Open Chronicles Law of Contagion

[Matteo]

Matteo arrived in time to hear the harsh words escape the pale elf's lips. He was stunned at the elf's appearance. Yet he felt disgust at the entire scene in front of him. His left hand instinctively rested on the hilt of his shortsword. He watched, unsure of what to say as more heads momentarily turned towards him, then back to their task of hanging the elf. His gaze settled on the Anaphite's large back, then went back to the elf.

"What crimes did they commit?" Matteo finally spoke, quite mockingly at that. He gestured towards the elderly hanging from the tree, "Must have been quite sinister, that one..."

He had a good feeling of what was going on here. He was aware that these types of lynchings were quite common in these areas. Humans are fearful. Fear has a way of taking root even deeper in the ignorant. He felt pity not only for the hanged but for the peasants passing sentence onto the executed as well.

Regardless of how ignorant peasants can be, the scene angered him.

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

As they turned they seemed in high shock, mostly because of the tall anaphite. The crowd amost wanted to scatter, but decided instead to stand their ground as a group.
They briefly stopped the hanging process to talk to the man with the goat.
»T-take your dog thing elsewhere, we're hanging witches for cursing out people with madness!«

»They'd hang every good walker if they could put their hands on them,« the white elf called out at the two.

 

[HotepseAken]

As Matteo approached, the Anaphite turned, looking over his shoulder; he was still another hundred plus feet away, though his footsteps were audible to the Anaphite's massive ears. He gave a nod when he drew closer, standing behind him slightly.


"What crimes did they commit?" asked Matteo, pressing for strangers to validate themselves in such an extreme act, "Must have been quite sinister, that one..."


His voice trailed off, hinting at a subtle implication: It better have been something devious, or we will have words or blows. The priest wasn't entirely in the same boat though. He was a foreigner, from a distant land. Irrational peons were not all that uncommon, superstitious folk abound in lands where the challenges were at their most severe. It was not his place to pass judgment. If they wished to kill one another, then so be it. The illness of human hate was not an ailment that he could cure. Not yet, at least.

Then, the frightened and crazed villagers made an astounding claim, that the pale elf had bewitched insanity into the minds of their fellows. While such an affliction was not uncommon and could be cured easily, HotepseAken reminded himself of how readily actual, credible ills were misattributed from paranoid fear. His staff clacked against the ground, his scales jumping from their hooks and bouncing as they straightened.

Clack... clack... clack... he approached, slow, poised, and completely unimpressed. He would have simply left the seven humans be when they yelled their threats, not wasting time when there might be real issues to deal with. And yet, it was that prospect of actual madness, or understanding some I'll of this land, that compelled the Anaphite to speak:

"Im Hotep," he said with the patience of a school teacher, "I am a doctor and master of the healing art; take me to your infirm, that I might show you how to heal their sickness."

It was a practiced speech, one he used for hundreds of years at this point. Sometimes, the particularly far-gone would think it a threat, seeing foes where none existed. Rare though it was, it did happen. Most oft than not, he would be welcomed in and allowed to dispense aid and wisdom in equal parts.

"If this is not a curse," he said with some hidden annoyance, "you would be purposely killing an innocent. Allow myself, a physician, to examine your ill and attempt to cure them."

He eyed the elf carcass that hadn't died just yet, his dimly glowing eyes evidence to her more than not that the being before her was also a magician. Evidently, however, his skills and arts were from such a distant land that none of his trappings, the staff, the scales, the fine linen waistcloth, gave away his nature as a Holy Magician of his faith.

His gaze turned from her; once this was finished, if she was dead, he would autopsy her. If not, if this spared her life, then at least he could see what unique sicknesses plagued this eastern land.

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

The peasants backed off a few steps as the Anaphite Drew closer, the witch seemed to come more into view as most had hig behind the ones that held her.
Clearly to them the tall one appeared as a demonic black dog that hounts them at nights, except upright. And one that tried to belittle them in their resolve? What world did they live in.

They began to talk, some over eachother, they would not listen to reason.
»Back off, black dog.«
»It's none of either of your's business.«
»It's just an apparition summoned by the witches!« One of the few women shouted, throwing a rock at the Anaphite. This seemed to trigger the rest of the people and they've grown unruly.

 

[Matteo]

The rock bounced off the Anaphite's large chest, proving that the large being was by no means an apparition. He was all too real. Such a reality was more frightening to the peasants. It was evident that there was unrest brewing. Matteo was prepared to explode into action, not to fight but to defend himself.

"You would all do well to heed the doctor's words," He spoke clearly and with authority, attempting to calm the group, "It would not be wise to confront a being beyond your understanding."

His left hand rested on the hilt of his sword. His eyes warily scanned the men in front of him. They were armed- if he could call the implementation of farmer's tools arms- with pitchforks and the like.

 

[HotepseAken]

"Back off, black dog," growled a gruff bearded serf, followed closely by a thinner and more wild-eyed peasant, crying that the Physicians offer was an insult. Then came the stone, hurled from a woman hidden in the back. She cried out that he was an apparition, a specter to haunt them.

It impacted his chest hard enough to make a noise, hard enough to hurt, yet the Anaphite did not flinch; she missed his face, so there was that. If the stone had gotten near his temple, that could potentially kill him. That would warrant force to ensure his safety.

"You would all do well to heed the doctor's words," Matteo commanded, his voice resonating with certainty, "It would not be wise to confront a being beyond your understanding."

His hand rested upon his weapon, clearly willing to come to the Physicians aid if something happened. HotepseAken would speak with him later about this display he was making. Allies were always rare, and a decent man was well worth being kind in return towards. The Anaphite knelt down, retrieving the stone. It was common, unnotworthy save for the fact that it was the one that struck him.

He turned, dimly glowing eyes fixing upon the woman who had most foolishly struck him.

Clack... clack... clack...

He began to approach, slow and methodical. Matteo, having likely seen the speed at which the towering creature could move, would likely deduce this was entirely to engender lessened tensions. It also happened to be menacing, given how he wasn't blinking as he walked towards the woman, eyes locked upon her.

A hand extended, stone in his clutch; "I believe you have carelessly misplaced this," he spoke, soft of tone, gentle, "be more careful with your senses... you wouldn't want to lose it," he offered in advice.

It was clear he was not referring to the stone.

"If you will act like children," he ordered, loud and booming with a voice as thunder, "then you shall be treated as such. You will take me to your elder, at once;" he spat, tongue lashing them as if lightning, "Do this now, or continue upon this ruinous path you have so arrogantly strode upon."

A momentary silence as the Anaphite loomed, a black shadow from the grave, before he slammed his staff upon the ground and issued a sudden and explosive bark which actually shook the tree;

"Immediately, children!"

Matteo, from his distant point, would notice before anyone else the grasping claw-like motion HotepseAken's free hand took. Perfect, incidentally, to seize a man quite suddenly by their throat.

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

The woman's eyes widened as the black dog didn't disappear as some apparition would from resolve alone. On the contrary, the stone fell to the ground before the Anaphite and he picked it up just as steadily.
He was real flesh and blood. Whether there was a man on his side or not mattered little to the overwhelming group. But the fact that he stood with him baffled the people.
Some of them backed off a little, the two that still held the witch let go of her.

With each sound that the Anaphite let go and rose his tone, the peasants grew tenser. Not edgy like before, not at all, but they grew frightened. Far more than the shadow of the 'black dog' that began to loom over them. They seemed like a herd of does now than a mob, watched by a mere man.

»Immediately, children!«

The peasants shuddered in dread and scattered down the hillside like some sheepish horde. All had left but the one seized by his own fear, frozen like a rock.

The White Witch of Laggend tilted her head, try as she might, she couldn't quite see what was going around, and with hands bound, she couldn't borrow the sight of another either. For those that looked more closely, a large horned owl perched on a branch nearby one of the hanging corpses.

 

[HotepseAken]

Well... that certainly was a reaction. Wasn't entirely what he was going for, either, but if they insisted on committing to the act then he would play his part. Reaching up, he snapped a switch off the killing tree's branches and brought it down, precisely and with only as much effort as was required, striking the paralyzed man across his leg.

"Begone, my patience is wearing thin," he commanded, turning from the man and regarding the last remaining survivor with a curious look. Well, if they had decided to just abandon the victim due to his display... he supposed that made him responsible.

"Hold still," he commanded, reaching up and feeling the rope for a second; strong. Sturdy... he tightened his grip, testing it for a second, before grasping either side of the noose itself. With a grunt, his muscles tensed like cables; the rope snapped off of the pale elf like reeds, and the Anaphite stepped back.

"There," he said simply, turning away, "I must see to these so-called ill. If you did indeed curse them with madness, I would ask you not to interfere with my treatment of them."

He began to leave, before pausing... oh, yes, he forgot. Her hands were bound, weren't they? He turned, walking back with the temperament of a chastised child, and reached behind the pale woman, undoing her bonds with a single deft hand.

"Go in peace," he said, once to her, then to Matteo, before jogging off after the fleeing villagers; their run was barely fast enough to warrant something more than a swift walk from Hotepse.

 

[Matteo]

The sound of the branch snapping against the peasant's leg caused Matteo to wince. It was loud, unpleasant. The mountaineer was left speechless as Hotepse strode away. He let out a deep, relieved sigh as no violence had broken out. The physician had flexed his imposing physique quite adeptly, using intimidation to subdue the mob.

He mused, wondering how much experience the being had in such situations.

He then turned his attention to the pale one. Looking at the hanging bodies, he spoke, "Fortunate for you, that he came about."

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

The man yowled and ran after the rest in such vigour, that one wouldn't think that a branch was snapped across his legs.

»The ill, it is not my doing? You're talking about Grimere though. These peasants are from Rivere and only looking for an excuse to shed blood so it does not spread to them as well. They'll hang you too,« Susana spoke as she was finally freed but not unbound.

»Fate is indeed odd at times, do you two know each other for you walk in peace together?« She turned towards Matteo just in time for the tall one to return to free her from her bindings.
»Thank you, good...sir. You are here to help the people?«

 

[Matteo]

"Hm, no," He looked at the pale elf, "Strangers."

He folded his arms across his chest and ignored her second question, "What do you know of Grimere?"

It was clear that some frustration still resided in the mountaineer as corpses swayed above him. He had journeyed a considerable distance and worked with little information regarding the whole ordeal. Finally, with someone that seemed to possess the knowledge he sought, his impatience overcame common courtesy.

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

»Probably a witch's work, but I do not know for sure. All I've heard is from my colleagues and I was hoping to see what the matter is about.«

»I'd rather not linger too long here and head over to Grimere, least the villagers of the fringes return in greater numbers.«

 

[Matteo]

The mountaineer nodded and gestured to her to lead, "I agree. Our friend will not be here to dissuade another angsty mob. I trust you will lead the way?"

The sun set over the horizon. The sky above them darkened as strokes of blue painted the heavens into deeper and deeper shades of night.

Stump bleated at the elf and looked up at the pale figure with some measure of expectancy. Matteo stroked his head in response. "This is Stump. Seems he likes you."

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

» Grimere is not much farther away from here.«

The witch petted stump gently and with care on the side of the jaw and neck. It was clear to see that the witch had a liking to goats. » What a lovely servant of the leafy goddess. This is Aristotle...- And my name is Susan.« The large horned owl perched on her arm and ruffled it's feathers a little. His eyes were as flat discs, focused onto Matteo.

 

[HotepseAken]

HotepseAken was a little annoyed rather suddenly as the white elf relayed her information; that these villagers had killed a score of their own for no reason but ignorance. It insulted him, this idiocy, and he was convinced that dealing with this issue at the source would be necessary.

How could these human creatures be expected to become people if they lashed out blindly? It was clear: they could use a divine intervention. As a High Priest of the old gods, the first gods, HotepseAken knew this came down to him.

"I shall meet you at this Grimere.." he rumbled, his ears flattening back across his skull with a jingle of jewelry, "I must see these children to their beds."

He strode off, this time actually running; he looked swift enough to overtake a horse, and even from this far away the resounding whipsnap of the switch could be heard... of course, he overtook the portly coward, dashing onwards to chase these villagers back to their homes with vengeance in his luminous eyes. He wasn't done with Mateo or Susan, no, he merely needed to put the true fear of god in these murderous leeches.

Pragmatic? No. Yet fear and mob mentality was a symptom of a deeper sickness, one he knew very exactly the cure for.

 

[Matteo]

Matteo nodded, and looked at Aristotle with some fascination in his expression.

“Grimere is close? Good.” He spoke as he watched the Anaphite take off. A part of him was excited to see the physician again. He looked back to Susan, “I’m in your care, then. Lead the way.”

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

It was very much dark when Grimere came to view. Its walls were high above the horizon, made out of heavy logs, lined like pencils in the dirt.
It was...strangely unmanned and the gate was wide open. Lights were dimmed out and only the shine of the full Pneria illuminated the landscape.

Panting came from within the walls... Barghests? No... worse.
»This is...odd«

---
fo the dogtor.

The paths the villagers took were scrambled apart, odd, but the hillside was soon speckled in many farms that lay separate from each other, one house per hill to be exact and surrounded by many fields that looked desolate and vacant. One of the buildings was a church that stood proudly on the tallest hill.

 

[HotepseAken]

This was not Grimere, it was not where he was needed when he began this journey... but it was where he was needed now. The murderous peasants had scampered away from their killing tree to this hamlet. If there was a means to ending this issue of a community setting itself backwards several centuries, that could advance the ultimate goal of his people. As a high priest, it was his divine duty to advance Anaphite ambitions abroad and at home.

This called for a certain level of advanced inoculation against the plague of ignorance, something that would without action poison this region to further Anaphite influence and research. That could not be tolerated. The church, small and weather worn, showed the most promising prospects for discourse, and possibly dealing with this issue at hand.

HotepseAken strode, deliberate and with poise, before the door of this small chapel. He did not recognize it, as most heathen gods held little sway on the mind of the Anaphite people and any research into them was bound to merely reveal more depressing depths of mortal delusion. This place of worship, a center for such an insular and fearful people, was bound to be the best bet for setting things straight. Besides, these folk were bound to tell horror stories of some raving, ravenous Werewolf or somesuch. This was something the High Priest could not allow. He came to a stop before the church door, and with minimal effort pushed it aside.

In the darkening light of twilight, dusk falling upon the lands of the Spine, a towering Jackalman stood, silhouetted with glowing eyes. The scale upon his staff began to tip, favoring the left side... HotepseAken crossed the threshold, stepping within the humble house of worship with an open mind and a willing heart, though he was far from a fool. He was prepared for foulness, both verbal and physical.

"Im Hotep Sey," he greeted, trying diplomacy first, "I have come seeking Grimere, though I was greeted with a most disconcerting sight upon the road. I was hoping, perhaps, to get better information here from someone more informed and enlightened."

 

[Matteo]

Hand rested on the hilt of his sword.

“An unwelcome sight, indeed.” He grunted, not enjoying the idea of taking Stump through the gate into what felt an ominous situation.

He wondered if the physician made it ahead of them.

“We should find signs of life, if there are any.”

“Together,” He quickly added on, “Should anything happen, I would not want to be on my own.”

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

Hotepse: The inside place of worship was well lit. Rows of candles lined every altar, illuminating all including a single priest at the end.

His mouth was wide agape, he heaved and had a stifled breath, he clutched his chest and collapsed.



Grimere:

The witch hissed through her teeth, pulling out her silver arthame from her toolbelt.
"I'm not prepared for a fight." The witch moaned as the howl turned into a growl. Not long after a dark mass with pointed ears appeared in the centre of the village, only visible through it's shiny golden eyes as it gazed upon them. Rising on it's back, it let out another howl.
"Brace yourself, don't have Stump run! Beasts live for a chase!"