Nebbin looks torn. He tells Kayleigh that they think they encountered -- and killed -- Rolth's girlfriend, Jolistina, which could mean he'll be looking to hurt them back, once he realizes. But they can't just leave dead bodies to spread disease or even undeath. That's perhaps a bigger priority until Kayleigh or Miakoda can talk to the elf's spirit.
"If the elf is Jolistina, and I think she is but we won't know for certain unless we get some useful information from her, we're still stuck as far as finding Rolth is concerned."
"We might as well check on the bodies to see if there are any problems in the meantime."
"Can the investigation wait one day? If not I will make do, but this evening Desna gave me spells to question the slain elf--if we go to the island now I will not be at my full strength if there is a fight."
Directing the others to lay the elf's body out in state on the floor, Miakoda lights a bit of incense and whispers in the spirit-tongue of magic, coaxing a fragment of the elf's soul back into the sunlit lands that they might know what it knows.
"If there are undead, we should root them out with haste. They are an infection every bit as deadly and persistent as this blood veil, and Korvosa seems lousy with the monsters already."
As her spell reaches completion, Miakoda guides a tendril of incense into the corpse's open mouth, which begins to softly wheeze with false breath.
"Our time together is short so I shall be brief. Are you the one known as Jolistina?"
THE CLINIC (OLD KORVOSA; 10 Desnus)
The elf's head slowly begins to move, twisting to view everyone in the room. She glares long and hard at Firinne, her killer, but her gaze is eventually drawn back to Miakoda. "KITTY!" the dead elf shrieks in childlike glee. Then her grin turns into an exaggerated pout. "How is it you know me when I don't know you?"
Miakoda's tail lashes in agitation, and her voice grows sharp and commanding. "Answer me forthrightly. What goals did you seek to accomplish in the manor?"
THE CLINIC (OLD KORVOSA; 10 Desnus)
"Just to have a bit of fun!" the mad elf's spirit giggles. "Well, technically, I suppose it was my job to eliminate the silly nobles on the list Rolth gave me. I don't know why they were chosen or by whom...nor do I care. And to use that special wand to make it look like they'd all perished from the blood veil."
After a pause, the elf smiles and adds, "Oh yes--I was also bid to keep an eye out for healthy-looking Varisians. The only one I saw was a handsome young ocarina player. I captured him and delivered him to my dearest Rolth and a couple of those bird-masked doctors on the morning after the massacre-ade." She giggles again at her own sick pun.
"And where can Rolth be found most often?" Miakoda asks slowly, not bothering to hide her disdain.
THE CLINIC (OLD KORVOSA; 10 Desnus)
Jolistina's spirit again creases her facial features into an exaggerated pout. "I'm not sure where Rolthie hangs his hat these days...probably with Pale Lily. Until he and the plague doctors arrived at the manor to pick up the Varisian boy I'd taken, I hadn't seen him for almost three weeks!"
With a shudder, the wicked elf's spirit flees her body, leaving just a corpse behind.
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"Would that I had the magic necessary for scrying," Andrezi says, feeling more mystified than ever. "Perhaps then I could help in the finding."
Emi scowls.
"Great. Another phantom name to chase around."
"The Song of the Spheres has eyes and ears everywhere; where Rolth or Pale Lily are now is a mystery, but where they will be...I may be able to find out."
Fírinne's face is a mask throughout the "interrogation," only relaxing once the corpse falls silent once more.
"Disgusting," she says, her twitching tail a mirror of Miakoda's. "Kidnapping, murder, and deliberate spreading of a plague. All in aid of, what, exactly?"
"Maybe we should wait until morning to find them?" Nebbin dithers. "But there's also the undead problem. But, no, I think Rolth is bigger. If we can find him and get him now, we should!"
Emi slumps down into a chair.
"Well Rolth is insane and for Jolistina it seems to be for s+%%s and giggles. We don't have a better answer than that" she explains to Firinne.
"if the divination gives us a location, we'll have to consider our priorities. If it doesn't, we have no path for chasing Rolth right now. We might as well wait until we know what our choices are before we worry about what to choose."
Retreating back into a secluded corner, Miakoda sits and closes her eyes, whispering her prayers and rituals. At the spell's peak, she whispers a question:
Where will Rolth be tomorrow evening?
THE CLINIC (OLD KORVOSA; 10 Desnus)
Moments after asking her question, Miakoda receives a cryptic reply from her goddess.
-
-
"Blessed be the healers
Fighting 'gainst the blight
Unless their true intentions
Be darker than the night."
The intentions of Kayleigh and Ishan seem honest and true; they genuinely seem to have pitted themselves against the spread of the blood veil.
But what of the Queen's Physicians and their Gray Maiden bodyguards, hiding behind their soulless masks? Are they as tireless and sincere in the fight against the deadly plague? And isn't the name of their makeshift hospital near West Dock in Midland the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden..."blessed" being the first word in Desna's answer to Miakoda?
After hearing the results Emi thinks on the answer given for a couple of minutes. Finally she says "There's the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden in Midland. But if he's there it would mean he's working with the Queen's Physicians, which is strange to say the least. Although I guess he could have slipped in without anyone knowing. That's all I can think of."
"A despot playing games with the lives of her subjects in pursuit of power or mere entertainment?" Fírinne asks, voice dripping with acid, "Perish the thought."
Nebbin nods in agreement. "I wish we know who or what Pale Lily was, though," he says. "But maybe we should go check this hospice..."
Miakoda shakes her head. "My question was for tomorrow evening, we risk tipping him off if we go now. We have time to investigate this potential undead outbreak on that island, though."
Nebbin shrugs, glancing at Emi to see if she agrees with Miakoda. If so, he's ready to go deal with the undead. He casts a glance toward Kayleigh, though, wishing she was going with them.
RACKER'S ALLEY (Old Korvosa; 11 Desnus (Early AM))
Kayleigh implores Nebbin--and the rest of the group--to be careful. Knowing that she's pretty useless against the undead, the merciful healer asks Miakoda to take good care of her friends during the mission while she remains at the clinic to care for the diseased.
Racker's Alley is situated in the shadows of the great wall that separates Garrison Hill from the rest of Old Korvosa, near its western edge. As you approach, Firinne's keen eyes spot a dark, haggard figure atop one of the nearby buildings, for all the world appearing to be a lookout of sorts. She stops the party in the shadows before its members can be spotted.
From your position, the soft sounds of movement can be heard in the alley to your northeast.
"If they're undead, we should just kill them," Nebbin whispers. "But if not, let's try to capture one!"
He glances up at the roof.
"But it's going to be a lot harder with her up there. Is there anything we can do to stop her from seeing us, or calling out?"
"We could all go up high first and take care of the one we know of for sure. After that we take a look at the alley from a better vantage point. We'd also have an advantage against whatever's in the alley if it looks like we need it."
Nebbin nods, glad that Emi is here to take charge since Kayleigh isn't around. He starts to usher the others back, hoping they can come up on the building from the other side so no one will have to leap across the alley.
With a plan starting to form, Fírinne instead prepares a spell in her mind to have ready for the violence that is sure to ensue.
[ooc]For my surprise round, I'll cast blade tutor's spirit.
Emi will look for a place to ascend and go up.
Miakoda settles into her patch of shadows, content to watch and see how the mysterious lookout is handled.
RACKER'S ALLEY (Old Korvosa; 11 Desnus (Early AM))
The high walls of the surrounding buildings likely throw this awkwardly bent alley into constant shadow during the day; at night, even the moon- and starlight are mostly blocked out. Although littered with garbage and filth, the refuse isn’t the most stomach-turning trait of this rundown side way. Heaped against a bent wooden wall rises a pile of more than three dozen plague victims. The scent of death is overpowered by the reek of rot, suggesting that some of these corpses have been here for days. Three feral humanoids are hunched over the dead, seemingly feeding on the corpses' blood or flesh. Their pointed ears seem to hint at a past elven heritage, but their glowing red eyes scream "Undead!"
These creatures appear to be vampire spawn, evil undead servitors of a greater vampire.
Vampire spawn can suck blood from a grappled foe or drain the life energy from their victims with a touch. They can also mentally dominate an opponent with a glance.
Defensively, they take full damage only from silver weapons and are resistant to positive energy, cold, and electricity. They share the same traditional weaknesses of full vampires (such as aversion to garlic or holy symbols). They may have other defenses from their previous elven ancestry.
Emi continues forward, crossing the end of the alley to the stairs and then up.
HP 81/81
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (-2 to all when raging), DR 3/-, 1 cold resistance
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +3 (+2 Will when raging) [Defiant luck]
CMD 23 (25 vs. grapple)
Rage: 0/22; Harrow points: 2/3; Auspicious Mark (1d6+1) 0/1; Defiant Luck: 0/1
Effects:
Nebbin waits until Emi's made her move. When the time comes, he's on the closest undead in a flash, massive sword swinging down onto its shoulder and deep into its body.
Andrezi moves to get a view of the alley, getting a good view of the undead.
"Vampire spawn! Don't let them touch you in any way! And beware their eyes, as they will try to dominate your will!"
The wizard quickly conjures a rolling sphere of churning water, the sphere catching two of the vampires.
.
RACKER'S ALLEY (Old Korvosa; 11 Desnus (Early AM))
Emi starts to silently cross the mouth of the alley, but she's spotted by the lookout and one of the spawn in the alley below; each lets out a screech and points at her. With the jig being up, Andrezi steps forward and casts a spell that engulfs the two nearest ground-level undead in a watery orb! Nebbin then engages, hacking into the nearest of the trapped creatures within the orb, causing decent damage--another hit of similar force might end the thing.
The spawn scramble to fight back. The lookout moves to the edge of the rooftop before climbing down the wall to engage Emi on the stairs . Its clawed swipe at her misses.
The two undead trapped inside Andrezi's orb struggle to escape...and the wounded one succeeds, popping out next to Nebbin! Perhaps this distracts the big warrior, because the last spawn moves forward and claws him in the arm. The wound itself is negligible , but Nebbin feels some of his life drawn out of his body .
For each negative level a creature has, it takes a cumulative –1 penalty on all ability checks, attack rolls, combat maneuver checks, Combat Maneuver Defense, saving throws, and skill checks. In addition, the creature reduces its current and total hit points by 5 for each negative level it possesses. The creature is also treated as one level lower for the purpose of level-dependent variables (such as spellcasting) for each negative level possessed. Spellcasters do not lose any prepared spells or slots as a result of negative levels. If a creature’s negative levels equal or exceed its total Hit Dice, it dies.
for
for
Padding up to the mouth of the alleyway to get eyes on the foe, her voice low but pitched to carry, her words cutting though the din of battle.
"They think themselves predators, but in truth they are parasites--a plague, no better than the red veil itself! Steel and fire will purge their rot! Press them! Forward! No quarter!"
Andrezi forces a bit of his will through the conjured orb, moving it to engulf one of the vampire spawn while dragging the other along with it.
He then works through a quick spell, releasing two beams of fire at the nearest vampire spawn.
Being spotted so readily surprises Emi, but not nearly as much as the living corpse on the roof skittering straight down the wall at her. That gives her one of the great WTF moments of her life so far.
Emi swipes at the thing as it comes by on the wall, then whips around and squares up on it. She presses her continued attack against it hard. She'd rather wonder what it is at her leisure after it's dead again instead of while it's trying to kill her back.
RACKER'S ALLEY (Old Korvosa; 11 Desnus (Early AM))
Emi's opportunity attack and first follow-up are enough to cut down her foe . Meanwhile, Andrezi's churning orb of water sucks up a second spawn and his first scorching ray singes the last unengaged spawn while his next fiery ray flies wide of the mark. With Miakoda's inspirational guidance, the fight may soon be over....
Fírinne rushes to Nebbin's aid, charging her blade with positive energy and lunging for the monster's heart.
HP 80/81 (-5 to both due to negative level)
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (-2 to all when raging), DR 3/-, 1 cold resistance
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +3 (+2 Will when raging) [Defiant luck]
CMD 23 (25 vs. grapple)
Rage: 0/22; Harrow points: 2/3; Auspicious Mark (1d6+1) 0/1; Defiant Luck: 0/1
Effects: 1 negative level (-1 to most rolls), inspired courage
Nebbin, feeling slightly ill, swings with his sword, hewing flesh and breaking bones.
RACKER'S ALLEY (Old Korvosa; 11 Desnus (Early AM))
Sword and spell are brought to bear against the lesser vampires, and soon all four have been vanquished. A quick examination of the corpses piled in the alley reveal that a majority of them are expired victims of the relentless blood veil, but several are symptom-free and are likely victims of the prowling undead.
Miakoda is the only one to notice that there's a hole in the wall of the eastern building mostly hidden by piled corpses.
"Good eye, Miakoda," Andrezi says, looking at the pile of bodies. "It's a grim task, but we should move those bodies and see what is beyond."
RACKER'S ALLEY (Old Korvosa; 11 Desnus (Early AM))
Beyond the pile of bodies lies what appears to be a workshop: Dozens of glass eyes—-crooked and crazed—-glare from the heads of malformed and half-carved dolls lining skewed shelves on the walls. Rat-gnawed stuffed aurochs, disembodied doll limbs, miniature rolling elephants, unseaworthy miniature wooden ships, and blocks illustrated with deformed or poorly painted animals fill bins and racks about the room. A cracked wooden door leads to the north, while a rickety trap door breaks the sawdust-covered floor to the east. In one corner lies the drying corpse of an old bald man amid the wood chips, rusty tools, and oily rags of a scored workbench. A quick inspection of the corpse reveals multiple sets of fang marks on his throat.
Underneath the trapdoor is a claustrophobic crawlspace of the same dimensions as the room above. In it are hidden four wooden coffins, each containing a layer of dry gray soil and a leather coin pouch. The collected coins--all of Ustalavic minting--total 15 pp and 300 gp. One pouch also includes a ring of jumping sculpted to look like intertwined brass spider legs, which Emi, Nebbin, and Firinne can't help but suspect once belonged to a member of the cult of Mog-Lathar they recently disbanded. One last object is also found in the crawlspace: a set of bone pipes of haunting.
An examination of the attached storefront to the north reveals that the place has enough dust to indicate that it's been closed for weeks, likely since around the time of the old king's death or the start of the epidemic. Aside from low-quality and vaguely creepy dolls and toys, the only item of value found is a light locked lockbox. It contains: 2 gp, 8 sp, 22 cp, a silver tooth worth 1 gp, and a brass key shaped like the symbol of Abadar and bearing the number 261.
You recognize the key as belonging to a private deposit box at the Grand Vault of Abadar.
With the number of dispatched vampire spawn equaling the number of coffins discovered in the crawlspace, you all feel confident that you've ended the undead threat in this part of the island. Perhaps you can kill birds with one stone by both reporting the corpse dump site and presenting the lockbox key at Grand Vault of Abadar in the near future.
Not much stirs in the city streets on your return trip to the hospice. Kayleigh's assistant, the ex-Abadaran Ishan, admits you all and offers bedrolls to sleep in in the front room away from the patients.
For good measure before leaving, Emi busts up the coffins into kindling and scatters the dirt.
She points out the grimly amusing probable provenience of the ring, considering their very recent tangle with the spider cult.
"Murderers so thick on the ground here they coincidentally kill each other sometimes."
"Shall we tie this thread off tomorrow? Report the bodies and check the deposit box this key opens? After that we can go back to the Keylock Killer case."
Nebbin nods, glad that for once they seem to have managed to solve a problem, instead of finding it spiraling out of control. He fears this key will be something new -- another distraction from finding Rolth -- but at least they got rid of a lot of undead. If their luck really has changed, maybe it will be a quick morning task and then they can get back to hunting down the serial killer.