Her breath scrapes from her throat. Her skin is stippled with tiny red dots. When she coughs, you notice dark blood on her handkerchief.
"Don't fuss!" she rasps at anyone who tries to help.
Her illness is unheard-of; despite constantly complaining about her frailty, the Dowager hasn't had anything worse than a cold in years.
Available actions[]
1.
Deduce the cause yourself
(Requires 50 Scholarship) With the aid of the Well-Read Pig-Farmer's library, you may be able to discover the cause.
Result: Study by candlelight You work into the night, pouring over yellow pages with the Pig-Farmer at your shoulder. The symptoms match nothing in Olianna's Physick, nor in Polyosteres' Calamities of the Flesh. You turn to darker causes. After all, Thedas is replete with poisons. The Dowager is too lucid to be suffering from a derivative of Deathroot, too coordinated to have taken Adder's Kiss, and too alive for it to be the Quiet Death. Ah. Here - in Colostro's Naturea of all places: 'the venom of the wyvern is most potent and gives rise to a family of poisons developed in Antiva. They are recognised by a crimson speckling of the skin. Properly prepared, the venom is its own antidote.' Good news: you know what's responsible. Bad news: you're going to have to catch a wyvern. And there's still the matter of who did this to her, and why. You have a new case card. A new quarry has been added to the Hunting card.
-20 Clues, +1 Secret, unlocks Case: the Dowager's Decline and A wyvernhunt, The Dowager is gravely ill.
2.
Send for the Purveyor of Teas His fee is steep, but he is an expert in matters of sudden, inexplicable illness...
Result: The poisoning
"Havard's Grief," the dwarf tells you after his examination. "It already has its fingers around her throat. I can create an antidote, but I'll need a particular ingredient." You ask what. "A wyvern," he tells you. "Havard's Grief is derived from their venom. Bring me the head of one recently dead, and I'll do what I can to save your Dowager." There are a handful of wyverns left in the Applewoods, although it will be a difficult hunt. And there's still the pressing matter of who did this to her. You have a new case card. In addition, a new quarry is available on the Go Hunting card.
-3 Bags of royals, +1 Secret, unlocks Case: the Dowager's Decline and A wyvernhunt, The Dowager is gravely ill.
Bugs[]
Instead of losing 3 Bags of Royals for paying the Purveyor of Teas, the game adds 3 Bags of Royals instead.
