Sidequest — The Quiet Fever
Sidequest — The Quiet Fever
Location: Infirmary, Bunk Hall Alpha, Old Vein Primary Focus: Medicine, investigation, hazardous recovery Recommended Level: 1–2 Expected Length: 45–60 minutes
Hook
Several Point Lotious residents have developed the same symptoms over the past week: fever, trembling hands, blurred vision, and patches of gray discoloration around the mouth and fingertips.
The safehouse physician, Doctor Sera Vale, originally blamed exhaustion and poor nutrition. That explanation no longer fits. Three patients are now unconscious, and the infirmary’s ordinary treatments have done nothing.
“This is not spreading like an infection. The patients do not share meals, bunks, or work shifts. Something else connects them.”
The illness has no connection to the prison escape, the Resonance Twins, or Helix Meridian. It originates inside Point Lotious itself.
What Is Happening
The affected residents all worked near an abandoned ventilation shaft connected to the Old Vein, a sealed mining level beneath the safehouse.
A damaged air recycler has been drawing microscopic mineral dust from the old tunnels. The dust contains a naturally occurring heavy-metal compound called lotium gray, which gradually builds up in the nervous system.
The condition is poisoning, not disease.
Ordinary healing can stabilize the patients, but curing them requires:
- Identifying the source.
- Stopping further contamination.
- Recovering a mineral-binding compound from an abandoned mining clinic in the Old Vein.
- Preparing enough antidote for the current patients.
Phase 1 — Diagnose the Illness
The party must earn 4 Diagnosis Points before accumulating 3 False Leads.
| Approach | Check | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Examine the unconscious patients | DC 15 Medicine check | Gain 1 Diagnosis Point |
| Compare work schedules and sleeping assignments | DC 15 Society or Perception check | Gain 1 Diagnosis Point |
| Test food and water samples | DC 15 Crafting or Medicine check | Rules out contamination in the kitchen and recycler |
| Analyze dust collected from clothing | DC 15 Crafting check | Gain 1 Diagnosis Point |
| Search old mining records | DC 15 Computers check | Reveals prior cases of neurological mineral poisoning |
| Inspect the ventilation network | DC 15 Survival or Perception check | Locates the contaminated intake |
A critical success earns 2 Diagnosis Points.
A critical failure adds 1 False Lead. At 3 False Leads, the party wastes valuable time pursuing an incorrect cause. One additional patient falls unconscious before the correct source is found.
Diagnosis
At 4 Diagnosis Points, the party confirms lotium-gray poisoning.
Doctor Vale can slow the condition, but she does not have the required binding agent. Old records indicate that the abandoned mining clinic stored emergency doses in a sealed medical cabinet.
Phase 2 — Seal the Contaminated Intake
The intake lies behind a narrow maintenance crawlspace beneath Bunk Hall Alpha.
Ash and metallic dust move through the duct whenever the primary ventilation fans cycle.
| Approach | Check | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Close the warped intake manually | DC 16 Athletics check | Seals the duct |
| Repair the actuator | DC 15 Crafting check | Restores normal control |
| Shut down the correct ventilation branch | DC 15 Computers check | Safely isolates the intake |
| Construct a temporary filter | DC 15 Crafting or Survival check | Stops contamination for one week |
| Navigate the crawlspace safely | DC 14 Acrobatics check | Avoids exposure and unstable panels |
A creature exposed to a major dust release attempts a DC 15 Fortitude save.
- Critical Success: Unaffected.
- Success: The creature is sickened 1.
- Failure: The creature is sickened 1 and takes a –1 status penalty to Dexterity-based checks for 1 hour.
- Critical Failure: As failure, but the creature also requires a dose of the antidote.
Sealing the intake prevents new cases but does not cure existing patients.
Phase 3 — The Old Vein Clinic
The abandoned clinic lies several hundred feet beneath Point Lotious. The connecting tunnel has not been used in years.
Old Vein Hazards
| Hazard | Challenge |
|---|---|
| Unstable access ladder | DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check |
| Collapsed passage | DC 15 Athletics or Crafting check to clear safely |
| Mineral-dust pocket | DC 15 Survival check to notice before disturbing it |
| Failing clinic door | DC 15 Thievery or Crafting check |
| Unpowered medical cabinet | DC 15 Computers check or external battery |
The clinic contains no living enemies by default. Its danger comes from neglect, toxic dust, unstable flooring, and failing equipment.
For a more action-oriented version, the excavation noise awakens one or more abandoned mining drones programmed to protect medical supplies from unauthorized workers.
The Medical Cabinet
The cabinet contains:
- Six intact doses of mineral-binding agent
- Two expired doses
- A compact diagnostic scanner
- Old worker health records
- One damaged automatic surgical tool
There are more patients than intact doses.
The party must either stretch the medicine or manufacture additional doses.
Phase 4 — Prepare the Antidote
Doctor Vale needs 5 Treatment Points to prepare enough medicine for every current patient.
| Approach | Check | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Prepare and administer intact doses | DC 15 Medicine check | Gain 1 Treatment Point |
| Test the expired medicine | DC 15 Crafting check | Gain 1 point without risking a patient |
| Reprocess expired doses | DC 17 Crafting check | Gain 2 points |
| Use the diagnostic scanner to calculate dosage | DC 15 Medicine or Computers check | Gain 1 point |
| Construct a blood-filtration device | DC 17 Crafting check | Gain 2 points |
| Monitor neurological response | DC 15 Medicine check | Prevents the next treatment complication |
A critical failure during treatment causes one patient’s condition to worsen. The patient remains alive but requires an intact dose that can no longer be stretched or shared.
Treatment Results
At 5 Treatment Points, every patient receives effective treatment.
At 3–4 Treatment Points, all patients survive, but one or more require several weeks to recover.
At 2 or fewer Treatment Points, Doctor Vale must choose which patients receive the intact medicine first. No patient dies immediately, but untreated residents remain seriously ill until more supplies are found.
Optional Discovery — The Covered Records
The clinic records show that the old mining company knew about lotium-gray exposure and concealed it to avoid shutting down the mine.
Several older Point Lotious residents may have mild, undiagnosed symptoms.
The party can give the records to Doctor Vale, the Tamsin Rook command staff, or affected workers.
This discovery creates a future decision: expose the former mining company, quietly treat the residents, or use the records to pressure one of its surviving corporate successors.
Rewards
| Accomplishment | Reward |
|---|---|
| Identify the true cause of the illness | 20 XP story award |
| Seal the contaminated ventilation intake | 20 XP |
| Recover the Old Vein medical supplies | 30 XP |
| Treat every affected resident | 30 XP |
| Preserve the diagnostic scanner | Point Lotious infirmary service improves |
| Recover the concealed health records | Evidence concerning the former mining operation |
Safehouse Benefit
After the sidequest is completed:
- Doctor Vale can treat mineral and environmental exposure more effectively.
- The diagnostic scanner provides a +1 circumstance bonus to one relevant Medicine check per patient.
- Point Lotious no longer risks additional cases of the Quiet Fever.
- The party can obtain one free environmental medical screening before leaving the safehouse.