Trail of Blood

Erin crouched awkwardly in the low crawl space beneath Giotorri’s Toys, watching the others move into positions around the cellar. Movement in the cramped space was difficult with all the junk that was piled almost to the low ceiling: stacks of mismatched lumber, half-empty cans of paint, broken tools, bolts of faded cloth. But nestled among the junk were four wooden coffins, and she was certain they were not empty.

The coffins were situated in the four corners of the room, and she was worried about being beset on all sides by their inhabitants. She looked through the bits of lumber until she found a board that was about the right length to wedge between the lid of a coffin and the cellar’s ceiling. Tomas, watching her, immediately realized what she was planning and followed suit. Moving as quietly as she could, she crawled to the coffin in the northwest corner, and gently positioned her makeshift wedge above the coffin’s lid. But as she did, her elbow hit a pile of paint cans, and they toppled over with a loud clatter. Tomas leaped to jam his own coffin-block into position, and not a moment too soon. Alerted by the sound, whatever was in the coffin began violently banging on its lid; the entire coffin rocked back and forth, and Tomas and Erin both had to hold their boards in place to keep them from being dislodged.

But that still left two coffins unobstructed. Shadow was almost hit in the face by the lid of the coffin next to him as it was thrown aside. With an inarticulate shriek, the thing inside sprang up. Its pale bloodless skin marked it as an undead, and the long fangs it bared at the sorcerer left him certain it was what they had feared they’d find: a vampire. It slashed at him with its claws, narrowly missing, and he stabbed forward with his strange silver dagger. The dagger hit, its silver blade slashing the creature’s cold flesh, but the vampire hardly noticed. Another burst out of the coffin next to Jax, but he managed to dodge its attack.

Wren, cut off from the creatures by the barricades of junk, summoned a Spiritual Weapon to appear behind the vampire threatening Jax. The holy hammer pounded it in the back, but it remained focused on its living foe. Jax stabbed it with his magical dagger; the blade struck home, but despite its magical enhancements, it didn’t seem to injure the creature. Girrigz scuttled to Shadow’s side and slashed with his rapier. Wren had coated its blade with Silversheen before he’d descended into the cellar, and now the weapon opened a gaping wound in the vampire’s chest, provoking another ear-splitting shriek of pain and rage.

Nat cast Haste to give his friends an extra edge. Erin and Tomas were still struggling to hold shut the lids of the other two coffins. They couldn’t join the fight, but Erin could still help in her own way; she called upon the power of Iomedae, and Channeled a wave of holy energy that swept through the cellar, drawing more shrieks of pain from the vampires. The creature Girrigz had hit turned its attacks on him, but he evaded the blows. Jax was not so lucky, and the thing’s claws opened a nasty wound in his arm. Jax slashed it again with his dagger and cursed when it still didn’t seem to injure the thing. Shadow stabbed the vampire beside him one last time, then slipped away out of reach.

Wren had seen the effect Erin’s holy power had on the things, so she also Channeled Divinity. The holy power was still reverberating in the air as Girrigz stabbed his silvered rapier forward; it pierced the vampire’s unbeating heart, and it slumped back into its coffin, unmoving. Giving a sneer of satisfaction, Girrigz hurried to Jax’s side to help in that battle. Nat was still by the trapdoor leading into the cellar. He could barely see what was going on past all the piles of flotsam, but he could see the vampire’s head bobbing above the pile of junk as it fought Jax, so he fired off a volley of Magic Missiles. The bolts of blue energy flashed through the narrow space between the junk and the ceiling, and each slammed unerringly into the vampire’s skull. It bellowed in pain and fury, but was unbowed. It slashed its claws out at Jax and sank them deep into his chest. Jax could feel his lifeforce being drawn out of him; when it ripped its claws free, it seemed stronger, and Jax certainly felt weaker.

Erin was still fighting to keep the vampire confined in the coffin before her, but she cast another Channel. As the holy power swept through the room, the vampire that had just injured Jax gave a shriek, and then collapsed. At the same time, the lid of the coffin Tomas had been holding shut splintered, and its vampire resident burst out. Shadow immediately slammed it with a volley of Magic Missiles, and Wren cast another Channel of her own. Jax, his foe apparently down, crawled away from it and cast his own Magic Missile at the newcomer.

Wren watched Jax and Girrigz leave the seemingly dead vampires behind and with a sudden wave of horror realized their danger. “You have to drive a stake through their hearts!” she shouted. “Otherwise they’ll come back to life!” Luckily, Tomas had anticipated this need; before they’d descended into the cellar, he’d used the toymaker’s supplies to fashion quick-and-dirty stakes that he’d handed out to everyone. Girrigz heard Wren’s warning and pulled his stake out of his belt as he retraced his steps. Using the hilt of his rapier as a makeshift hammer, he drove the wooden stake through the vampire’s heart. Its eyes flew open and an unholy scream escaped its lips, fading away as it finally died.

Nat blasted the last visible vampire with Empowered Magic Missiles and it collapsed back into its coffin. Tomas and Girrigz traded places in the cramped cellar; Tomas moved back to stake the first vampire Girrigz had “killed”, while Girrigz, with his deadly silvered sword, moved into position beside the coffin Erin was still struggling to hold shut. Erin looked around the cellar to make sure everyone was ready, then pulled away the board she’d been using to hold the coffin closed. The vampire inside sprang up with a shriek and found himself at the center of a deadly hurricane. Erin stabbed it with her sword, Jax popped it with a Ray of Frost (which did no damage), Girrigz slashed it twice with his silvered rapier, and Nat blasted it with another round of Empowered Magic Missiles. Already weakened by repeated surges of holy power, the undead creature fell without a sound.

As Shadow and Tomas hammered stakes into the last two vampires, Nat breathed a sigh of relief. “I was worried for a minute there,” he said. “I’d always heard vampires were really tough.”

Wren shook her head. “These weren’t true vampires. These were vampire spawn.” Nat looked confused, so she explained. “When a vampire creates another vampire, it can choose to create a spawn instead of a full-fledged vampire. Vampire spawn are almost feral – they’re servants to their master like any vampire, but they can do little but kill and feed.”

The vampires’ coffins were filled with a thin layer of loose soil. Tomas, digging around in them, came up with something. “Check this out!” he called, holding up a leather pouch. He opened it and poured out a handful of coins.

“Those look odd,” Shadow said, holding one of the coins up to the light. Tomas examined them closer. “They’re from Ustalav,” he said. He looked around at the dead vampires. “I don’t think these boys were locals.” He knelt and examined the dirt floor of the cellar carefully. “You can see where all this junk has been moved around to make room for the coffins.”

Jax perked up. “I’ll bet these guys were on that ship that sank!” But Tomas was skeptical. “It’s hard to be certain, but these marks look like the coffins were brought in more than two weeks ago. How old did those bodies out in the alley look?”

Erin looked sheepish. “Um … I didn’t really look all that close.”

Tomas rolled his eyes. The group finished searching the cellar (and cut off the vampires’ heads for final closure) and they all climbed back up into the toy shop. While they made Erin (by virtue of her immunity to disease) go back out into the alley to make a more thorough examination of the bodies, the rest of them did another search of the shop. In the front room they found a small lockbox, and one of the keys they’d found on Giotorri opened it. There was a paltry sum inside, but there was also a large brass key. Its handle was shaped like the holy symbol of Abadar and was embossed with the number ‘261’. “That’s a key to a safe deposit box at the Bank of Abadar,” Tomas said confidently.

Erin crawled back in through the hole in the wall that led into the alley. Everyone covered their noses at the stench. “I’d say that about half the bodies bear obvious signs of blood veil,” she reported. “The other half don’t show any symptoms, but are drained of blood and have the same sort of puncture wounds as that guy.” She pointed at Giotorri’s body. “And most of the bloodless bodies are at the bottom of the pile, although there are a few scattered among the top. The ones at the bottom look like they’ve been there awhile, certainly more than a couple of weeks.”

Wren pointed at Giotorri’s dried and withered corpse. “He’s definitely been dead more than two weeks. It looks like the vampires arrived before Blood Veil took hold. For whatever reason, they killed Giotorri and established their lair here, dumping the bodies of their victims in that dead-end alley. My guess is that after the plague started, some lazy corpse collectors saw the dead bodies in the alley, figured this was already a dumping ground and just added to it.”

Having learned everything they could at Racker’s Alley, the party headed back south to report to the Temple of Pharasma. On the way, they detoured to the Bank of Abadar, and used the key they’d found to collect the late Giotorri’s life savings: a few dozen gold pieces and a pair of boots.

When they told Sister Elanaina about their encounter with the vampire spawn, she was shocked. “We haven’t had any evidence of vampires in Korvosa for decades – certainly not in my lifetime! This is the last thing we need!” She promised to send a work party to collect the accumulated bodies right away.

Tired and disheartened, the group trudged back to Madame Zellara’s. As they turned the corner onto her street, they saw a ragged figure slumped beside their door. As they approached, he raised a pock-marked face smeared with blood – it was the crazy Groetus worshipper they’d been looking all over town for! He spotted Nat, and gave a weak smile, his once-yellowed teeth now stained red with blood. “Chosen One!” he wheezed. “Groetus has led me to you!” He then collapsed in a fit of coughing.

Erin turned to Wren. “You need to heal him!”

Wren gave her a withering look. “Of all the people in Korvosa who need healing, you want me to waste it on him?”

“We need him alive!” Erin hissed. Wren gave a sigh, then stepped forward and raised her hands, palms outstretched. Saying the appropriate prayer, she cast her Remove Disease on the self-proclaimed prophet – and absolutely nothing happened.

“Oh no,” he whispered, smiling up at her. “I am beyond your feeble god’s reach now. Groetus has called me, and as I dance through the Boneyard, I shall look up on his visage and sing of how his Chosen One was the last living face I saw.” He turned to Nat, holding out a trembling hand. “Come, oh Favored One,” he whispered, clutching feebly towards him. “I have promised you prophecy, and I must deliver now, or never. Ask me three questions, and I shall give you three prophecies. All shall be as foretold.”  Another fit of coughing overtook him, spraying a fine mist of blood across Nat’s legs.

“Blood tells all,” he gasped as the coughing subsided. He raised his right hand to his face, and drug his fingernails down his cheek, drawing a fresh flow of blood and pus from the ruptured blisters. He smeared the blood on the cobblestones, and stared at it intently, then looked back to Nat. “What would you have me reveal, oh Chosen One?”

Nat looked to the others, uncertain what to ask. They also seemed stumped, and he knew he probably had little time. “Where did Blood Veil come from?” he asked.

The prophet’s eyes rolled back into his head.

Black is white and day is night

None is what they seem

Birds of prey peck at the blight

And serve the master’s dream.

“Well that wasn’t very helpful,” Jax grumbled, and everyone looked at Nat like it was his fault. Hoping to redeem himself, Nat asked his second question: “How do we stop Blood Veil?”

Bright blade burning, soon returning

Once and ever bane

Ancient cruel and bloody yearning

Shall feel its taste again.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Girrigz asked. “That was even worse than the first one!” Everyone started whispering suggestions to Nat, trying to tell him what he should ask next, but the young wizard’s eyes were fixed on the dying man in front of him. Why had he sought him out? Was it really the will of some mad god? “Why am I the Chosen One?” he asked. “What does it mean to be the Chosen One?” (He might as well try to slip in two questions for the price of one.)

The prophet’s eyes remained closed.

Fangs of old, so cruel and cold

Long hidden and concealed

Their power grows as was foretold

And soon shall be revealed.

As he gasped out his final prophecy, his eyes opened and a weak smile played across his lips. His final breath escaped in a long, ragged wheeze, and his eyes glazed over, fixed on the face of Natan Dorré.

Everyone stared at Nat in silence for some time. “Well, I’m sure glad we finally found him,” Jax said at last. “That couldn’t have been less helpful.”

“No, no, let’s think about this,” Nat said, his brow furrowed. “I’m sure there some meaning hidden in there. What did he say? ‘Birds of prey peck at the blight’? The Queen’s Physicians look like birds with those masks they wear, and they’re working to cure the plague, right?”

“But they’re not birds of prey,” Jax disagreed. “They’re healers. I think it’s about someone who recently came to the city. Like the Queen. We know she tried to frame Trinia for the King’s murder. If she’s ruthless enough to have killed her husband, then maybe … I don’t know, maybe she wants to be loved by the people of the city, so she’s creating a crisis that she can then solve and everyone will be grateful for.”

That sounded like a stretch to Shadow. “What about the other one?” he asked. “The blade that’s returning? What’s that about? Returning here, to the city? Is it talking about the Shoanti maybe? Could they be returning? Thousand Bones said some of his people wanted to make war against Korvosa.”

“But what’s that got to do with Blood Veil?” Erin asked, and no one had an answer.

“Why don’t we just snatch one of those masked healers and ‘question’ him?” Girrigz snarled. Erin immediately started quoting the Queen’s proclamation and the penalties for inhibiting the duties of the Physicians, and Girrigz threw up his hands in frustration.

“Maybe we wouldn’t have to go that far,” Nat said thoughtfully. “Maybe we could just follow one, see what he does, and I could try to read his thoughts, detect magic or evil, that sort of thing. We might learn something.”

The party ended the day with no clear plan for what to do next. The next morning, it was Tomas’s turn to wake up with a hacking cough and bloody pox. Wren quickly healed him, and used a Lesser Restoration to bring him almost back to normal. “Do you smell smoke?” Shadow asked.

Everyone went out into the street, where the smell of burning filled the air. A pall of black smoke rose in the north. “Is it from burning bodies?” Jax asked, but Wren shook her head. “It smells like woodsmoke, not funeral pyres. And anyway, if they were burning the bodies they’d be doing it in the Gray District, to the south.

The group followed the smoke, ever farther north. By the time they reached the city wall, they could see columns of smoke rising from just beyond the wall, and dozens of people lining the parapets looking at something on the other side. They climbed the wall to join them.

The Narrows, the stretch of water between Endrin Isle and the rest of the city had been spanned by dozens of ramshackle wooden bridges. Now those bridges were nothing but smoldering ruins. Only a single stone bridge still connected Old Korvosa to the mainland, and it was blocked by a sturdy barricade, manned by a heavily armed contingent of Korvosan Guards and Gray Maidens. The bridge beyond the barricade was littered with bodies riddled with arrows. “What the bloody hell?!?” Jax exclaimed.

“Didn’t you hear?” asked a citizen standing beside them, not taking his eyes from the scene. “The Queen has declared a quarantine of Old Korvosa. Apparently the plague is out of control there, and the only way to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the city was to ban all travel from Old Korvosa until the plague burns itself out.” Wren stared at him openmouthed. Didn’t he realize that Blood Veil was already rampant in the rest of the city? And the plague would only ‘burn itself out’ when everyone on Old Korvosa was dead.

“But surely there was some other way!” Erin said, her voice thick. “They won’t be able to get food, or medicine. They’ll starve, or …”

“Maybe she wants them dead,” Jax said in a low voice. “After all, they’re only poor people. Maybe that’s what the Queen wants – to rid the city of ‘undesirables’.” They looked across the Narrows. Dozens of gaunt, hopeless faces stared back at them from the other side.

They stayed on the wall for half an hour, unable to tear themselves away from the scene. Finally they descended, and began the slow walk back home in silence. They hadn’t gone a quarter of the way before Shadow spotted a pair of Queen’s Physicians making their rounds, in the company of a half-dozen Korvosan Guards. He stopped, and Girrigz stopped with him.

“Here’s our chance,” Girrigz said with an evil grin, loosening his rapier in its scabbard. But Nat put a hand on his arm. “No! We just follow, and watch, and listen.”

Wren and Tomas wanted nothing to do with this fool’s errand, and continued on their way, but the others began to trail the Physicians at a discreet distance. They seemed to be going door-to-door, knocking at each house on the street. The Physicians would go inside, leaving their escorts on the street, then emerge 10 or 15 minutes later and repeat the process at the next house.

They waited for them to turn the corner and get out of sight, then went to one of the homes they’d visited. Shadow knocked on the door, which was opened by a healthy-looking woman. “Yes?”

“Hello!” Shadow said, turning up his charm to eleven. “We understand you were just visited by the Queen’s Physicians.”

“Uh, yes,” she said, looking confused. “You just missed them. I think they were heading for Flink Street – you shouldn’t have any trouble catching up to them.”

“Oh no,” Shadow continued with a smile, “we’ve been chartered by the Queen to follow up on the job her Physicians have been doing. How you were treated, whether they followed correct procedures, that sort of thing. Can you describe their visit for us?”

“Well, I suppose. Let’s see. They came in, and asked who lived here, and if anyone was sick. We’re not!” she added hastily. “It’s just me, my husband, and two children. They examined each of us for symptoms of Blood Veil, and checked the rest of the house to make sure we weren’t hiding anyone. Then they sliced each of our fingers with a small blade and gathered a sample of our blood in a small glass vial.” She showed him a fresh plaster on her left index finger. “They were very polite, and seemed very professional.”

Shadow thanked her, and then conferred with the others after she’d closed the door. “Seems pretty innocuous,” he concluded.

“I don’t like the whole collecting blood thing,” Jax scowled. “What if they’re actually infecting them with Blood Veil? I’ll bet if we come back here tomorrow, everyone they visited will be sick!”

“Let’s not jump to any conclusions,” Nat cautioned. “Let’s see if we can get a little closer so I can ‘listen in’.” He cast Fox’s Cunning on himself, followed by Detect Thoughts, then they hustled around the corner to close the distance with the Queen’s Physicians. When they got close enough, Nat focused his attention on one of the Physicians.

‘Man, my feet are killing me. How many more houses do we need to do today? <consults map> Geez, when are we going to have enough? Here we go again.’

At that point, the Physicians entered another home, and left Nat’s spell range. He switched his attention to the Guards, but got nothing surprising: fatigue, boredom, and utter terror of being infected by escorting the Physicians on their rounds.

Again, the team retreated so Nat could share what he’d learned. “‘When are we going to have enough?’ – Enough what?” Shadow wondered.

“This isn’t working,” Nat said in frustration. “The spell doesn’t last long enough for me to hope to just randomly pick up something useful. We need to get them talking, try to force them to think about what we want to know.” All eyes turned to Shadow.

When the Queen’s Physicians came out of the next house, they found Shadow waiting for them, amiably chatting up the Guards. Nat was just around the corner of the house, out of sight, but concentrating intently to hear the thoughts behind their words.

“Hi guys!” Shadow said as they emerged. “How’s it going?”

“It’s exhausting, but it needs to be done,” came the reply. “We’re trying to visit every home in Korvosa. We keep records of who’s sick and who’s not, try to collect data. For the worst cases, we refer them to our Hospice.” As far as Nat could tell, the man’s thoughts and words aligned.

“Are you getting any closer to finding a cure?”

“Well, we’re working hard on it. We’re collecting samples to use in isolating a cure, and Dr. Davaulus and his team are working on it night and day, but so far we haven’t found it. But I’m sure we will.”

But what Nat heard was ‘Ha! As if!’

“Where do you think the disease came from?”

“We really have no idea. It’s not like any disease we’ve seen before, and until we’ve identified it, we won’t know where it might have originated. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have an awful lot of ground to cover today.”

‘Who is this guy? What does he know? We need to cut this conversation off now!’

The Physicians continued on their rounds. As Nat reported what he’d heard, the others’ jaws dropped. “Holy shit!” Jax exclaimed. “These guys definitely are in on it somehow – they know something. We need to get back and tell the others!”

The PCs earned 1,067 XP, putting them at 14,660 with 15,000 needed for Level 6. You’ll definitely get there next week.