In reply to Big Boss (msg # 73):

OOC:  I'm presuming that Aliana has no better luck?

Twiggy walks up to Aliana and says quietly where the noisy lady can't hear "Most local priests in small towns are lucky to have any spell casting ability, much less able to cure this. Since he was a thief like Vernon he could have possibly taken a cursed item, opened a trap with a spell on it, or went into a area that was warded. I do not have the ability, but can you cast remove curse and restoration? If it is magic then one of those should cure it. At least that's what the priest in the big cities cast on old adventuring members for a hefty donation."

Amara sighed at Vernon's words about Aki. "I think you might be a little harsh on him. People like him and I, not many people will give us a chance to really be friends. Yes, he has secrets. Same as you or me or anyone else. But it's clear he's hurt by this. He's a survivor - of course he'll get back to work afterward."

***

She was surprised by the revelation of the roadsweeper, but Aliana was the one who could help - not her.

Sister Aliana prayed to Oghma, casting a spell to detect any lingering magic on the man

Moves to stand beside Amara.  Careful to respect her personal space and still speak to her quietly.  Byron also stays away from the guy as he doesn't want to make him feel trapped or spooked.

Can you ask Aliana to mention Vernon in conversation to him?  I doubt it will help, but one never knows what the mention of family will do.

Roen looked at Alek, then spoke to the old lady, "Do you remember what the priests said his condition was?"

Aliana detects a strong Enchantment on Alek, but other than that, her Healing skills can't determine what's wrong with Alek. She's relying on her friends with their assumptions.

Amara knows what's wrong with Alek, but there's nothing she can do about it. Feeblemind is a nasty, cruel spell.

Roenthelm continues talking with the old gossip lady:

"I don't know the fancy talk they were talking, but I remember them shaking their heads when they came out of the Temple of Lathander, saying there was nothing they could do. People around here let him sleep in the barn and he sweeps the street."

Sister Aliana sighed sadly.
"Yes, i suppose we'd need a Heal scroll.  It's beyond my normal capabilities "

"Vernon, if you can hear me, please understand that there is nothing we can do for your brother. Perhaps in our travels we might find something to cure him, but in the meantime, he's better off staying here. Other than not taking a bath in a while, he seems to be healthy and he's safe here. Let him go about his routine and we'll come back to cure him one day."

Vernon isn't highly intelligent, but he's smart enough to know that if the party had the means to help his brother, they would have. They're certainly doing a good enough job trying to help him, and for that, he will always be grateful.

"I donna like it, but promise me we be helpin him when we can." Vernon said to Twiggy and Amara "At least he be alive."

The old gossip lady continued with her story while wringing out some wet clothes,

"Marty the wood cutter found him wandering around near the forest and brought him back here to Soubar. Tis a miracle he wasn't chewed up by any dragons."

Aliana nodded, lips pursed with concern
"Where is this wood cutter currently?  I'd love to ask him for more details "

"Go out the town gates and pass Kari the flower lady. When you see a big rock on the side of the road, go past that house. That's Zeb, the local undertaker. He doesn't live in the cemetery. There will be a small road that people walk on to come to town, but don't take a wagon there. Keep on going to the main road, hang a left and you'll see a bunch of wood piled up. That's Frin. We get firewood from him and he gets the wood from Timber. He's the one who found this man wandering around near the forest."

Byron knows who Timber is. His real name is Gaul, but got the name "Timber" because of his line of work.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:20, Sun 22 Oct 2023.

Twiggy feels sad for Alek but a heal spell is a very powerful spell that only the strongest priests can cast. Looking at VernonWe will help him one day but it is beyond our ability. A heal Scroll is a small fortune."

Nodding as she tried to memorize the directions, Aliana looked at the others.
"Perhaps we can spare a short time for investigation.  Finding out more circumstances for this curse might show a shortcut or alternate cure."

"Unlikely," Amara responded to Aliana. "If it is feeblemind which I, and I would guess you, suspect, then heal is the best option.

He should still recognize his brother's name - why don't you try using it?" Amara wasn't sure why Byron came to her to ask Aliana something, but the reasons were his own.

Amara looked squarely at Vernon, "I will promise to help, so long as that help does not prevent us from helping larger numbers. The needs of the many must come before the needs of a few - we can't sell our items that could help in the battle with the dracolich." She looked at the others, "But let's see if any of the shops have a scroll of heal before we leave. Perhaps they will and perhaps we have what is necessary to buy it without depleting what we need for our fight."

Aliana nodded to Amara
"Yes, that sounds good.   We might have to go to a larger town, but it's worth a try. "

OK, we will leave him here then. He'll be much safer than traveling with us or staying at the tower alone. Hopefully, we'll be able to heal him again someday.

So, the party decided to ask around town to see if anyone had a Scroll of HEAL. Byron, Kalliyan, Myarra and Roenthelm went back to Amos' shop, but he just chuckled at the request and suggested that he visit the local temples.

Twiggy, Vernon, Amara and Aliana went back to Aki's shop, but the door was locked with a Closed sign on the door. Even after continuous knocking, he doesn't answer.

Then you let Aliana do the talking with the Temples, since she's a Priestess. You visit the Temple of Lathander, the Temple of Chauntea and even the Temple of Gond. Unfortunately for the party, Aliana is more experienced than all the Priests in this town and they wished they could help you. They suggest Elturel or even Baldur's Gate.

It's now around 1 pm-ish and while you're eating lunch, you decide that you better get rooms for the night, going to your normal Tavern/Inn: The Heart of the Dragon. But, there was no vacancies. You search around town and see an older Tavern/Inn called the Four Seasons, but that too is booked. Both Inns say the Dragon attack brought a bunch of business for them.

So, you're out of options for sleeping, unless you want to go to Byron's farm or ask Amos for a place to stay for the night.

The farm will probably be the safest place for us tonight.  But it will be the barn or outside.  We don't need to be bringing them any more trouble than we are now.

What about the trouble we'll bring if a bounty hunter recognizes one of you and now they know where your parents live?

Twiggy looks at Byron and says what Vernon said "He is right. For now we need to avoid the farm so they can say they didn't see us. If anything I would hire a few mercenaries to act like hands in case any bounty hunters do not belive they are telling the truth and try to hurt them. People do bad stuff for gold and after this last bout with Centari's men I am sure the bounties went up."

Aliana shrugged
"While I'd prefer sleeping in a soft bed, I'm sure i can find us a safe and secure camping site in the forest. "

"Then we might as well travel to Daak and hope we don't encounter anything."

"Since we've already exhausted the sources of information here, we might as well," Myarra agrees. "It's a two-day trip no matter what. The only difference is how much time we spend traveling today and how much of the trip will be left over for tomorrow."

She looks up at the sun, smiling at a memory of how terrifying it had been, not to mention the limitless sky, when she'd first come from the underdark.

"I'm guessing we can get a few more hours of travel in and then take all of tomorrow to get there."