DCC DotSK: Act 1-3

Anora gathers her blue robes about herself, and holds her head high. She stands amongst the townspeople of Hirot, staring back up at the Jarl and his retinue.

Defiance!

When he sees the the burly thegn receive his blinding assault as some sort of beatitude, Ty's lip curls. Beneath his breath, he snarls, "Well then, you Three Great Whores. If you will have your will done in this filthy, flyspeck town, be with me now..."

The elf redoubles his effort. Sweat dampens his blindfold as he shouts, "May the Strumpets of Chance and Destiny fuck out your eyes, lummox!! May they leave you staggering through a blackened world, poking along by your prick, unable to tell bunghole from arse hole!!"

All the while, rainbows of light tumble down upon Kreig in the muddy street.

AT THE STRONGBOX

With her head held high, her chin raised defiantly, Anora relishes in the moment when the growing crowd sees the Jarl and his men coming -- and they do not flinch, they do not scurry back to their homes! Calls and voices and fists go up into the air as outrage spreads, as the townsfolk being to realize exactly what's been going on!

A few dozen people have gathered before Jarl Griegor is halfway down the causeway, and more come with each passing moment...

Aldric realizes just how wrong he was about Ty's power. "Praise be to Pelagia!" he mutters quietly. The thought of dying while in her debt made him more scared than the axe-wielding Thegn ever could, and now there was a chance.

Aldric considers retreating to Ymae's, but instead he hoists his oar in the air (with some painful effort) and begins to close distance with the blinded warrior, trying to go sneakily. His squeaky leather armour makes it difficult, as does the river of air that fights him every step of the way.

"Throw off the shackles of Sylle Ru and this Jarl! Then we will see if the beast slinks forth out of the night tonight! If it still comes, we will put a final end to it!" she says, hoping to wield the crowd like a great club against those that dared try and have her tied to the stones!

In truth, she would like to see them wield themselves, but the simple folk in far flung lands needed outside provocation, Anora knew!

Seeing the crowd growing rapidly, it seemed to Dufgal that the whole town had heard the ruckus and was coming out to see. The burly thief grabbed more handfuls and kept tossing the folded paper to the people until the whole box was emptied.

Then he readied himself with a spear. He could not expect the people to resist the thegns even if the manipulation had been exposed. One thing he learned about watching people from the bottom rung of the social ladder is that people will do almost anything to avoid being knocked further down the ladder. People will cling to their low position as long there is still one lower that they fear. He had seen and overheard some of the most shameful things when morality was pressed. He couldn’t count on anyone doing the right thing. So he braced for the worst. This might be his last stand. At least it would be worth a tale in a tavern. Maybe a small town tavern.

As the blinded thegn staggers toward him, Tyravasiel-Llir decides that an orderly retreat is the prudent course.

"Holy father, I humbly advise withdrawal," he calls over the head of the wildly swinging axe-man. "Not this way, of course..."

The incensed warrior is between Ty and Aldric, so the elf turns and dashes back around the church, the way he came. To keep Kreig's attention upon himself, and thus to clear Aldric's way, Ty calls behind him, "My head? You couldn't find you own arse with two hands! How shall you find my head, sir?"

BEHIND THE CHURCH OF JUSTICIA

As Ty flees, calling over his shoulder to draw the blinded Thegn after him, Aldric closes in on the man, oar in hand…

---

AT THE STRONGBOX

From on high, the Jarl begins shouting — hurling commands and invectives at the people of the village and these strangers he now so regrets having allowed into his town. But with only three bodyguards, Sylle Ru, upon seeing the mass of people gathering, pulls at the Jarl’s sleeve to turn him from his path.

Near Anora and Dufgal, the crowd seems on the edge of rioting.

Fury lights Broegan Haverson’s eyes as he realizes that his daughter was selected for the sacrifice, not picked randomly. He kicks at the box over and over, trying to smash it from its mountings as Morgan tries to stop him, her voice lost in the din of shouting that grows with each chaotic passing second.

"They’ve lied to us all along!" Wee Tocs shouts, a wicked grin on his face as he leads his little crew in protest.

"Picking who among us dies next!" Dolsten adds angrily, incredulously.

"To what end?! Why!?" someone else yells, and then there is just a cacophony of voices — and raised makeshift weapons — that turns the Jarl and his men around. They hurry back to the great hall as some of the crowd heads for the causeway, the road that leads up to the big building, and as some head for the church, surging past Ty.

Anora points a finger at the Jarl and his men; her robes hanging down from her outstretched arm. She looses the townspeople of Hirot on their masters, as if she was pulling free the holdings of a dam!

Sending the villagers up and at the Jarl, she tries to find Dufgal in the crowd. Getting a hand on the man, she clutches his shoulder and says:

"Together, Dufgal! We will have use for your arts yet! Let us find the priest, and finish this!"

Now that Aldric has gotten closer, the Thegn's axe is looking mighty sharp. When Ty signals him to withdraw, he doesn't need much convincing.

He sloshes through the air toward the square, still reeling from Pelagia's disapproval but trying to blend in with the crowd. It seemed to him Anora and Dufgal had caused quite a stir with what they had found in the box, and the safety in numbers now appealed more to him than the double-edged protection that Ymae might offer. Besides, he was genuinely curious as to what was in that fucking box!

Ty fights through the swarm of mayflies buzzing in the direction of Justicia's church. Behind him, Kreig is largely out of mind-- the moreso because the burly warrior is about to run into the same insectile cloud of humanity that confronts Tyravasiel himself. If that doesn't slow Kreig down, then it will be a tragedy for the people of Hirot and-- soon thereafter-- for Kreig himself.

Ahead and above, he can see Dufgal scattering lottery chits, Anora with her arm raised to sic the villagers upon the Jarl's hall, anger and tumult and-- does one dare hope?-- the fresh-faced beginnings of a riot.

So. Apparently that worked out.

NEAR THE STRONG BOX (ALL)

Bedlam reigns in the market as more and more villagers join the fray, weeks and months of frayed nerves now coming to a head and exploding. A troupe marches for the Jarl and his seer, which makes them about-face and head back for the great hall, where they are sure to barricade themselves inside.

The front doors to the Church of Justicia are finally thrown open, but Father Beacom and the second Thegn who was guarding the strongbox exit and find themselves suddenly confronted with more elements of the angry mob.

"I bet Beacom's in on it too!" a voice shouts.

"Him and the Jarl, they's the ones who need confess!" another shrieks.

Blind and bellowing Kreig keeps coming, but finds that he too is confronted with a large and rapidly growing violent crowd... and that it's impossible to track the beggar or the piss-lick seaman.

---

Dufgal surprised himself with the level of certainty he spoke with, "Lady and all! We’se has magicks and a map!" He meant that to be enough to both soothe and rouse Morgan and the throng.

Anora the Blue didn’t know! But these people were malleable now, and just at the beginning of their revolution. She couldn’t cut the confidence out from underneath them so soon!

"One thing at a time!" Anora booms over the din.

"The Jarl and his men first…" she says, thinking it best to let the people decide what to do with the priest. He could still prove a useful tool to Anora, should things go against her somehow…

"The business of the day will tell much about what we must do tonight!"