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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lars Frehse" data-source="post: 331956" data-attributes="member: 1674">The plague- part 3 of 4Sorketch leaned back in his chair:“ You never heard of the house Asuras? Hmmm, maybe you people think that it is kings and bishops who hold all the power. If that is what you think, you are wrong.“ House Asuras is a trading company. It dabbles in anything that makes money, legal if necessary, illegal if possible. It owns trading houses, mines, caravans and many other things in every major town in Ghelspad, and in a lot of the smaller ones as well. I bet they are making more money in a year then Calastia can press from it’s hegemony in two.“They were already powerful before the divine war, but back then, they really prospered: They dealt with both sides, and since neither side wanted to lose their supplies and the House is rich enough to pay enough officials, they never got into problems. And they are getting richer still ever since- selling slaves and black market goods when that makes a bigger profit then an honest deal…”The Half-Orc shook his head:”And people are calling me a thief!”He chuckled shortly and then continued:”Anyway, on the top of that house, there is one Telos Asuras. He is older then a hundred years, and they say that he is bribing Belsameth each day, so that she doesn’t take him with her.“As far as I know, that man has more than twohundred children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. And the local descendant of him is one Viando Asuras. He is a young lad who is more interested in drinking and gambling then in business. Word is, that he used to have a position in Mithril, but since the family was not content with him, they sent him here to take care of the mine as a sort of a “punishment”.“You see, for a man of his family, overseeing a mine here, far from the shining centers of Ghelspad, is a rather low job. I was told he is supposed to learn humility here. Still, I saw him in some gambling dens and drinking halls many times before. Looks like this lesson isn’t working…”Ben got up:”I see. Thank you. Do you think we could talk to him?”“Sure. You got a Paladin with you. You see, some decades ago, the Paladins kicked the House Asuras out of Mithril, after they broke their laws, or something. You see, bribing a Paladin is a hard task. They are back, but ever since they try to do their best to please any Paladin they meet.”They thanked Sorketch, and went to the local mansion of the house Asuras. A butler opened, and it was like the half-orc had said: Once they mentioned that they wanted to talk to Viando, the butler invited them to come to dine with his master that evening.Except for Ben, they all bought new clothes, and in the evening, they returned to the mansion. The butler opened again and lead them through the lower parts of the mansion, which were obviously used as offices and workspaces, since there were still clerks walking around. In one of the rooms they passed, they saw documents and other material stashed up against the wall and a secretary, who was sitting at a desk in the middle of the room, looked up as they passed.In the other upper part of the house, thick carpets were swallowing the busy noise from below, and it was pleasantly silent there. Viando awaited them in a luxurious dining room. He was a handsome young man with bloodshot eyes who’s excessive lifestyle was showing. Already, his muscles seemed to be turning to fat, but he smiled nicely as he was waiting for his visitors to sit down, and after the general introduction he told them to “dig in” and started entertaining his guests with jokes and anecdotes while they were eating.The meal was fantastic. They had fowl and vegetables which they washed down with imported dry red wine. Each time they had emptied their cups, a servant would appear and refill it. Once they had noticed that, most of the friends decided to merely drink little, and only Ben drank along with Viando who emptied a cup in each of his breaks of his small talk, which was a lot.For the little halfling, for whom every halfling fairy tale there was had come true, however, the wine soon had an emboldening effect and he introduced his cunning plan to Viando:” You see, we came because of the orc disease, and we would like to propose a deal.”.“Oh, tell me about it!”.“You know about the orcish disease, don’t you? We have done some research and we found out that it originated in that mine of yours. It looks like the mushrooms your miners found caused it!”Now Viando seemed genuinely surprised and he put his cup of wine back to the table:” Are you serious? I had never considered a connection between those two events… We had burnt all the mushrooms after discovering the cave, and then I forgot about it… You are certain about that?”.Niklas nodded:”Yes, sir, we are certain. And we also think that soon everyone will know and…”.Ben interrupted him:”Yes! That is where we come in! You see, we will investigate this disease, and ultimately, we will find a cure. Now, if you finance our efforts now, you will be able to claim the cure of the plague for yourself and gain the prestige!”“Hmmmm”, Viando said, drinking another mouthfull from his cup:” I don’t know… Let me think about it, and I will tell you about my decision tomorrow. Why don’t you come to the happy ram in the evening, since I will be meeting some, errr,  business friends there anyway!”.As they were about to get up, Jan added:” But of course the money is not necessary. Working in your name would be enough”.As Ben furiously kicked Jan under the table, Viando added that he would consider this offer, and they got out.Outside, the druid was raging: “Listen, bigman, you may roll in money, but I blew all I got on the last healing wand we got and that shiny metal armor you are running around in. We should at least get compensation!”Jan shook his head:”But it is not his fault that the miners found those mushrooms.”“But he could at least have paid for a cure for his workers.”“Why should he? There is no law that would obligate him to.”Now Ben was getting even more furious: “Well, maybe there is no law, but if he had cured his first workers, the plague wouldn’t have spread in the first place. The wine we were drinking was probably more expensive then a cure at the temple. The thug, Sorketch, had told us that the house is rich! And what about that friend of Old Toby, who had disappeared?”“There is no proof that Viando has anything to do with it. To me, the man looked genuinely surprised you know…”“Proof, shmoof”, Ben muttered as they arrived at their hotel.On the next evening, they went to talk to Viando. The happy ram was a gambling den, and he was playing cards as they arrived. With short words, he explained to them that he wasn’t interested in their investigation, since he saw no profit for him in it, and after some heated debate he told them that they had his permission to examine the cave in his mines, but that they shouldn’t spread their unproven theory about a connection between his operations and the disease.It was already dark outside as they walked out of Mullis Town to examine the mine. The armored guards let them pass, and when they reached the cave, they saw that it’s floor was indeed covered with ashes.Already, there were new shafts driven into the far end of the cave, and after looking around, Ben found a mushroom in the ashes. Immediately, his mystic druidic senses told him everything there was to know about it.He called for his friends:” This is the Groster Mushroom. It is supposed to be extinct, but here it is! It used to cause a plague among Orcs before the divine war, supposedly Chern had a conflict with Khadum at the time…“Anyway, the plague was quite deadly, but I think that the Orcs had found an antidote back then…”“And do you know the antidote?”, Niklas asked.”Sorry, no. If I would hold it in my hand, I would recognize it, but I don’t know it now…”.Back at the hotel, Char-Kassa was waiting for them. She was one of Donnangar’s lieutenants and she was agitated:” Have you found out about the cause of the disease?”They answered like one man:”Yes.”.“Good. Gortak is in our camp, and he said that he knows that you know the cause by now. There is a meeting right now, and Gortak wants you there!”.</blockquote>

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