"Surprisingly not the worst hangover I've ever had..."
Higoht had gathered the group in the lobby and explained their next mission. Travel to Merrilville, investigate plague, test out new immunity. Got it. Bo then introduced them to...something. Honestly Ezra was too fuzzy from the night before to register if Kiske was a joke or not. Either way, Bo implied taking care of the clown wasn't Ezra's responsibility so he mostly just stopped caring.
Thankfully the cool morning air and the lack of anyone speaking too loudly allowed Ezra to focus and recuperate his senses. He munched on some jerky as they walked, and drank almost all of his water. Of course, no hangover cure ritual would be complete without Brehg's Miracle Mix, a bitter, pale power that smelled something like oats and cooling steel, and tasted worse. Still, nothing Ezra knew of cured hangovers better. It's manufacturer, Brehg, claimed it had something to do with "natural minerals". Whether or not that was the case, it always worked so Ezra always brought a container of the stuff whenever he went on a journey.
Merrilville was depressing to look at. The Pestilence had hit it hard, and the party could smell the death and rot and decay a mile away. Higoht ushered them towards the town center. Ezra drew his blade and began whispering the igniting words beneath his breath, causing pale orange flames to flicker across his blade. Bo cautioned them just as the infested shrieked and rushed towards the group. Ezra felt a ruffling at his back and spun around to see the other orc woman that wasn't Cutie stumbling back and mumbling an apology.
"You're fine. Eyes up, there's more of them."
Ezra turned back to the sight of Bo tossing one of the infected into a well before ordering them to search for survivors and return in twenty minutes. Simple enough. Illeren then pointed to Bull, quite literally bulldozing his way through a mass putrid flesh and claws.
"Heh, Thunder Thighs. Imagine the songs the bards would sing." Ezra then glanced around, ready to step into the action, when he caught sight of Gretchen dashing off alone. He sighed, and debated going off on his own, before eventually deciding to follow her.
Big mistake. Ezra found himself distinctly apart from the others now, and just as he rounded a corner he presumed Gretchen had turned, he gazed upon a rotting, infected horse galloping towards him. Shit. Ezra ducked to the side, held his sword out, braced himself, and hoped for the best. He closed his eyes at the impact, but opened them to the ear-splitting, guttural screeching that emanated from the horse. He had cleaved it's front and back left legs, and now the beast lay in pain on the ground, two it's legs cut off and two shattered from the fall. Ezra heard a more human screech and turned to look at a mass off infested turning towards him, likely drawn by the sounds of the dying horse. They had been banging and smashing into a door that Ezra could only assume someone was hiding behind. His first thought was "survivor", but he had lost sight of Gretchen so it might as well have been her as well. Either way, roughly half of them broke away from the door and started sprinting towards him.
Ezra stood, already speaking the words and allowing the magic to flare up inside him. He ran his blade across the ground, drawing a smoldering line between him and the charging monsters before stepping back and readying himself. A more intelligent opponent would have easily recognized the trap that the Blackguard had set, but these were simple beasts now, nothing more. The leader of the pack ran head first into the smoldering line, and as he did, white hot flames spiraled up out of it, engulfing the rotting husk in a pillar of intense fire. When the flames retreated into the earth, the monster was nothing but blackened bone and crumbling, ash-like flesh. The others actually hesitated for a split second, but that was all Ezra needed. His blade flashed out like a bolt of lightning and into the nearest monster's neck. It's eyes popped out as fire rushed up and down it's spine, frying it from the inside.
Two more were on Ezra in an instant, no longer stunned by the heat. The first brought it's claws down in a wide arc, which gave Ezra enough time to get his blade in between them and himself. The rotted flesh was sliced through like butter, disarming the beast. Ezra lashed out with a kick to what had been the woman's knee, sending it crumpling to the ground. He spun around, lodging his blade into the torso of the second. It howled a confused and agonized howl as Ezra placed his off hand onto it's forehead and a searing brand of heat burned into it's skull. It toppled, it's brain melted as Ezra kicked in the skull of the other, still struggling to rise.
Still two more stood between Ezra and the pack at the door. They lunged, and Ezra raised his blade, impaling the first through the face, but losing his blade as the corpse fell to the ground. The second infected tackled him, just as he raised his arms to shield his face from the teeth. Talons dug into his forearms, biting mostly his armor, but he felt the pressure. He kneed the creature in the side, forcing it off of him. As it rolled, a claw caught Ezra in the jaw, tearing his skin from his chin up his jawline to his right ear. Ezra smashed one fist into the creature's face as he clutched the wound with his other hand. The beast raged against Ezra's weight as he pinned it down, continuously slamming his fist into it's head. At last, it's skull caved and he felt the last vestiges of life leave it's body. He gritted his teeth as he hastily cauterized the wound, leaving a gnarly scar.
"Shit, this is gonna take a week to get rid of! Bastard!" Ezra spit on the corpse before recovering his blade and setting his sights on the pack tearing into the door. "Hey uglies, fresh meat right here, come get some!"