A Taste of Tetanus, A Hint of Bubonic

A Taste of Tetanus, A Hint of Bubonic
Date	8/24/25
Storyteller	Doug
Tier	Master
Player Characters	Isaac Davenport, Vliegen the Windbornd, Dendra, Arumi
Rewards	250 xp, 1000 gp, Lantern of Apollyon
Result	We solved the case!
Author	Isaac
Downtime	20

INCREDIBLE INSPECTOR ISAAC DAVENPORT IN: THE INTRIGUING INQUISITION INTO THE INSIDIOUS INFECTED

This case was an interesting one indeed: the Round Table received a letter from the cult of Apollyon, who lived on the island of Mahlah to the south. Councilor Gregorios Jude hired us to accept this invitation to take full advantage of this by sending us on a diplomatic mission with the intent of gathering any information we had, with a gift of a very dead rat carrying a dangerous disease. In the past, they had sent a pair of spies into the city to gather old information on some of our strongest associates, so it is incredibly likely they have plans of war, not to mention the fact that the last time a group of associates visited the island, they got involved with a skirmish with the cultists. One of those associates, Arumi of the Jongleur Three, was joining us for this mission as well, under a disguise to avoid any risk of being recognized. Her being on that last trip also puts how the cult is growing into perspective. The island is surrounded by a thick, oily black cloud, and she was able to identify that it grew significantly in the three months since her last visit. Either because of the influence of this cloud or the taint of other diseases near this island, we didn't see any other wildlife on the way there, not a fish or bird, aside from some bizarre bird-like creatures making sounds similar to speech flying above us. Upon further inspection as we approached, it is entirely possible that these creatures were in fact a bizarre form of advanced leukodaemon. The island itself has been artificially expanded, being turned into a great mass of flesh that has been expanding across the nearby archipelago, with a great city built around a great spire dominating the landscape. Most of the population that we see on the island appear to be altered humanoids, or different varieties of leukodaemons, including the hulking leukodaemons that associate Phyl wrote about in his log about the last trip to the island. There appeared to be 3 hulking daemons, and 9 regular at the docks we landed at. Their docks were divided into wooden and metal paths, with the metal paths being designed for the altered daemons because everything around them decays around them, and the wooden ones for humanoid use. We were greeted by an individual by the name of Asha, one of the cult's awakened priests. The rite side of her face and body were affected by a form of necrosis, a delicate balance within one's immune system where they keep the disease alive while not completely succumbing themselves. She would later tell us is part of the process of advancing through the ranks in the cult, with some taking on multiple infections at once. She gives us a tour, starting with the port we landed at. She tells us about how they mostly import textiles, and exporting diseases, such as the one that previously wiped out a squad of guards in the past. They make the claim that these diseases give people extra strength, so it may be possible these infections they export are similar to the ones they use to modify themselves, it might be within our best interests to keep an eye out for altered humanoids on the mainland as well. One of the clients they make deals with is apparently the weresharks they were at war with three months ago, it is entirely possible that they are being coerced by the cult. As we go into the city proper, the surrounding buildings are just as diseased as the people, but the commonfolk here seem happy. Most of the residents of this city are from afar, with Asha telling us that many came here willingly. A messenger tells us that a Divine Arbiter wants to speak with her, and she seems quite reverent of this name. We'll get back to the Divine Arbiter later, as before going to see him, Asha takes us to a school. Some of the kids aren't fully diseased, possibly not old enough to have fully taken on the alterations from the infections. There's an insect-like humanoid on the roof of the school, he looks too human to be a leukodaemon. Asha introduces us to him, the principal of the school. He used to rank really high in the cult's hierarchy, having previously been a Grand Exarch. We are informed that the Grand Exarchs can directly hear the voice of Apollyon, but it's been a long time since he's heard it, so he was demoted to being a principal. It is safe to assume that higher ranking individuals within the cult take on more alterations as they advance and get more infected, with the hierarchy being regular people -> awakened priests -> divine arbiters-> grand exarchs -> the grand hierophant, Zacharias Roth. We also see him hold a telepathic communication with Asha, and we find out that awakened members of the cult get worms put in their brain, and it is safe to intuit that the worms grow in strength as the awakened gain infections. Next, Asha leads us to an art gallery, and we see some churches on the way there. I must say that the technique used to create the paintings we saw here were impressive, even if the materials themselves were rather predictably disgusting. They depict Apollyon with great amounts of muscle, and his feet are always hidden by swarms of rats. I shudder to imagine why. Asha gives us a chance to look around unsupervised, so we take a moment to talk to some regular people. We look around the market, where they sell mainly textiles and other civilian goods. There is not a weapon or armorsmith in sight, they don't arm the populace. Vliegen talks to a merchant who sells him a particularly sizeable cast-iron pan, hopefully he'll be able to get that thing suitably disinfected before use. The merchant seems to really enjoy being part of the cult, and we find out that the flesh-ring that makes up the island is always expanding, possibly due to conquests. We also interview a mother and child on their way home from school. They got to the city fairly recently compared to some of the other people here, being former merchants given the choice between destitution and joining the cult. The mother says her child has the potential to be a grand exarch, to which Arumi asks if she'd wish that on her child. She hesitates at this, they're very much reluctant. Asha returns with the Divine Arbiter I mentioned earlier, a very insectoid man named Luther. He accepts the rat box from us, and sniffs up the pathogens as if he was drinking a fine wine. He seems rather friendly, telling us that they seek to build a utopia on the island. He regrets the loss of lives in previous conflicts between the associates and Mahlah, and agrees not to send any more diseased packages our way. Before we could be shown more of the city, a horn reverberates through the area, a sign of an invading force. There's a small settlement on the southeastern coast, farther down the shore from where we launched, who recently mobilized an invading force against the island. Luther personally escorts us back to our ship and sends Asha to receive a gift for us, which we later found out is a lantern and a lens that can give the light properties that spread disease. We spot the flagship of their navy on the coast, a vessel covered in fleshy growths and eyes called the Wasting, it looks to be more of a living entity than a boat. Luther tells us to wait as they load their ship, because there's an individual with a sickening aura that would be too dangerous for us. We see a few notable individuals here, a big fellow with four arms and skin that's sloughing off their body, a knight-looking figure with a beaked helmet, and another individual known as the Eminence of Pestilence, who wears an old set of Godclaw armor. Luther tells us that he killed a hellknight in the past and has since fused with the armor, and he looks incredibly hostile towards us. The sickness emanating off of him is practically visible, that must be the aura we were warned of. Luther then sent us off, with us and our ship needing a *very* thorough scrubbing as we leave. Aside from Vliegen catching a minor case of tuberculosis, we suffered no casualties on this journey. I would be wary of their actions going forward. Although they acted friendly, they were undoubtedly preparing for war. I would not be surprised if there was another incident involving them in the future.