Ith's Pallid Plague (PFS) (Inactive)

Game Master ithuriel

"The body? Yeah, c'mon then." He groans as he stands slowly, then heads down the path between the tents. The others grumble, but no one makes a move to stop him. "Horrick and I wanted to bury him, but we're too tired to do the work since the sickness set in. Clem and Renn haven't got it, but they're too afraid to touch the body so it's still layin' out in his tent."

He opens the flap on tent across from the one the loggers were hiding in. The cold puss covered body of a logger lies contorted on a cot. He only has half an ear on his left side. The body is starting to stink and confined to the tent the smell is unpleasant. Once inside your guide whispers, "Listen- I'm not stupid and I saw how fast Fulchs went. I wait it out here and its only a matter of time till I die too. You promise to get me back to Falcon's Hollow and I'll show you the way to that field of flowers and those crazy lepers. The herbalist back in the Hollow does good work. I figure she's about the best shot I got at this point. I'll forgive you if you don't want to shake on it, but look me in the eye and give me your word and I'm your man."

Heal:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
I didn't catch you name friend
After the logger gives his name Kayluss looks him in the eye.You have our word. We will deliver you and the other men to Falcon's Hollow as quick as we can. Turning to the group Kayluss lowers his voice, I suggest we burn the camp, as well as Fulch here, before we leave to keep thisr disease from spreading.

Finally catching up to her friends, Alie informs Kayluss and the others of what she has seen in the far tent. "If we are to burn the bodies, you need to add the other two as well, just to be on the safe side. They are marked with the white pox as well."

Wadi speaks up, "I agree with Kayluss, that would be wise, we just need to make sure the flames do not spread out of control. We could do a controlled burn pretty easily though, as the clearing is already set up."

Sekhemre smiles.

"Well, if it is a controlled burn that you want, I might be able to help with that..."

He will then busy himself with arranging the tents/bodies (without touching them!) in such a fashion as to maximise the 'pyre' potential of the situation, and avoid setting the forest on fire, and then light it.

Whilst he does so, of course, he will look for clues, and anything of value that should be set aside, and not burnt...

Aldred stays aside to talk to the other men. “May I know your names?” he asks. “As I said, we’re here to help – what can we do for you?”

After listening to them, he asks some further questions. “The bandaged men with sickles – were any of you wounded by them, or touched by them? Were any of you in the group that was confronted by the satyrs? Did any of them look sick?”

“Also, is there a bucket of water here that my friend Kayluss may clean himself?” Aldred suggests to Kayluss that he clean himself and his equipment as best he can, and burn his puss-ridden clothes; Aldred can lend him his spare artisan’s outfit if Kayluss follow his suggestion.

Kayluss, Wadi, Alie, Sekhemre:

"Vanick. Vanick Inor. I'm not sure how well everyone can trek it, but as long as you think you can get me back to the Hollow you're calling the shots."

Give me an idea of how you are arranging the tents and bodies without touching them. Then generally how you plan to go about burning them- then we'll move on.

Aldred, Fog:

A wiry guy with a handlebar mustache speaks up, "I'm Hannick Danlaw. Mister personality over there is Ollax." The bald guy scowls and looks the other way. "These two are Clem and Renn. The guy laying down is Hans. He's got it pretty bad." Sure enough one of the loggers has been easing down to the ground to lay down. He curls up and seems to be shivering. While looking in that direction Hannick says slowly, "Clem... I think you guys caught it. Sorry brother. You got the sores coming in." They don't say anything, but the silence is broken by Ollax who is seized by a hacking cough. "Gram and Horris were back in the chow tent, but they didn't make it out. They were too far gone to run. The wolves got em right off. Nothing we could do but try and survive and get the hell out of there."

"Yeah- water barrels are back outside the provisions tent."

Alie looks around at the situation, and comes up with a plan. "Why dont't we take down one of the tents, and use the tent canopy to lift the bodies, so that we can place them for burning without touching them. Don't want any of us to get the pox."

"If the items are light enough, I can use my magic to move items around, as long as they weigh only a few pounds. If they weigh more, then we need to work together on this. I feel bad about asking this of you, Vanick but since you already have the pox, then you and your fellows should move the bodies around. Otherwise, Alie, your plan is a sound one."

Vannick replies, "Right now its about all I got to keep on my own feet. I know I couldn't manage any lifting right now."

Aldred, Fog:

A wiry guy with a handlebar mustache speaks up, "I'm Hannick Danlaw. Mister personality over there is Ollax." The bald guy scowls and looks the other way. "These two are Clem and Renn. The guy laying down is Hans. He's got it pretty bad." Sure enough one of the loggers has been easing down to the ground to lay down. He curls up and seems to be shivering. While looking in that direction Hannick says slowly, "Clem... I think you guys caught it. Sorry brother. You got the sores coming in." They don't say anything, but the silence is broken by Ollax who is seized by a hacking cough. "Gram and Horris were back in the chow tent, but they didn't make it out. They were too far gone to run. The wolves got em right off. Nothing we could do but try and survive and get the hell out of there."

"Yeah- water barrels are back outside the provisions tent."

"Mr Danlow, something'sbeen bothering me since we arrived. The wolves? Were they in that zombi-fied state when they attacked? Or did it happen after they had eaten a corpse?

"My friends over their appear to be creating a pyre for the dead, to stop the spread of infection. I think it would be good for you to get back to Falcon's Hollow as soon as possible and find aid. I'm not sure if we will be able to help you though, we are told to go to the source, and try to root it out there."

Fog, Aldred, & Kayluss

"I am not sure it is a good idead to let Mr. Danlov go back to Falcon's Hallow by himself, I think we should escort him back there, once we have disposed of the bodies."

Aldred speaks quietly to his fellow Pathfinders, out of earshot of the loggers. “I don’t know if the sick ones will make it back to Falcon’s Hollow,” he says do we know how far we are from the town?. “Besides which, I’m not sure that it’s entirely wise to return them there ... do we know if the healer in town will be able to remove this affliction that ails them? If not, we may be letting the disease spread throughout the town ... if we bring them back to town, we should send someone we are pretty sure is uninfected – hopefully one of us – in to fetch the healer while the rest of us wait outside town with the sick.”

Aldred then goes back to speak to Hannick, who seems level-headed (and possibly un-infected). “What can we do to best help you?” he asks. “Will you all return to Falcon’s Hollow? If we take you back there, we will need someone to come back with us afterwards to show us where these lepers were.”

Regarding the bodies. “While it’s not that respectful to the deceased, we should use tent poles and canvases as Alie suggests to shift the dead about. We can use lengths of lumber or sturdy branches to manoeuvre the bodies onto the sheets. Anyone who does not seem to be sick should avoid getting too close to those who are.”

"Ah, you have a good point Aldred. Perhaps we should leave enough of the camp intact to use as a base of operations then? We may want to let the Alchemist in our midst know that, he seems to be getting, excited!"

Wadi gives the dwarf cleric a nod, "It would seem a good area to base our operations from, as long as the threat of disease is not present."

Sekhemre snaps out of his ruminations about how to best burn the camp cleanly and efficiently at Fog's words.

"Cough. I have *no* idea what you are talking about. Still, when it comes to disease, I would prefer to engage in a 'scorched earth' policy, rather than take risks."

He then shrugs.

"As to whether we should go town or go after those lepers first, I think that depends on which is closer. If the lepers are near by, we cold probably make a quick side trek before heading into town."

Sekhemre casts an eye over the loggers.

"To be honest, most of them look terrible. If town is a fair distance away, it might be quicker to take the healthiest ones there post-haste, with the others following along behind; that way, there is a decent chance that this 'herbalist' can start working out what to do, before the really ill ones get there."

After cleaning himself up as best he can Kayluss fashions a mask and hand wraps from his bedroll. He then drags the three bodies into the center of the camp, careful not to touch any skin. Drawing Ixthalos he then goes about the camp cutting the support roaps to the tents and then kicking them down from the outside before pushing it all together onto of the bodies. Finished with that he then tips over the water barrels, trying to soak the ground surrounding the impromptu bonfire.
Rejoining the rest of the pathfinders Kayluss is just in time to here Seks comments.
If they get there at all, as you might have noticed these are dangerous lands and I'm not leaving a bunch of infirmed men in the middle of the wilderness to fend for themselves. It seems to me that getting them to this herbalist is their best chance for survival and so that is what I intend to do. We can worry about the lepers once these loggers are safe. Anyway Horrick over there seems to know were to find this "Leper garden" and he only agreed to show us if we bring the men to town. So... Motioning behind him to the large mound of tents, It looks like we have a fire to start
Just in case you want a roll, since we all know
"Only you can prevent forest fires."
Survival:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Sekhemre quirks an eyebrow.

"actually, that is not quite what he asked:"

"You promise to get me back to Falcon's Hollow and I'll show you the way to that field of flowers and those crazy lepers."

"He was only asking on behalf of himself, and he agreed to show the way if we promised to take him back to town, not the other way around..."

Wadi, since it was his idea, will assist Kayluss in setting a controlled burn area to contain the spread of the fire.

AA Survival 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

What difference does it make? As you said so yourself these men are not looking that great and if Horrick shows us the way to the field first chances are he wouldn't make it to Falcon's Hollow, so what good is my promise then? These men have been given the shortest end of the stick ever offered anybody and I figure its about time someone gave them a hand, though not literally at this moment I guess but still.

Aldred does not enter the debate further at this stage, still waiting for Hannick to answer his questions. Privately he wonders if the healer in Falcon’s Hollow will have the power to deal with this plague.

Update coming tomorrow morning- late tonight for most of you guys in the US. Sorry for the delay.

They are all infected btw

Vannick watches the flurry of activity while sitting on a stump, "Listen. The guys I was gonna show you are about an hour from here. The Hollow is about three hours from here up river- four hours if you go to the fields first. If we are taking everyone back to town, we're gonna have to make a couple of stretchers. I don't think Hannick or Hans are gonna be able to walk it. The there are plenty of cots we can use. Not if you burn everything though." Looking over Hannick and Hans have slid down to sit on the ground, leaning back against a stump and both are shivering. "If you want to head to town first, I'm not complaining. I'll try to sketch you out a map to point you in the right direction for the fields, but once I'm there I don't want to hike back out until I recover." He makes a sign of obeisance to Desna, the goddess of travelers and luck.

Meanwhile Ollax and Clem grouse and complain while Kayluss breaks down the camp into a burn pit. "Yeah that's about right. I told you they were working for the nymph witch! Burn us out while we are too weak to put up a fight." When Hannick tries to persuade them that you are obviously men and may be able to get you back to town Clem scoffs, "And men ain't likely to end up bewitched by faerie magic are they? Sides that she ain't no normal folk," he nods at Alie. "Everybody knows gnomes are more 'n half fey! An' I see an awful lot of pointy ears among 'em. Are you blind or just stupid? They probably just want to drag us out of camp and turn us into toads or something!"

Kn Local DC 15 - The Herbalist of Falcon's Hollow

Alie ignores the scorn from the obviously sickened logger. After the pyre is completed, she gathers the group and says, "Okay we need to make a decision soon. Are we taking the sick men back to the healer, or are we pressing forward to the fields and taking care of teh men when we return?"

Maybe a team vote is called for?

Well, given the fields are only an hour away, I vote going there first, since that is apparently where they got the pox from (or at least, I assume it is), I think it would be a good idea to investigate it...

"Mr Vannick, how long from the onset of the first symptoms did it take for the others to die? You seem to be getting visibly worse as we stand here, and we need to know how long we have to get you help?"

Fog will insist that these people are treated in some way. Preferably without endangering the town, if they are not going to last long enough to get help to them here though, we need to go that route...We've been here what, 5 minutes, and they've gone from standing to sitting. That isn't a good sign...

Knowledge, local: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

“I’m loathe to just leave them here,” Aldred answers Alie, glancing back at the sick men. “Even the racist and ungrateful ones probably don’t deserve to die out here like that … I just don’t know enough about the herbalist back in Falcon’s Hollow to say if Vanick’s right, if she would be able to treat them. Nor can I say for certain they would survive a three hour trek; Vanick’s right in that regard, Hannick and Hans won’t be able to walk it. I wonder if our better bet isn’t to try to find the source of this disease … and hope that some cure might be revealed as well?”

"Well, I know it is putting the town of Falcon's Hallow at risk, but I still think it would be cruel not to at least escort them to just outside of town. The healer does need to be warned, in case this is the start of an epidemic, that was triggered." Wadi chimes in. "As for those who cannot travel, a litter would work best, I think."

"Perhaps we get them moving by litter, and the fastest of us moves ahead to get the herbalist. That way she can be brought to meet us?"

Consider also that they had an adrenaline burst when the zombies ripped into their tent. That has worn off and they are back to the state they were in before getting scared half to death.

Alie ?
Sek - The field
Fog - Some kind of treatment / town
Aldred - don't leave them alone / maybe the source leads to a cure?
Wadi - Back to town
Kayluss - Town

That's three votes for town, and potentially 2 for the field with one undecided.

"Well, I am really scared of bringing the plague to the town, but I don't want these fellows left here sentenced to death. Let's take them back to the healer, and have some of the others, like Fog suggested, run ahead and bring the healer part of the way to us. That way we can get them help, and might not endanger the whole settlement."

Kayluss keeps an eye on the blaze while he, Fog and Aldred work together to rig a couple of cots into litters with lengths of rope and the handles from axes and shovels. In the process of breaking down the tents he opens a drawer on the desk of the 'office' tent and find a sack labeled 'Payroll: Property of The Lumber Consortium'. It has well over a hundred gold coins inside. It takes a good twenty to thirty minutes to get the fire going good enough to sustain itself and by then the clearing reeks with the stench of burning flesh. Without tending it from that point the fire has burned down enough in a couple hours that it seems safe to leave it to smolder on and burn out on its own considering the water Kayluss has dumped around it and after Vannick Inor suggests you use one of a shovels to dig a burn line around it.

Those most afflicted climb onto the litters and you all set off for Falcon's Hollow following a trail that runs roughly parallel to the river. The complainers don't improve in attitude, but they seem glad to be heading back to town though they'd never admit it. Maybe alone it would have been an hour's walk, but with the sickly lumberjacks frequently stopping to rest while leaning against trees it takes closer to two before you find yourselves nearing the settlement in the early afternoon. Inor points to a hill up ahead surrounded by a palisade, "That's the Consortium headquarters in town and the high market. The mayor, the Lumber bosses and some other muckety-mucks live there. You can't get in, but don't need to. Laurel's shop is on the other side of the hill in the village proper. Roots and Remedies it's called."

Roughly 2pm now fyi.
Who's going in to town? Is anyone staying with the loggers?

Wadi will head into town and see if he can find the healer in question.

Fog will stay with the loggers...

Due to Alie's slow movement, she will stay wtih the loggers. Her strength will not allow her to help carry them much, if any, though.

Kayluss will stay with the loggers. Thougj he suggests that someone go into town with Wadi and let someone from the Consortium know about the loggers and see about getting some provisions incase a field Hospital must be built.

Aldred will head into town with Wadi. He takes on board Kayluss' suggestion.

Sekhemre will also head into town; he is eager to check the worth of this 'Herbalist'...

Any word on what happened to the Lumber Consortium sack of coin? I'm going to assume you didn't burn it too ;)

In Town: Sek, Aldred, Wadi
Falcon's Hollow sits between the river and the woods in the shadow of Droskar's Crag, a dormant volcano at the tip of the Five Kings Mountains. Calling the place a town would be generous. Ramshackle camp lodging owned by the consortium make up most of the residential structures on mud and sawdust chocked streets. Nearly every structure looks like it has been thrown together as quickly and cheaply as possible. The sturdy palisade that rings the hilltop overlooking the town is an exception and looks like it could withstand some degree of a siege.

At this time of day the streets are nearly empty with the vast majority of the residents at work in the cutyards or sawmills. Only the disturbingly high percentage of maimed beggars slouching in the shade between buildings and by doorways and a few women fetching water from the well keep the village from looking like a ghost town. The barman at a local tavern who is sweeping up and getting ready for a night's business directs you all to Roots and Remedies which is directly down the road.

Creeping ivy climbs the rugged rock walls of one of the only durable, if well worn structures in the village. Window boxes filled with herbs and flowers cling to every window of the shop and a faint plume of smoke drifts out of the chimney.

The smell of burnt earth and spicy incense chokes the air of the cramped, mud-tracked shop. Bunches of dried herbs hang from the ceiling, along with dangling pots, presses, alchemical apparatuses, and glassware of more arcane purposes. Pouches of rare plants, jars of colored glass, and all manner of dried, preserved, and jellied animal parts fill high shelves and tables doing double duty as displays and workspaces.

In the shop's rear, a rail-thin woman with severe-looking spectacles and hair pulled back tightly busies herself between an overpacked rack of herbs, a table covered in stray powders and measuring equipment, and a pot loudly bubbling over with thick gray froth. Over the din of her work and without looking up, the woman impatiently shouts, "What's got you down? Just shout it out, I'm going to have to keep stirring this for a minute."

Back in the woods: Alie, Fog, Kayluss

Meanwhile out in the woods, the sick men settle in and try to get comfortable. They look exhausted after the hike and are wracked by fits of coughing in turn. Ollax insists that since they came all this way he should be able to go lie in his own bed, but he's too tired to argue the point. While you wait crows begin settling into the branches over head and around you. Their raucous cawing puts everyone on edge after some time.

Was it Kayluss, Fog and Aldred that found the coin? If Aldred was aware of it he advocates giving it to Vannick for safekeeping, although he mentions to the man that they may need to use it to pay the healer.

“Are you the healer?” Aldred calls. “Apologies for disturbing your work ma’am, but we have some companions who are most ill. We have heard that you might be able to help them.” Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

The the woman, whose darker skin tone speaks to an ancestor far from the woods of Andoran leans down to sniff the pot she is stirring then resumes stirring as she looks up at you, "I do what I can. What's wrong with your friends? Describe the symptoms."

"They are the loggers from one of the camps. We currently have them isolated just outside town, as there is reason to believe that it is an outbreak of palepox."

Sekhemre clears his throat, and then rattles off the symptoms.

"Fever, malaise, and white pustules (initially starting as large pale bullae, which then burst, and continuously seep fluid) which first manifest in the oral mucosa and then spread across the body. It is also associated with rapid fluid loss, leading to progressive anorexia and death within a matter of days."

He pauses for a moment to let this sink in, and then continues.

"The loggers seemed to think that you might be their best shot at survival, and so we have come seeking your expertise. If there is anything else we can do to be of assistance, please, let us know."

She stops stirring the pot, removes it from the flame, and sets it aside then takes an oil lamp from a nearby table and brings it over to inspect you all. Without touching she brings the lamp up close to your faces and examines you closely, "I don't see any signs of it on you yet. That's something to be thankful for. I haven't seen an outbreak since I was a young woman assisting my mother with the shop and then it was just a scout and his wife. Boss Kreed had them burn their house with them in it to prevent the spread. We never knew if they were dead yet or the fires did them in. Left their daughter to beg on the streets. So think about this and answer me truthfully. Does anyone else in town know about the outbreak yet?"

"No, we came here first, we are all too aware of what news of plague will do this town."

“My companion speaks truly,” nods Aldred. His face pales even further at the herbalist’s news. “We had thought to alert the Consortium … but given what you have just said, I think I’ve changed my mind on that.”

He looks to his companions. “Those loggers lives would be forfeit, and ours not far behind.” He looks back at the herbalist. “Can you help these men ma’am? We have not much coin, but will pay what we can.”

"My mother and I were working on an antiplague serum, back then, but the Mahesto couple died before we finished it. I must have the notes around here somewhere, but gods it's been so many years..." She looks around at the shelves and baskets stacked with so much junk accumulated over a lifetime, "Do you have any idea how they were exposed? That might help me work things out if I had an idea."

“They say that some of their number were attacked by men wrapped up like lepers in the woods,” answers Aldred. “Later, their camp was attacked by diseased zombie wolves – difficult to believe I know it ma’am, had I not seen this later attack with my own eyes. I believe that all or most of them were infected prior to the wolf attack though.”

Sekhemre nods at Aldred's words.

"Apparently, whilst out chasing some satyrs, the loggers ran across a large clearing in the forest, about an hour from their camp, where these men, all bandaged-up like lepers, were tending neat rows of red, yellow and orange flowers. When the men noticed the loggers, they attacked them, chasing them off.

The first cases started to 'blossom' that night..."