07/06/2020 – Under Siege (7)
Cold Wind
While Alexis is out looking for any sign of the Cultists, in the church the survivor from the cave who had a fever begins to come around. He speaks in French, confirming that he is a Norman.
The doors to the Church suddenly blow open and a cold wind squall sweeps through the building. The skull and the bowl from the cave suddenly fall out of the altar. A nervous shiver goes down everyone’s spine. The two women from the village who were helping then leave.
Leofric looks out of the doors, but only sees Alexis returning on his horse. Father Dudda locks the skull and bowl back underneath the altar.
Preparing for Attack
Alexis tells them that he did not see anything. He has a feeling something bad is going to happen, so he starts to pray.
Leofric goes outside and begins to walk around the perimeter of the consecrated area of the Church, invoking Warding and Divine Protection.
Eadbehrt goes outside to do some divination and determines that a magical field is building up in the area. Alexis suggests that their “friends” are here. Æthelwyn asks how far magic reaches and Eadbehrt is uncertain but it is can be further than line of sight, especially if they have an item linking them to the personal they are attacking.
There is a knocking at the Church door while Leofric is still doing his warding. Father Dudda answers the door and lets Aelric and Joric in. Aelric says his son is not sleeping well since he came back and wonders if he has anything to help.
Aelric and Joric
Father Dudda suggests some simple things but once Leofric comes back in, he should be able to help.
Leofric finishes and comes to talk to them. He takes them in to the side chapel and examines Joric. He seems nervous and scared, saying he can hear the heart beat from the cave again. Leofric suggests that Joric should stay in the church that night and Aelric head home and rest, which he does.
Leofric then brings Joric into the church with the others and gives him food and drink. Joric says the heart beat cannot be heard in the church.
Tension Rises
Tate, one of the survivors, begins to have an anxiety attack, feeling trapped and wanting to go outside. “They are coming for us!” Alexis tells her to relax, he will protect her. Collectively, they are able to calm her down.
The Norman survivor now comes round and asks what is going on. He suddenly remembers men in masks killing his entire family then collapses again. Alexis comforts him and Leofric gives him some wine.
Things go quiet in the church and there is just the noise of the wind. There is a growing feeling of unease between everyone. Leofric proposes holding a mass and Father Dudda leads the ceremony.
As he moves to give Ieuen, the Welshman, the Body of Christ, he suddenly knocks it out of the Priests hand. He begins ranting and shouting, demanding everyone keeping away from him. Leofric tries to calm him down, but there is no calming him down.
Ieuen heads to the doors and tries to leave. Alexis intervenes to stop him, but he is too strong, pushing Alexis away and fleeing from the church into the darkness. Alexis says it is too dangerous to go after him.
Tate has another worrying fit, but Leofric is able to calm everyone down with a sermon. Father Dudda then finish the mass and the tension begins to ease in the church. People start to doze off as the gets late.
Smashing the Skull?
Alexis and Leofric use rope to secure the main doors of the church and bar the chapel door.
Leofric thinks they are coming for the skull and the bowl. He asks Eadbehrt if the Cultists could start the magic in the cave back up without the skull and bowl. Eadbehrt is not sure but thinks that is highly likely. It would be necessary to burn the skull or smash it into small pieces and scatter it over a large area to end its effect.
Eadbehrt also points out with the skull in the church, the Cultists have a way to get their magic in.
Church Surrounded
Aelric suddenly starts banging on the door of the church. He demands that Joric comes out of the church, it’s dangerous and they need to get out of here. They open the doors to the church and Aelric is stood in the doorway, looking beaten up.
Behind him, at the outskirts of the consecrated area of the church, are a number of figures in masks made of branches carrying burning torches. Behind them are other figures in darker masks.
A gust of wind blows into the church, causing Leofric and Alexis to stagger back. Aelric stumbles in and Æthelwyn with Joric look after him.
Under Attack
Leofric tries to pull the doors closed with rope, fighting against the wind. The four figures in made-shift tree-branch masks, carrying clubs and burning torches, begin to advance on the open doors. Leofric backs away as they start to swing their clubs.
Alexis raises his sword and shield and engages them. They hit him with clubs but it does not have much effect on his mail armour. He holds them off.
Aelric suddenly starts shouting in a deep voice “Give us the Sleeper from the Shrine and we will spare your lives!”
Alexis then begins to push forward, driving the masked figures out of the church.
Leofric goes to the altar and takes the skull out. He uses the large, iron cross from the altar to crush the skull into pieces, while forgiving its sins and giving it last rights.
Alexis now starts stabbing at the masked figures to force them to retreat. He stabs one of them and the others attack, but he holds them off with his shield. He stabs again and badly wounds one of them, causing him to collapse.
Fire!
The large robed figure standing on the edge of the churchyard, wearing a large animal mask and wielding a staff, calls out to “Burn them”. The remaining masks figures by Alexis throw their burning torches into the church and then withdraw.
As Leofric destroys the skull, the large robed cries out in rage “They have damaged the Sleeper!”
One of the torches has landed on a hey-bale and a fire is starting. Æthelwyn and Eadbehrt move to tackle the fire, but a girl’s voice calls out behind them “look out!”
Possessed Survivors
Two of the survivors, the Norman man and Rand have blank looks on their faces and are reaching to grab Æthelwyn. The last survivor who was unconscious, a small girl, has woken up and called out to warn Æthelwyn that they were coming for her.
Æthelwyn manages to finish putting out the fire while avoiding being grabbed. The Norman man and Rand close in to corner Æthelwyn and she sees that their eyes have rolled back into their heads.
Outside, as the masked figures retreat, Alexis advances into the churchyard. He sees that the main figure in robes is wearing what looks like a horse mask. Alexis finishes off the injured masked figure on the floor.
Æthelwyn puts out the burning torches in a soup pot but the Norman and Rand grab her. Eadbehrt, Leofric and Father Dudda then intervene to subdue them, with Leofric using his staff to knock out their legs and hit them in the throat. Leofric is a little rougher with the Norman man.
Bear Attack
The robed horse-man gestures with his staff and a large, powerful man wearing a bear mask and furs over leather armour and carrying a two-handed sword moves to attack Alexis.
Alexis backs off as he advances, retreating back into the church and closing the doors. The bear-man is advancing quickly, barging into the doors which are being held by Alexis and Leofric. They are both big men and are just able to hold the doors closed. The church doors creak and begin to crack under the strain.
Alexis tries to stab the bear-man but misses. The bear man then thrusts his large sword between the doors and starts to use it to try to lever the doors open and attack those inside.
Alexis gets his shield and tries to bend the two-handed sword but is not able to get into a good position to do so. The two-handed sword is withdrawn and the weight comes off the door.
Leofric takes the opportunity to rope the door closed as fast as he can. He then leaves Alexis to defend the door and heads to the back of the church, passing Joric who asks him to help with his father, who is in a bad way. Leofric says he will come back after he has checked the windows in the chapel.
Æthelwyn, Eadbehrt and Father Dudda subdue and begin to tie up the Norman and Rand, who are still acting strange.