The search for Brother Dalton, part 2

[Graybeard]

[OOC: No prob, we all have lives. (In that vein, I'm going to be intermittent for a week starting next weekend.) Let us assume that Argus, Tammy and Rose tuck into steaks at Geno's and enjoy themselves -- as presented up until now, it isn't a complete dive -- and otherwise await developments at the "seamstress" place. Speaking of which, developments there await Desiree's response to Anfisa's question about healing the diseased guy. So back to Therese:]

Therese cringed at Mordan's magical digging, but somehow it seemed to work; a passage was now becoming visible beyond the shimmering magical curtain, leading off into the gloom. "Well, that looks like our way out," she said. "Let's get going."

Although I wonder why that curtain was there -- to keep things out, or to keep things in. And I would almost convince myself I heard voices through the ceiling a minute ago.

[Drusia]

And it's a Brothel. This may actually be the most likely place for a group of Gorelian men to come. We should get out of here.

"Can you heal him if they'll help us?"

I blink. Heal... oh. Him. Um...

"Diseases are harder to cure than injuries," I reply softly, "And I'm not sure this is the best place to hide. The Gorelians are likely to check here." Or come here later for recreation.

So, my choices are Keyes who can't tell a brothel from an embroidery shop and the madam who just offered me a job. Well, that's not hard.

I turn back to the Madam.

"What my friend meant," I say quickly, "Is that there are several people chasing us. We're seeking somewhere to hide out until they leave. We didn't realize the nature of your estalishment until we stepped inside - the men we're trying to avoid will likely come here if they don't find us. If you have somewhere safe for us to hide, or can recommend somewhere that would be safe, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement. I've done this sort of work before and am quite skilled."

There - that should clarify our situation and I've also offered a means of payment that can't simply be taken from me. Hopefully the madam will be sympathetic to our situation.

-- Desiree

[Graybeard]

The madam put two and two together, and got five.

"there are several people chasing us. We're seeking somewhere to hide out until they leave." The only people who "chase" outsiders in this part of city are the Eisenfaust, since they don't let anyone else do any chasing. (She hadn't heard about the recent battle with the Ralkin.) That means they're on the run from the Eisenfaust ... and I can't do business without their protection. I certainly can't have them pissed off because I'm sheltering someone from them. And I certainly can't put these two -- three? -- to work without the Eisenfaust signing off on it. The part about the drunks doesn't hold together. (She was quite wrong about that last part, of course.)

"That will be all, Rusty. Please fetch Boof," she said to the unfortunate youth who'd come through the door, and who now returned to wherever he'd come from. Momentarily a much larger, hostile-looking man appeared at the same door.

"You should leave now," she said to Keyes and the women, her voice suggesting that she would brook no argument ... just as a drunken Gorielian folk song became audible in the distance.

[Alberich]

Anfisa took Desiree by the arm and began to back away. It looked like being caught between two fires, but she'd had more time to think now. She whispered to her lover once again. "Let's walk out and turn away from them so they don't see our faces, but if we have to, use that wondrous magic you used in the south." Then she looked up at Keyes and added winsomely, "You'll protect us, won't you?"

[Graybeard]

Keyes flushed at Anfisa's words. "I'll try." Without thinking about it, he fingered the figurine hanging from the chain around his neck.

He knew a little about the way the Eisenfaust worked, enough to figure out that this place would probably be under Eisenfaust "protection" (and would be paying for the "services"). With this knowledge he figured out why the trio was getting a hostile reaction. He held up a hand. "Wait a minute," he said. "Dit idn't what it look like --"

"Leave," the madam said, her voice getting firmer. "Now." The large man who'd just appeared was brandishing a similarly large, spiked club.

Keyes gulped. "Okay. Dut let ut go out by the back door, pleade?" A place like this always had a back door.

The madam considered. The bordello was an Eisenfaust "client," just as Keyes guessed, and she didn't want to get crosswise with her "protectors." On the other hand, blood on the furnishings was bad for business. What the Eisenfaust didn't know couldn't hurt them. She looked disgusted and pointed to a door, which the large man opened with a gesture that couldn't be misinterpreted.

It was with considerable relief that Keyes and the women stepped through, finding themselves outside the back door ... just as the Gorielian "diplomats" came through the front door. That was the good news.

The bad news was that they'd emerged in full view of a different mob, of sorts.

This one consisted of three Veracian priests from the temple, plus a pair of men in the uniform of the Veracian militia. The priests and guards alike were all young and not as wise to the ways of the world as they thought they were. Because they were young, they were also physically fit. And it was Wednesday.

The shortest of the priests got a look of surprised indignation on his face. (This was faked. They knew exactly where they were, and they'd been waiting for just such a group to emerge from the den of sin.) "Sinners!" he screeched. "It is time for a smiting! Take them!"

The other priests and the militiamen rushed forward, and before Keyes knew what was happening, firm hands gripped his arm, and those of Anfisa and Desiree.

[Alberich]

[OOC: Whoah! In the past we've always portrayed smitings as a kind of penance that faithful worshippers of Luminosita get, not as something they do to the unconverted Heathen in towns where they have only a small missionary presence. I know you like to portray Orthodox Veracians as subhumanly stupid - but don't you think this is pushing it too far?]

[Graybeard]

OOC:

[OOC: Whoah! In the past we've always portrayed smitings as a kind of penance that faithful worshippers of Luminosita get, not as something they do to the unconverted Heathen in towns where they have only a small missionary presence. I know you like to portray Orthodox Veracians as subhumanly stupid - but don't you think this is pushing it too far?]

Well, three points. First, this is Lorrel, in Farrel, not Kiyoka, in Tsuiraku. The Veracian Church has a distinctly tighter grip on Farrel than just "a small missionary presence" -- remember, for example, that the Amraphels are from Farrel, Sara was raised in an orphanage run by the Veracian Church, and Jon absorbed the church's creation myths, etc., as a kid (and rejects them as an adult). From their perspective the "unconverted Heathen" are their unconverted heathen, or more likely, backsliders from a country that was originally well under the Veracian thumb devoted to Luminosita but, with the growing Tsuirakuan influence there, is slipping away from the One True Path. If anything, I think we've downplayed the role the Veracian Church plays in Farrel compared to the Poe-verse. Until recently, and possibly to this day, the majority of Farrelites have been followers of Luminosita; Poe said so. So there's no cultural barrier to doing what these guys are doing. (Note, btw, that on the political side, the weakness of formal government in Farrel would give the Veracians relatively free rein in doing what would normally be a serious breach of international relations. The local "government" isn't going to stand against the church. The Eisenfaust would be strong enough that they could ... but it would be bad for business.)

Second, the first time smitings were ever mentioned, it was all about "lustful harlots" that Meji invoked, and the guards bought that part of it; the thing they didn't buy was the timing. It's only in the game that we've taken a more -- nuanced view of smitings as being part of the penance for the faithful. Rose has lampshaded this, and in the process, made it clear that while the basic ritual is for the faithful, excesses do occur. (Nor are those who regret those excesses all outside the Orthodox church.)

Third, these kids are stupid...

The more experienced -- wiser -- people at the temple would not necessarily approve of the way this is shaking down. Actually, the most conservative/traditional of them probably would approve, from what little we know about smitings in Errant Story itself. But there would presumably be wiser heads as well. So let's role-play this. There should be opportunities for any or all of Tim, Audie, and probably even Rose to intervene before the excrement hits the rotary oscillator. Let's just do it in character.

[Alberich]

[OOC: On the greater strength of the Veracians here, I grant ye. That does fit the comic well. But if the city hasn't been taken over as part of Veracia itself -- which it definitely hasn't in the comic or this game -- then you'd expect the Eisenfaust to be stronger than the Church here, and the Church unwilling to send out armed groups to grab and beat Farrelians outside a whorehouse under Eisenfaust protection, especially since the Eisenfaust control so much territory. We've been portraying the Veracians as having some sense of diplomacy after all, minus maybe this drooling cretin.

Remember that Meji's encounter where she talked about "smiting" was in Veracia - and as far as I know that's the only reference in the comic. That fits what we've been doing in the game. A Veracian harlot would presumably be a member of the Church living a sinful life, and as such subject to the sacraments, including smiting. Though the comic and the game both suggest that a certain amount of prostitution is tolerated even there, as makes a great deal of sense. Grabbing perfect strangers in a heathen country to administer a sacrament? That feels way overboard.

I could kind of understand an undisciplined mob choosing to do it on their own initiative -- like the whipped-up revivalists in Elmer Gantry -- but putting the priests into it makes it look like an official Church policy or else an outright mutiny against Church leadership; I think you should change the priests to "civilians" and delete these last three posts. In fact I think you should delete these last three posts anyway. And if you say we must leave it as priests acting beyond their authority, okay, I'll play it out.]

[Graybeard]

OOC: Let's play it out. Nobody, in character or OOC, has said these young priests should be behaving the way they are. (OTOH, I remain to be convinced that it would be out of role for them to be doing it -- but I'm not interested in another trip around that mulberry bush.) Note that this is not a set-piece "problem" for the PCs to "solve." It's an opportunity for character play, and things could plausibly develop any number of ways from here, depending on how the characters behave. So let them develop.

Incidentally, note that this ambush is taking place outside the bordello. The Eisenfaust's interest is the profit-making arrangement with those on the inside, not what happens to the clientele afterward. If these zealots had waded into the bordello itself, the Eisenfaust would most definitely have noticed, and would have taken certain (ahem) steps to make sure it didn't happen again. But that interest, and the protection, would stop at the door, as long as no one from the "staff" of the place was involved ... which might suggest a direction the play could go.

[Drusia]

"Sinners!" he screeched. "It is time for a smiting! Take them!"
The other priests and the militiamen rushed forward, and before Keyes knew what was happening, firm hands gripped his arm, and those of Anfisa and Desiree.

Oh gods! I've run from the mild threat of being recognised by random Gorielans into the very real threat of being tortured by the Luminosan church.

Part of my mind recognizes that I should call up some of Anilis' power and attempt ritual magic to distract them, but that logical voice is drowned out by adrenaline. Pure terror pounds through my veins. Reason fails and instinct rules.

I scream at the top of my lungs and struggle like a trapped animal; I thrash my limbs, claw with my nails, and even attempt to bite one of the men holding me.

I keep at it until something hard crashes into my face. I am stunned for a moment. I taste blood - mine. I open my mouth to beg, plead - apologize - but another blow takes me and I can't breathe and another - my head explodes into flickering lights and whiteness and then ---

-- Desiree

OOC: In case it isn't clear, that was Desiree getting knocked out.