Downtime Week 3

This week the month rolled over!

Disease checks (DMG p13-14):  Everyone went into the Wererat grave tunnels, but only Oiax was bitten.

Base Chance:  2%

Modifiers:  Cool weather (because of the weirdness) -1%

For Oiax only:  Exposure to carrier of communicable disease +10%

So everyone has a 1/100 chance of getting diseased, except Oiax who has 11%

Also, Parasitic Infestation! (DMG p13-14):  You can get INFESTED?  Man this game has EVERYTHING!

Base Chance:  3%

Modifiers: Cool weather -1%

So everyone has a base chance of 2/100

Taxes! (DMG p25) 

100 GP per level per month.  Pretty straightforward, although a parenthetical by Gary would seem to open a loophole for Monks who live sparingly.

Menetheren (Dwarf Cleric), Leroy (Dwarf Fighter), Cigam (Elf Magician), Caltrix "CX" Pecklepickle (Gnome Illusionist), and Niet (Monk) were all free of disease!

Oiax (Elf Assassin) rolled an 08, which is under 11 and thus:  DISEASED!!!  The horror!

Well what kind of disease did he pick up?  

1.  The first thing to do is roll 1d100 on the Area of Body Affected table (DMG p14)

Oiax rolled 02:  blood/blood forming organs.  Ewww!

2. The next thing is to roll 1d8 on the Occurrence Table (Acute or Chronic):

Oiax rolled 5, Chronic.  This is an ongoing malady!

3. Finally we must needs use another 1d8 roll to ascertain the severity (mild/severe/terminal):

Oiax rolled an 8!  Terminal!  The malady will cause death in 1 - 12 days!!!

4. Blood:  afflictions will cause a loss of 1 point each of STRENGTH and CONSTITUTION per week until totally cured.  Thus, chronic problems here will slowly wear the character away.  Terminal cases will take 1-12 weeks.

Okay, so the specifics of disease type trump the default terminal time period.  I roll a d12 and Oiax is determined to have 4 weeks.  He loses 1 STR and 1 CON this week.

Man, Oiax is in trouble!  If the WereRats don't kill him for failing to deliver the page of the dread book, the bloodborne illness will!

Fearing this, he sought aid at the temple of Aslan and Father Tumnus?  Brother Tumnus?  What's the title for a Level 5 Cleric?  It's blank in the PHB (p20).  Do Clerics spend a year without a title to teach them humility? Anyway, Tumnus lays hands on Oiax and casts Cure Disease upon him.  Whew!  He will be well in one day.

Oiax has been working with the teamsters in downtime, and took on a job to haul cochineal insects cultivated from the surrounding scrubland for use in Carmine Dyes.  Menetheren tagged along because he wanted to follow the trail of the Dread Book that was supposedly given to a Fisherman to toss in the deepest part of the lake.

While Oiax was hucking crates of scale insects from cart to river barge, Menetheren took some of the boatmen aside and asked about the Fisherman with the book and got the following tale:

"Oh aye.  I  harken the fisher lad.  He were all a'chuff becau'n he gained a princely pouch to lob a book inter yonder lake." he said, raising his chin downriver. "But twain't enough fer him!  He ken't to sell it North and make his luck twice again!  Only din't happen thataways.  Met him runnin' back, shoulders a'sag, no book and no pouch!  This was 7 maybe 8 months agone?  Before all the weird shapes in the water when you stare at it.  Said a man stood in the path.  Lad said, 'he just looked in me eye and I fell to weepin'!' And then he said 'Give' and the kid turned over his Book AND his purse.  The man, he just walk into the woods like he's a goin' home and the lad fled weeping all the way."

Menetheren has further questions for the fisher lad and was told he'd probably be out fishing the lake downstream.

Niet went to the Temple of his Sensei, The Master of Dragons, and made a donation of his extra funds.  The Master wasn't there, so the three students: Niet-San, Johnny-San and Daniel-San went off to search for him.  They followed a path that split into three, North into the grasslands, South into the scrub, and East into the swamp.  There was a single chopstick left by the East path.

Here is what the characters, individually have explored (or seen from hexes they passed through) thus far:

CX Pecklepicke, fat with EXP and coin too spent the week searching for an illusionist.  Not an easy thing to find.  He was on the verge of giving up when he heard of a weird purchase at the local Blacksmith.  A bald customer with a big mustache and monocle, had requested a small bronze disc and a small iron rod.  Two very specific objects which happen to be the components of a high-level illusionist spell called Chaos.  The man was very distinctive looking, shirtless and wearing an open black robe with a stylized serpent's head on the back.

Meanwhile, Leroy and Cigam, having missed the whole Brigand fight, did not have enough coin to pay their monthly tax.  Instead of throwing them in debtors prison, the Knight's son enlisted them to go serve the nearby, and exiled Baroness who is living to the Southeast.  They are to serve for a time, record what they observe, invite her to dinner with the Knight's son and report on what they learned.  It's been pretty rough for them, but CIgam did make his roll and now knows the spell Burning Hands from Torch's book.  They spent some time walking through the grassy plains, but once more entered scrublands to the South where the beautiful clumps of heather shone violetly in the golden rays of the setting sun.  They came upon a pristine castle with high white walls and black penants emblazoned with a red stylized serpent's head.