Thomas shook his head. "I don't want to drag him through that water, If we're done here, I'm putting him down." The serpent certainly hasn't learned much in her time in Freeport. "Besides, those-" he motions to the partially mutated men, "might not come quietly."
Chiruut can sense Klinz's rage towards you, tinged with madness. He is hoping that Raven opens the snuff box.
The half-transformed men are beyond Kris's ability to restore, but they seem to have not fully succumbed to madness and may still be able to live out some sort of lives if returned to society and healed.
"Klinz wants Ven to open box. Ven, do *not* open box.", Chiruut says.
Staring at Klinz, the Yerathi continues speaking.
"Now, he can die."
He does not look away from Klinz, clearly regarding the madman as the greater threat.
"The changed softskins, they suffer. Kill them now or bring them back. I say kill them."
Yes, I know your bloodlust. This is why you are all such base creatures. Barely better than Klinz. Death does not heal the damage, only love and forgiveness can.
She holds her chin up, back straight in a proud and haughty bearing, If you're not going to take then back, then I will. She certainly does not look like the meek girl washed ashore just a few months ago.
With the others in agreement (save one), Thomas cuts down Klinz. The deed done, Thomas shakes his weapon free and lets the traitorous man bleed out. The noble turns back to the wretched half-men, disgust plain on his face. "Tch, High and mighty for a snake. You'd let these poor people suffer their wretched lives on your own conceit, eh? Bah! Best thing we can do is let them die quickly, better than what awaits them above. Maybe we bring the mayor's boy, but the rest should be put out of their misery."
Thomas makes sure to remove Klinz's goofy hat as proof.
Chiruut turns to Krislyx.
"You still blinding yourself. I walked among softskins for months and months after I left hive. Much distrust and hatred towards me. They saw big walking bug. I keep no illusion about love and kindness for those looking different."
Kris looks at the villagers.
"They would suffer. Do you want them to suffer, Krislyx?"
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Raven grimaced. "Now wait a minute, Chiruut. That's a very leading question. I can't speak for others, and I won't deny that Klinz had to die... but we shouldn't kill the half transformed ones without speaking to them first."
"Hmm. You have point, Ven."
The insectoid turns to the mutated.
"What Klinz do to you?"
The captives explain that Klinz opened his snuffbox, dosing them with the cursed powder inside. It corrupted their bodies and made them addicted to the stuff, craving a new dose every few days. The more they breathed in the powder, the further their bodies transformed. Those who finished the change became irredeemable monsters.
With his academic knowledge, Chiruut thinks that these unfortunate men who have yet to succumb see the curse’s effects fade over time provided they perform no other vile acts that corrupt them further.
"Hmmm. Maybe we can save them. No more snuff, no other corruption, and they may restore their meat over time. Will village keep them till then? Depends on our words."
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Kris speaks to Ven in a time which bespeaks kindness, See? Even your noble man thinks I am higher and mightier than he. Even he recognizes the purity of the Naga. You should not defer to one such as him - one willing to sacrifice so readily. Become better. We all can become better. We can be the shining light. She gives him a genuine smile, her eyes full of hope that her friend will strive to be better than his fellow man.
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Thomas coughs then converts to laughter. "Seems the young serpent still has trouble with the nuances of human speech. But enough of this nonsense, the bastard is dead. Let's take these poor unfortunates back to the surface then, if they truly can recover. And that box, we need to destroy it. Better than letting them fall back into addiction."
The old man turns to leave, clutching the wound in his side.
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Raven's eyes widen ever so slightly in worry, as he hesitates at Kris's words. He knew it came from a good place but hoped it wasn't the beginning of some sort of mania. "Uh... sure, Kris. That makes a lot of sense. I don't really care overly much for Thomas's leadership anyway. We can be the shining light." he gives her a half smile in encouragement.
He turned his head to Thomas, one hand on the box. "Right, we'll get rid of this, burn the box." he then reached into his pack for his tinderbox with which to light it.
With that, Raven turned and began trying to help the half-transformed survivors get up and out of the cave.
You destroy the tinderbox and free the prisoners, who are quite grateful for the rescue. In the cave from which the walrus-man emerged, you discover Klinz's private chambers, filled with treasure from the sea. All told, there is 200 gc worth of valuables here.
The people of Wrecker's Roost gasp and murmur when you bring the afflicted individuals back home. Lord Insmeister weeps when he sees what has become of his son, but the fact that the horrid transformation may yet be reversed gives him hope. In thanks for your efforts, he gives you the promised reward of 50 gc.
You return to Freeport to spend your reward money and look for further leads as to the whereabouts of Anne the Red and the Orphanmaker. One thing is for sure--when you do track down the pirate, you'll be better prepared to face her!
Work: You earned a bit. You lived the getting by lifestyle.
Work: You earned little. You lived the poor lifestyle.
Minor Windfall: You furthered your education. You can either add a language to the list of languages you can speak, become able to read and write a language you can speak, or gain a random area of scholarship.
Work: You earned little. You lived the poor lifestyle.
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It was frustrating. Thomas had nearly died in that dank cave. If it hadn't been for that slovenly Raven, he might have. The noble didn't like debts, and certainly not to such... lowlives. But he prided himself as a man of honor, there was no way he'd allow himself to simply forget such a thing happened. No, he'd have to do something to set things right.
He fumed over past events for a while before focusing on things he could do right now. He'd failed to keep up his training since coming back into wealth, his bodyguards handling the majority of physical activities. Clearly this had been a mistake, and Thomas resolved to redouble his efforts to improve his swordsmanship.
Despite his efforts, Thomas made no noticiable improvement in his technique. He had actually become healthier through constant exercise, but such granular improvements were not noticed by the frustrated noble. As the weeks passed, Thomas only grew more dissatisfied with his time in Freeport and started searching for excitement and wealth elsewhere. He'd have to take Raven and the others along of course, if only to have a chance to repay his debts.
Chapter 5: The Eelwives' Lament
Soon enough, Thomas gathers the rest of you to follow-up on an invitation he has received from a wealthy merchant lord named Arctan Holbrin. Based in the port of New Town on a nearby island, Holbrin promised a lucrative opportunity for the magnate and his companions.
It is late in the evening when the ship you have chartered pulls up to the docks of New Town. The meeting with Holbrin isn't until tomorrow morning, so you head into town to find lodgings for the night. As usual for the strange times you find yourselves living in, the citizens of New Town exhibit odd quirks and behaviors, symptoms of the maddening nightmares that still plague your sleep.
As you approach a tavern called the Dirty Cod, thick clouds begin to form over the town. Then, after a series of incredibly loud thunderclaps, a heavy downpour begins to fall. The precipitation is a mix of slimy rain and thousands of small biting eels!
The dreams were finally starting to get to Kris. She was growing ever worried that something horrific was drawing near, which made her ever more certain that she needed to hunt down Anne the Red. The cause of fighting for justice and righteousness had been linking to protecting the world - and she was going to see it through to the end.
------------
Later...
Thank you for inviting, me, Thomas, Kris says. She keeps to herself that she would have expected him to have forgotten her by now - or at least made a valiant effort to.
Do we know what this Lord fellow wants?
Ah! What is this?! she cries out, rushing towards the shelter.
Thomas was slightly less cranky after leaving Freeport behind. "Something lucrative, he says. I can't rebuild the family fortune on what scraps were available in Freeport." It'll be better here, there's money in this town, I can smell it.
"Gah! What in blazes is this?!" The older man cries out as he is suddenly struck down under the weight of dozens of eels. One does not fare much better, but Two avoided the worst of it.
Chiruut Level 4 Downtime Story
The dreams were finally starting to breach even Chiruut's potent mental defenses. He could sense the horrors coming, even if he could not identify it yet.
This *irked* him.
I must grow stronger still!
***************************
Standing with the others, Chiruut asks:
"Lucrative was said. He must want hard task done-AUCCK!"
Chiruut's line is cut off by an eel striking him full force on the head.
Level 1 gear has worn out.
soft leather armor, 2 ss
Dagger (finesse, thrown short) x1, 1d3 5 cp
waterskin, 1 cp
tinderbox, 1 cp
basic clothing, 5 cp
belt 1 cp,
pouch 1 cp,
leather shoes 2 cp,
cloak, 5 cp
rope, coil (20 yards). 1 cp
Replacement Total: 4 ss & 2 cp
Raven's dreams were plagued by darkness, but again, he flew beyond them.
"Bad weather this time of yea- aaaagh!"
Raven dodged the worst of the slimy rain and falling snakes along with Krislyx.
You pick yourselves off the street and rush into the Dirty Cod for shelter from the supernatural storm. Several other citizens huddle within the tavern as well, nursing eel bites. Finally, after 30 minutes, the storm turns to simple driving rain, with the majority of the eels slithering away or rolling off into deep puddles, ponds, and gutters.
Thomas shakes off his drenched coat and hair, crushing any of the wiggling bastards he finds. "Eels from the sky? What sorcery is this?" The noble throws one on the floor, smashing it under his boot.
He points a finger at a random townsperson. "What is going on here? Speak up!"
I do not know, Thomas. But the eels do seem to be a theme, doesn't it? Every island we visited greats us with eels.
None of the townsfolk have any clue as to where the sudden eel storm came from. One man recounts having a nightmare about eels burrowing into his flesh and eating him from the inside out, but it's probably just a coincidence.
After a few minutes, the door bursts open and a drunken sailor comes stumbling in. "Doctor! Doctor! I need a bloody doctor!" he shrieks, holding the crotch of his trousers. It is clear he has been terribly wounded and blood pours down his legs.
"Place is certainly living up to its name." Raven said, as the urge to comment with some crude humor struck but his mirth quickly dissipated as he noticed the amount of blood. "Aw hells, that's just bad luck that is! Kris, can you help see to his wound?"
"Yeah, sure. We'll give you a hand. Clear some room! he said, waving his in an away gesture to the other sheltering patrons and townsfolk. "Barkeep, alcohol. Make it the strong stuff!"
He then wandered over to the man, kicking a chair to him. "Right, now, tell us what happened to you out there."
Kris immediately falls in line as Ven starts barking out orders. She clears off a table and says, "Lay down here! I'll start praying!"
She reaches into her satchel to pull out her censer - the focus of her power.
The sailor guzzles the drink eagerly, sighing as Kris’s prayer stops the bleeding. The naga can see the man’s pants are ripped and his genitals have been bitten off! Whatever caused the wound had rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth.
”A beautiful maiden, she was. Naked as a jay bird! She approached me down by the docks and pulled me into a lusty embrace. Not a moment later, my manhood was bitten off clean off! I swear that her mouth was locked on mine and nowhere near my nethers! I ran and ran till I came here. Don’t remember anything else, but she was cold... oh so cold...”
Visibly confused, Kris asks, "What does a hood have to do with a leg wound? Admittedly, I don't know much about human anatomy. I didn't know humans even had hoods, much less male specific ones. Ven, do you have a hood?"
Raven shivered as the man described his untoward encounter, and not because he was cold. He was distracted by Kris however.
"Do I have a hood? Of course I have a-"
Oh, right. She's not just from a different culture. Didn't occur to me her species might be entirely different... or maybe she's just naive. the thoughts raced through his mind and he was reminded again that he didn't know much about Nagas at all.
"Suppose there's a lot to unpack there about our races." he glanced over to Chiruut. "... and his too."
After a moment of consideration, he turned his attention back to the poor man with a shake of his head. "Sounds like you've been the target of some sort of dark magic. One that requires touch or physical contact. I hate to tell you this but I'm not sure there's much we can do for you."
"Anything like this ever happened before around here? The eels or the woman?"
Click, click
Chiruut muses at the sight before him, before, during, and after the man's healing at the talons at the spiky softskin.
"Where by the docks? Where did she go?"
"Bah, what does it matter? We have business to attend to in the morning. If there is anything of importance, we can ask once the rains clear." Scowling as usual, the old man approached the proprietor. "Now, I believe you have rooms for sale, and we have want for beds."
The sailor shakes his head vigorously, confirming that the town has never seen anything like the eel storm or the woman before. "I don't know where she went. As soon as it happened, I ran and didn't look back!"
The innkeeper grumbles and curses but offers Thomas rooms for a silver shilling each night.
Thomas! Kris scolds, This man's hood has been ravaged by a fearsome creature! We must stop it before it harms other hoods!
Chiruut ignores the man and turns to Thomas.
"Knowledge is power, Thom-as."
Then to Kris.
"I want to know what it is. We hunt it."
Yes, absolutely. Ven, you coming? Kris asks, as she heads to the door. She unslings her rifle and loads a round into it. Trepidation is evident on her face as she looks out into the rain, but she must he brave of she wants to be a positive influence on those around her.
You exit out into the streets and start heading towards the docks. After a few minutes, you see four guards from the town's militia hurriedly making their way back to the guard station. They speak in hushed whispers and eye you warily as you approach, paying special attention to Chiruut and Krislyx.
The situation seemed at a decision point. Raven didn't necessarily want to step out into that danger but other people might suffer the same fate as the poor man sitting in the chair. "Stay here if you want." Ven said to Thomas. "We'll have a look and see what's going on with this." With that, he walked out after Chiruut and Kris.
"Bah, you're all here on my invitation. I can't leave you lot unsupervised. You lot always stick your noses into trouble. " The older man is surly, but tags along anyway. Before he leaves, he waves off his two bodyguards. "Settle our things for the stay, this hopefully won't take long."
Out on the street, Chiruut turns to the militia and asks:
"A man was attacked. Beauty-full maiden. You see her?"
Kris looks about in the darkness, peering down side streets and ally ways as they walk. The darkness inhibits her sight and the storm blocks the moon. "Does anyone have a hooded lantern?" she asks.
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With a sigh, the noble asks the militia members the pertinent questions. "I'm sure some of you saw the sailor, screaming and bleeding as he was. Where did he come from? Did any of you see him come under attack? And before any of you ask, these creatures are under my employ. They will not harm you or your families or what have you."
The well-dressed man shields himself from the rain as best he can, droplets already dripping down his stony face.
None of the guards saw the sailor come under attack, nor any "beauty-full" maidens, but they do report other strange events from all over the town:
• A young girl was found face down in a puddle filled with eels. She was dead, her face having been entirely eaten off.
• The harbormaster reported seeing strange shapes walking atop the waves and screams coming from one of the small ships moored in the harbor. The entire crew has gone missing.
• Screams were heard coming from a house in the merchant quarter just as the storm set in, but nobody is sure from where.
• Odd chanting was heard coming from inside a burnt-out shrine just after the rainstorm began. The guard reported hearing calls to a long-forgotten storm god.
"We're off to regroup and muster the rest of the guard. You'd best get back inside and hunker down until whatever is causing this chaos passes!" they insist.
Chiruut thinks, then asks:
"Where is shrine?"
"That poor girl..." Kris whispers, sadness wisping her voice.
When Chiruut brings up the shrine, she agrees. "Yes, the shrine is a good place for us to start - take back the shrine and we can bring back hope to all."
Cogs turn in the mind of Thomas. "Entire crews don't just disappear into thin air, there's a high chance some clues have been left behind. Or perhaps the crew themselves were the targets of this foul magicks. They might have brought something in with them from afar, I say we look there."
Ignoring Thomas's earlier comment, Raven looks back and forth between the guards and the foreboding darkness the night offered to them.
"What is going on in this town?! Eels seem to be the common factor here." he sighed in resignation, the rain adding dourness to his mood. "If we were smart, we would have listened to Thomas and not have left the tavern in the first place. If we were sensible, we'd be listening to the you and going back. But we aren't exactly either of those things, are we?"
"My chitinous companion here asks a fair question. Aside from that, where might this merchant quarter be, exactly?"
The guards tell you that the shrine is down by the docks, while the merchant quarter is on a hill overlooking the rest of the city.
The shrine is just one building. We'd have the search the entire merchants quarters to see if something is wrong. Let's go to the shrine first. Kris suggests. She keeps looking in the direction of the shrine, as if she's eager to get moving that way.