Continue: Naturegirl1999(, Superdorf, Yellow Pixel)
Pursue: King Zultan(, Superdorf, Yellow Pixel)
Send the Green Cravats: Maximum Spin
Kill the captives: King Zultan
Treat the captives and use them to find the others: Superdorf, Yellow Pixel, Maximum Spin
Treat the captives and sell them: micelus
Ask needling questions of the doctor
You ask needling questions of the doctor before continuing.
"Does this visor make my beak look pointy?"
"No I mean yes, wait, what?"
"Does my sword make my wings look tasty?"
"What?"
"Is there something you haven't been telling us about Teford?"
"Teford needs medical supplies and a doctor! Haven't you heard about this kind of escort mission before?"
"Why not a closer doctor? Why three full carts of supplies and now?"
Dr. Phyllis sighs.
"I should've been more up front about this job. I got a letter from a colleague--that's Dogtor Jackal, maybe you'probably heard of him--saying that none of the common treatments were working on what looked to be a nasty wave of Tree Pox and that the priests were on a pilgrimage to some saint buried in the Grim Woods,
not that their superstitious incantations do much for anything worse than the sniffles."
"Now, the thing about Tree Pox is it generally stops spreading after a few days and clears up in two weeks. That letter came a week ago, and Dogtor Jackal says the patients are getting worse, not better. You wondered why it couldn't be some other doctor. Well, the last time the Blue Death swept through the lands, we were able to devise a cure, Dogtor Jackal, Medicus Hide, Mycologist Penn, and I. Hide has since lived up to his name and vanished off the face of the Earth, and Penn died a few years ago in suspicious circumstances, so it's just me and the good doctor now. Does that answer your questions?"
"Sure," you say, making a note of the highlighted keywords in this quest dialogue for later in case it comes up in a puzzle or something.
You decide to have the escortees treat all the wounded for now. You'll send a small detachment of ex-Greenscarves tomorrow to neutralize the remaining highwaymice and meet up in Asheath, the next stop on this trip. You think they may well be able to arrive first thanks to not having to escort a small train of heavily laden carts if it doesn't take too long and make sure they retreat and get to Asheath (or perhaps the caravan) if anything goes wrong. Goldteef spends the evening discussating strategery with an assortament of made up words with the former Greenscarves. When the uninjured highwaymice wake up, Rat Footpad Fink begins grilling them for
provisions information on where the other highwaymice are headed. Fink's imposing figure and (feigned) tough demeanor soon result in a crude map:
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
TO EREGLAND *---TO SHAYBURY ^ ^ *---* ^
\ / ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^/ ^ ^ \ ^
*---* | ^ ^ ^ *-----* ^* ^ \
\| ASHEATH ^^ / ^ ^ \ ^\^ ^ TO HEAWOLD
TO EPHOR'S REST----*==O-----------* ^ ^ *--* ^ ^
/ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
HWM CAMP -> & / ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
| ^ ^ ^ ^
/ ^ ^ ^ ^
@ <- THOU ART HEARE ^ ^ ^
TO INKSWORTH ^ ^ ^ ^ |-------|
~1 day of travel (but only near current position)
It is early morning on the next day, and everyone is well enough to walk or at least sit on one of the carts. One of the dead highwaymice says he's not dead yet and doesn't want to go on the cart. You wonder if there is a slave market in Asheath.
What would you like to do with the captured highwaymice?
(A) Release them into the wilderness
(B) Press them into service for menial tasks
(C) Take them along unrestrained
(D) Restrain them and put them on a cart
(E) Kill them
(F) Something else?
When would you like to pursue the escaped highwaymice?
(A) Early morning (now)
(B) Around noon
(C) Early afternoon
(D) Late afternoon
Who will you send to fight the escaped highwaymice?
(A) The former Greenscarves (+TICTACULAR ADVANTAGE from preparation, +STEALTH, +CARAVAN SPEED, --CARAVAN SAFETY)
(B) Everyone (+NUMBERS, ---CARAVAN SPEED, +CARAVAN SAFETY)
(C) The escortees (---CARAVAN SPEED, --KNIGHTLY PIETY, ---KNIGHTLY RENOWN, ++KNIGHTLY CASH)
(D) Some other configuration (? ? ?)
(An extra update is scheduled ~12h from now)