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  1. Quests

Beneath the Skin

Completed
Ally Quest (Order of the Gauntlet)

During the times around Midwinter, on a lazy morning where Horace was spending time polishing Azalin Rex's dragon skull and Ophelia was watching him, enjoying her coffee.

Being an adventurer of the Hawthorne Guild, it is rare one can actually enjoy a lazy day. Indeed, on this very morning, a guard approached Ophelia to let her know that Joshua Favreaux was accompanied by a young blonde haired man who had requested to see her.

The young man in question was Hector. He bore the symbol of the Order of the Gauntlet. While traveling in the area, he received a sending from one of the members of the Order of the Gauntlet. Although the message didn't come directly from Eldal, it had been sent on his behalf to request Ophelia D'Vespere's assistance in a matter regarding Liam's Hold. According to Eldal there are rumors of a curse or affliction in Liam's Hold, he sent some of his men to investigate, a little less than a week ago, but hasn't received words back yet and he was worried.

Ophelia used her ring of spell storing to cast a sending to Eldal and ask how serious the matter was. He replied with the following:

 “Serious enough, no words from my men after a week, a merchant reported something wrong in Liam's Hold, ''lycanthropy, but much worst. Urgent.'' his words.”

Horace and Ophelia teleported to Silverkeep and then traveled to the Daggerford Outpost (Order of the Gauntlet) to meet with Eldal.

They learned the following information:

  • A little over a week ago that a merchant named Colin reported something was amiss in Liam's Hold. He reported increased hostility from the inhabitants with some looking sickly and some villagers leaving the area who told the merchant people were turning into wolf-like creatures.
  • This report is unusual because Liam's Hold is known to be a welcoming place.
  • Eldal sent men to investigate, but he’s gotten no update from them. He had sent them about 4-5 days ago to investigate the hamlet. Eldal is becoming increasingly worried. The person among the scouting group that could cast sending may not be able to.
  • Eldal fears that the matter in Liam’s Hold may pass to other settlements if not stopped in time.
  • Eldal would say that he’s seen many curses and many things. To him, nothing is impossible. He’s heard speculation about the ghost of Liam guarding the tower that perhaps he’s gotten upset and cursed the village. To Eldal, that theory doesn’t sound right, as the ghost has always been said to protect his own tower, not strike out at the villagers. 
  • Eldal doesn't believe the curse to be related to something inside Liam's Tower

After finishing their preparations, the party departed in the direction of Liam's Hold.

On the way, they encountered Dahlia, a Vistani, who asked for their help. See The Tarokka Killer.

 

The pair began to approach Liam’s Hold after a day’s travel, approaching from the west. Some of the houses seemed to be barricaded. The area was quiet when they arrived. One would expect the hamlet to be active, but the area was eerily silent, outside of the occasional noise coming from the northeast. The area smelled like rotting corpses and like death, with a fetid scent in the air.  Humanoid bodies could be seen on the street, mangled or otherwise lacking body parts.

 

Notable features

  • One of the houses on the western side has a symbol of a sheaf of grain and blooming rose framing the phrase “Adele’s Clinic.” 
  • A bit further down the road on the western portion of the town is a small garrison that may serve as a guard post. It is not a large structure.
  • One of the houses has doors that are destroyed, with humanoid footsteps that go outside from the house. 
  • And there was a tower towards the south, known as Liam's Tower

The party approached the clinic and met Adele, a priestess of Chauntea. She was hesitant at first, but ended up talking with the party. After a brief discussion, the party learned the following.

  • Over a month ago, people started to feel ill, being mostly tired, and looking pale, not more than that. Over time, some of those people started to become hostile, and violent altercations were happening more frequently. As time passed, their body started to change, and over the past few days, things have become much worse. The afflicted began attacking even their close ones . They had also started to look like monsters.
  • For the past few months, there were rumors that the water of one of the older, less frequently used wells had become warmer.
  • There was something strange about a man who had reportedly been injured at the well, she had suggested he come see her at her clinic, but he had shrugged it off saying it was ‘’only a scratch’’. He was very vague about the whole incident. He was the first person to start acting weird. She doesn’t know what has become of him.
  • There are rumors that someone was cured from that disease, what actually happened was that person was temporarily cured following a blessing of a priestess in the village.

She asks the party to try and spare the lives of the afflicted, in hopes they can find a cure. She believes something can be done because she was able to temporarily cure some of the villagers.

She thought there were other survivors and that they were likely barricaded in their own homes, just like her. She asked for the party to bring survivors to the clinic, provided they weren’t  afflicted. Adele clarified that she had supplies to last for a few weeks.

Horace suggested investigating the well which Adele told then was located in the northeast area of the village. Adele described her findings to the party: remove curse had no effect, while lesser restoration only temporarily suppressed the madness and symptoms. Those who showed symptoms of irritability could be made to calm down with calm emotions. Those who showed physical changes were not affected by calm emotions.

Adele mentioned the members of the Order of the Gauntlet who came, but she didn’t know what happened to then. Adele explained they were directed to the well and that they were led by a man named “Jorah,” who was fairly confident. Jorah had said he would come back to her when everything was fine.

Ophelia asked if there was any activity from the tower since things had begun. Adele said the afflicted did not try to enter the tower to her knowledge and nothing unusual had happened from the tower since then.

The party headed towards the Tower. As soon as they begin approaching that direction, they were attacked by humanoids that had been afflicted by the disease.

During the battle, Kukuoh, Horace’s horse, fainted from the noxious air emanating from the diseased, but woke up after 1 minute. 

Horace and Ophelia went to Liam's Tower, which is affixed to Holdfast Inn.

There, a child by the name of Nadine answered their knocks and told them about her sister Anna who was missing. She refused to let them in until they found her sister. They went looking for her sister, but found her dead. She asked for the big white ribbon of her sister which they provided to help calm her down. The party hoped they would finally let her in, but she didn't so Ophelia put her foot in the door when Nadine went to close it after getting the ribbon and they entered the inn.They then went to where the tower entrance would be connected and asked for the ghost's help. In return, they didn't get to speak with the ghost of Sunder Halyndliam, but instead to Gloriosaone of the guardians of the tower. Gloriosa refused them entry to the tower, but provided assistance by summoning an elemental spirit to aid them in their quest after the party made a convincing argument.

Nadine was behaving oddly, so they suspected she was infected and left her at the inn, so she wouldn't risk infecting anyone. They brought Anna's body back to Adele, hoping she could resurrect her, but she was unable to. She was able to cast gentle repose to preserve her body for the time being. Adele also clarified that Anna and Nadine weren't sisters, but had been friends. Nadine always wanted a sister, so perhaps it was why she called her a sister.

Afterwards, the party went to the garrison which was barricaded. Knocking on the door resulted in a raspy voiced man responding. After conversing back and forth, it was revealed the man was Jorah. Jorah believes he is not infected, but he is injured. His men has been infected and he keeps knocking them unconscious in hopes someone finds a cure. Ophelia advised him to go to the clinic and to contain his men inside the garrison for now.

 

Jorah agreed and went to the clinic with the party. Adele healed him and while at the clinic, he revealed the results of his investigation to the party. He then joined the party to continue his mission. The party learned the following information:

 

  • The afflicted frequently chop various body parts of the deceased and take them with them.
  • The concentration of the afflicted is greatest around the old well, which is warmer.
  • There is a rumor that someone had wronged Liam and he had taken revenge, but this rumor appears to be false. There seems to less activity around the tower and more around the well.
  • Some people have chosen to stay in town, with others fleeing.
  • There are rumors that someone was cured of the disease, but it was in fact a temporary suppression of the symptoms, not an actual cure.
  • Remove curse had no effect, and lesser restoration suppressed the effects for 1 minute.
  • The disease is bloodborne.

 

The group then went to the house with the destroyed door. There were tracks heading out of the house. Inside the house were a pile of bodies, as well as a man hiding behind the bodies. It was an old man who named himself ''the beggar'' who was hiding out by the bodies. He was covered in blood. After talking at length, the party determined he was an infection risk and they told him to shelter in place. The man gave the party a pair of vials which seemed to be strawberry flavored potions of healing.

 

The party then headed to the well, where they found a greater concentration of afflicted which attacked the party. They were throwing body parts in the well prior to the party's arrival. The party defeated the group non-lethally and advanced towards the well. There wasa foul fungal growth along the rim of the well. The group heard the sound of buzzing in their head, but it faded from the party. It made the party feel confused and disoriented. The well had been drained of water, but body parts have been thrown down.As the party spent time in the area, the buzzing continued intermittently and the fungal growth tried to attack the party, revealing itself to be an alkilith. 

 

After defeating the alkilith, the party climbed down in the well to discover a tunnel where they previously saw a clawed hand snatch a body part. The area lead along a natural tunnel, which was warm, with a horrible stench in the air. The tunnel moved into a labyrinthine area. The tunnel walls were decorated with limbs and gemstones pinned in an erratic fashion.

The party traveled through this strange lair, fighting babaus, bulezaus and afflicted humanoids along the way. The party defeated the demons, but knocked the humanoids unconscious, hoping to find a cure. Exploring the corridors further revealed an area to north where a villager was laid out in a macabre pattern.

 

The party took a short rest and pressed on through the southern path. A room was revealed containing a variety of valuables and body parts. Past it was another woman arrayed in a macabre pattern. Realizing the dead end, the party decided to search for secret doors.

They backtracked to the western area and found a secret magically sealed door. Ophelia was able to suppress the spell with a knock revealing the area beyond. There was an area with a pool of blood with a pair of babaus, and the beggar from before. The beggar had a strange and twisted smile, as he mockingly said “Help.” 

There was a strange film of ooze separating the door from the rest of the room. Ophelia was able to rally the party inside, clearing out the babau with several shots. Jumping through the ooze resulted in a dive through a layer of acid. Jorah moved up, tossing a dagger of recall several times to attack the strange creature. Afterwards, a strange millipede-like creature appeared out of the pool of the blood and attacked the party. It went for Jorah first, while taunting the party in Abyssal and via telepathy. The beggar turned into a demonic wolf like creature and attacked the party as well.  In the end, after an extremely bloody and rough battle the party was victorious.

From the looks of its lair, the party could determine the demon enjoyed feasting upon the bodies of its victims and liked collecting body parts and fancy gems. It became clear to the party the creature was the cause of the disease. At first, it was unclear if destroying the creature would allow others to now be cured, but once they tried to cure one of the villagers, they were happy to see they were successful. The blood pool was seemingly used to empower the creature, as well as serve as means to create and transmit the disease. The party brought the information back and arranged for the Order of the Gauntlets to come help safely disposing of the pool of blood and curing the villagers.

Even though the party was successful, there were still a lot of casualties and it would be costly to bring back everybody. Ophelia having expressed interest into bringing all the villagers back to life, the deceased were kept under gentle repose at Adele's clinic and in various homes who made places for them.