LogTorments of the Righteous-Jason-17

Game log for the 2019/05/12 session of AW: Torments of the Righteous, as taken by Jason

Barbarossa, Eldicott, Sabrina, and Bettina are hidden amongst the standing stones, waiting for the mixed Kingsguard / Torchbearer force to attack. Barbarossa knows that even the stupidest opponent will encircle him, though given the vast disparity in numbers, it's almost impossible to avoid that.

Archimandrix Hike has lead Lt Sir Mads to the edge of the hill, and Mads is a little taken aback and the scale of it. He asks the Torchbearers to form a perimeter, both to protect the fighters from demons, and to keep the heretics from sneaking away. Hike's more than happy to do so.

The Kingsguard approach warily, and the Dammerung open fire at range, trying to keep the Kingsguard off the hilltop. Behind the cover of the stones, they're able to give as good as they get, but Barbarossa takes a bullet hit. Bettina says, "You're the only one who can do this," and tosses him into the well. As he falls, she says, "I've always loved you."

The rest of the Kingsguard charge up the hill and slaughter the Dammerung, who they outnumber ten to one. The Torchbearers tighten the circle as they go, ensuring that nobody escapes.

Barbarossa hits the water hard, and loses his crossbow. He swims hard for the portal, opening his brain to the bright place as he does.

Hike observes the battle, which goes on longer than she ever expected it to. The Dammerung die fighting, but Barbarossa is not to be seen. Hike looks into the well, but of course she sees nothing. Jens approaches the Archimandrix and confirms that Barbarossa has not been found. Mads asks if he escaped past the Torchbearers, but none of them saw him, nor to they believe anyone could have gotten past them. Hike does take her time checking with them, and then tells Mads that he didn't break their line - but she does not tell him anything about the well. Lt Sir Mads then asks if perhaps the personal bond between Barbarossa and his former Torchbearer comrades might have been a factor. Hike knows he's looking for an explanation of where the missing Dammerung might have gone, so she points him to the well. Mads, agast, says that the well would be madness. Hike laughs and tells him that's exactly right, and Barbaross's madness is what lead them here. She then tells him that Barbarossa has escaped from this well before, but he did so with a rope. There will be no rope this time. They all decide to head back to town before a demon shows up. They return to town unmolested.

Lt Sir Mads is in charge of the Kingsguard now, since everyone senior is a casualty. He wants to root out all the heresy from Nachtburg, and he wants the Archimandrix to help. She's not sure she can help convince the townsfolk to go along, but she can always hit people who won't cooperate. They approach the rudimentary gate under a flag of truce, and Mads tries to talk sense to them. One of the townsfolk sees Hike and screams, "We don't allow Torchbearers in Nachtburg." Someone shoots a crossbow at Hike and hits her, though it's a modest wound. Mads orders the battle resumed.

Hike and the Torchbearers take no part in the charge. Hike's going to need medical treatment for that wound.

Tendahl tries to distract himself with work, but can't resist periodically checking on the battle and wincing at the screams.

About half of the militia end up killed as the Kingsguard force their way in. Those who did not take up arms do OK, since the Kingsguard are fairly disciplined. The Kingsguard take everyone to the chapel. Hike sees that Himmler and Schmidt have donned the garb of townsfolk.

The Torchbearers get Tendahl's wagon and lead it up to Nachtburg. As they enter, it was clearly a pretty blood campaign, with a score of corpses being dragged into the center of town for the pyre. Mads and the clergy are forcing the townsfolk to organize by families, and then approach, family by family, to re-swear their allegiance to the Church and the King. Some of the villagers refuse, and for the moment, they're taken off to the side.

Hike asks Tendahl where Carl is. Tendahl doens't know until Hike points out that he's actually right there, sleeping in the wagon, clutching Barbarossa's shotgun. Um. Best nobody sees that. Tendahl throws a tarp over the boy so nobody will see that.

A startling number of the villagers have drunk the Dammerung Kool-Aid and they're refusing to take new oaths. Mads has assured them that Barbarossa is dead. They don't care. Hike goes over there and starts yelling about how Barbarossa abandoned them to this and doesn't deserve their loyalty. That's enough to convince Thaddius Margner to change sides, and a fair number of villagers go over to the Church.

Tendahl also tries to persuade people, but he wants them to swear false oaths and betray the church at a more advantageous time, or maybe keep their heresy quiet. He figures out the ringleaders who can help convince people to do that. He knows they're going to leave a priest behind, and people will have to work around him. Eventually whoever they leave behind will think the situation is under control, and then, they can strike. His words leave an impression. He's also able to do it all subltely enough to avoid any of the authorities catching on to this brazen display of treachery. Only a couple diehards, like Klaus Mechner the Younger, absolutely refuse, and get taken away for official trial on the charge of heresy.

As things wind down, Mads tells Hike that he's glad things settled down, because he was afraid they'd have to douse all the torches on their way out.

The Kingsguard and all their entourage stay around for two days and then move out. They leave a small detchment of troops behind with a priest (Deacon Engsauer) and an acolyte to take over the town.

Over in Schwartzhoele, Inga's got her still fixed and the bar running. Hike and her gang come in, led by Hermann, Jens, and Fritz, who are all too happy to see Inga again. Franz jumps onto a table and tells everyone about the battle of Nachtburg, with embellishments. By the end of the night, everyone's heard the story, though it's possible it was never told the same way twice. One version has Hike being the one who talked the Inquisitor out of excommunicating the town. Inga asks after Carl and Tendahl, and while they have no idea what's up with Carl, they tell her that Tendahl and his new apprentice stayed in Nachtburg.

Jung comes in, and Inga does to attend to him. Once that's done and she's back at the bar, it's just a blink before Fritz starts staring at Jung's table, murder in his eyes. Just as he gets up to go start something, Inga calls him over and hands him a beer. She's too pretty for him to stay angry. After she explains some things to him, Fritz ends up admiring Jung.

At the bar, Lt Sir Mads talks to Archimandrix Hike about Lord Eisenbach. They both agree that something is off with that guy. Mads thinks Flaubert is a worm, too, which would certainly contribute to the troubles in this ville. Meanwhile, in the background, Hermann and Fritz are fighting.

Inga, for her part, pours two absinthes and takes them over to Hike's table. Mads greets her in a friendly manner as she welcomes him to Der Flammenkamber. Hike, meanwhile, is giving Inga an arctic stare that threatens to freeze the CO2 out of the air. Inga says hello to Hike as well. Hike whispers, "What did I tell you?" It's an innocuous question, but her tone is enough to make Mads push his chair back. Inga says, "No worries, enjoy," and turns away. Hike comes to her feet. Mads pushes his chair back farther. As Inga walks away, Hike follows her.

Hike's gang knows that the look in the Archimandrix's eyes means. Body language is changing. As Inga does behind the bar, Hike tries to grab her and pull her into the kitchen. Inga's not exactly unused to grabby hands in a bar, and eludes Hike's grasp. Jens stands up and asks the Archimandix what's going on. She tells him to sit down, still in her rage-filled whisper, and Jens says "so be it," and instantly backs down. Hike then tells Inga to come with her.

They go in. Danzinger is already there, and Marko follows right on Inga's heals. Hike tells Danzinger to fuck off, and he departs with haste and urgency. Marko's not to easily cowed, though, and asks what the meaning of this is. The Archimandrix tells him to get out too, but he tells her that if he has a problem with Inga, she has a problem with him. Well, she does have a probem with Inga. Marko tells her, "Young lady, I don't want to hurt you." She tells him he can have the first shot. He says, "Wouldn't be sporting." She grabs his balls and crushes them in her fist, and while he manages to hit her upside the head, the balance of advantage clearly goes to her. Hike feels something pop as she squeezes, and the fight goes right out of the bouncer. She growls, "Don't come back," and opens her hand. Marko crawls outside and pukes in the bar.

Alone in the room with Inga, Hike explains to Inga that this is what happens when she breaks the rules. Inga says she's being silly. Hike asks if anyone in this town knows she's wanted for witchcraft. Inga tries to read Hike and see how to end the feud, and reckons that it can't happen unless she admits to Hike's authority and shows her some gratitude. Inga tells him that she appreciates all the help Hike's given her in the past, and that this feud is silly in this messed-up world they live in. Hike points out that Inga gets run out of every town she visits, so her gratitude and hospitality aren't worth much. The maestro'd explains how she managed to take the place over and the roots she's been able to put down. They eventually reach an uneasy truce, cheap booze in exchange for an end to violence. On her way out, the Archimandrix warns Inga that Jens has the clap.

When Hike walks out, the bar is absolutely silent, and most patrons are staring at the door. When Inga follows her out, there's a sort of collective exhalation and release of tension.

Barbarossa's in the cave under the well, trying to contemplate recent events, aware that at some point, things went bad on him. He's hoping for some insight to come from the bright place. Instead, he hears some rumbling from farther back in the cave, where it's dark. He keeps an eye open but doesn't go any further into the cave until he can improvise a torch. The scrabbling noises in the back changes into a click-drag cadence. Slowly, something comes into view. It's a smaller demon, and whereas they're usually dark, this one has color. When it sees him, it's teeth start clicking.

He says, "Do you speak, demon?" It stops and looks at him. He can see that it's child-sized, and it has one leg and one not-a-leg thing, forcing it to drag itself along with its arms. One arm ends in an insectoid spike, and the other is a sort of twisted and withered human hand. Its face lacks lips. One eye is faceted, and the other is human, but it doesn't seem to track anything. He asks how it came here, but it doesn't reply. He cheats over to one side so that it can get past him and leave if it wants. It's aiming for him instead.

Barbarossa goes back to work on his torch, trying to light it before the monster gets close. He succeeds by using almost all his remaining dry gunpowder. The clicking of its teeth stop as it sees the torch, and it sort of gargles something at him. He replies by saying "then get the fuck out," and gestures toward the pool. The human eye that wasn't tracking locks on to the torch. The human half seems to want to go forward but the nasty half won't come nearer. He edges around it and kicks out, booting it into the pool. Its spike catches him in the head as it goes, and that eye's pretty much gone. Barbarossa is now Broken as well as Disfigured. The monster goes into the pool. It flails around in the current and then moves toward the side that Barbarossa came from. As it does, its form changes, becoming more monstrous.

Carl waits for things to cool off a bit, then goes over to the miller's, to see how Sonja's doing. She's fine, being way too smart to pick a fight with a bunch of Kingsguard. She recognizes him immediately, even though he looks different now. She tells him he's too late for Barbarossa, but he tells her he's not in town for that, he's here to help Tendahl close the well. She tells him Tendahl will need the rubbings Barbarossa took, and gives them to him. Then she invites him to come with her as she delivers her care package.

Carl goes back to the wagon and delivers the package. Tendahl knows what they are immediately, but he's surprised to hear that they came from the miller's daughter. He agrees to come with them to deliver the care package.

Tendahl sees the road the villagers were working on, with peat burners set up to create a safe path to the hill. On the way, Tendahl and Sonja get acquainted. They all know the way, so it's not hard to out to the hill. The bodies are all gone. Sonja mentions that she laments Bettina's death, but perhaps it's for the best, as she would have come between her and Barbarossa. Oh, and she thinks of herself as Lady Barbarossa.

Once they're at the well, she pulls the leather-wrapped package from her basket and starts to sing. She tosses the basket into the well. Tendahl tries to persuade her to include a message to wait, because they'll come back with a rope, but she thinks that would be superfluous.

Barbarossa has to dive into the pool to get the basket. He does so, and gets it just right, which proves to him that he has figured out the currents and eddies town at the bottom of the well.