Round One
24 Thorn Knights
22 Arumil
19 Arianna
14 Raxus
11 Bridgette
07 Bydar
04 Urgathoa Priestess
Surprise Round
The thorn knights begin swinging their swords while moving forward while the old priestess shifts over to stand in front of the disease-filled vats.
First Round
As the thorn knights continue forward, they lower their swords and wooden thorns spray at the party from the tips of the weapons, both Teremith and Bridgette are struck!
Arumil calls forth a flaming ball of fire with his magic upon one of the thorn knights. Backing to keep distance from both the enemies and party. He did not want to make a large target for the knights spray or the old woman's magic.
Arianna silently nods in agreement with Arumil's assessment of the thorn knights, trusting the wizard's knowledge of such arcane creatures. Upon seeing the Urgathoan priestess, her eyes narrow with the realization of the source of the mysterious disease.
Round One:
Arianna hums a short tune and disappears from view.
Now invisible, Arianna draws her crossbow as she moves toward the enemies.
Temerith gestures and chants, his hands glowing lightly. He presses his left hand to his chest, while reaching for his bastard sword with his right. As his magics are absorbed into his body, he draws the weapon and holds it in a defensive stance.
Bridgette moves 4 north 2 west (H11)
Defensive Fighting (+2 AC) and readies to counter a charge.
Init
24 Thorn Knights
22 Arumil
19 Arianna
14 Raxus
11 Bridgette
07 Bydar
04 Urgathoa Priestess
Round One - continued
Arumil casts a spell and a flaming sphere appears on top of one of the thorn knight - setting the creature aflame, dropping it to the ground!
Arianna hums a short tune and disappears!
Raxus commands his dogs to attend Bridgette while the large half-ogre steps forward to a better position.
Bridgette moves up with Dawn and Dusk preparing to strike at the thorn knight should it close with her.
Bydar casts a spell on Raxus, causing his arm and chest to light up with divine power!
The priestess calls upon her unholy patron to bless her in combat!
Round Two
The thorn knights lean forward and break into a run, one charging at Bridgette and one heading for Teremith!
The knight charging Teremith swings at the tiefling, but its sword passes harmlessly over his head.
-----
The flaming sphere took out one of the thorn knights, and Arumil is up! Everyone please let me know what you want to do.
Arumil directs the flaming sphere towards an enemy while casting another spell. Sending a pair of sapphire eagle at the old woman while he moved away from the thorn knight attacking Teremith.
Bydar mutters another prayer
Round Two:
"Beware her scythe! It likely bears nasty diseases! Her presence is a blight to this land and must be removed!" Invisible-Arianna cries as she continues moving around the stockade to get a clear shot at the evil priestess, exhorting her companions to defeat the crone and her minions.
Ragnar churns up the ground and barrels into the blight shaman like a charging bull, swinging his great hook across with all his might.
Round Two
24 Bridgette
24 Thorn Knights
22 Arumil
19 Arianna
14 Raxus
12 Teremith
07 Bydar
04 Urgathoa Priestess
Bridgette attacks the thorn knight as it reaches melee range, causing its swing to pass harmlessly over her head.
Arumil's flaming sphere rolls toward another thorn knight, while he unleashes two magic missiles at the old crone.
Arianna is still unseen, but everyone feels inspired at her clear voice sounding out over the din of battle.
Raxus sprints toward the stockade, and with a mighty heave, uses his ogre hook to propel himself over the wooden structure. Landing on the other side, he comes around with his weapon to strike the priestess on the side of the head, dropping the old woman like a sack of rocks.
Teremith swings his bastard sword at the thorn knight facing him, but he is unable to hit the nimble creature.
Bydar blesses the party.
The priestess remains on the ground, blood flowing freely from having the side of her skull shattered.
----
Round Three
Raxus stood a moment, looking at the crumpled form next to him, the shock of how easy it had been knocking him out of his fury. He huffed at the effort of his explosive exertion.
Arumil directs the flaming ball towards the thorn knight, giving the thing a dark look. He points at the thing a small bolt of lightning jumping to it.
"Here have a knuckle sandwich"
Round Three:
"Well struck, Raxus!" the invisible Arianna crows. "Better clean your hook off, though - no telling what kind of nasty disease it picked up from her sick brains."
The invisible bard moves forward, continuing to give the downed crone a wide berth. Arianna suddenly becomes visible as she fires a bolt from her crossbow at the prone form of the Urgathoan priestess. "Best to make sure she's really and truly dead. Can't be too careful with that kind," she explains grimly.
Raxus huffs, nodding to the invisible voice of Arianna and turns back to the stockade. Growling, he swung the blunt side of his hook into it.
Bydar feels an urge to cheer as Raxus slays the evil one, but when he sees Raxus turn his attention to freeing the prisoners, he nods and tries to keep the thorn knights busy by firing into one, preferably one already wounded.
:
Round Three
24 Bridgette
24 Thorn Knights
22 Arumil
19 Arianna
14 Raxus
12 Teremith
07 Bydar
Bridgette attacks in a flurry of movement, connecting with one of her strikes! A loud "CRACK!" echoes as the monster's chest shatters under her blow, knocking it to the ground. Dusk and Dawn pounce and tear its remains to splinters.
The remaining knight swings at Teremith but cannot hit the tiefling.
The flaming sphere rolls toward the thorn knight, but the fey creature avoids the burning orb. Arumil follows that with a small electric charge which results in small burns on the wooden body of the thorn knight.
Arianna moves up and fires a crossbow bolt into the priestess' head. The weapon destroys the woman's head and her shallow breathing ceases - the old cleric is truly dead.
Raxus turns and shatters several of the logs acting as bars for the stockade. Most of the gnomes cheer, while a few simply gawk in awe at the massive feat of strength.
Bydar fires his crossbow at the remaining thorn knight, burying a bolt in the monster's head, while Teremith follows that attack with one of his own, cutting deep into the side of the monster. With something close to a human sigh, the thorn knight sags down, dropping its sword, then topples over to the ground.
-----
The vats are full of disease, though you are informed by the fey gnomes that it is relatively harmless to handle. It must be consumed for transmission.
The thorn knights were not in the village originally, but the priestess was around to guide the development of the disease. Strangely, it was created to avoid harming fey creatures.
Both of the thorn knights have a curious mark on the left side of their chest. It appears to be a rose, but the thorns on the stem appear to be exaggerated. None of you has ever seen this before, and even the fey gnomes are ignorant of its meaning.
The fey gnomes are very grateful for their freedom, as are the gnome who were held in the stockade. Though they understand why the fey gnomes acted as they did, there is still some anger there, and is not likely to dissipate any time soon.
-----
What, if anything, would you like to do now?
Raxus looks at the cauldrons of filth and seems wild eyed.
"What do we do about those?"
"I don't know about you, but I think I should ask these good fey gnomes if they'd want me to consecrate the area. I'm not sure how best safely to destroy the diseases."
Arumil thinks on how to dispose of the disease safely. He thought fire may do the trick but wanted to be sure.
"True, I would not like to have to deal with an outbreak among the wildlife here."
-----
Also, forgot to mention it, but the priestess had some equipment:
Magic:
+1 scythe
cloak of resistance +1
ring of protection +1
Non-Magic:
Potion of cure light wounds x2
Scroll of bear's endurance (3rd CL)
Scroll of hold person (3rd CL)
Alchemical silver dagger
A leather book wrapped in oily cloth
Having Delights & Delicacies as a reference provides a +5 circumstance bonus to Heal checks related to diseases.
You know that such a book is tied to Urgathoa, and is likely highly contagious. Casting bless or consecrate directly upon it should be enough to make it safe for regular use.
"Beware the book," Bydar says, careful not to touch it with bare hands "The vile thing has its uses as it lists many diseases and would aid a healer in countering them, but currently it is tied to Urgathoa. It would spread her illness upon any who used it if they were not very fortunate. I should be able to remove the taint with a holy spell once I have had the chance to pray for them."
Arumil uses a cleaning spell upon the old woman's things before taking them from her dead body. Placing them near by. He also let's the others know of the disease.
"Boiling it is, thank you Arumil," He says.
With a task to see to, Raxus seemed much more at ease. He didn't know much about books or how to stop plagues, but he knew how to haul wood and light fire.
He turned to the Stockade and began destroying it, splintering it under his heavy blows, rendering the despicable structure down to firewood and dragging it to the cauldrons.
Korrelan helps the rest of the captive gnomes get out of the stockade, greeting each of them by name and with a firm handshake or a full hug. Tears are in many of their eyes, and they all stay huddled together, still unsure exactly how they find themselves so fortunate after such a long time in captivity.
Derry walks around his village, encouraging his people to come out of their homes, to little success. He glances back at the heroes who have rescued his people, and with a small smile, he says, "I'm sorry, but they're scared."
The wood from the stockade is dry and thick, making a great bed of wood for the vats, and flames soon lick the sides of the large containers. Thick fumes waft upward as the liquid boils, destroying the plague and rendering the evil mixture inert and harmless.
As the disease is eliminated, Korrelan approaches. "I cannot thank you enough for what you've done. We're going back to our village, but we'll always remember you. If you need us, leave a message by the old split oak a few hours north of here. It's near a small dale to the east of a big thistle patch."
He looks around, "I can't say we'll ever forgive our cousins, but we won't pursue anything. We just want to put this behind us."
After a while the glowing bird faded from Raxus' arm and chest. He looked at it as it dulled with an odd expression of sadness but said nothing.
Kneeling to speak with Derry, he said, "I am glad we could help. Do any of your people know how to make a cure for the sickness? This plague may still be spreading."
Bydar attempts to make good relations with both types of gnomes, to try to help ease the anger. It will not be an easy task.
To Korrelan the cleric nods, "We'll try to check it now and then in case you have further need of us. Odd dangers seem to be coming with growing intensity. If you would be our allies, we would be yours. Shelyn aid your paths whatever path you pick but I DO hope you can forgive your cousins with time."
He agrees with Raxus, and tries to coax the fae gnomes out. "A cure for future use should it fall into another's hands would also be of use. Too many innocents have already suffered because of it. Your cousins are angry, but I think all of us want this to end here and now as peacefully as possible"
Arianna gives Korrelan a hug as the gnomes prepare to depart. "We both suffered greatly from Zatlusan's evil schemes, but you and your people even more so than I. I'm glad we were able to free your friends. As I said before, if you ever need our help just send word to us at the Levetons' trading post and we'll come as soon as we can."
She turns to Derry and gives the fey gnome a hug as well, speaking to him in the Gnomish tongue.
Arumil packs up the seemingly forgotten items from the fallen enemy. Then joins the others.
"Wouldn't it be prudent to travel together, at least so long as we are headed in the same direction."
He suggest. Not forgetting the first world bird not so very long ago.
"I have to agree with Arumil, in that there is safety in numbers."
Derry seems overcome by the attention and offers of friendship in spite of what he and his people have done. The little gnome even manages a blush when Arianna hugs him. Looking up at Raxus, he replies to the huge man kneeling in front of him, "We don't know of a cure, but discovering one is something we can search for... to make up for our part in this. We don't know the formula she used, but we know the ingredients. We'll do some research and find the cure, I promise!"
Korrelan stiffens a bit as Arianna hugs him, but he manages to clap her on the back a couple of times before pulling away. Watching the others talk to the leader of the fey-gnomes, Korrelan keeps his emotions in check as Derry agrees to find the cure, but it's obvious he still harbors ill feelings toward his cousins.
Arumil suggests traveling together, and Bridgette agrees, but Korrelan holds up his hand. "Don't get me wrong, we appreciate all you've done, but we're not friends or allies yet. And we just rescued our village from captivity - having a bunch of powerful people surrounding us as we travel home isn't exactly something we're comfortable with... You've done right by us so far, but we don't need protection right now - we need to feel strong again on our own. So thanks for the offer, but we're heading home alone. If there's nothing else..."
The gnome nods once, then turns away to follow his people into the illusions surrounding the fey-gnome village.
----
Unless you have anything else to discuss with Derry, you have accomplished your goals in the fey-gnome village.
"Well, my friends, it seems we've solved the mystery of the plague. Shall we explore these lands, or head south and continue our search for Howl-in-the-North?" Arianna asks her companions as the group prepares to depart the fey-gnome village.
"Let's see we can;
explore the lands some more,
search for Howl-in-the-North,
Track down Gunda wjho has kidnapped Soloman,
The boggard that we avoided,
and confronting the Stag Lord and his gang of bandits."
"Thank you, Mist," Arianna replies to the she-worg's offer. "We just wanted to make sure everything was alright with the pack. We grew concerned when Howl-in-the-North and the pack did not appear when we left the tribute at the bear-paw rock. We later realized that there was nothing in the agreement that said that he or the pack would be there to meet us each month, only for us to leave the animals there on the full moon. However, we did want to warn him about the sickness that the evil gnome was spreading in the water throughout the land. We've defeated those who were making the sickness, but there may still be some in the water in the surrounding areas."
"I hope she finds him?
Our current loose ends are;
Explore the lands some more,
The boggard that we avoided,
the Stag Lord and his gang of bandits,
And finding Gunda who has kidnapped Soloman."
after a brief pause
"I pray that he's alright, and that she has not done something to him."
"Well, let's go find your friend, Bridgette. We can always explore and battle bandit lords later. What matters most is making sure the people we care about are safe."
Raxus crouches low to be closer to Mist while the other speak. "Tell Howls-In-The-North that I wish him good hunting. You as well. You may run with our pack at any time."
Arumil would have liked to return to the post first. The news of the plague being stopped would effect the area for the better. Unless they knew the location, any search would take time. People did strange things when faced with disease, not all of which were harmless.
"Unless we have any idea where this friend is being held. We should return to the post, if only to make sure it is still standing and resupply. Informing them of the latest development concerning the plague would not hurt ether."