A dark castle, an odd group, a murdered man...
Summary[]
During the night, Gerard and Friar Horbrooke are also killed. Arthur flees Barnabas, the presumed murderer, until he reaches Evrard and Langward’s dead body. There, he learns Evrard is the true murderer of Langward. Evrard leaves him to die in Goatswood, but after defeating the Motherless Young and truthfully introducing himself, asks Arthur to undertake a dangerous mission: to transport the Blackstone to another location.
Synopsis[]
After Evrard leaves, everyone remains in suspicious silence. It is finally broken after an hour by Friar Horbrooke, who states that at least two must be interested in solving the murder. Barnabas insists upon Gerard’s guilt, and that they should kill him. Horbrooke considers Evrard as the murderer, though Barnabas was left unscathed after being alone with him.
They later ponder if Langward’s association with the Order of the Fallen Star was the motive for his death. It is then that Friar Horbrooke reveals that he worships Gloon, who granted him the gift of flesh.
Barnabas does not reveal his allegiance. Together, they consider determining who is diametrically opposed to the Order, and Arthur asks who the Order worships. This surprises the suspects, and Gerard asks if Prince Warin has been approached by them. Arthur replies in the negative, and after further questioning, states that he worships Horig.
Gerard reveals that the Order seeks the falling stars that descended from Azathoth. The suspects fall upon a plan of action: to go to the library and research any particular oppositions to the Order. Friar Horbrooke, however, wants to investigate the witch as a potential suspect and states that all three of the other men had gone to speak with her already.
Then, Barnabas suggests that someone in the room is lying about who they appear to be. He focuses on the alleged Prince Warin: not as silver-tongued and much more scarred than he expected a prince to be. Arthur remarks that none of them have been the best versions of themselves.
Appeased, Barnabas agrees to go to the library with Gerard. Gerard does not want to be left alone with Barnabas, and Barnabas removes the knife from his person. Horbrooke decides to speak with the witch and, wanting nobody to be alone, Arthur decides to go with him. He leaves before Arthur, and—due to his illness—Arthur has a difficult time catching up.
When they do, Horbrooke reveals he lied: he actually intends on waiting in his room until morning. Arthur intimidates Horbrooke with a dagger and convinces Horbrooke that if he were the murderer, the friar would be dead already. Inside of Horbrooke’s room, Arthur realizes that he is hiding something, and Horbrooke reveals that there is a hidden passageway. He’d snuck in earlier, hoping for a secret path to the Blackstone, but returned when Barnabas shouted murder.
Both he and Arthur go down the passageway. They find eye-holes peeking into the common-room, and eventually find themselves in the study. There, John spots a sigil he recognizes, but cannot remember where.
At a desk, they find the body of Gerard with his throat slit. They conclude Barnabas is the murderer. Arthur decides to kill Barnabas before he becomes too weak to fight against him, and Horbrooke agrees. Together, they head back to the common room.
However, Horbrooke breaks forward and tries to conceal himself in Arthur’s room. He does not believe Arthur will survive until morning with his infection. As he and Arthur struggle for the door, John spots Barnabas in Arthur’s room. Barnabas stabs Horbrooke in the top of the skull, and the friar dies.
Arthur and John outwit Barnabas and flee downstairs to Alia, but she is not there. They bang on the door and plead for entrance while Barnabas approaches. Evrard opens the door, pulls them inside, and shuts Barnabas out. In this new room, they spot Langward’s body and, per John’s suggestion, touch it.
In the vision, Gerard leaves Langward and a nearby painting opens. A masked man emerges, slits Langward’s throat, and reveals himself to be Evrard. The vision ends.
Evrard approaches Arthur, seemingly in an attempt to herd him. Arthur steps onto a trapdoor. With a wall sconce, Evrard opens it. Arthur falls, dislocating his shoulder and losing his bag. As the trapdoor shuts, Evrard warns the Goatswood trees are not all they seem. John sees something move in the darkness, advising caution. Arthur disputes this, saying that any creature would have heard them fall.
Arthur seems to give up hope as he highlights how sick he is and how futile their current situation is. He mourns that he was never able to write Marie. When John encourages him to stand, Arthur confesses he doesn’t think he can. John offers to project himself to help. Arthur agrees with his suggestion, saying that it may kill him outright.
As Arthur prepares himself to die, he suggests reading Oscar’s letter. John agrees and, presumably reading the letter, recites ‘Invictus’ by William Henley. When he finishes, Arthur asks about the poem, and John admits that the letter is blank—all of the ink washed away by the rain.
However, the recitation inspires Arthur to stand back up. He resets his shoulder and decides to get the bag. To see the bag between the darkness of the trees, he burns Oscar’s letter. They manage to antagonize the creature stalking them into striking the tree, which knocks the bag down.
As he flees the creature, Arthur trips and cannot get up. John instructs Arthur to fire at the creature’s maw, recalling it as its weak spot. Arthur cannot penetrate the creature’s teeth. He waits until the creature is above them and uses his final bullet to kill it.
While they celebrate, Alia throws Barnabas’ body from above. Arthur realizes that Evrard brought all of his guests to Castle Kerringford to kill them.
They search through their bag for tools that may help them escape. The Glass of Leng is chipped, but the Hand of Malevolence is intact. John also recognizes the pattern on the coin as the same as the symbol from the study. Evrard appears in the forest with them, acknowledging Arthur’s defeat of the creature.
Evrard reveals his plan to use Barnabas’ bloodthirsty nature to kill everyone else, and admits he has done this many times before. Castle Kerringford is his personal hunting grounds. When he moves to kill Arthur, Arthur shows him the coin.
He explains they were given the coin in trust by three soldiers, which prompts Evrard to realize that Prince Warin cannot be Arthur. To Evrard’s questions, Arthur admits he doesn’t know the importance of the coin, but that he believes that they gave him the coin with the knowledge that he would eventually encounter Evrard.
According to Evrard, the coin is a token that marks the holder as someone who stands against the darker forces of this world. The soldiers use the coin to seek allies, and even in death, they hold the coin’s secret close.
After his father’s death, Evrard realized the true nature of what he and his fellow cultists were doing. He would not allow his castle to be used in servitude for dark faces. Instead, he waited in this castle and noticed how evil took root all around him until he could stand it no longer. He sought out the witch Alia, who can look into the hearts of men. Together, they invite cultists here and kill them.
He does, however, still possess the Blackstone… though it will need to be relocated.
Arthur fully introduces himself, and per John’s insistence that Alia can detect deceit, claims he wishes to protect humanity in all its forms.
Evrard notes Arthur’s illness. Arthur briefly recounts his encounter with Horig. To this, Evrard offers to have Alia heal Arthur in return for a favor. Evrard will need a fourth person to guard the Blackstone as it is moved. John remarks that this may be their opportunity to take the Blackstone for themselves, though it will be—as Evrard says—an arduous journey.
Arthur agrees to the favor.
Votes[]
- Chapter 241: Join the Friar [190] / Join Gerard & Barnabus [127]
- Chapter 242: Go Through the Common Room [176] / Go Through the Secret Passage [133]
- Chapter 243: Hide & Wait [180] / Reset Shoulder [159]
- Chapter 244: Maw [326] / Eyes [11] / Legs [1] / Face [4] / Underbelly [16] / Teeth [2]
- Chapter 245: No vote.
