Mustering the Troops

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde sent out missives to her former companions, as well as a general call for reclaimers and anyone with experience in curses and necromancy. They were to meet two nights after the previous incident, at the House of Peace and Respite for Our Heroes. It was a much less celebratory mood than the previous gathering, with a large room set up with a large table, some bites to eat, and just a few bottles of wine. No entertainment. 

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

A local medium named Geoffrey Ravenhurst replied to the call. As a retired Captain of the Bastion City Watch, Ravenhurst had a reputation for a keen mind and honorable disposition, with an uncanny knack for solving mysteries of all kinds. He wore plain but somber clothes, as though he might be expected to go hunting right a after a funeral.

[Tehol Nookington]

Tehol for lack of anything better to do also showed up. He was tired of gathering dust sitting in the city and had some hopes that this would take him out of Bastion again.

[Silvia Raizer]

Silvia arrived as well. She had left behind her lute but carried her weapons, and, of course, wore her trademark hat.

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde looked around the room. Smaller crowd than she had been expecting. Ah well, best to get into it and let any stragglers arrive after they'd started.

"Good afternoon, everyone. New and old friends and acquaintances. Make yourselves comfortable. I've asked you here because a magical sickness has appeared in a nearby village, and someone needs to deal with it. And I can't think of anyone better than us. The story is this: A number of fisherfolk arrived at the Temple of Mythan recently, suffering from the disease. Most died soon after. Two survivors were brought here, one of which also died when healing magic was used on him." She paused, sighing. "One young girl yet lives, but her body is...shifting into something else. I have failed to find anything similar in my research." Holding out a hand toward Silvia, she concluded, "Silvia dear, if you wouldn't mind summarizing what you found at the temple?"

[Silvia Raizer]

Silvia shrugged; her mission hadn't been especially successful.

"Much less than I had hoped. The people spoke of sicknesses and curses, with no clear distinction between the two. I suppose that's how goes, though, some people will think an illness they cannot comprehend is the work of evil. I'm told most of the afflicted died quickly, but others live, and suffer. The term 'fish people' was mentioned. Apparently these creatures are responsible for the sickness, and have infected the villagers. But I haven't managed to learn where these monsters came from, or what they look like. I picture them with the heads and scales of fish, but walking on two legs like humans."

She sighed. "It's little enough, unfortunately."

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde nodded with a grimace. "Unfortunately, I don't see how it can be anything other than a curse. We need to eliminate any possibility of it spreading. I propose an expedition to the village that was the source, where we will see what we can find." She paused for a moment before remembering the important part. "You will of course be compensated at standard Reclaimer rates, with bonuses in cash or House credit, as you prefer."

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

"The girl that already passed..." The medium lowered his pipe. "Where and when did it happen?"

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde raised an only-slightly judgy eyebrow. Mediums did tend to get lost as regarded the actual world around them. "There was a man that passed here, and a girl that yet lives in our hospital ward. I'm afraid I don't know the precise identities of the rest that didn't make it here."

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

He stood. "Take me to the room where he died and we'll get to work. Also, I need any personal belongings he had."

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde shrugged at the rest of the attendees. "Very well." She led the group out the door and toward the medical wing. It wasn't long before they came to the right room. On the way, she called for an orderly to find his accoutrements if they hadn't already been incinerated.

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

Some natives had a more ostentatious style to contacting the dead, but Geoffrey was a more practical man. He simply grabbed a chair, dragged it to the center of the room, and then had the attendant hand him whatever remained in their possession after having first removed his own gloves.