BE7s Frozen Sick (IC)

Kitsune accepts the key with a slight, clinical bow of her head, careful to avoid touching Tharron’s hand—or any of the amber spillages currently slicking the bar.  She secures the smooth wooden tag in her palm, her mind already shifting away from the olfactory assault of the common room.

"Room eight..." she murmurs, more to her notebook than to the innkeeper.  "Optimal.  An even number suggests a higher probability of being positioned away from the stairwell’s acoustic funnel."

She casts one final, lingering look at her companions...the celebratory dwarves, the tidying sorcerer, and the white-haired Akira.  "I shall be in a state of restorative stasis.  I suggest you all do the same.  If the blue vein sickness is indeed progressive, tomorrow will require a significant expenditure of mental and physical resources."

With that, she turns and ascends the stairs, her silhouette disappearing into the shadows of the upper floor with the quiet efficiency of a ghost retreating back into the shadows.

((Epic scene DM, love it.))

It is late in the night when Torvil leaves the common room and wobbles his way towards his room, key in hand, he stares down at a 6 and it seems to make itself into various other numbers.  “Heee hoo, you lil rascal…” he talks to the key which has become a cartoon character to him, dancing along in his hand and transforming into various shapes and forms.  He falls like a tree onto the bed, arms dragging like heavy branches on the floor.  The snoring that night is epic.  The shutters thankfully remain intact.  

The next morning the owner of those bushy eyebrows, beard and dwarven locks comes trudging out to the common room with serious dwarven bedhead.  Which you best not smile at.  “Coffee” is all you’ll get out of him for a good 30 minutes.  After he has become himself again, Torvil looks around the room for Kitsune, Vayne, Akira and Dax.... remembering that they were here for a purpose, and they best get on with it.  

Akira’s body erupts with an overwhelming feeling of joy and warmth when the stare down is called as a draw, a feeling that she has not felt in many many nights. She smiles and almost leaps into the air to celebrate with all the folks in the bar surrounding. Her and her master would get into stare downs all the time when she was training. She only won maybe a handful of times but she remembers the feeling very vividly. She acts out of instinct and quickly walks up to the bar to buy ale for both of her stare-down comrades and a congratulatory gift.

“Aye my good man, your largest ales for these tip top competitors.” She says to Tharron.

She sets down each large mug of ale in front of the dwarves one at a time(for the mugs are larger than the size of her hands, she cannot lift them at the same time) and gives each of them a pat on the shoulder. She then buys her own ale(in a mug that is more her size and easier to carry to a room) and asks for her room key to retire to her sleeping quarters for the evening. In all the commotion and excitement there was some beer that sloshed up on her cloak and would like to clean it before getting rest for the next morning. 

Whether in a softish bed or on the cold, hard wood floor of the common room, you eventually rise from your 'slumber'.  The smell of sizzling bacon and eggs greets you, beckoning you to come forth and greet the new day.  The common room is already a quietish bustle of activity.  Several workers, along with a familiar, skinny human male work to put the room back in order.  Chairs and tables are righted, trays of mugs carried to the kitchen, and, unfortunately for the young cutpurse, several puddles of chunky recycled stew and booze, just waiting to be cleaned up.  Dax is nowhere in sight, but Tharron is already tidying up the bar, carrying empty barrels out back, and looking with concern at the empty row where fresh barrels of ale should be.  

You manage to find a clean table near the fire.  After a few moments, a server arrives with a mug of water and a plate of breakfast for everyone.  He asks if you would prefer coffee, tea, or fresh milk with your breakfast, then hurries off to fetch it for you.  By the time your bellies are full the room looks borderline presentable.  You hear Tharron chuckle and look up to see an angry looking female dwarf, still wearing a nightgown, and with curlers in her beard.  She shoots Tharron a death stare, then marches over to one of the few passed out dwarves still snoring on the floor.  Might I be borrowin' that? she asks, reaching for one of the mugs on your table.  Not really waiting for an answer she takes it, walks to her husband, pours the mug in his face and yells, Here's one more ye drunken' sot!  Now get yer arse to work, or ye'll be sleepin' on the floor again tonight!  She walks back, replaces the empty mug on your table, offers a Thanks, then leaves without ever looking back at her 'better half'. 

The day is yours.  What do you do?

***You have taken a full rest.***

Kitsune descends the stairs with the same haunting, clockwork precision she possessed the night before, seemingly immune to the bedheaded lethargy affecting the others.  Her gray skin is as pale as the morning frost, and her gear is meticulously reorganized.

She sits at the table, declining the bacon but accepting a cup of hot water.  She watches the bearded woman douse her husband with a detached, analytical squint, then turns her attention back to her companions.

"The recovery of the common room is statistically faster than expected" she notes, her voice dry and unaffected by the morning.  She looks at Torvil's disheveled state with a clinical frown.  "I trust your holy water ritual didn't result in permanent neurological degradation, Torvil.  We require full cognitive function today."

She reaches into her satchel and produces several small strips of linen she spent the night treating with a pungent, herbal tincture.  She sets them on the table.  "I have prepared these filters.  They are to be worn over the respiratory passages once we reach the cabin.  Until we identify the transmission method of the blue vein sickness, we will assume it is airborne or spore-based.  I do not wish to return with any of you as a frozen specimen."

She stands, her specimen jars clinking in her bag.  "The sun has reached the necessary elevation.  We should proceed to Tulgi’s residence immediately.  Data decays as quickly as flesh."

“Aye, let’s have a look at Tulgi’s home, that sounds good Kitsune.  You gotta take the lead here, my, whaddyacallem?  Those thingies you mentioned.. synapses … aren’t firin yet.  Still tryin ta burn out the barrel from last night, eh?  But you take the lead my dear, I’ll follow until me head is right.”  Torvil takes another slug of his coffee.  

Before Akira walks down to join the party for what she believes to be another delicious meal(the smell of the bacon is enticing), she opens the drapes in her room to let in a small amount of sunshine. She the proceeds to do a regiment of different stretches and exercises. Since she is unable to do her normal routine this will suffice while she is on the road.

Akira walks down the stairs to see her traveling partners seated down at a table. She very quietly and politely says thank you to the kind being that set down her breakfast(yes! The bacon she smelled) and hot water. 

Mid-bite she listens to Kitsune speak her theory of the airborne-based spores and nods her head in agreement. She thanks Kitsune for her brilliant work, takes the strip of linen from her, places it in her pouch and she takes gloves out of her pocket to place on her hands once she’s finished eating her breakfast.

“I agree with Twombley, Kitsune. You take the lead to Tulgi’s home and I’ll follow you with Twombley until his synapses start firing at all cylinders again. Thank you again, for the linen cover. You have quite the instinct for these things.” 

Fueled up with bacon and eggs, the party is ready to see what the day has to offer.  Each performed their morning ritual in their own way.  Akira, using form and flow to ensure that her body is ready to react with split-second precision, Torvil, standing in defiance of the gods of pounding headache and nausea, invokes the power of the bean to clear his throbbing head, and Kitsune; eying the rest of you like the eagerly awaited results of a science experiment ( if body weight 148 lbs. is the baseline, food being a constant, and the number of ales being the variable; it didn't take long to determine that anyone topping double digits felt like there was a blacksmith shop in their skull), exited the building with all of the pomp and circumstance that could be expected at 7:45 am with most of the town hung over to be damned.  

The streets, such as they were, were eerily quiet and mostly deserted, offered easy passage for the party.  Your group neared the graveyard, veering north when the trail mentioned by Elro became evident.  The stillness of the forest was disconcerting.  As you neared the second shack on the ridge you couldn't help but feel a chill run down your spine.  Was it excitement or fear?  The answer could only be found within yourself.  Regardless of you answer, the scene before you remained the same...

The snow covered cabin looks peaceful and quiet from the outside.  Its windows are shuttered, and a steady stream of smoke piping out of the chimney indicates a roaring fire within.  

***Perception roll please, from everyone.  Please use the app character sheets to roll and post your results in the IC forum.

Technical info:  the cabin is 25x25 ft, the roof is very steep but the bottom of the sides are only about 8 ft high, there is a window on each wall, two flanking the door, all shuttered closed, the front door is the only door.***

Torvil walks up to the windows, looking in, tilting his head to listen as well...

Perception : 18

Torvil:  

Akira scouts out the perimeter trying to examine the exterior of the house and what be surrounding it nearby. 

Perception: 16

Torvil leans up against the house and points with his hand to the others, indicating that there is someone inside, he pantomimes coughing.  

Kitsune stands slightly apart from the group, her linen filter already tied across her face.  While the others scan for movement, she is busy adjusting the fit of her gloves, ensuring no skin is exposed (OOC: she's quite the germaphobe).  As Torvil pantomimes the coughing, Kitsune’s eyes narrow behind her mask.  A cough confirms a living respiratory system, but in this context, it is a primary vector for whatever is ravaging this village.

Perception: 17

Kitsune approaches the cabin with the silence of a drifting snowflake.  She avoids touching the exterior walls, staying focused on the sounds emanating from behind the shutters.

"The presence of a fire suggests the subject still retains enough motor function to maintain her environment, or she is not alone" she whispers, her voice muffled but steady through the linen.  She looks at the door, then back to the group, signaling for them to stay back.  "Akira, Vayne, remain upwind.  If we breach this seal, we are effectively entering a containment zone.  Torvil, do not shatter the door unless absolutely necessary.  We may need to re-seal this cabin to prevent further environmental exposure if the contamination levels are high."

She gives Torvil a sharp nod, and then knocks at the door...
<duh-duh-duhhhhhhh!> (insert your favorite horror film sound effect here...)

Akira

 Kitsune: 

 Go away!  a muffled  voice called out in reply.

Akira notices that there are faint footprints in the snow and whispers to Torvil(OOC apologies for using your username instead of your character name this whole time 😭) 

*quietly* “These footprints are quite faint, I cannot tell if they are leading to or coming from the cabin”.

She hears Kitsune’s advice to remain distant from the door and places the mask that was made upon her mouth and nose, ties up her hair into a 3 strand plait and tucks it under her hood, and places her hood over her head. She turns her back to the cabin and hears Kitsune knock on the door and has her right hand resting on one of her daggers as she hears the faint “go away” come from the cabin. 

She continues to focus on the footprints while listening for anything else that may happen with the cabin and crouches down to the ground.

"Not very friendly."  Torvil calls out, stating the obvious.  "We're here to talk about Urgon.  C'mon now.  Open up.  It'd be a shame if'n I had to bash this here door down.  C'mon now.  We just wannta talk for a bit, m'kay?  Please?"  Couldn't hurt to try, Torvil thought.  He waited and listened for a reply..  He looks over at Kitsune, Akira, and Vayne to check their positions.

***OoC: Torvil, intimidation check please.***

Torvil intimidation : 15