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Celvi's is certain every hole in the damned tree has been plugged, but Scratch finds them loosely packed and seals them up with thicker mud. Ed's about to pad one with wet leaves and nearly trips over a tree root. Luckily, he catches his own fall and Gillian swoops in to pack the gap.
The party stands back as Scratch strikes his flint and steel a few times, a small flicker quickly spreading into a large blanket of flames. Smoke pours from the small bonfire and quickly fills the den under the tree...
And then there's snarling and coughing as two shapes emerge from the tunnel. They growl as they notice your presence, and move back and forth, trying to find away around the burning, smoking blanket... But it's no use. The snarling subsides. You hear yelping and whimpering and then nothing at all. Once the blanket finally burns to ash and some of the smoke lifts, you see two hairless mutant wolves lying unconscious.
"Ew...are those pups?" Gillian grimaces as the smoke clears somewhat. "If they are, we ought to put them out of their misery now before they come to. Much less dangerous for us and painless for them."
"Actually I disagree with you here Miss Gillian," Ed shakes his head here, "This affords us the perfect opportunity to see how these wolf specimens got infected. We may lose that chance if we kill them."
"Well okay, sure, we can give 'em a good once-over first but if you're talking about taking one back with us then I think that's just asking for trouble if you ask me."
"Oh no," Ed shudders briefly, "I have no desire to claim one as a pet. I just want to see if it is possible to cure it of the mutation."
"Hmm...okay, fair enough. And once we've examined them and put them out of their misery then maybe we can collect samples, if we're careful," Gillian responds, seemingly satisfied by this course of action.
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"Hot damn, just like them wood chuckers, cept no way am I skinnin' these varmits fer dinner." Scratch hooks onto a body with a stick and drags it out, checking to see if its alive or expired.
"Careful, never know what else could be in there that ain't bothered by smoke... like some undead zombie mama wolf or somethin'."
Afterwards he goes around and unblocks the plugs to help the den air out for further investigation.
"Wow!" Celvi is surprised and intrigued. She runs right up to the pups and investigates.
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The wolves seem to have similar mutations as the ones that had ambushed the caravan back when you rode into town. It's easy enough to see that they're still breathing.
Inside the tree trunk, the narrow tunnel is slick with foul-smelling mud. It leads down into a cramped den lit by a shimmering pool of oily water. The chamber stinks of wet fur and sickness. Next to the pool, between the gnarled and dying tree roots, is the rotting carcass of what must have once been a truly gigantic wolf.
The oily water smells acrid, and Celvi's quick to notice something off about it... It's tainted by something unnatural, and Scratch is sure that it's mutagenic in nature. In fact, Celvi's seen a similar gunk as this before, and she's sure the chemicals in the water will cause whoever drinks it to change, often at a terrible price.
Celvi takes a look at the pool. "Don't drink this water. It's gonna mess with you... bad."
She covers her mouth and looks about her, to make sure no one shoves a mouthful down her through. "Should we return and tell Noala? This explains what happened to the wolves."
"Yes I can see this water is no good, yet it does not explain why these wolves would drink it willingly," Ed ponders them thoughtfully. "This contaminated water originated from somewhere..."
Ed gingerly makes his way over to the first wolf pup and bends down to examine it carefully, unwilling to touch or disturb it further.
"Yeah, like...whatever's tainted it probably isn't natural but did someone just dump something into this water or did it seep in from somewhere else?"
Gillian carefully edges closer to the pool of oily water, looking around for any clues or answers to her question...
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Scratch wriggles in through the mud, leading the way in, just in case. He finally stands up a bit as they look around the room "That was a real big b#%+% right there." He points to the rotting carcass "Well, could maybe the the alpha male, but probably the alpha female here with the pups."
He pokes around the room as well, curious if there is anything hidden or perhaps any other tunnels leading off. Maybe some other clues?
"Think this could be what that woman was doing to poison the place? A test site? Think ye could try ta find a remedy Gilly?" He ponders, wondering if they could just burn the place down regardless.
"I'm not sure...maybe? I've got some empty vials; I could scoop a little of this sludge into one," Gillian remarks as she continues to examine the pool of water.
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Ed verifies that the wolf has the same mutations as the other ones the party had examined. As for the water, everyone agrees it's definitely tainted, mutagenic and oil-like in its appearance, but there doesn't appear to be any tunnels or the like that would indicate how it got here in the first place, even after the party gives the den a close once (and twice) over. Hmm.
"Are you guys inside?" A familiar voice calls. Then you hear an awful hiss and a yelp, and another shortly after. From the tunnel emerges the emerald-eyed ranger. She stands up from all fours and dusts the mud off.
"What happened here? I saw the two wolves outside and quickly put them out of their misery," Noala looks down at her bloodied dagger. "I'll have to run this through the flames now, and burn the bodies. What of this den? Did you find anything else in here?"
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"Well, after dealing with those homicidal bushes outside we saw movement in here and, figuring this was the den of the mutant wolves, decided to smoke them out instead of crawling in here face-first," Gillian replies as she stands and dusts off her pants. "As far as finding anything, yes and no."
She points at the oily pool of water.
"There's some sort of taint in that water there, some sort of mutagen. And it looks like it might've been tainted intentionally because we can't find any signs of anything that might've leaked in from somewhere else."
"Thank you for putting those wolves out of their misery," Ed replies to Noala, "Like Gillian says this taint did not originate here, as least, as far as I can tell. Do you know of any other locations where you have noted this taint?"
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Ahh, there's that plot driver Elf now.
"Ain't gonna be in here much longer, place gives even us low to the ground folk a stiff neck. And ya, somebody pissed in the pool and it don't look healthy ta drink." He head nods towards the water, and then the corpse.
"Prolly should just torch this whole hole if ya ask me."
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Noala Plot-tery kneels at the pool, sniffing it like she might a bowl of soup. "Hmm. I don't think this is urine, actually. But if it is tainted, and you're telling me it's a mutagen, it must be the source of the mutations of all of my trees."
She stands up, scratching her head. "I.. don't know of any caves nearby that might contain access to any significant sources of water. It doesn't make sense how this got here."
Pacing about the area, she only stops to shake her head emphatically when torching the place is mentioned. "Suppose that fire should spread to the nearby woods. We cannot have that under any circumstances. I say we barricade the tree up for now, and continue to investigate."
"Otherwise, I really thought we'd find more here," she sighs. "I'm afraid we must go deeper. There's another blight - an older, larger one - in these woods, about a day of travel away. I suggest we set off at once, but if you wish to spend the night back in town, I will wait for you."
"Hmm. I think I'd be okay to travel now but then again, I guess it depends on how dangerous the woods are," Gillian remarks as the mulls it over. "With those wolves gone hopefully that'll help but if there are other places scattered around with this same sort of tainted water..."
Her voice trails off; there's not any need in further stating the obvious.
"No matter whether we start out today or tomorrow morning it sounds like this place here needs to be boarded up after all," Gillian adds, the tiniest bit of sulk in her voice over having her idea to just burn everything shot down. "We should go ahead and get started on that now while we figure out what to do next."
"Well, let's board this place up. I'll put a scary sign telling 'em not to drink the water." Celvi starts messing around with the wood. It's another way to distract her from this mess.
"A wise precaution Noala," Ed nods in approval, "We do not know how this blight spreads...It is possible flame may release the blight further and should it be spread through the air..." He shudders briefly.
"Still it would be a wise decision to rest here before beginning our trek. Besides it will give us a chance to resupply back in town."
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"Its yer woods, yer call." Agrees Scratch, not that he particularly agrees but he differs to her regardless.
"Help me gather up some dead wood and we'll pile it up in front of this stank hole. Celvi can charcoal up a nice sign on it to keep the literate out. Dunno how you 'spect to keep out the greenskins though." He draws out his hatchet and heads off to push, pull, and hack up some dead wood to stack. Least when this is done we can light this up easy.
Once the work is done Scratch is ready to head back to town "Ya, no sense rushin' off to our deaths on an empty stomach. Best leave that til tomorra. I got some huntin' ta do 'round town a bit for some grub, maybe fix some of these slashes a bit more too."
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You all get to work boarding up the overgrown tree with wood, mud, and Noala wraps it in twine as best she can. "It won't be a permanent hold by any means, but we can find the source of this mutagen, maybe we can also find a way to eliminate it for good."
Afterwards, you all head back to Etran's Folly and meet back up with Delma and Tamli at The Feedmill. Flonk the Bard happens to be around, and plays his lute awkwardly while pausing way too often to tune it. The farmers at the bar don't seem to care, most too into their beer and turnips to worry about one awful musician. It seems business at the Feedmill has picked back up just a few days after Bort's death.
Delma doesn't charge you for room and board, this time, since you're local murder mystery solving heroes and what not.
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The following day, after Scratch picks up a fresh blanket from the local shop, you meet Noala at the north end of town. "Thanks again for agreeing to help with this. I know it seems ridiculous asking you to travel a day to help me track down blight, but I'm sure this one in particular is the oldest one."
She steps through the trees, leading you into the thick. "I've been monitoring its growth for some time, but I've never fully explored the area. You see... I tried to get a little closer once, and was chased off by a giant rat. I can only imagine what other mutated creatures may be there."
"A giant rat?" Gillian repeats, looking both disgusted and a little alarmed. "Wonderful...good thing I prepared antiplague today..."
As the group sets off Gillian keeps her eyes on the terrain and surroundings, watching for anything that might offer insight as to what threats they might encounter...
Alchemist's Fire x2
Antiplague x2
Elixir of Life (Minor) x2
Infused Reagents Remaining: 3
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"Well, I am sure that rat won't pose TOO much trouble..." Ed adds uncertainly, "Although a giant rat is certainly a good indicator of where the blight is originating from."
'A giant rat? How big? Big as me? Big as you? Big as a tree? Details!"
Celvi is overwhelmed by curiosity. Also an urge to distract herself from night terrors.
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Scratch spends the rest of his day around town 'foraging' for food. He doesn't do so well this time. "Screw this, I'm half bloodied and bitten. Let's get some grub at the Feedmill."
He manages to not complain too much about the turnip soup garnished with roasted turnip tops. "More ale, gonna need more ale. Probably a few." He warms up his digestive system and dulls his taste buds a bit before eating.
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"Giant rats? Like a real R.O.U.S.? Never seen one. Heard they live in the fire swamp though." He stops a second "You aren't taking us into the fire swamp are ye?"
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"A fire swamp?" Noala looks perplexed. "I hope not! I'm a wilderness expert, not an elemental one. The thing was definitely of an unusual size, probably about the length of my arm," she shudders.
The journey to the blight is long and challenging, and it looks like there isn't much daylight left by the time you arrive. The area resembles the blight surrounding the wolf den, with the plants on the perimeter sickly and dying.
"This is the start of the blight, and about as far as I made it before. I'm going to fan out to patrol the perimeter. I'd hate for a blighted animal to escape. I know," she pauses. "I'd stay and move further in if I were capable of helping defend against whatever other thing might be in there... But I can at least give you this, she reaches into her pack and produces two lesser healing potions and two barksin potions. "They should help."
"Yeah yeah. Just find my body if I die. At least I can do something exciting."
"Hmm, I guess I should take the other one since I keep finding myself up in the thick of things with Scratch," Gillian muses as she accepts the second Barkskin potion. "And even if I don't end up needing it then I'll just pass it over. But someone else should carry the healing potions; I whipped two small ones myself this morning before we set out so I'm good."
She frowns, glancing up at the late afternoon sky. "If we're going to do this then we'd best get a move on before the sun sets; I'm not stumbling around out here in the dark if I can help it!"
Ed takes the pair of healing potions and hands one off to Celvi, pocketing the other one for himself. "I think these will also come in handy too. You never know where harm will strike from next!"
Glancing up at the darkening sky, Ed shudders briefly. "I agree Gillian. Let's not waste any more time here."
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Noala heads off into the woods to begin her preparations, and the party ventures forth.
The surroudings change dramatically as you move through the trees. The corruption seems to manifest in distinct bands, with the first band you went through similar to the area around the wolf den, with rotting trees and dying plants. Further in, every plant you see is dead; limp and rotten, and the air stinks with sweet decay. There are no birds or insects here.
Another twenty minutes later, you enter another band, where smaller trees and plants seem to have returned to twisted life. Their leaves drip with an oily sap, their branches are gnarled yet look strangely pliable, and their bark looks like scales. Many of these plants are covered in odd pustules that emit a faintly glowing light, and biting gnats swarm around them.
You must be getting close to the heart of the blight now, and might just make it before dark if you're quick...
Celvi is entranced.
"Are we there yet?"
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"Why in the hells didn't that Elf just burn this place to the ground? It ain't natural, and it ain't good!" Complains the elder Dwarf as he weaves through the creepy dead trees. He pulls out his new compass and takes a new heading. "Which way was it again?"
Compass Item 0+
Source Core Rulebook pg. 290
Price 1 gp
Hands 1; Bulk LA compass helps you Sense Direction or navigate, provided you’re in a location with uniform magnetic fields. Without a compass, you take a –2 item penalty to these checks (similar to using a shoddy item). A lensatic compass gives you a +1 item bonus to these checks.
"Burning this place does not get to the source of this gods-awful blight Master Steeltoe," Ed responds wearily as the trek here had been quite taxing to the out-of-shape wizard. "Once we find the source of this evil blight then I will be the first to light the flame!"
"Excuse me, who was in favor of burning before we ever got to this point?" Gillian huffs as the group hurries along; she tries her best to step around the strange, blighted plants, feeling loathe to brush up against them if she can help it. "Me! I call first dibs on striking the match!"
Unfortunately she's way too concerned with avoiding the plants and other obstacles to really pay attention to where they're going.
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Celvi leads the way through the rotten forest, scouting ahead, while Scratch pulls out his trusty new compass. The dial seems to need calibrating or fine-tuning or something, randomly reversing directions every few minutes, and making the trek through much more difficult. Ed and Gillian move a little slower too, carefully avoiding any hazardous bloodsucking plants or biting gnats.
All told, it's about an hour before you reach a clearing deeper into the massive blight, and the sky is now dark. The plants here take on unnatural shades, and their branches seem to shudder and quake at the sensation of something passing. Up ahead is a wall of thick brambles with some sort of thorny iris in the center.
"Well...anyone got a light, before we get up into the thick of things?" Gillian asks, squinting as she tries to make out shapes in the darkness. "I can whip up something but they'll only last about 10 minutes a pop - not really all that efficient if it looks like we're going to be stomping around out here for a while."
"Not everyone can see in the dark like you Scratch..." Ed mutters under his breath as he casts a light spell on his staff. "Okay lead the way."
Celvi casts Dancing Lights and slows down to sustain them. "I thought we worried about the fumes infecting everything? Fire can't solve everything."
Forests. They're like dry swamps. Too much time spent in swamps. She never let Celvi learn how to navigate. But Celvi tried anyway.
"Since the light'll give us away to anything that can see, we should probably keep a few paces behind or away from Scratch while he's skulking around," Gillian points out as Ed and Celvi light up the darkness. "Maybe he can get the drop on anything that comes for the the rest of us."
She then shrugs. "Still, it might not be a bad idea for the rest of us to move a little quieter too, if we can manage it."
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"I can't scout and keep these lights up. I'm too slow now." Celvi falls back and lets Scratch go ahead.
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Tremorsense
As quietly as he can, Scratch steps towards the bramble wall. He doesn't get very far though before one of the quaking bushes springs to life, lashing out with its vine! Three more bushes also rise up under Celvi's dancing lights. They don't look quite the same as the bloodlash bushes you had fought at the earlier blight.
Gillian
Ed
Scratch
Celvi
The plants. All of the plants.
"Hmpf. More weeds to wack!" Celvi readies her crossbow and strides towards the battlefield.
"More plants??? I think I'd almost rather tangle with the wolves or the giant rat after the last time we ran across uppity plants," Gillian groans. She tries to remember if she's read anything about these types of bushes as she moves up and cautiously tries to poke the nearest one with her longspear.
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