Post by zipp on Dec 30, 2008 9:19:05 GMT
Think of this thread as the PM thread. Anytime I tell you something secret, or you want to tell me something secret, we'll do it here.
Let's start with some history and your goals.
Since the destruction of your village at the ravishes of plague, you have thrust yourself into your studies. While the monastery which housed you acts as a boarding school for most of the year, come the two Solstices (Summer and Winter) you would watch your fellow students leave one by one for their homes, until only you and a handful of the elder monks were left.
Those were lonely days, which you spent poring over maps of far flung places that, to you, represented freedom. You often dreamed of traveling to the South and becoming the destruction of the Cener Druids, who you had learnt about in your studies. You've never been able to understand why people would intentionally spread plague, and that lack of understanding has turned to disgust and hatred of that destructive order.
The freedom of travel, you realize, is perhaps not meant to be your due. Burdened by the death of your village, you felt (and feel) an extreme obligation to become a legendary healer in the North... not for the fame, but for the ability to help others so none need follow in your sad footsteps.
It was with this in mind that you responded with your fellows to a call for aid by the elder healers. You had all heard of the spreading plague in the Wildlands (one of your brothers had failed to return yet from an journey to one of the infected villages). However, the word, brought from a messenger at the capital, of the infection of the merchant city of Oasis was new.
Oasis lies near to the capital... near enough to pose a significant threat. Also, being a merchant city, it trades with many other cities, and could easily be the source of a massive epidemic. The king has requested a small party travel there to assess the damage. Your guild has responded to the summons.
This is your chance to do Ishir's work, to do good in the world and prevent the creation of more broken homes. You are quick to volunteer for the mission. The elders gave you looks of extreme sadness when you volunteered. You weren't to discover why until later.
That night, you were taken aside by Elder Lyons, the eldest healer and a man whom you thought of as a father. With pain in his voice, he described the situation to you in whole.
It turns out that the brother sent to the Wildlands had recently returned. He lived long enough to explain that the plague transformed the body and destroyed the mind, leaving its victims insane and twisted monsters, intent on killing everything they saw. The plague would burn itself out after a week or so, but in the meantime it would spread. He begged the Elders to burn him alive before the plague could take over his own body. His last words before the fire claimed him were that the plague had come from Oasis.
This turn of events was unexpected. Not only had this plague has hit a city only a day's walk from the capital, but very likely this city was the original source. The Order of Ishir decides on a drastic solution. The volunteer for the mission to head into the heart of Oasis must find the source of the plague and destroy it.
But then, they must also destroy Oasis, purging it with fire.
And finally, they themselves, and everyone in their party, must be purged as well, lest they carry the highly infectious plague back with them.
This is your mission. This is your fate. Elder Lyons offers you one chance to decline the journey, but you feel the touch of Ishir on your soul. This is too much to be a coincidence. From the day you became the sole survivor of the plague that struck your village, living for Ishir's kind will has been your life. Now, you must return to the plague, and with the greatest sacrifice, destroy it forever.
Yours is a mission from the gods themselves.
Of course, it is probably not wise to share this goal with your fellows. It's doubtful that they would see things in the same light as you. In fact, such knowledge might lead them to cause harm to your own mission in order to save themselves.
You may be able to slowly bring them around, after you get to know them a bit better. Or you may find it best to not say anything, and simply do your duty. Remember this is not murder. It is a mission from the gods, a sacrifice for the greater good. Chances are, you've all been condemned to death (or worse) anyways by even being sent to Oasis.
Goal: discover and confirm the source of the plague, then destroy it. After this, Oasis must be purged. None of the party members who enter there can be allowed to leave, yourself included. The risk of infection is too high.
Let's start with some history and your goals.
Since the destruction of your village at the ravishes of plague, you have thrust yourself into your studies. While the monastery which housed you acts as a boarding school for most of the year, come the two Solstices (Summer and Winter) you would watch your fellow students leave one by one for their homes, until only you and a handful of the elder monks were left.
Those were lonely days, which you spent poring over maps of far flung places that, to you, represented freedom. You often dreamed of traveling to the South and becoming the destruction of the Cener Druids, who you had learnt about in your studies. You've never been able to understand why people would intentionally spread plague, and that lack of understanding has turned to disgust and hatred of that destructive order.
The freedom of travel, you realize, is perhaps not meant to be your due. Burdened by the death of your village, you felt (and feel) an extreme obligation to become a legendary healer in the North... not for the fame, but for the ability to help others so none need follow in your sad footsteps.
It was with this in mind that you responded with your fellows to a call for aid by the elder healers. You had all heard of the spreading plague in the Wildlands (one of your brothers had failed to return yet from an journey to one of the infected villages). However, the word, brought from a messenger at the capital, of the infection of the merchant city of Oasis was new.
Oasis lies near to the capital... near enough to pose a significant threat. Also, being a merchant city, it trades with many other cities, and could easily be the source of a massive epidemic. The king has requested a small party travel there to assess the damage. Your guild has responded to the summons.
This is your chance to do Ishir's work, to do good in the world and prevent the creation of more broken homes. You are quick to volunteer for the mission. The elders gave you looks of extreme sadness when you volunteered. You weren't to discover why until later.
That night, you were taken aside by Elder Lyons, the eldest healer and a man whom you thought of as a father. With pain in his voice, he described the situation to you in whole.
It turns out that the brother sent to the Wildlands had recently returned. He lived long enough to explain that the plague transformed the body and destroyed the mind, leaving its victims insane and twisted monsters, intent on killing everything they saw. The plague would burn itself out after a week or so, but in the meantime it would spread. He begged the Elders to burn him alive before the plague could take over his own body. His last words before the fire claimed him were that the plague had come from Oasis.
This turn of events was unexpected. Not only had this plague has hit a city only a day's walk from the capital, but very likely this city was the original source. The Order of Ishir decides on a drastic solution. The volunteer for the mission to head into the heart of Oasis must find the source of the plague and destroy it.
But then, they must also destroy Oasis, purging it with fire.
And finally, they themselves, and everyone in their party, must be purged as well, lest they carry the highly infectious plague back with them.
This is your mission. This is your fate. Elder Lyons offers you one chance to decline the journey, but you feel the touch of Ishir on your soul. This is too much to be a coincidence. From the day you became the sole survivor of the plague that struck your village, living for Ishir's kind will has been your life. Now, you must return to the plague, and with the greatest sacrifice, destroy it forever.
Yours is a mission from the gods themselves.
Of course, it is probably not wise to share this goal with your fellows. It's doubtful that they would see things in the same light as you. In fact, such knowledge might lead them to cause harm to your own mission in order to save themselves.
You may be able to slowly bring them around, after you get to know them a bit better. Or you may find it best to not say anything, and simply do your duty. Remember this is not murder. It is a mission from the gods, a sacrifice for the greater good. Chances are, you've all been condemned to death (or worse) anyways by even being sent to Oasis.
Goal: discover and confirm the source of the plague, then destroy it. After this, Oasis must be purged. None of the party members who enter there can be allowed to leave, yourself included. The risk of infection is too high.