As Morsun sits against a wall waiting for his turn to be administered by Sazen, he looks at Sool.
"Finally you're talking sense."
Pausing to respond while she is treating Throkk, Sazen says
I agree. I wish we could search the rest of this place while we are here and perhaps find some items of value that would let us become better prepared, but everyone is badly hurt. Waiting to clear out the rest of this place can wait, although it is likely that we will have to fight more orcs when we return.
Just one question though...
Sazen indicates the box with the long-dead body.
What do we do with that? Is there a way to ensure that it can't be turned into an undead creature?
Having more insight into Vilree's scheme for revenge you head back towards Erastil's Folly but as the sun sets seek to make camp before continuing the rest of the journey.
Sazen takes last watch, spending most of it staring out into the slowly brightening night and mentally talking to Erastil, asking him to help them save the town if possible.
There is still a grim possibility that the town of Etran’s Folly is now a town filled with the dead and dying. Miles pass, minutes turn to hours, and finally the unsuspecting village grows ever closer. There is no sign of Vilree’s minion, but that only adds to a growing sense of dread.
Etran’s Folly comes into view at the crest of a hill. An alchemical drudge is now approaching the plaguestone—where it will carry out
its gruesome command from Vilree!
Morson
Sool
Sazen
Thorkk
Emri
Drudge AC18
Sazen moves and tries to shoot the thing in the back.
But she isn't able to hit it.
Drawing his blades as he runs, Morsun veers off the road to find a spot from where he can surprise the drudge.
Drawing his blades as he runs, Morsun veers off the road to find a spot from where he can surprise the drudge.
Spotting the shambling construct making its way toward the plaguestone, Sool takes off at a run up to the bend in the road, skids to a halt and makes a broad sweeping gesture of his arms along with a piercing guttural yelp. Twinkling bluish-white lines of force sweep down at the Drudge's 'legs'... the creature falls face first onto the ground, strange alchemical substances oozing out of the gaps between it's sutured shut flesh.
Sazen moves and tries to shoot the thing in the back.
Throkk and Emri move quickly to close the gap.
The dredge wobbles back to it's feet before trudging in an unsteady gait towards the plaguestone!
Morson
Sool
Sazen
Thorkk
Emri
Drudge AC18
Sazen moves up and shoots the thing in the back.
Realizing that taking the time to hide will keep him from catching the drudge, Morsun works his stubby dwarven legs as fast as he can.
Realizing that taking the time to hide will keep him from catching the drudge, Morsun works his stubby dwarven legs as fast as he can.
Sool moves up and shoots the thing in the back.
Or tries to anyway...
Sazen moves up and shoots the thing in the back.
Throkk charges up and sinks his axe into the wound Sazen had made with her arrow... a jet of multicoloured goop sprayed out all over him. He thrusts his hands up into the air in victory but gave no war cry or chant of victory as his mouth was covered in the alchemical substance.
Suddenly after all of the racing the area is still and silent allowing you a moment to consider what has transpired. Whatever Vilree's scheme it had been stopped by an unlikely group of heroes.
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Sool moves up to Throkk, worry evident on his face.
"Everyone else stay back! This alchemical slime may be dangerous!" he says in a commanding voice. Then he speaks to the barbarian. "How do you feel? Are you in any pain?"
As he speaks, he carefully pulls out a long thin delicate silver spoon and uses it to scrape some of the goo off Throkk and put into an empty vial. He sniffs at it cautiously, then pulls out a pinkish-red reagent from his alchemy kit and adds it to the goo in the vial.
"You may be poisoned like Bort was. Or worse. You may be infectious. You must tell me everything you're feeling, and you must not get too close to anyone else. Strip off those clothes right now! The less exposure you have to this ooze, the better."
He glances about at the others. "Vilree may still be about watching. See if you can track where this thing came from."
Throkk gives a grunt and starts scraping off all of the ooze as best he can. "It's itchy... and sticky!"
Sool begins to suspect that by itself this substance is of limited in how hazardous it could be... but if combined with another specific alchemical substance it's true horror could be unleashed. This substance is slightly acidic, mixing it with a base substance such as milk might effectively spoil this material before it could be combined.
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"Stay right here! Don't move! I mean it! You're every bit as dangerous now as that monstrosity was!" commands Sool, pointing a long finger at Throkk's face. Then he goes dashing off toward the Inn.
Bursting into the common room, he announces: "I need two pitchers of milk! Right away!"
Sazen stays 10 feet back from Throkk, but casts prestidigitation to help him get all of the substance off of him and his clothing... potentially still dangerous, but hopefully no longer a threat to Throkk.
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Emri busts into the inn behind Sool. "Make it four! And make it snappy! This is a milk emergency!"
Delma Furst groggily comes into the kitchen but the intensity of Sools voice has her leading you into the kitchen... though she is very confused.
Throkk grumpily tries to avoid itching himself as he is cleaned by Sazen's magic.
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Morsun considers Throkk for a moment. "Hang in there, big guy."
He examines the feet of the creature Throkk killed, and looks for its tracks, trying to follow it back to where it came from.
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Delma Furst groggily comes into the kitchen but the intensity of Sools voice has her leading you into the kitchen... though she is very confused.
"Thank you my good woman. I don't have time to explain, but believe me when I say this is of the utmost importance to the town. All will be clarified shortly." says Sool impatiently as he bustles into the kitchen. He pulls out a handful of silvers from his coin pouch and shoves them into the Delma's hands.
It becomes obvious to Morsun that the creature came from the same direction they did though when it came into sight of Plaguestone it's path became very focused in its direction... the path it kept taking would lead straight up to the Plaguestone that gives the town it's unofficial but commonly used name.
Delma follows to find out what's going on. Sool will find when he applies the milk it neutralizes the alchemical substance rendering it no longer a threat.
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Finally Sool relaxes. As he turns back to Delma to return the empty pitchers to her, he resumes his usual distant and didactic demeanor, and chooses his next words carefully, knowing that they will be the talk of the tavern for the next week or so.
He points to quivering gristle of the melting alchemical drudge in the road. "That thing, dear lady, was lifeless creature sent to explode its contents into the center of your fair village. We managed to explode it early -- the goo you see on Throkk here was itchy and unpleasant and largely harmless by itself, but it was meant to serve as a catalyst... er, an accelerant... hmm..."
Reminding himself of Delma's probable education level, he tries to dumb it down a shade.
"The danger was that the goo would mix with something in the center of your town and cause some sort of reaction." He brings his hands out in front if him, slowly moving them toward one another. "If they had mixed..." He suddenly claps his hand violently. "The consequences for your town would have been quite severe, probably deadly. But the milk has neutralized the goo." He lifts away one hand, shows it to Delma like a conjurer after a trick, then puts his hand down.
"And now, we should probably go speak to your mayor and your sheriff. We have quite the story for them." He looks back to Morson and Sazen. "No sign of Vilree, I take it?"
No, but we should go after her. She'll just send another.
"It was headed for the Plaguestone," Morsun states, not caring overly much if the revelation becomes tavern-talk or not.
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"She will indeed. But it's time we engaged the town officials in what is happening. On the one hand, I should very much like to learn more about that Plaguestone monument now -- what it's made of and what it conceals-- and that will likely require their permission. And on the other, they can assist us in combing the countryside for our fugitive maniac. Most likely she'll return to her fortress; I suspect she won't want to remain there long, but it might be difficult for her to pack up a stone sarcophagus and all her equipment and treasures, especially without her minions."
He looks out toward the countryside south of town.
"Or she may still be out there watching us. Invisibility is no difficult task for an alchemist of her skill."
I'm not sure that the town elders are going to be as helpful as you seem to believe, but I'm definitely willing to wait and get a night's sleep before going after her again.
Sazen goes to the inn to get something to eat.
Delma blinks "I'm the mayor and also the innkeeper." She looks around nervously "I can have Sheriff Rolth sent for."
As she reminds Sool of Rolths name it would be hard not to get a sinking feeling remembering his reaction to a poisoning being to insist no one leave town for a month til the magistrate shows up... it's hard to imagine how helpful he'll be when confronted with a revenge fueled potent alchemist...
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Delma blinks "I'm the mayor and also the innkeeper." She looks around nervously "I can have Sheriff Rolth sent for."
"Ah." says Sool. He blinks a few times. "Of course you are."
He sighs lightly. "Yes, I think it would be best if we disturbed the sheriff. We have solved the mystery of Bort's murder, which was the reason he was holding us here in your ... your lovely town. We'd like to show him the evidence."
Once the sheriff arrives, Sool will begin recounting the adventures of the party and show all the receipts, notes, ledgers and journals left by the villains, explaining things like a teacher to grade-school children.
He concludes. "So you see, Vilree was at the base of everything, and is still at large. She blames this town directly for the death of her mother and will stop at nothing to have revenge upon this place."
"I should very much like to learn why she targeted her creature toward your Plaguestone. My guess is that the acid in the thing was meant to erode away some protective layer of stone and release something within the monument, but I should like to examine it closer and run a few tests."
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Rolth's eyes go wide in horror as you lay out the evidence. "Right at least the matter of Bort's death is cleared up. You run your tests on the plaguestone and I'll get ready to leave and request help in dealing with Vilree."
Delma's eyes narrow, more than a little suspicious of Rolth's true intent behind getting out of town.
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"Thank you." says Sool, paying little attention to the state of Delma's eyes or Rolth's eagerness to escape town. The elf makes his way to the center of town and unslings his pack and begins laying out his tools and reagents. He then begins with a few scrapings of the Plaguestone monument, beginning with how the stone reacts to acids and becoming ever more esoteric until he comes to a conclusion about how Vilree's 'bomb' would have worked.
After eating, Sazen goes back to bury the automaton, worried that although the external goop had been neutralized, that there could be something internal that could do more damage.
Examining the plaguestone carefully it becomes apparent to Sool that some of the moss on it is loose. there are small holes drilled into some of the cracks with a little corrosive damage. Further investigation leads sool to believe that the stone has been hollowed out and has some kind of substance inside.
Sazen finds the construct hold little beyond stomach turning stenches as it disolves.
She buries it anyway.
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Sool alerts the mayor to his discovery and recommends that the Plaguestone be dismantled immediately for the safety of the town. "And it should be done very carefully. Whatever is in there is likely quite toxic, perhaps even deadly. I would first reseal these cracks with mortar, then move the stones whole to some place far from town and bury them deep in the ground. If you like, I could attempt to study the toxin within the stones more carefully, but I recommend against any delay. While Vilree is at large, she will certainly be plotting a new attack. She is obsessed with this town's demise."
If Morsun notices Delma's narrowing of the eyes or Rolth's less-than-genuine reaction, he will follow the sheriff to see if it seems he's really trying to leave to request extra help.
Delma manages to get a few locals with a variety of tools including picks, sledgehammers and drills. She brings forth an old wash basin and some shovels to contain anyting that might come out. "Which tools do you recommend to get it open?"
"If there's witches using it for vile deeds we should smash it and bury it far from here." Offers one of the assembled villagers.
Morsun suspects Rolth is planning on leaving town one way or another out of fear but doesn't detect any guilt. Watching him pack up his valuables it's clear the man is uncertain of whether or not he'll be returning.
Morsun makes himself known to Rolth.
"You know, I've been thinking. It's not going to be a good look for you if something happens to the town and you've left just before it happens. There's probably not time for you to bring back 'help' before Vilree attacks again, anyways. It might be best if you stayed behind to help. A town needs its sheriff when there's trouble."
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Delma manages to get a few locals with a variety of tools including picks, sledgehammers and drills. She brings forth an old wash basin and some shovels to contain anyting that might come out. "Which tools do you recommend to get it open?"
"If there's witches using it for vile deeds we should smash it and bury it far from here." Offers one of the assembled villagers.
"Under no circumstances should you smash these rocks." warns Sool. "Whatever is inside may already be an active toxin, and might very well be able to volatilize into the air... er, that is, it may be something breathable."
"As I said, we should seal the cracks with mortar. Something that won't break down quickly. Molten lead might be even better, but that's expensive and time-consuming and I'm not certain how fragile these stones are. Once the stones are sealed, this monument should be carefully disassembled and carried stone by stone to a safe distance from town and buried. 1000 yards downwind from the town's borders should be sufficient. And that area should be made off limits for any future farms or pastures -- we saw evidence in the forests of toxins that can blight the plant and animal life. In time, we might learn more and devise a way to safely eradicate these stones, but in the meantime, I believe quarantine is your best option."
Rolth backs away from the dwarf. "Hey I don't want any trouble now... look this is way beyond anything I have experience with. Some kind of deranged woman using potions to kill us all. That means I need to get someone else with the experience to handle it. So unless you think your motley group can handle it I'm going to do that... if it gets me away from that woman trying to kill everyone thats fine by me."
"I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm here because your town is in trouble. How long is it going to take you to travel to find help, hire that help, and then bring it back here? By that time, Vilree will have sent her second wave, especially if she acts now because that elf is going to remove the Plaguestone. You're the sheriff! If anyone needs to be here when there's another attack it's you!
"I know what it's like to feel like you need to skip town when things seem dicey. I did the same thing when I left Kraggodan. And now I probably can't ever go back, and the people who counted on me can't count on me any more. That sort of decision sticks with you; you don't leave it behind when you leave.
"Look, I'm not asking you to go toe-to-toe with whatever comes next. But just be here for your town in case something happens. Help them to leave town if it comes to that."