"We need to chat a bit with Kang about the goings-on in the slaughterhouse. However, we also need to heal up a bit. Could any of you arrange for us to meet up with a city stalker at the temple of Pelor?"
"Aye, we'll do that. We'll take that Sawfish Boy into custody, until this is all figured out. Give me a quick rundown of the evening's happenings first though," says the guardsman on horseback.
You don't have to write all that out; he just wants to know what needs to be done to secure the slaughterhouse...
Head out? Stovie comes with you..."Ahm gennae be kyip an aye on yer, MaechHaemmaer....yer hool kith in kin is nae but trabble."
"Ah, yes, the slaughterhouse... Firstly, there's the undead."
"Ah, Kord,...." the horseman oaths.
He shakes his head; then to the guard: "you lot, get to the slaughterhouse NOW. Anything comes out, kill it and ask questions later. Don't go in though, believe you me there's reinforcements coming.
You guys, (to the party) take that.....sawfish....boy over the church after all."
He rides for the barracks as if the host of four Abyssal layers is on his trail, blowing his watchmans' horn.
"Hiss a hewull lae trooble yerr him ere,.....Maechaemmaer...," Stovie O' th' Nightwatch brogues.
Elgan senses that between the two dwarves, man's law isn't as important as dwarven history; a history that includes decades of bloodfeuding, interspersed with cooperative orchorde repulsion projects.
Can't wait for Stiggy to wake up and meet his new friend.
Oh and if you want to fight him that's cool; I have to stat him oop fairst.
"Tha a Mæch'Hæmmær, enn? Och...Sugwold's mither were caught doon ah mine sharft beeya hroondy duergar!!!"
"Mammy gits a wee bit strange noo an' 'en, ye. Sae, hoo is is yer wee lil brither, di' they ever gie 'at generatin' trooll tossel oot'ay 'is crease?"
"Lit me teel ye, that's a fix fur a fellaw tae be in."
"'E's lucky mah broothers 'appened bay, Ah'll teel ye. 'At trooll was in th' wey o rip heem in half by his jobby shaf'."
"Hwuh?" Stovie looks a tidy shocked for the tidiest of moments...
"Go gcreime cúnna ifrinn do bhall fearga!!!"
The true vulgarity begins.
"We aye wonderin' if yer brither was actually thaur gettin' it coz he wanted. Looked tae be sae says mah brither Sammich."
If Beldan wasn't so worried about Pharsia, and turning into a were-fish, he'd probably start giggling...
"Go n-ithe an cat thu, is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat!"
He looks thoughtfully:
"Loyin bastairt! Sammich wes th' Maechaemmaer brether as sheved his chin bald, annit?"
Make it to the temple; the main doors are closed for the night. You beat on the large ringed knockers, and an old doorman in a nightshirt holding a candle opens the portal after a few minutes.
"what's all this racket, to wake a man from his well-deserved rest?"
He looks on the party, covered in the night's wetwork, and recognizes Becton.
"Oh, Brother Becton,...yes, come in come in!"
He summons the High Priestess, Lyra Ivessa, and ushers you all downstairs to the infirmary.
Stovie tells Stiggy: "Nah enoofiyerr foul trap, ye git. We stand on holy gruind."
She shows up a few minutes later, a stately middle aged woman in a robe and nightgown:
"Brother Becton, and friends,......what hath transpired here?"
"Ah, um, your holiness, it is a long story..."
"..and my girl's on drugs," Beldan adds.
She hands Beldan some wolve's bane; it's too late for it but, "it couldn't hoit." Actually it could, but they can cure that up.
She can't cure lycanthropy; he'll have to go to the capital for that spell.
She offers a blood test though...
Take the blood test?
"The blood looks pretty red. If you were infected, it would turn black due to the silver poisoning. I'm....pretty sure you're clear of the curse...of course nothing's one hundred percent accurate."
"..and my girl's on drugs," Beldan adds.
Another cleric clears that up with a spell; Pharsia's back in the doldrum world of the sober, though she has a crushing headache.
Everybody else with wounds is cure light wound spelled up to maximum.
Altai: she looks shocked when she sees the wand. She repeats what it is...
"I don't know who the dark riders were, but this all sounds really bad. I've had my suspicions that something unsavory was amiss of late,...
I think you all did a good days' work this night for Saltmarsh, and for the side of the Angels in general. I'm going to call an emergency meeting of the town council tomorrow morning.
I....don't think I've ever seen, or heard of anything like that hooka before."
Damn Stiggy, they let just anybody into the watch anymore don't they? You would think they would look for people with some sort of ability or pedigree......
a) The fact that several locals and "pilgrims' - all dressed in Pelorite regalia - were down there too. Apparently, getting high, but also giving themselves over to some dark ritual involving the hookah - something I would ask Altai to show the woman at some point.
Becton:
She'll learn of the identity of the pilgrims when she talks to the council on the morrow.A paladin escorts the unconscious werefish to a holding cell.
"I'll also bring up the matter of the underground chamber you've discovered. Orcus? This sounds bad. We won't worry about recompense here anyway; I can't speak for the Archbishop of Salinmoor and a cure for the lycanthropy; I however think Beldan is clear. But I shall write a letter to request he aid you, if that is what you wish. You'd have to travel there, within three days of exposure to lycanthropy."
(The capital's about 1 day's ride to the east, along the old coast road. I have to look the spells and prices up later if you want to go get curified).
An hour later, one of the nightstalkers appears; an elven ranger named Firdaanan, and gets everybody's sitrep again.
"We found those pilgrims, they're still pretty stonered.
Upstairs we found 12 mares in the stable. Jet black destriers (warhorses). Ten were with foal, and two had recently given birth.
We'll take Mr. Sawfish into custody from here. Where are you guys headed? Are you hanging around Saltmarsh for the next day or two, or what?"
Damn Stiggy, they let just anybody into the watch anymore don't they? You would think they would look for people with some sort of ability or pedigree......
Stovie's yap pops open to retort with Gaelic curses, then..."Yeh jin watchoorsilf, sport. I'll hallya hinn ferr distairbun th' piss. Wair in a chairch, doonya know."
"Yep, test away your high priestessness."
Pharsia: "It's not....communicable,...is it?"
Again; the Priestess comes up with "you're probably okay, but,....nothing's 100%."
heh heh....House..."Is it lupus?"
“Not unless I bite you,” jokes Beldan … and then probably needs to spend like the next two hours telling her, no, I was joking, no, I’m not going to bite you, look I probably don’t have it anyway, it was just one time and I was wearing protection…
Elgan traipses along with the group. He remains his usual silent, stoic, woodsy self, not really having anything to add, (though he does actually utter a few words about 'abominable undead' when that part of the tale is told). He observes the apparent tension between the two dwarves with concern at first, then unconcealed mirth as the bickering continues.
"I assume you found the two dead hell-horses as well? The ghoul fatties talked about the 'foals growing fat' on the smoke of dreams - which they were inhaling through this." Altai pulls out the nightmare hookah, showing it to anyone interested.
"If the last ten horses are pregnant, the foals might be infected or possessed or something like that. They surely bear watching."
"Where are you guys headed? Are you hanging around Saltmarsh for the next day or two, or what?"
"We were thinking of going back to our house - Vander Anderhoff and some of his thugs took off for some unknown location last evening, and I worry that they might be headed for the manor."
He looks thoughtfully:
"Loyin bastairt! Sammich wes th' Maechaemmaer brether as sheved his chin bald, annit?"
"Och aye, he ne'er was th' sem efter seein' a troll buck a dwarf a th' crease."
Becton gives his thanks for all her help, and the aid of her sanctuary. I'll let Beldan decide, but given her testing - I'm tending to think that a trip to Salinmoor for a cure won't be needed at this point. If he does want to go, then I'll be happy to accompany him.
As mentioned, whoever's splitting up the coinage, my cut would go to the church both as a 'thank you' and to cover any supplies that were needed to take care of this mess.
I'm thinking that a watch should be kept on the slaughterhouse as well - to see if Vander comes back sometime before our next meeting with him. I think he'll be surprised.
Otherwise, unless we are needed for another task here in town (or perhaps the priestess has further tasks or news from the council that need to be checked on), I think a trip back to the mansion is in order. Don't forget to bring some rum for the brothers who are watching our place.
Altai pulls out the nightmare hookah, showing it to anyone interested.
"Me see hooker before - me just wonder where you hide it before. You have very big pocket! Hmm - maybe Jane like hooker..."
He looks thoughtfully:
"Loyin bastairt! Sammich wes th' Maechaemmaer brether as sheved his chin bald, annit?""Och aye, he ne'er was th' sem efter seein' a troll buck a dwarf a th' crease."
** spoiler omitted **
"Weel. Hae. Wairts. Mae'ammmaeh."
It's about 3 a.m. whatcha gone do?
"How are you Pharsia my sweet? Tell me what happened ... if you want to talk about it ... You knew I'd come and get you, right?"
Beldan was all for heading back to the manor, but he's exhausted now, and he wants to spend some time with his girl, not a forced march through the dark swamp.
His vote is back to the Lizard's Boat for what's left of the night. "Anderhoff took off like six hours ago ... if he's making mischief back at the Manor, there's not much we can do about it if we leave now or if we leave tomorrow."
"I don't,....I don't want to talk about it now, okay?"
"I'll tell you later, maybe. I smoked something. I don't know what was real, for sure."
His vote is back to the Lizard's Boat for what's left of the night. "Anderhoff took off like six hours ago ... if he's making mischief back at the Manor, there's not much we can do about it if we leave now or if we leave tomorrow."
Elgan nods.
"Yeh, Dey be t'ings dat cum out o' da swamp et nig't. An' mos' o you don' see nun too gud in deh dawk. Some o' y'all don' watch where yer walkin' in da daytim'! A few hours o res', a meal, an' leaf in de mornin', an' we'll prolly git dere about da same time as if we lef' righ' now!"
If no other business,...
the morning mist is beginning to roll in; Kialee admits you all to the Boat. The hissing monitor is sleeping somewhere.
"Kord and Cuthbert! Ye look like you've all been to Iuz! What on Oerth?"
She heats up some stew, and passes you all hot toddy's; hands Stiggy the rest of the whiskey bottle she poured it from.
She gets the story.
"Orcus, huh? Things are getting strange around here."
Harvak eats, then heads off.
"This is all,.... I hate the city. I need to go for a hike in the moors, get back to nature. I'll see you guys after a few."
With that he heads off.
(he can come back, and I'll catch him up on exps, but I don't see the point of dmpc'ing him for much longer. If he shows up,....well, he's done with his walkabout and just reappeared. Sounds cool, or do you guys want the extra muscle?)
I'm leaving it open for him to come back; it just feels cheesy to me trying to figure out what I/Harvak would do bereft of my d.m.'s omniscience...
If he shows up,....well, he's done with his walkabout and just reappeared. Sounds cool, or do you guys want the extra muscle?)
In the morning, Pharsia tells her story.
"Kinto and his thugs attacked us yesterday morning. They barged in, kicked the door in, and beat Vaulter really bad.
They put me in a wagon and took me to the slaughterhouse. I was terrified, but too frightened to cry out.
Vander was actually very nice. Kinto,...there's something wrong with him. Vander told him 'not to harm a hair on my head, and if he wrongfully inferred that meant to disturb other parts of me, he would pay dearly for his feigned ignorance by cruel measures and degrees.' Kinto shuddered then. There's something wrong with Kinto.
Vander too, I'd guess. He is charming though.
So Kinto got me dressed in that weird black getup, then you guys came, and talked. I thought I was in for it then when they brought me into that room. I wanted to run to you, Beldan. I was so scared.
Then you all left, I thought I was dead.
They were worried, or anxious about something. They put me in Vander's room and locked me in. I could hear them arguing but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
Then they came in, and he said he had to go talk to Kid Blackmoor about a lot of things, about Shaky, and about Fingers, and about the weapon acquisition that I now ensure; and he'd be back in a day or two; that Kinto should let the Resurrection Man's people do their rituals and watch over me; that Kinto should defend the place if Beldan comes back, or the authorities.
Then the Resurrection Man's people came. They make Kinto look like an altarboy. The one in the skull mask told me that he liked the look of me, and don't worry because the Resurrection Man would too. I'd be treated real nice.
So they told me to drink something, and smoke something; and I....not that any of this made any sense, but none of the rest of the night did either. There was a frog man, with a bagpipe head; I saw him a few times. There were screaming people, and there were two colts that smoked something and started turning into stallions before my eyes.
And there was Orcus! He was there, holding me in his arms, but he felt cold all over, not warm. And he whispered things to me. I....don't remember what. But he was there. Whispering, in a voice like the one last breath."
She looks stone cold now; no tears. No emotions. Stone. Cold.
Beldan sits stricken for a few moments, not saying anything. Then he takes Pharsia’s hand. “You know I was always going to come back for you. I would have paid the ransom then and there … but it wasn’t going to go that way, they weren’t going to let you go. If Becton and I had tried to bust you out then … we all would have been dead. But I’m so sorry … I wanted to get you out then. I’m sorry you had to go through … all that.”
“Orcus … it was just a statue. Just cold stone, I saw it, I lifted you out of it’s arms. It was just a statue … the whispering … it must have been what they made you smoke. Skullface … he’s dead. We cut him down, me and Gittik. We cut off his head to be sure. He .. .can’t do anything to you now.
“The frog, the colts … that … was real, but don’t worry, we dealt with them too. And we’ll get this Resurrection Man too. Don’t worry. They won’t be coming back.”
He strokes her hand.
"Huh... Some priests can speak with the dead, right? He does still have his mouth..."
He's human; Suel descent; he was solidly built with icy blue eyes and prematurely white hair, long and tied in a bun under his helmet. He looks to be in his early 30's. Perfect teeth. Rather severe moustache and a forked white beard, and pointy sideburns (hah!)
I'll have to look at speak with dead some...