Chapter 10 - All Souls' Eve

General Summary

As Reinhard's owl flies overhead to survey the situation, Franz steps forward to meet the onrushing spirit. Perhaps under its influence, his body becomes blurry. The spirit screeches as it flies, cursing Franz, and causes him to flee in terror toward the castle gate. His place is taken by Dietmar, who begins bleeding from his hands, and attempts to touch Ruprecht, but instead, the spirit flies into him and disappears. Dietmar then turns to his companions and begins to berate Franz. "I brought you up to the service of the Master, and you disobeyed him, and destroyed me, making me wander the earth as a ghost in perpetuity!", he declaims. Cilly, who has drunk an elixir she prepared the day before, transforms into a horned creature that attempts to restrain the friar, unsuccessfully, but an onrushing Eddi is able to ensnare him in her net. The possessed priest begins to utter dark spells, and soon, Dietmar's illuminated staff is drowned out by an impenetrable darkness. While Eddi subdues the priest with her knife, forcing the spirit to exit him, Franz, after vainly begging the guards to open the gates, gets over his fear, and returns, glistening with a strange icy covering. Fearlessly, he charges into the darkness, which soon falls away, and begins to hack away at the ghost with his sword. No longer restrained by the net, Ruprecht flies up in the air and attempts to seize his nemesis in a foul embrace, but is kept at bay with Franz's sword. Meanwhile, Cilly resuscitates Dietmar, who then rushes forward again with bleeding hands. The ghost continues to hurl invective at Franz, saying that the Sensenmann told him to stay away from the sacristy and to search for more tunnels, but in his vanity, Franz assumed that it was rightful to take his place, and for this, he was punished. To charges that he betrayed his assistants and turned them into undead, he replies that in fact, the Master killed him because he refused to do that. Finally, after several more swings of his blade, the ghost retreats up into the air, but Cilly's well-timed throw of her acid-filled ball disintegrates him.
Puzzled by everything they have heard, Franz's companions question him, and he finally reveals the truth. He says that he did pledge himself to the Reaper in exchange for having his brother's life saved, but he never really had many dealings with Ruprecht while the sexton was alive. He tells them that he is not sure what he still owes to the Sensenmann after his brother's death, but begs them to not turn him into the authorities. The others, especially Dietmar, are skeptical of the explanation and Franz's decision-making, but as they debate, the owl sees two more spirits slowly approaching. One comes near - it has the appearance of Franz's brother Manfred. The other hangs back - he looks like Martin - Ruprecht's slain apprentice that later became one of the walking dead that the companions slew and burned. Dietmar is surprised - Martin was destroyed, but Manfred was properly interred in hallow ground. Manfred mouths inaudible words - he seems to be saying that he needs help. Since the guards still refuse to open the gates, Reinhard suggests that perhaps they should follow him, as he might be leading them to a place where he may be free of his miserable unlife.
Making their way past Saalfeld, the party follows the spirit back to the sacristy outside Wunschau, where Ruprecht made his home. They descend back into the cellar, and then, reopen the crypt. There, but the secret portal leading to the tunnels, they find a black, tattered cloak on top of a large hourglass with a wooden base. Both of these radiate magic, Dietmar says - some of it distinctly necromantic. Franz insists on searching the tunnels once again, and Cilly quickly fashions a knotted rope to allow them to descend with relatively more ease than last time. The tunnels are mostly empty - the skeletons have vanished, and only their rusted, rotten gear remains behind. Reinhard reveals that he came back and removed the bodies, after which he returned them to the dwarfs at the Zwerghof. Aside from that, the companions find a scythe on top of the flat stone table in the lowest part of the complex. Franz takes it, despite Dietmar's protestations. Reinhard suggests that these were left for Franz by his patron, who is giving him a promotion.
As the gates are likely locked, especially on this night, the companions return to spend the night at Eddi's house. The following day, they hunt for a way to identify the mysterious gifts. Eddi takes Dietmar clamming, and is able to recover some rough freshwater pearls which Cilly then polishes into perfect spheres. With these, she is able to glean the gift's properties - the scythe is a magical weapon, the cloak offers magical protection, and the hourglass is filled with powdered bone dust that allows one to communicate with the dead. However, both the scythe and the cloak have hidden necromantic powers that Cilly cannot glean. Dietmar urges Franz to abandon the items, but the Wachtmeister insists he will be able to find a use for them that his patron does not intend. As his companion puts up a brave front, Dietmar does notice that a few of his long hairs have turned gray overnight.

Rewards Granted

• Scythe +1*
• Cloak +1*
• Bonedust Timer

Missions/Quests Completed

• spirit Ruprecht defeated

Character(s) interacted with

• guards at Schloss Rabenwald 
• spirit Ruprecht the Sexton 
• spirit Manfred 
• Eddi's husband Friedrich 

Report Date

01 Dec 2020

Primary Location

Schloss Rabenwald

Secondary Location

Sacristy of St. Beatus Church, Westweg, outside Wunschau