The crowd had already formed when Tenkar got to the scene. It took him a few moments to push his way through the throngs of onlookers to get to the partial overturned cart.
"See, the Watch is here! Watcher, I never seen him! He ran right in front of the the horses. I couldn't stop them in time!" The driver of the cart appeared to be shaken and bruised, but fairly unharmed.
"WHO ran in front?" Tenkar asked as he tried to look past the crowd.
"Him!" The driver pointed to a man off to the side who was sitting on his legs and looking side to side in apparent confusion. Tenkar recognized him as a Blue Gill, a Sea Sapphire addict. Even if he hadn't recognized him from previous arrests, the blue tinged lips would have given him away as an addict of the strong narcotic.
Being an addict wasn't in and of itself a crime, and at the moment he appeared to be the victim of an accident. Tenkar approached him with concern, more so when he noticed the bloodied pants and small pool of fresh blood that had formed under the Blue Gill.
Upon noticing the Watchman, the Blue Gill tried to stand up, but he couldn't find the strength or the balance. "Lantern, I lost my boot! I can't see it anywhere! Don't let one of these thieves take my boot!" One sign of Sea Sapphire addiction was a sort of compulsive, one track mindedness. There would be no dealing with him unless the missing boot was found.
"Anyone seen this man's boot?" the Watchman asked what was left of the crowd. Most folks had slowly started to walk off when the Watch arrived on the scene. Best not to be involved.
"I think it's here by the cart." It was the driver who found it. "How you don't mind me not picking it up and such, but it is a bloody mess ya' know."
As Tenkar walked over to the cart he saw the boot in question. It was a "bloody mess", there was no question. As he went to grab it, he noticed something white protruding from the boot, right from the end you would insert your foot into when slipping them on. Bone. Bone, flesh and blood. Gods, this man has had his foot amputated and has no idea. He turned back to look at the Blue Gill, but it was too late. He bled out as he had worried about the fate of his boot.
Tenkar turned to a youth that had stuck around to watch the events. "Lad, here's a silver. Get the nearest necer and tell him he has a customer. He'll match my silver with his own."
I'm not even halfway into my tour, thought Tenkar. It's gonna be a long day.
Game Info (and such)
Lantern - street slang for Watchman. So named for the lantern they carry on their rounds. It is lit with a continual light spell where the wick would be.
Watcher - also slang for Watchman. More respectful then Lantern
Blue Gill - Sea Sapphire addict. So called because the drug slowly colors an addicts lips, teeth, and in the case of long term addicts, throat, a blue hue.
Sea Sapphire - An addictive narcotic. Not a cheap drug, it's use centers more around the upper middle class and adventuring types.
Game Benefits - the effects last for 4 hrs with each dose - +1 HP temporary per HD - Pain is dulled - Can fight until -10 HP without penalty, but with a loss of 1 HP per round until hitting -11, at which point the character keels over dead. CLW can stop the HP loss, but the initial casting will not heal any HPs.
Casual use (1 time per adventure / 1 time per week) requires save vs poison at +4 to avoid addiction (add CON bonus to save). Using more often in the adventure / week time frame causes a save at -1 per use to avoid addiction (no +4 bonus to save). Once addicted, the drug must be used daily and no longer provides a +1 HP per HD bonus (other effects such as dulled pain and fighting until -10 are still in effect). If unable to pay for the Blue Sapphire, character in question will be unable to do anything productive (adventure, research, smithing, etc) until they either get a dose or kick the addiction.
Without divine intervention the addict must go cold turkey to kick the habit. After 4 weeks without the drug a saving throw is made vs. spells. Success indicates cure, failure and addict can try again in a week. Roll of a 1, addict dies from withdrawal symptoms. Cure disease will enable the addict to make a save vs spells at +4 (CON bonus applies) to fight of the physical / mental / emotional addiction. A failed save can be tried again in a weeks time. No penalty for rolling a 1. Does not need to wait four weeks before attempting the first save.
