CH. 03 - The Missing Staff

[Daos]

It's a long and harrowing night.  From sundown to sunrise, the zombies outside groan, bang on the walls and door and windows, and otherwise make a terrible ruckus.  None manage to get inside, but few get any sleep, and what sleep is found is restless and constantly interrupted.

When dawn finally breaks, it's a relief, but there's still no time for rest, as the villagers immediately begin rebuilding whatever defenses were damaged for the next night.  Everyone is exhausted, and it's clear the town cannot go on like this indefinitely.

===============

(OOC:  Long rest, everyone gets back full HP, all abilities and half their hit dice back.)

[Matt4]

Giunona Scarletbark

HP: 33/33 - AC: 18 - CD: 1/1 - Inspiration: No - Active Effect(s): None

As Giunona finishes up her prayers, she places an hand on her chest.

"Please, Marthammor, release me from the malignant evil those renegades inflicted me with."

When she's done, she searches up the rest of the group that went to the shrine. After she gathered them, Giunona asks: "Before we decide on how to move forward, who here precisely still feels unwell after being attacked by those creatures?"


OOC Actions

Giunona prepares the same spells, but she'll switch out Protection from Evil & Good for Bless.

And finally, casting Lesser Restoration on herself.

[Daos]

Terence, Ulster and Thuskar all claim to still feel a little off.  Friar Nicholas was never touched, and while Captain Miles was, he insists he feels nothing out of the ordinary.

[Matt4]

Giunona Scarletbark

HP: 33/33 - AC: 18 - CD: 1/1 - Inspiration: No - Active Effect(s): None

Giunona looks with suspicion at Miles, but on the meantime she focuses on the others.

"Terance, I'll start with you for today. Tomorrow I will see that you too are also cured." - she says to the two guards, as she places an hand on Terance's chest while chanting the same prayer as before.

"Speaking of tomorrow. I took advantage of the almost sleepless night to come up with a plan. I thought we could first talk with your local smith to see what he can do about this missing rod, and then we should organize an expedition to Arden to see if we can intercept Giles and bring back the rod of Astara. What do you all think and, most importantly, are you willing to come along?"

OOC Actions 

Just to be sure, I roll Insight on Miles to see if he is sincere about feeling fine or if it's a display of machismo.

Insight: UiItpLUP1d20+5

Also, casting Lesser Restoration on Terance.
1d20+5

[Daos]

Terence nods his head in thanks.  "That feels a bit better," he admits.

As far as Giunona can tell, Miles is not lying.  It's possible he's mistaken, but he seems to be honest when he claims to be fine.

"I like the implication we'll all still be alive tomorrow," Ulster says.

"Yes, it's very heartening," Thuskar adds.

"In any case, we will continue to accompany you," Terence says.  The others nod in agreement.

[Matt4]

Giunona Scarletbark

HP: 33/33 - AC: 18 - CD: 1/1 - Inspiration: No - Active Effect(s): None

Giunona laughed heartily at the exchange between the two guards before vigorously patting them on the back: "Of course you'll be alive! We all will be, dammit."



Even if the rod kept escaping them, they did make considerable progress in their mission, so Giunona was feeling pretty confident. The talk with Montrel had reassured her that the disease was curable and not an urgent threat, so that was one less intrusive thought to deal with.



"So, let's start with the smith then. Terance lead the way, if you please."

[Daos]

Terence leads the party out of the temple and south, crossing the bridge over the river, to Mill Road.  The smith's place is between the cartwright and the miller.  It belongs to one Gwaimai, who is currently inspecting the damage to his home and picking up a few supplies to help reinforce the defenses of the various safehouses for another night of terror. Gwaimai is an older man, perhaps in his late thirties, wearing a black apron over his normal clothes.

[Matt4]

Giunona Scarletbark

HP: 33/33 - AC: 18 - CD: 1/1 - Inspiration: No - Active Effect(s): None

"Good morning, Gwaimai, right? Are you open for business?"

[Daos]

Gwaimai gives a bark of a 'ha!' at the question.  "If only things were normal enough that I could just open up my shop," he says.  "Strange how much the world can change in only a couple of days.  Nah, I'm just trying to figure out how much damage those corpses did to the place, and how much this is going to cost me by the end of it.  Who are you anyway?"  He looks over the group, but his eyes light up in recognition upon spotting Terence.  "Ah, Terence, glad to see you survived, lad."

[Matt4]

Giunona Scarletbark

HP: 33/33 - AC: 18 - CD: 1/1 - Inspiration: No - Active Effect(s): None

"Nice to meet you, sir. Name's Giunona, me, Terence here and the others are tryin' to figure out this mess."

She looks at the damaged building in front of her: "Speaking of mess, I think you'll need at least 30 goldies to repair the most of it, 40 if you're unlucky. 20 if you're lucky as an halfling. Maybe we could help you with that though, I wanted to commision you something that could help make sure that those things stay dead for good."

Giunona tells him about the missing rod of Astara. "We're about to follow that Giles lad, hoping to find him and convince him to give it back. But in case we fail, it would be good if you could forge a rod of those exact measures to replace it."

[Daos]

"A rod, huh?  Well, that shouldn't be too hard.  Could probably knock that out in an hour or so," Gwaimai says.  "But it'll just be that, a rod.  Nothing special or magical about it, so I'm not sure how it will stop this mess."

[Matt4]

Giunona Scarletbark

HP: 33/33 - AC: 18 - CD: 1/1 - Inspiration: No - Active Effect(s): None

Giunona nods: "Yeah, forging the rod it's only the first part, it will need a blessing later. But I'll take it from there."

The dwarf informs the smith of the measures the rod needs to be, then asks: "Before we leave, could we buy a couple of armors? It would be best to arm ourselves better before we start tracking Giles."

[Daos]

"Sure, come back in an hour, I'll have your rod ready," Gwaimai says.  "And no, don't have any armor in stock.  Not any demand for it; or rather, it wasn't.  Maybe I should start making a few anyway, in case this thing lasts a lot longer.  Same with weapons."

[Matt4]

Giunona Scarletbark

HP: 33/33 - AC: 18 - CD: 1/1 - Inspiration: No - Active Effect(s): None

Giunona looks at Gwaimai, bewildered.
A smith without armors or weapons in stock? Bah! Unbelievable!

"I, mhm, see. We'll be back in an hour then!"

She then turns to the others: "I should probably go check if my horse is fine, but we'd still need some for each of you if we're to reach Arden. Any idea on where we could find some?"

[Daos]

"My sister would be our best bet," Terence answers.  "We should probably report to her what we've learned so far anyhow."