At the Well.....


"I can clease a couple of gallons with each Orison, and I have many such blessings. So either we can haul up buckets of water and pour them into a barrel after I have cleansed them of taint, or ye lower me down there and I try cleansing the lot for an hour or two. Guards, to let you know, MY name is Dorak. TARRAK is my cousin, and he told me of your problems."

Hello Mistress Laurel, I'm fidget and I to am fairly well versed in flora as well. Then she turns at glares at Francis, Hey Franky, your really starting to get on everyone's nerve. You think you are the only educated person here. I'll have you know that I am very much accomplished in my field of study. I'll have you know that I am an arborist sent here by a queen to meet with the head of the lumber consortium.

Then turning back to face the herbalist she continues. We are all exhausted, but the situation calls of each to give his all. So you can consider us all at your disposal. Having spoke she pushes a stool of to the work table and then scrambles up on it. after scooping up a clay bowl and stone petal, she asks, So Laurel where do we start, lets get to work.

The tall elf newcomer bowed his head and said, "Mistress Laurel, I'm here to serve. My traveling companion has gone to purify the water, how may we be of assistance?"

He was quickly learning to ignore the annoying man they called Francis, though it was more of ignoring his tone. Despite all his bluster, the man did seem to know a thing or two...

He was surprised Fidget chose to speak up but backed the little gnome up saying, "Doesn't your science teach you that the beginning of all knowledge is a firm grasp of just how little you know? My people live for millennia and study scientifically and in other styles, and all know that there are limits to their own understanding and their own capacities for insight... Perhaps that is the difference between Wisdom and Information?"

Francis, again avoiding eye contact with Eldin, delivered a matter-of-factly rant that was so venomous it could cause an ooze to melt. "Taking a 1000 page book and vomiting it back into another differently worded 1000 page book over and over to ad nauseam is not science, ^{or any kind of knowledge}. That, is intellectual bulimia. The one think elves are suppose to be an authority on, ^magic, and you fail at that as well as short lived races, very recent on the world stage, are running circles around you. So excuse me if I take your thousand year intellectually anorexic advice with a mine of salt."

The obvious bigotry and undue baggage in that statement even reached Francis even in his condition so he visibly caught himself before continuing. Composing himself (combing hair, straightening tie, standing straighter *sniff*) he spoke again, "But I agree, time is of the essence and there is work to be had for everyone. I'm sure Mr.Loralana can boil the water or crop the herbs while the rest of us focus on the important rest of the tasks."

Finally he turns to Laurel, "Milady, we await your bidding. Present us with the process."

Rennick answered: "That would be  Hermits "R" US, because my teachers would in your terms be 'hermits.' But the fact that they didn't feel at home in the city and chose to live in a log cabin in the woods, does not mean that they're inferior. Their way of living in nature had given them an excellent understanding of the ecology of the woods, as well as experience with a number of skills that one can never learn by just reading books. For example, a book can give you a description of how a plant looks, but in nature each specimen looks differently and actual field experience is necessary to find and distinguish such plants from others in a forest.

Laurel looked at the argument forming in her shop and said YOU pointing a finger at Francis. Stop your prattle!!. If you cant find anything nice to say...get out of my shop! I have work to do. with that she ordered the others to get to work. and she began putting her knowledge to the test.


at the well....

The Guards said hmm well it was that gnome lowered in the well that pulled the posion out. so lets lower you down to do what you can. Dorak? you say...hmmm all you dwarves look alike.

and they took the harness that lay on the ground by the well that Nomerendal and Rennick had created and put it about Dorak and lowered him into the well.

"Actually Francis, I've observed that your contraptions haven't always functioned as expected either... You're very knowledgeable, none of us are denying that, in fact I think we would all commend you for it, even admire it... but blind faith in your gears and gadgets is not unlike if Arell were to stand before a foe, praying for his God to help him, but then never lifting his weapon... knowing when and how and where and why and all of those sorts of things, with regard to the application of your science, as well as being able to humbly admit where such might break down or where inherent weaknesses lie... well that only comes with experience. Knowledge combined with experience is what wisdom is, and without some wisdom, you're not really going to get very far..."

Nomerendal looked the young man in the eye, and with a sagely expression delivered this bit of advice. Francis was everything the gnome was not. He tended to be much too laid back, even possibly a bit lazy, as was evident of his sitting in taverns waiting for adventure to come to him, and even when it did, as in the particular stew they found themselves in now, he still had yet to realize it. Certainly the gnome had a grand portfolio of flaws of his own, but one thing he could share is how to read people's reactions to the things one was saying...

"You'll find, Francis, that your opinions can be validated as much as not, and your understanding can be strengthened or challenged most, by endeavoring to observe and listen before offering advice or criticism..."

"For example, Eldrin and Rennick could probably talk for hours about the intricacies of a leaf, much as you could. Your description and understanding might even be more in depth... but can you hear it speaking to you? That's what thousands of years have done for the elves. Yes, magic can misbehave - or not behave at all - but it can also be harnessed in ways that science will take centuries to duplicate."

"Cousin Fidget and I, her more than me perhaps, are able to speak to animals and birds and those things which flurry beneath the brush or slide along their bellies, or even hop across the water or swim! I've no doubt that you could come up with a contraption or method of achieving the same, but it would take time and study and in the meantime Fidget and I will be enjoying our conversations with the wild."

"Listen, we've all had a long go of things, we're exhausted and folks are very ill... but when we come to a point where we can relax, when you can shut down your machines, think a little about what I've told you, for you're not the first to hear it, and I'm certainly not the first to be the teller..."

Eldrin quietly listened to the rant from Francis and weighed his words carefully. The only people he knew who had transcribed books the way Francis derided were the monks and they did that for entirely different reasons than the ones that alarmed Francis, but now was clearly not the time for correction. Not after Laurel and Nomerendal chimed in with their own refutations of the boy.

"I am quite sure I can help start or tend to a fire or fetch water if that would be of assistance now, Laurel," he said, owning Francis's remarks rather than disputing them.

He listened intently to the woman as she detailed out the process that they needed to take to complete the mission he'd somehow adopted...

Francis, having been given clear and unmistakable orders by the proprietor of the establishment and thus the only authority whose opinion mattered if he was to earn any more renown and fame in all this, only responded to the sophistry of his inferiors with the rolling on his eyes and burying his face into his notes.

However, once the task of creating the cure was underway he was not shy about voicing his opinions as Laurel laid out the process, "I see...so we are going with a method of rapid liquid vaporization for oral consumption in a diluted state? It would definitely separate the toxins as they fuse with the agitated water and perspire while, I'm guessing, a secondary heavier water-soluble substance is added to fuse with the curative elements and make them heavy enough to remain.

However, if I may suggest an alternative approach. Not to the ingredients and the recipe/formula itself, ^{after there is no substitute for a verified reversal agents to a known contaminant}, but to the synthesizing and administration method.

First, we use the Leidenfrost effect nucleate boiling distillation process which is superior to the transition boiling, a.k.a. unstable boiling you propose. It's a delicate process I know, but we can do it if we empty and re-purpose my pneumatic engine," he pointed on the weird hissing, smoke puffing metal backpack/piece armor thing he wore on his back, "Doing this we can create a purer, larger amount of cure, in concentrated doses, in less time, because we won't be losing soluble substance nor compromising it with an unnecessary binding agent.

Second, we alter the administration method. To exert its desired effect, a cure generally must travel through the bloodstream to its site of action, where it produces some change in an organ or tissue. Under normal circumstances when taken in the form of a drinkable potion/solution, the cure's effects are diminish as it is processed/metabolized by enzymes from the liver and proteases and hydrochloric acid by the stomach, thus eliminated from the body because all foreign matter is by default viewed by the organism as hostile. It all comes down to availability.

If we administer the cure intravenously, we can bypass the stomach altogether and deliver it to the intestines directly, which is the organ that decides what goes into the bloodstream or doesn't. Furthermore, I recommend we add some ethanol to the solution because it may inhibit a cure's metabolism by competing with the cure for the same set of metabolizing enzymes produced by the liver. This interaction prolongs and enhances the cure's availability in the system.

The dosage would have to be moderated to each patient separately of course, to account from age, body size and if they've already regular long term consumers of alcoholics, but I don't see why that would be a problem since I assume you're quite familiar with the people here and even if you're not an educated guess shouldn't be too difficult," Francis laid out his proposal and awaited confirmation from Laurel.

22:49, Today: Francis Sighnd rolled 25,30 using 1d20+9,1d20+11.  Knowledge Nature check + Craft alchemy check. Coming up with a new theory and putting it into practice.

As Laurel worked and Francis began to tell her how to do her job she looked at him over her glasses and when i want your advice ill ask for it. until that time keep your suggestions to themselves.said

Rennick said to Francis:
"I'm doubting whether your calculations are correct. We didn't find any fresh rattails. We found them in salted water in a jar, they may be many months old. That would mean that they don't yield as much effective substance as you assume they do."

Francis shrugged. "It was merely a suggestion" he said without any inclination one way or another. It was clear he didn't really care about some faceless people he had never met, and his cling to fame had already been assured by procuring the rattails. This was just him going that extra mile in a typical overachiever fashion.

ooc: Ninaj'd...again.

At the ranger's comment he turned at him and...


Wait...he's actually right. The rattails would undergo fermentation, not to mention the acids in them by the preservation solvent.

"Hmmmm...good catch," he said in a kinda detached voice as he was still coming terms with the fact that that had actually came from the dirty, ignorant, outdoor hippy. "Adjustments would have to be made, but it's still doable...Oh well, doesn't matter ether way since we're going with the traditional route."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:15, Wed 07 Mar 2018.

Dorak hopes this works as he pours blessing after blessing into the tainted water.

Continual cast Purify Food and Drink orison....

A long half hour later Dorak is pulled from the well. The taint removed.

And Laurel completes the antidote. Sending the party with vials of it to every villager infected...

It's not long before everyone has returned. The hacking cough heard throughout the village has stopped.

The Blackscour Taint has been stopped...and finally the group can relax as it nears midnight...a long couple days.

Rennick goes back to his own accomodation (probably a room in the Sitting Duck Inn or a barracks from the Consortium).
He says: "I'm going to sleep about 12 to 14 hours in a row, I think. I can accommodate one other person, probably, so if one of you needs a place to sleep, come with me. Tomorrow we can divide the treasure. I'm so tired, can hardly stand anymore..."

Dorak takes up the offer. "Torag's blessings might be unending, but my endurance isn't. my thanks."

Nom was hardly able to stay on his feet. He looked around the town and a slow realization began to overtake him. "We did it..." he said quietly. "Laurel, you did it!" He looked around him again, his small feet turning him in a slow circle.

"Well, that certainly was an..." he paused as his pointed ears drew back a bit. The full realization finally resting upon his weary mind. "...an adventure."

His mind began to race then, creativity fueled by the stresses over the last few days as well as his body and mind yearning for a rest, brought his emotions to the surface as he thought about how this story should be told.

"Why don't we all get some rest... Laurel, thank you. The rest of you, Rennick, Arell, you cousin Fidget, Dorak and Eldrin... even you Francis, thank each of you for your efforts. As soon as I've gotten a few winks of sleep, I'll put quill to parchment so that your deeds will never be forgotten."

Nom begged his departure and headed for his space in the storeroom of the Inn.

Arell finally lets himself relax after two days straight of running, fighting and any number of other stupidities.

He shuffles off toward his room ready to sleep for a week, but knowing he'll be up tomorrow morning ready to do his god's work.

But then he realizes about half the group doesn't have his luxuries.

"I still have the cash from the monastery," he says once he and Dorak return to the group, "I think we can justify putting everyone who needs it up in the inn for the night."

Thank you ever so much Arell, I'm exhausted and could really use a bed for a several hours. as she follows Arell to the Inn so he can pay for a room for her she asks. Is there some place we can meet in the morning I have some thing to discuss with you. I'm hoping you will at least be able to give advice about how to achieve my goal.

Rennick answers: "We can meet in the Sitting Duck Inn tomorrow, around midday. I would ask that one of you prepare a spell with which we can check whether the weapons that we found are magical. I have a light dwarven maul-axe from the monastery which may even be cursed."

Arell's eyebrow quirks a bit at that but he lets it slide.  "I'll be at the Tribunal come the morrow--doing my job from 8 am sharp onward.  Unless you'd prefer a less public venue for whatever this is, then you'll have to meet me earlier."

The group stumbles off to The Sitting Duck Inn where they obtain rooms for everyone who cares for one. The town is fairly somber not yet realizing the cure had been obtained and the party soon finds themselves in bed with sleep being the goal....


However...morning finds a different attitude as word has reached most of the cure, who made it happen, Lorn and Variana's fate and recognition and acknowledgement is foremost on everyone's mind as they gather in the Sitting Duck by mid morninh

In reply to Rennick Hitman (msg # 632):

"I already have such a blessing prepared" answers Dorak.

Arell awakens almost despite himself at his usual time.  He's still a bit creaky, but a night's rest is a night's rest and the day beckoned.

When he gets to work however, he discovers he unceremoniously has the day off.  Apparently heroism is rewarded...at least for a little while.

With nothing better to do, he heads over to the inn with his portion of their spoils.

"Morning folks," he says with something approaching a smile.

"Rennick, lad, pull out the ironmongery ye want tested fer auras, and I'll see if any are magical, or just well-made." Dorak casts a Detect Magic Orison to make good his claim.