Chapter 35 - Scurrying to Safety

General Summary

Though the swarms of rats have been driven back, and the guardians at the gates - vanquished, the invaders are not out of danger. Franz, up in the tower, and then, his companions down on the ground, see a horde of dirty people assembling on another plaza just beyond the open space near the gates. Behind them is what appears to be a bodyguard of a dozen or so armed ratpeople, who are providing protection to Reimar of Hegenburg. Reimar calls upon the people to partake of fresh meat, takes out a recorder, and begins to play. The sounds of his flute cause the rabble to begin to transform into bipedal rodents. It also effects Dmitrei and Dietmar, causing the former to double over in pain, and begin to retch.
The travelers beat a hasty retreat. Franz, under the effects of a spell that causes him to appear hither and yon, simply steps over to the other side of the gate, after blasting a pair of advance "munchers". Dietmar begins to try lifting the gate, but then decides to tie a rope to the pulley mechanism, allowing anyone up in his tower to begin to climb down. Nit makes her way down first, and follows Johann, mounted on Carrot. Ingrid  descends next, followed by Dmitrei, who was just barely able to flee from the advancing ratpeople. Dietmar is unable to hold on to the rope, and tumbles down part of the way, amazingly, being only little hurt, thanks to Divine Providence. Only Erich was left inside, as he fended off several of the rat people at the bottom of the tower, allowing the others to escape. His companions worried that he may have been overwhelmed, but after Dietmar's descent, he finally appears at the top of the tower, and makes his way down. He is without his halberd, however, which he used to push the rabble out the door, and then, to barricade the door. Having made their way down the wall, the companions swiftly retreat. Dmitrei does notice a large rat tail poking out of Dietmar's habits after the friar struggled to his feet.
After making their way into the woods (and avoiding being followed by the crows, courtesy of Franz, who blasts several out of the sky), they decide to make their way toward Wunschau. Dietmar tries to warn Franz away from this course of action, but the Wachtmeister says that he has invested money in silvered weapons which went to waste, and without such weapons, they stand no chance against Reimar's (or Matilda's) minions. He would also like to look in on the dwarfs of the Zwerghof, and to visit his family. Though Dietmar insists he is a wanted man, Franz insists that he will be able to enter and exit the town undetected.
The group find an abandoned farmstead, and rest there overnight. After sending the ill Dmitrei into a deep, restful sleep by giving him an Albenheim poppy to sniff, they settle down for the night. Franz is awakened by the sounds of people approaching, so he changes his appearance into that of an old man, and goes out to greet them. As it turns out, they are the Putzdorff bandits who were apprehended by the group some time ago, and turned over the Margrave to be retrained. They seem to have gone back to their old ways, and, without suspecting a thing, demand that everyone comes out of the shed, and lay down their valuables. Before they are aware of what's happening, Franz lays two out onto the ground, and the rest flee in terror. The rest of the night goes by uneventfully.
The following day, Dietmar's tail has vanished, and Dmitrei feels much better after his dreams and after Dietmar prays away his debilitating bruise (though he acts a bit perplexed, and spends the day poring over his chessboard). As his companions rest, Franz adopts another "old man" disguise, and goes into Wunschau. The place is not completely disordered, though the Flagellants are certainly making their presence felt. Franz goes toward his parents' house, but finds that he is being followed by one of the Giessler, who has an uncanny knack for knowing where Franz will go next. After making it home, he removes his disguise when his father opens the door. Franz drops his disguise. Reinhardt is overjoyed - the family had given him up for dead. He presses his son to tell him where he has been, though Franz's story proves to be a bit overwhelming. Reinhard also reveals that Adele has taken ill since his disappearance, while Rudolf - his surviving brother, has joined the Flagellants in order to help support the family. Reinhard's take on the Flagellants is ambivalent - he fears what they might do next, but dispels some of the rumors about them - they are not thieves, they burn luxury items rather than stealing them, and most of their ire is reserved for the rich and the dwarfs. The bishop is mostly cooperating with them.
Reinhardt insists that his son stay for dinner, and Adele gets up off her sickbed to cook him a meal. In the evening, Franz departs, saying that he is in the area, and will soon return. As he leaves, he finds the same cowled Flagellant in the alley near his house. Franz again changes into an old man, and begs his stalker for alms. The man places something into his hand before turning to leave. When Franz opens his hand, he finds that it contains a black pawn.

Rewards Granted

• A black wooden pawn

Missions/Quests Completed

• Escape from Hegenburg without serious casualties

Character(s) interacted with

• Reimar of Hegenburg 
• Survivors in Hegenburg 
• Bandits in Jutte's gang 
• Franz Schwarzhoffen family 
• A strange cowled Flagellant

Report Date

22 Jun 2021

Secondary Location

Wunschau