutter was already spewing his contagion by the time that Roga and I journeyed to that accursed grove," Dolok growls. "What we found there was death. Dead trees, bleeding a vile yellow and black stuff like pus and sap, stood in a small circle amid a stinking mire and fetid mist. Roga...began coughing as soon as we entered that copse, the sickness already in him..."
As if the thought of the former god caller is too much to bear, Dolok gives his head a mighty shake and paws at his eyes almost as a human might try to dab away tears. "That plague was a vile contagion. An oozing, honorless sore upon my people, which robbed them of their lives in coughing fits of agony! A foe that the ‘mighty’ Dolok Darkfur could not best. My shame, oozing from the mouths and flesh of my children."
The great eidolon is silent for a moment and then looks each of you in the eyes. "But...if you think that you may be able to do what I cannot, then I will offer what help that I can." He suddenly turns and swats aside a heavy stone that sits at the base of the altar, revealing a small compartment underneath containing two vials and a scroll case.
This is an Elixir of Fire Breath.
It's an Elixir of Vision.
A scroll of Spiked Pit.
"Treasures that once belonged to the god callers of the Farheaven clan," he explains. "Take them, they are of no use to me. Perhaps they will help you survive whatever lies within that tainted grove. I do not know if the source of the plague lies with the fey or with another spirit; Roga and I did not see or feel any signs of such on our visit but it is possible that any such beings could have been hidden from our sight and our senses."
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After you've had a moment to examine the items offered to you, Dolok glances over towards the Skorlov home. Following his gaze, you can see father and daughters watching from one of the windows - their expressions stoic and somber as they look on.
"I have sensed their presence here for some time but unless I am called I am unable to communicate with the mortals that call this plane home," he explains. "They are not of my clan but they have treated this place with respect while making it their home. If they wish to stay...they may do so. I bear them no ill will."
Dolok straightens to his full height and you get a glimpse of him as he must have once looked before misfortune visited his children - majestic and powerful and without fear.
"I will tell you how to reach the tainted grove," he declares. "It lies a day's travel south of this village - rest and prepare as you must but hurry...and bring justice to my dead children, if you can!"
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"We'll do everything we can to avenge them." Meredith stows her weapons away. "Whatever happened out there, it isn't right."
She smiles when she hears of the Skorlovs. "I did warn them about you, but I'm glad to know you are a noble guardian. Denair here once guarded a village, and I'm one of the few survivors. We will be honored to help you."
Meredith takes a look at Dolok's gifts and analyzes them.
"An elixir of Fire Breath."
"An elixir of Vision. Useful for you scouts."
"A scroll of Spiked Pit. Hey, I can cast this normally, haha." Meredith is glad to use one of these things. "But maybe you want to use it, Lazarus?"
She turns to Frankie. "Jan and Dolok have a point. Disease is no joke. I can't protect you from that... I want you to stay with the Skorlovs, at least for a few days." She sighs in defeat. "But something tells me you're not going to listen. Did you at least bring an Antiplague with you?" She searches through her gear. "I wish I did."
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Frankie's eyes light up as Meredith describes the treasures "That one lets you BREATH FIRE! LIKE A DRAGONNNN!" He bellows, clearly interested in something as epic as that, even though the elixir of vision would probably be more suitable.
As she tries to leave him behind with the Skorlovs though he crosses his arms defiantly like she was about to feed him canned peas "Nope. Don't try to leave me here, even if its with those nice people. You'll be lost without me and Denny wouldn't abandon me.." He says hopefully as he looks up to his furry tree friend.
"Besides, I have one of those antiplagues! Right..." He starts digging through his back pack, looking around suspiciously if anyone tries spying on his stuff, digging, digging. "Right here!" He pulls out an odd shaped, dingy bottle with a piece of taffy stuck to the side of it, which he happily pries off and stuffs into his stubborn face.
Once he's got a moment he scurries up a bit closer to the big bear and waves him down to whisper something in his furry ear.
"Don't worry Dolok. We'll fix this for you. Then we'll introduce you to those nice people in the house and they can be your new family. Don't be sad."
He pats the bear lovingly on the leg before heading off.
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Lazarus accepts the scroll from the summoner. "Thank you, Meredith. I can't wait to add Spiked Pit to my spellbook. But if we need to use it during this mission, I will."
The wizard-priest considers his capacity to deal with the mysterious affliction. "I have one vial of antiplague. If we rest now, I can prepare up to three spells of diagnose disease and/or remove sickness, but I'm afraid remove disease is beyond my capabilities. I can use my healing skill to treat disease, as well."
"Yeah! We can protect Frankie, and Frankie will protect us!" Denair nods as Frankie argues his case. "We can't protect by abandoning. You didn't abandon me and I won't abandon Frankie."
"Besides, he's even more prepared than you. He has the antiplague gunk thing."
She smiles and gives Frankie a hug once he finishes talking to Dolok directly.
Dolok glances towards the Skorlov home once again, his great brow furrowed slightly as he regards the family watching from a distance. "The two daughters are skilled in the ways of the wood but the father...I sense that he is more powerful than he appears, a guardian of nature in all its forms. Perhaps, if the worst comes to pass and one or more of you fall infected, he will be able to aid in purifying your bodies?"
The great bear shrugs. "But it is only a thought. You should speak with him on the matter."
Although Dolok still seems rather depressed, the group's willingness to go and investigate the tainted grove does appear to have lifted his spirits somewhat. And as Frankie gives Dolok a pat on the leg before darting away, something in his eyes seems to soften.
"Willing to risk your very lives to avenge my children...even though you owe us nothing..." he murmurs, watching Frankie. "I have another request: come back alive. All of you."
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"Navigating to the grove should not be too difficult given the lay of the land in this region and the directions we have been provided."
Jan removes his backpack and takes a few moments to inventory his gear.
"I too have a traditional remedy against some of the more common types of illness... although it is not a magical cure."
Jan will approach the Skorlov's and in a completely Ulfen fashion ask them, "Do you worship the Father of Storms, Season and Forests [Gozreh]? Do you follow the old and sacred ways of the Green Faith?"(see note below)
Jan asks the Skorlov's and Meredith if they would like to worship with him this evening to invoke the favor of the gods and nature in light of the upcoming task... as well as providing general blessings. Jan will ask if they have any wine, honey or similar substance on hand, so he can offer the proper dedicatory libations. If not, water will suffice, particularly if it come from a spring or sacred brook.
Regardless, Jan will find a site of ritualistic significance (clump of trees, rock outcrop, etc.) to make his votive offering- placing 20 gp, wrapped in leaves, into the earth and asking the gods to understand he wishes he had more time to give something more worthy. Say for 30-45 minutes in total time spent.
OoC- Jan is a member of both sects- as they are not mutually exclusive in PFS. As per his background, Jan's attitudes have obviously shifted now that he believes the Skorlov's to be members of his faith.
As Jan turns away from the altar and makes for the Skorlov home, Kenner moves away from the window and comes to open the door for the Ulfen warrior.
"Guess you've come t' some sort of agreement with th' great creature, eh?" Kenner asks of Jan and anyone else that approaches the home. "Couldn't quite make out what was bein' said but wasn't too hard t' figger out from watchin'."
When Jan makes his offer, Kenner gives him an appraising look and then nods, offering his hand for a shake. "Always good t' meet someone what has th' proper respect for nature," he smiles. "Kinda figgered one or two of you might fit th' bill but I didn't wanna assume anythin'," he explains. "An' yeah, it'd be...right pleasant...t' worship with some fellow believers. But what's all th' business about with th' bear spirit? Learn what you folks needed t' know?"
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Jan looks at Kenner and says,"Brother, the creature is known as Dolok and he is the guardian of this place... I don't know exactly what rituals you need to perform, but he is intelligent and knows who you are... he says he respects the way your family lives in balance with nature."
After pausing for a few seconds,"As far as what we need to do to lift the curse that hangs over this place, well it looks like we will need to travel to a blighted grove about a days journey from here and somehow figure out what is going on there...I don't know what we will find, but Gozreh protects his faithful."
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Frankie gives Denny a hug back then follows Jan back to the cabin, always curious. He looks up at the oversized escaped slave, eyes wide and wondrous as he talks about what happened, some praying stuff, and the like. "I have some maple syrup? Denny says it comes from trees.. kinda like their blood? Its pretty sweet though, REALLY good on pancakes..."
As the discussion turns to Dolok and the adventure, Frankie smiles and nods frequently. He does add in later "Dolok is really sad and we're going to help make him feel better. Maybe once he feels better when we get back you guys should come talk to him too. I bet Laz would teach you how to call him and you guys could be great friends!"
"Oh! And he said something about gross diseased trees making people cough and die. So watch out for that." Frankie smiles with the unknowing smile of someone who doesn't know what he's getting into.
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Curious about the worship of Gozreh and the Green Faith, Lazarus follows Jan and observes his rituals. So, the legends of naked dancing under the moon and hugging of trees aren't accurate, it seems.
The samsaran asks Kenner, "Master Skorlov, would you be willing to trade? Our party may be in need of preventative or restorative means, alchemical or magical, to cope with diseases or curses."
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Meredith sits with Jan and Lazarus to see the ritual. Denair, usually bored or asleep, stands alert to watch the whole ritual.
As they reach Kenner Skorlov, she chimes in with Lazarus. "If you have anything that can help deal with the plague, that would be useful. At the least, do you mind if we spend the night? It's getting dark out there."
Kenner shakes his head and waves away the offer of coin. "'Preciate th' offer but we don't have much need for it way out here. Don't get into civilization much an' when we do, we usually trade for what we need," he explains. "'Sides that, I'm afraid we don't have what you're lookin' for."
"Still...sounds like you're plannin' t' tangle with somethin' right nasty. Tell you what: we can't go with you but you're welcome t' spend th' night here in our home an' if any of you find yourselves in poor shape or sickly, I'll do what I can t' help if you can make it back here. Sound fair?"
Both Adula and Klara look at each other and nod. "We'll do what we can t' help too," Adula adds. "Can't work magic like Pa can but we still know a thing or two 'bout tendin' th' sick. Right Klara?"
"Right!" Klara agrees. She looks back outside the window for a moment, watching Dolok as he gazes towards the setting sun. Then she turns to look back at all of you.
"I'm glad you said you'd help him," Klara remarks softly. "He looks so fierce but so sad at th' same time. I wish I could go with you..."
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And so, even though the Skorlovs aren't able to help when it comes to providing extra supplies, you do at least benefit from a restful night's sleep inside their home without having to worry about setting watches or anything of the sort. But morning still comes early and before you know it it's time to get up and get moving...
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Frankie happily accepts the offer to crash on their couch for the night. "Thanks, sleeping outside on the ground with all those buzzing bugs is terrible! They're WAY worse than the rats and roaches in the city. Well, unless the rats try nibbling your toes when you sleep, that's not so good." Frankie quickly curls up in a ball and is fast asleep.
Come morning he takes some serious rousing to finally get up, his body doing its best to catch up on lost sleep from the trip. "Its barely even light out yet... can someone make some cocoa while I pack my stuff?" He says through closed eye lids and a half asleep mumble.
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Yorad, accustomed to sleeping on strange floors, sleeps like a rock...though his snoring is rather noticeable to the others. Once morning has arrived, he blearily rubs his eyes open. "How can you guys sleep if there's no city noise out there?" He then gets up and quickly pack for the wilderness trek ahead, wolfing down whatever is placed in front of him.
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Jan awakes in a dour mood... even more dour than normal and eats his meal in silence- answering most questions with a grunt or a head nod.
A blighted forest? What manner of foulness could this be? Are dark spirits at work here? If these lands have been touched by very hand of Urgathoa, will these companions be strong enough to survive?
Jan, who has worked himself into believing an evil cosmic conspiracy is afoot, spits on the ground and pronounces, "May the gods protect us... if we should fall may our spirits find a swift journey to the mead halls of our ancestors. GOZREH BE PRAISED!... and may the Pallid Queen be DAMNED!"
With that Jan leaves the small hut and begins his journey towards the blighted grove... breakfast it over.
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In the twilight that precedes the dawn, Lazarus rises to perform his daily reflection and prayers, asking Desna's blessing, and preparing his spells for the day, including diagnose disease and remove sickness .
"Thank you, Kenner, ladies." Lazarus prepares to depart. "Let's hope we won't need your help. Until we meet again."
With little else to do but set forth and try to resolve the matter of the plague once and for all, you make your way south out of the Farheaven village, following the directions Dolok had given to you. True to his word, the journey takes most of the day but just as the sun begins to make its final descent over the horizon, you finally come to a place...a place reeking of death and decay, just as the mighty eidolon had said.
A great stretch of blighted land looms before you, eerily silent and still. All of the trees in the area appear dead and lifeless, but a thick copse to the south stands out as particularly unwholesome. The branches of the trees are long devoid of leaves, the bark is an unnatural gray, and large sections of the trunks are slick with a glistening liquid the color of yellowed milk. The broken limbs that remain droop, some nearly touching a morass of dark, moist land surrounding the base of their trunks. From time to time, yellowish mist bursts up from the ground before settling into the muck.
Deep within the boggy area you spot something...it looks almost like some sort of round, pustule-like thing. There is no movement from it and in retrospect you're slightly amazed at yourself that you were able to spot it at all. And now that you look, you also see sections of the bog that appear to be full of little tiny, minuscule globs of...something. All unmoving, all very, very difficult to spot at a glance.
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"Wait!" Denair peers closely at some of the trees. "Look at that. The pustules!" She points very carefully. "They don't move much, but. What are those?"
"Ergh! I don't remember!"
Now that you have Denair pointing it out for you, you can all see some sort of round, pustule-like thing nestled in the bog near one of the oozing trees. There is no movement from it and it blends in quite well with the surroundings; you realize that it was only sheer luck that Denair managed to spot it. And now that you look, you also see sections of the bog that appear to be full of little tiny, minuscule globs of...something. All unmoving, all very, very difficult to spot at a glance.
Holy smokes! This is some sort of variation on a boilborn ooze!
These are all plagueborn swarms; made up of thousands and thousands of fine, miniscule oozes!
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As Lazarus and Jan call out a warning about the nasty effects that the ooze and the plagueborn swarms can have, it becomes apparently just the kind of commonality that they have. Both 'creatures' can infect living beings with slime fever - the plague that decimated the Farheaven clan - either by direct contact or via the disease mist that they exude from their bodies. Further more, a boilborn ooze will pop when destroyed, showering everything in a short radius with acidic slime that can also transmit slime fever.
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Hearing all of the grossness these things have to offer, Frankie drinks down his medicine with a healthy dose of cocoa to wash it down. "YACK that stuff is gross!" He drops the spent vial on the ground and looks to the others.
"So what do we do? Maybe we can shoot fire at them like dragons!" His eyes start to grow large and crazy at the thought. "Or throw bottles of fire or acid at them? I've got good aim!" He proudly reiterates that fact for all the new comers that haven't seen him have toss fights with Denny.
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"I see. This is what did it, then." Meredith thinks. "It's best we destroy them at range." She calls Denair back. "I don't want you infected. And we need something more disposable right now." With a wave of her hand, she dismisses Denair. The vulpine woman grows stiff, and shrivels into the ground, leaving behind a rose that withers away. The roses in Meredith's hair fall out.
"The potion of fire breath Dolok gave us will be very useful here."
"Does anyone have flasks of alchemists's fire? I can order my Unseen Servant to hold onto them and deliver them to the pods."
"Anyway, I'll call upon Nature itself to summon fire creatures. They'll take the hits and they won't mind the disease." Once everyone is ready, Meredith begins to call for the cleansing power of flame to manifest and destroy the pods.
Now on high alert, everyone sets to drinking their antiplagues (if they have them) and pulling out vials of alchemist's fire as Meredith dismisses Denair and then begins conjuring something else...and all at once, a small being of elemental fire pops up right next to the plagueborn ooze!
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Surprise Round
Brayden
Yorad
Frankie
Meredith + Elemental/Unseen Servant
Jan
Lazarus
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Swarms
Ooze
Active Conditions: Bless
Everyone is UP!
As the flame elemental pops into existence it slams a fist into the plagueborn ooze, making the entire mass quiver like a bowl of jelly. When the elemental pulls its' fist out with a wet squelching sound, fire quickly envelops the ooze and calls to mind some sort of fancy, flaming dessert. Jan, quickly utilizing the blessing of winter, sinks an arrow deep into the flaming mass which causes it to shudder violently!
Meanwhile, Lazarus begins a summons of his own as everyone else readies alchemist's fires and begin moving forward...
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Round 1
Brayden
Yorad
Frankie
Meredith + Elemental/Unseen Servant
Jan
Lazarus + Elemental
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Swarms
Ooze
Active Conditions: Bless
Everyone is UP!
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Frankie watches at the flames roll over the jelly "Woah, fancy! And smelly!" He scurries forward for a clear throwing lane and waits to see if any of the oozy swarms come closer.
Frankie readies to throw his alchemist fire at the first swarm of oozes to close within 20' of him.
Alchemist's Fire
Price 20 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Alchemist's fire is a mix of several volatile liquids that ignite when exposed to air. You can throw a flask of alchemist's fire as a splash weapon. Treat this attack as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet.
A direct hit deals 1d6 points of fire damage. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of fire damage from the splash. On the round following a direct hit, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of damage. If desired, the target can use a full-round action to attempt to extinguish the flames before taking this additional damage. Extinguishing the flames requires a DC 15 Reflex save. Rolling on the ground provides the target a +2 bonus on the save. Leaping into a large body of water or magically extinguishing the flames automatically smothers the fire. Crafting this item is a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check.