LogTorments of the Righteous-Jason-6

Game log for the 2019/01/13 session of AW: Torments of the Righteous, as taken by Jason

With Tendahl sleeping off his grievous wounds, everyone else ends up in the dormitory, chowing down on Dammerung food. It's not a luxurious place, but at least the interior spaces are well-lit by torches. It is cold, though. Barbarossa eats with Urwault and his brethren Eldecott and Himmler. Urwault asks how he came to be "in possession" of such a demon, and our pet Dammerung tells them the whole story, with occasional interjections from our friendly neighborhood Archimandrix. Urwault asks Hike whether there will be more trouble between the brethren and the orthodox church in the capital, and she rather expects that there will.

Urwault has other concerns too! Bettina left the monastary on the trail of someone called the Alchemist, a sorceror who claimed that demons could be reasoned with, bargained with, and otherwise managed. She wanted to kill him before his work got out of hand. Barbarossa tells him about Bettina's message in the bright place. Urwault says that the Golden Key is an artifact; any lock closed with the Golden Key can't be opened by a demon. There are specially forged locks that only the Golden Key will turn, and they're used to seal up demons and such. The dark well is purported to be a font of demonic power. Logically, sealing that sucker up with a golden lock would be a pretty clever move. Barbarossa mentions that it would be useful to have Tendahl involved in any caper involving mechanisms, but Urwault doesn't think Tendahl will be up for Serious Business real soon. Also, since Bettina already went out to investigate this issue, they're going to have to be careful what resources they throw at this quest.

Barb goes to the chapel, where he tries to contact Bettina in the bright place. He just can't seem to concentrate, because once he's in the bright place, there's this heavy breathing, Darth Vader style, raspy as hell, coming from a doorway just over yonder. He goes to the door, enters it, and finds a passage that leads down to the bowels of the monastary, to a room he's never entered before. The door is barred from the outside. He opens the bar and walks inside, and finds it's full of alcoves, which are full of casks. From behind the door to one of the newer ones, he hears a voice, which says, "Free me! Free me and I will help you find her!" He comes to in a cold sweat, with his hands clutching the altar. Brother Himmler asks if he learned anything, and Barbarossa tells him the entire truth. They talk for a little while, and Himmler confirms that the order will ensure that Barbarossa goes back out to the world with proper equipment for hunting demons.

Sabrina comes to Archimandrix Hike and asks for a word. She wants to talk about life as a Torchbearer. Hike tells her that her life is the road, and the road is always the same. Sabrina was born in the monastary, and has never been farther than Eisenwald. Eventually Hike begins to express a level of fatalism that Sabrina finds troubling. That doesn't stop her from asking Hike for a full briefing on the entire outside world, about which Sabrina will take notes. Hike agrees to tell her all about it as long as someone keeps her wine glass full, and over time, Sabrina just gets disgusted with Hike's whole approach to life, the universe, and everything.

"Archimandrix, when did you lose your faith?" "I don't know. Man, I'm not sure I ever had any to begin with."

It's safe to say that Sabrina will not be Hike's number one fan anytime soon.

A few days pass.

Meanwhile, back in Eisenwald, Inga's keeping house for Ramsbottom. Late one night, she's cleaning up the evening meal, preparing for morning meal, and watching her brewing, when she hears a strange noise, like maybe someone snuck in from outside. She goes to the door, which is near the backdoor that leads to the buttery, and finds no one there. She does see a puddle inside the door, and wet footprints that lead into the buttery, and then into the kitchen. From the kitchen, they lead upstairs. That's not good, since if something happens to Ramsbottom, she's out of a gig. She tries to sneak up the stairs, and sees that the Deacon's bed chamber is open. She sneaks to the edge of the door, working around the creaky board, and finds a guy with a wide-brimmed hat reaching into his coat for a very large knife with a forward-curved blade, like a pruning bill. She pulls her own knife and tries to stop him. As soon as she does, she steps on a creaky board, and the guy in the hat slices her, ripping a cut all along her forearm. She's bleeding a whole damn lot, and her scream of pain wakes the deacon up. The attacker comes at Inga again, telling her that he's sorry as he does so. She steps inside his next attack, shoving her blade up under his ribs and into his vital organs, but he gouges has shoulder pretty good as he falls.

As the guy on the floor gurgles out something, the Deacon just screams in bed. Inga asks him to be quiet so she can hear what the assassin is saying. By the time the racket dies down, all that's coming out of the attacker's mouth is pink foam. Ramsbottom identifies the dead guy as Lars, the previous housekeeper's father. Ramsbottom immediately starts rationalizing the entire affair, claiming that Lars was only there to parley, and she killed him. He does collect his wits enough to offer to go fetch the physician for her. She can tell he's also going to get himself some law. She decides that she doesn't trust them lawfolk and makes her way over to the Silt Pan, where the Torchbearers have been hanging out.

She arrives and finds the innkeep cleaning up and the room pretty still. He barely acknowledges her. About half of the Archimandrix' crew are still up and dicing. She asks them if they can help clean up her arm wound. They promptly send Little Rolf for the physician, which of course isn't going to help.

The physician arrives and declares her wounds grievous. He also identifies her as the Deacon's housekeeper, so she tells him everything, playing up how scary it all was for her. He believes her, but warns her that the Deacon tells the story differently. He bandages her up while warning her that since she's a stranger here and the Deacon is known, the case is going to be a difficult one for her. As the cops and the Deacon arrive, Ramsbottom points at her and calls out for them to arrest her. They approach, and then Inga proclaims her innocence. They promise her a hearing, but for now, she's arrested. Alderman Kurtz assures her that this sort of thing must be handled before a council of the village folk. She resists going to the jail, since she's innocent. She tries to insist that they can't arrest her since she's innocent. That doesn't carry any weight, but then she points out that her defense, in a court case, will involve the suggetion that Lars was there to kill Ramsbottom for his daughter's honor. Suddenly a trial seems like a worse idea. Still, she has to be arrested. At that point, Ardner volunteers to go with her to make sure she's fairly treated in their Stone Barn jail.

Tendahl comes to, and finds that Brother Eldecott is staying by his bed. Barbarossa and Hike come in soon after. Their efforts to cheer him up fail. Endecott asks if it feels different to be free of the demon, so the smith consults the bright place to see if he can get a clearer feel for that, less distracted by all the burns and the bleeding and shit. He realizes that he had been poisoned by anger, but now, despite the pain, he's at peace. Hike and Barbarossa assure Eldecott that the possessed Bishop was also chock full of unreasonable anger.

Anyway, they're all set to have Tendahl wait while Barbarossa and Hike go on their way, until Endecott casually mentions that the Elixir of Life might not be a good idea. Tendahl immediately wants to hear more. Apparently, it sometimes kills, and people occasionally hallucinate. Hike asks if the hallucinations are temporary or permanent, and apparently it can go either way. Sabrina also reminds everyone that Tendahl hasn't undertaken the Rigors, and Tendahl snarls that she should come over and take a good long look at the Rigors. She does so, and begins sketching his scars. Anyway, Tendahl wants to go make flamenwerfers, not lie here wondering how everyone else is doing, so the Elixir of Life is a solid go.

It arrives in a brass vial, and they pour it out into a small cup. It's a viscous white fluid, almost like rubber fresh from the tree. Tendahl slams it, and instantly begins to feel better. The blistered burns on his face instantly fade to old scars, his throat eases (though it's still raw), and his color improves. Tendahl announces that he'll be ready to travel the next day, and Endecott calls him "Brother Tendahl." Of course, he still hasn't passed the Rigors.

On the way down the hill, Archimandrix Hike reminds Tendahl that she really wants a flamethrower. He really wants to make flamethrowers. Their interests seem well aligned.

It's just Inga and Ardner hanging out in the Stone Barn right now. It only has one cell, so she has it all to herself, with Ardner watching from the outside room. She shares some absinthe with him. Kurtz sweeps in and walks her through Ramsbottom's story. It paints her in a murderous light, and though it's not the least bit true, he has credibility due to being a man of God. Inga asks Kurtz what he'd do in her situation, given that she's innocent. He tells her that in her shoes, he'd escape, leave town, and never come back. Of course, that's just his personal advice. He then tells the two men guarding the prisoners to come with him as he leaves, because they need a hot meal.

She tells Ardner to let her out so that she can leave town, or rather, so that everyone can leave town. He's willing to let her out for a barter, or rather, fail to notice that the door is ajar when he goes out to take a leak. She scurries out and finds some little kid who lets her hide out in a chicken coop. Meanwhile, Ardner runs out to the public house and tells the constables that Inga has escaped. Oh no, how could anyone have foreseen this outcome? There's a hue and cry, of course.

Tendahl takes a quick swing at convincing Sabrina to stop being such a stuck-up twit about everything, but gets no traction whatsoever.

The next day, Tendahl, Hike, and Barbarossa head down the mountain. It doesn't take that long for Urwault, Endecott, Himmler, and Schmidt to overtake them. They call out for the party to stop, and then accuse Barbarossa of stealing the key and the urn. Since nobody has entered nor left the monastary, it has to be us who took it. Barbarossa opens his coat to show that he has no urn nor key, and promptly discovers an urn there. He's astonished. Tendahl immediately asks if the jar is still sealed, and it is. Tendahl opens himself to the bright place and looks really closely at Barbarossa to see if he's possessed. He is not. That demon is just chock full of manipulation. Hike suggests that proximity to the demon has created this problem, letting them leave would be best. Nobody believes her. Tendahl convinces Barbarossa to stay and get cleansed, but Hike continues on alone.

When she arrives in Eisenwald, Ardner tells her that they have a problem.