AD&D Session 102 - Sucking Pigs

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27th of Horisal, 835 PD

After seeing the condition of the infected patient in Whisper’s village, Whisper insisted that the party prioritise their own wounds before the same deterioration could take hold. She led them to a local temple, where the clerics quickly recognised the injuries as the work of wild animals afflicted by some form of vampirism. The boars the party had killed had not merely been diseased; when the clerics brought the carcasses stored beneath the temple for examination, the party determined that the creatures had already become undead.

The temple had been working with a nearby dwarven clan to develop a cure, but progress had stalled. Their most recent messenger had failed to return and was now well overdue. The party offered what assistance they could, though the continued bleeding from Whisper and Zefran’s wounds made it clear that their own time was limited.

Seeking allies against the power controlling Daestok, the group next visited the Petersons, an influential farming family and among the first residents to flee after their property was seized. When asked whether the displaced locals might support an uprising against Daestok’s vampire lord, the head of the family suggested that the party first speak with the forest settlement’s militia.

At the militia headquarters, Whisper was brought up to date on developments since her departure. Most notably, an anonymous benefactor from Hupperdook had supplied the settlement with a collection of mechanical battle suits, considerably strengthening its defences. Even so, the militia captain was unconvinced by the party’s plans. He refused to weaken the settlement by surrendering any of the armour for an uncertain assault on Daestok.

Bibi reminded the others that Whisper and Zefran’s wounds were a more immediate threat than any future rebellion. She proposed using some of the residuum recovered from Blackcloak’s laboratory to strengthen Koro’s divine magic and ensure that an attempted cure succeeded. When consulted through Sending, Marcus advised them to seek a powerful cleric first, reasoning that even an expensive temple service would cost less than sacrificing such a rare and dangerous magical substance.

With no sufficiently powerful healer available in Whisper’s village, the party decided to travel to the dwarven settlement at the Herathis Mines, hoping that its temples might include a senior cleric of Moradin. Before leaving, however, Bibi addressed the gathered refugees and attempted to rally them against the force occupying Daestok. Her appeal won a measure of support, though questions about how the city could actually be reclaimed exposed how little of a plan the party yet possessed. Bibi could offer only the reassurance that they would proceed one step at a time.

The display nevertheless shifted the militia captain’s position. Though still unwilling to commit the settlement’s full strength or surrender its battle suits, he indicated that some assistance might be available should the party eventually move openly against Daestok’s vampire ruler.

29th of Horisal, 835 PD

After two days of travel, the party reached the Herathis Mines. Their request for a cleric capable of treating the wounds was met with a grim response: the dwarven temples had encountered the same affliction and had not yet found a reliable remedy. The guards offered to escort the group directly to the temple quarantine, an arrangement accepted by the infected Whisper and Zefran.

While they were isolated, the uninfected members of the party offered their aid to the dwarven clergy. Working together, they began piecing together a possible method of cleansing the infection. Despite Marcus’s warning about the value of their residuum, Enikas persuaded Koro that the risk of failure was too great and that they should use some of it to strengthen the ritual.

With the residuum amplifying their divine magic, Koro joined a congregation of Moradin’s clerics in performing the rite on Whisper. The ritual succeeded: her wounds finally closed, and whatever vampiric corruption had taken root within her was purged. For the first time since the boar attack, the party had proof that the spreading affliction could be cured—though Zefran remained infected, and the source of the undead wildlife still waited somewhere within the forests surrounding Daestok.