Griffin should be more concerned that sneaking into his family's home was rather easy. They had a few guards meant to patrol the grounds but they were mainly around for show. The guards proved their worth during the riots but otherwise patrolled the grounds and didn't stop familiar faces such as Griffin's friends from coming to the front door. He had to admit that breaking into his own home was possible because he knew the guard's patrol routes but anyone watching could figure out a plan for themselves. It was another conversation to have with his brother.
When the rowboat returned to the docks, Griffin sprinted away to get a headstart. The plan had been to meet back at his home, and with Ishani tagging along, he needed to beat them to his home and swap back into his noble identity. He didn't look forward to having to address Viera hiding her infection from the others even after her regretful explanation on the way back to the docks. Griffin was sympathetic to her reasons but knew that she would object to what he had planned in his mind.
It wasn't too difficult to get into the backyard unseen and from there he circled around the manor until he was below his bedroom. Griffin pulled out a small grappling hook connected to a long piece of rope, a tool he carried with his vigilante identity just in case he needed it. He never thought that he would use it to sneak back into his home. Griffin threw the hook up to the roof, and once it was attached properly, climbed up to his window.
Griffin was thankful that he left his window unlocked and was able to climb into his bedroom, pulling his grappling hook behind him. He knew that was pushed for time before the others returned and needed to change quickly. Griffin stripped out of his vigilante gear and safely stored it away within a chest he kept hidden in his closet. Before he could put on his noble attire, he cursed, taking notice of the teeth marks on his shoulder and thigh as well as the faint claw marks across his chest. If he bled through his clothes, he wouldn't be able to lie about what he was up to.
Thinking quickly, Griffin grabbed one of his older shirts and started to tear it apart into strips. He would be able to hide what's left later when no one was watching but for now he needed to stop himself from bleeding. Falenas would be able to give him an extract to magically heal his wounds but he couldn't risk exposing himself until then. Once Griffin properly patched his wounds with the strips of cloth, he dressed himself and grabbed his cane. Finally, he grabbed a pouch heavy with gold and put it in his pocket, knowing that he needed it.
Afterwards, Griffin left his room and walked downstairs, heading to Falenas' lab. He was surprised to see Tiran walking past the den where the elf was at work. If Falenas had noticed the two brothers, he didn't say anything as he poured a reddish liquid into a vial. Griffin couldn't make sense of what his companion was up to but knew better than to doubt his alchemy.
When Tiran noticed Griffin, he was quick to notice the one thing that Griffin forgot about.
"Why is your hair wet?"
Griffin only hesitated a moment before an answer. "I took a bath."
"But I didn't hear anything like that," Tiran said with a frown.
"I was quiet," Griffin quickly asked, sticking with his lie. "How is Falenas settling in with his new lab?"
"He's busy but I have no clue what he's doing," Tiran answered with a laugh.
"Creating a cure for a disease takes time," Falenas said, not bothering to look over his shoulders as he took notes on a piece of parchment. "It'll help once I find volunteers with blood veil but for now I can only guess at what works."
"I'm trying to find volunteers but I don't think it's safe enough to send any servants out to do so," Tiran admitted.
Griffin heard the front door open and glanced in that direction. "It looks like the others are back. I should greet them."
"I'll come with," Tiran offered, and before Griffin could think of objecting, step past his brother towards the house's entrance.
Verik and Takota led the way inside, the former carrying the hag's spear and the latter the footlocker they found in the Direption. Behind them was Ishani, who stood alongside Viera. Griffin was quick to note that she kept her gaze towards the floor, unable to look at anyone. Still, Tiran was able to catch sight of the red sores on her face and gasped. The two archers stepped aside when Tiran stepped forward to get a closer look for himself.
"Viera? Are you okay?"
"It's blood veil, isn't it?" Griffin didn't wait for an answer since he already knew. "Ishani, could you cast a spell to remove it from her?"
"Unfortunately, I needed the spells to ensure that your friends could breathe underwater," Ishani informed the nobles with a regretful frown.
"In that case, we'll settle for a potion," Griffin said and pulled the pouch of gold out of his pocket. "I'll pay."
"Griffin, I-" Viera started.
"As the patron of your group, I must insist I do my part to help," Griffin interrupted her and handed the pouch to Ishani. "Make haste."
"Of course," Ishani said. "I'll be back before too long passes."
A brief silence hung over the group when Ishani left the manor. Verik coughed into his arm before speaking.
"Does anyone mind if I make some sort of targeting range outside?" Verik asked cautiously. "I was talking with Takota on the way back and I wanted to see if I could give him a few tips, one archer to another."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Tiran said with a forced smile. "I have a hunting bow laying around somewhere. I'll join you."
"Be sure to leave what you found with Falenas," Griffin nodded. "Viera, I'd like to have a word with you."
"Of course," Viera said and slowly looked up with a frown.
Griffin wanted to wait for the others to leave before talking with Viera. He wasn't angry at her but disappointed by her actions, although he was afraid she thought otherwise. Tiran led Verik and Takota to drop off what they found with Falenas before the trio went to the backyard. Truth be told, Griffin wasn't too keen on them making a practice range but wasn't sure how best to get a private conversation with Viera.
"Viera, you lied to us," Griffin started.
"I wanted to help," Viera defended herself. "That's what I told you and everyone on the boat. I wasn't going to sit back and let everyone else put themselves into danger even if I was sick."
"There was no way of telling that there was a hag of all things waiting for us. You put everyone at risk by coming along when you should have worried about your own health."
"I was careful not to touch anyone. I can look out for myself. I may feel a little sick but I can fight and I didn't need you to buy me a potion when I could pay for one myself."
"And you didn't. You have the gold for it."
"You didn't see what happened at the Grand Vault of Abadar. I didn't like the idea of going past everyone else waiting simply because I knew one of the clerics at the temple. I was going to wait another day for Ishani to have a spell prepared."
"I know that you wanted to help, but sometimes, you need to look out for yourself instead of others," Griffin told Viera and sighed. "I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you because you had to be the hero."
"And I wouldn't know what to do if you or Takota or even Verik were seriously injured when I could have helped," Viera said and stepped towards Griffin while being careful enough not to touch him. "If it only takes me a little suffering to make sure that you're all safe, then that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, even if you can't agree with me."
"Viera…" Griffin started.
"That's enough," Viera shook her head. "You've already done enough. I thank you for the potion, but next time, trust that I can look out for myself. I'll stick around the house long enough for Ishani to return, but afterwards, I'll take my leave."
Griffin turned away from Viera's harsh gaze. He wasn't sure if he needed to be more strict with his words by ensuring Viera didn't put herself at unnecessary risk or by trying to be more considerate that she wanted to help. He admitted that his feelings for the priestess weren't helping at all. If Alexander were around, he would know how best to address the debate, but he wasn't. Griffin could handle the logistics of coming up with a plan, and he was trying his hardest to be the leader of the group, but he couldn't help but have his own doubts as to his leadership skills.
Viera stepped past Griffin cautiously so as to not touch him, taking his silence as the end of the conversation and went toward the backyard. If she wasn't infected with blood veil, he would have tried reaching out for her but now wasn't the time for any kind of confession. He'd have to find time to apologize but for now it was best to leave her be. Recalling that the footlocker was locked, he headed to Falenas' lab to unlock it and discover what mysteries it held.
"...so all you have to do is work on how fast you can reload your crossbow and you'll be set," Verik told Takota as the two and Viera walked into the makeshift lab. "Your aim is pretty sharp even with the crossbow."
"Thank you," Takota said with a nod.
Falenas was hard at work but spared a table for Griffin to hold a meeting at. Tiran remained outside, practicing his poor archery skills with his hunting bow. The footlocker was opened but was faced towards the noble, meaning the others couldn't see what it was. Although Verik glanced towards the spear that was against the wall, he couldn't help but wonder what the footlocker had inside. Viera kept her distance from the others and leaned against the doorframe of the den, watching Griffin coldly. Verik wasn't sure what the two talked about while they were out practicing outside and wasn't sure if it was his place to ask.
"Is Ishani back yet?" Viera asked and crossed her arms.
"He shouldn't be too much longer," Griffin answered and turned the footlocker around. "Viera, I think you of all people would be able to help us best with what we found stored away. We're fortunate enough that the seal wasn't broken."
Viera waited a moment before stepping forward with Verik and Takota giving her enough space but both wanting to look in as well. Verik spotted a pouch along with a book crafted with a darkwood cover. The most disturbing thing that stuck out to the group was a dark cloak folded up inside that bore the symbol of Urgathoa as the necklace the corpse from the Direption wore. While Verik didn't care much for the different religions, he noticed that Viera glared at the unholy contents.
"So we are dealing with followers of Urgathoa," Viera noted with a frown. "This isn't good for Korvosa if they're helping spread blood veil."
"And according to Falenas, the cloak is magical," Griffin informed the group. "Our enemy has resources that we need to be cautious of."
"While it appears as though the ship didn't have a trace of our disease, I will admit that I was wrong about it being a waste of time to investigate," Falenas said, setting two vials of bubbling liquid down on another table. "No matter. It'll take more than some cult to stop my efforts."
"What about the book?" Verik asked. "Is that some sort of religious text?"
"Technically, yes," Griffin sighed and his face grew pale. "I read some of its contents. The tome is called Serving Your Hunger, and while it is Urgathoa's sacred text and includes typical prayers, a good portion of the book covers how best to cook meals with human flesh."
"Please, say no more," Verik said, feeling sick. He only found out about what the Cow Hammer Boys were up to after he was arrested and wanted nothing more to do with cannibalism of any kind.
"Unfortunately, there is one more detail I have to mention," Griffin continued. "Anytime Urgathoa's name is mentioned within the book, it's crossed out and 'Andaisin' is written above it."
"Andaisin?" Falenas gasped. "You mean to tell me that Andaisin is involved with this?"
"At the very least, the man from the ship knew her," Griffin answered. "Have you heard of Andaisin before?"
"I have. I'll explain but please excuse me for a moment."
Without warning, Falenas slid his arms across the table he worked at. Glass vials shattered against the floor, the alchemical liquids he crafted drenching what notes he wrote. The group could only look on in shock while the elf grabbed a new piece of parchment, and realizing that he knocked his bottle of ink onto the floor, slammed his fists down on the table in annoyance.
Viera was the first to recover from her shock and spoke up. "Falenas, have you gone mad?"
"Not mad," Falenas shook his head, pacing to another table. "All of the progress I've made is now worthless. I need ink. Someone get me a bottle of ink!"
"Enough!" Griffin told Falenas sternly. "What do you know about Andaisin?"
"Has anyone heard about what happened at Beorandy?" Falenas asked and didn't bother to wait for an answer. "Why did I even ask that? I doubt anyone here knew about some town in Nidal. I likely wouldn't know of it if it weren't for what happened."
"Focus, Falenas," Griffin said with the others nodding in agreement.
"Right," the alchemist started to pace around the room. "Several years ago, Beorandy suffered a nasty plague and nearly everyone was killed. Some Nidalese investigators found out that Andaisin engineered the plague along with her own cult, fellow followers of Urgathoa. She was able to flee the scene and was never caught."
"But what does that have to do with destroying, well, everything you had?" Verik questioned.
"I was acting as though blood veil was a natural plague when it's instead manufactured," Falenas explained, looking over the destroyed vials. "That's how Andaisin destroyed Beorandy. I have to change my strategy now that I know I'm dealing with a weaponized sickness, and if Andaisin is capable of creating blood veil, she'd be capable of making it resistant to typical alchemical elixirs that anyone with our training would know."
"Korvosa is under attack then," Viera gasped. "We have to do something."
"What can we do?" Takota asked, frowning. "Our enemy remains hidden."
"We take action," Griffin declared, and after a short pause, addressed the group. "Takota, I want you to inform Cressida of our findings. The Korvosan Guard needs to know what we found."
"As do the temples," Viera nodded along with Griffin's idea. "I'll inform Ishani. Someone needed to go to a temple to ensure that these vile items are destroyed."
"The book, yes, but I'm going to have the symbol of Urgathoa removed from the cloak," Griffin told Viera. "I know that Tiran is friends with a tailor and there should be no reason not to put the cloak to use since it isn't made of dark magic."
"What about the spear?" Verik asked. "Is it magical too?"
"It is, and while it was wielded by a hag, it doesn't appear to be anything special other than being a little more deadly," Griffin revealed.
"I'll take it if no one else wants."
When no one objected to Verik's claim, the archer picked up the weapon and Griffin continued. "I'll divide the gold between us. There's even platinum coins as well. Verik, I think we'd best try to convince Alexander again. If we're dealing with a cult, we need everyone's help."
"I mean, I'll come along with you, but I don't think he's changing his mind," Verik said, stepping back into
"You likely won't be able to change his mind with the approach I know you take," Falenas said and slowly shook his head. "I don't agree with the idea of pulling Alexander away from his home to fight with us, but I have a feeling that this is affecting our morale. Griffin, I'll need your family to buy more regents for my work, and while I wait for those supplies, I might as well try to amend the low morale myself."
"Do you really think that you can convince Alexander?" Viera asked, hopeful.
"I don't think I can," Falenas pointed at his forehead and grinned. "I know I can."
A/N: Sorry for the delay. I wanted to have this out yesterday but I wasn't able to write. I needed a day to adjust to a new living adjustment at my home but everything is fine.
It's the final stretch for NaNoWriMo and I'm almost at 45,000 words. I'm thinking it'll only take me two chapters to finish. I'm hoping to make the word count with a day to spare.
Until next time.
