Sharn Gets Slimed
In The News
Sharn Inquisitive: Sul 22 Aryth - Front Page
Heroes Return Home to Save Sharn from Sinister Conspiracy - The plague which has rocked Sharn over the last few weeks was stopped by the heroic efforts of Sadie Wolfchild, Cora Amaryllis, and Thaspar Besathlae. The trio was responsible for tracking down the source of the plague and putting a stop to it. It turns out the disease had quite ominous origins.
The inquisitive has learned that the disease escaped from a House Jorasco laboratory. Allegedly Jorasco was attempting to create a disease which could only be cured by house healers. This way they could rake in massive profits from the malady. This program was headed up by local Jorasco kingpin Vledish Jorasco, and the research was conducted by a halfling by the name of Korman Jorasco.
The details are unclear, but it seems that Korman was affected by his own disease and went mad (much like others afflicted by it) and decided to release it on the city, before it was unique to House Jorasco. It was more potent than expected and quickly spread to the entire city, as we know.
Thaspar, Cora, and Sadie apparently tracked Korman to the source of the plague and discovered a cure, which they then released over Sharn. Almost immediately the plague began to clear, and within days it has all but disappeared.
Our thanks go out to our three brave heroes. A parade is scheduled in their honor in Wir 25 Aryth.
The heads of House Jorasco have denied any involvement in this scheme, and have condemned the actions of Vledish, expelling him from the dragonmarked house.
Korranberg Chronicle: Sul 22 Aryth - Front Page
House Jorasco Implicated in Sharn Plague - This week House Jorasco was implicated in a conspiracy to cause a plague in the Brelish metropolis of Sharn. Three local heroes exposed the plot and brought the plague to an end. The heads of the dragonmarked house have denied any knowledge of the conspiracy, and have pledged to form a committee which will investigate the matter.
Chronicle
Soft misty rain fell as the lightning rail coach rocketed through the tropical forests of southern Breland. Thaspar, Cora, and Sadie stared out the windows as the mighty towers of Sharn rose up on the horizon. The titanic structures of stone, wood, and metal felt like home.
Though the days of Aryth were slipping away, it was still warm. It almost never snowed in Sharn, and the winter month primarily meant rain. At least, more rain than usual. Even the soft mist was comforting and familiar.
The coach shot past the city walls, and building, streets, and alleys went whizzing by. The usually dynamic city seemed sparse and dead. Indeed, even the railcoach was nearly empty. At the Galethspyre Crossing station they had been warned that Sharn was under quarantine. No one was allowed out, and they advised against going in. A plague had struck the city some weeks ago. While the railcoach people knew little about it, the Sharn Inquisitive provided ample information. Apparently the disease involved weeping, green, slimy sores, and led to total breakdown of the body into green slime. Yet, the group wanted to return home - perhaps there was something they could do.
As the crackling beat of the conductor stones lessened the coach pulled to a stop in the station which they had left three months earlier. Unlike that time, the platform was nearly deserted. Gone were the bustling commuters and busy throngs.
There was one small knot of people. They stared expectantly at the coach as it came to a stop inside the station. Cora pointed out that the well dressed heavy man in the center was Cathal ir’Demell, the Lord Mayor. Standing next to him was an attractive shifter with a mousy look in a blue gown. Cora told them that this was Shassa Tarr, the councilwoman for
The Lord Mayor thrust his hand inside the coach doors. "Good to meet you! Good to meet you!" Shassa merely curtsied and looked on.
"Its great to have you back in Sharn! Just great!" Addressing Sadie he said, "You've really shaken things up here!" He then turned to the rest of the group, "I heard about what all of you have done! Spectacular."
The Lord Mayor had a politicians smile. It was impossible to tell if he was genuinely happy to meet them, or if it was all a show. It really could have been either.
"We were going to have a parade in your honour when you got back, but, with this blasted plague - well, not much hope of that. At least not until it clears up. When it does, though, there will definitely be some celebrations in order."
The mayor droned on for a while with praise, but he didn't seem to know any more about the plague than what The Inquisitive had already told them. In the meantime Shassa Tarr moved over to speak with Sadie.
Shassa was the councilwoman for
For the time being the group resolved to find out what had happened to their friends and relatives as a result of the plague, and see if they could do anything to help.
Thaspar returned to the Broken Blade monastery. There had been an initial outbreak there, but given the high level of ascethetic training on bodily perfection practiced by the monks, it had not been long lived.
Sadie went to check on Merrin. Apparently he was in one of the healing centers in the lower city. House Jorasco was charging full price for its healing services, and some members had even been expelled for performing free healing. The Sharn city council had mobilized all others capable of performing healing and set them up in healing centers. House Jorasco was not pleased with this, and was pursuing legal action against the city.
Cora found no sign of her uncle Roktok, and his family, which was worrisome. She decided to head back to the Lizard's Mantle to check on things there. Everyone met up again, and descended to the lower city together.
In places the streets were slick with green slime. The alleys were nearly deserted. The towers stood above them like dead monoliths. Occasionally a sore covered form would shamble in the shadows. At one point they came across a young boy with the disease. He had crusty green blotches on his arms which were oozing a viscous green fluid. The entire right side of his head was also covered in the crusty, scaly, green lesions. He was missing all of the hair on that side and his scalp was covered with the scabby, green layer. He could not open his left eye; it was completely encrusted, and he was only able to talk out of the left side of his mouth. They left him staring blankly forward, muttering, with a pitiable expression on his plague ravaged face.
As the group wound their way down to the Lizard's Mantle they finally came to the base of a twisting set of stone steps. These steps led into a familiar narrow street. They were quite close to the Mantle now. As they passed into the street there was a slight scuffling noise to their right. Then, without warning, a door on the street burst open, and a woman came screaming out, tripping and falling onto the cobblestones. She was in the advanced stages of the disease, the green sores covering her entire body, and weeping huge amounts of green pus. She continued to scuttle away as a terrible creature emerged from the doorway behind her. A huge blob of green ooze simply poured out of the opening. It was roughly humanoid in shape, but morphed like slime. Inside the translucent green sludge they could see bits of bone and human organs floating. The blob moved forward to attack the screaming woman.
No-one wanted to get particularly close to the slimy blob - for fear of contracting the plague. Thaspar and Sadie fired arrows from a safe distance, while Cora lobbed darts at the monstrosity. Sadie’s frost arrows left little frozen tubes jutting through its body. While the horrid blob was disgusting, it didn't put up much of a fight. Under the barrage it suddenly burst open, splashing into a slimy puddle of intestines and bone fragments.
But the woman was still huddled on the ground shaking. Green fluid was pouring over her. Suddenly she began to convulse wildly, and without warning she simply dissolved. What remained was another green blob, filled with bits of bone and skin, and the broach the woman had been wearing earlier.
This was unexpected, and her first lunge coated Cora with stinging slime. They made quick work of the blob, but Cora was now dripping with plague infested ooze. She wiped it off as best should could while they continued on their way.
The door to the Lizard's Mantle was blocked by a very large line of people. The crowd seemed rowdy and fighting and screaming could be heard from it. The group decided to circle around the back to avoid any trouble, coming in by the rear entrance.
Cora was relieved to find that Molly and the rest of the Mantle's patrons were in good health. This was because one of the free healing centers had been set up right in the Lizard's Mantle. The people queued up were here to have the plague healed. As Cora looked around she noticed Liam. Almost immediately he noticed her too and rushed over.
"Cora," he shouted, giving her a hug, "It’s good to see you!"
"Look," Liam said, "I know something about the origins of this plague that you need to hear, but I think we should talk in private. I'm so glad you're back."
They were just about to head off into a back room of the inn when they were interrupted. Angry shouts and mutterings announced the arrival of a well dressed halfling. Pushing his way through the crowd he strode angrily into the common room.
The rotund halfling was dressed in white trimmed with gold. He was flanked by similarly dressed, though thinner, counterparts. Each bore a large symbol of House Jorasco, a golden Gryphon, on the right side of their chest. The man did not look at all friendly as his eyes searched the room. Finally they fixed on Liam and he stomped forward.
“You,” he growled, “What the hell do you think your doing!?" His jowls were shaking with rage.
"I'm healing people, sir," Liam replied, "is that a crime now!"
The man’s face exploded into crimson. "You are going to regret this insolence. You are hereby expelled from House Jorasco! Permanently! And you had better watch yourself, boy!"
More heated words were exchanged, but ultimately the fat halfling stormed off, leaving an awkward silence in the Lizard's Mantle.
"C'mon," Liam broke the quiet, "lets talk in private."
Liam led the three of them into one of the Mantle's empty back rooms.
"Look, I know what is causing this plague; and I know how you can stop it."
The whole sordid tale came out.
Liam's sister, Sarah Jorasco was married to Korman Jorasco, a brilliant healer and alchemist. Some time ago Korman was hired by the house to perform a secret task. Only he and Sarah knew of it. He was hired by Vledish Jorasco (the fat halfling who had just argued with Liam) to create a highly contagious disease: a disease which could only be cured by House Jorasco healers.
Liam had gone to visit his sister after she complained that her husband had been behaving strangely. Sarah told Liam the entire story, and he was horrified. Sarah said that her husband had been working with some form of green slime lately, and his behaviour had changed. He had become angry and violent. Liam suggested that Sarah write to the heads of House Jorasco in Karnnath and expose what Vledish was up to.
Liam had not heard from either Sarah of Korman since. About a week after their meeting the plague broke out - clearly the same "green blob" plague.
Liam suggested that they might be able to stop the plague if they could find Korman. He pointed them in the direction of his house, and also his laboratory, in the main House Jorasco enclave of Sharn.
First thing the next day the trio set off for Korman and Sarah's house. They found it abandoned, and with the streets empty they simply walked in. Everything in the house seemed in order. Some of the food in the icebox was beginning to rot, but everything appeared as if it was simply left on a normal day. The only thing out of the ordinary was a small mess of papers in the upstairs office. Ink was spilled on the desk and floor, and the floor had tiny pits in it - as if burned by acid. The trio couldn't make anything of this, so they continued to the House Jorasco enclave.
The enclave was a large building, beautiful building, nestled among the criss-crossing paths of the Skyway. Directly inside the building was a typical House Jorasco healing clinic, but beyond that were head offices and laboratories. The passages to these rear areas were well guarded, however. The group decided to take a more stealthy approach. With the directions they had obtained from Liam, they quickly located the exterior windows to the laboratory. They were down a narrow alley between the building and a large government office. The streets were still nearly deserted, so Sadie climbed up to the closest window and began filing away the iron bars. Soon they were all inside.
The room was in disarray. The lab was rectangular, and two long counters ran down either long wall, with two islands in the middle. Each was covered in tubes, flasks, and other alchemical equipment. Much of the equipment, especially near the door had been knocked over. The floor was littered with shattered glass. On the far side of the room were two large stone vats, covered with stone lids. The only door to the room was locked.
As quietly as they could, the trio began to search the room. After digging through some coiling tubes of glass, Sadie came upon Korman Jorasco's experiment logbook. This was an excellent find, which revealed a great deal about the plague that had beset Sharn.
Korman Jorasco’s Experiment Log
(Relevant Entries)
5 Olarune, 997 – Began experimenting with Filth fever
… Various entries detailing this process
18 Nymm, 997 – Received first humanoid test subjects. A goblin and a shifter. Now I can finally test some of these diseases.
… Numerous tests on the goblin and shifter with various diseases
7 Zarantye, 998 – The goblin has finally died. So far no success in making a disease that cannot be cured by anything but the mark of healing. It seems that every time I find something that can’t be cured by a cleric, it can’t be cured by the mark either. I am putting in another request for subjects. The shifter is pretty damaged too.
… More tests
26 Rhann, 998 – An expedition to Xen’drik brought back a very interesting specimen. A strange green ooze that seems to spread itself almost like an infection. Most of the party that brought it back apparently became oozes themselves! This shows new promise. I will test this on Shifter 3 and Goblin 5 tonight.
27 Rhann, 998 – The ooze is already having an effect. Both the shifter and goblin have developed small green crusty patches where the ooze contacted their skin. The slime is highly infectious. I am also developing patches, and I barely contacted the stuff. I am going to let it grow on me for a few days before I cure myself.
1 Sypheros, 998 – Experimenting with some other kinds of slime now. Nothing is as positive as the results from the green stuff. I got a sample of some black pudding. Oddly it seems to react very negatively with the green stuff – neutralizing it, and curing the disease. If I can make the disease incurable by normal means, we may be able to sell this black stuff as the cure.
8 Sypheros, 998 – This slime seem to make the shifter and goblin less intelligence already. I will test on all subjects.
15 Sypheros, 998 – Sory no etries. Slime very good. It make me think right. It will eat ervything. Only small wrk left.
17 Sypheros, 998 – Sarh act suspicious. What she up to. Everyone is hate me. They all plans against me. I get them all. All of! They everyone die!
As Thaspar and Sadie were examining this, Cora was getting herself into trouble...
She was examining the two stone vats on the far side of the room. The first contained an inert black slime. She collected some of this in a glass flask. Then she hefted the stone lid off the second vat. Immediately a blob of green slime flung itself out of the container and slammed against her - showering her with stinging acid. Shouting alarm she ran from the creature, which began rampaging through the lab towards them.
The group quickly destroyed the beast, with the help of special acid-neutralizing potions Cora had purchased earlier, and had convinced her allies to use as well. By this time, though, they had created a lot of noise, and someone was already banging on the door and telling his assistant to get the key. The trio made a speedy escape.
Now they knew the details of the plague, and perhaps even a way to stop it - black pudding. Now all they had to do is find where Korman Jorasco was hiding. With some fast talking and coaxing on Cora's part, they managed to discover that the primary initial outbreak was somewhere in Callestan district of Dura.
The skycoaches were not running, so they had to walk through the Cliffside paths down to
Then, from behind it attacked. They spun around to see a very large blob of the green ooze lumbering towards them. It had the rough shape of half-a-dozen people morphed together.
Keeping their distance they attacked as best they could. Soon more green ooze joined the battle. A slime burbled up from a sewer grate to grapple Thaspar's leg. An ooze feel from the rooftops to attack Cora. Sadie was held by the large creature. After some furious slashing, and getting utterly drenched in green slime, the immediate dangers lay dead. But they could see dozens of slimes closing in from all directions.
Thinking quickly, they took to the rooftops. This was familiar turf for Sadie, but Cora and Thaspar were a bit slower. They made their way across crumbling buildings, between the mighty foundations of Dura's towers. They moved towards higher and higher concentrations of slime creatures. Finally they came to The Dog's Bark Inn.
The
They decided to investigate the upper floor first, entering by a gaping hole in the roof. Most of the rooms seemed normal, though everyone nearly took a nasty spill into the slime below when the floor gave out more than once. They did find another clue here however.
In the final room they investigated a message was scrawled over the entire room. Burned with acid, it was written on the walls, floor, ceiling and furniture. It read:
You can't stop me!
They were close! Peering down the stair, they could see a trap door. It had once been obscured by a rug, but it had been hastily tossed aside, and partially dissolved. They decided to make a run for it.
Thaspar led the charge down the stairs. Reefing open the trap door he began quickly climbing down the ladder. Unfortunately it was slick with slime, and soon he was lying on the hard stone floor at its base. Cora simply jumped down into his arms, and Sadie slammed the door and clambered down slowly and safely.
The passage they were in led only one way, to a stone door. In between them and the door, however, were more slimes. Several anti-acid potions later they were at the door.
Sadie quickly picked the lock, and it swung open onto an odd scene.
Stone vats were placed all around the room. In the center was a recessed circled, with a notable crease running down its center. Tied up in the middle of it was a halfling woman. She looked as if she might have once been attractive, but she was completely covered in the green sores, and she appeared half-starved. On the far side of the room stood a very odd halfling. He seemed to have been afflicted by the disease, but retained more of his sold form. He was definitely flesh and bone, but his limbs twisted, bulged, and oozed in horrifically unnatural ways. He was wearing only a tattered cloth around his waist. He looked utterly insane. On his back were the remnants of a dragonmark – but it was green and weeping slime. He was lifting some sort of alchemical apparatus.
As the group entered the room he immediately spotted them and began to scream, “I knew it! I knew everyone hates me! You can’t stop me! You will all join me! Not if you want to save her!”
As if he had planned it for days, his hand shot out and pulled a lever on the wall. The stone slabs in the center of the room began to retract, dumping the woman upon them into the pit below. Then, from the depths of the pit rose a horrible blob of black ooze. The area of a small house, and two feet thick, it began slithering over the edge of the pit, while drawing the screaming halfling into its body.
The strange halfling laughed insanely and fled the room.
Within moments, Sadie's first arrow was ripping through the black pudding. The huge ooze shuddered, then burst into two, split along the arrow line. Sadie's second arrow split one of halves. The shifter rushed forward to help the struggling woman.
At that moment, from the vats lining the room, green ooze began to pour out. Sadie pulled ferociously to try to get the woman out, but with little luck. In desperation she began hacking at the black slime. The green ooze moved forward and began to attack the blackness. Bubbles and smoke rose from where they met.
Cora and Thaspar were fending off the pudding trying to seep into the hallway, but the creature just kept splitting and splitting. One chunk slithered into the hallway, and with a slurping leap came crashing down on Thaspar, drenching him in fiery stinging acid. His entire body was burning with the stuff, and he looked down in shock to find that he was no longer wearing clothing. It had been completely dissolved. By some miracle, however, none of his magical items had been destroyed.
He continued fighting, despite his nakedness.
The battle might have been lost if it were not for the combination of the black and green oozes. In the end the black pudding destroyed all of the green ooze (and most of itself in the process). The trio had only to clean up the rest.
Sadie eventually managed to pull the halfling woman out of the black pudding. She was alive, but in pretty bad shape. She was clearly suffering from advanced stages of the disease, and was almost mad. But the dip in the black pudding had cleared up the outward effects of the disease completely. They did manage to get a few pieces of information out of her.
They learned that the halfling they had seen earlier was indeed Korman Jorasco, and she was his wife Sarah. Korman had built a machine to spread the green slime over the entire city and was going to release it from his dirigible. She also told them that her baby was with him.
They decided that Korman had to be stopped, and perhaps the black pudding could be released instead - stopping the plague immediately.
The door Korman had fled through was locked, but Sadie opened it easily enough and the sped after him, up a flight of stairs. They came just inside to see him lifting off in a dirigible. He just laughed as he ascended, out of reach.
But they weren't licked yet. The group raced through the streets, avoiding slimes until they found a skycoach station. The coaches were abandoned, with no one to drive them. Sadie unlocked one of them, and with a naked Thaspar behind the controls they raced into the sky after the dirigible.
Hard sleet splattered against their faces as the trio raced through the Sharn dusk. Within a few minutes they were within firing range of the dirigible. Sadie began firing her bow toward the craft. Seeing that he could not escape Korman pulled the craft back and prepared to engage in battle.
The gap between the two vehicles was closing quickly. Sadie was just notching another arrow when something quite unexpected happened. The halfling aboard the dirigible suddenly started running through the air toward them! His legs buckled strangely as he ran, as if they were filled with fluid. He was casting a spell as he charged toward them.
Weapons were drawn and Sadie and Cora engaged the halfling in melee combat, while Thaspar controlled the skycoach. Korman cast his spell and Sadie, but she just shrugged it off and attacked with her swords. As she swung, the halfling's body bulged to the left, sloshing away and escaping her blow. Cora's dagger left a gash, from which greenish sludge slowly seeped.
After several blows, the madman realized it would be best to retreat and cast spells from the dirigible, so he ran back through the air towards it. Thaspar was not going to allow this. He quickly maneuvered the skycoach directly alongside the dirigible. With a synchronous movement, everyone jumped from the skycoach, including Thaspar and Sarah. The unpiloted craft fell slowly into a nosedive and plummeted to the city below.
The viscous little halfling was surrounded now. He cast a particulary nasty poison spell upon Sadie, but under a reign of blows for Cora, Thaspar, and the shifter he was soon felled. Thaspar’s final blow punched a huge hole in the madman’s abdomen. Watery green sludge, filled with bits of bone and organ, came pouring out from the ragged gash. Korman howled a burbling scream as the slimy contents of his body spewed out onto the deck. In the end, all that was left was an empty sack of skin in a greenish puddle.
Quickly the trio, with Sarah, found the baby in a corner of the craft and determined that he was ok. Cora and Thaspar were ok as well, but Sadie's body was being racked by the posion. She felt sure that the only thing keeping her alive was her amulet of health. She figured she would be alright for the time being, though, so they set about feeding the black pudding they had collected into the machine intended to spread the slime across the city.
As they made a spiraling pass across the entire city the cold rain cleared up, and the sun pierced the clouds. It was hard to tell if the machine was doing much of anything, but after some time they began to hear cheers from the city below.
One week later they got the parade they had been promised. Riding in the procession of beautifully decorated skycoaches they threaded their way throughout the entire city of
The parade came to its climax at the city hall, high in the Skyway. There the Lord Mayor presented them the keys to city and made a glorious speech. Great feasting and wild festivities prevailed across all of Sharn for the remainder of the night.
Timeline
- Wir 18 Aryth - Looking for people and talking with Liam
- Zor 19 Aryth - Searching for clues and the battle with Korman Jorasco
- Wir 25 Aryth - Parade
People
Korman Jorasco
Korman was a brilliant healer and alchemist, before his mind was destroyed by the same plague he unleashed upon Sharn. He kept himself from dying using his ability to cure disease, but he refused to undo the damage the disease had done to his mind - he felt as if he had gained some form of enlightenment from he process.
Sarah Jorasco
Sarah was married to the late Korman Jorasco. He tried to kill her and their child during his madness. She is now simply trying to recover from the incident.
Vledish Jorasco
The head of the Sharn enclave of House Jorasco. He has been stripped of his house membership, and is facing criminal charges. He is a pompous, arrogant, and thoroughly unpleasant man, but whether he was ultimately behind the plague, or was simply a fall-guy for someone higher up in the house remains to be seen.
Heroic Quotes
- "Why is there always someone who I really want to kill?" - Sadie
Adventure Names
- Robert - Piloting a Skycoach in the Nude is Very Windy
- Robyn -
Legends & Lore
Dirigibles use an older form of flight magic. They have been largely replaced by the massive flying airships of House Lyrander. These newer ships are much larger and faster, and cost about as much to produce as the older dirigibles - owing to the fact that they use elemental binding, rather than basic arcane magic. As such demand for new dirigibles is next to nothing, and they are no longer being produced. Yet, they are still worthy and effective craft. Many of them were destroyed during the last war, but a few still survive. Most people would not be interested in purchasing dirigibles, except, perhaps, a collector.
Statistics
Date Played:
Session Length: 7 hours
Experience Gained: 2700/character
Foes Vanquished: Many, many slimes, Korman Jorasco
Fat Loot: Dirigible
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home