Zornhau Forums

The winter was harsh.
Karl and the rest of the village people did their best, but unfortunately two children died. Karl's son, Otto, survived - but now he's sick. Storm clouds are gathering, so Hilde gives her husband warm clothes and he sets off to get help.

The village looks almost deserted this afternoon. People have probably followed priest Georgius to the hills again, to listen to his speeches and pray. Karl never really trusted Georgius, always having a bad feeling about him. But priest's words fell on fertile land and Karl soon realized people are starting to look at him suspiciously, for not following Georgius. Well, at least his closest neighbors still trust and respect him, knowing fully that he is a man of honor.

Suddenly a cry for help can be heard, and the voice is familiar to Karl. Gunther, the man he embarrassed one day, is now lying on the ground and trying to protect himself. There are two girls and one of them is bashing Gunther with a staff.

"Ladies, ladies, stop!"

Karl will rush over and try to place himself between the staff-wielding woman and her target, and if necessary will try to grab the staff from her.

"What is going on!?"

Shouts and approaching Karl draw attention of the girls for a moment. When they turn, Karl can recognize them - they are two sisters, Agathe and Agnete. They give him a short, absent gaze and than Agathe turns back to Gunther and draws a bloodstained sickle!

Karl will try to interpose himself between Agathe and Gunther, hoping that her anger is directed only towards Gunther and that she will not strike at him.

"Agathe, STOP! Why are you doing this!?"

Karl will try to avoid getting within reach of Agnete's staff, but focus his attention on Agathe. If Agathe looks like she's going to take a swing at either Gunther or himself, Karl will attempt to grab the scythe before she is able to swing.

Karl tries to take the sickle and throw it away and succeds - but in the process gets hit in the face and now Agathe tries to strangle him, saying:
In death we are all equal...

Meanwhile, Gunther tries to get up and draw his dagger, while avoiding Agnete's staff.

Karl easily breaks Agathe's hold.
"What on earth are you on about?!"
To Gunther: "Gunther, what the hell did you do!?"

Gunther shouts:
"Nothing, I swear. I did nothing! We must run!"

Two men are fleeing, but Gunther is not in the best shape after the beating. Behind the corner they can see another man, stranger, who's being chased by peasants too. He runs to the barn and tries to close the doors from the inside.

Surprisingly, Gunther makes it to the barn first. The man inside lets them in and shuts the door the last moment - unfortunately, he pushed too hard and something breaks! The doors are not going to last long now.

Earlier this day...

Hans Foth leaves the city in rush (mostly because of price on his head and some really annoying bounty hunters) and runs to the woods. He's being chased: scar-faced and cloaked man with a longsword follows him. It seems that he knows the land well and even when he loses sight of Hans, he can guess the right direction and continues the chase.

Hans curses under his breath the whole mess he finds himself. Here he is, a city dweller deep in the woods. Not good, not at all. Suddenly, an opportunity presents itself: there is a very steep slope and no easy way around it. Hans decides to work his way down. He moves fast and with grace.

A minute later the Scarred Hunter arrives to the place. He tries to climb down, too, but it's hard for him to do it safely, he must move much slower. When he finally makes it all the way down, it's too late - Hans is nowhere to be found.
Scheise!
He gives up and tries to find shelter from the upcoming storm.


Hans continues his journey and finds a village. He enters and looks for a place to rest and eat safely. The settlement looks deserted, but only for some time...
Suddenly, something flies over his head and sticks to the hut wall nearby: a sickle with some blood on the blade. Hans hears commotion behind the corner, but he doesn't have the time to investigate: down the street he can see another bounty hunter he knows, a very big man, being chased by half a dozen of peasants. Guy runs into the barn and is trying to close the doors.

Hans decides to hide and think about his next step. He doesn't want to go back to the woods. Seeing that this tall bounty hunter is unarmored, he decides to climb the wall at the back of the barn, sneak in and ambush the man, making sure he will never hunt him again.
Unfortunately, not everything goes well - first, a creaking board spoils his little surprise. Than, when he drops down, his messer hooks and stays under the ceiling, hanging 3 meters above ground. Hans lands awkwardly and draws his dagger, preparing to face his enemy - only to discover two more men run into the barn!

Outside about a dozen men and women, mostly with simple weapons, are apparently looking for someone to kill.

Hans sees that there are already 3 men at the door and after a quick assesment he begins to climb back up to fetch his messer. When he backs up towards the wall to climb up he yells: "Try to find something to prevent the doors from opening!".

The bounty hunter leans the against the door to stop them from opening.

- What the hell is going on?!? - he says with a Polish accent - and what are you doing here, prey? Come back here, now!
- Matko Boska! - an axe blade gets through the wood just next to his head.

Hans ignores the bastard, for now and continues his climbing.

Karl assists in holding the door shut, and looks back over his shoulder for anything that could be used to block the door, and for any other exits.

To the bounty Hunter: "I have no idea what is going on. Two girls were bashing Gunther over there, so I tried to help. Now it seems they're trying to kill us. What did you do to upset them?"

Karl knows what he's doing. He puts two large wedges under the door, and than reinforces the whole construction with additional boards.
There are no other exits he knows of.

- Great job, man! I didn't like the idea of dying in the barn, holding this fucking door - says the Big Guy - I'm Maciej, from Poland... and by the way, this man under the ceiling is Hans Foth. A wanted person I'm trying to catch. But for now we have a more serious problem. I don't know, what really happened. They've just ambushed me and I had to run. I was hoping you can tell me what's going on. You live here?

"I do, but I don't know why those people are acting crazy."

Karl pauses in thought for a moment.

"One of them said something. In death we are all equal. I don't know what they mean..."

Karl pauses in thought again, then motions to Hans warily.

"What did he do?"

- I'm sure he will tell you, unless he lost his tongue - Maciej watches Hans, too.

Hans drops down back to the ground. One can see he is wearing a helmet, mail shirt under his coat and his successfully retrieved messer.

Hans smiles in a peaceful way while walking towards the others in the barn.

"I don't know what this big guy has been talking, but I'm innocent. Besides, we have more pressing matters at hand like all those crazy people out there. What's going on out there and who threw that sickle that just missed my head?"