OOC: I made a real cock up last week with my posts about the towers - Sorry.
I realised when reading though this week we were still in a mess - so I made a
change to Rolf's first post and sent Madelyn and Zhiri up the general tower and
Rolf and Yuri up the lord's tower. I will pay more attention to what I am doing
in future. Sorry.
BIC
Rolf, Kerim, Mandrake and Yuri all stand
in what they assume was the lord's room, looking at the needle stuck in Kerim's
finger. There is an old green stain on it, so it probably was poisoned - but is
it still likely to be active now? The chest, however, remains stubbornly locked.
Callum, Peter and eventually Ravn explore the cellar under the kitchens,
only to find that Peter's supposition was correct. A number of old barrels,
sacks and boxes line the walls, they clearly contained food stuffs, but nothing
recognisable remains, although you they do occasionally hear the occasional
rustle, which they take to be mice. There is also a well down there and a quick
look shows that the water is still clear and potable.
Elsbeth, Madelyn
and Zhiri all meet back in the main hall, where Edgar still remains on guard.
Their searches having been unfruitful.
OOC: Okay, I'm a bit confused, but.....
Confused as to the matter at
hand, Rolf only knows that Kerim has not managed to unlock the chest. Then
understanding comes upon him and he realizes the possible danger Kerim might be
in. "Mandrake, please fetch Ravn." With a quick motion, Rolf pulls a spare bow
string from his pouch and moves to Kerim's side. "Maybe this'll keep it from
spreading." He reaches to wrap the string about Kerim's finger.
A brief synopsis of the last weeks moves after the changes I have made. All
Character posts in the previous thread are as they were made Except I changed
one of Rolfs posts to change which towers people explored. Sorry again. Here
goes:-
-
The party breaks down the door to the keep and enter
the main hall. Rolf looks round and sets assignments.
Callum, Peter,
Kerim and Mandrake are set to explore the ground floor. They find 2 sets of
stairs down and explore one - which leads to an underground store room for the
kitchens. They also discover a locked door.
Rolf and Yuri take the
Lord's Tower and explore. They find a locked chest and call for assistance.
Mandrake and Kerim join them and work on the chest but Kerim can't unlock it and
gets a ?poisoned? dart in his hand.
Elsbeth and Ravn explore the Kitchen
tower and find little of interest and return to the ground floor. Ravn joins
Peter and Callum in the kitchen Cellar.
Madelyn and Zhiri explore the
General Office tower and find nothing interesting. They return to the ground
floor.
So Now we have Rolf, Mandrake, Yuri, and Kerim on the middle
floor of the Lord's towers. Elsbeth, Madelyn, Zhiri and Edgar on the ground
floor in the main hall. Callum, Peter and Ravn in the cellar of the Kitchen
Tower ....
Hope that helps ....
Callum looks at the debris around him and shrugs. "Well, I'm doubting
that we'll find anything useful but we should be about the other cellars."
Peter nods his agreement and follows Callum back up the stairs. "Where next then. The door in the Lord's chamber was open, The other one was locked." He adds as they climb.
Up on his perch, Edgar voices a low caark of amusement to himself as he overhears Callum and Peter's discussion, wondering how long it will be before he hears the sudden crash as 'Callum's Key' opens yet another door.
Mandrake takes a last look at the needle and then rushes off down the stairs calling as he goes, "Ravn, Ravn, come quick Kerim is hurt!"
Ravn almost bumps into the gnome on the kitchen stairs, coming up as he were
with Peter and Elsbeth.
"What was that, Mandrake? Did you say Kerim is
hurt? Take me to him, then!"
Then he hurries after the gnome, a smile of
humoured scepticism spreading across his face at the sight of the injured trader
presenting his index finger, a tiny pearl of ruby-red blood forming on the
minute needle wound.
"I have heard tall tales of you Zacharans' courage
and endurance. I have heard of how your people cruises the dunes and wages wars
on the mightiest of adversaries, enduring the scorching sun, endless thirst and
the cruellest sufferings in the name of your god..."
He smiles again and
examines the trader's finger with faked worry on his face.
"Surely this
is not the wound you have summoned me to attend?"
Peter steps out of the way and Ravn and Mandrake nearkly collide. Then with a shrug to Callum follws Ravn up the stairs. "Guess I'd had better see if they need me up there too, rather than galivanting in cellars," he grins weakly at his own poor humour.
Hearing the call for assistance, Elsbeth follows, arriving as Ravn delivers his comments. She observes, wondering if poison might have been involved.
OOC: If the title bar would handle it, the title would have been, "It's not
the size of the wound, it's what's in it that counts."
"It's not the
wound that concerns me, but poison. The needle looked stained. If you can put
our minds at ease, we'd appreciate it." Rolf speaks calmly, though it's clear
that the altercation between him and Ravn is still on his thoughts.
Kerim starts at Ravn's decrying of the wound, to him such sarcasm, if that is
what it is, should best be left till after the wound is attended and all is
safe. Still, he has heard Ravn's death by glorious battle stance and can expect
little else.
"But a simple key may be wielded to unlock a castles
defences to an enemy eternal, and often it has been that but a small crag of
coral has sent many a sailor to a watery grave. In judging a needle by it's size
never shall you know how many perils you have survived.
Indeed Ravn, may
your god ever govern your life by judging a wounds severity in reward to the
ever after, mine however would have me live."
Overhearing the mention of the poisoned wound, Edgar is moved to fly down and share in the general concern for Kerim's continued well-being ... but he holds his station on guard up in the rafters, knowing full well that his continued vigilance is crucial lest an unexpected attack take the party by surprise when everyone else's attention is focussed on the trader.
"Poison, you say?"
Ravn's amused expression turns to one of sincere
concern at the mention of toxines.
"Then I beg your pardon for my
thoughtlessness, Kerim - you should have said so immediately."
He rubs
his bearded chin with worry.
"Alas, there is nothing I can do to remedy
poisoning. Chopping off the infected limb would have been a possibility if it
had been done immediately, but I fear the posion will now have spread beyond the
wound itself. How do you feel?"
Elsbeth shakes her head, her eyes concerned. "If it be truly poisoned, I'm
not sure I can truly remove it," she says, worridly. Stepping forward, the takes
the stricken man's hand, examining it, using all her craft in herbs and such to
see if she can identify what has wounded him.
"If it be poison, this
will help," she whispers, placing her hand on her mistletoe and whispering words
in an unknown tongue.
Slow Poison