Chapter 5.2: The Sightless Citizens of Saal

“It’s really quiet here.”
Mero looks around him, but there’s no one to be found. They entered Saal from the south less than a minute ago. Just before passing the village’s border, the barren ground changed. It looks less dry and lifeless. A few halms of what they assume is grass wave slowly with the soft wind blowing at their back, gently pushing the adventurers into Saal. The grass is dark red instead of green and makes a more crisping sound when stepping upon it.
The other sign of civilization besides the obvious buildings in front of them, is the road they now walk upon, the first kind of infrastructure they’ve seen since entering Abaddon. The road is not much more than just an almost straight line of dirt, other than the dusty land, that leads the way. It’s not very pleasant to walk upon, but it surely beats the steep hills with ease.
“It’s night, Mero”, Oslando answers with a smile on his face. “It’s supposed to be quiet. I think demons need to sleep as well.”
The half-elf turns to Dargothoth to get some sort of confirmation, but their gazes don’t meet. The cleric is focused on something the distance, something he points at.
“Apparently not everyone is sleeping.”
He speaks with a lowered voice, still too loud to call it whispering, and he moves their attention. They all look at a wooden bench near the road. They wouldn’t have noticed it if it wasn’t for the strange source of orange light above it. As they come closer, they see what Dargothoth means. The orange glow doesn’t come from a lantern or something like that, it comes from the eye sockets of someone sitting there.
They slow down their pace, taking enough time to get a closer look at whoever’s there. It’s an elderly woman with a wrinkly deep purple skin and broken horns atop of her head. She leans forward, both hands resting on a cane, and she turns towards them.
“Good evening”, she says with a creaking voice, “lovely night for a walk, isn’t it? Couldn’t sleep either?”
(Arcana 14)
They look at each other in silence, realizing the curse the priest spoke about probably struck her. They are unsure how to respond: should they play along? Oslando decides not to.
“We’re not from around Saal”, he responds truthfully, but still keeping some ambiguity in there. ‘We’re here to visit the priest to talk about the strange phenomena happening here. Maybe you can tell us something? It looks like the curse struck you as well.”
She shifts her head, turning it to face everyone at least once. They can’t see her eyes moving in their sockets, but it seems like she’s looking at them.
“I have gone blind, yes”, she says, her radiant gaze fixed on where Dargothoth stands. “However, I can still see the divine blessings you carry. I have no problems discussing these matters with the followers of Gor-Thar. I’m a very strict worshipper of Achalion. I believe in balance in all things, but what I do not believe in is any good intent of someone who wears the faceless mask.”
Her crooked and wrinkly finger points threateningly at the cleric. Her nail is broken and dirty, they assume from feeling around where to walk and pushing herself of the ground after falling many times. Her knees are scraped as well and her clothes are muddy.
They expected the Faceless God’s mark would result in some kind of difficulties along the way, but this is sooner than they all anticipated.
(Spell save DC 15 versus wisdom 6)
“Can you at least tell me where we can go at this time of night to find someone to talk to?” Lyssa’s comforting draws her attention. “We’re tired and I don’t know where to go. Please?”
Something about the way she speaks seems to be persuading her. The old woman doesn’t know why, but she feels the urge to help her. The captain’s companions know why: she’s charming her.
“Oh, dear, I will, I will”, she says as she turns towards the right, facing the village. “Go to the Ebony Hoof Inn. You’ll find that the patron there is very kind and will give you a bed for very few azmal. He’s one of the few Saalians who can still see. Tell him Audrea said hi. Off you go now, child. You’ll need a good night of sleep if you want to solve our problem.”