Infected!

"I ain't never smelt nothin' 'is bad, not even when it be dead," Gronk says.

The dwarf then heads over to free the couple from the net. He sees that the couple, who are both in their late teens, are totally rigid with fear and do nothing to assist the dwarf as he manages to cut them out of the net using Thunder. There is a large pool of vomit a couple of feet from where they sit, frozen in shock, and the stench of urine would be overpowering, was it not partially masked by the smell of the vomit.

Jihan walks over to extract his blade from the skull of the fallen ogre, his face crumpling up into grim determination as he does so. Looking over the fallen beasts, his eyes peer about in an experienced manner for any obvious wealth, which he liberates them of.

Working his way through the grubby leather pouches hanging from the five ogres' belts, the elf finds a total of 22 gold pieces. He then walks over to the carter and finds that his money pouch contains a further five pieces of gold.

The priests of disease he avoids, despite the stories everyone has heard about elves having a remarkable resistance to mundane diseases in general, holding the hood of his cloak over his mouth and nose in an ineffectual attempt to alleviate the stench rising from their festering carcasses. He is careful to assess as to whether or not they do appear to be carrying anything of worth, for later retrieval via a stick or some such. He sees, however, that they do not appear to be carrying money pouches, although he sees that each of them has a crudely formed symbol of a rat made out of silver hanging from their necks by means of a slim silver chain.

"What a mess..." he mutters, shaking his head as he gingerly avoids a piece of pus stained sod churned up from the fracas.

After cutting the ogre to the ground, Yaz wipes the blade of his scimitar on a baggy pantleg, leaving a dark smear on the green fabric. Then he lifts it to his face, smiles at the blade, and checks his teeth in the reflection. They look as filthy as always.

Once he gets over the spell of nausea, Bennett weakly calls for Aneira.

Aneira ignores her own injuries and looks around. She sees Bennett, conscious but sick and a brief shudder courses through her, not of disgust, but of fear. She has not chosen the powers of healing disease from Zima this day and she does not know if he can survive another. She sees Kokal unconscious on the ground. She goes to him first. Possibly he has some means of curing disease. She lays her hand on his wounds and prays to Zima.

Zima's blessing works well upon the Padre and, immediately that he feels the cool, soothing power running through his body, he immediately comes to. He is still feeling very badly injured, but is now totally conscious and has his wits about him. To try and aid the Padre's recovery further, Aneira casts a second healing spell upon Kokal. The results of this attempt, however, are not as strong as the first healing spell, and it does little to aid the Padre's recovery still further.

As he comes to, Aneira speaks to him:

"Bennett is ill. Can you help him? I have not that ability today."

Still a little woozy, a look of grim realization comes over Padre Kokal's face as Aneira tells him about Bennett.

Getting immediately, if a bit unsteadily, to his feet, he follows the priestess to where the warrior lies.

"I ... I c'n try," Kokal mumbles, a few muffled oaths seemingly mixed in as he takes his pack to his hand on the way.

Aneira then goes to Bennett's side with a worried expression on her face. As she approaches, Bennett almost whispers:

"I fear I have been poisoned by that creature's weapon, or infected with its foul breath. Can you do anything?"

His eyes hold fear and only a tiny bit of hope. The rest of the combat has been forgotten.

Aneira sinks down next to him:

"I cannot cure you, Bennett. I can aid your wounds, but not the disease that wracks your body. I am so sorry."

Bennett nods briefly:

"It's not so bad. I think I can make it."

He starts to rise up, then dizzily sits back down:

"Give me a minute."

She lays a hand on his brow and goes ahead and heals some of his wounds. She feels the cool flow of Zima's healing blessing flow from her body as usual, but looks on with surprise and no little amount of fear as she sees that Zima's blessing has no effect upon Bennett's wounds whatsoever. If anything, the reverse is true, as the wounds are already starting to putrefy, as a greenish film starts to form over the blood. To make matters worse, the holy strength that Aneira gave to him has now dissipated and Bennett starts to feel a little weak, not seriously, but he realizes that he is not as strong as he would normally expect.

Bennett looks at the effects of the spell, sighing a bit. As the effects of Aneira's spell wear off, leaving him quite weak, he mumbles, trying to smile:

"Well, it was a good go-round, wasn't it? Wouldn't have gone out any other way. Killed a big bad guy and laying in the arms of a beautiful lady."

His eyes focus on Aneira, and he realizes she has been injured. He strives mightily to sit up, barely making it:

"I'm fine," he grunts "See to your own wounds. You mustn't get infected with whatever this is that's got hold of me."

He weakly tries to push her away.

As Kokal approaches and sees Aneira's healing fail, the priest's look of concern deepens:

"Never seen wounds do that 'fore," he whispers to the ice priestess, as he kneels down beside Bennett and begins to rummage through his pack, trying to not have Bennett hear his words as he does so, and removing a smaller parcel from inside:

Bennett's eyes light up a bit, but he says nothing to the war priest.

"Never. Damned Nemotz vermin, ye never know what they've got 'n 'em! I WARNED ye 'bout gettin' too close ...."

Kokal bites his tongue.

Bennett grins a bit, letting out a rough laugh:

"I thought you were talking about the damn priests! Didn't know they harnessed their filth in armor!"

Then a thought occurs to him, and he laughs louder:

"I suppose that was their Winnacer, huh?"

He begins coughing with laughter, falling to the floor once again.

Turning his attention to Bennett, the Padre is much less grim:

"Poisoned, y'say? Well, I'm sure I c'n do somethin' fer that," he says, perhaps not completely convincingly.

Nevertheless, he takes the small inverted sword pendant that hangs from his neck into his hand and begins a prayer to Radegast. Whether or not the Padre's blessing has any effect upon Bennett's wounds remains to be seen. There are certainly no immediate effects to be seen, as the enflamed wounds on the warrior's body are as bad as ever.

Bennett's laughter dies down and the fire in his eyes goes out completely:

"Nothing, huh, Padre? Shit."

He grabs his knees and pulls himself up to being seated once again, mumbling very quietly:

"Damn fine way to go out, though."

He gathers his strength and yells out at Will, who is currently interrogating the priest:

"Better sing me a goddamn song!" Bennett mutters. "Better be a good one, too!"

Will casts a glance over his shoulder to Bennett during the questioning of the Nemotz priest, and then continues his questioning.

Once he finishes, Kokal proceeds to apply various poultices and herbs from the parcel to the wounds, sores and lesions afflicting Bennett, first wetting his bandages with water from a vial Kokal takes from a small pouch on his belt before applying them the wounds.

As he tends to him, Kokal grins a bit at Bennett:

"Ye look better than 'e does, though. That was th'stuff of legend, comrade ... finishin' 'im by yeself."

Bennett smiles a bit:

"Yeah, it was pretty damn good, wasn't it? Gonna tell stories about me in church?"

He coughs a bit, laughing.

"Don' ye worry," the Padre continues seriously, "Warriors such as ye don' pass like this."

Finishing his ministrations, Padre Kokal looks squarely at Bennett and says:

"That's about it fer what c'n be done out 'ere, I think. Rest fer now an' soon y'll be past this."

Bennett looks up at the priest with doubting eyes, seeing those same eyes reflected back at him:

"Thanks for trying, Padre. You ain't such a bad guy after all!"

"'Sides," Kokal adds with a grin, "I got t'go see about some o' th'others who're REALLY 'urt!"

The Padre turns away, immediately regretting the joke. Passing Aneira as he goes, he mutters quietly, trying to keep out of Bennett's hearing:

"Don't know if it 'elped 'im t'all -- I was mostly guessin'. Maybe bought some time. We need t'see 'im to a .... SOMEONE better n'me..."

"I thank ye for ye goddess' blessin', priestess," Kokal says straight to Aneira. "Can Radegast return the favor?"

"Check the others first," Aneira murmurs.

Distracted still, she waves him off.

As the Padre wanders off a bit, Bennett looks up at Aneira:

"Foolish girl. He's got some healing, and it ain't helping me any. You need care as well as any of us!"

He then quiets down too much for the others to hear, whispering earnestly in Aneira's ear. Aneira just looks at him in mild annoyance. She seems about to speak when Gronk shows up.

The Padre gives a little shrug and looks around all of the others in the party. He sees that only Bennett, Aneira and himself were injured during the brief combat and, despite Aneira's spells, he is still worse off than Aneira is. He then proceeds to cast three healing spells upon his own wounds, one after the other. The effect of the first one is weak, the second better, and the third one has the result of returning Kokal to full health.

Having done so, Kokal returns to Aneira:

"Th' others are all fine, an' I 'ave yet some o' the healin' left, which I'd like t'do some good with fer someone," he says quietly, with a tinge of frustration and a glance at Bennett, before turning back to Aneira to await her decision about being healed.

Aneira looks at him briefly:

"I am fine for now. Save it in case there is more combat. I have one healing spell myself. If I feel too badly, I will use it on myself."

Winnacer looks at the coagulating mixture of bodily humours with disdain as they befoul the ground they are strewn over. While his face is of disgust, it is obvious that Winnacer is either totally unafraid of being infected himself or quite unaware of rudimentary germ theory.

While Aneira is seeing to the wounds of Padre Kokal and Bennett, Will approaches the charmed priest and begins questioning him:

"Who are you and what is your purpose here?"

The figure in the yellow and black robes looks up at Will as he speaks and the bard looks into his cowl and sees the priest's face for the first time. He sees that the priest's face is pale and gaunt and that he is totally hairless. His face is covered in a mass of blisters, acne, scars and sores that weep green pus. His nose is running and saliva drips from his broken lips.

The man answers Will in a hoarse voice that betrays no emotions:

"My name is Markus Rybnik," he answers in a whisper as his eyes dart around, checking that no one else other than Will is listening, "and I am a servant of Nemotz."

He looks up at Will and whispers to him as if he is telling him a closely guarded secret:

"We are here to gather specimens for our experiments."

"These are all my trusted friends here, you can speak freely," Will whispers to him as he sees his nervousness at giving away what is obviously some highly secret information.

The priest's eyes dart around as he hears this and then he nods a little reluctantly:

"Very well, then," he replies. "If you're absolutely sure about that."

"Where do you take the persons to be experimented on and what type of experiments are done?" Will asks him next.

The priest speaks a little louder as he responds to this one, but is obviously still a little nervous at giving away this information:

"We have a secret research establishment situated on the River Svratka, around twenty miles northwest of Brunn. That's where we're taking them. There we perform a number of experiments into biological warfare, genetic mutations and new ways of inflicting pain."

"How many other Nemotz followers and servants are there?" Will follows up.

"There are around twenty to thirty priests of Nemotz at the research facility," the foul priest responds. "In addition there are probably twice as many servants and guards to ensure that the priests are not disturbed while performing this important work."

At this point, Winnacer, who has been listening to Will's questioning of the priest with interest, interjects with some additional questions of his own:

"Where are the others of your order who are out collecting 'specimens', and how many groups of priests are out working tonight?"

The priest gives a little shrug in response:

"I don't really know. There are two other groups such as ours that are out looking for specimens now, as they are running quite low at the facility now. The Nyemetz used to make sure that we had a regular supply of gnomes and halflings to work on, but their supplies have been dwindling recently. As a result, we've had to start looking for specimens ourselves."

"I don't know where the other two groups are, as we all act independently of each other. We operate in a 50 mile radius of the facility. They could be anywhere within the area."

"What cities and towns do you work?" Winnacer asks next.

"We tend to stay away from the cities such as Brunn and Olmutz, as there is too great a risk of our activities being seen," the priest replies, "and the gate guards would be sure to ask questions. We prefer to work small towns such as this one and villages within the area where there is less chance of being seen or stopped by the Nyemetz patrols."

"We're looking for two people in particular," Winnacer continues. "One is a man in his late thirties, the other a girl in her mid-to-late teens. They were taken from here a couple of nights ago. Have you seen them?"

The priest shakes his head:

"No, it wasn't us that took them. These two were our first collection of this trip. We've come straight from the facility to here."

"It was probably Bohuslav's group that took them. He's been out for around three weeks now and it was him that told us that there were good pickings in this part of the country. He's probably on his way back to the facility now with a full cargo."

As Bennett coughs and splutters, Winnacer looks around at him and sees that he is getting no better at all, despite the Padre's ministrations. The LawBringer then turns to the priest and continues his questioning:

"What kind of infliction is our colleague stricken with? Can you fix him?"

"Why would I want to do that?" the priest asks with a shrug. "All that come within close contact of a GermSpreader are effected by his emissions. It is a wasting and debilitating disease. It keeps people weak and easily controlled, but is not fatal in the short term. It takes several months to die from the emissions, which gives us all of the time that we need to perform our experiments."

He looks up at Will:

"If you really wanted me to, then I suppose that I could stop the disease, but not until after I have prayed to Nemotz for the power. He won't be terribly happy with it though. He hates it when His diseases are removed."

"What kinds of other powers do Nemotz priests have?" Winnacer asks next.

"Apart from the ability to cause disease, which every priest of Nyemetz has as soon as they are qualified, we have regular priestly abilities. We are able to cast spells in the spheres of All, Animal, some Healing, Summoning and Weather. We are also able to cast minor spells regarding Combat, Divination, some Necromantic and some Protection."

Winnacer then looks over at the headless corpse encased in the black platemail:

"Who was he?" the young Lord asks.

"He was our leader," the priest replies. "He was a GermSpreader, a Holy Warrior of Nemotz. Your colleague is indeed a powerful adversary to have been able to defeat him, as many men have fallen before the GermSpreader's scythe in the past."

"How long has all this been going on?" Winnacer then asks.

"We began to run out of gnomes and halflings just over a year ago, which is when we started to collect human specimens. Over the past six months, the Nyemetz have increased their funding, as they are desperate to use the results of our experiments against the Slovenes as quickly as possible. That's why the second two patrols have been added over the past six months."

"Is there anything useful amongst your comrades' belongings?" the LawBringer asks.

The priest shrugs once more before responding:

"I doubt if there's anything you would want. We have as little contact with the population of this land as possible. As a result we have little need for coin, as we do nothing to draw attention to ourselves. During the day we sleep in the woods and come out only at night in order to perform our work and travel."

"Where did you get your ogre muscle?" Winnacer finishes.

"That was supplied by the Nyemetz," the priest responds. "Our members are few in number and so we need additional protection upon these missions and also back at the research facility. It is one of the many ways that the Nyemetz assist us in our work."

Padre Kokal approaches Winnacer, notably ignoring the Nemotz priest other than to say, with a barely disguised edge to his voice:

"S'cuse me .... I need a word with m'friend 'ere."

Stepping so his back is to the charmed priest and a few steps away, Kokal says quietly to Winnacer:

"I don' know 'ow long Bennett can afford fer us t'be standin' 'round talkin', milord. I 'ave tried what I know, but ain't doin' much good, 'cause like ye charming friend says, t'is unholy magic that's causin' this, not natural sick. You are a holy warrior of ye Church, an' I 'ear some of ye kind can 'eal diseases. Can ye?"

Winnacer nods the negative:

"Spravedelna has only seen to my protection in these matters. I have not Her graces in removal of pestilence. I would recommend taking Bennett to the Cathedral of Lechit that we have become familiar with. It is likely they can provide the aid we cannot provide ourselves."

Jihan plays no part in the questioning, being more concerned with Bennett's situation. The elf's eyes are filled with worry when he peers towards the downed form of Bennett, as flashes of the incident with the disease spreading undead in Boscobelous' Tower churn to the surface of his mind. Seeing that the warrior is being tended to by more able hands than his own, and that the questioning of the charmed Nemotz minion is under way, he heads back to help out Gronk with the extrication of the urine-soaked ex-prisoners.

"I stopped the carts just a short ways away," he says to Yaz even as he does so. "Might want to see if the horses haven't suffered much for being in the company of these... diseased folk."

The sight of the elderly human cartwright on the ground stops him in his tracks. The elf watches as the man's blood spreads out slowly in a pool about his crumpled body, face solemn. Finally, he sets his jaw and blinks his eyes hard, then proceeds to the young couple to see what can be done to calm them down.

"It's all over," he begins, a look of concern on his face. "They didn't do anything nasty to you before we got here, did they? You're safe now. We're just here to help. Were either of you hurt? Come now, what are your names? Your parents must be worried about you..."

In saying this, Jihan is careful to interpose his body between the eyes of the young couple and the sight of the carnage and disease left in the wake of the combat. He extends a hand to help them to their feet, patently ignoring the scent of excrement and vomit that hangs heavily in the air, and leads them a short distance away from the scene.

The pair of them are starting to calm down a little at being taken from the scene of the carnage, although they are still very nervous:

"I - I think that we're all right, sir," the young lad mumbles. "They had only just captured us when you came along, thank Lechit. They didn't have time to do anything to me or Marketa."

"I - I - I can't really remember much about what happened," he continues. "It all happened so quickly. One minute we were strolling by the walls, and then next we were in this net with those ogres and scary people surrounding us."

"My name is Yindrik Karosa," the lad continues. "My father owns the cart-building workshops in the town. He told me that I wasn't to see Marketa any more, as she's not good enough for me, what with her father being only a groom."

The elf notices that the lad is dressed very finely, while the girl is dressed in little more than rags.

"He'll be furious if he knew that I was stealing out of the house at night in order to see her. You won't tell him, will you? Please, sir."

"Ya better be 'eadin' 'ome now," Gronk says. "An' make sures ya change 'em clothes right quick like. Ya wouldn't want yer pop askin' no questions 'bout what 'appened. Now scoot on outta here."

The lad looks down at the dwarf, still shaking with fright:

"O-O-OK, sir," he stammers.

He takes the girl by the hand and together the two of them rush off as fast as they can.

Gronk looks at Jihan and shakes his head:

"Kids!?"

Jihan returns Gronk's look as the youths run off to safety, his own face holding the barest twitch of a smile. He nods to the dwarf and claps him on the shoulder.

When Gronk realizes that Bennett is still down he moves over to him:

"Nice bit o' work 'ere, Bent, takin' down 'at bucket o' pus all by yer lonesome. Ya better be gettin' yer ass up off da ground soon, I be needin' some 'elp puttin' away some ale an' da rest o' 'is lot just ain't da right sort for 'at kinda work."

Bennett smiles at the stout little fellow:

"If I survive this, I'll even drink some more of that rotgut you dwarves call ale! I feel worse than I did that night already anyway!"

"Whatcha talkin' 'bout IF?" Gronk replies. "Hell, ya just got some pus comin' outta ya an' yer brains oosin' from yer nose. It ain't like ya were 'acked in two or nothin'. Compared ta how many times I done been raised from da dead lately, ya got nothin' but a flesh wound. Belly up man, I know ya ain't no softy."

Bennett thinks for a minute:

"Yeah, you know, if I die tonight, I can't have the songs sung about me feeling bad for myself all night! You're right, Gronk!"

Gronk then moves to help Bennett to his feet, showing no concern for himself being infected.

Aneira speaks calmly to the pair of them:

"If you are quite through feeling sorry for yourself, I'll tell you that you will only have to suffer for 24 hours. Since the priest said it is not fatal for months, I'm sure I'll be able to heal it in the morning, once I finish my prayers to Zima."

She gives both Bennett and Gronk a look that can only be described as the look that every female at some times gives those of the opposite gender which says, "men." She then watches as Gronk helps Bennett to his feet.

Bennett's eyes grow wide:

"Not fatal? You mean I'm just gonna be sick tonight?"

His cheeks go a bit red as he looks at Aneira:

"Ummm....oh, geez."

He then looks at her a moment:

"Wouldn't take anything back, though. Not a word."

He then turns to the approaching Will.

After the questioning is complete, Will comes over to comfort Bennett:

"How's about that old favorite, 'Maire the mare and Bennett the ass'? No? Well then here's another one." With that, Will starts in singing soothingly an old familiar humorous tale about the farmer's wife and a mouse.

Aneira snarls at Will and walks away from the group.

Bennett looks sadly as Aneira leaves, then takes a feeble whack at Will:

"Whatever you did, dammit, stop doing it!"

Will holds his hands open apologetically to Bennett:

"I suppose that she finds some of my songs offensive. Shame. The intent was to lighten spirits, not the opposite."

Bennett grins a bit:

"I don't think it's the songs, man. You've done something to upset her."

He shrugs:

"What, I don't know, but she is a woman, after all. Who knows what upsets them?"

Will sighs for a moment, then his jaw firms:

"I am certain that my part in Fae's subdual is the cause. If either of them knew the extents of my thoughts and suspicions, then they would certainly both be considerably more offended."

Will goes quiet for a moment then speaks again almost to himself:

".. .and they are not unfounded fears."

Bennett's face hardens:

"Don't excuse yourself for that, nor Winnacer. You were both very much in the wrong, and neither of you have yet apologized for it properly. No matter what your fears, or his, using force and magic on allies and friends is barbarous. I have not forgotten, nor forgiven."

Will looks at Bennett and speaks flatly:

" I am not making excuses, nor am I apologizing or asking for forgiveness. What must be done must be done and I accept the consequences of my actions rather than accepting Fae's corruption while sitting idly by."

Seeing that Bennett and Kokal are being taken care of, Yaz jogs over to where the horses stand, and runs his hands over their flanks, uttering soothing words:

"Which way's home, old boys?" he neighs softly.

The horses snort in a southeasterly direction:

"We're a long way from home," one of the horses neighs. "We have been traveling through more than six nights. We come from a big place with many, many stables for humans."

Yaz checks both carefully for signs of disease or mistreatment and sees that both of them are looking fairly scabby, and show the signs of being whipped by the carter on a regular basis. Although their flanks are blistered with cankers and they don't seem to be in great health, they are in no immediate danger of expiring any time in the future.

That done, the druid leads them back toward the main group. When he reaches the body of the cartwright, he makes a quick search, not realizing that Jihan has already performed the task, then steps back and gives the dead body a swift kick in the head with all his might.

"Asshole," he mutters.

He then returns to the others:

"What say we find the rest of these f***ers and wipe their festering scourge off Prirodna's green earth?" he calls out.

"For Bennett!" he adds, raising his now-christened blade in the air.

Those close enough, or that look in his direction, see a satisfied smile on Bennett's face at hearing Yaz's words.

"I can give your pussy wounds a shot first thing tomorrow, Bennett, if you can just hang in there..."

He flashes a trademark mischievous grin at the suffering warrior.

Bennett smiles, but says nothing. No optimism lurks in his face, but a sad exultation does. Some of the anger permanently etched in his face has faded, as if he is preparing for the inevitable.

Once all is said and done, Winnacer helps Gronk in raising Bennett up onto his feet:

"We could wait until morning until our priests are prepared to help Bennett, but there is no point to prolong his suffering at the hands of Nemotz. I'll bring Bennett over to the Temple of Lechit to have the infection purged now. Nemotz' Curse will not readily touch me, but the rest of you may be best served by keeping a distance. We may as well clean up our mess here, setting the gangrenous bodies alight, for only flame has the cure for what infests their bodies, and call it a night. Tomorrow we can wait for Xavier and Faewen'il and then set off in pursuit of the Followers of Nemotz."

Winnacer adds as an afterthought:

"We probably need to talk with the Priests of Lechit before we journey to the Nemotz Laboratory. I think they may be able to provide some aid for us to take on the road if they knew we were about to entangle ourselves with their greatest enemy."

Bennett grimaces, as much from the unwanted and unexpected assistance as from the disease, but says nothing to Winnacer.

Winnacer gives Bennett a smile:

"Guess it was your turn to be carried to the healers. Xavier, Gronk, and I have already had our turns. But at least you managed to do it with some style. Spravedelna would be pleased to see anyone hack down one as obviously corrupted as the GermSpreader."

Bennett snorts, obviously caring little what the goddess is pleased by, but he does look again at the corpse of the black armored knight, smiling a bit.

Jihan turns back towards the battle scene, an act which promptly erases all levity from his features. The worsening condition of Bennett especially draws his eyes, but he cannot find words that will not simply be statements of the obvious for the warrior's condition. He is careful to note Aneira's retreat from the party when Will intervened in comforting Bennett, his elven features slightly disturbed. Finally, he turns his eyes back to the sickness-wracked warrior:

"Looks like we're even then," he says after a moment. "One Death Knight each."

Bennett smiles:

"Yeah, that's right. I would rather have killed the one you did, though I think this one might have been just as mean!"

Smiling despite the worry on his face, Jihan looks into Winnacer's eyes as the LawBringer moves to assist Bennett, nodding minutely. He then turns his attention to other matters:

"I'll see what I can do about the bodies, Winn. Perhaps it would be best if we all met at the temple of Lechit in an hour or so."

Having been over the Kitrian bible several times in the past few weeks, Jihan is also all too aware of the threat the corpses of the priests pose to the health of the party, and the townspeople. Not bothering to get close enough to push the bodies into a pile, he pulled a flask of lantern oil from its hanger on his back, he begins to liberally douse the dead priests with small bursts, leaving a thin trail between carcasses. He pulls out a ball of fine long wood shavings, mixed with wool and the like, from his pocket.

Bennett grunts:

"Don't forget about that bastard I killed. He's the most putrescent of the lot!"

"No woodsman should be without his tinder," Jihan mutters to any watching, then sets the piece alight with his flint and steel. Standing well back from the conflagration to be, he tosses the blazing tinder bit onto the oil and watches as the flames rise.

"Think we should do the same with the ogres and the old man?" he asks almost rhetorically, his eyes reflecting the dancing flames.

"Find anything interesting on those carts?" he asks of Yaz almost as an afterthought.

At that point, Padre Kokal coughs a little. The others can all see that his nose is running and his brow is beaded with perspiration. He seems to be a little pale and does not look to be very well at all. Everyone else seems fine, however.

"Yah," Kokal sighs resignedly, as he notes his worsening condition. "That bloody figures."

"Which way t' that healin' temple?" he asks Winnacer.

Jihan comes over to Winnacer as everyone makes their preparations for move on. Nodding in the direction of the Nemotz priest, the elf whispers to the young Lord:

"What do you think we should do about him? I can see that it could be useful to have him with us, but it's going to make life very difficult to be in his company."

Winnacer nods in agreement:

"I think that the problems with him outweigh the advantages and, what's more, his continued existence is an offense against Spravedelna. I shall see to him."

While Will continues to chat with his new friend, Winnacer silently comes up behind the black and yellow clad priest with 'Old Bohavia' in his hand. Will glances up at him and the priest turns to see what is behind him. He turns too late, however, and is unable to prevent Winnacer running the disease priest through with his noble blade.

Winnacer crosses himself with the sign of Spravedelna and then they all start to move away from the area, leaving Jihan behind in order to incinerate the corpses, so as not to leave the taint of death in the air.

Will leads the way towards the Cathedral of Lechit, while Winnacer helps to support Bennett along with Gronk and Aneira, both of whom have already been in close contact with Bennett and have felt no ill effects from the disease. The Padre, although feeling under the weather, is able to move under his own steam and limps along behind them, aching with every step that he takes. Yaz wanders along behind them, still rather engrossed with his new scimitar.

It takes just over 15 minutes before they see the twin spires of the Cathedral of Lechit before them. Will leads them through the door and they are, once more in the antechamber of the Cathedral. The scene before them is almost identical to their first visit to the Cathedral, with a motley assortment of sick and injured townspeople groaning and sniffling in the waiting room.

"Take a seat and a priest will be with you shortly," the matronly figure on reception says, not even bothering to look up as the door is opened.

With both Bennett and the Padre coughing and breathing deeply, aching from their wounds, Winnacer decides that he is not going through the same nonsense that they did last time. Leaving Gronk and Aneira to support Bennett, he purposefully strides up to the receptionist and stands before her. He then proceeds to cough loudly.

The receptionist looks up at him with a bored look upon her face:

"I thought I told you all to take a seat," she says acidically.

Winnacer, however, is not easily cowed:

"Madam, my colleagues have been inflicted with a particularly virulent and contagious disease and, while we remain here everyone within this room is in danger of infection."

The receptionist crosses her arms before her and puts on her most officious face.

".. . including yourself," the LawBringer adds, sternly.

In order to emphasize his point, Bennett starts to cough with such force that he could be in danger of coughing up a lung.

That works.

The receptionist looks a little nervous as her eyes dart towards Bennett and the Padre and then back to Winnacer.

"I suggest that you fetch one of your senior priests," Winnacer continues. "Last time we were treated by one of your Fathers, a distinguished elven gentleman. I didn't catch his name. I think that it would be in everyone's best interests if we were to consult with him immediately."

The receptionist just nods and then rises and makes her way to the door to the rest of the Cathedral. Five minutes later, she opens the door and holds it open for you:

"Father Amil-Gandel will see you now," she says meekly.

"Thank you," Winnacer says politely and then walks back to Bennett so as to assist Gronk and Aneira with the task of moving Bennett into the room. Will, the Padre and Yaz all follow them in.

As they enter, you see the same gray-faced elderly elf that saw to them last time, looking even more than he did five days ago.

"You again," he says with some surprise. "You really are ones for getting yourself into trouble."

He then goes quiet as he sees the state of Bennett and the Padre. He shakes his head and then walks to a font of holy water in the corner of the consulting room. He washes his hands in the water and then soaks a length of cloth in the water before wringing it out. He then proceeds to wrap it around his mouth and nose before walking up to investigate the infected pair.

"Dear me," he says, shaking his head, "dear, oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear."

"However did you pick up these diseases?" he asks, continuing to shake his head as he investigates Bennett's wounds closely, looking inside his mouth.

Bennett smiles, and proudly, but weakly proclaims:

"Killed a GermSpreader! Big mean son of a bitch. Smelled worse than goblin vomit! He gave me this, whatever it is."

The elderly elf continues to investigate the pair of them, shaking his head all the time. After a few minutes, he gives his verdict.

"I've never seen anything like it before," he says, looking quite surprised. "It seems as if you have been infected by a whole host of diseases."

He then proceeds to list a whole host of diseases, none of which any of them have ever heard of. Not one of the names has less than seven syllables, and it sounds as if he is listing the demons of the seven plains of hell.

"Can you do anything for them?" Winnacer asks nervously.

"I think so," the Father says. "There's only one way to find out."

With that, he lays his hands upon Bennett's forehead and starts to chant a blessing upon him. After a minute, he stops his chanting and goes back to looking at Bennett's wounds. Although there is no immediate sign of any improvement, he looks a little relieved:

"I think that this has done the trick. It will take several hours for the disease to dissipate completely, but you should be right as rain by the morning. Until that time, you should be quarantined and the bedlinen should be burned afterwards."

Bennett reaches out to shake the priest's hand, then reaches back when he realizes that's probably not a good idea:

"I owe you big, Father Abdul-Camel. I thought I was a goner!"

"I would normaly have recommended that you stay here where we can observe you through the night," Father Amil-Gandel adds, "but all of our beds are currently full and we don't have the funding to increase the numbers that we can see to here."

He looks at each of them, ensuring that his subtle hint has struck home. But apparently it hasn't.

The elven Father then looks over at the Padre:

"I'm afraid that Lechit has only seen fit to grant me one of these blessings today. Let me summon one of my colleagues so that she can repeat the operation upon you."

With that, the cleric leaves, returning ten minutes later with a woman in her forties following him. As with all of the other clerics, she is dressed in the long white robes of the order. As she scrubs up in the font, she seems to be speaking a foreign language with Father Amil-Gandel, but eventually you realize that they are simply discussing the symptoms in their unintelligible jargon.

Once the preparations have been finished with, the Sister sees to the Padre, performing the same operation upon him. Once it is complete, she nods her head tiredly to the elderly elf and then takes her leave.

Father Amil-Gandel smiles weakly:

"Good, that's the pair of you sorted out. Now, is there anything else that I can assist you with? I need to be pressing on, as there are many more sick to see before I get my half-hour rest break a week tomorrow."

Yaz smiles and nods his head appreciatively, his straggly hair bouncing all around his face:

"Okay then, let's go," he says to the others.

Winnacer is not so quick to take his leave, however. He turns and speaks to the venerable elf:

"Father, we have discovered something quite alarming that has been taking place in the local area. The Priests of Nemotz have been very active locally, ambushing unfortunates caught alone and testing new types of virulences upon them. We became exposed to the contagion when we happened upon an attempted kidnapping. Gratefully, none of those Priests shall be able to spread their virulence ever again."

Father Amil-Gandel's jaw hangs loose as he hears the LawBringer's words:

"Priests of Nemotz?" he questions with an equal amount of surprise and dread.

He shakes his head sadly:

"So they have returned to Bohavia in order to perform their barbaric works. I feared that they might do so sooner or later. The last members of their faith were expelled from the country during the time of Great King Karel after they unleashed the Great Plague of 3349."

"I remember it well," he says.

Then he sighs before continuing:

"They would have never returned were Bohavia still strong. Now, with the Nyemetz in control, and their control of the country weakening all the time, I suppose that I should not be surprised that they have returned to these lands. After all, it is a perfect breeding ground for their evil cult, with plenty of educated people to be attracted as followers."

He shakes his head once more:

"This really is terrible news. Absolutely terrible. Life under the Nyemetz is far from pleasant, but the Cult of Nemotz is far, far worse, as it brings only pain and death."

"This single battle does little to provide safety for the populace as a whole," Winnacer continues. "We endeavor to journey to their laboratory, the seat of their power, and put an end to their experimentation and to their malignant ways. To do this will benefit the community at general greatly as well as preventing your Church from becoming overwhelmed with infections of exceeding virulence in the future. We humbly ask for some aid upon our venture, as we shall be fighting Lechit's battle against disease. Unless we can keep ourselves healthy as well as be able to provide for the health of those taken captive, the minions of Nemotz will be victorious, and their rot may continue to spread across the face of Bohavia."

Aneira adds, once Winnacer's speech is done:

"Has there been an increase in the number of disease-ridden patients? This is a sign that they are becoming more active here. Are the patients from a particular area?"

She waits almost patiently for the priest's response.

The elderly elf shakes his head at Aneira's question:

"No, we have not noticed any particular rise in the numbers of disease ridden patients that have come to us for aid. In fact, levels of disease have been lower than I can remember for quite some time."

He pauses for a moment:

"It sounds as if this situation will not last for much longer, however, unless something can be done to stop the Cult's evil agenda."

He then turns to Winnacer in order to make his response:

"The Church of Lechit would wish to assist you in every way possible in order to stop the activities of our Church's most hated adversaries."

"However," he continues a little sadly, "I am not sure of how much assistance we here in Vysoke Myto are able to give you. The lay priests of our order have no training whatsoever in the ways of combat and are unable to use our gifts while wearing armor. As a result, any of our priests accompanying you upon such a perilous mission would almost certainly be slain in the attempt."

"For such purposes, the Church has its Holy Warriors, as do all of the other Churches, who go by the name of FaithHealers. The number of FaithHealers is small, as their numbers were decimated while fighting against the priests of Nemotz. The last remaining FaithHealer of Vysoke Myto gave his life against the Nyemetz and we have been unable to find a suitable replacement."

"However, if you were looking for practical aid in the action, I am sure that the Church would do everything in their power to do so. If this is what you seek, then I would recommend that you journey to Olmutz and speak to the Head Cleric there. Please tell him that I referred you to him and I am sure that he will be more than willing to provide all possible assistance."

"However, I know that, although Olmutz is not too far from here, the round trip will take several days and I am sure that you are wanting to cleanse their disease ridden base as soon as possible."

"If you are looking for some aid in terms of protection against the diseases that you are sure to encounter, then I would again refer you to another. The Cathedral of Lechit works very closely in conjunction with the Apothecaries' Guild, who supplies us with all of the medicines that we use in our healing duties. I suggest that you meet with the Guildmistress, Pavla Matulova. Mention my name and the reasons why you are seeking her aid and I am sure that she will provide all possible assistance."

Winnacer gives his thanks to the Father for the references and then the party makes their farewells to him before taking their leave of the room. Upon returning to the antechamber, they see that Jihan is waiting for them.

Will empties his meager pouch at the door on his way out of the temple, allowing the few coins he possesses to fall into the charity box quietly.

Then, they all leave the Cathedral and make the short, ten-minute journey back to The Cartwrights' Arms.

"I torched the lot of them," the elf says as he guides them through the streets back to the inn, "ogres and GermSpreader included. I'll have to buy a lot more oil if the rest in the den of Nemotz are anything like them..." he says with a bit of a shudder.

"Likely t'be worse," the Padre offers, trying to stay as far from everyone else as he can and still hear what's going on. "Nemotz scum're 'bout the truest 'degenerates' y'll ever see, if ye get my meanin'."

"I brought the cart too," Jihan continues with a gesture to them as the rest step outside. "Figure we could use the wagon if nothing else, though the poor horses don't look to be in any shape to be gallivanting across the country. We could probably sell the cages off as scrap iron to any blacksmiths around, unless anybody has a better idea on what to do with them."

Yaz looks up at the skies on the short journey to the inn and pulls his cloak tightly around him to protect his frail body from the wind:

"It's going to be a cold one tomorrow," he says casually. "Looks like we're going to be seeing the first real snows of winter soon."

He looks over at Aneira to see her reaction.

Aneira smiles at the news, no trace of sarcasm, just simple joy at the news of snow. Then her expression darkens suddenly, and she turns away.

They walk to the kitchen and see that Blanka is waiting for them, drinking hot tea along with the two squires. Oldrich has passed out at her feet, a half empty bottle of brandy still in his hand.

Blanka's eyes open wide in hope as she sees your return:

"How did it go?" she asks excitedly.

"Did you find out anything useful?"

"Nah," say Yaz, finding a seat before rolling a doobie, which he promptly lights. After a long first drag, he looks up at Blanka and offers some to her, with a "Hm?"

Already far from being in the best mental health, Blanka just stares at the toking druid, before shaking her head.

"We found out all too much, I'm afraid, sister," Jihan responds to the woman. "Your husband and daughter have been taken, it appears, and we caught a few of the brigands attempting to do the same to the Karosa boy. You needn't worry about them troubling Myto again, but there were others. We know to where Mirek and Zuzana are being brought, and we're going after the culprits, but we need to pick up some supplies and wait for our companions first. It might be a good idea to tell your friends not to do any late night wanderings outside of the walls in the next little while though..."

Tears start to well up in Blanka's eyes once more, but she manages to keep her composure.

The elf extends a hand to the woman's shoulder to offer what meager comfort he can:

"We'll find them, sister, don't you worry..."

Blanka nods her thanks to Jihan for his words of support. It is obvious that she is still terribly disappointed at not seeing her husband and daughter returned, but she seems to find some comfort in the fact that the party has brought her news that they are still alive:

"Th-thank you for all your help," she stammers. "Please make yourself at home here for as long as you like. Help yourself to food and drink. I think I'd rather be on my own for a while now."

With that, she takes her leave of them all, and walks up the stairs to her room, leaving them alone in the kitchen. Aneira watches her leave and then follows Blanka up the stairs.

Aneira lays her hand tentatively on Blanka's shoulder:

"Miss, listen. I'm a priest of Zima. I didn't know if you knew that. And she gives me the power to cure such things as the Nemotz plagues and illnesses and the like. Today we learned that the illnesses aren't fatal for a long time. More than enough time for me to find your family and cure them and bring them back to you. OK? So you don't have to worry. You may be alone for a short amount of time, but then they'll be back to you and you may have to help them regain strength and stuff. But they will be OK, just weak from the illness. So you have to be strong for them. But I will bring them back to you. Promise."

Aneira blushes faintly as she speaks, but her eyes meet Blanka's gaze without faltering, letting the woman know every word she spoke was true.

"Th-thank you," Blanka replies humbly. "You really are so very kind to go to such trouble to look for Mirek and Zuzana with all of your other tasks to consider. It's so rare to find such caring people as yourselves in Bohavia these days."

Aneira feels uncomfortable. She's never been accused of being kind before and doesn't really know how to deal with it. Thinking that acceptance may make the woman feel better moreso than denial, she just nods uneasily.

"It's hard for me to be alone," Blanka continues, "not knowing what has become of them, and whether I will ever see them again, but I shall try to be strong. I trust you and all of your colleagues. I know that you are good people."

"We will bring them back." Aneira reiterates.

"Thank you once more," Blanka adds. "If there's anything that I can do for you in return, then please don't hesitate to ask."

Aneira looks at the women in honest surprise:

"You brought us into your home and fed and cared for us. What more would we be able to ask of you? Getting your family back is the least we can do in repayment for your services already rendered."

She bows awkwardly, then returns down the stairs.

Bennett did not enter the kitchen with the others:

"I don't want to risk infecting anyone in the building," he says weakly. "Perhaps you could help me to the stables. I think that it will be better for everyone if I slept the night there."

"Aye," agrees Kokal, "we don't want to be riskin' infectin' anyone. I'll join ye in the stable for the night also."

Winnacer nods:

"I think it might be best if we all retired now. Let us meet again in the morning to discuss our plans for the day once we are all rested and recovered."

Padre Kokal assists Bennett in getting to the stable and each of them finds a place in the hay and are soon asleep.

Will takes sympathy on Oldrich and gently helps him to a more comfortable place to sleep off the booze. He then finds a room of his own and soon finds sleep, as does everyone else.