Lars Frehse
First Post
They talked to victims of the plague, and learned that even though half of those who got infected eventually were able to shake the disease, never to get infected again, the other half died. Some of the ill ones weren't willing to talk to the divine folks- Torn soon learned that there were many who thought that Khadum was punishing the Orcs because they weren't fullfilling his his will by fighting the humans and their allies.
There was one little girl who was covered by the fungus and mould and she was clinging to her rag doll. Regretting that he could not help more of the poor victims now, Jan summoned Corean's powers and cured her of the disease. Immediately, Krinkra, the little girl, was up and hugging Jan's armored legs. He raised her up, and after he had endured her happy kissing, she became very serious and held out her doll to the Paladin:" Thank you, good sir. I want you to have Vrraspa".
Jan accepted the doll, but as soon as they were out of her earsight, Ben told Jan that he should get rid of the doll, because he knew that it was best not to touch anything that had been touched by a diseased one, because the plague could spread this way. With a heavy heart, Jan wrapped the doll up and decided to dump it once they were out of camp while Ben retreated to his tent, where he secretely crafted a new rag doll for the little girl.
On the next morning, they rode to Mullis town. Once there, they headed for the local Tanil temple and after waiting until the current service had ended, they talked to the priest Andalus.
Andalus was a cheerful man, who's good cheer wasn't even dampened by the epidemy. He told the heroes, that apparently the disease only affected orcs and half-orcs, and so he hardly got into contact with it. Most worshippers who came to pray in his church were the well off and succesfull of Mullis Town, and since the Half Orcs of Mullis Town were usually simple workers at best, they weren't able to give an appropriate amount of money. There was one exception, a succesfull Half Orcish trader, but that one had been able to pay the onehundredfifty gold pieces once the fungus appeared on his skin.
"If you want to talk to the victims of the plague", Andalus explained:" You should go to Old Town. As the name says, it is the oldest part of Mullis Town, and that is where most of the Half Orcs live.".
Old Town was comprised of old wooden buildings and their age was showing. Most of the houses were merely still standing because they were leaning on the structure next to it, which, in turn, was leaning on the house next. On the ground levels of the houses, there were numerous inns, taverns and small shops and rooms and small appartments lay in the levels above.
The narrow streets were crowdes with humans and half-orcs and many of the latter had signs of the plague. Torn adressed one of the Half-Orcs with fungus in his face, and after some talk, they found out that Old Toby, one of the first ones who had gotten infected, was still alive.
They followed the instructions they were given, and after going through three backyards and climbing several creaking wooden stairways which were in bad repair, they reached the appartment. A half orcish woman opened the door and after explaining their cause, they let them into a small room with an even smaller window, in which six children, some of them obviously infected, were playing on the wooden floor.
The woman opened one of the two doors at other side of the room. In the room, laying on the bed, there was an orc who's entire skin was covered by fungus, like an old bread, that had been laying in a damp cellar for too long. Cautiously, they walked up to his bed, as the Half-Orc started to cough, green phlegm flying from his distorted mouth.
His voice was coarse and obviously he every word he uttered caused him pain:"What do you want?".
Torn stepped into Old Toby's vision:" We heard that you were among the first who had gotten infected. We want to find a way to end the disease, so we need to know whether you have met foreigners before you got infected or whether anything else that was unusual happened to you.".
Old Toby closed his eyes, and, just as the heroes started to wonder whether he was still concious, he spoke again:"I tell you what I know if you get me to the temple and pay for my cure there.".
None of the heroes disagreed, and after checking whether they had enough money between them, they made an impromptu stretcher out of a bedsheet, and then, after explaining to the grateful wife, that they were taking him to the temple, they carried him through the city.
At the temple, Andalus took the money and, with a short prayer, cured the dying Half-Orc. With the mould and fungus gone, the heroes now saw that Old Toby was in his forties and his dark leathery skin was stretching over strong muscles. After checking his body, and seeing that he was fully cured, he said: "Thank you. Now that I am healthy, maybe there is a chance I can get a cure for my children... But I promised to tell you my story, so listen up:
"Five weeks ago, or so, I was still a miner in the mines south of here. The ones that are owned by house Asuras. Anyway, one day, me and two mates were digging a shaft into the rock, as we broke through into a large cavern!
"The cavern was damp, and there were mushrooms everywhere in there. Ain't never seen anything like that, and I have been a miner since I was a little boy! Anyway, the next day, Woktok, one of my mates, got ill. Soon, the other lad and me got sick too.
"So, we were thinking: "Hey, the mushrooms made us sick!". And Woktok said:" Let the Asuras pay for it, it's their fault! ". And I say: "No, don't mess with them", and he said: "Well, I will go and ask".
"So he went, and the next day he disappeared, so I just though:"Toby, better if you are silent.". And that is my story.".
"Do you think that your employers have killed your friend?", asked Trepat.
"I don't know. But you never know, do you? Being careful can't hurt, though.", answered Tobi.
Torn asked:" But do you think that this House Asuras would be the kind of people who would do that? And if so, why? After all, hardly anybody cares about Half-Orcs like us...".
Toby shrugged:" I am just a plain worker. I don't know stuff like that. But there is a friend of mine called "Sorketch", who knows a lot of things about those in power... He walks a shady path, if you know what I mean. I tell you what. Come to the "Bellybasher" pub later tonight. I will tell him to expect you and he will be in the backroom there.".
They waved Toby goodbye who went back to his family, and after renting rooms for the night and eating, they went to the pub.
The "Bellybasher" was a crowded small pub where dozens of humans and half-orcs were drinking beer from greasy kegs. In the backroom, Sorketch was waiting for them. He was a muscular halforc who's bare arms were criss-crossed with scars. He stared at them evenly for a moment and then gestured them to sit down:" Old Toby has told me what you have done for him. He owes you a favor which means I owe you a favor, since his friends are my friends.".
They took a seat and Niklas said:" We would be interested to know what you know about the House Asuras and their local operations." .
There was one little girl who was covered by the fungus and mould and she was clinging to her rag doll. Regretting that he could not help more of the poor victims now, Jan summoned Corean's powers and cured her of the disease. Immediately, Krinkra, the little girl, was up and hugging Jan's armored legs. He raised her up, and after he had endured her happy kissing, she became very serious and held out her doll to the Paladin:" Thank you, good sir. I want you to have Vrraspa".
Jan accepted the doll, but as soon as they were out of her earsight, Ben told Jan that he should get rid of the doll, because he knew that it was best not to touch anything that had been touched by a diseased one, because the plague could spread this way. With a heavy heart, Jan wrapped the doll up and decided to dump it once they were out of camp while Ben retreated to his tent, where he secretely crafted a new rag doll for the little girl.
On the next morning, they rode to Mullis town. Once there, they headed for the local Tanil temple and after waiting until the current service had ended, they talked to the priest Andalus.
Andalus was a cheerful man, who's good cheer wasn't even dampened by the epidemy. He told the heroes, that apparently the disease only affected orcs and half-orcs, and so he hardly got into contact with it. Most worshippers who came to pray in his church were the well off and succesfull of Mullis Town, and since the Half Orcs of Mullis Town were usually simple workers at best, they weren't able to give an appropriate amount of money. There was one exception, a succesfull Half Orcish trader, but that one had been able to pay the onehundredfifty gold pieces once the fungus appeared on his skin.
"If you want to talk to the victims of the plague", Andalus explained:" You should go to Old Town. As the name says, it is the oldest part of Mullis Town, and that is where most of the Half Orcs live.".
Old Town was comprised of old wooden buildings and their age was showing. Most of the houses were merely still standing because they were leaning on the structure next to it, which, in turn, was leaning on the house next. On the ground levels of the houses, there were numerous inns, taverns and small shops and rooms and small appartments lay in the levels above.
The narrow streets were crowdes with humans and half-orcs and many of the latter had signs of the plague. Torn adressed one of the Half-Orcs with fungus in his face, and after some talk, they found out that Old Toby, one of the first ones who had gotten infected, was still alive.
They followed the instructions they were given, and after going through three backyards and climbing several creaking wooden stairways which were in bad repair, they reached the appartment. A half orcish woman opened the door and after explaining their cause, they let them into a small room with an even smaller window, in which six children, some of them obviously infected, were playing on the wooden floor.
The woman opened one of the two doors at other side of the room. In the room, laying on the bed, there was an orc who's entire skin was covered by fungus, like an old bread, that had been laying in a damp cellar for too long. Cautiously, they walked up to his bed, as the Half-Orc started to cough, green phlegm flying from his distorted mouth.
His voice was coarse and obviously he every word he uttered caused him pain:"What do you want?".
Torn stepped into Old Toby's vision:" We heard that you were among the first who had gotten infected. We want to find a way to end the disease, so we need to know whether you have met foreigners before you got infected or whether anything else that was unusual happened to you.".
Old Toby closed his eyes, and, just as the heroes started to wonder whether he was still concious, he spoke again:"I tell you what I know if you get me to the temple and pay for my cure there.".
None of the heroes disagreed, and after checking whether they had enough money between them, they made an impromptu stretcher out of a bedsheet, and then, after explaining to the grateful wife, that they were taking him to the temple, they carried him through the city.
At the temple, Andalus took the money and, with a short prayer, cured the dying Half-Orc. With the mould and fungus gone, the heroes now saw that Old Toby was in his forties and his dark leathery skin was stretching over strong muscles. After checking his body, and seeing that he was fully cured, he said: "Thank you. Now that I am healthy, maybe there is a chance I can get a cure for my children... But I promised to tell you my story, so listen up:
"Five weeks ago, or so, I was still a miner in the mines south of here. The ones that are owned by house Asuras. Anyway, one day, me and two mates were digging a shaft into the rock, as we broke through into a large cavern!
"The cavern was damp, and there were mushrooms everywhere in there. Ain't never seen anything like that, and I have been a miner since I was a little boy! Anyway, the next day, Woktok, one of my mates, got ill. Soon, the other lad and me got sick too.
"So, we were thinking: "Hey, the mushrooms made us sick!". And Woktok said:" Let the Asuras pay for it, it's their fault! ". And I say: "No, don't mess with them", and he said: "Well, I will go and ask".
"So he went, and the next day he disappeared, so I just though:"Toby, better if you are silent.". And that is my story.".
"Do you think that your employers have killed your friend?", asked Trepat.
"I don't know. But you never know, do you? Being careful can't hurt, though.", answered Tobi.
Torn asked:" But do you think that this House Asuras would be the kind of people who would do that? And if so, why? After all, hardly anybody cares about Half-Orcs like us...".
Toby shrugged:" I am just a plain worker. I don't know stuff like that. But there is a friend of mine called "Sorketch", who knows a lot of things about those in power... He walks a shady path, if you know what I mean. I tell you what. Come to the "Bellybasher" pub later tonight. I will tell him to expect you and he will be in the backroom there.".
They waved Toby goodbye who went back to his family, and after renting rooms for the night and eating, they went to the pub.
The "Bellybasher" was a crowded small pub where dozens of humans and half-orcs were drinking beer from greasy kegs. In the backroom, Sorketch was waiting for them. He was a muscular halforc who's bare arms were criss-crossed with scars. He stared at them evenly for a moment and then gestured them to sit down:" Old Toby has told me what you have done for him. He owes you a favor which means I owe you a favor, since his friends are my friends.".
They took a seat and Niklas said:" We would be interested to know what you know about the House Asuras and their local operations." .
Or else it morgaunts! Ugh! I hate those things!
