Chapter 24 - Not Today!
General Summary
The Temple of Teeth guests settle down for the wait. Cilly 'Wechselbalg', having pulled through for the second time, concentrates on making her elixir, which should take roughly two weeks (by Mittelheim measure). Dietmar having avoided transforming into a ratman, still feels changed, but he is not sure how. He spends days in the enchanted woods beyond the clearing, praying for his curse to be removed, but to no avail. The rest wait for the Plague to grip them. The elves set aside an area of the temple for the visitors: they don't want to get too close, but are also not acting like they are particularly concerned. As they wait, Eddi uses the magical pearl recovered from Alfred, dips it in the water fetched from the Pool of Insight, and tries to scry her husband husband Friedrich. He seems to be in a bad way: shaggy, unkempt, cold, and drinking up the rest of the aqua vitae her companions left behind. She must go to him, she says, but is reminded that she now carries the plague. Resolved to go as soon as she overcomes it, she begs Reinhard to send his owl to look in on him, and to bring a message that she will soon return. Some time is required to resummon the owl, as the old one perished, but a day spent in the woods gathering wood for charcoal and herbs for incense pays off. The plague doctor is able to summon a snow owl, and to send it off toward the portal with a message for Friedrich. She and her comrades also notice red and pale white flowers growing in the places where they shed blood to take trees and other plants from the soil.
In the next few days, everyone is preoccupied with their own concerns, as they wait for the Dance to begin. Klawuhn continues to struggle against Albenheim's, and Reinhard continues to magically shield him from it. Desperate, he confesses to Dietmar, and finding his way to God, feels relieved.
At long last, the Plague comes. Dietmar is stricken first, but perhaps all his prayer in the woods pays off, and he recovers in less than two days. But just as he breaks his fever, the rest of his companions get afflicted. Dietmar tends to his companions, but he is being spread thin, though Cilly helps out from time to time. The worst afflicted is Reinhard, who has the greatest experience with the Plague. He worsens over a period of three days, and only intensive care, fumigation of the miasma, bloodletting, and much prayer is able to save his life. Miraculously, all of the companions have been through the Plague, and lived.
Surviving the Plague in Albenheim seems to result in particular benefits to the survivors. Cilly's pock marks sparkle from time to time. Dietmar feels that his are a blessing, no less than the crucifix burned into his hand. Klawuhn is inexplicably cured not only of the Plague, but also of his Albenheim sickness. Reinhard and Nit also have side effects, though they keep them private. But the most profound effect, at least in terms of how much it's discussed, is Eddi's. The buboes under her arms have turned to fish scales, and she is profoundly affected by it. She talks about feeling that the sacrament of her marriage has somehow dissolved, and she fears the worst. She starts pressing her companions to allow her to go back to the Pool of Insight to "catch the fish". Though cured, she sounds unwell to them, and they refuse to let her go alone. All will accompany the fisher except Cilly, still hard at work on the elixir, and Reinhard, who has researches of his own to pursue at the temple.
Prior to leaving, Cilly must pay for the water of life by producing an offspring with Klawuhn, as she has promised. Prior to the ceremony, the dark elf admits that despite having been raised at a whorehouse, he is a virgin, but the elves encourage him all the same. On the appointed day, they summon magical darkness, and sing with otherworldly voices as the deed is consummated. As she acquires the final ingredient, Rán suggests that she might strengthen her elixir by adding an ingredient linked to the Sensenmann - particularly, some piece of the hourglass. She discusses it with Reinhard, though inconclusively.
As begins her second week of soaking, decanting, and heating, she also uses her time free from elixir-making to begin to study the elvish language. Rán - her instructor, warns that she is impatient, but is willing to work with her for the time being.
In the meantime, most of her companions return to the Pool. Her companions attempt to dissuade her from thinking that God has abandoned her, and urge her to think of her unborn baby. She counters that she is not really sacrificing her life, at least, not in the way they think.
As they arrive back at the pond, they inevitably run into The Guy, sitting at a tree, and greeting them in his raspy voice. Eddi offers him a magical helmet in return to for his name, but characteristically, he begins to haggle, offering them the numerous magical items of his own manufacture...
Missions/Quests Completed
- Plague survived
- Baby conceived (?)
Character(s) interacted with
Report Date
30 Mar 2021
Secondary Location
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