Zero's #1-02: The Mosquito Witch (Inactive)

Game Master Super Zero

"Well, steps saved. We might check out the inn and see if we can find the gold elf Hunter."

"Sorry, I don't have much to share. Business has been slow, and so have deliveries."

"Thank you then Tanner for your time and for showing us the crystalline rock."

Aztryx then faces his companions and says "Clearly there's a lot going on at the inn which warrants a visit. But, that house over there is much closer. Shall we take a look at it before we cross town towards the inn?"

'The House' is A3 on the map which is very close to where we are now

At Mordha's house

Heather appears lost in thought, trying to recall if whatever Mordha described resembles anything in nature.

Nature +6

At the Tannery

Both Heather and Scout wrinkle their noses and remain outside. "Apologies, my friends, but the smell of chemicals doesn't go well with Scouty and I."

Aside from the fact that the description has characteristics of a humanoid and an insect, Heather can't identify anything.

At the small house. A child answers the door. Two other children pile almost on top of him moments later. This family seems both destitute and
extraordinarily accident prone; all three children wear bandages on some part of their body and one has her arm in a sling. The man at the table, leaning back to look at the door, is slow to rise. A crutch leans against the table next to him.

"Visitors?" says the boy blankly, "Uh, I don't know you."

Added landmark list to the Slides, and put some indicators on the map showing where you are and have been.

"that house over there is much closer. Shall we take a look at it before we cross town towards the inn?"

"Taking fewer steps has a lot of steps to it," Macondi points out as they approach the house.

"Visitors?" says the boy blankly, "Uh, I don't know you."

"Ah, well I don't know you either. So that makes us equal then. I'm Macondi. So do you want to keep up with me and tell me your name too?"

Heather smiles at the children. "Well met, I am Heather and this is my friend Scout. What happened to all of you?"

If allowed, Heather will attempt to treat their injuries. (Natural Medicine)

"Did someone or something attack you?" Aztryx asks the family as the volume of injuries among the family members seem too strange to be coincidence.

Amperex looks at the first child and their injuries, and then the other two as they pile in toward the doorway. Unfortunately being only 3 feet tall at best makes it difficult to see past the curious children; glancing up at Aztryx after his question, he makes a quick clicking sound with his mouth.

"Damn my height challenges", he thinks.

Almost as quickly as the sound is made, Cogswork comes to attention and lifts Amperex into his hands, very gently holding him several feet off the ground, with the palms of the construct acting like a seat. With a new perspective, hopefully, he gets a serviceable look at things.

is it possible to tell, either at a glance, or with a visual check of some kind, what kind of injuries these might be generally? like, broken bones vs burns kind of difference.

^^^Good insight Amperex!

"And I'm Barak," Barak adds helpfully. "So now you've heard all our names. I don't have a cool robot to ride on, but I'm part dragon and all hot air according to my friend Macondi." Barak grins. "Can my friends come in and treat your injuries? They put up with me, so they must be nice people."

"I'm Sam Bell!" says the boy, "and my family are Lu Bell and Abel Bell and Jack Bell and Alhambra Bell and Lu Bell and... did I say that one? Were the Bells!"

"Don't stand there with the door open!" calls the man, hurrying over with his crutch, "Not with all the mosquitos!

"Infestation!" his father says quickly.

"--and also everyone else leaving town," says the boy, "But everyone was hurrying back and forth bringing stuff down from upstairs and then Lu tripped and everybody fell down the stairs."

"She fell on me!"

The children continue squabbling and the man looks a little dazed. "Did you all.. need something I can help you with?"

Macondi smiles at the children all talking over each other. "Packing and moving and falling on steps. Yeah, I can see how that would cause problems."

In answer to the dad he replies, "We are trying to understand the mosquito infestation. Just wondering if you know what happened right before it started. Maybe then we can put an end to it so that you can have the fun of moving back in."

"Something must have riled up the Mosquito Witch," says.. Jack? "Everybody knows she can see through the eyes of any depiction of her. And yet they got all those little dolls. You should toss that out."

He points with his crutch at the cornhusk doll the venture-captain gave you, hanging from Macondi's belt.

"That is an interesting thought, which can be tested and verified." Aztryx faces the oracle gnome and says "Macondi, if you don't mind - I'll borrow that for but a moment. You may hold it up for me if you do not wish to part with it."

Aztryx takes a minute to cast Read Aura.

Macondi hands over the effigy to Aztryx. "I don't have any attachment to it. Not sure why we were given the thing in the first place. And to be honest, I don't even remember actually picking it up."

"Huh, if that works... It would make a heck of a spy network," Barak muses.

"He's just gonna.. keep standing there, babbling and waving his hand, huh? Well, uh, we're gonna close the door on account of the miserable swarm of mosquitos that's starting to get in, but if you need us we'll be here."

When Aztryx finishes his spell, he detects... nothing. There is nothing magical about the corn husk doll.

Macondi seems completely unfazed by having the door closed right in front of him. He takes the doll back and ties a strip of cloth as a blindfold across its face. "I figure it has followed me this long, it isn't going to let me leave it behind now. But doesn't hurt to be safe."

"On to the inn then?"

Barak nods approvingly as his not-bro ties the cloth over the doll's eyes. "The inn, then." He moves forward, partially carried along on bursts of wind. Then he coughts as a few mosquitos fly into his mouth.

"Ugh. If only the breezes would be so obliging as to blow away the mosquitos."

"If anything else, we're now sure that was a superstition rather than the truth." Ironically, Aztryx turns around from the door and shakes the dust off his shoes before walking away with his companions.

Given that the inn is up on the hill, getting there requires the Pathfinders to walk through most of the village proper along the u-shaped road. As they round the bend, they pass by what looks like an abandoned farmstead and find a calf lying on the ground and breathing shallowly as if waiting to die.

Heather recognizes the small wounds it has are indicative that it has had most of its blood drained by bloodseekers. The calf is covered with the bloated bodies of a mundane mob of mosquitoes that are draining the calf’s remaining blood.

While walking down the main path, Aztryx says "We could leave no stone unturned and explore that farmstead there. There are abandoned buildings. Plus, we could show that cow mercy and put it out of its misery. End it's suffering."

"Good steps, right steps, and best steps," Macondi says looking between the road to the inn and the farmstead. "Good steps would be to continue to the inn. Right steps is to help the cow. I don't know the best steps. But I will help with helping the cow - just not alone." He flexes his spellcasting fingers briefly, slaps a mosquito off of his arm, and looks to the rest of the group to see their decision.

Cogswork carries Amperex to the edge of the farmstead to look at the calf, "I'm passably trained, but I don't know that it is able to be saved, at least not by me." He looks to the rest of the group, "unless any of you have the ability to save it, the best I can offer is to do as Aztryx suggested and make it quick." He draws his double-barrel pistol and sets it across his lap, his legs crossed as he sits in the construct's still cupped hands, and simply waits before making a move with the firearm.

"That business aside, I agree with Macondi that we should continue to the inn first before we go exploring abandoned buildings."

If allowed, Heather will go up to the cow and try to treat its wounds. She'll also try to find some sort of herb to drive the mosquitos away.

Medicine/Nature (same mod): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Herb Lore: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Treat Wounds: 2d8 ⇒ (5, 1) = 6

Aztryx turns a little red and shakes his head. He talks to himself, enough so everyone can hear.

"Aztryx, that's a good reminder that dealing death is not always the best solution to problems."

He smiles at Heather, unable to contribute anything intelligent or helpful in her endeavour to save the cow. He does keep vigil as she works on the poor creature.

The mosquito swarm immediately departs at Heather's approach. With her ministrations the animal isn't in immediate danger of dying, but she knows that food, a warm blanket, and rest would help the calf recover.

But there also doesn't seem to be anything stopping the mosquitos from just coming right back.

"This may be the only cow that wants to go see the tanner."

Barak carries the little calf until they can find a good place for it to shelter and recover. "It's okay, little guy. Though you're, um, bigger than me. Oof, you're heavy."

Heather lends a hand (or a cat) to her blue friend...

The best way to keep the calf safe might be to take it inside of a building.

"Hopefully that inn has a stable," Barak says.

Macondi follows Barak up the road to the inn. "I don't think that is what Stabilize would help with," he comments. Though it is not clear if he is talking about Barak's staggering under the weight of the calf or the need for a stable when they arrive.

is the team headed for the farmhouses? Or the inn?

I believe it is correct that we are heading to the inn.. along with the calf lol

The calf is a little difficult to carry, but does not resist the effort in any way.

The inn-keeper seems a little put off by it, though. "Hey, what're you bringing that in here for? It looks... cursed."

More interesting might be the man hunched over and muttering to himself by the front desk near the doorway. He's turning a paper doll over in his hands, the sweat from his skin starting to cause the paper to melt into something horrific looking.

"It's hurt." Heather says firmly. "If you have a stable or somewhere to keep it safe while it recovers we would be most grateful. We will reimburse you for the costs."

"Rrrrrr."

Scout lets out a low growl in his throat, as if to punctuate Heather's sentiment.

"Hey, what're you bringing that in here for? It looks... cursed."

"Not as cursed as the entire town is. And I'm sure a little calf will be a better guest than some of your other patrons."

Macondi looks over and counts the number of limbs on this paper doll. He also tries to listen to what the man is mumbling.
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Aztryx talks to the inn-keeper. He says "It is normal for inns to have stables, and I'm sure you have a pretty good one. Let us recompense you as if you were stabling a horse. That should be fair, yes?"

He notes the man muttering to himself. He tries to see exactly what he's doing.

perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

"Yeah, that's the problem!" says the innkeeper uneasily, "Hurt by all those mosquitos. That's the Witch's doing! She's clearly got it out for that animal. It's an omen! The Witch is always an omen of misfortune. Like that time Alya Silverstream saw the Witch out in the woods, and then she had that terrible accident where she fell off the roof! Although she wasn't hurt too bad, so I guess it wasn't that terrible."

The other man looks up as Macondi and Aztryx start looking him over with limited subtlety. He's a haggard human with dark messy hair, stubble sparsely forming a goatee, and gaunt cheeks. "I didn't want to come here," he says hoarsely, "I didn't have a choice."

Macondi ignores the superstitious nonsense coming from the innkeeper.

"I didn't want to come here," he says hoarsely, "I didn't have a choice."

"So are you staying here for the paper doll then? Who wanted you to come here?"

"I'll ask you more about that later sir. If you'll excuse me for a moment. It seems trouble has found us." He says to the Inn keeper.

Aztryx faces the muttering haggard man. "What do you mean? What are you here to do?"

While trying not to look aggressive, Aztryx mentally prepares himself for a possible fight.

Amperex looks to the innkeeper, "Hello! Yes, right here good sir." He waves and gives a gentle snap to get the man's attention, "We can let my compatriots have their conversation while we talk business, yes?" He gives his best toothy smile, "We are here to investigate the matter of this witch and don't know how long that may take. How many rooms do you have available?"

The innkeeper eyes the calf nervously before taking a steadying breath and looking at Amperex. "Plenty. You're not the first visiting monster hunters, but we're hardly full you know." He sighs. "Starting to think the last two aren't coming back, though."

The man looks up at Macondi, confused. "This is made of paper," he says, holding up the doll, "It didn't tell me anything. You think I'm losing it. I'm not! I've always been sensitive. Um, psychically. I've had visions before, but I don't understand this.

“I came because it wants me to be here. I shouldn’t have come... but no, that’s what it wanted me to do. It was trying to scare me, so I wouldn’t come... but what if it was being straightforward with me to trick me into thinking it was trying to trick me into staying away?” He twists the doll in his hands, looking frightened and frustrated. "I don't understand this at all, and I don't know that I made the right choice.

“I'm an idiot. An absolute idiot...” The man laughs sadly to himself, before jerking himself upright. “Oh, wait, you’re... where are my manners? Sorry. Introductions. I’m Quintus. Quintus Chevunier.”

The man looks up at Macondi, confused. "This is made of paper," he says, holding up the doll, "It didn't tell me anything. You think I'm losing it. I'm not! I've always been sensitive. Um, psychically. I've had visions before, but I don't understand this.

"Its OK. You don't have to lose the doll if you don't want to," Macondi says reassuringly. He pats him on the shoulder. "And I have my own share of visions, so I know how that goes too."

"I'm Macondi. Good to meet you. We're trying to track down the source of the problems around here. Maybe you know something? Do you know where it is? More specific than just here around Shimmerford."

"Well-met Quintus Chevunier. I am Aztryx, and we are here to help. I don't understand what you're trying to say. Its confusing. First, answer this question: WHO wants you here?

Only after Quintus answers this question does Aztryx ask another: "What choice did you make?"

Barak puts down the bleating calf. "Grandma Beryl always said the best cure for a curse is taking care of someone else. The more we watch out for each other, the less evil can flourish. So... If you want to break your curse, helping little Bleat stay warm and fed is a great way to keep them from getting to you."

Barak smiles and confides, "Grandma Beryl should know. She's gotten out of all sorts of terrible situations and come out on top."

"The Witch! The Mosquito Witch wants me here... or--or didn't want me here. It's in my nightmares. Ever since I came too close to this damned town I can't get rid of it. It shows up and doesn't say anything, but when I wake up I know things. Six and four dead on Shimmerford road. But how? But why? Is the witch causing it? What does that have to do with the mosquitoes? And why is someone stealing shovels? I don't even know how I know it. Maybe I'm supposed to cause it."

He shakes his head at Aztryx. "Back off man. If it made sense I wouldn't be trying to work it out."

The innkeeper makes a sour face. "The whole town's cursed, but that beast in particular. She's clearly out to get it. Where'd it even come from?"

Aztryx backs off at the request of Quintus, but not before saying "Thank you good sir."

He then goes back to the inn-keeper "We found that poor animal at the farmstead. It was lying on the fields dying. But we did not investigate the farmstead any further.

Aztryx is deep in thought. He asks the innkeeper "You heard him say '4 & 6 dead' on Shimmerford Road. Have you heard anything about that?"