What: Riftwatch has been asked to handle the sad case of Champrovent, a village north of Arlesans that was overrun by darkspawn and its inhabitants consumed by the Taint. Riftwatch has been tasked with burning and cleansing the remains of Champrovent to ensure the Taint doesn't spread.
Champrovent was once a very picturesque town, butting up against some of Arlesans' famous orchards—the most northern reaches of which have now been corrupted along with the village, leaving blackened trees with withered black apples filled with something the consistency of pus. The village itself shows signs of attempts to hold back the spread of the taint: some homes have barred doors and windows and are marked with the traditional yellow circles, indicating their inhabitants were infected. Some of those homes now host corpses, but a few might have still-living, staggering ghouls whose minds are long gone. Many of the village's colorful little houses now have tendrils of moldy black taint spidering over their walls, occasionally threaded with veins of what appears to be red lyrium. It's thickest around the Chantry, where careful exploration will reveal that the darkspawn—who have since moved on—tunneled through the Chantry's cellar into the earth below.
There are a few signs of violence, as well, from when the darkspawn who overran the town killed several locals outright and set some homes on fire, but the villagers burned their neighbors bodies before the taint began to overtake them, so no one is dead in the street. It's just corrupted and empty, with the uneasy silence occasionally punctuated by the groan or wail of someone or something locked in one of the homes.
Actually removing the taint is, of course, impossible. The team's job is to burn what they can, paying particular attention to try to prevent any Blight-touched rats from escaping burning buildings to potentially carry the taint elsewhere, and to establish a marked perimeter around the village to ensure travelers don't come close enough to become tainted.
In the process, however, they'll discover the reason that Riftwatch was asked to handle this business in the first place: barricaded in one of the homes is a group of eight people, all of whom are showing small signs of the taint but who haven't yet become ghouls outright. They'll be able to speak through the doors and explain they were herded and left here by the scouts who first visited the village after the invading force was expelled from the region.
A few members of the group will ask to be killed, and one will voice the correct assumption that Riftwatch has been sent here to make sure once and for all that none of them are able to spread the taint, as well as disappointment that the earlier scouts didn't have the balls to set the house on fire. (This individual has also, apparently, killed two people in the house who succumbed to become ghouls in the time since then, and may threaten to hurry it up for the others.) A few others will insist there's not even anything wrong with them—but there is, with black tendrils visible around the thin skin of their eyes and wrists and so on, if anyone takes a look—and demand to be let out. One of these individuals is an adult young woman who (if asked) will say she was a hunter and knows how to fight. The middle-aged man who's been killing those who turn into ghouls is also able-bodied but will have no interest in the Wardens, who he doesn't trust. The remaining are too old, too young, or otherwise very poor candidates for becoming Grey Wardens.
It's up to your characters whether to put them out of their misery, leave them there to die slowly, or try some other option.
OOC Notes: If they do try something other than leaving them there or killing them, check in with us to let us know what they're doing so we can let you know if there's any fallout! And be sure one of you posts a report to the rookery comm by the end of September.
CHAMPROVENT
What: Riftwatch has been asked to handle the sad case of Champrovent, a village north of Arlesans that was overrun by darkspawn and its inhabitants consumed by the Taint. Riftwatch has been tasked with burning and cleansing the remains of Champrovent to ensure the Taint doesn't spread.
Champrovent was once a very picturesque town, butting up against some of Arlesans' famous orchards—the most northern reaches of which have now been corrupted along with the village, leaving blackened trees with withered black apples filled with something the consistency of pus. The village itself shows signs of attempts to hold back the spread of the taint: some homes have barred doors and windows and are marked with the traditional yellow circles, indicating their inhabitants were infected. Some of those homes now host corpses, but a few might have still-living, staggering ghouls whose minds are long gone. Many of the village's colorful little houses now have tendrils of moldy black taint spidering over their walls, occasionally threaded with veins of what appears to be red lyrium. It's thickest around the Chantry, where careful exploration will reveal that the darkspawn—who have since moved on—tunneled through the Chantry's cellar into the earth below.
There are a few signs of violence, as well, from when the darkspawn who overran the town killed several locals outright and set some homes on fire, but the villagers burned their neighbors bodies before the taint began to overtake them, so no one is dead in the street. It's just corrupted and empty, with the uneasy silence occasionally punctuated by the groan or wail of someone or something locked in one of the homes.
Actually removing the taint is, of course, impossible. The team's job is to burn what they can, paying particular attention to try to prevent any Blight-touched rats from escaping burning buildings to potentially carry the taint elsewhere, and to establish a marked perimeter around the village to ensure travelers don't come close enough to become tainted.
In the process, however, they'll discover the reason that Riftwatch was asked to handle this business in the first place: barricaded in one of the homes is a group of eight people, all of whom are showing small signs of the taint but who haven't yet become ghouls outright. They'll be able to speak through the doors and explain they were herded and left here by the scouts who first visited the village after the invading force was expelled from the region.
A few members of the group will ask to be killed, and one will voice the correct assumption that Riftwatch has been sent here to make sure once and for all that none of them are able to spread the taint, as well as disappointment that the earlier scouts didn't have the balls to set the house on fire. (This individual has also, apparently, killed two people in the house who succumbed to become ghouls in the time since then, and may threaten to hurry it up for the others.) A few others will insist there's not even anything wrong with them—but there is, with black tendrils visible around the thin skin of their eyes and wrists and so on, if anyone takes a look—and demand to be let out. One of these individuals is an adult young woman who (if asked) will say she was a hunter and knows how to fight. The middle-aged man who's been killing those who turn into ghouls is also able-bodied but will have no interest in the Wardens, who he doesn't trust. The remaining are too old, too young, or otherwise very poor candidates for becoming Grey Wardens.
It's up to your characters whether to put them out of their misery, leave them there to die slowly, or try some other option.
OOC Notes: If they do try something other than leaving them there or killing them, check in with us to let us know what they're doing so we can let you know if there's any fallout! And be sure one of you posts a report to the rookery comm by the end of September.