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Setare can detect no evil emanations coming from the Baroness. Whatever her motives may be, your imminent harm does not appear to be among them.
Barley realizes you have indeed been hiding your Pathfinder Society affiliation, as the Church of Zon Kuthn takes a dim view of other religions and other dissident organizations. Anya could indeed be considered committing treason, yet her noble rank offers her some protection...you hope.
You easily find Gavril in the kennels, taking care of the various hounds and mastiffs. Rows of painted kennels house enormous black dogs, sleeping, pacing, or contentedly eating large pieces of red meat. The dogs appear to be well cared for, and indeed the kennels as a whole are in better shape than the rest of the house.
An aging fetchling notices your approach and approaches you. "Name is Gavril. You must be the visitors Laurentiu mentioned. What can I help you with?" He asks in a neutral tone of voice.
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”Yes, we are. Greetings - I am Barley Kawa-Kara-Ryūboku”, in traditional Tian manner, he introduces the others formally one by one, ”These are my companions. We are indeed here to assist the Baroness”.
”Ah yes, you seem to have taken very good care of these animals! They are a breed of the renowned Karpadian Mastiff, correct? "
”How have you managed such good keeping with the master dismissing all the kayals?"
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Your words seem to have a calming effect upon the fetchling, though Rilia reads the fetchling's body language as he does have something else on his mind, and he offers you a small grin. "Aye, and they seem to have takin' a liking to you as well...except for ol' Iozif here," he motions to a huge, aggressive mastiff that bares his teeth at you.
"Easy now, 'ol boy," he continues, placing a hand on the mastiff's shoulder, "They are OK." Turning his attention back to you he shakes his head slowly, "The Baron has grown quite attached to Iozzif here, yet for whatever reason, the hound be takin' a liking to me, and no one else. That be why he keeps me around," he finishes with a note of disgust.
"You probably want to know more about this disease, right?" He shrugs easily, "Well, it is like none I have ever seen before. Those victims I have seen sweat constantly, giving their skin a waxy appearance, and their throats swell as though suffering from goiter." He shudders briefly, "An infected creature becomes increasingly irritable and difficult to deal with."
As you digest this information he finishes up softly, "By now I think you may have guessed...no fetchling I have seen has carried these symptoms. I'll let you decide what that means. I know many of the citizens of Karpad have gone missing as well, but whether this outbreak of...Tallowthroat is related, I know not."
______________________
Status:
Barley (43/43 hp)
Etienne (20/20 hp, Message)
Hoprah (27/27 hp, Message)
Kitoro (31/31 hp)
Rilia (25/25 hp, Message)
Setare Katsu (32/32 hp, Message)
_____________________
Current Effects: Kitoro: Heightened Awareness, Hoprah Message.
_____________________
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Riding on Gavril's friendly mood, "That is a shame. Your kinsmen have always had a shroud of false suspicion. You must have some theories on this Tallowthroat. Please share your thoughts with us, you are among friends I assure you. And of all this sickness, what is the Temple of Zon-Kuthon doing to help this plight. "
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Gavril shakes his head at Kitoro, "I know not if the victims have anything in common, only that the kayal have not succumbed to the disease," turning toi face Barley he adds, "I believe the Church is doing what it can to combat the disease but the head priest Radu Miklos has his hands full, as you can imagine!" He sighs softly, "Still he would know more than I about this. I seldom leave the Manor."
He them proceeds to fill you in on what he knows of Karpad...
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Setare is very silent during the dialogue with the shadow human. In her heart she wants each and every one of these people to be cured and to see the light of her goddess.
”We ... we will do our best to he ... help your community to overcome this ha... hard situation! And I ... I hope that our pre ... presence will not be a burden fo ... for you and this community. Where there is light ... shadows are following!“
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”We endeavour to help your master”, Barley then asks for his assistance, ”Can you get us an audience with the baron, Gavril?”.
"Perhaps over supper, Mr. Kawa-Na-Gototown."
We can see the Baron later, let's hit the village first. Oh, and now I will remove my heel from the top of your boot.
”We ... we will do our best to he ... help your community to overcome this ha... hard situation! And I ... I hope that our pre ... presence will not be a burden fo ... for you and this community. Where there is light ... shadows are following!“
*Sigh.*
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”To be ho ... honest, I believe it i ... is not important with wh ... whom we talk because eve ... every person is go ... going to enlighten us with their inn ... inner light in this place o ... of grey sha .... shadows.“ Setare says with a quivering voice.
Rilia's eyebrow twitches....
"Tell me Setare," she begins sweetly. "Is it even possible for you to 'not be' honest?"
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You find most of the servants congregated in one of the servant's quarters relaxing and playing cards before the evenings work begins for them. After getting to know them and spending some time socializing with the servants who seem happy to chat with you, as you do tend to relieve them of their boredom, you manage to glean the following impressions:
The servants like their master and adore their mistress. Stepan has always paid them well, but he was a cold and demanding lord. Anya changed all that, and her presence has made Stepan more kind and forgiving. In the past month, however, they have watched Stepan become fearful and withdrawn, to the point that they are rarely allowed in his presence. Last month, only days after two human gardeners on staff fell ill and died, he let go all but one of the fetchlings in his employ—some of whom had worked for the family for decades—claiming they couldn’t be trusted. Since the fetchlings were released from service, no one else has become ill.
Also just before you break away from the servants, one of the more talkative ones says in a conspiratorial tone, “None of this would have ever come to pass if Iozif hadn’t died so tragically. Had he been baron after Stepan’s father died we’d all be fine. Now he, his father, and Henric are all buried in the Boroi crypt. Some help they’ll be to us from there.”
______________________
Status:
Barley (43/43 hp)
Etienne (20/20 hp, Message)
Hoprah (27/27 hp, Message)
Kitoro (31/31 hp)
Rilia (25/25 hp, Message)
Setare Katsu (32/32 hp, Message)
_____________________
Current Effects: Kitoro: Heightened Awareness, Hoprah Message.
_____________________
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Kit and Kane put on a little performance for the servants about pirates, greed, and gold to to loosen them up. Nothing related to anything personal - as far as she knows. A well rehearsed routine with Kane as the pirate and Kit as the conniving mistress.
"The mastiff? Surely not! The dog must've been named after the bother. Perhaps it is time for you to tell a tale? H]ow did they all die and why is the dog named after your master's brother?"
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”To be ho ... honest, I believe it i ... is not important with wh ... whom we talk because eve ... every person is go ... going to enlighten us with their inn ... inner light in this place o ... of grey sha .... shadows.“ Setare says with a quivering voice.Rilia's eyebrow twitches....
"Tell me Setare," she begins sweetly. "Is it even possible for you to 'not be' honest?"
Setare is clearly a little bit intimidated by Rilia and looks at her with big eyes.
”Ehh ... ehhh ... I ... I leave the disho.... dishonesty to others if... if possible.“ she says shyly and looks at Rilia for a moment to understand the woman’s motives for asking.
* * *
Setare really enjoys Kitoro’s performance as much as the staff and she laughs silently as if laughing too loud would be rude.
After Kitoro’s attempt of getting the servant to talk about the baron’s dead father and brothers Setare steps in and tells the servants a small tale about honesty and transparency to make them open up about what led to the sudden death of so many within one year.
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One of the servants smiles in appreciation of the tale, and seems to take a liking to the Ifrit. Shaking her head in disgust the middle aged woman spits off to one side, “I think those cursed fetchlings be responsible for this disease! The first folks to catch it worked at the manor with those gray-skins. People here in town only started getting sick when the baron fired all the fetchlings that be working for him!”
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Once the group is done talking and fraternizing with the manor servants, Etienne asks them to conference to go over the current leads and information they have. He shares his notes with the group:
Possible leads and avenues for investigation
- Crypt with deceased relatives who all died in short order
- Visit the sick? Priest of Zon-Kuthon Radu Miklos?
- Fetchling community of Shadow Row?
Notes
- Baron’s paranoia started with sickness and then birth of his son, Marek; fired fetchlings and said 'the shadows wouldn’t take the town.'
- mysterious disappearance of citizens as well (only sick disappearing?)
- Tallowthroat is name of disease
- Suspicious that father and both brothers died in same year.
Developing Theory:
The deaths of his family leaving him Baron is highly suspicious. I believe he made a deal of some kind with the Shadow Plane to become the Baron, but this disease is either the result of that deal or a punishment for not fulfilling this end of the bargain – perhaps related to his son.
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Setare thinks a while and is very intrigued by the facts that Ettiene put together.
"A very in ... interesting theory! But I ... I really do not un ... understand one thing. Why did the ba ... baron get rid of all the sha ... shadow humans but not Ga ... Gavril? And how do you co ... come to the conclusion that he ... he made a deal? And what is the sha ... shadow plane? It could also be a ... a simple coincidence. You have to ... to believe in the good in ... in people's heart! Even here in thi ... this place. Let us talk to the ba ... baron - he seems to ha ... have been a good man for this community until re ... recently - I heard tha ... that too!" Setare says a little insecurely and she tries not to make eye contact with Ettiene.
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"Well, according to Gavril, he's the only one who the mastiff will respond to, and hence he stays while the rest are kicked out. That said, there could be more to it than that, but Gavril didn't strike me as a liar. And I came to that conclusion due to how the narrative is shaping - I'll be the first to admit we don't have enough information. I did say is was a developing theory. It is much like a read the Harrow cards: not all information is present, but you use intuition to see what they say.
Given the time of day, perhaps it is better to stay here and investigate the crypt and then try to get an audience with the Baron himself? Or we head into town. I don't feel strongly one way or the other."
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Setare is clearly a little bit intimidated by Rilia and looks at her with big eyes.
”Ehh ... ehhh ... I ... I leave the disho.... dishonesty to others if... if possible.“ she says shyly and looks at Rilia for a moment to understand the woman’s motives for asking.
Rilia's eyes grow narrower by the moment....
"Really? Well, we'll have to see how long that'll last--won't we?"
”Iozif the mastiff?!?”, Barley points in the direction of the kennel and cranks an eyebrow confused, ”Please -explain. Do not worry, I will not tell a soul”.
I don't know any souls.
"What about the classic--'let's split up and search for clues', hmm? We should go in teams of two or three of course--I call dibs on Setare!" she grabs the smaller woman around the waist.
"We could go all alone to the spooky tomb together." Rilia says with a broad smile.
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"I'd prefer to stick together if we go anywhere dangerous, like, say, the temple of a god into torture and mutilation. We could sneak into the tomb but we could probably talk the priest into a visit if he thinks it might save lives. Where is he anyway? How far is the temple from here? And we've been assuming the tomb is near by too, but is it? Anyway, I think a visit to the priest is the first thing we should do since we have to wait until dinner to talk to the Baron anyway. That is, provided we can do that and get back in time."
As she makes her points she ticks them off with her fingers, which happen to have a few zombie finger puppets on them which Kit doesn't seem to notice until one of the eyeballs falls of during a particularly vigorous gesture.
"Now how did they get on there? Oh yes, I was just thinking about how we will probably run into zombies, and was practicing... though for the life of me I don't remember why I was thinking that."
She momentarily considers reattaching the eye, but gives the puppet a critical eye and decides she likes it better the way it is.
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Setare looks at Kitoro and her fingers with a confused look on her face.
”Oh dear Everlight! Now we wa ... want to cooperate wi ... with Zon-Kathon pri ... priests. I will sta ... stay in the back!” she says apologetically.
"Nonsense!" Rilia says with a broad smile. "You could be a great help in our negotiations.* Why everyone knows that paladins are trustworthy folk. I'm sure that if explain why we have come to him, this Radu Mikos will believe you."
Rilia makes for the rectory of the temple dedicated to the Midnight Lord.
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Deciding a trip to the Temple of Zon-Kuthon is in order, The six of you quickly exit the Manor and head across Karpad, just across the river Dimar's Way. The second-oldest and second-largest building in Karpad, the temple to Zon- Kuthon is also one of the few built entirely of stone. A graveyard surrounds the spired temple, and a row of Boroi family mausoleums surrounds that.
As you draw closer you see a graveyard surrounds this austere, spired temple, and imagery of skulls and chains is carved in riotous profusion onto the tombstones and black stone edifice. Mausoleums line the edge of the cemetery, each emblazoned with the Boroi family crest and dozens of names. Moving with a purpose you enter the temple hall. and have little trouble tracking down Radu Miklos, the head priest. Miklos is an overweight man in his late thirties with a facial tattoo and numerous silver piercings along the bridge of his nose and on his pale, bald scalp. While some of you were concerned about the man's nature, your first impression is of a man harried and overworked.
As he takes note of your presence, he runs his head over his scalp and growls irritably. "What now, more tallowthroat victims? Just bring them over there, and I'll see about getting someone to attend to them!" As he takes a closer look at all of you, his eyebrow raises in curiosity. Wait, none of you show any signs of tallowthroat. What brings you here? I do not have time to simply answer your inane questions...get to the point!"
______________________
Status:
Barley (43/43 hp)
Etienne (20/20 hp)
Hoprah (27/27 hp)
Kitoro (31/31 hp)
Rilia (25/25 hp)
Setare Katsu (32/32 hp)
_____________________
Current Effects: None.
_____________________
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Kit sniggers quietly to herself, knowing full well that not all clergy are created equal - case in point.
"I can help cheer up the victims", she adds to Rilla's offer with a broad smile and Kane pops up a gurgles something that may or may not have been a 'me too!'.
She digs around for a moment and with a 'ta da!' pulls out a miniature whip which she equips one of her finger puppets with (you notice they all have hooks and such for attachments - very customizable) and raises an eyebrow as if waiting for permission.
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Setare is very uncomfortable to be in this temple. She does not really know what this church means to this country as she has little idea about the history of Nidal or other religions on Golarion. But she knows that many of the people of this land are oppressed and that this church is also responsible.
After hearing her two companions speak you see signs of proudness when Rilia called her a friend and a big smile appears on her face!
Nonetheless, she stays in the background and it is obvious that she does not want to speak up here.
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Rilia raises an eyebrow and smiles weakly at Kitoro's performance. Creepy, she thinks.
"We do missionary work, though I have held many different positions for long periods of time." Rilia says slyly. "Setare here is my bodyguard." she adds trying to draw the scrawnier woman closer to the center of things.
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Radu shakes his head in mirth in response, "Look, I know you think you can cheer up these victims, but I'll say this: many with this illness don’t seek or want help, and those farthest along are the worst offenders! Just before they die they prove to be the most recalcitrant patients I have ever dealt with! Try making sense of that!"
In response to Etienne's query, Ratu pauses and rubs his scalp briefly. "I remember the first victims I treated were human gardeners who worked at the Manor," he pauses in recollection, "Lessee...a man and woman named Urix and Devia, who contracted the disease again and died before I could save them. A tragic tale. Still I can swear the disease only started to spread into Karpad only after the Baron fired all the fetchling servants." He finishes up.
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Almost like they WANTED to die.
Kitoro tries to cheer up the victims, putting on a performance tailored to someone into the Midnight Lord, full of finger puppets, penitential flaggelations, and an army of dumb zombie servants (she just had to get the zombies she worked on in there), but with a comedic twist.
Strange, but it works.
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Katu gives Setare a look as if she had lost her mind, "What do you think I've been doing?" He shakes his head in frustration, "I have never seen a disease work like this before! It apparently saps the personality of its victims. As for why i have not been infected, I do believe it is spread to direct contact, which makes it far easier to control the spread of the disease."
Kitoro puts on a great show, as least in her own mind, as most of the patients are far too gone to enjoy, or even take notice of, the show.
Etienne believes the Zon-Kuthan priest is being truthful.