Soul Contamination

Have I really reached part 10 already? And only just over a sixth of the way through. This is going to be a big blog...

I just want to say a big thank you to all my players for coming up with such great characters and making this a cracking campaign.

Ok, on with the show...

The Curse of the Crimson Throne

Part 10: Pestilence!

With considerably less resistance than anticipated, we managed to escort Ishani the priest to Castle Volshyenek. When we got there, however, we discovered a large meeting taking place. All of the Korvosan City Guard and the Sable Company were gathered in the courtyard. On a stage stood Field Marshall Kroft, a few of the other ranking officers of the Guard, and some very peculiar figures. A group of figures were people in oily black coats and wide brimmed hats. They also each wore a goggled mask that came to a point like a beak. They stood clutching canes or bags. Among these figures was a middle-aged man, quite good looking, clutching a doctor's bag. The last figure was very imposing. It was a woman, clad head to toe in shining armour, her helmet sporting a long red plume.

The Field Marshall suddenly quietened the crowd and made a speech. She introduced the middle-aged man as Doctor Davaulus, the newly appointed Royal Physician, and the masked figures as the Queen's Physicians. She said that the Queen had appointed these people to help stem the plague that was sweeping the city, and that the Guard was to escort the Physicians on their duties. She also introduced the armour-clad woman, saying she was a member of a newly formed group of soldiers known as the Grey Maidens. These warrior women took orders directly from the Queen, so the Guardsmen and the Sable Company Marines had to follow any instructions that the Maidens gave them.

With hushed murmers of dissatisfaction, the Guard dispersed to their duties, and Field Marshall Kroft, Doctor Davaulus, and the Physicians adjourned for a meeting. Before she left, the Field Marshall told us that she would call on us in a few days, should she have any missions for us.

Over the next few days, we watched the numbers of Blood Veil victims increase dramatically. Even some of our number - Sabelle, Adam, and Reda - succumbed to the disease. Fortunately, they managed to receive a cure at the temple of Abadar. Bodies were starting to pile up in the streets, and mass graves were being dug in the city's graveyard district. The Queen's Physicians and the Grey Maidens patrolled the streets, entering houses and checking for plague victims. Here, in the spirit world, I could sense the arrival of the newly dead. So many souls. Hundreds of people were losing their battle with this terrible plague. I felt such a sadness all around me.

We then received a call from the Field Marshall. She told us that some of the lazier plague carters (the men who wandered the streets collecting the bodies of the dead and taking them to the graveyard) were dumping the bodies instead of transporting them all the way across the city. We were to investigate a likely spot, known as Racker's Alley.

.

In the alley we discovered a large pile of bodies, dumped and left to rot. We also found a gang of vampire spawn, feeding from the decaying bodies. However, this gang stood no chance against the holy might of our paladin's devotion, and they were quickly sent to oblivion. The only unusual thing we could find was a bag of coins the spawn were carrying. The coins were minted in Ustalav, a country far to the east, known for its vampires. Why were there Ustalav vampires here in the city?

A few days later, we received another mission, this one from Ishani the priest. A perfumery in The Heights was selling a cure for the Blood Veil. We were to investigate and see if it was true. We discovered an incredibly long queue of people waiting to buy the cure. As Reg, Reda and Veyron tried talikng to the proprietor of the shop, Sabelle and Adam, our two more stealthy members of the group, broke into the owner's private quarters and discovered the secret of the cure. It was a sham. The cure was nothing more than river water with a few herbs added to make it taste nice. With her con exposed, the owner of the perfumery fled the city, never to be heard from again.

We were then approached by a young Varisian woman named Deyanira, deeply distraught. She told us that her brother, Ruan, had gone missing. Ruan was a talented young musician who had just been been given a contract to play at a masked ball that the Carowyn family were holding at their manor. He had not returned home from the party, and when Deyanira had gone up to the manor to inquire what had happened to him, she discovered the manor locked and seemingly deserted, with the smell of death coming from within.

So, we headed for the South District and to Carowyn Manor, to investigate the place. What we found was very disturbing...