Madness at Brightmore Abbey IC

[Xihirli]

"Could I have some milk?" Jade requested, leaving the alcoholic drinks alone.

"Right. So we got this crazy good job. Six hundred gold coins, one-fifty apiece. We go scout out how many gnolls are in this place, come back with information. Then a SURPRISE GNOLL FEAST!" Jade grinned at Jok'lek.
"I think they'll like gnoll meat! I assume it's like a mix between dog meat and cat meat? Since gnolls are like hyenas, which are like... cats who look like dogs. So everyone will love it!" Jade took a long drink of milk.

"Like, of course we keep looking for the deck, but I don't think we should ask around for it just yet. Well, more than we have. I don't mean to surprise you all, but I don't think the people around here trust us. I say we do the gnoll thing, everyone likes us, and then start asking around. Asking about it now only increases the chance that some other group hears we're after it, then they get to it first."

[Khosan]

Skipsy blushes, realizing what the draenei is reading, whispering, "Oh my," to herself before shaking her head and moving on. And following the other woman's response to her wave, Skipsy shrugs, thanks the waitress, and sips her cider, waiting for the others to arrive.

With an enthusiastic wave, Skipsy directs everyone over to the table, "Hey guys! I got dinner. Emilia, wine for you, Jok'lek, an ale, cider for me. Jade! I got you some spider sausage, give it a try. It's like crab meat, but...tangier." The gnome merrily munches away on a slice of bread with a bit of Stormwind brie. "What's the word from the commander? Any leads?"

[Kushina43]

Jok'lek accepts the ale, taking a hearty swig and nearly slamming it into the table. "Ooh, thanks, I needed that.. " He gestures to Jade as she explains their basic job description and pay, then tacks on "As for the deck, no leads I can tell. The gnolls seem to be after coin and belongings more than life, which seems a bit unusual, but nothing unheard of. Could be a band of mercs instead of a proper pack from the north like she thinks, and if they're mercs, could be a boss."

He takes another sip of his ale, more gentle about putting it down this time, and speaks a bit more quietly. "Still not 100% on if the alliance like gnoll meat, but I know tauren occasionally eat it, so it can't be too unusual, no?"

[Xihirli]

Jade happily chowed down on spider sausage. "Ah, delicious! Really brings out the spidery crunch!"
She sat back and hummed along to a tune exclusively in her head.
"Alright, let's get a room or seven, then go gnoll-hunting in the morning!" Jade said happily. "And we'll come back a hundred fifty gold richer apiece!"

[Khosan]

"Shame about no leads, but we'll pick something up." Skipsy jabs a cut of meat with her fork, "Gnoll meat? Can't say I know any recipes," she waves the piece of boar in front of her nose, hoping to jog her memory, "They have recipes for us, I'm certain. All meat is meat to a gnoll. The Alliance doesn't share that view. A lot of Night Elves especially - vegetarians." She takes a bite, "There's a couple reasons, but the big one: sentience. Eating anything with strong opinions about the world generally doesn't go over well."

[Spore]

Emilia Shadowburn Forsaken Shadow Priest AC: 13 HP: 32/32 PP: 18 PIv: 9 PIs: 18 Conditions: Disguise Self Concentration: - Not trying her luck further, Emilia leaves the town hall and reapplies the magic in a corner anew. This town was weird, but they were weirder. As she entered the inn for the social gathering she was met with an entirely useless glass of wine. A nice gesture for sure, but more or less pointless. Listening to the ramblings about meat, Emilia finds a slower point in the discussion and interjects. Remember to leave some body alive for my mind magic. We want to know why they do it, not hunt them all ourselves. Sitting at the corner position, Emilia then falls silent and watches the inn until her magic almost fails. She then excuses herself to join their room as her illusion falls and her forsaken self is revealed. Spoiler: unused portrait stash Show https://i.imgur.com/rgNk5Cu.png

[Amnestic]

After feasting and drinking to your heart's content (to a total cost – including the stay – for 2 gold each, or eight gold total) you retire to bed, keen in the knowledge that there will be no sunrise to greet you in the morning, just more dark. The rooms are, at least, comfortable and their beds soft. There's a few others staying, but they give you a wide berth as necessary.

Sure enough, the morning is dark. You're awoken by the clocktower bell chiming, at the early hour of 6AM, calling both yourselves – and those others in town – to stir. After a brief breakfast washed down with a moderate amount of alcohol, you pack your gear, make any final purchases for traveling supplies, and leave the same way you came, before abruptly turning west. There are no roads to Brightmore Abbey, not anymore, and it didn't appear on any maps of note. Having been long-abandoned, detailing its location would only draw fool treasure hunters; or adventurers.

It's slow going through the dense forest, moving by torchlight. Every flicker of the torch, every shifting motion, sends shadows dancing around you, ones that seem to creep ever closer before jumping away again, pushed back by the light that you cluster towards.

A few hours outside of town, your nose is assaulted by the permeating smell of rot and blood, of death unburied and uncared for. It seems to surround you, but as you continue forward on your path you spot the source – two bodies, eviscerated by claw and tooth. They've been dead for days at least, and no doubt they are no longer suitable as a meal for the animals, just the trees. They're dressed in traveling clothes, though they're torn apart by this point, and it looks like they might have died holding hands. Beneath one of the bodies is a traveling pack that still bulges with secrets, untouched by whatever monsters tore their lives asunder.

Spoiler: DC14 Medicine

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It's not just rot – there's something else wrong with the bodies beneath the stench, and it's likely disease. Being near to and/or moving the bodies could risk infection.

[Kushina43]

Jok'lek is among the first prepared to leave - waking early was required of him while in Pandaria and it just became a habit. He took the lead walking through the forest, and once he got one too many shudders from these moving shadows, he calls for a quick stop. Pulling out a hooded lantern engraved with bat-shaped markings and filling it with oil, he raises it high and says a prayer aloud. "Hir'eek guide me through this land - with this blessed tool, grant me clarity of sight, that it may come close to how your great sound so clearly perceives all of this world. I beseech you for your divine protection from the dark!" He opens the hood and ignites the lantern, dispelling the darkness immediately around them.

When they get to the bodies, he places the lantern on the ground. Even if Ebonlocke said they didn't frequent this area, he wasn't going to mess with bodies directly when undead were a potential threat. Instead, he pulls out his greataxe, debating whether to prod the bodies away to get to the traveling pack, turning to the group for sugestions. "Think this is worth checking out? I'm unsure when the undead be roamin' these forests."

[Xihirli]

"You babies!" Jade hopped over to the corpses. "You're acting like you've never seen a dead body – one of us IS one! Look, we're scouts. Note down that a couple here needs a proper burial and Missus Commander will pick them up later."
Jade hopped over and opened up the pack. "Let's take a look – I promise, no stealing money from the dead!" She acknowledged. "Unless we killed them for any of the various reasons we kill people." She looked inside to see what was in there, but was serious about not looting them for money – Missus Commander had a better chance of finding their family than any of them did.

[Khosan]

Skipsy is one of the last to rise. Gnomish arms and armor need far more maintenance, as one might expect. With most of her time taken up with that surprisingly intricate task, her breakfast is especially brief, barely more than a slice of toast with jam mashed into her mouth on the way out the door.

The sight of the bodies gives Skipsy a jump, eliciting an audible gasp from the gnome. Taking a moment to compose herself with a deep, focusing breath, she approaches them (plugging her nose all the while) and inspects them. Their clothing calls to mind the woman in the corner from the night before, "I wonder if she knew them..."

[Amnestic]

It takes a few tugs for Jade to pull out the pack from beneath the body. Blood has soaked into it from above, which has ruined some of the contents - the rations especially are no good anymore and there looks to have been at least two letters or scrolls that disintegrate when you touch them, making their contents a mystery forever. Coins hold up better however, and you find loose coinage totaling 18 gold pieces, alongside a sealed potion of healing (helpfully labelled!). With a bit of cleaning they'll be just as usable as ever.

Now closer to the bodies, Skipsy can see that though they were both humans (given their size and builds), their bodies are both subtly different from each other and from humans in general. The fingers of one of them end in razor sharp claws, while in the other's case a small, hairy tail like that of a monkey protrudes from their lower back. Around the wrist of the clawed one is a small bracelet marked with a stylised flower carved from a gemstone. Such pendants were usually used as gifts for loved ones and contain a minor magical enchantment.

Spoiler: OOC

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Skipsy and Jade both need to roll a DC12 constitution save; the effects of a success/failure will not become clear immediately so continue on regardless!

[Xihirli]

Jade left the money in the pouch but pulled out the healing potion.
"Ta da!" She shouted, and hopped back to the others. "And that's five hundred times I've hopped instead of stepping today!" She said, resuming normal walking. "Come on, we are losing daylight!"

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+6)[11]
I cannot fail this CON save. I literally just have to roll a 6 or higher on a d20. What are the chances of rolling a 1-5? Zero, it must be. Impossible.

[Khosan]

Skipsy tilts her head, lifting up the clawed hand, "Are they Worgen? No. That tail should be...fluffier." She respectfully places a hand on each of the bodies' heads and bows her head, "I'm not much of a priest, but this'll have to do. Light keep you." Her attention turns to the ring, which she, with as much respect as she can muster looting the recently deceased, plucks from the corpse, "Hopefully someone in town will be able to identify this."

Spoiler: OOC

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Con Save - (1d20+6)[14]

[Spore]

Emilia Shadowburn Forsaken Shadow Priest AC: 13 HP: 32/32 PP: 18 PIv: 9 PIs: 18 Conditions: Disguise Self Concentration: - Emilia hated her undead appearance, but in a way it was relieving to be accepted and not needing to hide behind phantasms outside of towns. Food did not give her any satisfaction though the ritual itself of sitting down with friends was still a thing for her. Her thoughts kept her distracted while the very much alive members of the party prodded and tugged at the very much bloated and diseased corpse. I would get away from that if I were you. You...you looted it already, did you? Then just burn the corpses, will you? A burial is too dangerous. Now that locket however might be a small boon for us. Ironic that something meant to protect them is now protecting their grave robbers. With little regard to the health of her comrades - after all they didn't get themselves killed on their own, and she recently started enjoying having more undead minions around - Emilia presses on towards the Abbey. Spoiler: unused portrait stash Show https://i.imgur.com/hTFgRHd.png

[Amnestic]

However you deal with the bodies - whether you leave them to rot, burn, or bury them, you continue on through the dense woods. At one point you notice a pack of wolves, 4 in total - one for each of you - is keeping pace at your back. Too far away to strike through the trees, but neither do they approach. After another hour they drop away and seem to give up the 'chase' in favour of prey that perhaps wields a bit less fire and steel. Eventually you reach the end of your first day of travel and are unable to push forwards any more without putting yourselves at risk, and after a delightful supper of trail rations you retire to sleep between watches.

When Jade awakens, the effect of her reckless approach of the bodies makes itself clear, as her fingers have elongated and spaghettified themselves. Though they can still grip objects (and more importantly weapons) well enough, the unusual feeling means her dexterity with matters requiring a fine hand are far more limited. Otherwise she feels...surprisingly fine. No fever, no coughing. Just awkwardly long and unwieldy fingers,

Spoiler: OOC

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Jade has disadvantage on all sleight of hand checks until her disease is cured.

Spoiler: Flower Pendant - Identified

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Wondrous Item (Amulet), Common
These pendants are often sold to couples to commemorate an engagement or major anniversary milestones. As an action you can use the amulet's power to cast Protection from Good and Evil on yourself. Once the amulet's power has been used, it cannot be used again for 1d4 days.

Spoiler: DC14 Medicine

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With the incubation period established along with seeing a third symptom, you can deduce the disease as "Farr'do'Arcana", or 'Magic Flux', to take its more Common translation from the original elvish.

Caused by a magical anomaly that bonds with a more common disease (frequently the common cold) it can cause rapid mutations in the subject. Some can be beneficial (such as growing functional gills), some harmful (like the aforementioned spaghetti fingers - or in some cases losing your eyes entirely), and some useless (such as a skin colour change). When exposed to the disease, you make a DC12 Constitution save. On a fail, you gain a mutation at the end of your next long rest.

At the end of each subsequent long rest, you roll another saving throw, with the save DC increasing by +1 each time, to a maximum of DC20. On each fail, you gain another mutation. You continue to make saving throws even after maxing out the save DC. This disease cannot be overpowered by the body alone, and a successful save merely delays the worst. It must be purged with magic such as Lesser Restoration or Dispel Magic.

Without proper precautions, by traveling with Jade you risk the disease spreading to the rest of the group.

[Xihirli]

"Ha!" Jade guffawed. She wiggled her hands and smacked them into each other to make the spaghetti appendages bounce off of each other.
"That’s hilarious! Hey Jok’lek! Look at this! I’ve got octopus hands! But with ten fingers! I’ve got decapus hands!" Jade whipped her hands around some more.
"This is great! Let’s keep going without putting even a little thought into this!"

[Spore]

Emilia Shadowburn Forsaken Shadow Priest AC: 13 HP: 32/32 PP: 18 PIv: 9 PIs: 18 Conditions: Disguise Self Concentration: - The forsaken priest sighs a raspy sigh. If she could roll her eyes to any visual effect, they would probably do a proper turn now. Jade. You stay away from the others. I have not planned for any stupid little infections today. Your cure will have to wait for tomorrow. Until then, everyone else avoid her like the scourge. There is a certain sharpness in her voice, almost akin to hostility. Diseases, magical or mundane were a delicate point for the human killed by the magical disease introduced to this world by the agents of the Burning Legion. This thing however she raises the pendant between her spindly fingers. protects from all kinds of otherworldly threats. Any takers? If not, I shall take it. Spoiler: unused portrait stash Show https://i.imgur.com/hTFgRHd.png

[Xihirli]

Jade sulked, but walked a distance from the others."Fine, fine. Let's finish this and get back to town!"
She pulled out her axe, and practiced swinging it with her weird fingers.

[Amnestic]

With Jade sequestered off to one side - within sight distance but not coming close enough to risk infection - you continue on your path westwards, towards what you hope is the Abbey. The flames from your torches and lanterns keep wandering monsters at bay, and perhaps the wolves can smell the disease on Jade, as even they keep a wide berth from her. After a long day of travel through the dense woods, you eventually spot pinpricks of light on the horizon, casting the world around them into silhouette. Unless there's a second abbey complex that happened to be 2-3 days journey west of Darkshire, it seems likely you're now observing Brightmore, as much as you can in the dark of Duskwood.

A few bonfires inside the raised grounds give you some idea of what you're looking at though, even at this distance, but more than that the area seems bathed in a sickly purple glow - likely not enough to affect your sight in close proximity, but when layered at a distance it clearly stands out. The abbey grounds cover most of a hillside, sequestered in the shadow of the mountain range that surrounds the Twilight Grove. There was likely a path to it, once, but if so it's overgrown through decades of neglect and cursed plantgrowth. You can vaguely make out the shape of a gate in your path, and to either side stretches a curtain wall supported by occasional towers and buttresses. Far above the wall, at the peak of the hill, is a caved-in temple that somehow still stands proudly.

Turning towards the south, the wall extends towards a tall watch tower, though if your eyes are not mistaken there may be a gap in the stonework in which the overgrown nature has filled with twisted plantlife. To the north, the wall stretches around the northern side of the hill out of sight, but it could be scalable with some effort. From what you can tell at this far off distance the walls are unmanned - certainly there's no lights atop them - but whether that means you're invisible is another matter.

From behind the walls, the hill rises up, and a village stretches around a road that curves up and around the hill, nestled in the shadow of the shattered temple atop the hilltop. It is among the silhouettes of sagging roofs and toppled wrecks of houses that rest the bonfires - the first and only real sign (at this distance, at least) of occupation. Dominating the village's horizon is a squat, square tower that appears to still be intact, and on the south side of the keep - near the gate - is what is likely the stone keep that housed the defensive forces, once upon a time. Further south is a tangled expansse of forest sprawling over the hillside, with a few crumbling structures such as a belltower poking through the treetops.

Observing from afar only does so much for you, however, and the distance towards the abbey still stretches before you - in addition to deciding on how you plan to bypass the outer perimiter, there is the matter of when to do so - you could push on today, but could risk being forced to make camp inside the Abbey's walls, or rest in the 'safety' outside of it, and spend an extra day (and long rest) with Jade's infection.

[Kushina43]

After some consideration, Jok'lek decides to take a torch from his pack and light it up, using some of his oil to burn the bodies. As they trek on, he lets his lantern die out over the next few hours, content to go on with just the torch as nothing unnatural happened. The wolves were a concern, but the open flames the group's torches probably helped keep them at bay more easily than Hir'eek's lantern.

Upon waking the next day and seeing Jade's condition for himself, he initially laughs with her at how silly the noodle fingers look, but is quite concerned that she caught an unnatural disease from the corpses - he's very glad he burned them now. Emilia's advice to keep away from the goblin is taken, though he moves to the back of the group for the rest of the trip, constantly looking back to make sure she's still with them. When they look upon what is presumably Brightmore, he finds himself blinking as if to clear the purple away, until it becomes clear that's just.. there, for some reason. The visible temple at the hill's peak does not help matters.
"Spooky." he states plainly.

He moves back towards the front to investigate and identifies the possible entry points on the north and south parts of the wall. He gives it some thought personally, then turns to the group, speaking more loudly to include the further Jade. "I see two places we can get in, but I think we should rest first. Emilia, you said you could cure Jade tomorrow, yes? An extra day to make sure we're all prepared and healthy shouldn't be a problem for Ebonlocke, long as we stay far enough out of sight."

[Xihirli]

Jade waved at the others and chuckled at what her fingers looked like. She couldn't hear them, but through a series of jumps, kicks, and dance moves that none of them had been unfortunate enough to see before, she tried to convey that she would maintain this distance and follow their lead.

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't think Jade can get a vote here without either yelling I got a four! or going closer, so she'll follow.

[Khosan]

Skipsy removes her gloves to inspect her own fingers once Jade's issue becomes apparent. She wiggles her digits, all four of them, and nods, satisfied. It seems to escape her attention that she has tools to potentially deal with the goblin's predicament.

Later that evening, as they're scouting the abbey itself, Jok'lek jogs her memory, "Oh yeah! Don't worry, Emilia, I got this one! Probably! I stock a loooot of healing stuff and I got something that might do the trick." With an oft-seen enthusiasm, Skipsy reaches into her bag and removes her Gnomish army knife, flipping out one of the more inscrutable tools and rushing over to poke Jade in the back of the neck with it. A light on the omni-tool flashes and produces a loud BZZZT when contact is made.

"I say we go in. Fortune favors the bold!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Skipsy casts Lesser Restoration on Jade, kind of just hoping it'll work, despite not knowing the exact cause.

[Xihirli]

"Ah!" Jade brought up her shield and raised her ax as she stared down Skipsy.
"You stabbed me! Does that mean you're a traitor? Are we fighting now?"
And as her little green fingies settled back into their proper shape, Jade understood.
"Aw, thanks Skipsy!" She stepped up and gave the gnome a big hug. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier... you're just as good with a gun as a goblin!"
Now able to approach the campsite, Jade pulled out of her bag of holding ten hunting traps.
"If we want to make camp, I can make it SAFE!" She showed off one of her ten hunting traps.
"But I agree with Skipsy, and not just because she stabbed me with her healing shiv. If we go in now, we can go back to the town sooner, so they'll have more time to plan their next move."

[Spore]

Emilia Shadowburn Forsaken Shadow Priest AC: 13 HP: 32/32 PP: 18 PIv: 9 PIs: 18 Conditions: Disguise Self Concentration: - Emilia tries to smile but her warped visage only appears to show more jagged teeth. Gnomish ingenuity excited me as a kid. There was this gyrocopter that crashed in our town. The rider saved itself with a failsafe mechanism made of a large cloth. Thought to be perfectly honest, I thought healing was more a thing for elves and devout humans. There was no concealed racism in her voice. Just an old woman reminiscing about old days. Staring at the "Abbey town" and the outliers, she finally says: Even I do need rest, and some of you wear armor they need to remove to sleep, so I think the smarter way would be to slow down to make this in two trips. I can maybe try to scout out the perimeter tomorrow evening. Emilia refers to her ability to hide well, and even meld with the shadows akin to a night elf. Spoiler Show Rest, here, travel down there next day, scout the next day, rest at the outskirts, then start dungeonabbeycrawling. Spoiler: unused portrait stash Show https://i.imgur.com/hTFgRHd.png

[Khosan]

"It used to be!" With a twirling flourish, Skipsy slides the army knife into a belt pouch, "The cataclysm changed more than just the landscape, you know! After us gnomes reclaimed Gnomeregan (or at least part of it) and the subsequent cataclysm, we realized we couldn't rely on our allies for everything. We've invested more in frontline mechano-tanks, medics and medical technology in the years since, to shore up our already impressive ranged fire support and reconnaissance teams. You'll even see some real deal gnomish priests of the Light sometimes! Skipsy is absolutely beaming with gnomish pride, but her tone quickly becomes hushed and conspiratorial, leaning in towards Emilia, "Shadow too, but you don't hear from those guys too much."

[Xihirli]

Seeing that the party wasn't starting to move, Jade shrugged and set up a perimeter of hunting traps.
"I guess it's better to wait until morning after all," she admitted. "Just wake me up before you leave this ring, I'm gonna hide these."
And with loose earth, a few brambles, and the odd weed, Jade hid the hunting traps to spring if ever anyone wanted to sneak up on the party.

[Amnestic]

With a disease cured, traps laid, and another watch order set, you settle in for another night of huddling around a campfire for warmth, light, and protection from the beasts that howl. Time passes slowly in Duskwood. It's a dripfeed of steady cloud movement against an unlit sky, with naught to mark the passing but the wind in the trees and the beat of your own hearts - except in Emilia's case. Those on watch see no real changes in the lighting in the abbey. The fires may dim, but others spring up to replace them, and it seems unlikely that the occupants that you can 'see' ever really sleep. With no day/night cycle to track, there doesn't seem much point.

Eventually your hearts have beaten enough times to mark your resting as completed, and you collect your things together to face the Abbey proper. It can't be put off any longer, you need to decide how you're going to approach.

[Xihirli]

Jade rolled over to the traps and started gathering them up.
"Alright, hoping to have caught a few gnolls in the night but we can't always get what we want."
Jade looked at their entrances and pointed to the climbing one. "We're all pretty strong. I think the climbing one's good because it gives us the high ground to look at them from. That way we can see the whole camp and if they come at us we'll be able to shoot at them before they get to us. Plus after we're done we can race to the bottom!"

[Kushina43]

"I think the climbing one's good because it gives us the high ground to look at them from. That way we can see the whole camp and if they come at us we'll be able to shoot at them before they get to us. Plus after we're done we can race to the bottom!"

"Hmm, tempting, but the high ground isn't worth as much without cover - we can only fall back behind the wall or forward toward the enemy, or else stand there exposed if they got any bows or stones." Jok'lek considers. "Also, I only got me two axes to throw, after that I'd have to charge 'em." He looks at the other entrance he saw, the overgrown hole in the wall. "But the other option I can see is even less stealthy than that, whether burning away the brush or hacking it with blades over and over. So I suppose I'd rather take my chances climbing the wall."

[Khosan]

Skipsy pulls at her armor, forcing a number of cogs and gizmos into their correct positions, "First things first!" She extends another, different attachment from her army knife, this one looking like a 3-pronged fork with a tiny plasma ball at the tip of each prong. Pressing a button, the attachment spins up, one by one she points the device at Emilia, Jok'lek, and finally Jade, each time pressing the button again and firing a bolt of blue light, leaving each with a 'healthy' blue glow. "Right! I also routed power back to the cloaking device, so if we wanna sneak someone in first, I can make that happen!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Skipsy casts Aid on Emilia, Jok'lek and Jade. Each of you gain 5 max HP and 5 temp HP for the next 8 hours.