Heal 40: 1d100 ⇒ 4
Using her knowledge, Magda tells Kirsa to bring back some warm water and clean rags.
Then she cleans the wounds, and rips the rags to put some fresh bandages on them, giving instructions to do the same at least twice per day until the man gets better
Kirsa looks disgusted by the whole thing, but brings the water and rags that Magda requests. Magda can tell that she wants nothing to do with Eckhard.
It is some dirty work, I understand, but I guess you've seen your share of dirtyness cleaning the privy. It's not that different. The body tries to cleanse himself from the disease. Sometimes it manages to do it alone, sometimes it requires help.
She looks at Eckhard
Have you heard anything about how he was wounded? Did he talk about what happened, even in a fever?
Axel sits nervously with the group waiting... and hoping she'll have a look at his foot after.
Hans nudged Axel. "Good to have a doktor around, yeah?" He said, a small smile on his face.
My foot is killing me..., he confided.
Fortunately I've been too worried about being set on fire to worry about it lately
Kirsa shrugs at Magda's question. "He works out in the sheds and stables, but I don't talk to him much. Arnold might know something if you are curious."
Lord Goldhaber looks disappointed that no one is joining him, but still orders a fine meal from the inn.
"What a mess. He'd been complaining about the rats in the shed out back, but who knew it would be this bad? There are rats everywhere. I'll have to hire a rat catcher, if I can find one. Might have to bring someone in from Auerswald...in any case, you've more than earned your meal. Thank you for the help." He brings out a fine meal of meat & cheese for Magda a few minutes later.
Thanks. It was an interesting medical case. You have troubles with rats? Somethings dogs, cats and poison can't handle?
Magda starts eating her meal, cutting it into small pieces, not willing to gorge herself like any common halfling would do
Axel orders something hearty and filling but not extravagant... like the stew and a small loaf of bread to sop it up. A cup or two of ale and he is content. If it is his last meal? It was good. If it's not? He didn't waste much on food.
”I didn't think so before, but I can't have rodents laying up the help.”
The morning brings a new day, and you gather up to depart on the Flatbottom. The barge isn't wholly repaired, but you don't see any reason to worry about its river-worthiness. Eager to be away from the site of the beastman attack, you sail on past Auerswald and enter a lonely stretch of river. Your next stop is Grunberg. The stop ashore has notably improved the mood on the barge, though the sailors are still tense around Axel.
The Flatbottom is tied up to the shore once again at night as you begin the familiar watch cycle.
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Lol... off to a great start :D
It was nice, really. A quiet stay in town where nothing bad happened. There was no excitement. Just some well deserved rest. After their scare with the beastmen it felt well deserved.
While the others (except Magda) slumber, Hans's rest is disturbed by the sound of someone knocking against the hull of the Flatbottom.
*tap*
*tap*
*tap*
The sound pauses before repeating.
*tap*
*tap*
*tap*
Grumbling, Hans got to his feet. He cursed under his breath. Figuring that he had a bad dream, he went to go back to sleep, only to hear that the tapping was real, and not part of his imagination. And it was from...beneath the ship. "Scheisse." He cursed, not knowing what to do. He shook Axel awake. "Mage. *MAGE*" He hissed. "You know magic, right? There's something tapping against the hull of the Flatbottom. Can you...magic it away?"
As Hans is attempting to rouse Axel, the knocking sounds cease from the bow portions of the barge. A few moments later, they start again from near the stern.
*Knock*
*Knock*
The patterns change from the to time. They are always coming from beneath the waterline.
"Wake. Up!" Hans said, shaking the mage. "Get up and magic whatever it is away." He said, suddenly feeling scared. It was one thing to have beastmen attacking on deck, but something below the water? The idea filled him with dread.
Mmphfph, he mumbles out before awakening. He listens to Hans' explaination before hearing the tapping for himself...
Crap.
Magda doesn't hear anything strange, and stays on deck, readying vegetables for the next healthy meal
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Grandfather didn't teach me anything about these sort of things... I was hard put to learn what I did while still doing damn farmwork. I think we need to tell the Captain - QUIETLY.
Zarine sleeps on in her cabin, having a dream about being back in elven lands.
Hans and Axel wake Alphonse and go up on the deck.
"What's going on out here?" the captain grouses as he staggers out of his captain, looking substantially sleep-deprived. "If we're not under attack, I need a good explanation of why everyone is milling about."
The "Witch" is unsure how far to push but he risks it.
The knockers from below the water are rapping on the hull seeking entry. While we shouldn't stir up the crew? We should double the watch lest they seek to come over the gunwhales... the other captains and sailors were also repeating this happening to them. The Captains that made it that is.
Captain Gotthard looks troubled at Axel's words. "I have been hearing a lot about disappearances around these parts. Sigmar grant that we make it through the night."
He confers with his First Mate, Per Hofbauer. "Don't wake anyone yet, but keep a good eye on the water. If you see anything attempting to board the ship, get everyone below decks. We'll hold out better down there if we need to."
He looks back to Axel & Hans, "Show me."
Lighting a lantern to get some light, you can't help but rouse some of the sailors, who look on with some interest growing into alarm as the knocking continues.
After considering the phenomenon for a time, the captain sends one of his men to check on the sailors watching above decks. "It doesn't seem like they are trying to get in: the 'bottom isn't built so well that it would hold up to a determined vandal this long. It might be foolhardy, but I wish we could talk to them."
His grandfathers teachings were scattered and Axel has NO IDEAS at all.
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Yes, talking to them could be a way of at least finding out what they are after... a possibility. She turns to the others... do any of you know of a way to do that?
Hans shrugged. "Can't say that I do." He replied, wishing that he had more to offer.
[
"The spirits whisper many things to those who listen," she says. "The rituals of old speak of this: when the dead can hear but cannot speak, light a closed lamp. The flame will flicker when they respond. One for yes, two for no and three if they are uncertain. A candle will do, but the breath of the living may cause the flame to flicker as well. Other methods may suffice, so long as the dead can send a signal, but the numbers are the same."
That said, she returns to her fortune and flips over the card furthest toward Hans to reveal The Devil. "A powerful will is at work here, devouring all that is around it." She seems increasingly uncomfortable with the fortune she is telling but continues on to the inner cards of the row of four, revealing the left before the right. She shows The Empress and The World.
"A woman lies in your path, but her role in this is clouded from the fates. With The World at its center, your fortune tells of a moment of greatness amid peril. Great rewards await you if you prevail."
"A flame, huh? We have a lantern we can use. Let's go down below. If that is where they are knocking, it's our best place to ask questions. This might be our only way to survive the night," says Captain Gotthard.
A small group gathers in the hull of the Flatbottom, huddled intently around the room's single lantern.
*knock*
*knock*
*knock*
"I might as well go first...", Captain Gotthard says, swallowing hard to build up his courage.
"Are you the dead?"
The lantern flame flickers once before returning to its prior steady burn.
"Do you mean harm to those on board this ship?"
Two flickers follow.
As questions continue, the knocking against the hull ceases.
Are you seeking assistance from us?
The lantern flame flickers once.
Zarine wonders what help they could offer the dead. She decides to try some traditional themes, although she is unsure whether the dead have the same emotional needs as the living.
Do you seek our help in finding peace?
Do you seek our help getting revenge?
Depending on the answers here, there were possibilities to follow up, and also, at least in Zarine's mind, the need to find out whether the request was worthy. If this was about doing justice and good and making the world better, she was in, but if this was about the dead blackmailing the living into doing something wrong, well, then, she would see if she could find a way to get her people out of the situation a different way.
To both of Zarine's questions, the lantern flame flickers once.
Do you wish us to kill someone for you? Zarine asks resignedly. It wasn't sounding promising.
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In response to Zarine's question, the lantern flame flickers three times.