JB looks at Kriv with a slightly perplexed look. "That was a lot of words... Okay, so, undead, de Rolo family heirloom, and conjuration magic... Got it... Give me just a minute, you can take a seat at one of the tables here."
As you wait you decide to peruse the area for anything interesting, but all you find is a book of sonnets and a book about the history of Tal'Dorei that, at first blush, seems improperly sourced. JB returns with a stack of five books in her arms. She sets them on the table, which is nearly as tall as she is, with considerable ease - you figure she's gotten used to it.
"So, we've got 'A Necromancer's Confessions,' author unknown, as well as 'A Catalogue of the Undying Ones' by Caroll Almoroff, Priest of the Claret Orders of Wildemount. These should help you with your undead questions," the gnome says, seeming slightly more chipper as she hands you a black book of about a hundred pages and a maroon tome that is a bit thicker. "For de Rolo family heirlooms, I have 'The Founding of Whitestone' by Walter Desnay, Scribe and Companion of the de Rolo Family. And for conjuration magic, I found 'Studying Summoning' by Resdon Q'resh, Professor of Conjuration at the Alabaster Lyceum of Emon and 'Creation and Calling' by Realmseer Eskil Ryndarien." She passes you a few more books and brushes her hands.
"I'll leave you to your research. If you need anything, let me know."
"Thank you VERY much" Kriv says as he sits down at the nearby table.
Not knowing how long his comrades will take, Kriv spends a few minutes giving the books a quick skim...
First... A Necromancer's Confessions... Under his breath Kriv mumbles "hmm... some interesting stuff in here..."as he sets the book aside for later.
Second... A Catalogue of the Undying Ones... To Quoth, quietly: "Ah... even more interesting information in this one... I will have to go more in depth..."
Third... Founding of Whitestone... After a few page turns its clear that the Shield of the Dawn is both an important family heirloom and magical in nature... but not much else. Kriv mumbles "Could've guessed that..."
Fourth... Studying Summoning... to Quoth, quietly (but intentionally maybe loud enough for JB to hear): "hmph... not sure if I should be insulted... fairly rudimentary coverage of conjuration magic". After putting the book down he pushes the book across the table to the other side, somewhat in disgust.
Fifth... Creation and Calling... Kriv spent the same amount of time that he took to skim the other books on the first few pages of this one. "Quite dense!" says loudly with an excited tone! He spends a few more moments to scribble some notes into his spell book before pushing the book to the side before moving back to the first two books.
The rest of you arrive in the Castle Dungeon with Adalbert. It is a long and wide room with ten foot tall ceilings, making it feel a bit claustrophobic. The structures are made of regular stone as opposed to the whitestone the rest of the castle is built with. About fourteen iron doors with bars at about eye level are set into the stone walls. Someone with a hoarse, nervous voice is singing a sea shanty.
"And he that will this health deny,
Down among the dead men, down among the dead men,
Down, down, down, down,
Down among the dead men let him lie..."
A single Pale Guard is on duty, a mid-thirties human woman with fair skin, downturned eyes, and some wrinkles. She looks up from her game of solitaire and shoots a look at you all.
"What have you brought me today, Adalbert?"
"Jailer Meren, these fellows are here to interrogate our seafaring prisoners by permission of Lady Cassandra," the halfling says, handing Cassandra's writ to the guard.
"What more could they possibly learn?"Meren replies with a chuckle, "they practically spilled their guts on the floor the minute they got here."
"Lady's orders, Meren."
"Alright, Adalbert. Right this way, investigators," she says, standing and leading you to the second door on the right. She takes her keys and begins opening it. "Look alive, sea dogs, you've got visitors!"
Behind the door is a ten by ten foot stone room with two cots and a bucket from which a terrible smell emanates. Some plates with a bread crumbs and traces of meat along with two empty pewter tankards rest at the end of each cot. Two humanoid figures are within, a human man with his eyes locked on the floor mumbling the shanty's words and sitting up against the wall on his cot and a half-orc woman stirring from slumber. Meren brings them to their feet and out the door, leaving them in front of you.
"You here to absolve us? We don't want nothin' to do with pirating no more," the half-orc with brown skin and a jutting underbite says firmly, "ain't that right, Lekko?"
"Down, down, down, down..." Lekko, a human boy who looks no more than eighteen years old, mumbles. His blonde hair hangs in his face, obscuring his eyes.
"You gotta 'scuse my friend, here. He ain't been the same since our comrades turned all zombie on us... I'm Zorga. We are ready to receive the Dawnfather's forgiveness."
Meren sighs and says, "Oh, shut it. They obviously aren't priests. They're here to interrogate you."
"Wha... Interrogate? I already telled you everything!" Zorga snaps, then takes a deep breath and exhales. "Sorry... hoo... I'll answer your questions... just please, please let a priest be the next visitor..."
The elf smirks slyly and nods straightening his face before looking the young human over. With a sigh he pulls out a silver flask that has the symbol of the Raven Queen on it. The elf twists off the lid and offers the flask to the boy. "No worries lad, we aren't here for any serious stuff. We're just investigating the undead you told the Pale Guards about." The elf says with a glance to the half-orc seeing as that was the only one capable of talking. "Your friend here is in shock however, horrified by what he saw. The undead are no joke, I'd know myself seeing as I've fast a few in my short life time."
Raziel turned his attention back to the human, "I probably shouldn't give you this one, if you're infected with some curse it could kill you." The elf moves the flask away and gives him a waterskin instead. "So, what's your name Half-Orc?"
"C-cursed?! No, no we ain't, we wasn't touched by none of them zombies!" She exclaims, trying to control her breathing.
Lekko sees the flask and seems to come out of his stupor a little bit. He takes the waterskin and takes a few swigs. This seems to raise the half-orcs spirits a little.
"Water... helps him a bit. Give it here, Lekko," the half-orc says, swiping the waterskin from the boy and drinking deep. "Ah! Hoo... Thanks, elf... Never thought I'd say that in my life... My name is Zorga. Me and Lekko here served under Captain Whitemane Balkor of the Harpy's Hate."
"Raziel, worked for the Meat Man in Ank'harel. I took care of the shadow kind of work. Anyways, what happened exactly? To your friend who turned I meam?"
Raziel's tone was serious but relaxed. He hoped that his bluff would work but that was yet to be decided.
"The... Meat Man?" Zorga asks with a growing smile. "You're some kind of butcher's boy?"
"The Meat Man is one of the big crime bosses in Ank'Harel, Zorga," Lekko pipes up, looking at Raziel with a sudden steely determination. "It wasn't our friends who turned. It was all of gods-damned Shadewatch Cove. A secret meeting place for pirates in the Salted Bluffs to trade their stolen goods and discovered booty. An old, old chest of coins was found and brought there, and everyone who laid eyes on it just... wanted it. Not because of the gold, they just felt that they... had to have it. The captain of the ship that brought it in... Harlock of the Tassarion, I think... never let it out of his sight... Four days ago a fight broke out when the crews of the other ships, Zorga and I included, wanted the gold for themselves. Some of his men fought with us, but most remained loyal to the bastard. In the end, Harlock was stabbed in the back by his first officer. They tossed his body overboard, and we divvied the gold among ourselves.
"Then the next night, Harlock's body washed back up into the cove. We thought nothing of it. Then Zorga and I woke up on our ship to hear a commotion over on the Tassarion. We rushed above deck and saw... Gods, it was Harlock. But his white and blue flesh clung to his bones, sea creatures had eaten away parts of his flesh, his eyes burned with hatred... He had come back from the dead to take revenge on us. He fought with the strength of ten men, and no matter how many blades cut his flesh or arrows pierced his body he fought on. Harlock would... suck the life out of people and they would come back as husks under his command... People were dying all around us. Zorga and I emptied our pockets of gold, hopped on a skiff, and got the hell out of there... As far as we know, we are the only ones left..."
Zorga stares at him, dumbstruck. "Uh... It's as he tells, Sir Raziel. And friends. A curse of undeath."
Edward listens to the pirate's description of the events. "That's quite the tale lad. Tell me, did you see the chest of gold? Where there any runes inscribed on it or anything that looked magical about it?" He asks in a fairly gentle tone, sensing the distress in the young pirates voice.
"I... no, I never saw it, but the gold coins looked... old. Not moldy or grimy, not at all... But I couldn't understand the writing on it. I figured it was foreign."
"Hmm damn shame. I knew of Captain Balkor. A good man, corrupted by greed. I suppose that ultimately lead to his demise..." Edward ponders for a while before turning to Lekko again, "The writing on the coins, boy. Could you draw it?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Codric casted Zone of Truth when they start talking to the pirates.
The young cleric coughs a little bit when the jailer says that they aren no clerics.
“Ehem excuse me Sir in fact I am a cleric of...” but the ongoing conversation with the prisioners take his attention.
“If you allow me “ he says to Zorga as the boy explains the tale he examines her in search of wounds, signs of any disease. Once he ends with her he do the same to Lekko. His hands moves sharply, and efficiently, while listening to the events.
Medicine: I put two rolls just in case, if only one is needed just use the firsts one:
Zoltra: 10
Lekko: 20
“So the only undead that was killing people was this former Harlock Captain?”
Your spell takes affect and it appears that the two pirates fall under its sway. Nothing about their explanation changes, though; they are being truthful.
You examine their bodies for any signs of disease. Lekko does not appear to be ill, but maybe a little malnourished. Zorga bears scars on her body from what you guess is some kind of pox she survived when she was younger, but other than that she appears to show no outward signs of illness.
"Well... once the other undead rose, they started killing too... but they weren't as quick as Harlock. They... what's the word... shambled. They couldn't use weapons. They didn't have a hateful look like the Captain.They didn't appear to have any feeling at all..." Lekko trails off, another haunted look coming over his face.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Codric taps the shoulder of Lekko trying to comfort him.
“Well. “ he says “I do not find signs of disease or infection. I do not think you are going to change. You are ok. You are safe now.” He taps Lekko’s shoulder again.
“One more practical question. Have you already marked this place you talk about in a map? We could find it useful. “He waits for both of them to answer. “Another one if you don’t mind. Among the things that you had in your ship or in the others. Have you seen by any chance a shield with the de Rolo family crest?”
Can Codric identify the type of undead that the Captain turned? A Religion check? 4.
Natural 1!!! LOL Does D&D donate 100$ for our natural 1s too? ;)
Raziel crosses his arms as he stands by Codric eyeing him slightly and then back to the pirates. "Sounds to me like it could be some sort of vampirism, assuming that the captain didn't turn into some sort of a specter or wraith." The elf said as he looked back to his companions, "If you haven't done it, I suggest silvered weapons or alchemic silver. Less you have magical weapons." Raziel looked to the two pirates again, "This part is very...very important. You need to tell these two men if the captain was a ghost or ghost like. If not, then this could be interesting. I however, need to go take care of some personal stuff before we decide what to do."
With that, Raziel slips away from the group and heads back towards the room where he met Cassandra.
Edward sighs, sympathetic to the boy and the horrors he witnessed, "Ok, we'll be sure to relay that to our elven friend, wherever he has disappeared to. What about the coins? Zorga, do you recall what the inscription on the coins was? It may give us a clue as to the nature of this curse"
"I dunno much about languages, sir, but I kind-of recognized it. We raided an island in the Shattered Teeth 'bout six months ago. Place had some cult on it. There were an altar where they killed things. It had weird letters carved into it... and it kind-of looked like that on the coins. Didn't you see that too, Lekko?"
"Don't remember..." The boy replies, his eyes still glued to the ground.
"Oh wow, and a cult as well? Wonderful..." Ed buries his face in his palms, looks up and slowly draws his hand crossbow. "Did the letters look anything like these?" He says calmly, indicating at the runes inscribed on his weapon.
"I... no. No, I don't think so. They was different than those ones," Zorga admits. She turns her attention to the young cleric. "I barely remember what they look like, I'd fool myself trying to draw them. Sorry, sirs."
Jailer Meren sighs and steps forward. "Alright, I'm getting tired of standing and watching. If you've got enough information, then go and I can lock them back up, but if you still wanna chat, I'll go play solitaire."
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JB looks at Kriv with a slightly perplexed look. "That was a lot of words... Okay, so, undead, de Rolo family heirloom, and conjuration magic... Got it... Give me just a minute, you can take a seat at one of the tables here."
As you wait you decide to peruse the area for anything interesting, but all you find is a book of sonnets and a book about the history of Tal'Dorei that, at first blush, seems improperly sourced. JB returns with a stack of five books in her arms. She sets them on the table, which is nearly as tall as she is, with considerable ease - you figure she's gotten used to it.
"So, we've got 'A Necromancer's Confessions,' author unknown, as well as 'A Catalogue of the Undying Ones' by Caroll Almoroff, Priest of the Claret Orders of Wildemount. These should help you with your undead questions," the gnome says, seeming slightly more chipper as she hands you a black book of about a hundred pages and a maroon tome that is a bit thicker. "For de Rolo family heirlooms, I have 'The Founding of Whitestone' by Walter Desnay, Scribe and Companion of the de Rolo Family. And for conjuration magic, I found 'Studying Summoning' by Resdon Q'resh, Professor of Conjuration at the Alabaster Lyceum of Emon and 'Creation and Calling' by Realmseer Eskil Ryndarien." She passes you a few more books and brushes her hands.
"I'll leave you to your research. If you need anything, let me know."
"Thank you VERY much" Kriv says as he sits down at the nearby table.
Not knowing how long his comrades will take, Kriv spends a few minutes giving the books a quick skim...
First... A Necromancer's Confessions... Under his breath Kriv mumbles "hmm... some interesting stuff in here..." as he sets the book aside for later.
Second... A Catalogue of the Undying Ones... To Quoth, quietly: "Ah... even more interesting information in this one... I will have to go more in depth..."
Third... Founding of Whitestone... After a few page turns its clear that the Shield of the Dawn is both an important family heirloom and magical in nature... but not much else. Kriv mumbles "Could've guessed that..."
Fourth... Studying Summoning... to Quoth, quietly (but intentionally maybe loud enough for JB to hear): "hmph... not sure if I should be insulted... fairly rudimentary coverage of conjuration magic". After putting the book down he pushes the book across the table to the other side, somewhat in disgust.
Fifth... Creation and Calling... Kriv spent the same amount of time that he took to skim the other books on the first few pages of this one. "Quite dense!" says loudly with an excited tone! He spends a few more moments to scribble some notes into his spell book before pushing the book to the side before moving back to the first two books.
The rest of you arrive in the Castle Dungeon with Adalbert. It is a long and wide room with ten foot tall ceilings, making it feel a bit claustrophobic. The structures are made of regular stone as opposed to the whitestone the rest of the castle is built with. About fourteen iron doors with bars at about eye level are set into the stone walls. Someone with a hoarse, nervous voice is singing a sea shanty.
"And he that will this health deny,
Down among the dead men, down among the dead men,
Down, down, down, down,
Down among the dead men let him lie..."
A single Pale Guard is on duty, a mid-thirties human woman with fair skin, downturned eyes, and some wrinkles. She looks up from her game of solitaire and shoots a look at you all.
"What have you brought me today, Adalbert?"
"Jailer Meren, these fellows are here to interrogate our seafaring prisoners by permission of Lady Cassandra," the halfling says, handing Cassandra's writ to the guard.
"What more could they possibly learn?" Meren replies with a chuckle, "they practically spilled their guts on the floor the minute they got here."
"Lady's orders, Meren."
"Alright, Adalbert. Right this way, investigators," she says, standing and leading you to the second door on the right. She takes her keys and begins opening it. "Look alive, sea dogs, you've got visitors!"
Behind the door is a ten by ten foot stone room with two cots and a bucket from which a terrible smell emanates. Some plates with a bread crumbs and traces of meat along with two empty pewter tankards rest at the end of each cot. Two humanoid figures are within, a human man with his eyes locked on the floor mumbling the shanty's words and sitting up against the wall on his cot and a half-orc woman stirring from slumber. Meren brings them to their feet and out the door, leaving them in front of you.
"You here to absolve us? We don't want nothin' to do with pirating no more," the half-orc with brown skin and a jutting underbite says firmly, "ain't that right, Lekko?"
"Down, down, down, down..." Lekko, a human boy who looks no more than eighteen years old, mumbles. His blonde hair hangs in his face, obscuring his eyes.
"You gotta 'scuse my friend, here. He ain't been the same since our comrades turned all zombie on us... I'm Zorga. We are ready to receive the Dawnfather's forgiveness."
Meren sighs and says, "Oh, shut it. They obviously aren't priests. They're here to interrogate you."
"Wha... Interrogate? I already telled you everything!" Zorga snaps, then takes a deep breath and exhales. "Sorry... hoo... I'll answer your questions... just please, please let a priest be the next visitor..."
The elf smirks slyly and nods straightening his face before looking the young human over. With a sigh he pulls out a silver flask that has the symbol of the Raven Queen on it. The elf twists off the lid and offers the flask to the boy. "No worries lad, we aren't here for any serious stuff. We're just investigating the undead you told the Pale Guards about." The elf says with a glance to the half-orc seeing as that was the only one capable of talking. "Your friend here is in shock however, horrified by what he saw. The undead are no joke, I'd know myself seeing as I've fast a few in my short life time."
Raziel turned his attention back to the human, "I probably shouldn't give you this one, if you're infected with some curse it could kill you." The elf moves the flask away and gives him a waterskin instead. "So, what's your name Half-Orc?"
"C-cursed?! No, no we ain't, we wasn't touched by none of them zombies!" She exclaims, trying to control her breathing.
Lekko sees the flask and seems to come out of his stupor a little bit. He takes the waterskin and takes a few swigs. This seems to raise the half-orcs spirits a little.
"Water... helps him a bit. Give it here, Lekko," the half-orc says, swiping the waterskin from the boy and drinking deep. "Ah! Hoo... Thanks, elf... Never thought I'd say that in my life... My name is Zorga. Me and Lekko here served under Captain Whitemane Balkor of the Harpy's Hate."
"Raziel, worked for the Meat Man in Ank'harel. I took care of the shadow kind of work. Anyways, what happened exactly? To your friend who turned I meam?"
Raziel's tone was serious but relaxed. He hoped that his bluff would work but that was yet to be decided.
"The... Meat Man?" Zorga asks with a growing smile. "You're some kind of butcher's boy?"
"The Meat Man is one of the big crime bosses in Ank'Harel, Zorga," Lekko pipes up, looking at Raziel with a sudden steely determination. "It wasn't our friends who turned. It was all of gods-damned Shadewatch Cove. A secret meeting place for pirates in the Salted Bluffs to trade their stolen goods and discovered booty. An old, old chest of coins was found and brought there, and everyone who laid eyes on it just... wanted it. Not because of the gold, they just felt that they... had to have it. The captain of the ship that brought it in... Harlock of the Tassarion, I think... never let it out of his sight... Four days ago a fight broke out when the crews of the other ships, Zorga and I included, wanted the gold for themselves. Some of his men fought with us, but most remained loyal to the bastard. In the end, Harlock was stabbed in the back by his first officer. They tossed his body overboard, and we divvied the gold among ourselves.
"Then the next night, Harlock's body washed back up into the cove. We thought nothing of it. Then Zorga and I woke up on our ship to hear a commotion over on the Tassarion. We rushed above deck and saw... Gods, it was Harlock. But his white and blue flesh clung to his bones, sea creatures had eaten away parts of his flesh, his eyes burned with hatred... He had come back from the dead to take revenge on us. He fought with the strength of ten men, and no matter how many blades cut his flesh or arrows pierced his body he fought on. Harlock would... suck the life out of people and they would come back as husks under his command... People were dying all around us. Zorga and I emptied our pockets of gold, hopped on a skiff, and got the hell out of there... As far as we know, we are the only ones left..."
Zorga stares at him, dumbstruck. "Uh... It's as he tells, Sir Raziel. And friends. A curse of undeath."
Edward listens to the pirate's description of the events. "That's quite the tale lad. Tell me, did you see the chest of gold? Where there any runes inscribed on it or anything that looked magical about it?" He asks in a fairly gentle tone, sensing the distress in the young pirates voice.
"I... no, I never saw it, but the gold coins looked... old. Not moldy or grimy, not at all... But I couldn't understand the writing on it. I figured it was foreign."
"Hmm damn shame. I knew of Captain Balkor. A good man, corrupted by greed. I suppose that ultimately lead to his demise..." Edward ponders for a while before turning to Lekko again, "The writing on the coins, boy. Could you draw it?
Codric casted Zone of Truth when they start talking to the pirates.
The young cleric coughs a little bit when the jailer says that they aren no clerics.
“Ehem excuse me Sir in fact I am a cleric of...” but the ongoing conversation with the prisioners take his attention.
“If you allow me “ he says to Zorga as the boy explains the tale he examines her in search of wounds, signs of any disease. Once he ends with her he do the same to Lekko. His hands moves sharply, and efficiently, while listening to the events.
Medicine: I put two rolls just in case, if only one is needed just use the firsts one:
Zoltra: 10
Lekko: 20
“So the only undead that was killing people was this former Harlock Captain?”
PbP Character: A few ;)
Your spell takes affect and it appears that the two pirates fall under its sway. Nothing about their explanation changes, though; they are being truthful.
You examine their bodies for any signs of disease. Lekko does not appear to be ill, but maybe a little malnourished. Zorga bears scars on her body from what you guess is some kind of pox she survived when she was younger, but other than that she appears to show no outward signs of illness.
"Well... once the other undead rose, they started killing too... but they weren't as quick as Harlock. They... what's the word... shambled. They couldn't use weapons. They didn't have a hateful look like the Captain.They didn't appear to have any feeling at all..." Lekko trails off, another haunted look coming over his face.
Codric taps the shoulder of Lekko trying to comfort him.
“Well. “ he says “I do not find signs of disease or infection. I do not think you are going to change. You are ok. You are safe now.” He taps Lekko’s shoulder again.
“One more practical question. Have you already marked this place you talk about in a map? We could find it useful. “He waits for both of them to answer. “Another one if you don’t mind. Among the things that you had in your ship or in the others. Have you seen by any chance a shield with the de Rolo family crest?”
Can Codric identify the type of undead that the Captain turned? A Religion check? 4.
Natural 1!!! LOL Does D&D donate 100$ for our natural 1s too? ;)
PbP Character: A few ;)
Raziel crosses his arms as he stands by Codric eyeing him slightly and then back to the pirates. "Sounds to me like it could be some sort of vampirism, assuming that the captain didn't turn into some sort of a specter or wraith." The elf said as he looked back to his companions, "If you haven't done it, I suggest silvered weapons or alchemic silver. Less you have magical weapons." Raziel looked to the two pirates again, "This part is very...very important. You need to tell these two men if the captain was a ghost or ghost like. If not, then this could be interesting. I however, need to go take care of some personal stuff before we decide what to do."
With that, Raziel slips away from the group and heads back towards the room where he met Cassandra.
"He didn't look ghostly to me, sirs. He look ghostly to you, Lekko?" Zorga asks, turning to her haunted companion with a concerned look.
"No, no, he wasn't like a ghost. He had a body like you or me. So did those he turned," Lekko replies, his eyes once more returning to the floor.
"Don't worry, lad, s'all behind us now. You'll be alright."
"Yeah... Sure..."
Edward sighs, sympathetic to the boy and the horrors he witnessed, "Ok, we'll be sure to relay that to our elven friend, wherever he has disappeared to. What about the coins? Zorga, do you recall what the inscription on the coins was? It may give us a clue as to the nature of this curse"
"I dunno much about languages, sir, but I kind-of recognized it. We raided an island in the Shattered Teeth 'bout six months ago. Place had some cult on it. There were an altar where they killed things. It had weird letters carved into it... and it kind-of looked like that on the coins. Didn't you see that too, Lekko?"
"Don't remember..." The boy replies, his eyes still glued to the ground.
"Oh wow, and a cult as well? Wonderful..." Ed buries his face in his palms, looks up and slowly draws his hand crossbow. "Did the letters look anything like these?" He says calmly, indicating at the runes inscribed on his weapon.
Once the half-orc pirate had taken a look to the runes in the blade, if she didn’t recognize it he will asks
”Do you think you could paint that runes for us?”
PbP Character: A few ;)
"I... no. No, I don't think so. They was different than those ones," Zorga admits. She turns her attention to the young cleric. "I barely remember what they look like, I'd fool myself trying to draw them. Sorry, sirs."
Jailer Meren sighs and steps forward. "Alright, I'm getting tired of standing and watching. If you've got enough information, then go and I can lock them back up, but if you still wanna chat, I'll go play solitaire."