Alfie checks over a couple of the victims, as well, making sure it's actually poison instead of some sort of disease.

OOC:
16:56, Today: Alfred rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Advantage die if it's really disease, instead.
16:55, Today: Alfred rolled 5 using 1d20+3.  medicine vs poison.
No clue if it's a poison, but possibly if it's been misdiagnosed. Herbalism training gives Advantage when Medicine trained....except on poison. (well, it does if we're using Xanathars's, at least)

Davor finds that all of Belville's wells are closed and guarded by local constables.

Alfred and Arra are unable to determine anything about the nature of the poisoning or illness that is afflicting the townspeople.

"Yes, twenty-two people were poisoned overnight," the priestess replies to Sakr. "Our High Priest, Umast, is seeking help with responding to this crisis. We can pay you for your services..."

Re-approaching after finding the wells guarded, Davor chimes in. "Do they know what help they want? Or is it just a general kind of help?"

Sakr nods at the priestess. "We might be able to help, but we'll need more information."

The priestess responds to Davor and Sakr, "I believe His Most Blessed of Fate has a specific task in mind... Please, come with me. I'll inform him you are willing to help."

Gathering her staff, Arra followed along without complaint. Well, she had plenty of complaints about the inn, the bed, the food, the atmosphere, but she kept them largely to herself. She didn’t know how mortals did this, outside of the Feywild, but she wasn’t enjoying the experience.

Still, a debt was a debt. For the Old Magic? A little discomfort was well worth it.

Aeowin frowned and looked sideways at the rest before addressing the priestess:"We can talk about the cost for our services later I guess .. seeing how rescuing people has become the way we earn our bread. You wouldn't believe the overhead we're making; spell components, transportation, inns, healing potions. It all .. adds up fast .. ".
He didn't wait for an answer and fell back again.

Davor claps Aeowin on the shoulder as he follows the priestess. "You won't hear my objectin' to sleepin' outside next time we come to a town. Or to eatin' whatever Alfie cooks up for that matter."

Sakr rolls his eyes at Aeowin's comments, then nods again at the priestess. "Lead the way."

The priestess leads the party inside the temple, leaving them in a sitting room while she goes to inform Umast that he has visitors.

After a few minutes of waiting, an elderly human wearing a resplendent golden robe enters the room. "Greetings," he says. "I am Randolph Umast, the patriarch of this temple. May I know your names and what brings you here?"

Davor eyes the 'patriarch' dubiously and gestures to himself. "Davor.

After a moment's consideration, he continues. "We were lookin' into the poisonin'. We're followin' an outlaw. This is the sorta thing he'd do."

"Arra."

She said simply, she did not owe this priestess her full use name, and she owed none of her companions her True Name. She shuddered at how quick these people were to give away so much so freely. It was a wonder they had their own souls, half the time. Not that she had the power to claim such things.

At least, not yet.

Davor, at least, had the right of it.

"He's poisoned people before? That would have been good to know ..You'd think the sort of thing he does is beating up people with his name being Bruiser and all", Aeowin side0eyed Davor.
"Hi, I'm Aeowin, we were deputized to find a dangerous criminal. Apparently my colleagues think he might be responsible for the poisoning".
He began describing Bruiser in detail:"Have you seen this man around?".

"Sakr."

Sakr waits for Umast to respond, watching the priest carefully.

"No, he doesn't sound familiar to me," Umast replies. "Though I suspect he isn't the type to spend a lot of time in a temple...

"Last year, a highly coordinated group of highwaymen suddenly appeared in this area. Known as the Vipers, they are ruthless and efficient, striking merchant caravans and vanishing into the countryside long before any response can be made. Trackers and constables have been used, but none have found the bandits' lair, believed to lie somewhere in the Brenn Forest. Trails from the marauders would lead into the forest but then vanish suddenly. Even with my priests aiding the search, the Vipers' base still cannot be found. For some reason, all attempts to pinpoint its location magically are foiled.

"Three months ago, the brigands raided a convoy carrying a holy item. The torque of faith was to be brought here secretly so as not to arouse the interest of thieves. The Vipers eliminated the entire procession and looted its valuables, including the torque of faith. My superiors were enraged at the item's theft and gave me permission to use whatever means necessary to reclaim it. To this end, I enlisted the aid of a ranger, Dura Gerathu, who makes his home deep within Brenn Forest.

"Dura knows the woods better than any other, and he promised to find the Vipers' hideout. Once a week, he would relay a written message to me via his trained falcon. This week's report is late, but I am not overly concerned, for this is not the first time. Dura will often remain in the field for days at a time before returning to send me a letter.

"This morning, people suddenly became ill. By sunrise, twenty-two ailing townspeople had arrived at the temple. After questioning the sick, we deduced that they had all imbibed water from the same well. The well was closed, and the water tested magically, but the tests showed nothing amiss. Nevertheless, suspecting poison, we began treatment. All of our magical attempts to neutralize the venom have failed.

"Our goddess, Tymora, has confirmed that the townspeople have indeed been poisoned and has instructed me to 'seek the viper of Brenn Forest.'

"Without knowing the nature of the poison, we are unable to provide even an herbal cure. Our magical divinations have also been thwarted. What we require is knowledge of the ingredients in the poison, and quick. The local constabulary is too busy allaying public fears and guarding the other wells to investigate the matter. My own priests are busy ministering to the poisoned, and nearby Dahstar is unwilling to send aid, fearing that they too might face attack. I have already dispatched messengers to Red Fern to request assistance, though I fear they shall arrive too late.

"I need you to find and infiltrate the Vipers' base and learn what you can about the poison they've concocted. If you could locate the torque of faith along the way and recover it, the gesture would be appreciated.

"I suggest you contact Dura and see what information he has to offer. I can provide you with a map that leads to the small valley where he makes his home.

"For your services, my church will pay you 400 gold pieces. If you bring back the torque as well, I'll provide you an extra 200 gold pieces for the trouble. If you travel to Dura's and he cannot help you, then return here, and you'll be given 50 gold pieces for your trouble. Either way, you stand to profit monetarily, if nothing else. So I ask, with so many lives riding on this, will you help us?"

Davor raises an eyebrow at the patriarch's story. When it's over he looks around at his companions. "Well, the threads are weavin' together into a pattern alright. We got a choice to make though. Aeowin isn't wrong when he says we ought to think about our current task. It's just somethin' about this is givin' me a feelin'."

The half-orc looks back at the patriarch. "Doesn't sound like this Viper is in league with Bruiser, but a bandit gang with powerful magic helpin' 'em out? That's one hell of a coincidence."

Arra raised a finger.

"As the newest face here, I do not yet see the ways in which the threads might be connected. Help me understand, has Bruiser demonstrated such powerful magics before? Why do you think this a coincidence?"

"Bruiser hasn't as far as I know, but he was aided by a magic user of some sort the time I encountered him. The others have more experience with him though".

Aeowin considered for a moment: "This might sound brutal but I wonder if you should just let those people die. In fact help them along by slitting their wrists and let them bleed out. Then returning them to life, that's something you priests can do, return the recently deceased from what I'm told. That should purge the poison, right?".
He looked at the priest as well as Davor for confirmation.
"Drastic suggestion to a dire situation, I know".

"As to whom would be responsible I would suggest the poisoning indicates a rival priesthood rather than an arcanist. Being unable to cure poisoned people casts a shadow on your reputation that undermines your religious order. There's your potential motive".

Arra raised a brow.

Oh, she liked this one. Aeowin would have done well for himself among the hunt.

Alfred shakes his head, "No, Gruesome, it doesn't purge the body, it merely restores it. Any poison or disease is still in there waiting to start back up. And raising even one person is rather expensive. Raising 20 would beggar this city."

He looks pensive, "Everyone keeps saying poison, but they don't seem able to detect it, or cure it. Disease or some sort of curse...and a curse should be easy enough the check."

He turns to the patriarch, "I need to cast a Detect Magic over a few of the victims. That will confirm or eliminate Curse as a possibility. Then we really should look into disease. And dredging the well."

"Well .. I mean, their goddess supposedly confirmed it is poison. I'm not one to have a particular faith in gods myself but that's what the priest said. And from what I know poison is carried by the blood. Removing the blood should remove the poison along with it. And a full raising shouldn't be required if the priests are quick enough to nudge the recently deceased back to life right after they die, correct?". He looked again at Davor for confirmation.
He shrugged:"The problem I see with chasing after the Viper is that it's likely going to be too late to save the poor wretches that are currently in the hospital. The priests have asked for help from Red Fern but also said that help will likely come to late. Which means we have less than 2 days to find Dura (given that it took a day to get here from red Fern), who lives a falcon's flight away from here in a forest we're unfamiliar with. Then if and when we find him we have to find the Viper's hideout, dispatch whomever he is with (and if Bruiser or his wizard friend is there we didn't exactly fair well against them last time), find out about the ingredients, then return back to the temple, brew an antidote aaand I think by that time everyone poisoned will be long dead".
He pointed out the obvious:"Even if we succeed we will still lose 2 days of travel and we might miss Bruiser at the fair. I'm just trying to be practical: the poisoned people need help now, we can come back and find out who's responsible at a later time after we deal with the original job we were hired to do. We can't fix every problem we stumble on along the way".
This message was last edited by the player at 01:51, Mon 05 Dec 2022.

Davor shakes his head at Aeowin. The beads and bones in his hair make an ominous clicking noise as he does so. "You keep lookin' at me, but I've got no power to raise the dead. Or to 'nudge' anybody back to life either. Might be that some of these Tymorans do I suppose. Certainly there's some who can from what I've heard. I expect Alfie's right about the poison though. If it's powerful enough to stump these priests, there's no guarantee that bleedin' 'em out and bringin' 'em back will cure 'em either. Seems like somethin' to save for a last resort. The priests can do that without us around though."

He looks around at the other members of the group. "On the one hand, I agree with Aeowin: we go off trampin' through the forest and there's a chance we won't make it to that fair. The only thing makin' me lean the other way is knowin' that the fair's just a guess about what Bruiser's up to. All we really know is that he fled this way. He might be waitin' for us in the Viper's lair while we waste time. This whole business smells like Bruiser's mysterious magical friend. The spirits' whispers aren't clear though. Some say move along and some say to find the Viper."

He pauses to consider and cocks his head to the side as though listening. "If we've got to make a choice, then I say we let Alfie do a little more investigatin'. I'll even volunteer to climb down into that well if we want. Then we go off lookin' for the Viper."

He looks at Aeowin. "And who knows. We've still got nineteen days 'till the fair and it's only four days to Caracara. Might be we can manage both."

Aeowin shrugged:"Fair enough".

Arra nodded at Davor's words.

"It sounds like it is all guesswork, following trails that might be false. Let us seek out these Vipers, and see if they perhaps are the aid that your Bruiser has relied on."

Not that her vote mattered, her debt was bound to them, but she was still possessed of her free will. She could influence their choices with her words, even if she would not challenge them once they were made.

Sakr nods at Davor's words. "I was thinking the same thing. We've got plenty of time before the fair in Caracara, and we have an opportunity to help these people out, and get paid for it.

"And if Tymora says it's poison and to should seek the viper in the woods, I'm inclined to believe her."

He turns to the priest and says, "It looks like we'll be undertaking this task. You said you had a map?"