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B & D tied so I flipped a coin and Zlata decides to have Felix work on this while she goes home Nothing important happens on the last leg of your journey   Eluned's estate seems much like it used to be. Clara's out but Howard nods -- she must have him working on something in the city. The servants seem fine and nothing's amiss. Your retinue slowly settle into their old habits.  "Zlata! You're finally home." Auntie Ell seems in good health and even tempered. You present her with the pick you took from Mack's carcass but it's obviously too heavy for her so she has a pair of footmen hold it up for inspection. Satisfied, she orders them to drag it off. You prepare tea as she finalize some papers. It's yet another new set, and you're not so certain she's smashed the last one to pieces  The simple set is designed to showcase the tea itself -- actual entire flowers, cured so that they seem to bloom as they brew. Judging from this and a glimpse of the paperwork it seems Ell & Selene have already come to an agreement while you were out hunting. You begin to explain what you've been up to and how only 1/4 of the targets are actually dead, although... Eluned listens with interest before finally cutting you off. "Dear, I'm quite satisfied for now. Some things are more immanently serious than a pack of tramps... shame how that fugitive situation ended up, but of course someone like that would be slippery. You've done fine though." While you were gone it seems some disease has been growing worse and decreasing the output of Eluned's mines, despite Clara's medical aid. Sabotage is suspected, possibly retaliation from Pom. Hammerfest has had a few scattered and half hearted revolts. Rumor has it some rabble rouser is making things more serious. If someone could deal with it they'd gain some renown. Eluned wants this to be you. Of course you should check out your estate, it's quite an honor to be landed in the very flower of youth. Although lady Eld has been bragging up her son's achievements. An extremely tedious gala is coming up at the Eld estate that your poor old aunt would prefer to avoid, but someone will have to show some way. It'd be unthinkable not to. Some time after this gala Ell is going to need you to take a trip east, all the way to the sea. This job needs a personal touch, but is still pretty far off. Eluned encourages you to take a week off and enjoy life in a civilized city for once. It's unlikely that anything overly pressing will come up. After the evening meal you retire to your rooms and decide what you want to do. You've still got some decent money, mostly because of the werewolf. $7037. Based on the timeframes Ell gave you you aren't going to have enough time to do everything you need to, or can, unless you skip personally inspecting your land or somehow convince Ell to let you skip the gala. A: Take the drat week off. Catch up with people you know and relax. You haven't talked to your guru in a while and your retinue needs real time off anyway. B: Take the week off at your estate. You haven't been there since you first got it. C: No, just get this over with. Head to Hammerfest and see what might be done. D: Go to Duston and help Clara with the sick miners. Doesn't seem wise to let them languish too long.
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Mar 1, 2020 09:22
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| # ? Jun 10, 2024 01:11 |
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D Since we have our doctor Lep but not our mage Felix, at the moment. Once Felix is with us we should be set to do C, hopefully before the Gala.
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Mar 1, 2020 09:27
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D
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Mar 1, 2020 09:45
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D - But go with a skeleton crew. Lep and a couple guys. Let the rest relax here and not get infected with the miners plague. They need a break.
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Mar 1, 2020 09:55
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Mr. Prokosch posted:D - But go with a skeleton crew. Lep and a couple guys. Let the rest relax here and not get infected with the miners plague. They need a break. This. We stagger their downtime but everyone gets some, including us.
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Mar 1, 2020 11:00
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B
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Mar 1, 2020 13:33
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B
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Mar 1, 2020 18:26
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Mr. Prokosch posted:D - But go with a skeleton crew. Lep and a couple guys. Let the rest relax here and not get infected with the miners plague. They need a break. This
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Mar 1, 2020 18:45
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Mr. Prokosch posted:D - But go with a skeleton crew. Lep and a couple guys. Let the rest relax here and not get infected with the miners plague. They need a break. +1
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Mar 2, 2020 01:40
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 You ride out with Lep and Erhan, leaving everyone else to relax. Lemon comes too. It's an uneventful trip, but Felix doesn't mail you with any breakthroughs. Eluned is surprised you're ready to get cracking immediately, and not exactly enthused.  Duston is somewhat prosperous from the mines and the trade route to Xoma. Sleepy, though. You get in touch with Clara and she fills you in on what's been going on.  An unknown wasting disease is afflicting the mineworkers, and not just in Ell's mine, although hers is the hardest hit. Clara's been able to treat them, mostly, but hasn't been able to figure out exactly what's causing it -- the symptoms don't match the literature. Lep also is perplexed, although it's not his specialty. Nobody else knows either. Clara will continue to treat the miners, but its a losing battle. She's already tried to magically deduce the source but came up with nothing every time, and got no clear leads by mundane investigation -- just rumors. Since you got all specialists this time I guess we'll vote em separately. If you double people up on one thing it'll be more effective, and maybe more time consuming. Erhan will: A: Hit the town looking for clues. If it's sabotage somebody knows. B: Inspect the mines themselves. There could be something in there causing this. C: ...loiter around looking tough? He's a mercenary.  Makti will: A: Check the town for clues. B: Inspect the mines. C: Help treat the miners. Lemon will: A: Check the town. B: Inspect the mines. C: Help treat the miners. & you'll: A: Check the town. Including the local criminals. B: Check the mines. Maybe rough up a foreman or something. C: Help the miners. You've got some herbs you can brew up.
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Mar 2, 2020 18:57
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ACBC
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Mar 2, 2020 19:03
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Erhan A - Town Makti Lep C - Tend Miners Lemon B - Mines (sniff for strangeness) Zlata A - Town and Criminals
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Mar 2, 2020 19:04
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A C B A
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Mar 2, 2020 19:13
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ACBA
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Mar 2, 2020 19:44
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Lux Animus posted:Erhan A - Town A good set of choices
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Mar 2, 2020 21:10
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Lux Animus posted:Erhan A - Town absolutely
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Mar 3, 2020 00:20
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Lux Animus posted:Erhan A - Town Yeppers
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Mar 3, 2020 02:38
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Lux Animus posted:Erhan A - Town Sure
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Mar 3, 2020 02:54
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You and Erhan hit the town, take a bottom-up approach. The Hole in the Wall is literally accessed by a hole in the wall, but at least it's mostly clean. The patrons open up after a few, and the consensus is the sickness is obviously witchcraft. The proprietor is incredulous and gets into a fight with a local theif who "knows things" that go on "right under the guard's noses." Before it gets out of control you and Erhan drag him out back and intimidate the guy into spilling his guts or else you'll do it for him. After a few seconds he admits he doesn't actually know but he's 100% certain there's witches around who would absolutely do it for a price. You wrangle a lead out of him and tell him to gently caress off. The proprietor is relieved and comps your tab.  Lead comes up empty. Shack's abandoned and has been for a while... or at least it seems to be. Witches who get caught by people like you don't stay in business and not every one of them is going to be willing to deal with you. ------------  Next up's the market. Lot of offers for incredibly amazing bargains but few concrete leads. The sickness is known and has been depressing trade, because the miners aren't buying as much and ore's not selling although it's needed. Erhan picks up a cheap copy of The Miner's Daughter from a used bookseller. She's obviously impressed by his exotic armor and they start a conversation so you roll your eyes and go buy some nuts for Rocky. He catches up not long after, clicking his tongue. "Oh come on, you're my boss, not my mother. Seems what intrigue there is around the Miners' Guild is not exactly romantic." ------------ The guilds would be next up anyway so you head over. Nothing particularly interesting but a few things stand out.  Stonemasons' have been contracted to do some work sealing certain shafts in one of the other mines. This is odd because normally the miners would just abandon that section or shove rubble in non-productive branches, but money's money and it's not overly dangerous work. They don't exactly spell out who's mine it is because of professionalism but it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out. The Miners' are more than willing to help you figure out what is going on with the family mine. Although Eluned owns it, it takes skilled foremen to run, so the more mines that are up to maximum production, the better. The sickness is inexplicable to them and while it is somewhat like the kinds of stone-sickness people get from mine dust, all mines follow tried and true techniques and procedures to minimize the problem. Basically they think it's something not directly related to the mines. Other than this the family mine is still sound and would otherwise still be productive. Nothing in the records indicates anything has changed, except a new journeyman. This would be the "intrigue" Erhan uncovered.  He's Friggish and prefers to get things done a certain way: abrasively. Not by grinding rocks, he's a dick. He also is displeased with your aunt's use of indentured servants to mine, when it should be good, honorable work done by freemen. Nobody thinks this is any great conflict of interest and the guild monopoly on mine work absolutely requires neutrality. If there's any kind of sabotage going on it'd take a fully corrupt guild member to even consider any involvement. ------------ Lastly you're able to fit in a quick social call with Lady Wholebean.  Something about her bearing makes it impossible to look down on her. Yes, she can trace her lineage back to the first noble houses, and her husband is considered a barely-noble trumped up dirt farmer by some, but he's a kind and generous man with a noble spirit, and she's also the third daughter of a cadet branch even if her father was important in the capital. She's content managing things here and is pleased with life, even if she does miss home some times. It just so happens that you have a bottle of flint-dark wine popular in the capital (and Ell's cellars) that you're happy to share and you talk about the general state of the kingdom. Apparently this gala of the Eld's is shaping up to be a big one, probably they want to announce someone getting knocked up or married or promoted. You don't have much up to date info about what's changed and what hasn't. One interesting thing -- the king is going to extend the roads up to Hammerfest, this should be good for trade. She's sympathetic to the difficulty you're having with the miners. Sometimes you need to step in directly though, she recommends you demand to speak with the manager immediately. But also follow up by checking out the mines yourself as best you can without risking getting sick. The idea terrifies her but she feels if you can be a busybody they'll figure out a way to get things straightened out. Her mine's much smaller than Eluned's and thankfully they've avoided any kind of harm. Finally you bid her goodbye. She wishes you well and is certain everything will turn out right. Then head back to your family's property. ------------ Lemon is obviously goofing off with Rocky, a few servants, and some of the miners who aren't sick, playing some kind of fetching game. You fill in Clara and Lep with what you've found out. The miners are doing better but both doctors agree that this is serious and the source of the contagion needs to be quickly found. Lemon comes in and decides to take her meal from a table instead of the ground for once. Unfortunately they don't let strays into the mines, but something smells off. She thinks there's something in the mines themselves that are causing this. So the mines themselves may somehow be getting them sick, although this is the opposite of what the miner's guild claims. Yet the masons are sealing off come corridors. None of them seemed ill. Or it could be an evil curse. This makes sense because the guilds are supposed to be strictly politically neutral and the curse would be from the outside. But there's no obviously likely source or motivation. Or it could be actual sabotage from a fully corrupt tradesman. This would utterly destroy anyone's career if it were caught, without access to a guild you have no hope of any living except the lowliest labor. Or it could be secret infiltration or the stars are wrong for a time or who knows? As for tomorrow, at least someone should stick with the miners. They're doing better with both doctors' help, and their recovery seems better, but its certainly no cure. It seems they were getting very bleak and dispirited. You ask Clara to: A: Stick with the miners B: Double check on this witch. She's a mage as well as a doc. C: Check out the mines again. Something may have changed. Erhan will: A: Hang out with the miners. Moral support. He has a few books he can read them, and a few hardassed stories they'll probably like B: Stake out the supposed witch lair C: Mine time. The journeyman will be there. Maybe saboteurs. Makti will: A: Continue with the miners B: Check out the witch. He'll make up a pretext like he needs  reagents that he can't get normally.C: Examine the mines. Sometimes he picks up on things others could miss. Lemon will: A: Hang out with the miners. Can't she just heal them with divine power or something? She shrugs and says she can help. B: The perfect person to get involved with witches. Find that cauldron! C: Please, please, please just get dressed for once and try to check out the mines as an even moderately presentable human being. You'll: A: You can't help but feel bad about the miners, at least a little. Lute it up, maybe dope 'em. Herbal teas are real and can help some. B: There probably is a witch in that shack and so you'll really solidly double check. C: Mines. Wholebean's right, you just gotta get in there and get this solved.
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Mar 3, 2020 12:44
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A C C A C
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Mar 3, 2020 13:01
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B B B B B Everyone on the witch!
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Mar 3, 2020 13:06
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C C A C C We probably need all hands on deck if we are going into the mine
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Mar 3, 2020 13:13
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Slaan posted:C +1
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Mar 3, 2020 15:11
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It's our mine if we want a dog wandering in they'll drat well let us
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Mar 3, 2020 18:46
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ACCBCSniperWoreConverse posted:She's a human who's transformed herself into a stray dog and lives as one, religiously. And she wants you to let her go. She can shape shift whenever she wants and claims to be a cleric in some weird religion. SniperWoreConverse posted:Lemon narrows her eyes, spits, and then cheerfully agrees. The first time you try to get her to break a tenant will also be your last though, because she'll leave. As soon as you let her go she transforms back into a dog, runs a quick loop through town, and comes back. If we try to push Lemon to go human there is a real risk she abandons the party. She's previously indicated it's a deal-breaker. malbogio fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Mar 3, 2020 |
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Mar 3, 2020 19:03
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Yeah good point, don't force Lemon to be a human if she doesn't want to. She should still come, though, with the rest of the party she's no longer a stray she's the owner's niece's dog. They can't say no to that.
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Mar 3, 2020 19:10
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Hmm.. Don't have an opinion on who should do what, but I do have a feeling the sickness is coming from the ore being mined. Which, well. wouldn't change all that much. Would be terrible for trade if such a rumor got out, unless someone was poised to take advantage... Ell's mine was hit the hardest, but more than one mine was hit. What's different there? What mines in the area weren't hit or affected notably less, and who owns them?
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Mar 3, 2020 19:40
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Clara B - She's also a mage? Help with Witches Erhan C - Come to the Mines with us, expecting trouble Makti B - Help Clara with the Witches like a gentleman Lemon A - Heal the miners with magical dog tricks Zlata C - Something fishy about them walling up sections. Expect trouble. Theory: the miners that aren't sick are holing up areas of the mine for the witches to work their magic in secret.
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Mar 3, 2020 19:53
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malbogio posted:ACCBC Asking her nicely or even annoyingly will not do it but if you try to force or needle her into it will blow the deal Crazycryodude posted:Yeah good point, don't force Lemon to be a human if she doesn't want to. She should still come, though, with the rest of the party she's no longer a stray she's the owner's niece's dog. They can't say no to that. Also this Arcanuse posted:Hmm.. Don't have an opinion on who should do what, but I do have a feeling the sickness is coming from the ore being mined. Well, other than Wholebean's which she said is fine the fastest way is to get someone to the mine zone to figure it out Ps Clara is one of the ones you could have picked as the pc, she's both a doctor in the "tell it to me straight what's the prognosis" and a healer in the "knows cure light wounds" sense. She works for Eluned because one of Auntie Ell's fat stacks a day keeps the student debt collectors away etc
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Mar 3, 2020 21:42
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ACACC Let the doctors treat the the miners and the rest check out the mine. Lemon can stay in dog form since she's with us.
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Mar 3, 2020 21:58
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bbccc but let Lemon be a dog in a mine.
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Mar 3, 2020 22:08
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You take your guys and head to the mines, leaving Clara to it. She'd be better than Lep if something bad went down, but it's not like a herd of troglodytes are going to stampede. Before you leave Lep pulls some of the dust adept masks from his bag. "I brought these just in case. This one will fit Zlata but I do not have one that will fit a dog." Lemon thinks it probably won't be needed but puts on a regular human shaped one before going canid. If something happens she can just flip back. The foremen are punctual despite all the setbacks. They let you know that Eluned wanted them to open a large number of new branch shafts several months ago, the majority of which were not productive. She ordered them to refocus on the most productive branches after that, and they've mostly left the others empty in case she changed her mind again. It was probably a month afterwards that the first miners started getting sick, and a month after that that it started becoming a problem. The Friggish journeyman does not usually work on your aunt's mine and isn't here right now, and there doesn't seem like much else to investigate at the surface, so you grab some lamps and head in.  Productivity is low enough now that your presence will not be a major issue as long as you don't directly get in the way or interrupt too much. They do warn you to be cautious around the unworked zones and to notify them immediately if it seems like anything is amiss. The mines are no place for a dog but of course they're not going to tell you what you can and can't do -- just, again... be careful. There are markers at every branch indicating which way is out. You start with the nearest branches and they seem pretty much fine. The miners are doing their thing and dragging out rock. It's when you approach some of the unused galleries that Lemon's mood becomes more cautious. Lep can smell it too, but he isn't sure what it is or where it's coming from, just that it's something unpleasant. You and your guys follow a dog down a pitch black tunnel for a time and then you can smell it too: something you don't have a name for. As you get towards the end of the tunnel even Erhan can smell it.  Some of the stone here is odd. It seems slightly softer. Lemon changes back and points to a specific place on the wall, "This is the spot." There are small, very hard to notice cracks that weren't put in by the miners. It doesn't seem to be seeping or pumping off gas or anything. There's no way the foremen don't know about this material, but you find it odd they didn't mention it has an obvious smell. Maybe just some rocks smell weird? There could be something going on right behind this section of rock? It looks natural still, it's not as if someone resealed this part. Even getting all the way down here took much longer than you'd otherwise like. This whole thing is getting to be a huge pain in the rear end and if you walk all the way back to the miners and they say it's nothing unusual... A: Go ask the foremen about this. B: A, but take some rock samples and see if they can be tested. C: These cracks mean it shouldn't be difficult to bust in deeper. Dig a little and see what there may be to find. SniperWoreConverse fucked around with this message at 12:11 on Mar 4, 2020 |
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Mar 4, 2020 12:04
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B, if we have to walk all the way out and all the way back in, well too bad rich girl get used to it it's not a big deal.
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Mar 4, 2020 14:12
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B I don't expect there are going to be "tests" beyond "hey foreman what's this" Also gonna assume this is the reason other shafts are getting sealed, workers are running into fart deposits and just turning around, and other mines are having them sealed.
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Mar 4, 2020 14:31
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B
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Mar 4, 2020 17:02
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C
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Mar 4, 2020 17:06
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C Something is living here that shouldn't be...
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Mar 4, 2020 17:06
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C
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Mar 4, 2020 20:18
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You take some samples and bring them back out of the mine. The foremen look at them and rub them on touch stones. They don't see anything unusual about them other than they're a worthless kind of somewhat rare rock. The cracks in the rock face are not unheard of, but the odor is unusual and wasn't there when the shaft was being opened up. Duston has a small branch of Alma Alwaraqi, the alchemists' guild, and you have the samples more thoroughly tested for any unusual or dangerous properties, they only confirm that these are just rocks and you're out a hundred bucks. It seems the rocks themselves are not the source of the smell though. You head back at the end of the day having accomplished pretty much nothing and the miners are not better off. Clara briefly looked for the witch during some downtime and found nothing. You're down to $6832, if you want this over with in any reasonable amount of time you figure you should pay out of pocket and then get some more cash off Auntie instead of dealing with the authorization paperwork. A: Have that shaft sealed off, hang around and see if the miners get better or worse. Probably cost a couple hundred. B: Go back and bust a hole in the rock face. C: B, but make the existing miners do it instead of pulling valuable minerals. D: B, but you and your guys will do it, and you'll also hire an engineer to make sure you don't get caved in. Might be $50 if there's nothing special going on in there. Depends on what the other side looks like. E: Lack of evidence of witches is not a lack of witches. Keep looking. If you wanna have someone specific do something you can come up with a plan, otherwise if you go into the mines you'll bring the same group and leave Clara with the miners.
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Mar 6, 2020 09:54
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| # ? Jun 10, 2024 01:11 |
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D
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Mar 6, 2020 10:04
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