Infection Continues

 

It was the next morning. El Cid's [Shane] "IMAG gift" fists had been throbbing all night.

El Cid wanted to go and punch something. He suspected that the Panadine cure had caused this. He wandered klibwards [north] to the coast road. A REAL patrol happened to be marching along the coast road singing Onward REAL Soldiers. 

Onward, REAL soldiers! Marching as to war.

With the light of REAL, going on before.

REAL the royal master leads against the foe;

Forward into battle, see his light-sticks go.

He was about to engage them in a punching spree, but his sensible consciences (Sorrow [Jeff] and Huilam [Jamie]) made him reconsider.

__________________________

Tylin [Ian], having travelled all night from Fort Augmentin, arrived at Smugglers Meet (an hour from Scabport), and straight away spotted  [with a bit of DM encouragement] Burrito [Stephen Beard for Darryl] and Moonlight [Chris], so he reunited with them.

They spent the morning circling greater Scabport anticlockwise, passing through farms (mostly scab farms) and satellite villages. 

Around lunch time, they reached the Scab river. Not wanting to risk swimming across the swiftly flowing, eel-infested river (it was 400 paces wide here), and not wanting to enter the city itself downstream, they headed upstream to find a bridge, following the river road - the Scab had roads on both sides.

Down a small valley, where a side stream entered the Scab, they came across their cart Carte Blanche. It was upside down and wedged in the cleft of a large rock. They scratched their heads as to how it could possibly have got in such a spot. Two of the three hired-hands were here, sitting by a fire, eating meat off a large haunch. This turned out to be the last remnants of one of Carte Blanche's horses who had got injured in the crash.

The other hireling was off chasing the other horse, the two claimed.

Unable to help with the cart, "We need a crane", they left the two to guard, and carried on.

An hour later, they found a punt, and a willing homesteader, who ferried them across the river.

Several hours later, now heading towards the sea again, they reached the Holbein woods and the Druids' Grove.

Then a couple more hours, and they got down to the coast to reunite with the rest of the group: Huilam, Sorrow and El Cid.

Sly Dunbar, WG Liaison

Huilam took a conch-call from Sly Dunbar of the Wizards' Guild. Dunbar said that the Panadine Priestess Greta Carmichael wanted El Cid brought in for tests. She was having doubts about the efficacy of her magical cure. The "magical poison plague" was in between a poison and a disease. And further research (praying) revealed that neither of the relevant curative spells worked one-hundred percent. 

El Cid’s fists were getting more and more painful, and no significant bashing targets had been found, so El Cid serendipitously decided that he would need to visit the IMAG Temple to have his fists ‘reconditioned’. So the party decided to sneak back into town.

Sneaking in to Scabport after dark wasn't much of a problem. The city has no significant walls, and the guards can't be everywhere. [Sorrow lead a group action and only Moonlight failed the SNEAK roll.] 

El Cid and Sorrow went to the the IMAG temple. They were met by their old "friend" Clara. The group had been told that Clara Haul had been executed (over her errors with Attlee). She was certainly alive, but more of an indentured servant now. She had lost her black sphere; that meant she was no longer a priestess. So this was the first time they had actually seen her face. It was covered in scars, so the guess was that she had ben severely punished for her past errors. Why she was so loyal to the temple was anyone's guess.

Clara took them to the Foundling of Darkness who was still in residence. It was delighted to see El Cid. It "held" his fists in its ethereal hands. El Cid felt a clammy tickling, like dipping your hands in a vat of warm wriggling maggots, but the throbbing certainly stopped. 

Foundling of Darkness

"Now you have to christen them," the Foundling whispered, voice like rustling parchment.

Clara brought forth a wretched gagged girl from the cells, and chained her to a post in the Foundling's chamber. The Foundling whispered to El Cid to punch her in the head "... put your back into it". 

El Cid complied. There was a sickening crunch of bone and gristle. His fist went right through the poor girl's head and even splintered the post beyond. They were all showered in blood and brains. At least she didn't suffer.

The Foundling chuckled.

Clara received her reward. Instantly, her black sphere was reinstated.

The Foundling offered to "redo Sorrow's eyes" but he graciously declined.

They left the Foundling's chamber, and Clara took the two back upstairs again. She asked them what they knew about the Plague, and they mumbled the public knowledge. She reciprocated and told them that she had heard it was a creation of the Wraith King. But that didn't make any sense: Why release it in Fort Augmentin then?

Clara wanted a live plague victim or fluids from one "a few vials will do". She could pay six COIN.

Sorrow and El Cid returned to the group and updated everyone.

Then, they went and visited the Panadines. El Cid and Sorrow were of course denied entry.

Panadine Priestess Greta 

Like the IMAGs, the Panadines wanted a live plague victim to analyze too. Or vials of fluids would do. The Panadines could not afford to pay anything, but Greta suggested to go and see the Knives or the Wizards' Guild. After all, it was in the Knives interest to see Scabport safe.

"But Panadine can gift a Greater Protection From Evil on one of you," said Priestess Greta Carmichael. "It should protect you from the plague, or its bearers. Return to us when you're ready to leave, because the spell has a limited life."

With Carte Blanche out of action, they hired a second cart (Downtime debt), went to the Wizards' Guild, and collected their eight COIN fee for the delivery of the trunk to Fort Augmentin. They also asked Sly if he wanted to pay for the Panadine job, but he said no.

They returned to base.

Tylin and Sorrow went to visit Lieutenant Anton Chung at the Knives base.

“How the hell did you guys get into the city?” he exclaimed. Then he sighed. "Don't tell me ... You're here now."

They exchanged info about the plague. So far the Knives and TGP soldiers were keeping it out successfully. 

Lt Anton Chung

“Plenty of plague suspects shot down by our guards at the Anti boundary checkpoint” he said. "But it's was only a matter of time before something gets through .... like you buggers."

So, they told about the Panadines and the six COIN fee. He sent a runner to Panadine, found out the gist of what they wanted, and so he agreed confirmed the quote.

He then gave the two a Hero of Scabport medal each. 

"This will get you past the Knives soldiers," he said. "Both directions. Just make sure you don't lose them, or give them to anyone else. Oh, normally the TGPs won't honour them, they'd hang you high, but maybe in these troubled times ..."

[ DOWNTIME ]

______________________________________

 

At first light, they went straight to the Panadines, and Huilam had the Greater Protection From Evil cast upon him. [The die was rolled: the spell would last three days.]

Huilam noticed that anything evil - for example Sorrow's black eyes or El Cid's black fists - he could feel it on his skin, like sunlight or hot coals from an open fire. The closer the evil fist was held to him, the hotter it felt.

The group then used the hired wagon [Downtime debt], and headed out of the city back anti towards Fort Augmentin. They thought that this would be the logical place to look for plague victims. The Hero of Scabport medals worked a treat and the guards let them out. They asked the guards if there were any victims around here, but no, we shot and burned them all.

Sorrow misjudges a ford

At the Smugglers Meet, they passed a wagon, and Huilam could feel evil near or in it. But they didn't investigate more. 

During the day, the passed another group which also had traces of evil. Again, nothing compared to the burning of EL Cid's glorious fists.

Around lunchtime, Sorrow, who was driving, misjudged a ford, and braked too late. The wagon turned on a stone and toppled over, rolled down a bank, and smashed a wheel.  [The next Downtime would be costly indeed!] So, they all traipsed on to Fort Augmentin on foot now.

2nd Lieutenant Pigeon

They arrived at Fort Augmentin just before dark. The plague flag was still up, and the guards threatened. But the Hero of Scabport medals worked a treat out here, and they got ushered in to see Second Lieutenant Pigeon. They never met her in the last trip, (having dealt with Barracks REAL Priestess Deirdre and Sergeant Evans), which actually turned out beneficial. Because the story had now morphed into a bunch of low-life pirates called "the Budgie Smugglers", out of Scabport, docked their boat here ("they used a shallop! A frigging rowboat! Haw haw haw!") a few days ago. They brought the plague in to Fort Augmentin in vials from a large magical trunk. Several of the soldiers had drunk these vials of red poison thinking it was a cure-all. Some had got sick, some had died and some had turned.

With Captain Moses gone ("he was a plague victim, one of the first, you see"), Lieutenant Pigeon was happy to have heroes of Scabport in her fort. Yes, she had some ex-soldier plague carriers in the barracks cells. "But we can talk about that tomorrow". It was night now, so she put them up in the Fort Augmentin Travellers' Inn.