Maggots

Lucatore - April 19

People

Maren Kaltstein Kuno Brechbühl Anastasia Frostmane Nero Vex Fernex Carmino Ferro Thread Tullen The Edict Deceased Baptist Altair Emissary Neva Verena Vikal Scirocco, the Sinner Decoy 5

Factions

Altair Envoys The Cloister

Locations

Lucatore The Bleeding Ram

Interrupted sleep

Maren and Kuno return to their shared bedroom at the Bleeding Ram. A few hours into the night, they wake to the loud sounds of repairs. Custo, a Scrapper, is fixing the Inn’s broken boiler - strangely at this hour. Upon discussing this with him, the Hellvetics notice that he hides a Borcan accent beneath his strong Purgan language.

Later that same night, at the chapel, Anastasia and Nero awake. Outside, Fernex tries to control his dog, Atilla. Anastasia quickly understood the dog was completely taken by the Primer. It takes her and Nero a few attempts to finally kill the animal.

Fernex cries as he sees his dog dead. From the torn belly, a multitude of maggots come out of the big animal.

“The third sign will come (…) The Sinner was right!”

Shouts someone from the gathering crowd.

Carmino Ferro tests with his mollusk and confirms the presence of Primer matter. He notes that, on many days, this is the first time the mollusk has twitched.

Thread does not wake up. Tullen hears the commotion outside the chapel and takes the opportunity to do some push-ups to strengthen his body.

Digging the grave

Anastasia and the Hellvetics find Carmino and go to Altair’s grave again. They make sure they are not seen while they dig by the boulder to access the body below it. Hours and much sweat later, they see the body was partially crushed under the weight of the rock. Carmino is still able to take some samples to test the hypothesis that Altair was poisoned.

As they are putting all the earth back, Anastasia sees the forest at a distance. Suddenly, Fernex is seen entering the woods by himself.

Children in the Cloister

The young party - Nero, Tulen and Thread - visit the Cloister in the morning. At the gate, they find it difficult to express themselves, but eventually get taken to Emissary Neva. Before arriving at her chambers, Thread sneaks out and enters the Arcades, where Anabaptists pray. There he meets Verena.

The young Anabaptist tells Thread she only works and would like to play more. She also explains that Altair was a great man, but his marriage to the Emissary was deeply saddened when their young son, Vikal, became sick and died two years ago. Verena played with the boy when she was younger.

“Vikal was very funny, loved butterflies, but never spoke.”

Altair was buried beside his son.

From the Emissary, Nero gains another blessing on his disk, to once again try the ritual in respect of Altair. Neva rolls her eyes and asks the boys to go on. On their way out, they find Thread again and see Verena being harassed for not working.

Afternoon

Later in the day, the group separates again. Maren and Kuno visit the location Altairs body was found. Kuno is able to follow footprint tracks from there up to the forest on the North East.

Anastasia and Tulen visit Scirocco, the Sinner. He is being held at Alms House, alongside the other Flayers. He explains that Lucatore will fall, because it has enriched by selling poisoned oils. The oils contain the Demiurge’s blood, which Anastasia interprets to be Burn - safely used by her clan in Pollen.

Nero and Thread enter the forest, searching for Decoy5. Thread now has a secret to share with him. Instead of finding the Chronicler Shutter, they find a deer hanging from trees.

A terrible smell of rotten carcass fills the air. Maggots fill the ground. They are thick and twitching. They grow wings and start pursuing Nero and Thread, who run away back to the cemetery.