A Veshian Voyage part 2
During the day, it got even hotter than the days before, and everyone was now visibly suffering from the heat wave, worst of all Niklas. The monk drifted in and out of conciousness, and whenever he fell asleep, he eventually woke up screaming.
In spite of the disease, he was able to retain his sanity, though, and on the next morning, he was visibly recovering- his stamina and Ben’s tea seemed to be working just fine. Jan used his divine powers to check on his brother, and saw that Niklas hadn’t been conquered by the evil taint of Kadum just yet.
So, Ben was able to leave the raft, when in the afternoon, they discovered a small beautiful island, that seemed untouched by the taint of the surrounding land. Here, the halfling was able to replenish his collection of healing plants, and as he looked around, he excitedly noticed some white and green blossomed orchids.
He recognized them for what they were right away: they were Orchids of the Earth mother- rare plants that were used for all kinds of magic by the druids of Denev. Carefully, he plugged four of the flowers, making certain that enough plants were left behind to grow back. Then, he returned to the raft, and they moved on.
On the next morning, Niklas seemed to be doing even better then before. He was hardly shaking anymore and the blood sweat was gone as well. They considered freeing him, as Jan used his power to look into the heart of men on him, and he saw that the monk was now purely evil.
So, while Niklas was screaming obsceneties at them now, they let the ropes remain, and after they had gotten tired of his unending blasphemies and mockeries, they gagged him as well, only occassionaly removing the gag to give him food and drink.
It was a depressing journey now. Their friend was possessed by the evil of Kadum, who was chained to the bottom of the ocean and they were still far away from the next settlement of divine folks, while their sturdy raft was frustratingly slow in bringing them back to civilization.
Another day and another night passed, as they slowly moved to the northeast, and finally, on the eighth day of their journey through the marches, they reached secure land.
They took their equipment of the raft that had served them so well, and packed together all their stuff. As they picked up the stretcher that they had tied Niklas too, the monk’s eyes flared up with hatred and bloodlust, and he struggled against the rope and tried to wiggle free.
However, the ropes held, and all he did was cutting and hurting himself with the ropes, until he was bleeding badly at his wrists and ankles, where he was tied to the stretcher. He had reached the final stage of the disease now- homicidal mindless bloodlust.
The adventurers put the stretcher between their two mules, and marched towards the small town of Vigont.
By the time they reached the town in the evening, the monk was unconcious from exhaustion, and after Eochaid exchanged some words with the guards, they were let inside and guided to the local temple of Madriel, the redeemer.
The houses of vigont were pressed into a small, walled area, and so it felt rather crowded, in spite of the fact that it’s mere 2.500 inhabitants made it look small when compared to cities like Lave, Durrover or Mithril. It was surrounded by a strong wall and even a moat filled with water from a nearby river, since it’s proximity to the mourning marshes made it more likely to be attacked then the towns in the heartland.
The adventurers lead the mule with Niklas through the narrow roads to the temple, which was on the central square, opposite the fortress like town hall. As they entered the temple, they saw that parts of it were used as a hospital. The patients on the beds were mostly tied down, and they too were sweating blood and cursing and screaming- obviously Niklas wasn’t the only one infected with Kadum’s fever.
Between the beds, there were several priests and helpers going to and fro and they were treating the ill and taking care of all the chores that have to be done in a hospital, creating quite a chaos in the crowded hall.
As the heroes were standing there with their mules, they were approached by a young priestess who looked compassionately down at Niklas: “Greetings, gentlemen. My name is Lona, and I am a priestess of Madriel. I see that you brought another infected one.”
Jan bowed politely and after introducing his friends and himself, he said:” My brother has the blood fever, so we were wondering whether you could cure him?”
“Certainly” Lona answered:” But I am sorry, I’m afraid that unless you are ready to make a contribution, we will have to treat him with mundane means in here. After all, there are many sick, and we need to take care of them all, while our power to cure with out divine gifts doesn’t suffice to help all of those struck by this epidemie.”
“And how long do you think this would take if you would cure him by mundane means?”, Torn asked shrewdly.
“With a young man like him, it should take about a week until he has fully recovered.”.
Trepat shook his head:” There is no way we can wait for so long.”, and after lowering his voice, so that only his friends could here him he said:”We don’t know who else might be after the Amphora. There could still be Slitheren or worshipers of Belsameth. Let’s pool our gold and see what we got.”.
They pulled out their purses, and after some checking and rechecking, they saw that they had just enough gold for his magical cure and the fees for a few nights in a guesthouse. Jan put the correct amount into a purse and handed it to Lona.
The priestess apologized once again:”Thank you very much, good gentlemen. Let me assure you once again, that normally the servants of Madriel don’t demand pay for curing the sick.”
And with that she knelt down in front of the stretcher, and after a short prayer to Madriel, she gently put the palm of her right hand on Niklas’ forehead, who instantly stopped straining against the ropes and let his head peacefully sink back.
“His mind and his body are cured now. He may need some time to recover from the fatigue, but otherwise he is fine.”.
Gratefully, the others tied Niklas loose who was finally freed of the nightmares and the madness and shakily, he stood up.
They all thanked Lona and went out into the late evening to find an inn. Once they had found one, they all took long and soaking bathes, washing away the sweat and dirt of their long journey. After that, they listened to a Veshian bard in the dining room where they had a long and hearty meal. Then, filled with food, wine and music, they went to their rooms, and gratefully hugging their beds and praising the heavens for a floor that wasn’t rocking and a room without mosquitos, they all fell into a long and refreshing sleep.
The next morning, they stayed at the inn, while Eochaid went to the local Vigils in order to get them horses. At noon, Eochaid was still out, reporting to his superiors, as they all settled down for a hearty lunch.
As they were eating, a dark haired man in elegant clothing approached them:” Good sirs, I am sorry to disturb you at your meal, but would you mind if I join you?”
Not ready to stop with their meal, they ate on and gestured for him to take a seat. The man took a chair, ordered some of the house’s best wine, and after the bottles had been served and he had poured a glass for each of them, he said: “My name is Karst, and I have a business proposal.”.
Good thing they didn't trust Karst. But one wonders WHERE they could get that much platinium? 