Paxs casts grease at the catwalk and chases after Pai.
While Slumper skewers a grey maiden, Paxs runs out and casts grease! Two of the three maidens are close enough to be affected! and One of the maidens slips in the greasy spell and falls, landing hard on the catwalk, while the other retains her feet!
for damage!
for damage!
Pai manages to dodge the arrow easily, and slides through the doors to the waiting room beyond. The large female receptionist looks up as she dart past with a confused look on her face.
Paxs also manages to dodge the arrow, but between casting and running, he only makes it halfway through the ward.
vs DC 39: FAIL! The Grey Maiden dies without a sound as the rapier glows briefly and angrily crimson!
Corbyn will move as quickly as he can to the reception area and out the front door.
Corbyn flies through the ward, leaping beds and dodging patients. Doing nothing but moving, he explodes through the doors to the reception room just behind Pai, hitting the streets in front of her, exploding into a dark evening where rain is beginning to fall.
Corbyn will slide into the shadows and dispose of the cloak and mask. We will wait nearby to see if he needs to assist anyone.
stealth
Paxs will summon a Celestial Aurochs to protect our escape and help Slumper and Ruperta out of the room.
Paxs pauses long enough to summon a gigantic bull auroch into the room, next to the door where Slumper and Ruperta wait. Slumper deals with the second gray maiden , vs DC 36: FAIL and the gray maiden goes down as the sword once again flashes crimson. Ruperta helps Slumper onto the Auroch, then climbs aboard herself. The auroch lets out a deafening roar and charges through the hospice like a bull in a china shop, which is surprisingly agile. The bull shoulders aside a few beds, but upsets very little as it gallops out of the building. It does crash through the door, sending the bullish receptionist herself diving out of the way as the bull makes the entrance a bit bigger. The grey maidens still up send two arrows at the aurochs, and , dealing damage to the beast, but not even slowing its charge.
[b]If we can get to the Marshall's office without being followed, that's Pai's plan.[/ooc]
It takes a few twists and turns to ensure you're not being followed, but after a couple hours you approach the Citadel. Unlike previous visits, no one is training in the courtyard and the gate guards look tired and weary. You are let in, and a runner is sent for the Marshall, who shows up bleary eyed and tired in a robe and nightgown.
"I was finally getting some sleep, this ought to be... Gods, man!" She spots Slumper, who seems to be extremely ill, his lymph nodes on his neck swelling and turning black, while strange blotches are appearing all over his visible skin. "What in the name of the Hells happened to you lot?!? You're battered and bleeding and what manner of disease have you contracted?!? Explain!"
"Um, I think he has something specially constructed by the Cult of Urgoatha that we just cleaned out. Included as cult members were the Queen's doctor Devaelus, who told us the Queen was behind the Blood Veil as well. Remember the "hospital" the physician's were caring for the diseased populace at? Well, underneath there is the base of the Cult. There were huge vats of blood veil being brewed. We destroyed all of that, and killed a great number of the cultists, including their leader, I think." Pai leaves out the fact that, apparently a demon has been freed from her quick explanation. No reason to stress her out more than I already have.
Slumper aptly named slumps down in a corner while the questioning is going on.
Marshall Kroft looks at you with very wide eyes. In a deceptively soft voice, she says "You're accusing the Queen of Korvosa of engineering a plague in her own city? Do you have any idea how close you are to the headsman's axe right now? What proof do you have of these charges?"
"A pile of bodies and chaos in our wake. Show her the spell books and other stuff." Slumper waves the rapier vaguely at the Marshall. "Here is the rapier our esteemed doctor carried. Pai has one of the doctor masks, specifically ensorcelled to repel that plague. How would the doctors be able to create that, yet not heal it.. unless they brought it."
"Proof that the physicians have some means of protection against the plague is one thing, and Davaulus' sword only proves you've stolen it, or bought it or somehow received it. But an accusation against the Crown," she shakes her head sadly, "requires absolute proof. Anything less than overwhelming evidence is a death sentence. According to my oaths, I should have you clapped in irons for merely suggesting such a thing." She puts her head in her hands and sighs before continuing. "This does not leave this room, understand? I have my concerns about the Queen. But proof? I have none and without it, I can be executed as quickly as you will be if you repeat these charges without overwhelming proof."
She pauses to let this sink in. "A cult of Urgathoa beneath the hospice? That is certainly evidence of wrongdoing, but unless you can connect this cult to the Queen?"
All we have is Devaelus's word, unfortunately. And the Gray Maidens are probably involved, too. And there was an ancient vampire from the ---------!"
Kroft sits back in her chair, looking tired and frustrated. "Without a living Davaulus or some sort of hard evidence, I can't act, certainly not without my head on the executioner's block. I will send a detachment of guards to the Hospice to see what might be recovered immediately." She calls out, and a moment later a tired looking guardsman pokes his head in. Kroft tells him to rouse a detachment and head over to the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden. She tells him to search it for evidence of this Temple. When he has taken down the orders and left, she sits back again.
"If this Cult was brewing the plague, did you find any means to cure it?"
"We have a few books containing notes, but we'd need some time to review them for attempting to find a cure. I hope the guards get there quickly. There were a few subjects of those evil experiments left downstairs when we ran out, and we need to get them out before what's left of the cult tries to finish them off."
"I did see something in one of the notes about certain Varisians being immune to the blood veil. I think that might hold a key to figuring out a cure."
An hour passes with Kroft asking questions about the cult, the doctor, the physicians and everything. Suddenly, in the midst of a question, there is a knock on the door. A red-faced guardsman steps inside, salutes and stands at attention. Kroft orders him to report.
"Yes, ma'am. We arrived as the Hospice as ordered and were granted entry after we presented credentials. The ward was full of the sick and we proceeded to the lift as ordered, but ma'am," he looks somewhat mollified, "There weren't no way to go down, just up. We checked beneath the lift, but it were a solid stone floor. It held eight of the men, ma'am so it weren't no illusion or thin veneer. It were solid stone, ma'am! We checked the offices upstairs, but we found no sign of any cult or anything save a hospice ma'am. The Grey ladies, they watched us the whole time, but theys didn't interfere or nothing. And the physicians, well ma'am we searched them, but there weren't nothing on 'em that was illegal. I don't know what to tell you, ma'am." He stands at attention but looks fearful, as if his report might arouse the Marshall's anger.
Kroft asks him a few more questions, but they're curt and perfunctory, and he's soon dismissed. Once he's gone, she sighs and collapses into her chair. "I think we've been out-maneuvered. Without evidence, I dare not make accusations. And as much as I trust you, your word alone isn't enough to accuse a Queen. At least we have the notes. I'll pass them to an alchemist I trust, and we'll see what she can make of them."