Session 020: Let's Split the Party!

General Summary

Side missions
H1 - Duul & Lavug
information
H2 - Slab & Ghozun
[0-00:41:00] By an unexpected turn of events, Ghozun is able to convince the Cyclops to let them look around by promising him mittens. As the Cyclops prepares dinner, the orc-tiefling busies himself with the task, critically succeeding in the endeavor. Joyful, the giant of a man accepts the gift, donning them and passing out, leaving them to freely explore his abode. With minimal search, Slab makes his way to the light-shined podium, lifting the Compass of Zumna from it. As he holds it, the needle moves, and he is contacted by his goddess...
...Pursuing the chest,
H3 - Cyrus
Information
H4 - Emyr & Vex
Emyr -> restocked arrows Vex -> updated journal, purchased  Cured elves awaken and are... fine? Thimbald comes to them and passes on that Lodun has received word of a strange sickness overtaking a village in Ghiz, feeling that their particular skillsets might be attuned to it. Taking Chompsky to the town in question […00:13:00] Emyr goes looking for the nearest doctor or medicine worker, approaching the bartender. He asserts that they have no cures or medicines to tend to anyone, to which Emyr states that they've heard of the illness and have come to offer their services. (Symptoms: fevers, night terrors, vomiting) [00:17:00] Spending the night there uneventfully, they spend the next day investigating the town. Of note, they find that they've been collecting rain water, not trusting any other sources due to the Calamity's corruption. There is a large water container with taps affixed to it, not too unlike a water tower, though far more accessible at ground level. Curious, they check the outside of it to see how it works before setting their sights on locating the doctor. Reaching the medical clinic, they find it to be crowded, with some of the beds makeshift and shoved together, as the office was only designed to hold a mere five patients at a time, whereas she is currently treating six. With her distracted in her treatments, Vex steps forward to get her attention, startling the woman who is very much not accustomed to really anything that Vex is. She's taken aback by the notion of people coming to offer her aid. [Since they had entered town, everything has been giving them a pulsing sensation along their sixth senses, though what has been directly causing it is unknown.] Emyr approaches to study the patient she'd been working on, finding that he has all the symptoms of corruption with no wounds, open or otherwise. She inquires as to whether they are from the medical guild, whereas Emyr introduces them both and states that they are representatives of the Lodun Estate, where they have been seeing multiple cases across the country (and elsewhere) similar to these. They are looking to see if the town's afflictions are related, though Emyr is confused to find that their plague is not presenting in the same manner. Vex proposes that the infection may be due to ingestion or perhaps similar working conditions causing their exposure. Emyr states that these symptoms are still not quite the same as what he'd seen in ingestion cases, and the doctor informs them that the affliction has been affecting people all across town, with the first case being the baker's wife a month prior. She also states that prior to all of this she'd been tending to her brother, who had survived an accident at sea and has since been plagued by night terrors since. Vex immediately requests to speak to him, hoping to help in some manner, if only through the empathy of a shared experience. She informs her brother of Vex's arrival before letting him inside, but when Vex enters the man does not respond, staring blankly out the window. He remains unresponsive as Vex shares his story, and even after. The lizardfolk decides to try to help by sitting beside him on his bed and looking out the window with him, trying to see what it is that he's seeing. Getting nowhere, he leaves with parting words, only for the brother to leave him with the same as he closes the door.

"No, you can't escape. You've already been chosen."

The doctor asks if they were able to help him at all, to which they admit that they do not believe so, but that he might have helped them. In this, Emyr states that an off-hand comment was made, shocking the woman over the fact that he's spoken at all. Emyr affirms that this situation is likely, in some way, connected to the afflictions they'd dealt with previously, and he proceeds to ask a series of questions to see if he can pinpoint the source of exposure. With little else to go on, they go to visit the baker. He offers for them to try his bread, and they accept but state that they've come to inquire about his wife. He brings out a tray of food and drink, stating that 1CP would be fine payment for the rations. He states that his wife had been acting fine, nothing out of routine, and had merely collapsed one day in the back of the bakery. Vex pops a piece of bread after receiving permission to investigate, and makes his way to the area referenced, forgetting that he doesn't actually know what a proper, normal bakery should look like. While Vex investigates (and finds nothing), Emyr starts inquiring about the symptoms she experienced. Apparently, it started with the collapse, then a fever,  followed by nausea, and then night terrors. Eventually, she seemed not to even speak or hold down water, seeming not to even be present any longer, growing paler with each passing day. [...00:45:00] The baker collapses in front of them after stating that the room felt like it was spinning, and they immediately investigate the water and take him to the doctor for treatment. Now wholly expecting that someone has poisoned the water hole. In true Emyr fashion, he immediately tastes the suspicious liquid, though his body rejects it immediately, spitting it out. He realizes that the water is infected, but that the contamination is diluted, explaining both why they've been unable to pinpoint the source and why people haven't been "dropping like flies". As they meet back up, rain sets in. Vex opts to check the water basin directly, while Emyr checks the rooftops, both for possible contamination. [...00:51:00] While there is a cover to the basin, a whole has been broken into the basin, and Vex moves to try to find a way to open the lid, finding that it is locked tight. With little other option, he sprints to the doctor, inquiring with urgency as to who would possess the key to the water tank. She informs him that there is a specific citizen that is in charge of the water system, directing him where to go. Vex immediately informs her that the water tank might be contaminated, warning her not to drink it or provide it to anyone else. Calling a less than graceful Emyr down before he can hurt himself, Vex informs him that he's figured out the source, and they regroup to reach the water caretaker, pounding on his door desperately. Before he can do much more than object, Vex warns him that the water has been contaminated, they've come to investigate, and someone has busted a whole in the lid but they need the lid unlocked so that they can search it properly. He leads them over, opening the lid for them and allowing them to investigate. Accustomed to water and corruption both, and with the lineage advantages of such, Vex leaps in to search. Immediately pulled in a specific direction, Vex popped up to confirm their suspicions before diving down to find the source proper. As he reaches the bottom, he locates a severed, shriveled arm that appears almost mummified. Wriggling out of his vest and using it to retrieve the arm, he brings it up, showing Emyr.

"Sometimes, I hate not being crazy." - Emyr

Cradling the arm, "as one would a deformed child," Emyr gives Vex the opportunity to climb out, and the water caretaker seems baffled by the discovery. Vex warns him that the tank needs drained and cleaned to prevent further spread of the illness. He affirms that he will handle such arrangements once the rain stops, and agrees to inform others to avoid the supply in the meantime. As they climb down, a figure in the rain appears, walking towards them, though their range of sight is restricted to a mere twenty feet. Far from surprised by the reality of it, the brother seen before is the one approaching them, dragging his sister along behind him. He drops the body, looking at both of them [and the alarm?], and begins a broken speech directed at them.
"You've both been blessed. Why would you remove it? It won't stop unless we all are one." - Crazy brother [more quote]
He releases something not unlike an ungodly roar and begins to transform, and behind him come the patients from the medical office, shambling along after him. While one slips in the muck on the way over, the rest approach without issue, and combat begins. [01:11:11 - The now monstrous form of the brother charges Emyr, who is holding the arm even still, temporarily poisoning him; another paralyzes Vex before he can attack. [02:22:00] With a total of thirteen townsfolk dead, the pair proceed with body disposal, giving the tinkerer water caretaker and the doctor funeral piers and those that transformed a fire pit. With the baker still asleep on one of the beds, Emyr goes upstairs to work on a "vaccine" for the man, as well as to search the room for any clues or information regarding the brother. Among other things, he locates a box with a Theocracy symbol on its outside and an arm shaped divot on the inside. Rushing downstairs, he requests the arm in a panic, checking to see if it fits the space and stating that they can go over the journal later. The arm fits snuggly in the box. [...02:35:00] He offers the vaccine to the baker, who immediately requests that he cure his wife first, which he says he will do if she's not too far gone. He refuses when informed that his wife is deceased, and Emyr prepares to kill him when he falls back asleep. However, before he can sleep, the man looks around and changes his mind, accepting the "medicine" and promptly passing back out. Despite efforts to save him, the man dies from the "cure."

Rewards Granted

Ghozun & Slab
+375; 188 & 187GP
Herbet the talking crab + a knitted bag for him

Emyr & Vex
+brother sailor's journal
+An arm in a box
+1 bone sword
+mysterious necklace

Report Date

19 May 2021