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"If we wait for the morrow, I should be able to bless us with a similar effect. That should give us more than enough time, without needing any potions." Emmera frowns behind her wrappings as she looks over at Eris, "I do hope you were planning on returning those we didn't purchase, and the money for those we did. I know your kind has it harsh, but perpetuating the stereotypes doesn't help anyone in the long run."
Emmera raises a non-existent eyebrow at Akiki's comment, but also nods. "Part of the agreement was repayment for the damages you may have caused. Four hundred sails, I believe the amount was?" She glances over towards Goffred for confirmation.
Emmera nods as Thaven speaks, "If anyone knew how to make a purely alchemical cure, I don't think we'd be having near this much of a problem. Even if those who knew were not inclined to goodwil, a true cure would fetch a high price for sure. But even simple salves and poultices would be greatly appreciated by those trying to treat the symptoms. I much doubt you'd have difficulty finding someone who would have need of those skills, Vendra." She looks at the spiders for a moment. "I take it these spiders are needed for the creation of Shiver?" "I imagine they're valuable in some sense, but if it's only because of the drug..." she looks over at Goffred and Burahl, figuring they would be the most likely to know.
Emmera stays in the background as well. She's glad that Goffred has kept a cool head despite the implications of what Vendra has been doing, but can't help but feel that he might be letting her off a bit too easily. That said, compared with what some of the others were mentioning earlier - Thaven in particular - she wasn't going to complain. That said, she had no way to give Vendra employment regardless, so better to stay back for now... though having Vendra working to help those she conned rung of some sort of righteous retribution, Emmera had to admit.
Actually, that type of mask was quite common for physicians during the time of the Black Plague and such. The long beak was used for holding different herbs and plants that smelled good, as they believed the bad smell from victims was the primary way that the plague spread. Effectively, it was a respirator of sorts. Not an exceptionally effective one, but all the same... The more you know...
Oh crap, sorry, I must have missed the bottom few posts of the last page. That certainly makes my last post seem kind of odd. Ignore all that then >.<
I thought we were headed back to Burahl's shop to test the mixture and figure out for sure what it was, then head back and tell her what for.
"Technically, we don't know for sure if it's fake yet." Emmera shakes her head just after saying so, as if negating the comment. "I don't think Loaggri's anything more than a con woman, but I have to agree with Goffred that letting her be does much more harm than good. The people here are already suffering, taking what little gold they have with false promises of a cure leaves them both sick AND destitute. As much as the physicians might be pawns, I'd rather the sick seek them out than throw away every copper they have after a false hope."
"Of course," Emmera says, nodding her head slightly as she steps to the side, "Sorry for holding you up so abruptly, time could be of the essence after all." Once she leaves, Emmera will head back out to the street to meet up with the others.
Emmera shakes her head, taking her hand off her blade as she does so. "Of course not Ma'am, but as you said you're a rather important member of the community. We thought you might have heard something that could help us with out investigation, especially with so many of the... ill coming to your shop." Emmera was honestly only guessing that the woman in front of her was the proprietor, albeit a fairly educated one. She also wasn't going to fight too hard to keep her here much longer - all they had was suspicion and claims at the moment after all, and the woman's words rung true to her ears as well. Emmera had a pretty good feeling that the 'cure' would turn out to be worthless... but for now, they had no reason to keep her.
It's difficult to look imposing when almost all of your face is obscured, but Emmera is fairly sure resting one of her hands on her blade doesn't hurt. "We've been investigating the plague, and received a tip that someone in this area may have... some connection to it. I don't suppose you know anything about that, do you?" She wasn't even technically lying - 'profiting by preying on the ill and misinformed' was a connection after all.
"Well, that's interesting..." Emmera murmurs as a woman she didn't see enter the shop exits and makes a beeline to the adjacent allyway... where Akiki had gone. Trying not to think too hard about what Akiki might have been doing to draw attention, Emmera moves towards the way back down to street level, calling to Thaven over her shoulder if he isn't on the way as well. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do if - or when - she intercepted the other woman, but this was hardly the first time had leaped in to help someone else without fully thinking about it. ...At least this time nothing was on fire.
With all that she can see from her and Thaven's perch on the rooftop, it's hard for Emmera to not think about the enormity of the impact the plague was having on the city. From the crowds at the temples, to those desperate enough to try even the most outlandish possibilities of a cure below, and all the bedridden - or worse - in between, it was hard to believe that anything they could do would just... put a stop to it. And to be honest with herself, it probably wouldn't. The best they could do is maybe stop it from spreading, but even then the number of people effected... well. She glanced over at her rooftop companion. "How do you manage it, Thaven? Seeing everything in the city from the sky all the time? Even here, I can't stop thinking about the impact the plague has had, even if we somehow find an actual cure."
* This is the cost for a 5th-level cleric to cast remove disease from their spell slots. Every 5th-level and higher cleric probably has the spell prepared in all their available slots every day. Except, you know, the one under orders to maybe actually solve the root problem. She has Prayer prepared. And was kind of wishing she had prepared Water Breathing instead. But that's beside the point.
Emmera chooses to accompany Thaven, but for reasons more aligned to Raijinn cloaking himself. While her bandages may make her seem to be afflicted with something to the casual eye, her equipment would also easily identify her as a cleric, or at the very least some sort of warrior, and it would be unlikely that the bodyguards would let her through.
I also continue to wait for an update.
Emmera dips her head a bit in thought. "I... believe I can bless us with a similar, if not identical, effect. However, I'm afraid I've already prayed for my spells today. We would need to wait till tomorrow for me to assist. I do have a supply of my own gold should we need to pool together to purchase any potions." "And speaking of cures... is everyone feeling alright? It wouldn't do for any of us to come down sick." She intentionally leaves out the presence of the wand - the last thing she wanted to do was start a riot because someone overheard she was able to cure the disease. As far as she knew, they were probably the city's best chance at actually stopping the epidemic, and they couldn't afford to lose anyone. "Was your bite taken care of, Raijinn?" She hadn't forgotten the events of yesterday either...
Coin flip here - having prepared Water Breathing seems a little like metagaming, but on the other hand the strange ship was mentioned several times and given that the hope would be that the group is investigating today, it's not unfeasible that Emmera wouldn't have thought of it. On a 1, I prepared WB; on a 2, Prayer:
I'll make my spell selections next post/a bit later. I've been working on a character for another game, and between that and not being at my computer recently, I've not had a lot of time to plan spell slots. ...I also apparently didn't save the changes from level-up, so I need to fix that too :p
Emmera wakes up in a cold sweat, pain fading as quickly as the dream does, though the memories that fueled it linger slightly longer. It was a familiar dream - nightmare, really - but not one she had had for a while, certainly not since she had arrived here. Had something triggered it? Raijinn's situation had had parallels to her own, certainly. On the other hand, she felt... different. More... receptive, in a way. Perhaps the dream was more than just a nightmare... Regardless if it was or not, the fact was that Emmera did indeed find herself more open to her goddess's power during her morning meditations was a welcome discovery. She took it as a sign that she was on the right track, and vowed to herself and Iomedae that she would do her best to keep her new companions from falling into less than honorable paths. She got a surprise of a different sort when Majenko suddenly shows up, winging into her cell as she finishes buckling on her new blade. Once she realizes he's a friend, and in this case a messenger, she thanks him for the information before he zips away to... well, wherever he was going, she supposed. She took a moment to inform Brother Garm that she was off to meet with the others, then made her way towards the Citadel. She arrives a bit later than the others, after Akiki has joined the group. "Greetings everyone," the bandaged cleric says, nodding to each in turn. When she realizes there's a face she does not recognize, she asks, "Another... friend of yours, Goffred?" She hopes the pause was the right length to get the meaning across, doublespeak was not a skill she practiced often.
I don't believe Emmera and Majenko have met? I certainly don't remember who he is, so...
Emmera is confused for a moment when Garm says 'yesterday', then she realizes exactly how late it was. Regardless, she nods her head in
She takes the wand with a nod of thanks, sliding it in along with her scrolls in her pack. "I shall leave in the morning, with some luck they may have come upon a lead tonight. They might even come here first to ask if I'm coming." Emmera smiles to herself at that thought, though Garm wouldn't know due to her bandages. It was an odd feeling, knowing that there are those that might consider her an ally due to her skills, after so long being 'notable' only for her scars and their imagined significance. It wasn't a feeling she could put a name to, but... it was good.
A thief, now that the party has a LG cleric. Oh this is going to go swimmingly I'm sure. Snark aside, hi! I'm a little busy at the moment, but I'll try to dig up the reference picture so you know how my character looks at the moment. That is, assuming you aren't going on an archive binge of some sort?
Ah, for the record, Water breathing's duration, when cast, is split between all creatures touched, and has a total 2hr/level duration. It's also on the Cleric spell list, so I can not only cast it, but since I have Scribe Scroll, I can make scrolls of it. And scrolls are made at half the price of potions. And, since scrolls are spell-completion and not use-activated, the full duration doesn't have to go on one person. Again, just for the record ;)
Let's see here... Level 5:
Feat: Alignment Channel (Evil)
Emmera turns around as she hears Goffred call out, curious what he wanted. She thought he might be wanting to give her details on how to find him or the others again, or possibly thank her for saving Raijinn's life, but she certainly wasn't expected to be presented with Girrigz's sword. She took it without immediately responding, a brief period of uncomfortableness as she remembered the last time the weapon was used. It was only a brief period, however, and she quickly shook it off. A blade was only a tool, an extension of its wielder, not something with a mind of its own. A fine tool as well, she noted as she drew the blade to inspect it (carefully so as not to accidentally hit anyone in the close quarters). A bit of Raijinn's blood still lingered, of course, but the glint of silver was also unmistakable - a valuable quality, that was for certain. the Korvosan Guard insignia also reminded her of the weapon's ultimate origins. Resheathing the blade, Emmera looked up at Goffred and nodded in thanks. "A fine weapon from the looks of it, and I'll put it to much better use than its previous owner. Thank you, Goffred. Now, please excuse me, there are many people to help, and I need to do what I can."
"Were-bite, Brother. And the affliction that implies." Superficially, it was the lesser of the two injuries, but it was also the most important to deal with since Raijinn was stable at the moment. "A spell allowed me to know with certainty, but I don't have the capacity to cure it. I still have some power left for raw healing, but I didn't want to close the bite wound in case it was important." Emmera shifts slightly, looking back at the masses gathered. "Unless there's something I can do here, I am going to go help the others." She waits a moment to see if Garm says otherwise, then (if he doesn't) she moves off to find another Brother or Sister to assist.
I know Emmera wants the sword. Don't worry. I have a plan. Ah, good. Because I couldn't figure out a way that wasn't out of character :p
Assuming there aren't any permanent decorations on it that Emmera would object to as a cleric, she would take the sword. The chain shirt doesn't interest her, the ring of protection wouldn't do anything, and she'd not try for more than it.
Emmera mutters a curse - a mundane one - as her spell reveals what has happened. Before she can say anything, she finds herself being presented with potions. Startled, she takes them and starts to unstopper one before seeing Raijinn's eyes open. She sets them aside instead, within easy reach of Raijinn should he want them, and turns to Goffred as he inquires to Raijinn's health. "He's contracted Lycanthropy," she says plainly, "No offense to those assembled, but time may be of the essence. I don't have the power to cure it myself, but I believe Brother Garm should. I can heal the rest of his injuries, though it'll take some time.
Thaven might be quick, but Emmera is already there; by the time the ranger is half-way to Raijinn, Emmera is already kneeling beside him, white light emanating from bandaged hands as she pours positive energy towards the chest wound. All the while, she recites a prayer, beseeching Iomedae to heal him. Once the wound seems stable, she turns her attention to the bite wound. This time, she doesn't enact healing, but divination. If Girrigz had infected Raijinn with anything due to that bite, lycanthropy in particular, time could be of the essence in getting him to a more powerful cleric.
As projectiles begin to fly through the air, Emmera murmurs a quick prayer as she moves her shield-hand across the length of her sword. As she does so, the blade begins to glow with energy. When she finishes, she brandishes the blade before returning to her original stance... with the glow left behind in front of her. With a thought, she sends the blade of force zipping forward to Girrigz where it attempts to slash at him, while Emmera herself follows behind to support Raijinn.
I wouldn't have done much anyway, other than keep a defensive stance for Girrigz's inevitable attack.
Emmera keeps her guard up as Goffred pulls one of the wererats past her out of the smoke. They might have dropped their weapons, but there was still a third that hadn't come out yet. She was also listening to Goffred's speech behind her at the same time. She still felt he and the others were misreading the wererats' intentions (or at least that of their leader) but if one or two of them could be persuaded to act in a more positive way, that was much better than any other alternative.
While a bit slower to react, and slowed down by her armor, Emmera moves similarly to Raijinn. As the tiefling deftly dodges the wererats' attacks, the aasimar sets herself next to him, shield and sword to hand, ready to block or absorb her share of blows. She might not have Raijinn's mobility, but magic-imbued steel would present no less difficult a target.
The thin layer of cloth over her nose is scant protection from the smell, but emmera is thankful for even that as they shuffle into the sewers. She readies her shield as they do so, though she keeps her left hand free to steady herself should she slip on something. When Burahl mentions he's going to sneak ahead, she speaks up, matching his volume, "Wait, come back here a moment." Presuming he does so, Emmera concentrates for a moment then places her now-glowing hand on the ratfolk's head. For a brief moment he seems to almost imperceptibly glow as well, then both recede. "I've imbued you with a tiny bit of divine presence, it should help make your words more believable while active; simply will it to be so. It only lasts for the once though, so mind how you use it."
Emmera has a pause to match Raijinn's before nodding. "As I said, I hope I am wrong and we can reason with him; if not immediately, at least after we get him to a position where he cannot cause trouble. This road has been walked many times before, and the Order has been part of efforts to stop more than a few of them. Sometimes, like now, the root cause can be empathized or even agreed with. When those in charge are blinded by hate, or believe the end justifies the means however..." "In any event," she transitions out of the argument as she stands up and collects her equipment, "we do need to do something about it before they begin whatever plan they have. That, I believe, we fully agree on." Moving towards the door, she stops at the threshold and looks back at Goffred, "I believe I may take you up on that offer," ...because I'd much rather this be on the right side of the history books.
I was going back over the previous posts and I realized I missed the OOC question invitation. I think Emmera would have asked about what Harrowing actually is, as well as any recent Harrowings she had done for the group. I'm fairly certain I've read the appropriate one when I was glancing through the archives, but a link/summary wouldn't be bad so it's easier to find again :)
Emmera looks at Raijinn for a moment as and after he speaks. While she agreed that it would be preferable to detain rather than kill (presuming he couldn't be reasoned with) she was more worried about the first statement he made. Yes, hate could be constructive... but being 'constructive' didn't always mean 'beneficial'. "An interesting proposition," she eventually responds, "Consider, however, his motivations. Wanting power implies he is dissatisfied with the lot life has given him; the desire to take it by force the belief it is society itself keeps him from rising to his true... potential. Whether or not that is true or a fabrication in his own mind is irrelevant, the fact is that he would hate everyone he considers 'above him'. If he is resorting to an open attack while the city is weak, that hate is likely a driving force behind every decision he makes. And when it has progressed to that point," she pauses for a moment, matching Raijinn's earlier blaze with a glint of her own. "Hate leads only to suffering, for all involved." After that hangs in the air for a moment, Emmera relaxes a bit and continues, "I agree, however, that it would be preferable to subdue rather than capture. There is almost always hope that those that have turned to evil might yet be convinced otherwise. I merely wished to point out the very real possibility that that might not be plausible, depending on the circumstances and his own actions. That is all."
Oh, sorry, I was really busy RL when you posted and I forgot about it. That said, I don't have much to do really, so feel free to move on as far as I"m concerned.
"Agreed," Emmera nods at Thaven's comment. "I'd rather be trying to find whoever spread this disease, but letting this be is inviting disaster of a different type yet no less severe." She then turns to Eries, "I know this may be hard to hear, but there's no easy way to put it: you realize that based on what you've told us, there's a fairly good chance we'll have to put your brother, and possibly his followers, to the sword to get him to stop, right? We can try to capture and imprison him, but I want to make sure you're aware of the likely outcome of this." It sounded cruel, but it was the truth, and hiding it was likely to do nothing but cause heartache and resentment later. She couldn't not do anything now that she knew of the problem, but at least she could let Eries let it know it was coming.
Jokes aside, I think we're all ready to move on? I'm fine to keep Emmera yapping, but I think we've just about exausted everything short of me asking about personal back-stories in response (and that doesn't really fit Emmera).
"Hmmm. In the short term, I will be telling Garm of my suspicions. Even ignoring what you've revealed, the presence of the Grey Maidens is worrying. If the plague is connected as well..." Emmera takes hold of the holy symbol around her neck and bows her head for a moment, looking pensive. "The senior members of the church are wise, they won't do anything overt inside the city or out of it; Iomedae promotes tactics, after all, not mindlessly running at evil. Still, I presume they'll start making preparations, if not now then certainly when more evidence presents itself. If it comes time for an uprising, I'm sure our clerics and paladins will be among those making the charge." She hadn't completely eliminated the possibility that Fredo, Burahl, and the others were mistaken, or purposely misleading her, but something told her she wasn't wrong in trusting their suspicions. Garm probably would agree with her, but she couldn't say for certain that the higher ups would listen to Garm, not with as little evidence she had personally seen. "As for me, Iomedae seems to have guided me here. I see no reason I shouldn't continue to aid you... or join you, if you prefer to consider it that way. You seem to be in the think of things, by chance or fate, and it would be against most of what Iomedae stands for me to walk away just because the immediate danger is past."
Emmera nods. "I suppose that's fair. Let's see..." It took a few seconds to decide where to begin. As she starts to speak, she slowly begins unwrapping the bandages around her right hand. "Ten or so years ago, my village was attacked by a goblin raiding party. My house was set alight in the process, and I ran back in after realizing my sister was still inside. I got both of us out, but I was... fairly horrifically burned in the process." "I most likely would have died to the wounds, but a paladin had seen the smoke from afar and arrived a day or two later. He healed me before leaving to chase down the goblins, which for most people would have been the end of the story. I, however, was left with this." The cleric raises her hand so that the now-unwrapped back is visible to the others. At first glance, it appears to be covered with a network of scars. A moment later, however, a soft glow quickly traces the lines before disappearing again. Glow and scars, glow and scars, rhythmically as if timed by a heartbeat... She begins re-wrapping her hand as she continues, "The healing energy awakened some touch of celestial blood in my veins from a long forgotten forefather, causing both that pattern and my connection to Iomaede to manifest. The rest is rather straightforward: after the paladin returned, he brought me to one of the larger temples where I was trained in combat and how to hone my divine powers. I started wearing these bandages after one too many times where people thought I was some sort of avatar. I am an aasimar, yes, but other than that I have no claim to power more than any other blessed cleric. As for Brother Garm, I met him when I was assigned here... a little under two years ago." Finishing the wrapping, Emmera looks back up. "That's about it, really. Unless you have questions?"
"No, I have not," Emmera replies to Goffred, "Although, as I believe I've mentioned, I seldom leave the temple, so I've no idea whether that tale is well known among the citizens." She is silent for a short time, processing everything that she'd been told. It appeared that the group had been gathered together by Zellara to fight a common foe, and presumably had caught the attention of the Field Marshal during the process. They had thus been sent out to hunt down the woman suspected of the King's murderer, one Trinia Sabor. Trinia, however, managed to prove her innocence to them, despite the efforts of the Queen's mage to force her into a false confession (which is when Brother Garm met them). Despite this, the queen still had someone executed under the name of Trinia, presumably as a scapegoat. At face value, it seemed a tall tale, a story meant to stir rebellion and incite a coup. Two unmentioned pieces of information made it ring true, however. First, Garm had vouched for them, and he was as good a judge of character as any she had met, in the church or out. Second, the creation of the Grey Maidens, a force that seemed to have no purpose but to allow the Queen a personal hand in things, despite already having the guard and Sable Company. Zellana herself helped to prove the first part of the story as well. Perhaps they were stirring the pot, so to speak, with their newspaper. If it was the actual truth they were spreading, however, then both the secrecy and seemingly shady methods made sense. If evil had taken a seat at the head of power, masked behind an image of good, then a direct assault would be foolish and doomed to failure. Better to be the shadowy tactician, spreading the seeds of truth till they take root before de-masking the despot and restoring good to the throne. "Very well," she says at last, "Your story rings true. I don't think many would believe it at face value, but I've seen just enough to trust your tale. It does raise some troubling thoughts, to be sure, and I will certainly be discreet about whom I tell this information to. Thank you, for trusting me with this." She nods her heads at each of them. "What now? I presume we wait for Eries to arrive and deal with the situation at hand?" Emmera is referencing the plague, of course. While the Queen may now be a looming threat, there was a much more immediate one that needed to be dealt with.
I could use the TL;DR version of the 'public face' of the Trinia events. Emmera's not *that* cloistered, she'll know at least the general facts from gossip she overhears.
If you'd prefer I archive binge, go ahead and say so here before making the IC post, no need to waste any more time than need be :p |
