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"Hmm they aren't dead! Mayhaps the arrowhead is mad of the same Iron as my blade?" the Speaker enquires as they examine the arrowhead, placing the drawn Scimitar next to it to check the material. Going through the found items, the Sarenrite takes one of the healing potions and the one to remove disease.
Carefully, they begin to use their Scimitar to cut apart the bile, causing it to sizzle.
Speaker believes the arrowhead is made of the same material as her scimitar.
After a thoughtful discussion the group believes the spider may have drained the two individuals of their strength which is why they are still unconscious.
Some scribbled notes can be found on the desk read, “Adverse reaction to cold iron. What about magic? Fire? Cold? Further trials are required.”
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"More likely than not considering the effect the speaker's scimitar has had on that funny substance we keep finding everywhere we find these funny pets..." Wolfgang states pointing at the spider's corpse.
"I wonder if that arrowhead can be adapted for a crossbow bolt..." he adds, apparently intrigued by the notion.
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The Speaker nods to the Ustalavian, perfectly happy for him to take the head and fashion it to one of his bolts. Still attempting to clear the room of bile with their Scimitar they think over the notes.
"Fire and Cold is interesting. What we know is that the bile has a hellish bent to it, and those creatures are often resistant to the elements." They muse, "But you are correct, they require medical attention if their strength has been drained, and long term. The head priest seems the best placed, but what do we tell him?"
The group decides to take the two wounded people to the Temple of Erastil for healing. As they carry the two unconscious bodies through the streets of Saringallow they see townsfolk out on the streets stop and gasp in their direction, some even pointing to the group. They make it back to the temple and knock on the door.
"What is it!" Ildris Ruvarra’s shouts out from inside the temple.
The door opens and the group sees the Erastil priest cleaning his hands with a rag. "By the Heavens! That is Beldonna and Altius Vazarro! What happened to them?" he yells out motioning you to bring the couple inside and lay them down on some tables. A farmer with a bloody leg wound is also in the room. It appears Ildris was in the process of healing the man when you knocked.
"Dont try to use a scythe for field work with a hangover." he tells the party of adventurers motioning to the local farmer. "Please tell me what happened?"
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While the others converse with the priest and tend to the wounded, Sammakko starts to make his way around the chapel, methodically looking out each window. "Not sure what sort of attention we drew going through town like that. Whoever did this may not want these two to wake up. I'll keep watch for anything suspicious."
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The Speaker tries their best to distract the crowd, but is sure that it doesn't help very much, they had done quite well so far, barring being the obvious outsiders talking to everyone, but now panic and rumour was sure to spread. Smiling warmly at the farmer, the Speaker uses some of their healing magic stored in their wand to help the Scythe wounds heal over.
"With simple rest you should be back to normal. I suggest no more work this evening. Good day" they say warmly with a smile before turning to the good Priest.
"Yes, spider venom seems to have sapped them of their strength. They should be fine with long term care, but alas we need to be on our own investigations."
The Erastil priest finishes on the farmer and sends him on his way, ushering the man out of the temple. The farmer shakes Speakers hand and then leaves checking his coin pouch. The priest mutters "Farm hands..." under his breath. He sends a local boy off to the sheriff to bring her to the temple as well.
He then focuses on the couple examining them. "It appears they have been poisoned with some type of paralytic.... sapped their strength to move. Made them like this. How big was the spider?" he asks in between checking their eyes and ready their pulses.
After a bit of time he puts his hands over the couples foreheads and repeats a prayer to Erastil which makes his hands glow. The glowing of his hands transfers slowly to the foreheads of the parents and after a while the two bodies begin to move slowly. The prayer ends with the priest exhausted and the parents bewildered and asking for water...after receiving some water the two seem able to speak better.
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The Speaker helps the Priest in any way they can, filling them on the details of the Spider they had recently faced and of the strange bile and webbing they had come across, in case that effected the nature of the poison he needed to treat. Fetching water and slowly getting the couple to drink, knowing that to gorge would see them ill, the Speaker keeps their tone soft as they question them.
"Speak as slowly as you need, but time is of the essence I fear. Now, please can you tell us what happened at your home?" they ask as soon as the couple seem able to speak.
the mother begins to cough and then says slowly "our son has been acting quite oddly lately.... consumed by some... sort of strange... alchemical experiments.... i think it is called"
the father chimes in "we recently heard him ranting about a... warehouse, and then saw him heading in the direction of Marcuccio Bravoni’s warehouse with one of his friends, Morvinarr. Marcuccio is a friend of ours."
the mother continues "The tavern-keeper’s apprentice appeared quite drunk, which we found unusual. When we went to confront Gellion after a terrible racket in his room, we discovered the spider within, along with a horrible little blood-stained man.”
"And then... nothing... i remember nothing after that..." the father finishes.
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Wolfgang listens to the parents' tale before chiming in:"Well... you'll be glad to know both the spider and the nasty little man are carrion's stew by now. And note that when I say "carrion stew" I'm using a rhetorical figure: I sincerely doubt carrions would eat those carcasses"
The crossbowman continues:"We need the directions for this Bravoni's warehouse. Rest assured the matter will be resolved in a most efficient way" he concludes before turning towards the priest:"And to answer to your question: the spider was big. Now it's big AND dead"
The parents provide you with the location of the warehouse and then the priest ushers you out to allow the couple to rest and recover their strength.
Once outside the temple with the intent to go to the warehouse Mayor Sandra Trinelli finds you on the streets with some town guards and asks what you have discovered so far.
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The Speaker is taken aback by the Mayor's direct approach, but considers that moving two unconscious people through the streets may well force the issue to be less clandestine. Looking around to ensure they do not have a crowd of eavesdroppers, the Speaker speaks low.
"We have found nothing concrete but plenty of evidence to a theory. I will not share our theory just yet as it is merely conjecture and would do littleto stop rumours." they begin softly, "We have found Demonic Ichor in places across the town, first in the graveyard, then the Orchard and lately in the Vazzaro home. This ichor is the cause of your large vermin as if it is allowed to fester then altered creatures are made by it. We have so far destroyed the bile and it requires Cold Iron or Holy energies to disperse it."
The Speaker takes a breath and considers their next words. "We are still working leads on the missing children, I believe we are close and will come to you with our findings as soon as we can."
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"We were actually going to call you, so this fortuitous meeting saves time: as Speaker's said something nasty is afoot in this idyllic little town of yours. Good news is we have managed to track down a promising lead and we are now in the process of following it to its source... one Marcuccio Bravoni's warehouse. Ever heard of the place?" asks Wolfgang to the Mayor.
"I shall have the guards keep citizens off the streets and away from the location so as to give you all the space you need to do whatever you need to do to stop this malady from spreading through the town... please do what you can to save the apprentices..." the Mayor says to you all and then goes off to give instructions to the guards.
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Nodding gratefully to the mayor, the Speaker bows low in respect and makes their way towards the warehouse with the rest of their Pathfinder companions. Like Eris, the Speaker seems deep in thought, working through what they have found so far and what it may mean for the future.
"Hmm, I wonder perhaps if the warehouse stores the source of all of this, something innocently purchased that brought upon unintended ruin?" they muse aloud their tone hopeful.
True to the mayor’s word, the streets on the way to and surrounding the warehouse district are clear. An eerie quiet has settled over the neighborhood. The abandoned warehouse lies several blocks away. Along the way as the group is passing through the market area adjacent to the warehouse they come across a bat eating some fruit atop the auction stage, and while it is getting closer to dusk it is too early for this creature to be out already...
The bat responds by tossing a husk of the fruit towards Wolfgang but it lands nowhere close to the man. It then pulls another piece of food out to eat...
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"I read a story once about bats that could turn into people and then would suck their blood. But I'm sure that's just a story right?" he looks to the others for reassurance.
-Posted with Wayfinder