AMBD: Key to the North, Session 2

The band of resurrectionists left off in the town of Wistchurch, a once-prosperous center of the faith now wreathed in fog, famine, and madness.

• Issac, a mad monk and dire occultist who once held Godwin's ear, banished now that his master has been felled.
• Marcelle Laferriere, the King's necromancer, with an uncomfortably sunny bearing for one mired in such grim work. Presently posing as a noblewoman.
• Millie, a quiet and tear-stained maidservant, now accompanied by the carefully-tended-to and freshly reanimated corpse of her fallen friend.
• Corey, a grimy and callous young lad, never hesitant to scrounge up coin from whatever sources make themselves available.

Even a solitary gold coin goes a long way in days like these...

 

 

Corey's insistence on reclaiming what he views as his has left the party in a difficult situation - while the theft of a gold coin is hardly a small matter, the simple truth is that being affiliated with a petty street thief risks the noble cover of Marcelle and their place within the keep, meaning that something must be done. Millie and Marcelle both move to block the door as Issac draws his knife, preparing to see the young boy dead - unfortunately for those plans, Corey draws a knife of his own, and the party enters another awkward phase of negotiation, as Marcelle is uncomfortable killing someone so young as Corey.

After some extended negotiation and squabbling, Corey manages to extract a debt equivalent to a gold coin from Marcelle, agreeing to drop the matter in exchange for those reassurances. The party is less than pleased with this state of affairs, but Marcelle is at least happy to have ensured no blood is spilled between friends. Conversation drifts from that point, eventually settling on the matter of Godwin's resurrection - Issac is firm on that point, viewing it as a matter of religious responsibility, proudly declaring the dead tyrant to have been the Saint of War and Progress. Millie and Corey are both distinctly unenthused by the prospect, and Marcelle is largely unopposed but cautions that he's not unique - still, Issac is less than enthused about Godwin's sons, noting that they are both unimpressive boys lacking their father's greatness.

Millie murmurs something disdainful, prompting Issac to interrogate her and ultimately impose a Rule upon her as his Steward and master, instructing her that she must always tell him the truth, but he ultimately abandons the interrogation for the time being at Marcelle's urging.

Ultimately, they opt to speak with Squire Cardenas once more - given the sabotaged ritual they've discovered, they ask for his help in the basement, opting to have him fetch a trustworthy nun from the local church as well. Corey questions him a bit more on the nature of knighthood, something that evidently wins the young noble's approval, and when the Squire leaves, he comments that Corey is a good kid, much to the discontent of Issac and the satisfaction of Marcelle. Corey is a little bit taken aback by the other young man's comment, evidently turning it over in his mind, and Marcelle encourages him to pursue the noble ideals of knighthood, hoping it will be a good influence upon him.

A squire for a squire.

Ultimately, the group decides that they will want to get some faerie charms, seals that protect against mind-affecting magic, but to do so, they will need to venture out of Wistchurch to speak with a local wise-woman. At this point, the party splits - Issac drinks with a local guard before convincing him to loan a bow from the armory, offering to split the proceeds of whatever he can hunt with the man, while the rest of the party proceeds down the road in the hopes of meeting with the wise-woman in question.

The larger group travels without too much difficulty, the wise woman less than half a day away - when they finally find the cottage, it's a relatively comfortable little home tucked away in the woods, hidden from those who might seek to prey on an isolated woman. The old lady admits them gruffly after determining that they likely aren't bandits or deserters, her granddaughter awkwardly standing watch as they explain that they need faerie charms. She insists on payment upfront, which they provide, as well as three days to ready the charms - given that they've been so polite, she opts to point them towards a relatively safe campsite nearby. After conferring for a moment, Millie banishes Corey outside to chop wood before inquiring after a tincture that might aid her development as a woman, noting that she's a late bloomer - the old lady examines her for a moment before sighing.

The cost is beyond what Millie can afford, but when faced with the maid's puppy eyes, the old woman ultimately backtracks, offering her a discount if she's willing to fetch some goods from town for her. Millie agrees quite happily, and they agree to come back in three days to pick up the charms and tincture.

They head to the allotted campsite, spending the night before turning their attention to the surrounding wilderness, hoping to replenish their rations in the wilds beyond the famine-struck walls of Wistchurch. They have little success in finding traditional food, aside from some simple plants, but Millie soon stumbles across a rather disconcerting sight - seven bodies in a ruined campsite, bodies belonging to the soldiers she'd seen chasing them back on that first night. It's something she feels torn about, at least for a moment, before deciding that the fresh bodies are useful - she summons the others, divvying them up between them.

Marcelle animates the strongest among them, an experienced sergeant from Godwin's retinue by the name of Hestin. To strengthen Edith, they feed one of the bodies to her, topping it off with fresh blood from Millie's wrist, something that should hopefully restore some degree of her higher functions, even if it won't be her. Corey bribes Millie to have one of the bodies for himself, hoping to take the man's strength for himself.

His hopes aren't realized, but sharp knives and hard eyes are more than enough to see the other bodies reduced to rations - they were fresh enough that it would last them back to town, at least, and they are quick to set off for Wistchurch after.

Grisly work.

In the meantime, Issac has ventured off into the wilderness on his own - while the mad monk has been recognized as a good man by the town guard, this has unfortunately not translated into capable skills as a woodman, and he quickly finds himself mired in the woods. He ventures around for a time, unsure of what he's looking for, but not succeeding in finding any animals or other food - after a day without food, he is hungry, but a howl shows that he will not be alone for long. Three wolves lope out of the darkness, circling him menacingly - as an occultist, he realizes that something is wrong, something more than just dire predators circling in the dark; these concerns are confirmed when one of them speaks in a crooning voice, mocking his plans for the resurrection, and his impudence for believing that the natural order of the world can be defied.

In this moment, he knows that these are creatures of the Devil, the reveling, masculine deity that sups himself upon the blood spilt in his name.

The monk looses an arrow from his bow, wounding the speaking wolf, though in the moment before he is ripped to shreds, something happens - a roar, a crashing through the brush, and a brutal crunch as something takes the wolf into its jaws. Issac flees in desperate terror, a puff from the dread beast's breath setting his cloak aflame, though he fortunately manages to extinguish himself in the plentiful mud produced by the heavy rain that's pounded down upon him ever since his departure. The next few days are defined by starvation more than anything else - he stumbles about aimlessly, desperately searching for food he cannot find as his condition grows ever worse, only to find food in the worst of places.

Bodies - this time not soldiers, but men and women of the cloth.

Even from a glance, the occultist can tell that this is the work of the Devil's followers - the way they were bound, the way they are arranged, the way they were killed, all of it points to that simple conclusion. The monk battles his hunger desperately, not wishing to give in, and manages to offer last rites to all but the priest before succumbing to his hunger. The body is fresh, fresh enough that it shares something with the monk, and when he has sated himself upon the man's flesh, he finds words that had once flown from the priest's mouth spilling from his own, well-worn liturgy suddenly bright and new again.

Guiltily, he does what he can to honor the body and clean himself up before moving on, soon sheltering in the ruins of a small farmhouse, where he finds a small amount of preserved food beneath the rubble. In the morning, he finally returns home, accompanying a small merchant caravan he stumbled across along the way, and arriving a day later than intended. While there is a small misunderstanding with the caravan - one makes certain assumptions when a crazed, armed man offers 'protection' along the roadside - they are resolved with profuse apologies once he realizes his mistake upon arriving at town.

The mad monk opts to remain in town while the others venture out, having decided that he needed a reprieve from the wilderness, and thus spends the next day or so relaxing and carousing with the guard who lent him the bow, the man happy enough to share what little was found by his new friend. The other three are quick to leave and even quicker to return, faeriebane charms and tincture secured and paid for; the wise woman cautions Millie that it will only last her for a month, so she would do well to plan around that where possible. Along the way, Millie's dress tears as they're navigating thorny brushes, and she resolves to fix it in the morning; when she wakes, however, it has already been fixed... and she recognizes the stitching as Edith's.

Out of the wilds.

Upon returning, they find a small retinue of soldiers at the gate, led by Sir Gilbert, the man responsible for the death of Edith - it seems he's seeking refuge within the town, though Sir Anders has refused him, forbidding any sizable force of men from entering the already-ailing community. Sir Gilbert is less than enthused about this, offering threats and enticements in equal measure, but Anders is not convinced, and so the ignoble knight rides off with his men, cursing the regent of Wistchurch as he goes. When the party is readmitted, they find that Squire Cardenas has apparently fallen ill, retreating to his room and insisting upon privacy - at the same time, a pious maid by the name of Amata has gone missing.

Concerned about his condition, Millie loans Corey a set of keys from another maid, and the boy ventures into the room quietly - he sees Cardenas, pale and shuddering in bed, with a small pile of bloodied linens beside him; upon spotting him, the squire insists that he leave with great urgency. Corey offers the poor man assistance, at which point Cardenas requests boiled vinegar, fresh linens, and clean water. The boy goes to fetch it quickly, but informs Millie of the squire's status, but not his requests - she independently concludes that the squire is wounded and goes to fetch a nearly identical set of things. Corey delivers his first, loitering outside the door afterwards as Cardenas attends to himself, verbally sparring with Millie at the doorway until a beleaguered Cardenas answers the maid's knock.

While he initially attempts to rebuff her help, she is quite insistent, and after a moment of hesitation, he cannot resist the urge to pull upon her assistance, shepherding her quietly into his room. She is in there for some time, but when she finally emerges, she does so happily, and with Cardenas in much better condition - Cardenas has gained Stewardship over her discretion, and she has gained the devotion of the Squire for her assistance behind closed doors. At this point, the Squire agrees to speak with the boy in private - their conversation is shorter, but similarly impactful, and Corey emerges with a promise from the squire to train him, having offered Stewardship over his honor, development as a warrior, and discretion in exchange.

Whatever has occurred there, both have agreed to keep the young man's secret, and the senior members of the group remain wholly unaware of how events have transpired.

A charming young man - surely he could do no wrong?

With that matter resolved, they opt to venture down into the basement the day after - Millie and Marcelle work to get Sir Anders drunk over dinner, allowing Corey to lift his keys as he retires to his bedchambers, and the group assembles at the stairway. They are joined by Squire Cardenas, now much recovered, and Sister Albin, a nun who indicates that the missing maid had reported suspicions of devilry to the town church in days prior. Cardenas offers Corey a decent, but unadorned arming sword - the boy had asked for his help in retrieving his stolen gold, agreeing to donate his ill-gotten coin to the church as repentance, with the retrieved money going towards this weapon. Corey is ecstatic, playing with the sword before rapidly realizing he does not know how to use it - still, a weapon is a weapon.

With heavy hearts and a pair of torches liberated from the keep's sconces, they venture down, Millie keeping watch at the entrance.

The stairs are long and narrow, eventually depositing them in a small, dry little dungeon with a pair of cells, little more than barred niches in the stone - while they are prepared to move on quickly, Issac notices a small form in one of the cells, hailing the attention of the others. Within the cell, they find the missing maid, nearly dead from dehydration - they give her water, then surrender her to the care of Millie upstairs, who takes the poor girl back to their rooms, allowing them to continue on.

Deeper in the cellars, they find a sizable storage room, containing plentiful stocks for the keep - while hardly enough to feed the town for an extended period of time, it would at least be sufficient to stave off the worst of the famine for a little while as other arrangements are made. There are no obvious paths forward, but, eagle-eyed as always, Marcelle thinks to check behind the largest of the barrels, finding that it obstructs a room.

The room within has a low ceiling, but glows with infernal light - there is a ritual circle there, lit by flickering candles, containing the maddened and giggling Lord Blackwood, in addition to his weeks-dead wife and son. From his prior research, Issac can tell that spilt blood would be the easiest way to dissipate the ritual - Blackwood was meant to die in it, whoever wrote the instructions having intended for him to act as a third sacrifice, but something has evidently gone wrong, and he yet lives. He raises this matter to the party, who soundly refuse the notion, and thus they attempt to spill the blood of multiple people as Issac leads them in prayer, attempting to temporarily abjure the circle so the Lord might be retrieved.

It goes... poorly.

A laughing lord, perhaps, but not a merciful one.

Darkness descends upon the room, their torches snuffed out, and the mad monk is struck even more mad, the boy's charms dulled by terror, and Marcelle's trappings stolen by the grasping hand of the Lingering Dark. Believing that he has dissipated the ritual, Issac steps forth, only to find himself replacing the once-trapped Blackwood, collapsing in laughter himself; the boy prepares to confront the fallen lord, but, struck by a moment of greed, he attempts to steal the Sword of the North from Issac instead of using his own, immediately falling prey to the ritual as well.

Whilst there is a moment of terror as half the party is incapacitated, Squire Cardenas, while a young man, is also armed with a longsword and clad in (battered) plate armor - this turns out to be quite a bit more than the mad-lord can handle, and with a few slashes, he hits the ground, his lifeblood and Issac's preparations seeing the ritual end.

In the aftermath, Corey insists that he be allowed to feast on the fallen lord's body, desperate for a taste of his strength, much to the consternation of the party and the confusion and horror of the nun and would-be-knight accompanying them. In the end, the boy is restrained, and they depart from the basements - much of the party retires to bed, while Cardenas heads for the church with Sister Albin to pray, trailed by Millie. The young nobleman is fearful that he will face consequences for his heroism in the morning, though Millie and the nun are quick to provide assurances - Blackwood was ensnared by devilry; that much was obvious to any, and the church is much inclined to stand behind a young, easily influenced slayer of warlocks.

In truth, the only real issue is Sir Anders... though upon waking, the party finds the keep in a frenzy, the man's throat having been slit in the night, clearing the last obstacle in the path of Cardenas' ascension. The squire is obviously bewildered by just how rapidly his fortunes have reversed, stuck between confusion and awe, but he is quite thankful to the men and women who've helped banish the devilry from the town over the last few days, offering them shelter in Wistchurch and generous compensation from his new coffers.

For a time, they are able to rest, research, and prepare for the journeys to come.