You load the priest into your wagon and depart for the Chateau. Despite the noises you hear during the night, including the howl of wolves, you arrive safely at the village near the Chateau at daybreak.
Everyone who stayed awake during the ride make a fortitude save.
Calistria rubs at her eyes. She stayed awake the entire way, trying to keep the priest comfortable in the back of the wagon and now she is paying the price. Desna is, after all, a goddess of the night. She is meant to be visited in dreams.
Rois opens his eyes and blinks as he gets use to the light. I must have fallen asleep at some point during the night He looks over to Calistria and the priest. The latter looks closer to death than the previous night, yet, still somehow alive. The priestess, on the other hand, looks near exhaustion.
"Calistria, day has come. Why do you not try to sleep for the morning while the rest of us take care of priest. You have had a long vigil. We will need your spells and wise council before this is done. Both require you to be well rested."
And with that, Rois jumps from the cart to measure the condition of the horses who have also had a long night's journey.
Back in the northern town wherever the group once was, Vorelloex ponders aloud of the others' travails.
"Hailey, do you think that holy man has any chance? He'll turn into one of those we faced in the cave, right? It seemed a waste of time to me, not simply ending him before anything got out of hand..."
Hanging around her as she researches her own tasks, Vorelloex who was once so accustomed to the silence of the hunt now finds chatter's absence slightly unnerving.
His thoughts drift to the rumored forest of demons and fell things. It makes him tense, but not from fear. He feels ready.
"My, Vorel, there is no need to jump to any conclusions. I'm sure our companions will be able to help him in time. I hope... But let us not ponder on such morbid matters, we should look further into other issues while we have some free time."
His words are betrayed by his body language. The monk is clearly ill at ease in the current situation. He wished he could help the poor man, but there would be naught he could do.
"We are going to be of much more use here than simply riding with the rest of our compatriots. Let us uncover the mysteries that have been placed before us."
Calista and Voryn are fatigued until they can rest for at least an hour. The village you have arrived in a small and badly maintained, the roads are rutted, one of the homes looks like it could collapse at any moment. The villagers seem to have just woken up, no one is outside yet.
"That's a very kind offer." Calistria says, forcing back a yawn. "But we shouldn't wait. We need to go right to the chateau."
|
"They could save him, but I strongly doubt it. And to save one at the expense of the rest of the village is, in my eyes, the graver fault. But enough of this. I suggest we prepare, for I'd like to begin investigating. Perhaps we could wait until morning if you men prefer it, though that is not my preference, but no later than that. I don't want to lose any further possible information than we already could've."
She will wait for Swift-Palm and Vorelloex to tell her what they want.
"We've wasted enough time already. Let us move."
"What are we looking for?"
Vorelloex scans the darkness for any details or movements he can find.
The three of you arrive at the farm after several hours of searching, so far you have found nothing out of the ordinary.
|
|
Hailey slicks back her hair as if this would do anything to improve her looks, and then collects herself. Calmly, she walks toward the door, but then she stops mid-stride and begins to look around and walk more slowly.
She resumes looking around her, listening for any noises and looking to see if there is any evidence of a ghoul visit of late, such as dead, bloody animals.
If she doesn't detect anything amiss, she will walk up to the farm's house and knock politely on the door.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Swift will also look around carefully.
As Hailey goes to approach the door, Swift instinctively reaches out to stop her, but stays his hand a hair away from her head. He doesn't think she saw him.
"Even if I would like to think she is helpless, I know I shouldn't. As a matter of fact, she is far from that. She can take care of herself. I'd best remember that, I would not want to hurt her pride. Her size is not an indication of her strength. She may yet be the strongest of us all."
He slowly retracts his outstretched hand.
The monk follows Hailey as she approaches the door, ready to come to her assistance in the off chance that something would jump out and attack.
Tired but determined Voryn looks at his comrades:
"We must find the chateau as quickly as possible. Perhaps we should awaken a peasant and ask for direction..."
When Hailey knocks on the door it swings open revealing a one room farmhouse. There is no one inside the farmhouse, but there is dried blood on floor, bed and table in small amounts.
------
The Chateau has a solid stone wall around it with thick metal plated gates. Four guards in chainmail with spears, shields and sheathed swords guard the entrance.
|
|
"Boys, I think they've been here. Now the question is, have they left?"
She is not upset at the sight, and is in fact curious about the technique of the attack, but she is not about to say so.
But before she actually goes inside, she pulls out her fifteen copper pieces and throws them into the room, on purpose.
"Why walk into a trap when our lives could be saved by but the loss of a mere fifteen copper?"
And with that, she attempts to listen for any audible signs of someone coming toward the noise her coins have made.
|
Garekk takes measure of the fortifications and the guards with a technical eye. "This place seems to be rather.. fortified.. for a bunch of clerics and healers.." he mutters to the party before turning to the guards. "We need help, please Sirs! Our local priest has been bitten by a Ghoul, and he needs help or he will die!"
One of the guards jerks his hand in the direction of the village. "You want the third house past the tavern. Thom doesn't live in the Chateau, but you don't look like you can afford his fees."
Vorelloex nods, takes his flail out from behind his waist, and stands alert in silence.
Those at the farm hear faint moans from the barn.
"What is that?! I hear sounds, from the barn!"
The monk looks oddly calm given his behavior recently.
"I need to be calm. My friends will need me at my best."
He breathes in, performing a small meditative mantra on the spot, then leads the way, cloak billowing as he purposefully makes his way over to the barn doors.
Calistria rubs the sleep from her eyes. She has walked through the night before but never has she wished for a strong cup of tea more than now.
When the cart arrives at the house indicated by the guard she leaps from it and stumbles over to the door. She knocks, hard, three times.
When the door opens, she launches into her speech.
"Good day. My name is Calistria of the Order of Sacred Couriers. We bring a priest from a nearby village who has ghoul fever in hopes of finding treatment."
Calistria rubs the sleep from her eyes. She has walked through the night before but never has she wished for a strong cup of tea more than now.
When the cart arrives at the house indicated by the guard she leaps from it and stumbles over to the door. She knocks, hard, three times.
When the door opens, she launches into her speech.
"Good day. My name is Calistria of the Order of Sacred Couriers. We bring a priest from a nearby village who has ghoul fever in hopes of finding treatment."
[dice=Diplomacy 1]1d20+6
[dice=Diplomacy 2]1d20+6
"Priestess I can attempt to heal the man. I will even give you a discount on my normal fee and only charge you 75 gold for the attempt."
The party at the farm enters the barn and finds a man resting in a half-sitting position against a bale of hay. He looks barely alive and has several obvious bite marks.
|
|
Reasoning that if the ghouls were still here, they would be munching on him, Hailey slowly and cautiously enters the farm and walks over to the man.
She examines his bites, , then proceeds to attempt to talk to him.
"How long ago did this happen? Where is your family?"
She expects to hear nothing but incoherence, but it's still worth trying.
The bites look about 5 days old, the man is barely alive but you make out four words.
taken..alive....west....necromancer.
"Good sir; That is an extraordinary amount of money. Perhaps there is some work that we may trade? We are talking about the life of a priest hanging in the balance.. We just happened by him while on a mission for Baron Josep from Silvam. Please sir.. Help him. Allow us to work out a deal."
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+1
[dice=Bluff]1d20
"I am already giving you a deal, magics that can negate disease at this stage are powerful and expensive. There may be something you can do for me, there is an abandoned temple in the mountains east of here, from a time before these lands were truly civilized. There is said to be a sacred pool of water within the temple. If you bring me two gallons of water from that pool, I will consider payment rendered."
Swift looks the man up and down, seeking a way to ease his suffering. He kneels next to the man, looking into his eyes, seeking any indication about his current status.
"We will go and get your family back, you have my word."
He gets up and heads the the doors of the barn.
"Hailey, if I might have a word? You to Vorel."
Calistria wrinkle her nose. Healing should never be held hostage by gold. The "powerful and expensive" line is only an excuse. She's sure there's a handy profit tucked into the man's sum.
But...
"He won't last very long." Calistria points out. "Certainly not long enough for us to go into the mountains, gather the water and return. You would need to tend to him before we left."
"He will be healed in a few moments. I am sure a priestess of Desna will pay her debts and there would certainly be consequences for those who fail to pay a healer in the service of the Caliphvasos family."
|
|
Not liking the situation, but knowing it is for the best, Garekk nods his head. "For what it may be worth to you in this far country, you have my word of honor that you will recieve the payment you ask, in the manner in which you ask it. There will be no duplicity in any dealing that I am a part of, good priest."
A man's life is worth more than pride.
Calistria offers her hand to the healer.
"We will go fetch your water for you. We'll need good directions to the temple, please, and any idea of what might be there. And something to carry the water in."
Hrm, a quest... An ancient abandoned temple with a sacred pool of water within... Sounds wondrous! I can't wait to see it... I wonder how our friends are doing in Kotla.. They're probably hunting down the ghoul who bit the priest in the first place..
Voryn snaps out of his thoughts.
"Yes, and are there any dangers to the temple that we should be know about, sir? Not that danger is going to keep us away, but any information is helpful, as it'll give us a chance to prepare properly."
Hrm, a quest... An ancient abandoned temple with a sacred pool of water within... Sounds wondrous! I can't wait to see it... I wonder how our friends are doing in Kotla.. They're probably hunting down the ghoul who bit the priest in the first place..
Voryn snaps out of his thoughts.
"Yes, and are there any dangers to the temple that we should be know about, sir? Not that danger is going to keep us away, but any information is helpful, as it'll give us a chance to prepare properly."
"It has long been abandoned and is rarely visited. Perhaps some animal has taken up residence."
The priest draws a crude map that indicates it's location and the presence of a mining village about 5 kilometers away from the temple.
"Before we leave, may I ask what properties this water has? What is so special about it?"
"It is believed to have similar properties to holy water as well as aid in healing. I wish to have a sample to use in some tests."
Once they are away from the healer, Calistria will lay one hand on Garekk's shoulder and another on Voryn's.
"Thank you." she says. "It was a slim hope but we found a way. We should make sure to take samples of the water for Hailey. She might find it interesting as well."
"Hailey, Vorel, it seems we have a difficult decision on our hands."
He looks past his two companions at the injured man. He furrows his brow.
"As much as I hate to admit it, this man seems to be beyond saving. He will not last much longer. We need to decide if it would be best to end his misery now. I'm sure the pain he has yet to endure will be horrific and without purpose."
The half-elf pulls out his handaxe from its beltloop, ready to end the pained fellow below them.
|
|
"That is what I was preparing to do, Swift-Palm, with my hexes until he expires. But perhaps I should conserve my power. You set his soul at peace, Vorelloex. But first, I can offer him one thing."
She goes to the man and, in an unexpected act of compassion, speaks a prayer for his soul to Nethys, as if he had been a life-long follower.
When she is finished, she steps aside.
"If anyone wants me, I'll be searching the grounds to see if I can pick up anything related to the necromancer and/or the kidnapping of the wife."
Heading west but remaining on the farmstead, Hailey searches for anything that would suggest a kidnap or a trail to follow.
"That is what I was preparing to do, Swift-Palm, with my hexes until he expires. But perhaps I should conserve my power. You set his soul at peace, Vorelloex. But first, I can offer him one thing."
She goes to the man and, in an unexpected act of compassion, speaks a prayer for his soul to Nethys, as if he had been a life-long follower.
When she is finished, she steps aside."If anyone wants me, I'll be searching the grounds to see if I can pick up anything related to the necromancer and/or the kidnapping of the wife."
Heading west but remaining on the farmstead, Hailey searches for anything that would suggest a kidnap or a trail to follow.
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 5
You see a faint trail of blood heading back to the road from the barn then heading further west.