Stir The Pot

As the party left the Gray District after questioning the dead elf again, they felt as confused and unsatisfied as they had in weeks. People were dying all around them, and they had no more idea what to do about it than they had when the plague started. “I thought you assholes were supposed to be finding a cure for this shit,” Girrigz snarled. The others just continued walking in silence, heads down; they had no response.

“I think we need to go back to that Hopsice,” Shadow said at last. “We know there’s something going on with these Physicians, but we don’t know what. I think that place is our best bet for finding out.”

Wren agreed. “I can’t figure out why the Queen’s Physicians took the musician just because he’s Varisian. Dr. Davaulus is Chelish, and so is the Queen – are the Physicians Chelish as well? Or are they Varisian? I just don’t see why they’d want to help a Varisian.”

“Why are you so fucking convinced they were trying to help him?” Grizz snapped, kicking at a patch of flowers growing in someone’s front yard. “When the authorities haul you away, do you think they’re doing it to help you?”

They continued their hike through the deserted streets. Girrigz seemed to be in a particularly foul mood, even for him. At one point, he picked up a rock and threw it through some stranger’s front window. “What on earth did you do that for?” Erin demanded. Girrigz shrugged and kept walking. “I just like the sound.”

When they reached the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden, everything seemed unchanged from their visit earlier in the day. “I’m not going back in there,” Erin declared. “They already know me, and I don’t have any reason to be back.”

“I’ll go in,” Shadow said, pulling spell components out of his belt pouch. “I’ll scout it out, see what I can learn, and come back out and let you know. Wait here.” He cast Invisibility on himself and vanished.

Bhrunlida Torthus was still on duty at the front desk, but didn’t even look up as Shadow slipped into the lobby. He slid through the leather curtain into the main sickroom unnoticed. He almost gagged at the stench – there had to be at least 60 beds full of dying people crammed into the large room. As Erin had described, several of the bird-masked Queen’s Physicians circulated among the patients, while a pair of heavily-armored Gray Maidens stood guard; three more Gray Maidens stood watch with longbows from catwalks 20’ overhead.

On the opposite wall Shadow could see another heavy leather curtain; from their circuit of the building this morning, he suspected it led back to the loading dock doors they’d spotted behind the building. He could see an open area to the right that looked like it had been made into a makeshift kitchen, with a pair of Physicians preparing gruel for their patients. Behind it was an open area with a table and chairs – perhaps a break room. He made for that area, slipping as quietly as possible among the beds, grateful for the constant background of coughing. Once there, he could see another curtained doorway leading to the loading dock, and an open door into a dimly-lit room. More importantly, there was a large, closed double-door, with another Gray Maiden standing guard before it.

If that room was worth guarding, it was where Shadow wanted to be. He crept across the room and through the open door. Inside was a stairwell, with a wooden stair circling upwards. He could see that it led up to the catwalks, but then continued up beyond that. But luckily there was no one in the stairwell or on the stairs, so he quietly cast Mage Hand. Looking back into the break room, he pointed his finger at the leather curtain and shook it back and forth, hoping to attract the guard’s attention, but she didn’t seem to notice. He shifted his focus to the chairs set around the break room table, and used the Mage Hand to slide one of them a foot to the left.

The guard noticed that, and quickly moved to investigate. While the guard looked under the table for the rat or whatever had moved the chair, Shadow slipped behind her and tried the door. To his relief, it was unlocked; he quietly slid the door open just far enough to slip inside.

Unfortunately, the room he found himself in hardly seemed worth the trouble. It was empty, save for a large freight elevator shaft in one corner. The metal latticed grate that served as the door to the elevator was closed, but Shadow could see through it to see that the actual elevator car wasn’t on this floor. Looking up, he could barely make out the bottom of the elevator some 30 feet up the shaft. There didn’t seem to be any way to call the elevator back down to this level; apparently you had to be inside the elevator to operate it. He looked around the empty room, his suspicions growing – why was this worth guarding? Just then, he heard the clank of armor by the door, and could see the shadow of feet through the crack under the door – apparently the Gray Maiden had returned to her post.

Back outside, Girrigz was growing impatient. “What’s taking him so long?” he growled.

The others looked at him, then each other. “Umm .. it’s only been a minute or so,” Nat replied. “I wouldn’t worry just yet.”

But that wasn’t good enough for Girrigz. “This is a fucking waste of time – I’m going to stir the pot.” He pushed open the door to the Hospice, drawing his sword as he did so. “Oh shit!” muttered Jax. Then he turned and sprinted for the far corner of the building.

Bhrunlida barely looked up from her reading as the newcomer entered the lobby. She absently tapped the clipboard on the desk in front of her, indicating he should sign in and wait for the Physicians to call for him. “I don’t need no stinking sign-up sheet!” Girrigz shouted, and stabbed her with his rapier. The receptionist screamed in pain and terror. “Help! I’m being attacked!” She fumbled for her own sword, but Grizz slashed her again, cutting her down before she could attempt to defend herself. The patients in the waiting room were falling all over themselves in their panicked attempt to escape the madman who’d just come in. Grizz grinned at their frightened expressions, then yelled at them incoherently and transformed into his wererat form.

Moments later, a Gray Maiden swept through the leather curtain, sword drawn. Girrigz was waiting for her, and drew first blood. Seconds later, one of the Queen’s Physicians appeared. Grizz slashed him as he pushed through the curtain, but the Physician got position behind the wererat. He had a rapier of his own, and with Grizz having to split his attention between foes on both sides of him, the Physician was able to find an opening and his knowledge of anatomy let him deal an extremely painful blow. Another Physician followed the first, and then another Gray Maiden. Whatever else might happen, Girrigz had definitely succeeded in stirring the pot.

Back in the elevator room, Shadow could hear some sort of commotion outside, but the shadow under the door told him the guard was staying at her post. He heard feet pounding on the catwalks overhead, then heard the guard shout at someone, “Go tell them upstairs that there’s trouble!” He could hear feet running up the stairway, and got into position, hoping the elevator would soon descend. Just to be safe, he conjured a Flaming Sphere, it’s elemental power twisted into electricity rather than fire (he didn’t want to burn the place down around his ears).

Outside, the group heard screams, and saw terrified Blood Veil victims come boiling out of the Hospice lobby. They didn’t know what Grizz was doing in there, but whatever it was, they didn’t want to get mixed up in it, so they scattered. Erin and Tomas followed after Jax (who had already disappeared around the corner, while Nat and Wren ran the opposite direction. Moments later, Girrigz burst through the front door of the Hospice, bleeding from multiple wounds. He hung a hard right and sprinted towards the corner of the building where Tomas and Erin had paused, hoping they were far enough away to not be assumed to be part of whatever the hell it was Grizz was doing. One of the Gray Maidens followed Grizz out the door, but her heavy armor slowed her pursuit. She saw the wererat running towards Erin and Tomas. “STOP HIM!” she shouted.

Nat, at the opposite side of the building, cast Message, and whispered a suggestion to Erin, Tomas, and Grizz: “You’d better make this look good!” Grizz dashed past Erin and Tomas, and Erin made a show of trying to grab him, but fell down, hoping to slow the wererat’s pursuers. Tomas simply played the good citizen: “Stop! The Gray Maidens are coming for you!” Grizz continued around the corner, where he almost collided with Jax. But rather than continuing to flee, he slid to a stop, guzzled a Potion of Blur, and spun with his rapier at the ready to ambush the first enemy to round the corner.

Two Gray Maidens lumbered down the street after Girrigz. One of the Queen’s Physiscians also emerged from the Hospice, but stopped at the front door, blocking the entrance and looking warily around for new threats. Wren’s curiosity got the better of her, and she meekly approached the Physician. “What’s happening?” she asked in Varisian. “There’s been trouble,” he replied in the same language. “You need to move away – it’s not safe right now.” Wren retreated a few steps, making a mental note that not only did he speak Varisian, he had no noticeable accent, like a native speaker.

The first of the Gray Maidens dashed full speed around the corner – right onto the point of Girrigz’s rapier. She gasped in pain, drawing an evil laugh from Grizz, but managed to stay on her feet. She lunged weakly at Grizz, but he easily avoided her blow, then stabbed his slender blade between her gorget and her helm, sending her crumbling to the ground. As the Physician at the door saw her fall, he shouted back into the Hospice, “I think they need more help out here!”. Inside, Shadow heard the call repeated back into the cavernous sick room, followed shortly by the pounding of armored feet as the Gray Maiden guarding the elevator room door ran to the assistance of her comrades. Invisible, he slipped out the door and started making his way stealthily back towards the Hospice entrance, wondering what on earth was going on.

Wren wasn’t sure what Grizz’s plan was (or if he even had one), but she knew that killing the Queen’s guards was only going to end badly, so she rushed to the aid of the fallen Maiden, casting Rebuke Death. The woman was still at death’s door, but seemed to be stable. Wren pulled off her visored helmet, and gasped in shock. The unconscious woman looked like she might have once been beautiful, but her face was now criss-crossed with disfiguring scars. To Wren’s practiced eye, the scars looked fairly fresh – only a few weeks old, a couple of months at most.

The battle continued to rage around Wren. Two more Gray Maidens and four Physicians had appeared in hot pursuit of the crazy wererat who had attacked the Hospice. Tomas and Erin retreated across the street, trying to look innocent, and Jax had retreated halfway down the narrow alley that Grizz had led the pursuit into. Nat used his Message spell to provide more tactical advice: “Draw them around the corner! We might be able to isolate some of these guys.” Grizz retreated down the alley, elbowing past Jax, but was still itching for a fight. “You cowardly bastards won’t do squat!” he shouted in response to Nat’s silent Message (his pursuers thought the madman was screaming at them). Nat read a Scroll of Invisibility, and headed towards the action.

The Queen’s Physicians were much faster than the heavily armored Maidens, and they caught up first, but found Jax blocking their way in the narrow alley. The Gray Maiden abandoned the chase, drew her longbow, and sent an arrow whistling past Grizz’s ear. As the lead Physician tried to shove Jax out of the way, another pulled a flask off his belt and flung it at Grizz. It went wide, shattering on the wall beside Grizz with an explosion that sprayed acid all over Grizz, Jax, and the lead Physician.

Nat arrived at the mouth of the alley, panting from his run. He saw a row of enemies lined up in a narrow space, and was faced with a dilemma. One the one hand, the only one who had done anything to antagonize the Queen’s forces was Girrigz. They could let the wererat fall, or prevail on his own, and no one would ever suspect they were investigating the Hospice or the Queen’s Physicians. On the other hand … look at what a nice, straight line these guys were in!

“Get around the corner – and take Grizz with you!” Nat magically whispered to Jax. Jax grabbed the wererat by the collar and drug him at a dead run around the back of the former warehouse. No sooner were they out of sight than Nat let loose with a Lightning Bolt that sizzled up the narrow alley. The Gray Maiden with the bow fell, fried in her armor. The Physicians were still standing, but smoke trickled out of the eyeholes of their bird masks. The lead Physician instantly realized that there was more to this attack than a lone wererat madman. “It’s a trap!,” he cried to his comrades. “Get back inside and warn the others! We need to lock down!”

The Queen’s Physicians reversed directions and ran back towards the Hospice entrance. As they emerged from the alley, they pushed and elbowed past Wren, who was still kneeling by the fallen Gray Maiden. Wren managed to “accidentally” trip one of them, but the last Physician in line took offense. “You stupid bitch!” he snarled, slashing at her with his rapier. Wren, who had been honestly trying to aid the fallen Maiden, was outraged, and returned the Physician’s blow with one of her own from her mace.

Nat was feeling pretty good about how his very first Lightning Bolt had turned out when an arrow buried itself in his shoulder, sending him staggering back. He’d forgotten that he’d become visible when he’d cast the spell, and now the Gray Maiden who had taken up the position guarding the Hospice door had her bow trained on him. Ignoring the arrow, Nat stepped forward and spread his hands at the Queen’s Physicians running along the front of the building. A gout of flame erupted from his fingers, bathing the three leading pseudo-doctors in an Empowered Burning Hands, and all three fell, their bird-masks aflame. “Tomas – help us out here!” Nat shouted.

Tomas and Erin had been valiantly trying to look the part of frightened, innocent (emphasis on the ‘innocent’) citizens. As long as Girrigz was the only one implicated, it might have been possible to get out of this without a price on their heads, but now … now they couldn't afford to leave any survivors who could identify them. With a silent curse and an eye roll, Tomas drew his bow, and sent an arrow through the throat of the Physician threatening Wren. Shadow, still invisible, had emerged from the Hospice about the time Nat toasted the Physicians. He had no idea what had happened out here while he was inside, but apparently these guys couldn't be trusted to stay out of trouble without him there to keep them in line. Seeing the Gray Maiden at the door drawing her bow to fire at the wizard again, he stepped up behind her and placed one hand on her back. Her full set of plate armor proved to be an excellent conductor for his Shocking Grasp, and she collapsed, twitching.

No new enemies emerged from the Hospice – for now. Wren abandoned her efforts to save the Gray Maiden, and moved to the one Nat had felled with his Lightning. She removed her helmet, and saw that, like the other, her face was covered with scars. There was no apparent pattern to the two women’s scars, but both appeared to be relatively fresh.

“We need to get out of here!” Erin was urging the group. “We need to be out of here before any more come out.”

“Let’s take this guy with us,” said Nat. He had pulled the mask off the Queen’s Physician that Tomas had killed (the only one not on fire). Underneath the mask, he looked perfectly ordinary. “We can question him at home, like we did with that elf.” He stuffed the mask into his Handy Haversack, and Tomas and Erin hoisted the body between them, looping an arm over each of their shoulders and hoping that it looked they were helping a drunken friend home. As they hurried back towards Madame Zellara’s, Girrigz paused and turned to take one last look at his handiwork. He looked at the bloody and smoldering corpses, and felt an immense satisfaction. “You haven’t seen the last of me, bitches!” he thought.

Fortunately, the streets were almost deserted during the plague, and the distance wasn’t far between the Hopsice and Zellara’s; the team managed to reach home without running into any Guard patrols, Physicians making their rounds, or nosy citizens. When they got there, they found a note tacked to their front door. It took them a moment to decipher the hasty scrawl:

FM wants 2 C U

“FM?” asked Wren.

“Field Marshall”, Erin translated. She looked at the dead body hanging between her and Tomas. If she remembered right, the Queen’s proclamation had said that “interfering” with at Queen’s Physician was punishable by death – she wondered what the penalty for killing one would be.

The PCs earned 1,067 XP, putting you at 19,077 with 23,000 required for Level 7.