Tesswyn swears under her breath. She grasps her crescent moon symbol and casts a spell, transmuting her skin into solid oak. Then she rushes forward towards the screams.
Drot turns to see Tess running up, he stifles the call he was about to make and begins running along with Tess toward the screams drawing his mace.
Charles turned to look back at their group.
"Light torches for yourselves, I've got to go help deal with this!" he said bringing his glowing light to help guide the others from tripping over themselves in the darkness as they ran toward the rightmost tunnel.
You start running down the corridor, discovering that it is much longer than expected; the scream must have ehoed through the underground hall.
When you eventually reach the source, you discover what looks to be a basement. This must have been another access point to the underground tunnels.
You find several bodies in here, burnt to a husk, where the lava must have entered. There's no live lava here, so it must have already cooled. There's a ramp-shaped mound leading upwards where a staircase must have been, but not completely covered and anybexots sealed off.
Tesswyn points to one of the bodies. "Ew, looks like something burst out of that one..."
She holds up her hand for silence as she listens to something. "Hello? I can hear you. Where are you?"
"How interesting... I'm not sure where I've seen something like this before"
------
"Can you tell where that's coming from?"
Charles looked at the messy scene before them and was caught up by the others questions.
"Are you hurt?" he asked. "Keep talking. We'll find you!"
I'm... I'm here. I can't see you. Where are you? Help? I can't find my brother.
After searching for a bit, you realize that the cooled lava flow has created a hill from which hides an extra section of the room. Makig your way back there requires you to balance across quite the amount of debris.
"Wait here. I'll go check it out," Tesswyn says. She deftly makes her way past the debris to explore the chamber beyond.
Tesswyn makes her way past the debris with ease.
She discovers one of the mayor's teenage sons, half buried under debris. A few feet away from him is another burnt husk, in what must be his brother.
Tesswyn frowns at the burned body, but doesn't comment on it. She works to free the surviving son from the rubble. "You're okay now. We'll get you to safety."
"Tesswyn, is there any easy way for us to come after you? Charles asked looking at the unsteady pathway with some hesitation.
"Doubtful! I'll be back soon with the mayor's son. He'll need healing!"
Tesswyn fights the urge to gag as she drags him back to the others. "Yeah, lots of healing..."
Tesswyn pulls the boy back to the group. He's heavily cut up from the debris, he has a knot on his head, and most obviously his legs are missing - the flesh burnt at the thighs.
"Oh no... Poor boy, give him here. I'll carry him back to the main room. Charles, would you mind trying to find his father?"
Drot takes the young man from Tesswyn when he's able and cradles him in his arms.
"Look at me Brin, stay focused. Does it hurt? Do you have feeling still? How long have you been in there? Breath slowly, you're going to be alright."
Charles, grimaced. "Hold on, in a minute. Before we move him too much, I should heal him." Placing a hand on the young boys leg, Charles, recited a prayer for healing. He knew it wasn't going to do much for him but he thought it would be better than nothing.
He then glanced quizzically over at Tesswyn.
"Is this all there was? Was there not anyone else?"
"His brother was there but... He didn't make it." Tesswyn shakes her head sadly.
The healing magic sooths the boy's pains, but it does not return his legs. He passes out.
What would you like to do with him? Where would you like to go next? There are two other options from the crossroads you left to get to this room.
"Let's see if the others can fashion some sort of stretcher so they can carry him along."
Tesswyn returns to the first intersection and scouts down the southern passage.
"Perhaps we can leave him with someone in the first room we came in at? The stone beds are better then the ground, we should start asking around if anyone is an apothecary or knows how to take care of these kinds of wounds."
Drot begins to make his way in that direction . Anyone can tell he's not encumbered by the boy much at all and he moves with purpose but steadily enough to not jostle Brin around.
Charles grimaced as he saw there was little the magic he had could do for the boy. "I think that's a good idea, Drot'ook. We need to keep the group together for now and the stone structures should provide some more warning from a sudden lava flow. Not to mention we should figure out who else was charred. I spent some time traveling the wilderness gathering herbs and such things but not actually studying the use of them." he walked in silence for a few moments and then something occurred to him.
"The question I have is, why they were out here in the first place? We probably won't learn that until Brin wakes up. You two were saying something strange earlier. Just before we found Brin and his brother. Something that... burst out of a chest?"
"Assuming their father is still alive, he's going to be very upset and likely grief stricken at the news of his sons passing. It might be best that we offered exploring which directions to go ourselves after this."
Before heading down the other tunnel, Tesswyn points out the body with the burst chest to Charlemange so that he's up to speed with the rest of the group. "Keep an eye out for little demons running around."
"Demons, of course. Why didn't I expect that?" Charles said with a mixture of sarcasm and worry.
Gronder follows Tesswyn, axe and shield at the ready. "These people have been through enough. Time to end this."
Kenneth, the Rotund man, starts to complain about how hungry he is. By the Gods, I am starving! Give me food! I've aches in my belly! I NEED FOOD!
As Drot enters the area with the young boy in his arms he hears the grievances of an over fed maggot. He eyes flair with anger and a shoots a look at Tesswyn.
"I think it's best we keep that beastly man humble. Arguing and complaining is a good way to lose cooperation as a group. You did such a good job at it the first time..."
Drot gives Tess a shrug and chuckles as he moves to place Brin on a slab.
"I'm afraid I might makes things worse if I try mediating the group at this point. I'll just look menacing from afar if you need leverage! Ha!"
He gently sets the boy down and turns back towards his team.
"Let's find someone willing to watch after him and see if anyone can dress a wound."
Tesswyn nods and approaches the fat guy. "Cram it, Kenneth, or I'll feed you the fat end of my staff!"
Unfortunately, the half-hearted threat doesn't seem to dissuade him.
But.. but... Kenneth stammers, You don't understand! My belly! It hurts!
He drops to his knees as he doubles over in pain.
Gronder looks at Kenneth. "We're most of us hungry, and all of us scared, I'd bet. But you still need to get a hold of yourself. Set the example. Be strong for the people around you."
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Tesswyn's eyes widen. "Oh, f+#!!" She points out the thing moving under his stomach.
Drot begins to shout:
"EVERYONE GET BACK!"
He takes a few steps and pulls his mace. He places himself between the nearest civilians and Kenneth, readying himself to take action if need be.
Charles eyes widened as he noticed what Tesswyn was pointing at. "By the new God. Dagger, someone get me a dagger! Kenneth, don't move."
He reached for his holy symbol and began to pray. "All that lives can be seen by your eyes."
Kenneth's stomach bursts open as large (5 inches long, 1 inch wide) worm-like larva break through the skin. As soon as the larva touches the open air, it ignites. Kenneth screams as his flesh melts and burns. The process is repeated several times as more and more larva ignite and burrow out of the man, burning him alive from the inside out.
The larva make their way to cracks in the floors and walls, headed towards heat and lava flow.
People scream as they witness it.
Tesswyn takes several deep breaths and steels her mind against the gruesome display. Once the horror show is over, she turns to Charles. "Can you use your life sense and scan the survivors for eggs and larvae, as well as our food? We can't risk anybody else getting infected."
Gronder stares at the scene before him for a moment, then gives a short, sharp shake of his head.
He raises his voice to be heard over the screams. "Everyone, see to any children! They don't need to see this. Try to calm yourselves." He steps forward and tries to position himself between the body and the nearest people. "Please try to huddle up. Stay together. We have to stay together."
Should it worry me that this didn't bother me more?
Drot stays at the ready while he watches the larva squirm into the depths of the earth. When they're gone he slumps his shoulders and steps toward the body.
"Right... I'll find somewhere away to put, uh, this."
Before touching anything he take a moment to inspect the corpse to see if there is anymore information to be gleamed from it. He then attempts to move the dead man with the least mess to himself or the floor.
Charles nearly stumbled back but managed to keep his feet as Kenneth screamed in agony.
He raised a hand out but realized he was helpless to do more.
Before he could contemplate the facts any further, Tesswyn was already talking to him helping to keep him from being consumed by fear.
"Uh, y-yes. I think so... by the New God, Tesswyn. There's more eggs inside of him. Stay away from his body.
I'll start checking on the others."
When Drot hears that there are more eggs he will begin attempting to smash them instead of moving the body.
Drot - the way his body has burnt up and the way he has exploded out is very similar to the burnt body you found in the other room. It's safe to say that whoever was over there died in the same manner.
As the rest of the eggs hatch and the larva crawl out of him, eventually his entire body is burnt to a crisp.
Charles - you use your Life Sense and identify four more people who have eggs inside of them. None of them have larva, but all of them are complaining of hunger, moreso than others.
The infected individuals are: Lemagrag, Arlene, Mia, and Galino.
Lemagrag is an escaped slave and generally fearful. Arlene is an older woman, the wife of a distinguished gentleman who is here as well. His face goes pale when you discover she is infected. Mia is a 14 year old girl who has survived with her older sister and younger brother. Galino is a wannabe hero who boasts more than he acts.
Egg Removal will require three things: Time, Academic (Medicine) Profession, and a Healers Kit. If no PC has these, then one of the NPCs will.
When Drot hears that there are more eggs he will begin attempting to smash them instead of moving the body.
Tesswyn tries to find some healers among the survivors who might be able to help the infected. In the meantime, she suggests continuing their explorations in the hopes of potentially discovering a cure.
Paul, the gentleman who is married to Arlene, steps forward. I am a healer. I... I can do this.
Would someone like to lend me assistance?
Tesswyn nods. "I'll do what I can. Maybe pick up a few tricks for next time."
Gronder looks around at the others. "I will keep looking around. If anyone wants to come along, they are welcome. If not, that's fine." He'll wait a minute to see if there are any takers, and if not, he'll head out.
"I will offer my hands as well, what do you need me to do, friend?"