Chapter 11 - The Grain Riot

General Summary

After noon, the party decides to head back into town to speak to the bishop about finding a way to cure Dietmar and Eddi of lycanthropy, though they realize that it's likely to bear heavy (or even insurmountable) costs. Upon reaching the Mondhausplatz, however, they find that some members of the town council are on the scaffolding in front of the Rathaus, and a fair number of citizens are shouting them down on account of the recent hike in the price of grain instituted by Wolff the Miller - the town Vogt. Franz is pulled aside by Hilda - the captain of the watch, and told that he must put himself between the councillors and the mob, to control the crowd. The Wachtmeister does as he is told, wondering how the situation is likely to develop. Erich and Johann are there with him, more interested in relating their carousing exploits from the night before. The crowd demands Wolff's removal, and demands that the councillors not adopt the usual tactic of forming subcommittees and stalling.     
The rest of the party heads into the cathedral, to seek out the bishop, and eventually finds him frantically packing his belongings. He is concerned that the mob will get out of control and sack the Vogt's residence, weakening Wunschau's unity and complicating the town's relationship with the margrave. But even more so, he worries that Hilda, who is a zealot, will open the town's gates to the flagellants, which will not only endanger his own position, but that of the Faith as a whole. With respects to the personal concerns of party members, he says that he has his hands full with the situation outside, and will consider their request once things settle down. Dietmar then undertakes to speak to the citizenry and work toward a compromise, which somewhat alleviates the bishop's concerns. Returning to the square, the friar climbs up to the scaffolding, and pledges to press the council to deliver a demand to Wolff to rescind the price hike. When the crowd receives assurances that this will happen by noon of the following day, the pressure to take drastic action lessens somewhat. One additional demand - that the Rathskeller offers discount drinks to all comers for the rest of the day further defuses the situation, and Franz triumphantly leads his comrades in the Rathaus. The party soon begins to spill back out onto the town square. 
The rest of the group sets out in search of Hilda, who seems to have vanished while they were in the cathedral. They find her in the Rathaus steeple, watching the proceedings from above. When asked why she is not actively controlling the crowd to make sure the mood does not change yet again, she says that things are developing as they should. She has no problem with the militia fraternizing with the mob, or even marching off to seize the grain or to lynch Wolff, because she believes the price hike was completely senseless in the current situation, that Wolff and the rest of the Council is corrupt, and so is the bishop. She also submits that everyone is aware of the fact that the price hike is simply a mechanism of extortion - Wolff is simply hoarding grain to drive up the price. Further, she has no problem with admitting the flagellants inside the city gates, because she thinks they are represent the Faith more truly than the bishop, and because she thinks they are the only ones capable of reestablishing after Wolff's imminent ouster. She tells the party members to be sure to choose their side wisely, and advises them to say the same thing to Franz. 
Aware of the depth and gravity of the situation, the party returns to the plaza, where the party is becoming more rambunctious. Dietmar proceeds back to the Rathaus, where the council meeting is in full session. He presses Margaret the Jeweler and Leonhardt the Vintner, who seem to possess the most authority, to immediately draft a letter to Wolff to rescind the price hike and offer some free grain to the people, who are on the verge of starvation, and also to step down, in order to preserve order. The council is skeptical that Wolff will see it this way, but seeing no better path to keeping the situation under control, agree, and charge Dietmar with delivering the message.
In the meantime, Reinhard returns home, and pens a letter to the margrave. Therein, he says that the Council is not fulfilling its responsibility as a governing organ, and that Hilda is essentially staging a coup against its authority, and his. He summons his owl, ties the letter to its leg, and sends it on to Schloss Rabenwald.  
Cilly stays to keep an eye on the rest of the companions, who by now are becoming quite inebriated. Erich and Johann, who join them, are quite happy that today's party has turned out even wilder than the previous night's, and soon, Erich passes out underneath the scaffolding. Franz initially has some thoughts of leading a mob to the mill, but his focus soon changes to going to the cemetery to dig up his deceased brother Manfred , and to use the magical hourglass to ask him why being buried in hallowed ground did not prevent him from rising as a troubled spirit the night before. Erich is roped into this enterprise (which will be followed up by a trip to the house of ill repute), but before the group leaves the square, Cilly suddenly finds herself holding a mountain flower. Initially, she thinks it's a present from Erich, who is having amorous thoughts, but the big guard denies this. 
In the meantime, Dietmar delivers the Council's demands to the mill. As he leaves town, he finds the gates open, contrary to what Hilda stipulated earlier. He knocks on the gates of the compound, and soon finds himself confronted by barking dogs and several well-armed men. Initially, he speaks to Wolff's son, but soon, the Vogt himself emerges. After Dietmar hands over the letter, Wolff denies the charges of the people, councillors, and Hilda regarding the reasons for the price hike. He says they are all well aware that because of the Plague, insufficient grain was gathered during the harvest, and that only doubling the price was a compromise on his part, and that he is already taking a loss. All the rest are simply abdicating responsibility, risking starvation, and moreover, endangering the town's independence, because the margrave will certainly revoke Wunschau's freedoms if Wolff - his appointee -  is forcibly removed from power, and especially if the town guard sides with the mob and the flagellants. When Dietmar impresses the gravity of his situation upon the Vogt, he partially relents, and turns over several sacks of grain for the friar to distribute. Dietmar rolls a heavy wheelbarrow back to the plaza, and begins doling it out, though he finds that the mood of the people who remain here has once again turned more belligerent. Reinhard soon returns, and the two share recent developments with one another. Rumors begin to fly that messengers have already left to bring Jakob Böse and the Giessler to town. As a small mob marches off to the mill, the two men follow them.
The rest of the party returns to Eddi's house to grab shovels before proceeding on to the graveyard. Once there, they find a bouquet of flowers similar to the one that appeared earlier in Cilly's hand. The plague doctor looks at them carefully - they are mountain flowers that don't grow this late into the fall. As she wonders about where they could have come from, Franz and Erich have another change of plans - they decide to stage a mock fight. Both strip off their armor, and start trading blows. Eddi's husband Friedrich emerges form the house to see what all the noise is about, and who the strange men his wife keeps bringing home are. Though Franz uses some magical subterfuge to land some blows on his huge comrade, Erich hits him with a right cross, creating a large bruise, and eventually, lays his companion out on the ground. For the pugilists and their spectator, the night has come to an end.
Dietmar and Reinhard accompany the mob back toward the mill, trying to dissuade its leaders from their chosen course of action. A quarter of the mob consists of members of the City Watch, and they are not to be deterred. Just outside the city gates, Reinhard summons a magical platform, climbs on it, and then begins to conjure swirling shadowy forms in order to cow the rioters into submission. Just then, the sounds of hoofbeats are heard, and soon, ten riders emerge into view, and surround the mob. The riders are members of the Margrave's retinue, and they demand that the mob disperse and that everyone return to their houses. But they look on in horror at the shadows floating around Reinhard.

Character(s) interacted with

• Hilda, Captain of the Wunschau City Watch
• Erich and Johann
• Udo of Plewa, Bishop of Wunschau
• Bedrzich, the Bishop's assistant
• Members of the Wunschau Rat
• Wunschau citizens
• Wolff the Miller
• Margrave's armed retinue

Report Date

08 Dec 2020

Primary Location

Wunschau