08/04/2018 – Steinhager’s House (18)

Friday, 28 April 1702

They have an awkward breakfast. Father Xavious leads them in prayer.

Gerhart checks the windows and notices there are more strange pale vagrants on the streets this morning, more than 10 of them. He shows Adolphus.

They discuss the danger faced by the vagrants. They could try to get them driven out of the city by the guards. Or they could capture one and interrogate them.

Bart puts on a disguise as a vagrant, stared at incredulously by Frau Bleaucher. He approaches a small group of three vagrants, watched by Leon and Gerhart.

Bart tries to interact with them, but they seem to ignore him. When he starts leaning on one of them, it begins to hawk some sort of spit. Bart holds up his cross and the vagrant chokes on some black phlegm that dribbles down his chin. Bart puts the cross in his faces and tries to leave. One of the others grabs his arm and tells him “The Darkness is coming.”

Bart returns to the house, telling them these people are odd and scary. He is stopped from entering the house by Frau Bleucher, who won’t let him due to him smelling badly. He has to wash in the horse trough and use soap.

Gerhart, Leon and Father Xavious go to see the City Guard Captain, to try to get his help. Gerhart notices at least 20 pale vagrants along the way.

In the sky, they see a strange black cloud. Father Xavious crosses himself. It is a sign of a coming Maelstrom storm.

Captain Helmut Lanzelt is a little busy but makes time to see you. He says he thought they had left, but apparently not. Gerhart tells him about the vagrants and Captain Lanzelt tells him he has had 8 complaints this morning about them.

He did tell Councillor Teugen about the problem, but he was told this is an enlightened town and it should care for the less fortunate.

Captain Lanzelt says he needs them to commit a crime to throw them out.

Agree to go with guards to the vagrants who attacked Bart and throw them out of town.

When get there, vagrant is still on the floor. Guard grabs him, he spits black phlegm in the guard’s face. He slashes him in the face and the vagrant starts bleeding. They carry him off.

Leon flicks holy water in the face of one of the other passive vagrants. It snarls at him and attacks, but Leon dodges. It then lies face down in the street so Leon puts more holy water on it.

It attacks him again, but they are in the middle of the street and a coach rides by and crushes it.

The coach stops and other guards arrive. Leon checks and the vagrant is dead. The guards take the body away.

The guards taking the wounded vagrant away return. The guard with black phlem on his face is not looking well. Father Xavious washes his face with holy water and blesses him.

They then discuss what to do next. Xavious tells them they need to capture one and take it back to the Steinhager house. They will need a sack to avoid it spitting on any of them. They get the same one that Bart and Hamish put Councillor Steinhager in. Bart goes in to the house to get Hamish.

They take him to a quiet area and his headbutts one of the vagrants and puts him in a sack, taking him back to the Steinhager house.

They unsack him and try to tie him to a chair. He suddenly becomes conscious and begins thrashing and snarling, fighting to get free.

Father Xavious commands him to be still in the name of the Lord and the vagrant turns quiet.

Father Xavious spends him interrogating the vagrant. It replies in a guttural voice saying he is here to foretell the Maelstrom and the coming of the Prince of Darkness.

He was a clerk in Bonn but the Brotherhood of Blood offered him a new life in the service of the Lord of Light.

They realise that the Brotherhood was going around the country and there could be hundreds of them.

Meanwhile, outside in the hall, Bart is watching Frau Bleucher prepare for lunch. Councillor Steinhager suddenly starts to say he must go and explain why he will not be joining “them”, the order. He must go to them.

Bart stops him and alert the others to Steinhager’s condition. He is obviously under a spell of some sort. Leon gives him Laudanum and he is taken to bed. Adolphus suggests that they put magical protection at the window, starting with Steinhager’s room.

When Gerhart looks out of the window, he sees there are a lot of vagrants, all standing around the house.

End of Episode Eighteen.