Vesna takes a step back, glancing from Daryos to Sara and back again, looking conflicted and unsure all of a sudden. "U-um... You know, when you are s-sick, there is a certain point where you either get better or you get worse... I guess you just feel a bit better. Your fever hasn't broken yet..." the cleric manages to say eventually, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looks at the scars. "Please don't tell anyone... you are not healed. And if we had proper healing magic, your dog would be healed too," she keeps blabbering under her nose, until she realises that she should probably just shut up, so with a worried expression, Vesna adds, "Eat the food and drink the water and don't mingle with the rest...", before heading back to the rest of the group, her face a bit paler than before. 

"We should probably leave... now." she announces quietly to the rest, nodding at Nesyax, feeling very self-conscious and quite worried about being in a tavern, full of sick people. 

Sara just keeps looking from Daryos and Vesna to her hand and then back again. "Ohh.. Ok.. I'll keep it to myself.." She says as she wraps up her hand once more to hide the fresh scars. As you go to leave you see her slowly taking a bit of food that had been provided and settle into the bed to continue resting.

Outside the room, a few doors do seem to open as the current occupants of the tavern look to see if the feral dog had been taken care of. Seeing that it is gone, some of them start to make their way out of their rooms and shuffle towards your direction. You don't know if they are truly heading towards you or just towards the stairs... but either way it is a bit unnerving. 

***Assuming you all leave***

The group makes their way out into the streets once more. The morning sun is bright the sound of birds cawing fill the air. You make your way south down cobblestone streets with grass and weeds trying to reclaim the un-maintained roads. Many of the buildings you come across going this direction are either in much worse shape than you have seen due to fire or extreme looting... or they appear to have been fairly maintained and even reinforced to some extent with materials you assume had been taken from the other more dilapidated buildings. The farther south you go, the closer you get to the docks. looking far down the road you can see a rough and churning sea with massive swarms of gulls patrolling the area farther ahead. 

Before you reach the docks however, you come across a swinging wooden sign hanging from a hole-in-the-wall tavern. The sign says "Lead Belly's". The windows to this building are boarded up tightly and the door has been reinforced. Sitting next to the door at first glance appears to be a lifeless doll sitting on a small stool holding daggers in its hands. The doll is very lifelike as it stares straight towards the party as it approaches. The doll looks to be that of a little boy and when you all approach the door, it quickly leaps from the stool and points it's daggers towards the group. "HOLD IT! THAT'S CLOSE ENOUGH! No infected are allowed inside" The doll-like figure shouts. It looks around to the group and realizes it is vastly outnumbered but keeps its daggers pointed towards the group.

     "How... how often can you do that?" Kitaer asks Vesna as they are walking from the Weasel towards Lead Belly's.  "I don't know it wise you becoming the local healer...  Least not til we have a much clearer idea of, well, everything...  But still, you did that girl a ton of good there..."

     As they approach Lead Belly's and see the doll jump up, Kitaer halts and signals the others to do the same.  As he realizes more what he is facing though he smiles a bit, this isn't any threat.   

Perception to see if it is an animated doll or some kind of just a wooden looking kid? 3 - He has no idea,

     "Ease yourself, little one," Kitaer says in reply.  "No infected here.  We've already been inspected at the Butcher's and being new to the area came to see what was on offer here as well..."

The young white-haired noble stays back, ready to step in if diplomacy was needed, but more likely they would simply have to show their hands or something equivalent to the animated doll to be allowed entry to Lead Belly's.

"you talked to Earl then did you?" the young wooden boy asks as he lowers the daggers a bit. "I still need to check you all though... I don't see any signs of the pox on you but I cannot be too sure." He says as he moves towards the group. "Hold still and no one gets poked!" The doll-like figure slowly walks towards the group and sheaths one of the daggers in his belt. He then moves from person to person and motions for you to lower your heads. Assuming you comply, it places its hand upon your head, checking for any signs of fever while also inspecting the area around your eyes very closely. 

When your faces are close together, you can tell that this creature looks to be similar to a warforged in a number of ways. unlike warforged however, the boy appears to be entirely of wood and other simple materials. Warforged which are normally the result of a master artificer spending countless hours and resources to create a masterpiece, where he appears to be something similar to a well crafted mannequin. 

Daryos would comply with the inpection, ready to go inside when it was finished. He made a mental not of trying to find out who created the animated mannequin though.

"Not often..." Vesna replies to Kitaer, somewhat embarrassed. "I am not very good. Just this one already has gotten me somewhat tired. I feel like we had to try so we know how bad it is, even if it is the case of it affecting any one of us," the cleric lowers her voice a bit. "But it is a most peculiar thing, this illness... She healed, but not quite, her wounds left scars. And she still looked feverish. I wonder if she would get another "session" of this, what would the result be."

Since they've made their way to the still-operating tavern, Vesna keeps quiet again, lost in thought. She lets out a small gasp as the wooden boy almost attacks them, but follows the example of the rest to allow to be checked. 

Stasyn lets out a snort of derision at the sight of the small doll trying to threaten them. As he is rather short, he does not need to bend down that far though as the doll inspects him, he has a hand on his wand in the event he tries to pull something on them. He then bluntly asks "Who crafted you and gave you a semblance of life?" 

Knowing even a half decent artificer in the area would be a worthy endeavor. 

     "Maybe we can check on her again tomorrow," Kitaer replies to Vesna.  "Maybe just needs multiple treatments.  The Butcher got better so it is possible.  And perhaps the practice would do you good to.  I don't know nothing about magic but if it's anything like muscles they need to be used to grow.."

     And Kitaer of course bends low for inspection by the wooden boy, basically sitting on the ground to accommodate them.  "No flies on me, mate."

Nesyax submits to the inspection, though she noticeably cringes when the boy puts a hand on her head. Once they are entering the tavern she comments to the others, "I hope it isn't like this every time we go somewhere." 

The wooden creature completes his checks. When Stasyn asks about his creator, the construct shrugs. "Some hag somehwere... no idea which one." He replies as he sheathes his other dagger. he the looks the group up and down and tilts his head to the side. "You all arnt from here are you. I'm what you call a wechselkind." The boy says proudly. "Basically a wechselkind is a doll created by a hag. What happens is when a hag decides to steal a young child... they make a doll that looks kind of like the kid. then they use magic to make it come to life and appear identical to the kid. after they have the doll, they steal the real kid and put the wechselkind in its place. After a week or so the magic making us look like the child fades and the parents find a doll laying in their crib or whatever. The parents then are normally very upset and throw us out when they realize their real kid is probably already hag food... but sometimes they cut their losses and raise us like they would their own kid." He says with a nod.

he then turns and looks to Nesyax and gives a small grin. "Well just about any time you are going to get close to folks that arnt sick, they are going to want to check you... at least here in the zone. outside they don't check you unless your covered in sores and stuff"

The wechselkind then moves to the door and gives a sequence of knocks before shouting "There're good". I moment later the sound of locks being undone can be heard and the heavy door swings inward. The construct steps aside and takes a seat on the chair once more.

Stepping inside, it is surprisingly bright due to lanterns hang from the ceiling and walls. The gentle sound of a lute can be heard coming from a small stage in the corner of the room. A well dressed halfling strums his instrument and smiles towards the party before turning towards his audience.

There are round wooden tables surrounded by townsfolk spread around the room. One of the tables near the stage is decorated with a simple table cloth with a few small toys placed on top. A young blond haired dwarven girl sits at the table surrounded by a few other patrons. The tables stand between the stage and the bar. 

in the far corner of the room, a few barrels of ale sit behind a worn wooden bar. A burly Dwarf stands behind the bar, cleaning a glass with a dirty rag.

"Oh! Music!" Nesyax says happily as they enter. She wanders towards the stage, heading for the audience that seems to be listening to the music. She tries to find someone not too close to the stage that's clearly paying attention to the halfling. When there's a bit of a break, she asks, "Who is he? The halfling playing the lute? It's nice.' 

Daryos recalls Sara mentioning the Wechselkind stopping her from entering the tavern but at the time he believed it to simply be some derogatory word. He shudders at the thought of the fate of child that was replaced by the wooden boy but steps inside the Lead Belly's, feeling slightly better at the soft sound of the well-dressed halfling's lute. Once inside he walks over to the bar, trying to get the attention of the burly dwarf there. "I would like something to drink please." He says with a polite smile, standing by the bar. "Also, me and my associates arrived here just yesterday and would be interested to know what you can share about this place and about the Morbus Doctore and the Bone Collector in particular."

Persuasion to make good impression and an helpful attitude: 18 + Guidance: 4
Insight: 8

     Kitaer enters and then just kind of looms at the door.  He's appreciative of the music but not as thrilled as Nesyax and he curious to start asking questions and gossiping but Daryos has that and is assumably much better at it.  So looming it is.  That's alright, Kitaer is good at looming and occasionally being an intimidating presence...  Sometimes having a bit, tall, built, silent minotaur watching your back is all it takes to help get the difficult people to talk more than they want to. 

(Passive Intimidation? lol...  Kind of Intimidation on Demand in case any of the others need backup.  12, for what it's worth)  :D

A hag somewhere made this doll, well there will be no talking her anytime soon as hags are notorious for being dangerous. Stasyn is surprised in seeing more or less a working tavern complete with a bard. He sits at an empty table and takes out a gold coin which he waives towards the bard and gestures for the bard to come and take a seat. Seeing how poor this zone is a bit of extra gold should be enticing. 

The bard continues to play and watch the group as you all enter the building. The tavern is not very large with only a small handful of tables in the center of the room. a total of about 15 patrons fill the space not including the barkeep and bard. Most of the patrons are gathered around the young blond haired dwarven girl, but a few other individuals are scattered around the room.

Nesyax makes her way to close to the stage, stopping near a pair of middle aged women that are whispering to each other and flirting with the bard. "OH, hello! You must be new here!" The freckled red headed woman says as she slides out a chair, offering Nesyax a seat. She then gestures towards the bard. "He's new! rumor is that old Leadbelly hired him to play for his daughter's birthday party. The dark skinned woman next to her gives her a questioning look and shakes her head. "No way Amber! I'm sure he's just a cute prisoner that got shipped here the same way they do the sick." The red headed woman taps the table and glances back towards the bar. "It's true Ebony... Old Leadbelly has connections. I'm telling you.." The dark haired woman just rolls her eyes and smiles to Nesyax. "You're welcome to sit with us as long as you like... music around here is pretty rare. best enjoy it while you can..."

Daryos makes his way to the bar and gets the attention of the burly Dwarf. The Darf looks fairly old with many scars covering his face and arms, similar to the ones covering the butcher you had.met earlier. He has a long braided beard that hangs from his face and ends somewhere below the top of the bar. When you ask for a drink, he looks up from cleaning his glass and faces your direction. when he turns, you realize that he only has one arm. The left sleeve of his shirt is rolled up and pinned against his body. The Dwarf looks you up and down before turning and filling the mug with ale. "It'll be 1 silver for the drink... but if you want information it'll cost you more than that." He says with a face as hard as iron. His eyes then shift to look at the yellow haired girl and then towards the minotaur before returning to Daryos. "If your hairy friend by the door makes my daughter cry on her birthday... I'm going to turn him i to a rug..."

Kitaer stands near the door, watching the room as his companions interact with the locals. As he scans the room, he notices that most of the locals are too distracted by the music to pay him much mind. he does notice that the little blond dwarf girl has noticed him. she stops playing with a small wooden doll in her hands and gives him a look of both fear and worry...

The bard bows and jumps from the small stage and begins making his way towards the bar. A flash of gold catches his eye and instead he moves towards the table with the Verdan. "Well well! It's good to see that I'm not the only civilized individual in this gods forsaken hole.." The halfling says with a grin. "Larry the Lute" is the name... and you are?"

     Kitaer smiles at the little girl then makes a goofy face, sticking out his tongue and all... He then slouches a bit, smiles non-threateningly and winks at the girl.  He's not here to scare little kids, whether he heard the bartender or not.

ooc: you wouldnt have heard the barkeep unless you wanted to roll a perception check.

Seeing you make a funny face, the little girl relaxes a bit. a small smile spreads across her face as she pucks up the doll and has it give you a little wave. 

"Well, however he got here, it's certainly fortunate!" Nesyax says, taking a seat when the woman offers. "Do you mean to say that there isn't usually any musical entertainment here?" she asks. "That'd be a shame. I presume Leadbelly is the owner. And the little girl the daughter?" She continues to sit and listen to the bard. 

When he stops playing, she tries giving him a little smile. But when he heads off towards another table, she gives a bit of show of disappointment. "Hope he's not finished for the night!  And a shame he didn't come over our way. I'd been sure he was keeping a close eye on you two!" 

After a bit of a sigh, Nesyax continues talking. "You can probably guess, I'm new to the area myself.  But what about you two? Live in the area? Any tips for me?" 

(Persuasion to get them talking, just about general gossip about the area: 13)