Episode Five, Part Two: Plague Critters
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To this point, my brother had been a really passive player. I wrote this adventure specifically for him to see if he could actually take initiative once in a while, or if he was just going to be dead weight. Surprisingly, he did very well; a turning point for both the player and the character.
After escaping from prison - Did I mention that Gorin got arrested for trespassing? Not his fault, just bad luck - Gorin found his way to a village that was suffering a strange and mysterious plague. There was no apparent cause, not even a Horror, but people were sickening and dying all over.
A nethermancer by the Name of Vogt the White was camped near the town conducting an investigation, on the off-chance that it was related to spiritual activity of some kind. He wasn't able to offer Gorin much help at this time, however, so Gorin went off on his own.
He traced the "plague" to the nearby pond and stream, from which most people got their water. Some strange new creatures had been swimming in the water, and these lizard-like things, he discovered, constantly excreted a poisonous substance. He followed their slime trails to a nearby network of caves, but was surprised to discover a solid wooden door of recent construction blocking the tunnel; the lizards were using a small hole high on the wall to get in and out, but he would have to use the door.
He opened the door. Inside was a well-appointed room, with a cleverly built fireplace in the center. He realized that someone was sitting in an armchair before the fire, his back to the door. The strange man realized that he had a visitor, stood, and turned.
It was Vincent Price.
"Good evening."
He cordially explained his story: he was a Theran exile, a Wizard who had ended up on the wrong side of some political maneuvering and was struck with a terrible curse. Fortunately, he was able to locate a substance - the secretions of the strange lizards - that could be used to stave off the effects of the curse while he laboured in seclusion to find a cure. He really had no idea that the lizards were causing trouble; he had thought them securely locked up. In a trice, he had repaired the hole in the wall through which they were escaping, and offered his services in curing the illness caused by the lizards' poison.
Gorin left the town with their gratitude, and a new companion, as Vogt the White was headed in the same direction: Throal.