8 - The Boys are Back in Town

Staggering home to the House of Crows after a night of pleasant revelry at the Black Cat, the party found themselves in the midst of a deadly street ambush. Ill equipped for combat and facing three heavily armed men, they did well to escape with their lives. That they did so reflects both stout resistance and the Grace of God. It seems that at least one of the assailants could not stomach the slaying of a man of God and fled in the face of Father Arturo’s righteous ire. Meanwhile at the other end of the alley in which they were penned Astore kept a pavissiere at bay and disrupted the crossbowman’s opportunities to shoot. Marco was knocked unconscious and Fra Giovanni was pierced in the arm by bolt.

On their return to the House of Crows, the party took stock and realised that their attackers must be the Fratelli Pozzoli, returned from the service of King Robert in Naples, seeking revenge for the dreadful assault on their mother last year. They conclude that while they may have seen this attempt off that they may anticipate others in the future. Their pleas for assistance from Cola fall on deaf ears. He plainly considers the assault on Esmerelda Pozzoli to be inconsistent with the public image he wishes to present. They resolve to hire some muscle to guard the House of Crows at night and left it at that.

Once recovered from their wounds they turn once more to exploring the passages under the House of Crows that stretch off into the darkness below the city. There they discover that they are not alone in having an access point into this secret network of tunnels, encountering a set of steps leading up to a doorway that is clearly guarded by both men and dogs. In another area they fish a body out of a watercourse, only to find it occupied by some kind of spectral creature that is exorcised by Father Arturo – though not before it has latched onto Fra Giovanni to feed upon his life-force. It is banished just in time. They feed him a Restorative and help him home.