"No," Cressida says carefully, then closes her eyes and sighs. "No, Captain. Of course not. Any help you could render would be of great benefit. In fact, your arcana might be of special benefit on a particular task. Though... I don't know if it's one that's safe enough to do alone, and I can't spare the manpower right now." She crosses her arms over her chest and bites her lip.
Cabe waves a dismissive hand. "No fear of that. I have three very capable consultants I can pull on to help me. I'll pay them out of my own pocket, and they'll have no direct connection to the Guard." He clasps his hands behind him and gives her a mild look.
Cressida frowns, her brow furrowed, but a moment later it clicks and she grins. "You should have been a lawyer, Melandrus."
She clears her throat and puts her hands back on her hips. "The only lead we really have as to what could have launched this plague is the Direption. No doubt you've all heard by now about the ship we sank a few nights back. Its bow-light was yellow, marking it as a quarantined ship. I need someone to go check out that wreck and see if they can find any clues, and that seems like just the job for the Captain of the Acadamae's guards and his... consultants." She glances amusedly at Andakos, Golloriel, and Caladaer, before looking back at Cabe. "These physicians aren't troubleshooters. And you would sooner gain help from a troglodyte than one of the Gray Maidens. They perform the Queen's orders and nothing else, and the Queen has not ordered an investigation into the cause of the plague, at least not yet. That's why I need you. The pay won't be spectacular, especially if you have to pay your consultants, but I'd be in your debt."
Cabe shakes his head. "No debt, Field Marshal. Especially if I'm already getting paid. I may not have been born in Korvosa, but she has been my home for nigh on thirty years. I wish to see her safe again. Where, precisely, did the Direption sink?"
The Field Marshal gives an approximate location just off the coast of the harbor where the Direption went down. "Our officers couldn't find anyone who saw anything--it was the middle of the night, after all--but feel free to ask around. Maybe someone saw something that isn't willing to speak to the Guard."
The blonde Maiden from earlier calls out, "Kroft! I grow impatient!"
Cressida closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and you can practically see the urge to murder Quartermaster Destraid escape her body as she exhales. When she opens her eyes, she nods curtly. "I have a full day of logistics meetings to attend, so I'd better get to it. Good luck." She turns on her heel and strides toward where Destraid waits at the front doors of Citadel Volshyenek, looking thoroughly displeased.
Andakos bids Kroft adieu, then thinks for a moment. "I think asking around is probably the best bet to start, but I suspect we're going to need to enter the wreck. I have an extract that can improve my swimming, but I can't breathe underwater." He looks at Caladaer. "Can you help with that?"
Caladaer nods. "Yes, I know a spell for breathing underwater, but I won't be able to prepare it until tomorrow, and I can only cast it twice. We would need to find scrolls or potions for the other two."
"Okay. Well, let's worry about that if it comes to it. All we can do today is try to catch some gossip anyway." He looks at Cabe. "Shall we? Lead the way."
The party ventures out into the city, veering far north toward Fortbridge, the single massive stone bridge that crosses from Korvosa proper into Old Korvosa.
They are met with a startling sight: countless people with rashes, sores, and rattling coughs walk the streets, given wide berths by other folk showing no symptoms. Easily a fifth of the people you pass seem to have at least the beginnings of the disease. Old Korvosa is in a bad way.
Golloriel takes the lead on the investigation, talking to as many people as she can about the ship, whether anyone saw any survivors from the wreck, and/or anything else that might be helpful.
Andakos can see the tiniest bit of hesitation in Golloriel's questioning of people. He can understand; it is terrifying being out here in the streets, among so many afflicted. He will be surprised if at least one of them don't end up infected by the time this is over. He tries to show no fear while helping Golloriel with the task.
Caladaer feels no fear from these people, but he is disgusted. He keeps his hands tucked into his robes and looks anywhere but at the sick people.
Cabe puts on a friendly face to try and help ease people's anxiety, and surprisingly manages to pull it off. He's usually terrible with people; he really only interacts with them when he's yelling at green recruits for the Academae Guard. Today, however, he manages a non-threatening, doddering-old-grandpa countenance that helps put people at ease.
As it turns out, there's not much to learn about the incident. It happened at night, and the few people you find who saw it only saw the glowing bow-light, followed by shouting and a signal flare. When the flare was not answered, it was followed a few minutes later by a loud crash, at which point the bow-light vanished from the inky black night. It happened on the New Moon, and the skies were overcast; not even starlight shone that night. All of the witnesses express a similar sense of dread at the whole invisible affair, even those who don't seem to know what the yellow bow-light signaled--especially them, in fact, because they had no idea why the Korvosan Guard sank the ship.
"Bloody glad the Queen's stepping in with these new Maidens," one middle-aged half-elf grumbles. "The Guard is outta control sinkin' ships just cause they don't respond to their signal! En't right."
The questioning isn't entirely without fruit, however. One old man, withered and aged even beyond Cabe, gives surprisingly exact directions to the spot on the water where the ship sank.
"Dinnae need the moon. I know this harbor like th'back o'me hand. Saw th'bow-light, clear's I see ye now. Hunnert feet off Dock 16, over yonder. Give'r take a yard, mayhap. Yellow bow-light that close t'the docks shook me proper. Thank Abadar 'ey finally sunk'er. Guess not fast enough, though." He waves uncomfortably at a pot-bellied wash-woman with a rash crawling up her neck, hauling a large wicker basket of soiled linens over her shoulder, hustling quickly down the street. "Damn scary time," he adds somberly.
Golloriel smiles at the old man. "Thank you so much, sir. May Sarenrae keep you safe."
Andakos starts to walk away, then stops and looks at the man. "I know it was dark, but did you see anyone get off the boat?"
The old man squints at Andakos, then spits off to the side. "Nae. Leastways if'n they did, they dinnae git orff on this side o' th'harbor. Street lamps woulder showed 'em, aye. An' th'Guard's only ones on t'other side o' th'harbor. Reckon they'da seen summat git orff o' th'water there. Reckon if there were a soul a come t'ground, it weren't through no natural means." He spits again, apparently at the very idea of unnatural means.
Andakos nods and thanks the man for the information. He turns to the others. "I guess we should go to Dock 16 and check things out."
You move cautiously up Dock Sixteen, peering along its planks and under mounds of crabbing cages and coils of damp, hempen rope. The waters of the Arcadian Ocean are calm today, lapping lazily against the pilings. Its surface glimmers in the midday sun, making the green waves either bright white, or so dark as to be almost black. Nothing can be seen below its surface.
Cabe sifts through the salt-encrusted fishing equipment piled up around the dock, looking for anything that might resemble a clue. He's already going through his (admittedly limited) list of available spells in his mind for something helpful.
"I have a spell to help with my swimming, but it only works on me, and it doesn't solve the swimming problem for the rest of you. Caladaer, you having water breathing, you said? I should think one casting is enough. You're strong enough to grant all of us breath for at least a couple hours. I can't imagine it would take more than an hour to search a ship, would it? Even if we're thorough."
As he lifts a crab cage to inspect what he thought was a brightly-colored stone but is, in fact, just a barnacle, he says, "I think the swimming aspect will be a harder fix. I cannot share my spell with the rest of you, or I absolutely would. Perhaps an elixir would suffice, unless there is a spell you have tucked away, Cal? Or we could pick up a scroll of touch of the sea for you."
Caladaer nods. "Yes, I know the spell so we can breathe underwater, but I can't cast it until tomorrow."
Andakos peers into the dark depths, dreading having to go down there. He sighs and looks to the others. "I suppose there is nothing left to do today but go shopping."
Golloriel looks into the water and almost laughs. They expect her to go in there?! Even with the ring of swimming that they found, she will sink like a rock. She hopes that whatever magic the others are talking about is potent.
You study the surrounding dock carefully, but find no clues as to what might have happened or whether anyone successfully escaped the sinking wreck.
Caladaer shells out 35gp from his personal gold to pay for a scroll of touch of the sea. He will spend some time tonight scribing into his spellbook and prepare a bunch of castings tomorrow. "What would you all do without me?"
"Probably drown!" Andakos keeps his fears that they might drown anyway to himself. He is feeling an unhealthy amount of dread for this mission.
Watching Caladaer buy and learn a new spell reminds him that he would like to discover some new formulas for his own extracts, but the party is pretty cash poor right now. He makes a mental note to do so next time they have some booty to sell off.
"Golloriel, may I accompany you to the temple to help with the sick?"
Golloriel beams. "Of course! Let's go!"
Caladaer retires to his room in the temple, then studies the scroll to add it to his spellbook.
Then he spends the rest of the night reading the various books he took from Vreeg's place.
Andakos and Golloriel help tend to the sick. Mother Fatia is hesitant to allow Andakos' aid at first after the incident with Grau, but Golloriel's insistence that he can be of help finally causes her to relent, and she's quickly grateful for the extra pair of hands--particularly skilled hands such as his.
The number of sick has grown. It's not a significant growth--the number hasn't doubled or anything near it--but it's noticeable. The chapel's pews have been moved to the sides of the room to make way for more bodies. Cots and bedrolls now line the room in neat columns. The kitchen upstairs is abustle with activity as Brother Ephraim and a few of the acolytes work tirelessly to feed the steadily growing number of patients. The basement sparring area has already been converted into a makeshift medicine cabinet, as several acolytes and priests craft dozens of poultices to help in breaking fevers and fighting off the disease that runs rampant through the ill masses huddled within the House of Dawn.
Ducky is offered a spare room upstairs if he wishes it, but regardless of where he ends up laying his head, the two eventually collapse into a fitful--but thankfully dreamless--sleep.
Light spills into the tiny monastic cells where Golloriel and Caladaer sleep . The party prepares themselves for the task ahead, having agreed the night before to meet Cabe at Dock 16 in Old Korvosa.
After your morning preparations, the four of you eventually find yourselves staring at the rippling waters of Korvosa Harbor. The Arcadian Ocean vanishes over the Western horizon, an endless rippling emerald blanket. The heat has not yet reached an unbearable level of humidity, but it is definitely warm and muggy even this early in the day. Somewhere approximately one hundred feet off-shore, a sunken ship awaits.
Cabe makes a few adjustments to his usual spell preparations, and spends some time performing his daily meditations. Unlike most, however, his meditations are significantly more physical, performing a series of calisthenics in combination with swordplay katas handed down through generations of Aldori swordlords. When he's finished, he takes a light breakfast of coffee and oatmeal before heading back to Old Korvosa to meet with his companions.
Once everyone arrives, he looks forlornly at Zelda strapped to his hip. He checks to make sure both his daggers are available--one on his belt and one strapped to his ankle in a hidden sheath. Still, he keeps Zelda handy. Even with the greater difficulty of swinging underwater, his ability to harm anyone with a dagger is rather pathetic compared to his mithral blade.
He says, "I will wait on casting monkeyfish until we're down at the wreck, and only if needed. It only lasts a few minutes."
Andakos declines the offer to stay at the temple; though he is dead tired, he wants to involve Lyse in his extract preparation as often as possible. He does hire a coach back home, though; he knows that Mother will pay for it.
In the morning, he awakens Lyse early again and shows her how to prepare the monkey fish extract (leaving out his usual heightened awareness). Though he doesn't expect to need it with Caladaer's touch of the sea, it certainly can't hurt to have it for emergencies.
On his way to the temple, he realizes that it was quite dark under the water; he wonders if they should have figured out a way to get darkvision for them, but then remembers that they are absolutely broke as a party. They will just have to deal; hopefully a simple light spell will suffice.
Caladaer's morning preparations are quite different than usual; he abandons most of his most reliable spells in favor of three castings of touch of the sea and one each of fly and water breathing. He also prepares an extra summoning spell; if they get into trouble, having as many aquatic creatures on their side as possible can only help.
He wraps his spellbook up in a pillowcase and hides it at the bottom of the footlocker in his room. His scroll box is water-tight, so his scrolls should be fine under water as long as he doesn't open it, but he does not want to risk his spellbook. He is loath to leave it here, but he sees no other option.
Once done, he grabs a meager breakfast and waits outside for Golloriel; the less time spent around the sick, the better. Thúlae is on his shoulder, but he has no intention of bringing the hawk under the water; he can perch above the surface and wait.
Golloriel spends her morning praying; she takes a few extra moments to beg Sarenrae's understanding because she is leaving her scimitar and shield here at the temple. Her spear will be much more effective underwater (though she is praying she won't need it), and she is much more comfortable with it anyway.
Though it pains her to do so, she walks by the patients as quickly as possible, heading outside. She knows if she slows or talks to any of them or even makes eye contact that she will be here for hours tending to them. If the sunken ship can provide some clue as to the origin or nature of the disease, she may be able to help them more effectively, or even cure them!
At least that is the story she tells herself as she walks outside. She is pleased to find Andakos and her father already there, so they can leave immediately and she can focus on the task at hand.
The party meets up at dock 16. The dark water of the harbor awaits.
Caladaer gathers everyone, then offers his forearm to Golloriel, who grasps it. "Join hands." Once contact is made between everyone, he performs the water breathing incantation for the first time. Once done, he waves his hand absently over Golloriel's spear, whose tip begins emitting a glow, barely visible in the bright light of the morning.
"We have two hours."
Golloriel braces herself as her father casts his spell. She doesn't quite know what to expect when her body is altered to breathe underwater like a fish, but, to her surprise, she doesn't actually feel any different. She looks at Cal -- maybe the spell failed? -- but he doesn't seem at all concerned as he lights up her spear.
Magic is weird.
Andakos downs one of his alchemical allocation extracts, then swishes a heroism potion around in his mouth and spits it back into the bottle.
He instinctively takes a deep breath, then looks at the others. "Ready when you are."
Cabe nods. He's still saving his monkey fish for emergencies or to get back to the surface afterward. He also casts a light spell on his dueling sword, which he grips in hand and nods. "Let's go."
With preparations made, the party dives into the water. Thanks to their gear, both Golloriel and Cabe sink to the bottom with ease , walking slowly and steadily in the dark, murky water of the ocean harbor. Water moves in and out of the party's lungs as easy as air. It's alarming at first, but after a few moments, its novelty wears off and you almost don't even think about it.
Thick muddy silt puffs up around the figures walking in a slow procession across the bottom. It takes a couple minutes, but you shortly find yourselves staring through the rippling, wan light of your spells at the wreck of a small sailing ship, the damage from the ballista having broken it in half amidships. The severed halves of the Direption lie glumly on their sides among the rock and silt of the ocean floor.
Andakos leads the party between the two halves of the ship and takes a look in each direction.
Caladaer's robes are floating. It's unbelievably annoying.
He follows Andakos and tries to help look around, though he knows he can't see nearly as far as the tiefling.
Golloriel's leg feels like less of a burden as she walks on the riverbed -- it certainly hurts less with each step -- but her normally slow gait is somehow even slower down here. She considers asking her father for his spell now so that she will be less of a burden if things go sideways, but she knows it will only last a few minutes. She sighs, bubbles rising from her mouth, and continues along, spear at the ready.
Cabe keeps his blade in hand, unconcerned with the corrosive nature of the saltwater--Zelda is pure mithral; it will take something far more caustic than briny water to harm her--and trudges forward, holding the glowing blade aloft to gaze into the murky depths.
The silt constantly kicked up by the party's feet makes sight difficult even with spells, but Andakos naturally has a leg up with his darkvision . He sees now that the ship actually did not crack perfectly in half, but rather shattered near the bow. The forward compartments lie open to the elements like a rent torso.
From the shadows of the bow's forward compartments, wriggling shapes dart through the water at the party as six eels assault the erstwhile invaders of their new territory.
SURPRISE ROUND
Even Andakos is taken by surprise as the small horde of eels wriggle through the air water toward the party.
ROUND 1
[color=green]
Cabe (32/32 hp, water breathing)
Eel 6 (0 dmg)
Eel 1 (0 dmg)
Andakos (32/32 hp, water breathing)
Eel 3 (0 dmg)
Golloriel (49/49 hp, water breathing)
Eel 4 (0 dmg)
Caladaer (30/30 hp, water breathing)
Eel 2 (0 dmg)
Eel 5 (0 dmg)
[/color]
Two of the eels lash out at the sluggish Cabe and Lori. Even with his fresh spell up, the creature's fangs find flesh, and both of them feel a painful sting followed by something being injected into the wounds.
Lori fights off the effects, but Cabe feels his limbs begin to stiffen as the paralytic venom takes hold.
ROUND 1
[color=green]
Cabe (40/41 hp, water breathing, 1 Dex dmg)
Eel 6 (0 dmg)
Eel 1 (0 dmg)
Andakos (38/38 hp, water breathing)
Eel 3 (0 dmg)
Golloriel (62/63 hp, water breathing)
Eel 4 (0 dmg)
Caladaer (36/36 hp, water breathing)
Eel 2 (0 dmg)
Eel 5 (0 dmg)
[/color]
Andakos trudges through the mud on the riverbed, putting some distance between himself and the eels so he can attack with his spear. He is suddenly very happy he was inspired to use the heroism potion.
Eel #4 takes a spear to the side, slicing open its belly and spilling a cloud of red into the water. It twists and writhes madly in agony. While not dead, it looks horrifically wounded and ready to run--er, swim.
Eel #3 tries to take advantage of Lori's flat-footed condition, but to its dismay, she is apparently made entirely of metal. Its fangs glance uselessly off her heavy armor.
ROUND 1
[color=green]
Cabe (40/41 hp, water breathing, 1 Dex dmg)
Eel 6 (0 dmg)
Eel 1 (0 dmg)
Andakos (38/38 hp, water breathing)
Eel 3 (0 dmg)
Golloriel 62/63 hp, water breathing)
Eel 4 (6 dmg, disabled)
Caladaer (36/36 hp, water breathing)
Eel 2 (0 dmg)
Eel 5 (0 dmg)
[/color]
Golloriel moves away from the eels harassing her and takes a stab at #5.
The eel doesn't even have to move to evade Lori's spear; the bubbles and swirling eddies of the ocean floor make her aim significantly less than what it usually is and the spear goes wide.
Eel #4 puts the "nope" in "nope rope" and swims away weakly.
ROUND 1
[color=green]
Cabe (40/41 hp, water breathing, 1 Dex dmg)
Eel 6 (0 dmg)
Eel 1 (0 dmg)
Andakos (38/38 hp, water breathing)
Eel 3 (0 dmg)
Golloriel 62/63 hp, water breathing)
Eel 4 (6 dmg, disabled, fleeing)
Caladaer (36/36 hp, water breathing)
Eel 2 (0 dmg)
Eel 5 (0 dmg)
[/color]