2950: The chieftain’s granddaughter

[Vladim]

While the others remained in the Great House, discussing plans and matters further, Lachiel found it difficult to decline the chieftain’s request. When it was time for him to depart, she went with him, escorting him back to his house.

Hartfast’s home placed in the heart of the settlement, built against a sheer cliff that rose for many feet. It was large, fit for a chieftain, but also so that it could accomodate his many children and grand-children. Five sons and seven daughters, the elder explained with pride, and more grand-children that he could remember.

In happier times, the rooms would have been busy and full of life. Yet presently, as they entered, the interior was quiet and dark.

Hartfast led Lachiel to a small room, where a girl lay resting on a bed, her eyes closed. She was young, perhaps no more than ten, with long auburn hair and a freckled face. She wore a simple white shirt. Dark circles were visible under her sleeping eyes, and a few beads of sweat sat on her forehead. Despite this, her expression was tranquil, and she was not pale.

By her bedside sat an elder: a healer that tended to her day and night, as Hartfast had explained en route.

 

OOC

@Malkavian Grin feel free to handle this scene as you see fit. The Healing skill can be of obvious use, but others are also valid to uncover bits and pieces of information, like social skills to interact with NPCs, or Perception-based skills like Search and Insight to discover things, or knowledge skills like Lore or Riddle to remember useful information or piece together more from what you know. As long as you state intent regarding the rolls you make, I am good.

Unless otherwise noted, consider TNs equal to 14.

You mentioned on Discord if it is possible to make Ardith worse on a failed roll. I'll generally say that any skill failure simply fails, unless you fail with an Eye. In that case, I'd consider it a catastrophic failure that can complicate things (like potentially making her worse, or in the case of social rolls straining relationships with NPCs etc.).

Good luck and don't forget your traits! (They can grant auto-successes if relevant).

[Malkavian Grin]

Though Lachiel was not one for grand designs of constructed homes, she nonetheless understood the importance such a place gave its people. She did appreciate the use of the cliff-face in the architecture, but the quietness of it brought a question to her lips.

 

"Hartfast, where is your family--your people? Why is this place so devoid of joy?" she asked without much regard that the two were of very different stations. To her, he was just another Human. "You speak of so many kin, yet I see none of them."

 

Taking in the sight of the girl, Lachiel made her way to the side of the bed and looked her over. "How long has she been this way? And what symptoms has she had?" she asked the elder healer in a small voice so as to not disturb the girl. She took a cloth from nearby and wiped her brow clean before placing the back of her fingers against it to check for temperature. Afterward, she would check the girl's pulse.

 

Next, Lachiel looked about the room for signs of previous treatments--or the remnants thereof--that the healer had already applied. "Are there others this same way, or is it only her?"

[Vladim]

Hartfast hesitated for a moment, weighing his words... He gave Lachiel a curious look, betraying his own confusion.

"If my home seems to your eyes joyless... it is because Ardith lies wounded, and remains in peril yet. Her kin are grieving, and so am I. Grieving, or tending to her needs, each helping as best they can so that she can overcome her injury, and be with us again, healed and healthy."

Then the chieftain fell silent and said no more. He stood aside and watched as Lachiel inspected the child and spoke to the healer, not interfering in their exchange.

"She was injured two nights ago." said the old man. "By a stray goblin arrow, when she ran outside after the alarm was raised. Others were hurt too, but none as badly. Just bad luck, plain and simple."

He shook his head. "I have done all that I could: I've cleaned the wound and bound it, and I've been treating her since. She will survive this, I think... but they say that amongst the Free Folk, no other peoples match the elves in the healing arts."

The healer looked to her, hope and concern in his eyes, both in equal measure. They were old, tired eyes: clearly, he had not left her bedside in these two days, and had hardly slept. Something seemed to gnaw at him, but he said nothing. Instead, he placed his hopes on the elf-perhaps Lachiel would have something helpful to say.

The girl seemed peaceful in her sleep. She had a fever, though that was not uncommon for one wounded so recently. Her body was fighting whatever sickness the injury had brought with it, but Lachiel could not say more-not without examining the wound for herself.

 

OOC

So, Insight in this game is your "people perception" skill-similar to Pathfinder's sense motive or World of Darkness' empathy. You scored a great success, so I've given you some info about the state and mood of the people here-especially the healer.

Feel free to proceed as you see fit!

[Malkavian Grin]

Nodding along to the information given, Lachiel was relieved to hear there were none others in such poor health.

 

"Goblins. It seems they plague you from above and below. They are a common tool of the Shadow. Not overly clever, but enough to be more than a nuisance," she replied as she looked at the healer. She feared whatever he may be hiding was done out of concern for the family's mental state.

 

"My people have talent in the healing arts, yes, but alas I have only a modicum of their skills. My place is ensuring they do not need used. But... I have had my share of injury. While I do not doubt your own skill, I must look at the wound myself if I am to be of more help," she added. With that, Lachiel removed the bandages so she could look at it herself. She hadn't said so, but feared poison.

 

As she worked, Lachiel began to hum a tune that both helped her focus as well as might bring a little calmness to the nerves of the men. Deep down, she hoped it would reach the girl and help her body be more susceptible to being healed.

 

OOC

Where was she shot? My guess is, the healer knows the girl may have a permanent injury (limp or something) but doesn't want to give that kind of bad news.

I'm checking for telltale signs of poison and infection; swelling, redness, pus, and spidering lines from the wound. I'll also invoke Shadow-Lore if it'll help figure out anything about Goblin attacks or is they do in fact use poison (and if so, what it is and how it might be counteracted).

I'm guessing Healing is used to physically patch someone up, while Lore could be used to know about the wound or anatomy or the like?

 

[Vladim]

The healer nodded, and gently turned the girl, who stirred in her sleep and then awoke.

She looked to the gathered folk at her bedside, and without any word of complaint, she accepted all that was asked of her, and allowed the old man to remove the bandages, something that was done delicately. At times, she winced in pain, but she did not cry.

The wound was on her side, almost below her ribcage: she had been shot from behind, but the arrowhead had embedded itself between the two last ribs, on her left side, and had caused much bruising. The healer explained that he had removed the arrow as best and as quickly as he could, and whispered to the elf that he hoped her vitals had not been damaged... This, even Lachiel's untrained eye could tell that it was true: the ribs were likely cracked or broken, but she was otherwise unhurt. Still, though the wound had been cleaned thoroughly, the elf could see the clear signs of an infection slowly spreading: swollen skin and a slight, yet putrid smell.

She had seen this before. The forest-orcs of Mirkwood coated their arrows with spider-poison, and even treated wounds could prove fatal in the long-term. This could also explain the fever, which would prove persistent if her guess was correct. The Woodmen of Mountain-Hall, who lived far from the forest, were likely unaccustomed to the effects of such poison, but Lachiel knew that an antidote had to be found.

 

OOC

That's a great success on the Lore check, so here's two pieces of information: (a) the wound is infected, but otherwise not dangerous; (b) the infection is the result of spider-poison.

The Song check was not necessary-usually it's better to roll only when failure has a consequence, and I don't think in this scene a failed song check would have mattered. Still, you rolled a great success, so feel free to mark advancement points accordingly.

The girl's chances look bleak now: she needs a lot of care and healing (mechanically, a prolonged action requiring multiple difficult healing checks) or, alternatively, some sort of antidote, with ingredients that have to be harvested (a prolonged Search check) and correctly prepared (a craft check). Lachiel is free to enlist other PCs to help with those. Given the success of her Lore check, and her Mirkwood-Lore trait, let's say that she knows what she needs.

If left untreated, Ardith is almost certain (90%) to die within one or two weeks.

[Malkavian Grin]

The wound had all the signs of spider venom, Lachiel was sure of it. She knew warriors--full grown men and women--who'd succumb to such ailments. This little girl had almost no chance to survive it without proper care. She now knew why the healer was acting strangely; he must've also knew and wished not to dash Hartfast's hope, let alone tell the girl she'd likely die.

 

Smiling down to the girl, Lachiel finished her soothing song as she rebound the wound. She stood and walked to Hartfast, pulling him to the side. She spoke with a quiet voice only he could hear.

 

"I am sorry to inform you that the girl's condition is... dire," she began, pausing to let the information sink in.

 

"She has been poisoned; spider venom. A common tactic of Orcs in Mirkwood. There, an antidote would be possible, but here, it will be nearly impossible to find what is needed. The only thing I can do is stay by her side and help tend her wounds until it passes. Unless you have a good ranger at your command, this is the path forward. She... does not have much time left. But I freely offer to stay and do whatever I can. Perhaps one of my companions will also help, but they may feel the weight of our mission heavier than I."

[Vladim]

All color left the chieftain's face in an instant as Lachiel conveyed her grim findings, and it looked as if it was he that had been poisoned. For a while he stood before her, dumbstruck, speechless and powerless, despite his furs and gold and position of authority. Then at length he thanked her plainly and quietly, and he went to his grand-daughter. He seemed to reassure her for a good while, pretending as best he could that he had not just heard of the poison. From his demeanor, it was clear that the task was not an easy one for him, but he did it well enough, and soon he returned to the elf, leaving his daughter to the capable hands of her healer.

They were in his room when he spoke to Lachiel again-few words only, and to the point.

"Do what you can. Tell your companions... please. There must be a way. And if you wish for any reward, then you have but name it.

I wish the Brown Wizard was with you now. But we must do all that we can with whatever and whomever we have."

 

OOC

This is not a bad point to end the scene, but if you want feel free to add Lachiel's prespective and last words, if you have any.

I'll start working towards regrouping the party, so that we can hopefully end these scenes this week.

[Malkavian Grin]

Taking the man's hands into her own when he returned, Lachiel tried to reassure him for he seemed to need it.

 

"I do not mean to shake your countenance, but I felt that you deserved to know what is at stake," she said, looking into his eyes.

 

"I also freely offer my service, not of fealty nor of the promise of wealth. It is merely a kindness and my way of helping to fight back the Shadow. Too often I spend time poised behind spear and shield, much as you likely do on your throne as a leader of these people. I am here as one being of Endor before another, without title or cause."

 

Lachiel squeezed the man's hands then let go. "What I offer you is hope against the Shadow, for without that, we are already doomed. Spend what time you can with her, making her smile. Create lasting memories and share your love for her." Despite the heavy atmosphere, she did her best to brighten it with a warm smile, her eyes never leaving his.

[Vladim]

OOC

@Malkavian Grin the story continues here!

[Vladim]

OOC

End of scene, and just bumping this to keep chronological order in the side-threads.

[Vladim]

(OOC: Bumping for chronology... again!)