18 - Kiss My Ring

Marco, Rocco, Arturo and Giovanni stand in the courtyard of the Three-Way House. Cola has sent word to be accoutered for action, so they are. They are not alone. There is a contingent from each of the other wings of the house. The Frangipani contingent is led by Matteo Corsini and Noli is with them carrying his preposterously long bow. There are Conti men too, nominally led by the fresh-faced Giuseppe Conti, but under the eye of his hawk-faced sergeant, Vasco Rubio. Renzo and Lino have arrived from the Baths of Diocletian along with the would-be King of the Street-Urchins, Pino, and a couple of his older lieutenants. None know what they await.

From the street outside there is the sound of singing, accompanied by the lowing of oxen. The door stands open and those assembled can see a carroccio - a large cart with a prominent cross upon it, pulled by a team of white oxen. Through the gateway walks a bareheaded figure in armour carrying a large battle-hammer. He is flanked a pace behind by a man armoured cap-a-pied and another more lightly armed, carrying an unfeasible number of javelins. Behind them a choir of monks still intone their hymn. The leading figure raises a hand. The chanting stops immediately, cut off mid-phrase.

" I am Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz, Archbishop of Toledo, victor of the Rio Salado and emissary of his Holiness the Pope. You may kiss my ring."

As all stand amazed and awed by the power and majesty of the Pope's representative, it is Rocco who darts forward and takes the proffered hand. He kneels and kisses the huge carnelian upon the prelate's gloved finger and steps back as the rest of the crowd begins to jostle forward.

After most, though not all, those assembled have had their opportunity, he withdraws his hand and embarks upon a brief sermon. He has been sent by the Holy Father, who has been disturbed by tales of anarchy in the Holy See, to take stock of the situation in the City. He has been appalled to find the baroni squabbling like spoilt children and other malign actors taking advantage of the ensuing chaos to loot and pillage. Meanwhile decent folk cower in their houses with the doors closed and barred. Above all, he is horrified to hear from this good man (he gestures at Cola who is standing nearby), that a necromancer is suffered to live amongst you, conjuring demons, corrupting the bodies of the dead and kidnapping nuns. This day he will take direct action against this abomination and those assembled will aid him in the Lord's work. He summons the leaders for a brief (he emphasises "brief") counsel of war. Rocco, Marco, Arturo and Giovanni invite themselves (it is held in their accommodation after all).

The plan is simple. The assembled host - several score including some burly choristers - will assault the House of Crows directly. To preclude any escape of the Necromancer via the sewers, a small force familiar with the underdark will be sent to hold the small tunnel that exits below the House of Crows. The above mentioned four, along with Renzo and Lino, are that force.

The party make their way through the tunnels to the sewer egress of the House of Crows. In the dark, they miss their way at first and end up in conversation once more with the "Four Graces". As before the "Maidens of the Midden" engage in lively banter with the party, particularly Rocco. They introduce Renzo and Lino to the ladies, and they quickly realise that they must be more or less below the Baths of Diocletian and that this is their midden. Father Arturo as ever is surly and seeks to maintain a distance. They, of course, tease him. They offer a special blessing to the party in their endeavour if he will cut a caper and dance around the midden for them. He refuses. Now re-oriented, they make their way to The House of Crows back entrance from there.

They find it guarded by several of the goat-headed men they had encountered at the Three-Way House. They are accompanied by half a dozen creatures with the bodies of small children but the heads of geese, these set up a huge honking racket to warn of intruders. They also peck at the adventurers as they fight the goat-headed inflicting many small wounds especially on Rocco. One produces a dagger impregnated with a poison and stabs Rocco, who soon find himself failing. He would have perished but for the Grace of God and the intervention of Father Arturo.

Other monstrosities begin to appear and the fight grows ever more deadly. First to appear is a snake-like demon with a woman's head and torso. lighting bolts flash from her eyes. The head is that of Ornella Morisco. It appears that Caltagirone has found a better use for his erstwhile ally and lover. She wields a sword and envelops Marco in her constricting coils, all but squeezing the life from him before she perishes to the combined blades of the comrades.

Caltagirone's giant servitor, Grumio, appears from the tunnel, quaffing something from a bottle that transforms him into an even larger and more grotesque figure than before that fights with mindless ferocity. He is followed by a large man with a bull's head that pins Lino to the far wall.

At length all these monsters are vanquished. All the protagonists are wounded and exhausted by their efforts. They spend their last strength piling some of the monstrous corpses into the tunnel. When the sorceror's second servitor, Piero, creeps down to see what is amiss, he might have taken them all had he tried, but seeing the body of his comrade Grumio lying there amongst all the other demonic bodies, he gives a cry and scuttles back up to the House of Crows.

They think they hear some faint sound of arms clashing above but are in no state to intervene. All they can do is guard the tunnel entrance and defend it with their remaining strength. In fact the next thing coming from the tunnel is the voice of Aristophane Caltagirone himself. He begs them to let him pass and offers gold and treasure if they do so - treasure that will go to the looters above if they do not accept his offer. They give him short shrift and hear no further from him. Finally they hear a voice with a faint English accent calling down from above, asking how they fare. It is Noli. One by one they drag their wounded and exhausted bodies up the crawl-way into the House of Crows.

There they find a scene of devastation. Much of the building is afire, including all the work they have commissioned since they have taken up residence. Much of it is feeding a great bonfire, piled with corpses in the middle of the courtyard. Swinging from a gibbet, extemporised from a winch and pulley left by their workmen, is the body of Caltagirone, hanging by the neck. Noli says they found him already dead from poison, taken by his own hand. He thinks Piero was with him, likewise dead of poison.

They present themselves to Albornoz who congratulates them on a successful mission and notes their exhausted state. Cola sidles up to them and says he is sorry how it has fallen out with the House of Crows. However, he says they are welcome to the Three-Way House instead - a much better appointed place anyway. He doesn't see the Conti and Frangipani staying there for long - he'll see to it. He has Gepetto's rent books for them.