To Akurna:
"Aye, but I doubt we'll like what we see."
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The torch had gone out in the cavern, leaving it dimly lit by the ion stone around Phaust's head. Upon stepping in, the adventurers' boots made wet sounds as they stepped in blood. Several bodies were stacked upon each other, their ribs showing and their body punctured in multiple places. Their eyes had been clawed out it seemed. One body was scrunched into a corner with his arms crossed and something behind it shook.
The cave stunk heavily of death and the thick iron smell of blood. Flies had just begun to buzz around the heroes' faces.
"By the eyes of Horus!" Akurna exclaims, aghast.
She looks over the bodies, to be sure of who lies dead here.
She goes over to the body scrunched in the corner, and pulls it aside, to see what is moving underneath.
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Akurna starts pulling dead bodies off of the pile, checking their disfigured and anguished faces closely. All of the bodies seemed to be young, with the eldest in the corner. Each body moved created a sickening, heavy-wet sound as they splatted against the hard cave flooring. Moving the last body aside, the son's head rolls off of the chewed neck-line towards the others; there lay a blood-soaked child who immediately starts to flail and kick, "No, no, go away! Go away!" There was some heavy sobbing in his voice and he wouldn't be restrained easily with his wild movements.
There didn't seem to be any new people here, just those that the group saw before.
Carefully putting his gandasa away, Phaust does down on one knee, and speaks tenderly as he can to the traumatized child.
"Come here, child. Come with us and we will take you some place safe."
As the pharasmin offers his hand, he hopes he can make due on his promise to the child.
He saw his family slaughtered. A lot like mine were.
"Child, something like this happened to me when I was your age. I know it was horrible, but it's finished now. I'm very sorry about what happened, but if you come with us you will be able to start over, and leave this horror behind. A priest of Anubis once took me away from such horror, and now I am a priestess of Anubis, and I will do the same for you, if you let me."
Akurna leads the child out of the cave and tries to take her on a route that hopefully avoids any grisly scenes.
As she passes Haltak and Phaust, she whispers, "Check if there's anything of use and then meet the child and I outside."
Once back outside Akurna stops to try to get the child cleaned up before their march through the woods back to town. Need to give those two time to look over the place. When she sees Haltak and Phaust emerge she straightens up and nods to them. She takes Haye's hand.
"Let's go back to the church."
Phaust nods as Akurna takes the boy out of the cave.
"Aye." With a heavy sigh Haltak picks his way through the carnage.
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Akurna leaves the cavern with Haye beside her. Once outside, her eyes catch shifting among the trees, figures and outlines hiding among them. The screeching of animals lost in the darkness echoed off the trees. But eventually, she makes it back to the church. None of the peasants are outside at this hour. The church doors were just as the priestess left them
None of the bodies seem to be of an older female, but all of the bodies have had their eyes gouged out with the sharp point of the shotel. Several disfiguring cuts marred the bodies and since they were stacked on top of each other, the blood from the top dripped into the body beneath it. The last body was soaked by the time the two got to it. None of the bodies seemed to have more than clothing on them, and heavily torn clothing at that.
The last body, however, had a deliberate incision and was laying on its stomach rather than its back like the rest of them. There was an obvious lump of something in the body.
The pain in the dwarve's leg intensifies for a brief moment, creating a steady burn in his muscles and skin. But it was probably fine for now.
Phaust slowly makes through the bodies to find the last one at the bottom. It appears to the Pharasmin that someone defiled the birthing process for dark purposes, a process that falls under two goddesses: Pharasma and Lamashtu. Phaust relays his thoughts to Haltak.
"Ach, me leg...whatever that beastie did ta me isn't bein fixed by simple healin magic. And Phaust me lad, take care o course, might be some vile larvae."
"Okay. Let's get you back to the church." Phaust offers the dwarf a shoulder to help walk him back.
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The other two arrive at the church some time later. The rescued child still hasn't opened his eyes and he has seated himself on the floor. The torches were just beginning to dwindle to a insignificant flame when the door opened and the dwarf and Phaust returned. Each of the members could feel the strain of weariness upon them, but it was hard to tell what time it was as the darkness swallowed up all sense of it.
Akurna bustles around occupying herself with chores. She refreshes the torches and then tries to put together a meal for the child. Then she looks at Haltak.
"You've been limping all the way back from the cave. Let me look a that leg."
After she has done what she can for Haltak, she looks at the rest of the group.
"Now what do we do? I'm still at a loss as to what to do next. Perhaps talk to this Farmer Tierney?"
Sounds good, but first", says Phaust as he begins to take off his armor, "I would like someone to looks at these." The Pharasmin's chest and arms has multiple wounds and bite marks.
"T'aint no venom I know of. Well aren't we a merry crew, ring around the bandages aya?"
With a rueful chuckle, Haltak begins to bandage Phaust.
"I cannae do much more fery ya lad, I used most o' Torag's blessings just gettin the few o' us this far. Oh, all those people...
Haltaks hands move by rote but he goes quiet.
"Phaust! You should have said something sooner!"
Akurna pulls out a wand and waves it over Phaust's wounds.
Afterwards, Akurna looks at her own wounds and uses the wand on herself.
Phaust sighs as his wounds heal. "Thanks".
The pharasmin agent starts to puts his armor back on.
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As Akurna assists Haltak with his armor, the full plate leggings come off with a sticky, black mess clinging to the cushioned insides. Haltak's right leg was coated in pockets of puss and black wounds, some of his skin having been eaten away by the unknown disease. His leg smelled of rotting flesh and sure enough, some of his skin could be found as small, black clumps that rolled off of his sabatons when the legging was lifted.
Haltak is suffering from a disease that is causing his skin to rot. It looks stable right now, but it could progress and cause him to lose mass in his leg. This would be extremely excruciating and the disease is likely not to stop at skin and muscle. If left untreated, it will likely travel upwards and downwards, consuming his foot and the rest of him in time. If he doesn't let his body rest, he risks the disease becoming worse and harder to rid.
An hour passes and Haltak settles Phaust with bandages, after dousing him with some alcohol from the church storage. .
The others seem to be healthy, in the very least. But every now and then, your leg gives you a sharp, stinging sensation. The child also appears to be healthy, but refuses to open his eyes.
Young Haye quietly eats on the floor after saying, "Thank you." like a polite child. He does fumble around a bit with his eyes closed, but he eventually finds the spoon for his soup and the bread beside it.
Haltak gives somewhere between a sigh and a raspberry. "pphhhh. Gotta clean this and rest then, and hope for the best. I dinnae bring any antiplague, though I have coin were we ta somehow find any fer sale. I've never seen an infection spread this fast. Best take care to make sure none o ya catch it. At least we're in no shortage of clean water, though I'm afraid we'll have to find a priest o' Cayden Cailean if we want plenty o medicinal spirits, heh. Oh and little lad, after what you've seen I might not open my eyes either. We ought to make sure nothing's wrong with them though, they feel fine yeh? I might take a rest. Maybe Akurna you'd be willing to make sure I'm still breathin and nothing eats me should I fall asleep for a wee bit?"
Haltak changes into chain pajamas in true dwarven fashion and leans his shield against him.
Haye responded to the dwarf's voice, his eyes still closed, "They do. I promised not to open my eyes until my big brother told me to. So shut they be."
"I understand. There were things that your brother knew were going to happen that he didn't want you to see. He was wise to ask you that."
"But you should know that the scary things that your brother didn't want you to see are over now. It's up to you but I don't think your brother expected you to keep your eyes shut any more."
She rests her hand on the lad's shoulder.
"Your brother is dead now, but his spirit lives on in the afterlife. He is at peace now. Here take this-"
Akurna presses her holy symbol of Anubis into Haye's hands.
"This is Anubis. Well, a symbol of him, actually. Anubis is the guardian of the dead. Feel the shape. See how it is shaped like a dog? Anubis is like a watchdog, always vigilant and faithful. See how the ears point straight up? That is because he is always alert and on his guard."
"You can keep that. If you like you can pray to Anubis tonight to watch over the soul of your brother and the rest of your family. Perhaps Anubis will let you see your brother in your dreams. If you want we can pray together."
Once she is finished with the little boy she begins to root through the things in the church, looking through the belongings of the priests. "Maybe there's a scroll of remove disease in here somewhere!"
After she finishes her search, she looks at the others.
"Might as well get some rest. Probably the best thing for that leg."
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Haye looked up to Akurna, his eyes closed still, "Are they?" This was an honest question. Frowning, Haye tilts his head down, his voice quiet, "Oh.." Holding his hand out for the Anubis symbol and then running his fingers all along it, "He feels nice. Thank you." Smiling a little, "I've never prayed before, but I would like to."
Searching the church did lead to a few scrolls of cure disease. After a night's rest, Haltak's leg was looking much better. It remained dark outside, however, so it was unclear as to what time it was.
"Ach, that was a close one. Thanks fer yer help Akurna. Right, perhaps we'd best review what little we know and make a plan?"
Haltak begins preparing for the day, cleaning up, creating fresh water, and munching some trail rations while talking.
In the morning, Akurna examines Haltak's leg again.
"I don't feel we know very much," she says as she looks Haltak over.
Sleeping in far corner of the church, Phaust rises to find his body still ached from the night(?) before, but the majority of his wounds healed.
The Pharasmin prayed to his god, then started the day, doing minor repairs to his gear until the growling of his stomach made him rise.
"Please tell me this temples has some food left."
"If'n it doesn't, I have a wee bit left from my travels."