Kyra adds a question of her own. "Ok, so you bought cheese, toys and a dress at North Point. Can you tell us where exactly you bought those? Which shops did you leave some of these these coins in?"

Brienna paused and frowned at Figus' question.

"I think...yes they were dry. The box was closed when I found it. As for the stores I don't remember what they're called but I can tell you where they were at least. I was mostly just window shopping, I didn't go there with a specific destination in mind."

Kraw asks "did you take the coins from the box, or did you carry the box with you to market? Do you know where we can find this box?"

"Uhhh...both? I used the box to carry it there but I took the coins out to buy things. I...I don't remember where the box went, same with everything I purchased. I must have set it down somewhere..."

With some effort she picks herself up out of her bed and crosses over to a desk. She looks around for some spare paper but doesn't find any and frowns.

"If you can find me some paper I can draw out what it looked like though!"


OOC: Assuming someone has some parchment somewhere...

She gets to work scribbling out a quick drawing. It is clear she has some modest talent as she is able to go into far more detail around the box than one would expect.

"It was small and metal with skulls all over it..."

In the end she draws out something like this:



A black iron box with bronze or copper trim and a skull motif on the outside. Inside she estimated there was a couple hundred silver coins but she hadn't taken the time to count.

Watching the girl drawing the box, Figus is both impressed with her skill and is concerned with the implication of what he is seeing. He looks up at the others in the group, looks them in the eyes and nods ... slightly and slowly.

"Hmm ... I see" comes out of his mouth, but what he really means to say "Shit, the city is under attack!"

"Well, that does not look ominous at all." Kyra comments the drawing. "Logically, the box should have been dropped somewhere between here and those shops at North Point. Likely somebody fond it already, but asking around and checking nearby pawn shops and the like might lead us to it. We could also check those shops to see if anyone there has suddenly fallen ill. If so, then the coins themselves could have been tainted."

Kraw mutters " still think it's a curse."
He says "All right, I think we have a mission folks. We need to find that chest and the silver that came from it. Young lady, thank you for the drawing. It will help us greatly, and I think you have a fine gift for it."

OK, OK! I'm going to drop the Trinia thing!

"We can try to find the chest for clues, but there is no way we're going to be able to track down all the coins, not without some pretty impressive magic. Brienna bought a dress, but then the dress maker bought some thread and some needles and maybe some food and poof, coins everywhere. They circulate and by now they're going to be all over Old Korvosa. Probably trickling into other sectors of the city too."

She looked around slowly, thinking.

"figus was right before. We need to speak with the temple of Abadar. If anybody knows how to locate a bunch of tainted silver coins, it's them."

"I think the coins are a dead end. No way will we be able to track down a few pieces among all the others. Its like looking for a needle in a haystack ... even worse. We do not know of any distinguishing features of these coins. How do you tell them apart from all of the others. In addition, even if we do find them, I doubt they are still potent. Its the box ...

I wonder ... we probably should find more information about that ship that was sunk. That was the one thing which was new in the general scheme of things ... The ship sinks ... and the box  washes ashore."

Kraw says "then we should take our story and this picture of the chest to the Temple of Adabar. If any can mobilize the city effort to combat this disease, it may be them. And perhaps some scholar there might be able to identify..." Kraw turns to the girl. "Brienna, are you sure you dont have any of those silver coins left, tucked away somewhere? Or can you identify a specific shop or favored market seller where you used the silver?"

"I don't think we really have anything solid just yet, just an ill child's tale of a suspicious looking box filled with silver. As I'm sure those money grubbers at the temple would be the first to point out, she could have caught her illness in a far more mundane way of coming in contact with someone already sick. I would like to see what we can dig up at North Point before we bring this to someone's attention."

Kyra examines the drawing of the box again.

"We should be able to track down the box at least, it's certainly memorable enough. Unless everyone that knows where it is is already dead, of course. As for the coins, they might be another clue, or not. But tracking down the shopkeepers that we know handled them would at least serve as confirmation of the source of this thing. If they all suddenly started dying as well, that would confirm the theory we have."

"OK so how about this? We go to North Point and gather information about the box, try to track it down. The temple of Abadar is there as well*, so we can swing by and see what they have heard about tainted coins. After that, we see what leads we have, and maybe go diving to check out the ship. We'll need some support for that with scrolls or potions for underwater operations, I'm thinking. We can probably get them at the temple while we're there."

---

In case it's needed (unfortunately my diplomacy is untrained, but even trained, I'm not learning anything with a 2! Anyone any better at diplomacy?)

10:53, Today: Ayeesha rolled 4 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 2.  diplomacy Gather information about the box (or assist if someone has higher bonus).


* I looked this up, hope it's not too meta-gamey

Figus taps a finger on his chin as he considers the possibilities and implications.

"Visiting the church is a good idea. They are most likely to be the ones who know and understand the scope of the situation. Alto them too much though I would be careful of opening up too much to them. As we seen before, their priorities do not always align with what is best for the City.

In terms of 'diving to check out the ship', that is an interesting idea. We may be able to get the Guard to spring for some of the expenses. It is a public safety issue."

"Give me a couple of minutes and I'll try to see what I can learn about this box." Kyra takes the drawing of the box, sits at the nearest table and consults her harrow deck.

Ok, spending 15 minutes to slot in Ears of the City in my last free spell slot. And casting, 4 rounds duration, each counts as spending 1d4 hours to gather information.

I'm trying to pick up, in order: whatever I can learn about weird skull-motif boxes found in or near North Point (most important, so I'm using two rolls for that), mysterious outbreaks of disease in North Point, and lastly the general feel on just how screwed we are right now regarding the outbreak.

13:02, Today: Kyra rolled 20,26,28,18 using 1d20+10,1d20+10,1d20+10,1d20+10 with rolls of 10,16,18,8.  Perception x4  (Ears of the City - Gather Information).

After finishing their talk with Brienna, Tayce sits the group down for a giant home-cooked lunch. It is clear they are not very wealthy as it isn't particularly extravagant food but it has been prepared with tons of care and love and ends up being quite delicious.

Tayce seems to have made it her mission to stuff everyone with as much food as physically possible. Even poor recovering Brienna has a second helping of mashed potatoes shoved in front of her "just in case".

It is mid-afternoon by the time the meal is finished and their visit has concluded and the group heads back to North Point to begin their investigation into the missing box. When they arrive though it is clear that news has spread regarding the disease outbreak spreading through the city. Those with obvious signs of the bloodveil are being shunned and while the Grand Vault of Abadar is always busy this time of the day the sight the group sees is absolute chaos.

For a deity of law, the steep stairs and ramps leading up to the temple’s great bronze doors offer a strangely discordant scene. Dozens of citizens, mostly of the working class, although the silks of a few merchants show through the crowd—throng the entry, scarcely being held back by a group of gold-armored Abadarian clerics. All seem intent on gaining entry to the temple, but the clerics turn away nearly all comers. The clerics’ reasoning becomes clear as one desperate believer is turned away, his pitiful countenance mottled with violent red sores.

It seems the Grand Vault has its guards on alert and are turning those away that show signs of sickness while others who appear healthy are scrutinized and questioned before allowed entry into the Grand Vault. The crowd of the sick though aren't dispersing and instead those turned away are shouting at the guards, even waving pouches at them demanding to be seen inside but their cries and bribes fall on deaf ears as the temple guards maintain their formation and continue to carry out their orders.

Kraw says "First thing is, we need to speak to the temple, tell them what we know, and what we suspect.  They need to be informed of the treatment that worked for Brienna, and what you can tell them of the symptoms, if they do not already know."

Figus looks over the scene "They are overwhelmed. Their magic is potent, but they can not hope to deal with these numbers, and we should stay away from the crowd or risk exposure. We have some limited ... resources which will have to suffice. Our best bet is locating the box, as it will point to source of this contagion and offer clues as how to stop it."

"I'm with Kraw," she replied to Figus.

"We're here already, might as well let them know what we know. Then we can go look for the chest or the ship wreck. As for getting exposed, we just had dinner in the first plague house we know about. And it was delicious."

She burped lightly, then continued.

"But the point is, if we're getting it, we got it already. Let's tell the healers then get out investigating. But it's a good point to not get closer into the crowd than we really have to."

She looked over the crowd, then yelled in a loud, clear voice.

"Hey! Make a path we got business inside. Just 'cause you're sick doesn't mean I'm not gonna thump ya if you get in the way! Clear off!"

---

Intimidate seemed appropriate.
22:06, Today: Ayeesha rolled 20 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 11.  Intimidate, make a path through the plague victims.

"I'd be inclined to agree with Figus." Kyra comments as she uneasily observes the desperate crowd in front of the temple. "I'm not sure how the temple could help us now, even if they do take our story of skull boxes seriously. We really don't yet have anything solid to show. Maybe someone just liked to keep their cash in a really ugly box? Anyway, if the idea is to report this to someone in charge, shouldn't we be reporting to the guard and the marshal? Ah, well."

Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party here. But if it keeps the game moving, sure, let's see what we can learn in the temple.

Kraw thumps his forehead. "The marshall? Right, should have thought of that. If anything, she would know who to tell about what we've found out so far. We still serve the city, after all."

The fearsome barbarian easily clears a way through the crowd of the diseased. They are there to get healing, not to tangle with an obviously angry Shoanti barbarian. Even the guards look unsure whether they want to step in front of her to perform their questions and inspections.

OOC: The path is clear but it sounds like some in the party don't want to enter the temple or not.

I'll let you figure out if you want to try and enter the temple or not but the clear path won't stay that way forever and a new check will be needed if you wait too long.

OOC: Ayeesha at least is going in. She might not be there long, but I want to inform the priests of what we know so far, find out what they know.

Smirking at the way these Chelaxians and Varisians are deep down just scared of Shoanti like her, she jogged up the steps and into the temple.

It wasn't always great being on the receiving end of a city's prejudice and paranoia, but it did have it's perks.

"Wait up." Kyra hurries after Ayeesha before the crowd closes up again, looking uneasily at all the infected people around them. She looks ready to bolt if someone gets too close to her.

Eh. Btw, Kyra's attempt to gather information with her spell was less than successful. We definitely are screwed, but on the topic of boxes she came up with nothing useful, much to her frustration. So unless we can do better than 26 on Gather Information roll, I fear we are going to have to find some other way to track down that box. Kyra still thinks pawn shops or the like would be their best bet, for what that's worth.

Kraw follows quickly. "Ayeesha's opened the way. Come on!"

"... as long as we don't have to get too close ..." Figus follows.