Session Forty-Six: The Monk's Tale

The Minotaur

The battle beneath Summersfall Fort continues. Magnus holds of the right flank of beastmen by himself while Sir Henri rushes about the room aiding his companions. At one point he is separated from the company and badly wounded, but thanks to well-placed arrows from Maurice, manages to retreat to safety.

Meanwhile, on the left flank, Sir Jean-Marc goes toe-to-toe with the minotaur, grievously wounding it while somehow avoiding serious bodily harm himself. The minotaur tosses Sir Jean-Marc with his horns, but not even this dissuades the knight from continuing the battle.

Unfortunately, Sir-Jean Marc is so focused on the minotaur that its beast men cohorts rush by him. There is a brief moment of panic when it seems that the beast men will attack Maurice, Renee, and Garnier. This flares into a much longer moment of greater panic when the beast men, seemingly heedless of the rest of the company, rush into the prison cell to try and kill the monk, Geoffrey.

Pierre, who is already in the cell, fights like a lion while Geoffrey dives beneath the bed and begs for mercy. Renee and Sir Henri quickly enter the fray, striking down the beast men and saving the monk.

Meanwhile, outside, Sabina continues to wrestle with a netted Qorzan in the brackish water of the castle’s ancient cistern. Things seem to take a turn for the worst when Qorzan plucks an obviously enchanted, wicked looking dagger from his robes and slashes repeatedly at Sabina. Sabina, however, is able to parry the vicious strikes with her axe and deal Qorzan a deadly wound in the armpit.

Qorzan calls upon Tzeentch to show mercy and save him. In a flash of purple light, the Chaos dwarf vanishes, leaving Sabina dogpaddling in the cistern with a net, the enchanted knife, and Maurice’s enchanted arrow in her arms.

As Qorzan falls, Sir Jean-Marc, with an assist from Garnier, at last strike down the minotaur. The minotaur falls directly on top of Sir Jean-Marc, pinning him beneath 800 pounds of rapidly cooling meat. Garnier uses the butt of his spear to lever Sir Jean-Marc free. Thanks to his armor, the brave knight remains uninjured.

Qorzan's Knife

What’s to be Done with the Monk?

Geoffrey the monk is grateful that the company spared his life and also protected him from Qorzan and his minions. He submits to the company’s authority, saying that he will comply with any punishment that they see fit to give him.

There is some discussion as to the fate of the monk and several, Sir Jean-Marc included, think that he should be punished in some way. The company eventually decides to take Geoffrey back with them to Noyon.

They do, returning to their inn by late morning. Henri the innkeeper is pleased to see them, and is quite surprised and concerned when the company introduces Geoffrey to him. Word of the arrival of the mysterious monk quickly spreads through the company, and it is not long before Rauchamp the pardoner and Guilbald the summoner arrive in an “official” capacity to “deal” with Geoffrey.

The company leave Geoffrey in Rauchamp and Guilbald’s hands. The pardoner and the summoner, along with the ecclesiastical members of the pilgrimage, retire to a room to interview Geoffrey. After several hours of interrogation, Guilbald returns to the company to say that, as they will soon be visiting Turin, he would be happy to present Geoffrey to the bishop for judgment. The company think this is a fine idea. Geoffrey, though nervous, agrees to this, and hopes that his punishment will be just.