D&D Play-By-Post (v3.5)

[FoxTrott]

The elves continued arguing, not noticing Violet or Vickas moving closer to them. Both could easily see the group at this point.

Two men, a teenage boy, a woman, and a young girl elf were walking next to a covered wagon pulled by two long-eared horses. One man and the teenager were wearing long, intricately designed robes, with large, crescent moon pendants hanging from their necks. The other man was dressed in a much less spectacular robe, and was wearing a pointy hat with a star on the point. The woman held the young girl's hand, and both were dressed in simple clothing. Only the woman and the little girl seemed to be related, judging by their long, dirty blond hair.

"Where'd daddy go?" asked the little girl in Elven, looking up at her mother with sparkling green eyes. The woman choked back a sob, and shook her head.

[Raven]

I let go of Vickas and stepped closer in a non-threatening way. "Hello. Are you clean of the disease?" I asked in Elven.

[FoxTrott]

"All of us are," said the elf with the crescent pendant, "And with Corellon's protection, we'll stay that way. The nay-sayers in the camp, worshiping Ehlonna... Hah! Their god's as good as dead; we saw a unicorn--a unicorn!--succumb to the disease right in front of our eyes, in front of the entire camp's eyes. If that's not a sign, then I don't know what is! Bah!"

He walked up to Violet, and waggled his finger. "They're all going to die because they think it doesn't spread through proximity. It does! All these rotten plants; it's because one of the infected or whatever you will walked right down that path, to the town." He turned at the female elf, and glared. She squeezed her child's hand protectively.

"Hey," interjected the pointy-hat-wearing-elf as he walked up to Violet. His robe looked like it was two sizes too big for him. "Do you have the disease? Have you come in contact with any infected foliage or fauna?"

[Raven]

"We faught a assassin's vine, but it didn't touch either of us. We're trying to stop the spread. Do you know how close you have to be and for how long to become infected? How to cure it?" I asked. I beconed to Vickas to join us.

[Dokeshi]

I looked at her and nodded before coming closer to them.

[FoxTrott]

"There is no cure!" exclaimed the teen wearing the crescent pendant. He sat on the carriage of the wagon as he talked. His superior, the older elf with the pendant, nodded and let him go on. "The only cure is prayer to Corellon Larethian, the Protector and Preserver of Life, praise him!"

"Those heretics in the camp," continued the older pendant wearer, "think they've found the source, they think they've found a cure, but they haven't! Corellon won't cure this forest until they stop worshiping Ehlonna and give into the one, true god, praise be upon him, the Protector!"

"We know that you must be within melee combat distance to be infected," said the pointy-hatted elf in Common, "Assassin vines seem to resist infection until they are slain, and then they have the same infectious potential of the host plant. The first signs appear immediately after infection; fatigue and high fever. After that, it's a persistent hacking cough, with rapid weight loss, until you resemble a skeleton. Your mouth begins to rot, and your teeth fall out of your skull--it's gross, but after that, your hair starts to fall out, and your skin just... Rots. Like a corpse's." He shuddered.

[Raven]

"Well, we would have fatigue and a fever if we were infected, then. Thank you. It would be a good idea to know if we get the disease. When or if we do, we will have no choice but to be sure no one can receive it from us, even if it means ending our own lives. Do you know where the disease orriginated? Maybe if we can rid ourselves of the source, we can eliminate the infection," I suggested.

[FoxTrott]

"The elves in the camp think it originated from the blood bushes," replied the pointy-hatted elf, again in Common, "They're these bushes with red flowers. They shoot out these prickly needles to anything that comes close to them. They think the disease somehow came from one of the needles pricking an elf and spreading it." He turned around, and put his hand on his chin, thinking. "Even if you somehow got rid of all the blood bushes, that wouldn't solve the ones that're already infected..."

[Raven]

I nodded. "So the only solution is to destroy everything that's infected," I said, grimacing.

[Dokeshi]

" They believe it came from the blood bushes but...I can't help but think that something else is causing it..." I replied and scratched my chin, thinking.

[FoxTrott]

The elf turned back around, and shrugged at the two. "Somebody could have infected the blood bushes themselves," he said, "so if you could find that person, maybe you could find a cure... I'm not sure why somebody would want to do that, though. It throws the entirety of the forest out of whack. Hm." He straightened his hat, and held his hand out to the strangers. "I'm Grey, by the way. The color. The older priest is Norann, the young one's Mar, the woman's Laurill, and the little one's Cici."

"Are we going to get a move on, or what?" grumbled Norann in Elven, "Stop talking to the bird-thing and the human, and let's go! We need to get out of this place, there's no use staying here. It's already desecrated by the Ehlonna-worshipers."

"Praise Corellon!" added Mar quickly.

[Raven]

"I'm not a bird-thing! I'm a raptoran!" I glared at the elf for a moment, then turned and walked to Vickas's side. I sighed, then spoke to Vickas. "Let's go..." I passed him, going back into the trees.

[Dokeshi]

Blinking, I followed her I had no idea what half that conversation was about." I was lost for about half the time...did the elves say anything important?"

[Raven]

I glanced at him. "Oh. It didn't occur to me that you might not speak Elven. I just asked if they were infected, they weren't, they asked if we were and told me how to tell if you are. You'll run a feaver and after that you'll get a cough. The symptoms start right when you're infected, so you can't be carrying it around without knowing. There is a camp of elves nearby who think they know the source and the cure for the infection," I summed it up. I couldn't remember what had been said in Elven versus common.

[FoxTrott]

Grey waved the pair off, and followed his group towards Teak.

As previously mentioned, it was dark, but now it was even darker. A wolf howled nearby, and was quickly answered by several other howls. Where are you heading? (Or attempting to head to, as the case may be.)