The Death of Golarion - Chapter 1: Pestilence

[MesiDoomstalker]

Mal looked at the baby briefly. He didn't have time to suss out why it was crying or how to fix it. As he turned to ford through the throng of people, his tail slipped the vial back into its resting place and then snaked its way around Jacyln's belt. If she tried dashing off, or if heavens forbid, if someone tried snatching her, he'd know before they got more than arms length away. Come now Jaclyn. We must find the priest. Don't stray too far, don't want us getting separated in this crowd. He pulled her gently closer to him, both by her belt and by her arm. He kept one eye trained on Jaclyn and Emric while the other scanned the throng for danger and finding a path through the madness.

Spoiler: Perception cause why not?

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[roll]1d20+4[roll]
24 from the OOC

[userpay]

Ahkox rubs his chin. "Torkal's might be a bit to bloodthirsty for this mission. Need level heads for this potential conflict should it come to it. Personally I'd like to take half of Gerrick's and half of Mintos's. Minto's helps provide the unified front while Gerrick's can lay in wait and make them think twice about pursuing but if I'd have to chose between one of the squads... Minto's. When it comes down to it we don't know what to expect so being able to weather the storm would be better than trying to flee it and tripping on an upturned rock."

[Kallimakus]

Laura lowers her blade, before letting it drop and charging ahead, drawing her sword in a smooth motion before making a cut against the wolf. She remembers her teachings. Strike first. Strike hard. Do not allow threats to remain. She never felt at home with that thought.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+5)[14] Charge attack (-2 If I can't charge)
(1d8+4)[10] nonlethal damage
(1d20+9)[14] intimidate (might have an unaccounted penalty against animals)

[ArendK]

Brianna looked at Korbach with a quizzical expression as the soldier continued on his way. Since when were soldiers that polite, and especially to a tiefling in Cheliax? She ran her hands through her hair and felt her horns distinctly poking out above her hair, her tail swinging in the breeze. She'd made no effort to hide her heritage.

"We got a little time maybe. Think it might be related to the disease?" Brianna asked Korbach as she watched the soldier carry on his way. She tried to remember the soldiers face for future reference, including any insignia.

Spoiler: Intelligence roll for memory

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(1d20+4)[5] Intelligence roll to remember.

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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A mysterious figure clad in strange red robes approaches. As his robe parts a bit, Malrut finds himself staring at a rodent, about four feet tall, with strange copper rings through his ears.

"Pardon me, sir. That's a mighty fine baby you have there. Could I...purchase him from you?" He clinks his coin purse with a creepy grin.

Spoiler: Ahkox

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Alicia nods and makes a note. "Very well. I will make the necessary preparations. Get yourself ready to leave and meet me at the city gate in an hour."

Spoiler: Laura

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The wolf whimpers and staggers back in surprise. As Laura moves to strike again, a whip coils around her wrist.

"Beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but I'm afraid if you touch my dog again, I'm gonna have to tear that arm out of its socket," a polite, but cold voice declares. From behind the trees steps a dwarf with a full brown beard wearing a five-gallon hat and blue suspenders. He steps onto the snow with a crunch, and Laura can see he has on a pair of boots with silver spurs on the back.

Spoiler: Brianna and Korbach

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Korbach nods in regards to Brianna's question. The two of them make their way to the town square, where Brianna spies a building has collapsed to the ground. There is rubble all over the area and several dottari, Hellknights, and citizens alike are working together to move pieces of debris out of the way. A woman is crying as a female dottari comforts her. "Don't worry, ma'am. I'm sure we'll find your son quickly."

[userpay]

Ahkox nods and heads off to gather what he needs which, admittedly, isn't much. The half-orc already keeps his pack ready to go at a moment's notice so it is only a matter for him to pass by his room before being ready to head to the meeting spot.

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Ahkox

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After thirty minutes, Alicia arrives at the location. She stares at him and frowns. "That's all you're taking? You...hmph. You sure seem confident..."

She sighs and rests her shoulders against the town's wall. "I wish I had your nerves...even though I'm glad we stopped the declaration of war, these people were responsible for burning our crops. And we're walking right up to their doorstep. I don't have a weapon, I mean...I've never even killed a spider before. I'm...scared, Ahkox."

She looks up at him with an innocent fear in her eyes. The fear of a civilian, being asked to do a soldier's job.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Malrut stared, dumbstruck for half a second before Mal's grip on Emric tightened ever so slightly and he pulled Jacyln closer so she was nearly attached to his hip. In a cool, disinterested voice, not looking quite at the ratfolk, he spoke. Sorry sir, the child is already owned. I am delivering them to their rightful owner. I doubt they will relinquish a fresh purchase easily. He moved to walk past the Ratfolk, keeping himself bodily between the Ratfolk and Jaclyn, Emeric tucked tight in the crook of his arm.

Spoiler: Bluff

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10....

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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"Hmm...You already sold them, did you? That seems odd. Where is the tag attached to the boy to indicate his buyer? Not a very efficient business. No, no. Here, I will double whatever the other man is paying for you. I just need a fine baby for my...experiments."

[MesiDoomstalker]

Spoiler: Malrut

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"Hmm...You already sold them, did you? That seems odd. Where is the tag attached to the boy to indicate his buyer? Not a very efficient business. No, no. Here, I will double whatever the other man is paying for you. I just need a fine baby for my...experiments."

Firmly, Mal speaks, not turning nor breaking his stride. No. How I conduct business is not your concern. Begone. Mal continued walking, purposefully, looking straight ahead. Though he kept his ears trained for the scampering of small feet behind him.

[Kallimakus]

Laura stops and chooses not to struggle. She lowers her whip-bound hand and turns to face the new face, taking in the somewhat odd appearance, and curious choice of pet. "Perhaps you should consider not having your wolf menace lone travelers" Laura says defensively. "I will find my quest much harder should I be devoured by a beast." she says snidely. "and who might you be, out here in the wild."

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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The ratfolk moves out of the way.

Malrut reaches the temple and finds the high priest standing there. He frowns as the tiefling walks in.

"You do realize that baby is crying, don't you? Ugh...here." He rummages around in his desk before finding a soft tube-shaped object and gently pressing it to the baby's lips. Emeric happily starts suckling on the tube and quiets down.

"If you're here to yell at me about some evacuation, you can save it. I won't be leaving this city until everyone else has cleared out. The risk of injury is high, and the people need to know where their healer is if that happens."

Spoiler: Laura

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The dwarf chuckles and places a hand on one of his pistols as he steps forward. He uncoils the whip and strokes his hound's head. "He didn't mean anything by it. You just spooked him, is all. Ain't that right, boy?"

The wolf howls mournfully. The dwarf nods and looks up at Laura. "He says he's sorry."

The dwarf stands up and brushes a bit of dirt off his jacket. "Right. Where I come from, it ain't improper to tell a lady your name before you ask hers. So, I'm Jack Russell III, and this is my faithful companion, Terrier." He sticks out his hand.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Mal relaxed as Emeric's crying ceased. He had almost started to tune out the whining. That's very noble of you Sir, but not why I am here. Olivia sent me to retrieve any information you have managed to procure. I don't have to remind you of the urgency.

[Kallimakus]

"My name is Laura Eide." Laura says, flashing a smile. "Pleased to meet you. I'm sorry I hurt your pet... Terrier, I think his name was. I'd love to offer to undo the hurt I caused but such a feat is still beyond me. So what are the two of you doing here? Maybe we could help each other?" she asks, making sure she keeps her tone pleasant and letting the last part hang in the air.

[userpay]

Ahkox laughs and holds out his arms. "One can't always depend on having every piece of equipment upon them at all times Alicia, I'd rather learn to cope with what I need than learn to depend on what I don't. Besides don't need to be giving noone more handholds on me."

Still there's a sobering look in Ahkox's eyes as he lowers his arms. "Don't you be worrying none about that however. I'll keep ya protected, it's why I'm taking armored troops with us after all. We approach under peace banner and their reaction aught to tell us what we need. As much as I want to clean their clocks I ain't going to do anything reckless with non-combatants around."

[ArendK]

Brianna didn't wait for any further guidance. Despite her smaller frame, she was strong. She pushed her way to the front of the crowd; looking towards the Hellknights in charge of the group trying to help. She set about trying to lift the various debris and pieces of the house looking for the child.

Spoiler: Mechanical stuff

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(1d20+1)[5] Strength check to lift and move heavy things
(1d20+3)[5] Perception looking for indicators/traces of the missing child.

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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The man blinks. "Ah. Yes, quite. After looking into the situation, here is what I have determined."

He produces a map and points to a small cavern on the outside of town. "Some sort of strange, unholy energy is emitting from this place here. I believe that is what has caused this strange outbreak of lycanthropy in our area. These beasts are not merely humanoids that must now contend with an illness. They are rabid, feral, eager to spread their condition as quickly as possible. And I say that because we have witnesses saying that they have seen a lycanthrope bite someone repeatedly to make sure their venom took, but not kill them. What else could such an aggressive, and yet reserved, action indicate than a desire to increase their numbers?"

Spoiler: Laura

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The dwarf frowns. "I was summoned to the top of this mountain. Someone called me, telling me that I had an old debt to pay. It's gonna be a long climb, what with the snow and all, but we'll make it in about three days, I'd say." He pats the wolf's head. "What about you, little miss?"

Spoiler: Ahkox

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Alicia sighs and nods slowly. "I...trust you. And maybe after we get back, we can -"

"(Orcish) Brother Ahkox, it be good to see you!" a boisterous voice bellows.

Alicia quiets herself as a massive orc warrior carrying a .32 caliber rifle in one hand walks up and slaps Ahkox jovially on the shoulder. "(Orcish) These humans be crazy, yeah? Thinkin' they can try and pull one over on the king? Nonsense! You and me, we lucky to get out there before the horde. Great honor in slaying their captain for ourselves."

Mintos smiles and then adjusts himself and bows politely. "(Orcish) But! Fair is fair, yeah? I will offer a trade. You let me get at least three of the small fry, and I will make sure you are the one who gets the killing blow on their commander, yeah?"

Ahkox understands this. Though he is technically less experienced than Mintos in regards to combat, he is considered to be of a higher rank than the orc because of Makorock's approval towards him. If Ahkox does manage to kill the Hellknight commander, he will demonstrate to all present that Makorock's trust in him is valid and secure himself as a prominent member of this court.

Spoiler: Brianna and Korbach

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Brianna makes her way over to the commander, mostly getting in everyone else's way as she does so.

Spoiler: Hellknight Commander

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"What do you mean, 'four of them are home sick'?! This is a goddamn emergency!" the man demands. Brianna cannot see his face behind the dark helmet they all wear, but she imagines he is furious right now.

"Sir, we simply don't have enough - "

"Then why do I even have a squadron? I'll do it myself!" The commander brushes past Brianna angrily and starts digging through the rubble with surprising speed. By the time Brianna manages to approach him again, five large stones have already fallen by the wayside. The commander gently helps a woman out from beneath the pile.

"Oh, thank you, sir knight!" she exclaims with relief.

"Ma'am, I know this has been a difficult experience for you, but to catch the one responsible for this collapse, I will need you to submit what you witnessed just before the building collapsed as testimony to one of my men."

"Yes, of course." She bows politely and walks over to speak to one of the hellknight guards. The commander continues to dig. Without being able to see his eyes, Brianna can't tell if he is ignoring her or if he simply has not noticed her presence yet.

[ArendK]

Realizing she was in the way, Brianna ducked out of the way. She attempted to meld into the crowd, and eyed the woman pulled out. She scooted to the edge of the crowd and attempts to listen to her report.

Spoiler: Ear Hustling

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(1d20+3)[4] Perception to do some ear-hustling.
(1d20+1)[3] Stealth check to not be obvious/get caught.

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Brianna

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Brianna cannot make out anything that is being discussed. One of the guards steps in her way. "Excuse me, Miss. Please do not impede our investigation. We will make a statement to the press when we have gathered enough information."

[MesiDoomstalker]

The man blinks. "Ah. Yes, quite. After looking into the situation, here is what I have determined."

He produces a map and points to a small cavern on the outside of town. "Some sort of strange, unholy energy is emitting from this place here. I believe that is what has caused this strange outbreak of lycanthropy in our area. These beasts are not merely humanoids that must now contend with an illness. They are rabid, feral, eager to spread their condition as quickly as possible. And I say that because we have witnesses saying that they have seen a lycanthrope bite someone repeatedly to make sure their venom took, but not kill them. What else could such an aggressive, and yet reserved, action indicate than a desire to increase their numbers?"

Mal studied the map as the priest explained what he had found, nodding slightly. I'm sorry, Sir, to contradict your assessment but I don't think that's quite the case. If those afflicted are attacking without mercy but being incredibly careful to injure their victims repeatedly to inflict the curse on other I don't see how that makes them feral or rabid. The precision and ability to understand the reasoning behind this action (whatever it may be) and show enough restraint to execute it as such precludes feral or rabid as descriptors. Savage or brutal, but not rapid or feral. Shifting Emeric to the other arm, Mal continued. And while I agree, their method of attack does indicate a desire to spread the curse, I can think of at least one reason to attack in such a manner; fear. Unless I'm mistaken, a newly infected lycanthrope is no more under its infector's control than I under Madam Olivia's control. Swelling their numbers only works if they are able to convince those they infect to join whatever cause they champion. It is possible they are going through the effort to spawn more lycanthropes as a fear tactic or as a method to reduce the cities ability to deal with threats in the near future by depleting its resources.

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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The priest frowns. "If you believe that to be the case, you are welcome to do so. Regardless, there is something in that cavern, something...dark. It needs to be explored, if we are to put a stop to this curse and eventually return to our village."

[MesiDoomstalker]

Mal's cheeks flushed just a shade darker red. Ah... yes. Of course. Thank you for your information; I'll inform Madam Olivia at once. Come Jacyln, lets go find Mommie. Mal turns and leaves, hoping to avoid another unsavory character on his return trip.

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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Olivia is very busy with the evacuation effort. She's calling for people to move and get out of the city quickly. When she spies Malrut approaching, she nods. "Good. That is the look of someone who has the information I was looking for. What's going on?"

Spoiler: Korbach and Brianna

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Korbach leads Brianna to the city gates, where the two of them can rent a horse with his gold. They mount the beast and begin on their way.

Spoiler: OOC

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Brianna needs to make a DC 13 Fort save to avoid contracting this strange disease.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Mal greeted Olivia briefly before explaining. The Priest detected a large source of unholy energy at a cave on the edge of town. He believes that's the source of this outbreak. Additionally, the lycanthrope attacks are odd. Their victims are bitten repeatedly but not killed. The priest believes they are trying to intentionally spread the curse by leaving their victims alive. Otherwise the attacks are brutal. The priest used the terms 'rapid' and 'feral' though I don't believe those to be apt descriptors.

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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"Unholy energy, huh? Sounds like you should go check it out, then. Jaclyn, honey, go with Daddy for right now, okay?"

The human from earlier steps into view and carefully lifts Emeric out of Malrut's arms with a 'thank you'. Olivia clutches his hand. "Be careful, dear."

The man smiles and nods, before leading the two children to safety. Olivia draws a pistol and nods. "Get out there and figure out what you can. I'm going to give these townspeople as much time as they can to retreat."

[MesiDoomstalker]

Mal's face fell, not even fully registering no longer being responsible for the children's safety. Directly. Uh.... His tail fell limp as his lip started to quiver. Of.... of course, Olivia. I'll... I'll do that right away. Stiffly, he turned and left the Dwarf to the evacuation. He moved through the throng of people like a toy soldier, mechanically moving but with no real zeal or enthusiasm. Slowly, as he moved, his posture relaxed somewhat. He started checking his pockets, pouches and miscellaneous locations he stored his reagents on his person, ensuring everything was where he left them. As he approached the edge of town, he ducked into an alleyway.

He pulled up a discarded box and set it up as a makeshift table. He brought out his reagents and laid them out carefully. He produced two metallic vials and began mixing carefully measured reagents and adding them to the two vials. After a couple of minutes, his concoctions were complete. One would suppress his scent; useful when approaching what is likely a den of wolfmen. The other would heal his wounds though he prayed silently he'd not need it. He slotted the two vials into his bandoleer, just above the mutagenic agent he always kept on hand. He swiftly repacked his reagents. His step were somewhat more confidant now, knowing he was prepared the best he could be. He moved on wards towards the cave.

Spoiler

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Prepped CLW and Negate Aroma.

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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Malrut heads in the direction of the cavern. As he approaches the dark pit, he listens carefully. There is no sign of any enemy anywhere, and he cannot hear any animals (wild or otherwise) circling around him. From the distance, he can hear the sound of gunfire. Perhaps most of the lycanthropes have already begun their attack on the city?

Malrut draws closer to the cavern, and as he does so, he spies a strange, glowing red door barring the way.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Spoiler: Malrut

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Mal slowly approached the door though he kept a safe distance. The door was obviously magical but what enchantments were upon it he couldn't fathom. He needed to enter the cave so there was no other option he could figure.
Before approaching further, he retrieved two of the vials from his bandoleer and downed them in quick succession. His limbs felt looser and more spry while his judgement suffered. Though he didn't notice it, the extract suppressed his natural smell.
He crouched and approached the door slowly, before testing the door by poking the handle with a nearby stick. Assuming the stick didn't cease to be in violent fashion, he gripped the knob, turning it. He doubted it be unlocked but he had to try.

Spoiler: Stat changes

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Mutagen boosts Dex by +4 and reduces Wis by -2. +2 to Natural Armor as well. Main stat changes are as follows;
AC: 20
Touch, FF, and CMD: 15
Init: +6
Ref: +8
Will: -1
+2 to all ranged attacks

[NeoSeraphi]

Spoiler: Malrut

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The stick does not budge, and when Malrut tries the door, it does open, but an alarm goes off.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Spoiler

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Mal jumped and scurried from the door, hiding himself in the brush. He laid perfectly still waiting for whoever or whatever would respond to the sound.

Spoiler: Stealth

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(1d20+8)[12]