Session Eight: The Reeve’s Tale

 CONTENT WARNING: Loads and loads of intestinal distress.

A Farewell to Armor

Squire Henri has done very good work as apprentice to the town blacksmith, so much so that the smith has completed his backlog and has repaired Henri’s helmet besides. With a firm handshake and the promise of a new job should Herni turn aside chivalric pursuits, the smith turns Henri loose on Berjols. Henri remembers that the rest of the company planned to meet at the Shrine of Saint Gwen, and so goes there to meet them.

Unpleasantness Ensues

The company’s visit to the Shrine of Saint Gwen is interrupted by the sudden intestinal distress of both Ambrose--Sir Jean-Marc’s horse--and Bartholomule. In addition to the odorous mess, Ambrose lays down on his side and does his best to look pathetic.

Fearing that Ambrose is dying, the company roughly levers him back to his hooves—at the expense of some of their clothing—and leads both him and Bartholomule down the street to a water trough. While both animals drink deeply, the company discusses what has occurred. They suspect that the bread in Berjols—and Roland the Miller—are to blame for the onset of flux that plagues both man and animal.

It is at this moment that Squire Henri arrives on the scene, freshly polished helm upon his brow. His insistence that he ate Berjolian bread without suffering any ill effects is soon discounted when a sudden stab in his stomach sends him fleeing to relieve himself in a nearby alley.

The Bounties

While Squire Henri holds his churning guts and Maurice scratches himself all over, Renee and Sabina discuss the numerous bounties offered by the town guard for various criminals, including the “discreet” one involving the missing guard and the miller.

The company splits into two groups, with Garnier, Maurice, and Magnus planning to locate and slaughterthe bandits at 1 Crown a head, while the rest will return to Montressor to investigate the miller.

Among the Green

The company part ways at the crossroads, and Magnus, Garnier, and Maurice venture into the forest after the bandits. They quickly pick up the trail and follow it to a small clearing, where the trio beholds a truly unpleasant sight.

A man dressed similarly to the other bandits squats in the midst of his relieving himself, his face in a rictus of agony, and his legs covered with excrement and blood. Garnier suggests killing the man immediately, but Magnus demurs. He approaches the bandit and exchanges a few words before the bandit dies on the spot of the Bloody Flux.

Alas, Giorgio, You Were a Cool Character They Barely Met

The trio divide up his belongings, which includes a finely made set of tarot cards, and then follows another pathway into the bandits’ camp. Here they find Etienne and Elroy flopped on the ground in agony, their stomachs distended and rumbling.

The trio springs upon the bandits, who are easily overpowered and hogtied. Etienne, happy to still be alive, answers the trio’s questions and tells them where he has buried the bandits’ purse of coin. The trio take that, while noting the numerous trade goods (bolts of cloth, jugs of oil and wine, etc.) the bandits have acquired. They pay particular attention to the  baker’s tray of bread that has been mostly devoured.

It is at this moment that Maurice’s rash attacks his skin in fury, overwhelming his body all in an instant before hardening into greenish black scales. The two bandits scream “mutant!” and “Chaos!” until Magnus and Garnier put them both to the sword (and hammer).

The Lady favors Maurice, however. Despite his agony, he is able to anoint his skin with the blessed water from Annecy. This immediately causes his scaly growths to slough off, leaving pink, newborn skin behind.

The trio vow to keep Maurice's brief mutation a secret that they will take to the grave. They then bury what plunder they wish to keep for themselves and send Garnier to Berjols to report to Captain Julien. Magnus and Maurice then travel to Montressor to rejoin the others.

Elroy the Bandit, in Healthier Times

The Miserable Mill

The rest of the company reaches Montressor. They find the miller at his stall in front of his mill, selling baked goods. They realize that they will not be able to get inside the mill without a distraction.

Both out of indignance and to make the necessary distraction, a pained Squire Henri stomps up to Roland’s cart and accuses the miller of trying to kill him--and his master’s horse--with tainted bread. Sir Jean-Marc tags along for moral support, but lets his squire do all of the talking.

Roland is unimpressed by the squire’s threats. When Henri says that he will go to Berjols and return with an angry mob of Flux-affected people, the miller all but goads him into doing it.

Squire Henri’s demands are cut short by another urgent call from his intestines. To pay injury with injury, he immediately drops trou and anoints the miller’s baked goods with the contents of his insides.

This is the distraction that the others need to enter the mill, after Frieda easily defeats the lock with a well-placed hat pin. They find a layer of flour evenly dusting everything, as well as numerous footprints marked in the same flour throughout. After a careful search, they find the following:

• Remains of scuffle in the mill’s topmost chamber, which seems to serve as Roland’s bedroom. 
• This was achieved by a careful study of the various footprints in the flour.
• A guards’ tabard hidden inside of a barrel of flour.
• A strange, unpleasant smell whose origins could not be traced.
• A basket filled with purple-black mushrooms on a table in the uppermost room, next to a large mortar and pestle. These exhibited the same smell detected elsewhere, and were also white on the inside when broken open. One of them is taken for further study.

The company escapes the mill with their discoveries and locks the door behind them. From their vantage, it seems that the miller, at least for now, is unaware of their snooping.

Blaise, One of the Missing Guards

Into the Woods

Squire Henri finishes up at the miller’s cart only to discover that Roland has left. He looks around Montressor and sees the miller disappearing behind the common hall. Suspecting that the miller is up to no good, Squire Henri follows him.

The miller takes a winding track through the forest to the west of the town before turning north and heading into the hills behind the mill. It is here that the miller stops, turns, and looks back in the direction that he had come. Squire Henri slips back into the trees and is certain that the miller can’t see him. This doesn’t stop Roland from turning abruptly and walking down the hills back toward Montressor.

Squire Henri suspects that the miller was heading to some bolt hole where additional evidence might be found. He continues on in the direction that Roland was heading in the hopes of finding this bolt hole. Alas, his woodcraft skill is not as great as some of the others in the company, and he quickly becomes lost.