Carnevale - Session Four: The Resurrectionist

Art: 'Head of a Young Saint'. After Carlo Dulci, c. 1670.

Four days passed. Morignus had become paranoid after the death of his daughter Rubina and the 'assassination attempt' on his son Carnelio. A curfew was declared, armed mercenaries patrolled the streets, and there were rumours that secret informants were seizing enemies of the state. The city was in a subdued mood, with the Carnivale celebrations all but cancelled for the first time anyone could remember. During this time, the children of House Benicio spent their time trying to locate Santa Maria, the miraculous child. Deltorro spent most of his time looking in various bars, where he became friends with Roberto Ormanni, a local fisherman whose business was affected by the curfew, and Martina Verditto, a stevedore - probably because they could match him drink for drink.

Eventually, they heard a rumour about Antonio Rossi, a dockworker. Rossi was one of the people saved by Maria's miracle on the day of Morignus' attack. The group visited Flora's, a taverna on the waterfront. A skinny waiter was sweeping outside, while a scrawny cat yawned on a table. Pigeons scrambled around on the street. After bribing the waiter, the group found that Antonio often came in to drink during the day. Greta talked to the cat, while the others went and talked to the grumpy barkeep. Adrianna and Matilde spoke to a shrouded yuan-ti snakewoman called Essmerelda. Essmerelda had come to Vanzenia because her astrological divinations portended doom. Matilde suggested that Essmerelda go to Padovia to talk to her professore at the university there, and wrote her a coded letter of introduction.

At this point, Antonio Rossi entered the bar. He seemed troubled - after all, he had lost his job when the warehouse where he worked was destroyed in Morignus's fury. Stefano tried to convince Antonio to come with him by telling him that there were people after him, but it only made Antonio nervous. Adrianna attempted to calm him, but only made things worse - and when Via decided to reveal her fairy nature to ensorcel him, it made him run for the door. Deltorro tried to stop him, but Antonio punched passed him and escaped down the street. Fortunately, Chiara used her magic to talk to him and convince him that she meant him no harm. Antonio told her that after the miracle, Maria had been taken away by a cortigiana, Silvia Franco. Silvia had arranged to hire out an empty warehouse belonging to the d'Artusio merchant family.

The next morning, the seven set out to the d'Artusio warehouse. On the way there, Greta noticed some seagulls acting suspiciously, and followed them to find Antonio's body floating in a canal. He had been murdered in the night and his body dumped. They fished out his body and decided to take it with them to see Maria. After all, saints were said to be able to bring the dead back to life. The warehouse was already quite crowded, with Silvia Franco's private guards were around. Everyone expected that the mass would be attacked by Morignus' condottieri. A podium had been erected inside the warehouse, where a lot of people were already waiting. Cappellano Angelo Marchesi, Silvia Franco's private chaplain, gave a short speech to the crowd, before Santa Maria, a solemn-looking twelve year old girl, approached. The siblings produced the body of Antonio Rossi, and Maria managed to restore his life to him, although the miracle took a lot out of her and she had to rest afterwards. Everyone was convinced that she really was a Saint.

After the service, Ornella Donati, the cortigiana's bodyguard, invited the siblings to attend upon Silvia Franco. She spoke to the group, scouting out who they were and what their interest in Maria was. Once she realised they were humanists, she offered them work: Maria would soon need to convince the Church of her claims, and there was something big and dangerous planned. Upon leaving, the group returned to Paolo, where they heard that mercenaries had invaded many of the churches around the city. Morignus believed that the clergy were plotting against him and sheltering the Saint. Many priests had died, or been dragged away to jail. The situation in Vanzenia was escalating dangerously. Who knew what would happen next?