Lifting The Curse

Without anyone in the fields to witness his approach, Winnacer reaches the outer most cottages before one of the villagers sees him.

'STRANGER! STRANGER!' shouts a ragged elderly man as he sees him approach and rushes for the square, shouting as he goes. The other villagers are immediately alerted by the old man's shouts and they too rush to the steps of the Temple where they start to quiver in fear.

With the villagers attention being diverted, the spellcasters and archers advance forwards a little so as to get an even better view of the square and to ensure that all of their spell are within range of the area, as well as giving Winnacer some support in case things get a little nasty.

As Winnacer advances towards them, the doors to the Temple opens and the fat form of Baltzarek emerges, flanked by six acolytes, all dressed in the same black velvet robes adorned with the skull logos. They are all carrying the silver skull maces.

As Baltzarek sees the young lord approaching, his face starts to go red with a mixture of anger and fear. He glances over to one of his acolytes, the one that was spying upon the party when they first made camp. Baltzarek slaps him in the face, hard:

"You fool!" he cries. "You told me that they had left from here. You shall be punished for your failure"

The acolyte gives Baltzarek a look of hatred as a response.

"Oh yes' thinks Yaz to himself. "I'd forgotten about him. He could make this thing a lot easier."

Having dealt with the acolyte, Baltzarek starts to speak to Winnacer, his eyes almost glowing with rage:

"You did not heed my words. You are deliberately bringing undeath to the people of Dobroushka. Your presence here alone is enough to destroy the delicate balance that holds the evil forces of the Tower at bay."

He turns to his people as he continues:

"There can be no co-incidence that they return to endanger us just days before All Hallows Eve, the night when the necomancers' powers are at their zenith and the living dead rise from their graves to stalk the land once more, and witches fly above them. They are in league with Boscobelous himself and have come here to corrupt us and bind us to their evil wishes."

Having heard Baltzarek's speech before, Winnacer ignores him, and speaks directly to the villagers:

"People of Dobroushka, heed my words. The curse of Boscobelous has been broken, his animated form no longer walks on this good earth. The horrors of the Tower have been met and put to eternal rest."

"He lies" screams Baltzarek "He is simply trying to trick you into performing the dread king's bidding. Do not listen to him!"

There is some discord amongst the villagers and they all start talking to each other. Some are obviously in support of the Death Priest, while the others are interested in what Winnacer has to say.

"People, please hear me out, for I have ample proof of our deed. The Tower now has the Banner of Bohavia flying from its highest point and its guardians have been buried or scattered to the winds. The terrible truths of the Tower have reached the light of day, as the ancient diaries of Boscobelous have been recovered. In these tomes, the origins of Dobroushka are featured prominently."

"In the days of your ancestors, a Priest of Smurt named Vatzlav Baltzarek made a deal with the Necromancer Boscobelous. Baltzarek supplied Boscobelous with the necessary corpses for the mage to practice his dark arts upon. It was Baltzarek that supplied Boscobelous with the knowledge that twisted the fabric of Boscobelous' mind as well. Baltzarek has been using your village as a source of bodies for experimentation for centuries. The Priests of Smurt have been lying to you, sacrificing your first born to their malicious God. Your children have been sacrificed to Smurt's monstrous appetite, not to save your village from any undead threat."

"It's all lies!" screams Baltzarek. "He is saying just whatever it takes to set you against your protector. He knows that I am the only person stopping him from taking your souls and sentencing you to an eternity of living death rather than the true paradise that awaits you all in the afterlife. Do not listen to him any longer."

The majority of the villagers are quiet, however, wanting to hear more of what Winnacer has to say.

"I understand that my words are difficult to believe. I am a stranger in this village who accuses your leaders of horrible sins. All I ask is for you to open your eyes and your minds and allow for us to provide you with all the evidence you will need to see what the truth is. And once you know the truth, we will aid you in seeking the Justice you have been long due."

As Winnacer finishes, the crowd goes quiet as they start to talk amongst themselves excitedly. As he hears them doing so, Baltzarek continues with his crazed preaching, yet few seem to be listening to him apart from his acolytes. Then, the acolyte whom you charmed walks away from the pack. He climbs upon the well in the center of the village square so as to see over the roofs of the cottages and casts his eyes in the direction of the Tower.

"What the stranger says is true," the acolyte says. "There is the Banner of Bohavia flying above the Tower."

"It is just an illusion," cries Baltzarek. "They are trying to lure you to the Tower so that you may be consumed by the evil within. Pay no heed to it."

More of the villagers advance towards the well, craning their necks so that they can see the banner.

One of the older acolytes takes his mace and starts to walk towards the acolyte on the well. However, Baltzarek stops him by grabbing his arm. He then whispers something in his ear. The man nods.

The young acolyte speaks to the villagers:

"I do not know who speaks the truth, whether it be Father Baltzarek or the stranger, but I cannot live in the knowledge that I had the chance to find out and refused it. I'm going to the Tower with the stranger. Who will come with me?"

A painfully thin man in his early thirties comes to join him:

"My wife killed herself after he took our daughter and I have naught to live for. I have little to risk in finding out the truth."

The rest of the villagers are quiet, obviously considering their next steps. One by one, they walk over in silence and stand beside the acolyte and the other villager.

Strangely, Baltzarek is silent as he watches his flock leave his side, his face expressionless.

Once a handful of villagers have moved over to the well, the remainder follows them quite quickly. Three of the younger acolytes look at each other and then join the villagers, leaving just Baltzarek and the two older priests standing on the steps.

"Take us to the Tower" says the first of the villagers to Winnacer.

As the villagers start to shuffle away from the well in the center of the square, Winnacer sees Baltzarek whispering to his two loyal henchmen as he turns to enter the Temple.

Winnacer's eyes follow the Priests into the temple, and he gives a quick glance around. He raises his hand above his head with his palm wide-open - the universal sign of 'stay put.' With a quick prayer to Spravedelna, Winnacer mounts his warhorse:

"To the Tower then. Let your eyes be the proof to my words."

Winnacer then escorts the villagers to the Tower, the whole time keeping his eyes open for treachery. He waves off the others, confident that he can keep the lot of the villagers safe enough while mounted and armed the way he is.

Will whispers to his fellow group members who have remained hidden during the interchange:

"Let us stay here and deal with the priests. Perhaps one of us should go and join Winnacer, but the greatest danger lies with these three priests here. I wonder if there is a secret underground tunnel to the tower from within the temple or something? Perhaps we should go ahead and go in after them."

"I do not think we have time to go searching for such an entrance, brother," Jihan pipes up in a whisper. "If they do not emerge soon, then perhaps it would be good to cautiously approach the temple and attempt to get a look inside one of the windows, with my cornering mirrors perhaps... Otherwise, it would no doubt be safer remaining out here to keep an eye on those front doors. I would hate to be caught behind the temple snooping around while the priests snuck out to go after Winn, who's all by himself right now."

The elf then pulls out his metal flask of black sleeping venom, and begins readying a couple of arrows.

"Just in case your enchantments do not work so well on them," he says in way of explanation.

"We must center our attacks on Baltzarek," he continues, stating the obvious. "Hopefully, all of us will not fail."

He turns his gaze anxiously back towards the doors, awaiting the worst.

With the villagers seemingly on their side, the five do not want to antagonize them by attacking the Death Priests in front of them, so they wait until Winnacer has led the people away from them. After five minutes, one of the priests returns leading an ox and cart which he leads up to the door of the Temple. He climbs up on the back of the cart and waits.

A couple of minutes later, Baltzarek and his other henchman emerges from the Temple, each carrying a chest. From the way the fat priest is puffing and panting, the contents are obviously pretty heavy. The two of them pass the chests up to the henchman on the cart so that he can place them upon it.

As soon as they have all three of them bunched up, they strike, unleashing a hail of spells upon them.

Will is first off the mark as he utters a quick incantation and tosses a fistful of rose petals towards the three priests. He is rewarded by seeing both of the henchmen fall into slumber, but Baltzarek still remains.

Faewen'il immediately follows up by uttering the same incantation and tossing a pinch of sand towards Baltzarek. However, her spell has no effect upon Baltzarek as he drops the chest onto the cart and looks around him.

Before he has a chance to act, however, Yaz completes his spell and the others see Baltzarek's mace start to droop a little as the shaft of it is bowed into a shape that makes it all but unusable.

Baltzarek starts to shout out dire curses as he sees his henchmen fall, but this is cut short, however, as Hrust completes his casting and points towards the Death Priest. As all goes quiet, Baltzarek immediately realizes what has happened and starts to bolt away from the steps. Unfortunately, Hrust's spell was a little off target and so the center of the spell landed just behind the cleric.

As the cleric rushes towards you and is about to cast, Jihan unloosens the first of his sleep-poison coated weapons hoping to bring him down quickly before he has a chance to unleash some devastating clerical magic upon you. He sees the first arrow strike true, hitting the cleric in his leg and inflicting a quite deep wound. He does not, however, appear to be getting drowsy. Jihan immediately follows up with a second arrow and again sees it strike true, hitting him in the arm this time. However, once again, the sleep inducing poison seems to have little effect.

In response, Baltzarek rushes out of the area of Hrust's silence spell and towards the party. As he reaches the outside of the area, he starts to cast towards the position where Faewen'il and Hrust are situated. As he does so, the lass goes stiff, unable to move.

The element of surprise now having gone and Faewen'il out, the chances of swiftly taking out the priests without the party causing any damage to them, or vice versa have slimmed considerably. They all start to panic a little as they try and come up with some other way of dealing with the threat.

Jihan draws another couple of arrows from his quiver and tries to coat them with the sleep poison, cursing his luck at losing the scabbard that could have coated them immediately.

Hrust casts once more towards the priest and then lets out a great roar of triumph as Baltzarek goes as rigid as Faewen'il.

With all three Death Priests now incapacitated, Will swings into action as he rushes over to Baltzarek and starts to bind him securely with his rope. Jihan performs the same exercise upon the two henchmen, binding them securely back-to-back. Once they are sure that they cannot escape their bonds, they wake up the two henchmen and Hrust releases his holding spell upon Baltzarek.

Baltzarek is in quite a bit of pain from Jihan's arrows, but is still able to speak. Rather than anger, however, his attitude is one of fear and he starts begging:

"Please, please" he begs. "Please do not kill me. Look, look in those chests. They contain my life savings, everything that I own. It's yours. Please take them and let me go. It's a fair deal don't you think? Please, let me go and I will never bother you or the village again. Think about it. You will be rich. Please take the money and let me go. Have mercy upon us. We wished the people of the village no harm. We were just trying to save them. You cannot kill us for simply keeping to our beliefs, even though you may not agree with them…"

Baltzarek continues gabbling on for ages, panicking as he continues to beg you for mercy.

Jihan goes to the chest and checks them for any kind of traps, but there appears to be none. As a result, he cautiously opens the chests. Inside them is a mixture of coins, silver and gold in the main.

"There's about 600 gold pieces in there altogether I would reckon."

He picks up some of the coins in order to investigate them more closely.

"Strange" he says while looking at them. "These are of Silesian (the neighboring country to the north east) mint rather than Bohavian."

"Well obviously we're not going to let him go" says Will. "I think that we should just wait here until Winnacer returns with the villagers.

After another ten minutes, Baltzarek's holding spell over Faewen'il expires and she comes to her senses, relieved to be over the unpleasant sensation.

Meanwhile, Winnacer leads the villagers up to the Tower, all the time watching the acolytes to see whether they are planning anything. However, they seem to be sincere in wanting to investigate the Tower for themselves.

After an hour, Winnacer has led them to the base of the Tower. As they approach it, Winnacer can see that the villagers are getting more and more scared with every step closer to the Tower that they take. Winnacer has to constantly reassure them at every step of the way as it is obvious that a great many of the villagers are having second thoughts about getting too close to the source of their fear through the centuries.

Upon herding them up the hill, Winnacer ties up his horse and advances to the door, opening it and stepping through into the Tower. For a while, the villagers just stand outside, quaking with fear, being too petrified to enter. Winnacer tries to calm them some more and eventually the thirty year old man , who gives his name as Karel Erben, walks up to join Winnacer:

"I will enter the Tower with you, stranger. As I have said, I have already lost everything that is dear to me and so I have nothing more to lose."

The young acolyte that was spying upon you, known as Lukash Papik, follows straight after him:

"I too want to discover the truth."

After the first two volunteers have joined Winnacer, the remaining villagers' fears start to subside and they start to shuffle forwards.

Once Winnacer is confident that they are following him, he starts to give them a guided tour around the Tower, investigating each room and telling the villagers of the party's triumph over the forces of evil, as well as the cost to them in the lives of Zsolt and Viirin. Eventually, Winnacer leads them to the top floor of the Tower and shows them the sooty spot upon the ground that is the last remains of Boscobelous. Once the villagers have seen with their own eyes that the Tower is now empty, he begins to lead them back down the hill towards Dobroushka.

The villagers are babbling with conversation on the hour-long journey back down the hill. All of the villagers are overjoyed that the threat that has cursed all of their lives has now been removed. Winnacer detects that the villagers are, however, divided on the subject on Baltzarek. Some, such as Karel Erben are furious with the Death Priest for taking his infant daughter's life unnecessarily, when the threat of the Tower was possible to eradicate. Many of the others, however, argue that the Death Priest was simply doing his job in protecting them from the horrors within the Tower and that he had succeeded in keeping them safe from harm since he took over the role as Priest, even though the cost was high.

This debate continues amongst the villagers throughout the journey back to Dobroushka.

Back outside the Temple...

"I believe you are right , brother," Jihan says to Yaz. "These men are only practicing what they know, and what they were taught to believe. Smurt is as much a part of the cycle as Prirodna herself, and I cannot hold it against them that they choose to follow His ways."

The elf pulls out some mint and bandages, binding the priest's wounds himself and then helping him to his feet. Though showing some remorse for having wounded the man perhaps unnecessarily, the elf cannot shake a sense of pragmatic paranoia.

"We still have time until they return from the tower, Baltzarak. Tell us your story, and tell us no word of a lie. We know the truth of the origin of the practices carried out here, and the true history of the tower and its denizens. Boscobelous' lair has indeed been cleansed, and there will be many angry people returning from it shortly. I can understand that you may have been doing what you believed was right to protect them, but I cannot fathom why moving them away from this place wouldn't have served the purpose better. I am sorry that I may have acted too hastily in wounding you, but there was no other way, as you may have paralyzed us all and had us in your power if we had stopped to parlay. Perhaps we could have talked this out peacefully then, but what's done is done. I am willing to hear truth this day, if you are willing to tell it. I will warn you though, that my friends here have blessings from their respective deities that allow them to detect falsehoods, so don't contrive to spin us a tale of such."

The elf then moves to seat himself on the ground, keeping a hawklike gaze on the man and waiting for a response.

Baltzarek calms himself a little as Jihan starts to talk to him:

"Thank Smurt that you are civilized people that can be reasoned with," he says. "When you started to overpower us, I thought that you were only interested in pillaging the village. If this is your goal, then I know that the remoteness of Dobroushka makes it an ideal target, but you will find nothing here of interest to you."

"I still find it hard to believe that you have indeed been able to cleanse the Tower of the evil within, but I can see that you are convinced of the matter. If you have, then the Curse of Dobroushka has truly been lifted, and for that we should all rejoice."

"However, I would ask you not to condemn the ways of Smurt in assuring the villagers' safety for the past five centuries, for it has succeeded in its task of protecting them from the tragedy of undeath. I have been following the instructions handed down by High Priest to High Priest over the generations in that none should enter the village and none should leave the village for fear of upsetting the balance. If you were born in Dobroushka, and lived everyday in the shadow of that accursed Tower with its inhuman abominations, wouldn't you too do everything in possible to protect yourself and your family from the curse of living death? So it is with the villagers. I know that life is not easy here, but it is a life and all those that live it naturally can look forward to the paradise that awaits them in the hereafter."

"Although I am happy that the curse has been lifted, if this is truly the case, I fear for the reaction of the villagers. I have always told them that it was impossible to conquer the evil inhabitants of the Tower, as my predecessor told it to me, as it was told to him by his. How could I know that it was not true? I wish not to engage the villagers in debate concerning the matter, but believe it to be best for all were I to simply leave this place with my meager possessions and make a new life elsewhere."

"Is this really too much to ask of you? If you agree with me, then I would just ask you to let me go on my way so that the villagers can start afresh and restore Dobroushka to the state that it was in before the curse."

A look of outrage crosses Will's face as he speaks to Jihan:

"Death is truly part of the cycle, but starving these poor villagers while feeding their own bellies is not! Neither is sacrifice of innocent babes! Does it not seem suspicious to you that these charlatans did not seek the truth by going to the Tower, but rather immediately made to skulk away from the truth, stealing the wealth of Dobroushka with them? Open your eyes my friend! I grew up in a temple, and learned much of many of the gods. Smurt is the god of death. Cold hard and merciless, but at the same time, plain evident and natural. He is not a god of deception, but rather submission to the natural order and cycle. Evil men such as these twist the truth and use people's fear of death to impose all sorts of blasphemous religious lies upon others."

Jihan glances at the bard with his fiery eyes in response, though his face remains calm:

"I did not say that these men were not wrong in their actions here today, or in days past, but that the religion of Smurt in itself is not something to be despised out of fear of it. The world is full enough of lives ending that I know Smurt does not require sacrifices to appease him, though his twisted congregation in Boscobelous' lair certainly may have. I know that Smurt shows no preference towards those who keep themselves closer to death over those who actively try to avoid it, in both thought and action. If there is any truth to the words of this priest, then it will be revealed with Blesk's blessings through Hrust, the witness of the villagers and whatever evidence lies within his temple. That he continued with the practices so long may be a testament to ignorance or one of avarice and self-elevation. This we will learn shortly. Then he will answer for his crimes, as would any breaker of the law, or any breaker of the faith of those that he was supposed to be protecting. You talk about law, brother, and yet you would condone seeing these priests virtually lynched without hearing a word of their half of the story? There are always two sides to the law, no matter how heinous the one may be. I would not put these men to the blade simply because they were carrying out what they were taught to believe since birth, if indeed Baltzarek was born here," he says, looking towards the chest of coins with suspicion.

"Nor would they fall beneath my sword for trying to escape and preserve their own lives in the light of what we have accomplished and the possibility that they would be killed, though this would weigh heavily against them on the scales of justice, and in Smurt's own eyes. And justice will be done..."

Jihan then turns to regard the village, looking at how pathetic the remaining crops are and how derelict the buildings, save the temple, all appear:

"It is not a wonder to me that these priests seem so well fed while the villagers are gaunt and starved, I can easily see into the truth behind this. Nor is it a leap in logic to see why they never advised the villagers to move, sitting as they were on the seat of their own personal power. I find myself wondering more indeed about why these coins are foreign in denomination, especially considering that no one is supposed to leave or enter Dobroushka by their self proclaimed laws..."

Turning back to Baltzarek, the elf continues:

"Tell us more of these things, priest. Evidently, Smurt sees some value in you as a follower, elsewise he would award you no blessings, so perhaps redemption may lie somewhere in the distant future for you. I am not one to call you less of a man for wanting to preserve your own life, but you declare yourself as such by wanting to abandon the villagers you are supposed to care about. You cannot escape the consequences of this day by denying them. For all that there will be townspeople angry at you for what you have taken away, there will be those who have seen value in your actions before. I would know the truth of the origins of these coins and, in that, know why you took no actions to move the people from this place, knowing that the world outside was better for them. Tell no word of a lie here..." the elf finishes ominously, his arms crossed tightly.

Will also wants more answers and his fiery eyes turn to the priest now:

"Speak not to me of civilized. You who call dung clean and drag the purity of truth through the mire. But yes, we are civilized and guided by the wisdom and knowledge that truth grants. So we will not be taken in by your tales."

Before Baltzarek has a chance to speak, Jihan speaks once more to his brother:

"I think Bennett has had more of an effect on you than anyone had suspected, brother," Jihan says with a twitch at the corners of his mouth.

"How are we to find the truth if we close our ears to the possibility of it in its entirety? The villagers themselves will reveal to us whether or not what he tells us here falls towards falsehood. Just because we feel that Baltzarek's actions were wrong does not mean that he is calling dung 'clean' nor dragging truth 'through the mire.' Mayhap his ancestors did this centuries ago, and he is merely driving the cart now, and continuing on with it. We will find the truth this day, don't you worry."

Will looks with disdain upon the babbling wretch:

"If you must continue to run your tongue, then speak of the truth of what has happened here. Do not continue to beg for clemency, or else I may forget my civility and take your tongue out to ease my ears."

"Save your groveling for the trial. We are not going to be your judge, jury and executioners. We served only as the liberating force. When the people you have deceived return, then the truth will be sought and you will be weighed in the balance for your just reward in the light of that truth. You should thank us for our commitment to deliberating, truth founded justice, for if I were to use my own present assessment of you, then you would die on my blade as a murderous, deceiving cowardly thief who has either unwittingly or deceptively committed heinous crimes against the people of Dobroushka and all of humanity and nature. So do not quake in fear nor beg your feigned or true repentance to us. Save it for the jury, they will return soon."

"As for this money that you call your own, it shall be returned to whom you stole it from. You should be subjected to the starvation and poverty that you have enforced upon these poor villagers. Once again, you should thank your god that I am not to be your judge."

"If you wish to make known the truth, then tell us of your dealings with the Silesians."

"In this, I agree with my hot-headed brother" Jihan adds to Will's words. "No, Baltzarek, you will not get off so easy as to be simply set free to your own devices this day. We have allowed you to speak your piece, and are continuing to do so, because I feel that you are not finished. I can understand the position that you feel you are in now, but the villagers must come to terms with their past, and they can't do that if it simply runs away from them. Who are we to say that your actions did not keep the village safe for all these years? Do our eyes see back into the past beyond our experiences? No, indeed they do not. But you have committed a crime in that you did nothing more to protect and serve the villagers than carry out those ancient practices without looking forwards or outwards at all. You will answer for that to us, who have liberated the tower from the evil that once inhabited it, and to the villagers who have lived here so long knowing nothing else. You could not know better, yet you did not try to. You WILL remain to 'debate' these things with the villagers, as it is your duty as their guardian and leader. You say you follow Smurt, so you should not fear death as a result of these proceedings, yet I will assure you that any words leveled today will be tempered with fairness, by me if by nobody else," he says with a meaningful look towards Will.

"Our blades will defend justice this day, should things get out of hand... We will not let the villagers simply tear you to pieces when they return."

Baltzarek waits for a break in the discussion between Jihan and Will so that he can answer the questions that were put to him:

"I have told you already of the reason why it was not possible to take the villagers from Dobroushka. I was just following the Laws that had been passed down to me by more forefathers. It is all to do with The Balance, the delicate line that lies between survival and tragedy. It has been said that the villagers have been cursed to stay in this village and there is no escape for them or for us either, as I am forced to endure the same hardships as they. Should any of us leave, then we would all be cursed to feel the dread touch of the evil Necromancer who would find us all wherever we may try to hide and turn us into his abominations. It is what I have been told by my forefathers and the lore that I have uphold in order to protect these people."

"As for the coin, it has not been collected for my use, to bring me any luxury. I was trying to gather together the funds in order to attract a force of powerful mercenaries that may be able to conquer the horrors of the Tower. In order to do this, I made an agreement with some Silesian merchants which stumbled across this village one day while trying to take a shortcut to Hradetz. I arranged to sell them Dobroushka's excess grain in return for coin. My plan was that we could save up over the years until we had sufficient in order to hire those who are strong of arm in order to conquer the abominations that are within the Tower. It would seem that you have made this task unnecessary by clearing the Tower. As a result, the money should by rights be yours."