Plague Board

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Peter_Abelard
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Peter_Abelard »

Guild,

While I appreciate your efforts to collect the reagents that the sewers hold, you should be well prepared before venturing below to collect them. The Plague Rats are accompanying many goblin patrols, and are well versed on adventuring tactics. Often they will be overseen by a Plague Rat commander of sorts as well. Your work in the sewers is vital, but so is your survival. Be prepared.

Sarenna
Character arcs are sharp, pointy little things. A little blood may spill!

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Ksiel
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Ksiel »

Note pinned in perfectly aligned flowing script:

Guildmates,

My thanks to all those involved in the rescue of our dear Vana. It would not have been a success without each and everyone of you. The Guildhall is in your debt.

However, let us not rest. I have reason to believe that we are in the calm before another storm. I fully expect a retaliation from the plague rats. We must be on guard and we must prepare. While we are still trying to gather information on the Plague Rats and their final locations, we also need to be gathering supplies for our brewers, artificers, and smiths. When able gather a team and stock the basement with the following:

The Rat Hills and the Goo Caves: ichor/ore
Yintros: Firebellies and Beetle Glands
Sea Cave: Coldstones
City of the Dead: Skeleton Knuckles
Waterdeep City Proper: Dweomervore Hides
The Northern Mines: Ore

Sewers: Cure potions and rust antenea. BEWARE!!! There are increased patrols down below and there are many reports of the goblins and plague rats teaming up. Do not go alone and be well prepared. Even a competent team has the chance to be overrun.

Stay safe, stay well.
Dorian Orthallas
Current PC: Anovallis "Nova" Starmane

Retired but not forgotten: Bhael Ezri, Blaise Dawnbright, Bastian Cross, Tristan Celvante, Logan Castill, Dorian Orthallas, Kharak Aza'DeDuin, Nyx
Peter_Abelard
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Peter_Abelard »

Sarenna sets some sheets of parchment by the Plague Board, with a note on top:

The first thing to remember is the Plague Rats know all about us. They read this board, they listen to us talk, they search our rooms and walk our halls. So mind what you say.

Tomas and the Moonlight Soup Kitchen

Tomas is a good man, who has devoted his life to helping the diseased and forgotten in our city, and beyond. I was sent to him by Naneatha, High Priestess of the House of the Moon, when it felt like no one could cure what I was stricken with.
He took me into his Kitchen, spoke kindly and humbly to me when I was in no mood to return it, and in time, his soup gave me my voice back. I am deeply grateful for what he’s done for me, and in my time at the Kitchen, I’ve met hundreds from the Docks who have found relief because of him.
He took me into his confidence and told me that he was originally from Calimshan, and that when he was younger, he and his sister were captured by the Plague Rats in his own city. They tortured and killed his sister. For a long time he remained their prisoner and slave, but eventually he was able to escape. He swore to fight against their evil in his sister’s name, and has been doing so ever since.
In his time with them Tomas learned much about the Plague Rats, and he was able to tell me that a cure to their Plague was possible. In fact he told me of four ways that people have been cured, that he knows of. The first is that there have been people who gave over all of their material wealth to the Temple of Ilmater, and devoted their lives to service to the poor and forgotten. Tomas had heard of a few men who were cured this way. The second path to cure is the one we have been working towards: that certain reagents can be combined to make a brew that will cure those who drink it. It is the path to a cure that promises to heal the most number of afflicted in our city, and is our goal. The other two paths to a cure that Tomas spoke of are dark in nature, and he spoke of them with reservation, as I do now. The first is what the Plague Rats offer: pledge your souls and lives to service of the Mother of Plagues, and she may see fit to cure you. The last path is equally dark: Tomas said that he had seen some Priests healed and made whole and vital again by sacrificing a plague victim, and consuming their heart.

Brewing the Cure and the Plague Rat Clans

Tomas told me that the Plague Rats are not one unified force, but are clans of Plague Rats that have allied in their attempt to claim our city as their own. They have always been in Waterdeep in some form, but now their numbers have swelled, their allies have multiplied, and they are clearly confident they will be victorious.
Within our city there are three Plague Rat Clans, each with their own symbol. Each of the three clans has their own hold, and there is a fourth location in the sewers where they have their shared altar to the Mother of Plagues. So far we have learned of two clans, and found their holds: The Gargoyle Clan was the first, and the Rat Clan the second. The Gargoyle Clan hold is very close to Tomas’ Kitchen, and is where the Plague Rats took Vana when they abducted her. The Rat Clan is very close to the Adventurer’s Quarter, just a short distance southwest of it.
Each Clan protects a separate reagent of the cure we seek, to protect it from us. We have recovered the one from the Gargoyle Clan, and hope to find the one hidden inside the Rat Clan soon.

Sarenna
Last edited by Peter_Abelard on Sun May 31, 2020 3:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Character arcs are sharp, pointy little things. A little blood may spill!

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Peter_Abelard
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Peter_Abelard »

Plague Rat Allies

Goblins
From reconnaissance in the sewers, it seems clear that the Plague Rats have made alliance with the goblins, and that it is strengthening. Plague Rats and goblins patrol together, and move unhindered through the same territory. The Plague Rats have survived in the sewers for years in smaller numbers, so it makes sense that they would seek alliance with their sewer neighbors as they expand out from their base of power. Breaking the alliance between them may be possible, but only if we better understand what the nature of their pact is. Learning more of their movements, their strongholds, and their leadership may help us find a wedge to drive them apart.

The Xanathar’s Guild
Like the goblins, the Xanathar have been a force within the sewers for a long time, but their ambitions and influence stretch far beyond wet tunnels under the city. From the intercepted notes pinned to this board, to the observed aid the Xanathar gave the Plague Rats in stealing crates full of medicine bags from a warehouse in the Quarter, it’s obvious they have decided the Plague Rats are worthy allies. What benefit they see in alliance or what deals the two groups have struck are a mystery, but it’s a fair bet the answers are somewhere in the lower sewers, waiting to be discovered. What I can say from my own work with enchanting constructs is that creating them is intensive work, requiring magical knowledge, rare materials and scrolls, coin, and time. The numbers of golems in the Rat Clan hold we found just don’t seem possible for a group of thieves like the Plague Rats to enchant on their own. I’m fair sure the Xanathar’s Guild enchanters are helping create the golems, and likely in their own strongholds in the lower sewers.

The Shadowed Woman and the Ghostly Boy
When the Gargoyle Rat Clan had Vana in their stronghold, Vana said there was a strange woman present, different from the Plague Rats, but there. Vana said the woman stayed in the shadows of the hall they had her prisoner in so that she never saw her face, but Vana did say she recognized her voice; that she had heard the woman’s voice before in the Guild. The last thing I want to do is pelt Vana with a hundred questions just now; she’s been through a terrifying time, and needs to recover. I’m sure when she’s feeling stronger and more like herself she’ll be able to tell us more about the woman, but for now the important part is that the Shadowed Woman was with the Plague Rats, and that she’s been in our Guild Hall. She knows us, even if we don’t know her. And she’s sent us a threat, through a strange messenger, a ghostly child that serves her in some way, and has taken an interest in me. The delivered note said:

One, two, she is coming for you
Three, four, you’ll scream like never before

The Ghostly Boy’s name is Thamilin. He’s been appearing to me since before any of this business with the Plague Rats. The first time I saw him was when I was in Rassalantar. He appears young, maybe ten, and his recall of many details of his life are broken, but he appears wet, and told me he was drowned by his parents. He lived once in the Docks, and wants my help to find his parents, because he wants to know why they killed him. He may be a ghost, but his feelings are real and solid enough. He is playful in a malicious way, occasionally cruel, lonely, and mistrustful. I’ve befriended him, and am trying to help him find the answers he wants. The Shadowed Woman uses him to deliver her messages it seems, and Thamilin has told me she always finds him, no matter how he hides. Thamilin has likely told her all about me, but it doesn’t matter now. I need to help him. There’s something about his seeking me out, and my aid to him that is larger than any of this struggle with the Plague Rats. It has the hand of Lady Fortune in it somehow, and I intend to find out what.

Next time I write, I’ll tell you what I know of the Plague Rat’s tactics, and what we learned in the Rat Clan hold. For now, I need to mourn Maddy and Steel, as I’m sure you do. At times like this, I think of the wisdom of our dear Loremaster, my fellow Guild, who told me once that it’s all right to fail and falter. As long as you get back on your feet again an equal number of times.

Dare and Beware,

Sarenna
Character arcs are sharp, pointy little things. A little blood may spill!

Now Playing: Luva Si'nede, Olivus Angustian
Past Characters: Valyar Floshin, Sarenna Irithyl, Millicent Riverstone, Dev Revels, Catarina Helms, Fenris Estelmer, Arryn Temple, Penrose Hawke, Kara Ravensfell, Arana Belecthor
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Knighted
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Knighted »

Spoiler:
[strikethrough]Several hours past midnight a scrawled, ale-soaked note was pinned into the centre of the board. By the look of the hand and the attrocious spelling, it appears to have been written by a young, troubled mind inebriated beyond cogency or literacy.

Those using the bathroom near to the board the following morning may detect a faint but distinct scent of vomit pervading the air.[/strikethrough]
The ale-soaked note has now been torn down and the smell of vomit has been cleared from the nearby water closet. Some members of the Guild say they saw a young half-elf journeyman looking like he had an exceedingly sore head the morning after the note was posted.
UKTZ DM and builder on the ALFA: Sea of Swords server The Moonshae Isles. Builder on Daggerford server. Contact me on Discord for any DM-related queries.
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Discord u/n is El Grillo. GSID is Elyas T'almera.
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Knighted
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Knighted »

In the centre of the plague board has been pinned a note, written in a shaky hand at times so heavy it has nearly torn through the ragged parchment.

Apprentices of the Guild socialising in the bunk room noticed an exhausted-looking journeyman of the Guild appear to stop by the board at around the time the note was put up, before half-staggering into his chambers looking weary and shaken beyond measure.

A red mark appeared on the right-hand side of the note shortly after it was posted. All who read the missive believe it merely to be a wine stain left by the author.


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UKTZ DM and builder on the ALFA: Sea of Swords server The Moonshae Isles. Builder on Daggerford server. Contact me on Discord for any DM-related queries.
Find out more about the NWN1 revival (in NWN: Enhanced Edition) at www.alfanwn1.org

Discord u/n is El Grillo. GSID is Elyas T'almera.
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Knighted
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Knighted »

*A brief note is pinned to the plague board*

To those who seek to venture into the sewers:

The Plague Rats have returned in force to the southern sewers once more, even to the area close to the southernmost Dock Ward entrance. Do not venture below save in groups, and do not go without medicine to cure the plague they spread.

The other threat mentioned on this board is also still understood to be waiting below.

Dare, but beware.

Elyas T'almerion
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Waterdeep Guild of Adventurers
UKTZ DM and builder on the ALFA: Sea of Swords server The Moonshae Isles. Builder on Daggerford server. Contact me on Discord for any DM-related queries.
Find out more about the NWN1 revival (in NWN: Enhanced Edition) at www.alfanwn1.org

Discord u/n is El Grillo. GSID is Elyas T'almera.
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Re: Plague Board

Post by jmecha »

*Pawn Xandos Klaxxan adds a section of map to to the Plague Board as well as a small note.*


Image

The Plague Rats have a Lair inside the property marked upon the map with a red X. Due to the proximity to Mount Waterdeep, it is possible the property is merely an entrance to an elaborate tunnel system within the mountain. Those of us who assemble to strike them where they lair need to be prepared to cross any number of traps, underwater hazards, and guardians they have prepared to rebuke intrusion.

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bartleby
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Re: Plague Board

Post by bartleby »

Next to Klaxxan's map is posted:

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Ethbaal
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Ethbaal »

Lhoris will stand in the rear for archering and healing.
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Ksiel
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Ksiel »

Behind Lhoris, Dorian will happily stand arrow knocked...
Current PC: Anovallis "Nova" Starmane

Retired but not forgotten: Bhael Ezri, Blaise Dawnbright, Bastian Cross, Tristan Celvante, Logan Castill, Dorian Orthallas, Kharak Aza'DeDuin, Nyx
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Cleasor
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Cleasor »

Magolir, as a minimum, will represent the Elven Enclave. Put him in the archery category.

Lhoris has yet to clear his own name.
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Knighted
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Re: Plague Board

Post by Knighted »

*A note is pinned to the board. Those familiar with the hand of the author may detect a shakiness to its lettering that betrays a great weariness on his part.*

To all members of the Guild, and all friends who share an interest in our recent martial endeavours,

The raid on the Castle Ward rat hold was successful, though victory came at a price. The final ingredient of the hoped-for cure has been found. We hope and pray for swift progress on the creation of the curative itself. All endeavours are now focused on achieving that long awaited goal, toward which we have striven these many months.

With the permission of Guildmaster Dorian I reproduce below the content of the note found in a chest alongside the ingredient, so that all may be aware of the forces which appear still to conspire against us and against this great city.

The finding of the room in which the ingredient and note lay is credited to one Feronantus. The Guild offers its thanks to him, and to all those brave and true souls, be they of the Red Knights or elsewhere, who fought and bled together so that we might be free of the Plaguists and their dark allies.

Dare, and beware.

Elyas T'almerion
Master, the Waterdeep Guild of Adventurers


The note reads thus:


*another note is pinned to the board*

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UKTZ DM and builder on the ALFA: Sea of Swords server The Moonshae Isles. Builder on Daggerford server. Contact me on Discord for any DM-related queries.
Find out more about the NWN1 revival (in NWN: Enhanced Edition) at www.alfanwn1.org

Discord u/n is El Grillo. GSID is Elyas T'almera.
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