Chapter 23 - Albenheim in a Time of Plagues

General Summary

Upon return to the Temple of Teeth, the drunk and exhausted Cilly is laid upon a bed in the room given over to her. Klawuhn, too, is in a bad state because of the effect of Albenheim's light, and must receive the attention of his comrades to keep from being consumed by it. Aside from Eir, who is willing to sit with Cilly through the night and provide what healing she can to her affliction, the elves seem content to look on. Some even chide the members of the group for talking much about dealing with the Plague on a large scale, but shying away from aiding their own companion for fear of catching the dread disease themselves. They are also curious about the Franz's disappearance, and about the appearance of Nit, gathering about her, and almost sniffing the air about her in delectable expectation of... what, exactly?
Dietmar, however, has his own concerns, which revolve around his impending transformation. He has Eddi secure him outside the temple with a rope, and begins to drink the rather disgusting concoction of lavender, peppermint, marigold, sage, pepper, onion and garlic that he has been using as a tonic for several nights. The assembled crowd looking on see his pupils shrink and begin to dart around, his hair stand on end, and his teeth to almost acquire a rodent-like quality. The friar begins to feel queasy and offers up a prayer to prevent his transformation. This involves pulling out his cross, which the elves immediately notice, and then start to loudly demand that he put it away as he was specifically instructed not to bring it into their realm. Dietmar stands his ground, and refuses. The dreadlocked Kara steps forward, and the crucifix catches fire. Yet the priest holds on to it regardless. Reinhard summons up swirling shadows in defense of his comrade. The conflict is about to spill out into the open, but Eddi succeeds in getting the priest to relinquish his cross, which she then conceals up her sleeve. The outlines of the charred object have seared themselves into Dietmar's hand, regardless. Kara moves toward Reinhard to try to calm him, but the damage in relations is done. The two part without fully resolving the tensions between them. Nit's attempt to convince Reinhard to calm himself does little to help, either.
Dietmar spends the night retching and shaking, but without transforming. He tries to cause stigmata to open up on his extremities, as he would to a creature of darkness, and succeeds. In the morning, Reinhard determines that although the potion to keep him from transforming seems to have worked, the curse has now become permanent. What's worse, the night's ordeal makes the companions too exhausted to be of much help at Cilly's bedside, though Eir does help to minister to her with compresses, salves, aqua vitae rubdowns, and the burning of pleasant herbs. Nit takes over at dawn, and may help to keep Cilly alive with encouraging songs when it looks like the apothecary is fading. Perhaps Dietmar's prayers help, too. Cilly herself is rearing to get to work on her elixir, though the elves attempt to impress upon her that it may be a time-consuming process, and that she should do well to attend to her immediate problem. Yet her daredevil nature won't let her stop, and she keeps pressing the elves to give her the water of life - a product of their occasional group merrymaking. Rán, in principle agrees, but insists that the price would be to entice the priest into their activities. Nit, also seeking trouble, tries to entice him into doing so, but to no avail. In the end, Cilly volunteers that she will grant the elves her firstborn in exchange, and nominates Klawuhn as the father. To this, the elves seem favorably disposed, and agree, as the scions of light and dark elves are frequently used as changelings.
Cilly dedicates herself to grinding and crushing the ingredients for her elixir, though she learns that the soaking and decanting will take her two weeks at least to complete. She does improve slightly throughout the day, and by next morning, she seems to have broken the fever. She has survived the Plague, for the second time. In the meantime, however, Dietmar has a revelation that all the rest of his companions, himself included, have contracted the disease, despite the fact that its origin was the Pool of Insight, and not, initially, exposure to sick individuals or their miasma. There are serious decisions in store for the group - to go back, and risk infecting others, or to stay with the elves, who seem inclined to wring every last advantage out of them? Nit spends the time conversing with Carrot the Donkey, who informs her that he is also a musician, and interested in joining her troupe.

Missions/Quests Completed

• Cilly survives the Plague (again)
• Dietmar resists transforming into a wererat (at a cost)

Character(s) interacted with

• Elves at the Temple of Teeth 

Report Date

23 Mar 2021