Two weeks passed after the party
penetrated the Temple of Urgathoa deep beneath the Hospice of the Blessed
Maiden. Using the notes they’d recovered, the city’s religious orders and
surviving alchemists worked together and within a few days had developed,
manufactured, and distributed a cure for Blood Veil. Because of the mystical
nature of the disease, not only did the cure halt the disease and confer
immunity to future infection to those who received it, each cured person
actually spread the immunity to all those they came in contact with, similar to
the spread of the disease itself.
Korvosa had survived the hideous plague,
but not unscathed. The streets were dull and muted, strangely empty even when
markets quietly re-opened. People seemed to be more interested in staying home than
going out, and when they did emerge, they shuffled quickly to their
destinations and conducted their business swiftly. City temples had their hands full tracking
down the last remaining pockets of sick residents and disposing of the dead,
while the Acadamae continued to keep its doors shut and withhold its resources
for the duration, hoping to wait out these troubled times. The Sable Company was
falling apart, and the Korvosan Guard had taken staggering hits to both its
personnel and its morale. Field Marshal Kroft talked about recruitment drives
to replenish the ranks, but helping Korvosa recover remained the primary goal.
Even as the number of Korvosan Guards on
the streets dwindled, the presence of the Gray Maidens increased. Regular
patrols of these armored warrior women marched along the major streets, and
rumors spread that strike forces were breaking into homes and buildings reputed
to house those who voiced dissenting opinions of the monarchy. Old Korvosa
remained under a tight quarantine, with troops of Gray Maidens stationed along
the Narrows and patrolling the Jeggare in swift barges to ensure that no one got
off Endrin Isle. The plumes of smoke as buildings burned and the periodic roars
of riots that echoed down from Old Korvosa alone were enough to warn away the
curious.
When Queen Ileosa announced a public
address, it was clear that the plague had finally come to an end. The party
traveled once again to Domina Square. Although the site was the same where
Trinia’s botched execution almost occurred, the contrast was striking; no
banners hung from the walls, and barely two hundred people milled about
restlessly in the vast public square.
There was the same fanfare of trumpets
announcing the Queen’s arrival, however. She descended to the balcony
overlooking the square escorted by her bodyguard, Sabina Merrin, clad in her
resplendent plate armor. On the Queen’s left hand was an unknown figure, a hugely
bloated and obese man in scarlet robes. Following the Queen were Field Marshall
Kroft and Commandant Endrin, along with a dozen Gray Maidens. The Queen wore a
scarlet silk gown embroidered with gold. She also wore a new crown, an
elaborately worked gleaming gold and jeweled circlet topped with curving ivory
spikes, like the fangs of some great beast.
Everyone took their places, and the
crowd grew quiet. The Queen surveyed the square for some moments before she
began to speak. “My people – your long suffering is coming to an end.” Her
voice carried easily throughout the square, magically amplified. “The cost of
this plague has been ghastly, but the tireless efforts of our city’s clergy
have succeeded in crafting a cure for the disease, and I am pleased to report
that almost all of our afflicted citizens have been cured. I am ashamed to
admit that the man I trusted to help defeat the plague, Dr. Davaulus, turned
out to be a traitor. He and his cohorts were part of a foreign plot to help
spread and prolong the sickness, in order to weaken Korvosa for enemy invasion.
Only the diligent efforts of the Gray Maidens were able to uncover his plot.
Dr. Davaulus has been executed for his treason, and his accomplices are either
all dead, or are being rounded up.” The group exchanged troubled looks. They
hadn’t exactly expected medals for their efforts, but the Queen’s story only
held threads of the truth.
“But we dare not let our vigilance flag.
We must rebuild our defenses, stronger than ever. I have appointed the mage Togomor to
assume the role of Seneschal of Castle Korvosa, filling the post left by the
deserter, Neolandus Kalepopolis.” The fat man beside her gave a solemn bow, and
the Queen continued. “As both the Korvosan Guard and Sable Company have
suffered terrible losses over the last few weeks, neither is fully capable of
continuing as Korvosa’s protectors. Thus, to shore up this deficit, I have named
the Gray Maidens as the new official Protectors of Korvosa, and have appointed
Sabina Merrin as City General. The Korvosan Guard will continue to perform
day-to-day police duties for the city, and Field Marshall Kroft will report
directly to General Merrin.” The look on Kroft’s face made it clear this was the
first she was hearing any of this.
“With the creation of the order of the
Gray Maidens, the role of the Sable Company has become superfluous, and the
care and feeding of their hippogriff mounts places too great a strain on the
city’s coffers. What’s more, the Sable Company’s overall commander, Seneschal
Kalepopolis, fled the city during the riots, rather than stay by my side in the
city’s time of need. Therefore, I am disbanding the Sable Company effective
immediately, and am turning over all of its holdings to Seneschal Togomor.
Commandant Endrin – step forward and surrender your badge of office!”
If Kroft looked surprised, Marcus Endrin
looked shocked by the announcement. His jaw clenched and unclenched, and his
face grew dark with suppressed rage. He stepped forward at rigid attention, and
removed the badge from his tunic. But instead of handing it over, he threw it
at the Queen, striking her in the cheek. Everyone, including the Queen, was
shocked into paralysis for a moment, long enough for Endrin to bellow out,
“Your shameful reign ends now! Korvosa will be free again!” An instant later,
his crossbow was in his hands, aimed at the still-frozen queen. Endrin fired
and his aim was true. The bolt struck Queen Ileosa in the left temple, sinking
deep into her skull, its steel head protruding from the opposite side.
Yet she did not fall.
Her left hand rose to her temple and
slowly withdrew the bloody bolt from her skull. Before blood from the wound had
time to run all the way down to her jaw, her right hand whipped out and seized
Endrin by the throat, lifting him off the ground and holding him up for all to
see. An instant later, she stabbed Endrin’s own bolt up under his jaw and out
the side of his face with a spray of blood.
As Endrin’s body crumpled to the ground,
Ileosa imperiously shook his blood from her hand, then turned to face the crowd
once more. “This shall be the fate of all enemies of Korvosa!” she cried out in
a strong, clear voice. “Mark well his punishment! It is only the first!” A
moment later, Togomor stepped forward, took Ileosa’s hand, and they both
vanished. The Gray Maidens hurried back into the castle, dragging Endrin’s limp
body with them, leaving Cressida Kroft staring in shock at the blood pooled on
the balcony.
The PCs earned 6,067 XP, putting you at
32,810 XP with only 34,000 required for Level 8, so have your level 8
characters ready to go.
This concludes Book 2, Seven Days to
the Grave. During this book I kept track of how many
lives you saved through your actions. According to the book, you managed to
save 2,392 citizens of Korvosa. You could have saved another 700 had you shut
down Vendra Loaggri and her snake-oil scheme selling fake cures. If you’d managed
to kill Rolth Lamm and obtain his notes in addition to the two sets you got
from Dr. Davaulus and Arkminos, the clerics could have developed the cure in
only one day, saving a few hundred more lives.
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