Fiumenze Nights Redux - Session Two: The Made Man
Finally, another session! Averroes' player won't be joining us again, and Donatella's player was absent. Hopefully she'll be back with us again next time.
Guests screamed, or gasped, or clapped, as the statue of Davide came to life. The loudest voice belonged to Fra Gottifredo, who loudly denounced the statue as heresy and called on the sbirri to destroy it. Ilaria, Heidini, Chiara and Lia decided to take the situation under control before the priest could arrange a lynch mob. Ilaria convinced Emiliano Brasco to give them control over the situation, and the mercenaries were happy to avoid taking responsibility. Chiara bonded with Davide over a joke, and the sbirri took the statue into another room of the villa for questioning - after wrapping him in the fallen curtain like a makeshift toga. As they left, Fra Gottifredo cornered them and threatened them with going to their superior, the Gonfaloniere di Giustitia, if they did not destroy Davide. He honestly felt that the living statue's origin had to be diabolical. The sbirri fobbed him off before they interrogated Davide to find out if he was Michele's killer. The living statue was highly intelligent in some ways, and childishly naive in others. He explained that he had an imprint of Michele's memories, and that murdering his maker would be a form of suicide. When the four asked if anyone else knew about his existence, Davide confirmed that there had been a break-in of the workshop a few weeks earlier, when he had been barely sentient. He could not identify the man, but believed that this man had the plans for creating more living statues. Davide asked if the sbirri could retrieve the plans for him, so that he could use them to create more like him, and they tentatively agreed.
Ilaria went back out into the party to verify Davide's story with Tommaso. The beautiful noble was still distraught, but he confirmed what Davide had said and mentioned Bartolomeo di Baccio, Michele's rival - could this be the man who broke into the workshop and stole the plans? Emiliano also stopped her to warn that Fra Gottifredo had returned to town to fetch 'real guards' to deal with Michele di Lodovico's killer. The group hurried out and returned to town, where they hid Davide in their barracks overnight. In the morning, Ilaria, Heidini, Chiara and Lia headed out to villa where Bartolomeo was working on a fresco for the di Credi family, to the north-east of Fiumenze. They deputised Davide and took him with them as well: Heidini and Chiara were starting to quite enjoy his company. After befriending the snooty door warden there, they found that Bartolomeo had not come in to work on his fresco that day. They agreed to go look for him at the tavern where he lived, back in the city.
Back in Fiumenze, the five found a group of guards hired by the Apothecaries' Guild hanging around outside Bartolomeo's tavern. Heidini tried to sneak past them, but was spotted. The thugs attacked, but Lia bit the first on the hand so hard that he dropped his weapon in pain, and Heidini used her crossbow to shoot the sword out of the second's hand. Intimidated, the Apothecaries' Guild hirelings hurried off to look for reinforcements. Inside, Ilaria, Heidini, Chiara, Lia and Davide found Bartolomeo's dead body. He had been strangled by someone so strong that his neck had been broken. Nearby were a hammer and chisel that Bartolomeo had used to defend himself during the struggle, with marble dust on them. Davide also found the plans for creating living statues, and took them. Clearly, Bartolomeo had stolen the blueprints and created his own living statue to show he was as great an artist as Michele. Inspired by the hatred of his creator, this second statue had killed Michele, before returning to murder its maker!
At this point, guards arrived outside the tavern, led by the Gonfaloniere di Giustitia himself! The four sbirri used magic to hide Davide, before going to talk to their patron. He was furious with them for angering many important people, and confiscated their badges and truncheons. Ilaria, Heidini, Chiara and Lia were members of the city watch no more.
Image: 'David.' Michelangelo Buonarotti, 1504.
Guests screamed, or gasped, or clapped, as the statue of Davide came to life. The loudest voice belonged to Fra Gottifredo, who loudly denounced the statue as heresy and called on the sbirri to destroy it. Ilaria, Heidini, Chiara and Lia decided to take the situation under control before the priest could arrange a lynch mob. Ilaria convinced Emiliano Brasco to give them control over the situation, and the mercenaries were happy to avoid taking responsibility. Chiara bonded with Davide over a joke, and the sbirri took the statue into another room of the villa for questioning - after wrapping him in the fallen curtain like a makeshift toga. As they left, Fra Gottifredo cornered them and threatened them with going to their superior, the Gonfaloniere di Giustitia, if they did not destroy Davide. He honestly felt that the living statue's origin had to be diabolical. The sbirri fobbed him off before they interrogated Davide to find out if he was Michele's killer. The living statue was highly intelligent in some ways, and childishly naive in others. He explained that he had an imprint of Michele's memories, and that murdering his maker would be a form of suicide. When the four asked if anyone else knew about his existence, Davide confirmed that there had been a break-in of the workshop a few weeks earlier, when he had been barely sentient. He could not identify the man, but believed that this man had the plans for creating more living statues. Davide asked if the sbirri could retrieve the plans for him, so that he could use them to create more like him, and they tentatively agreed.
Ilaria went back out into the party to verify Davide's story with Tommaso. The beautiful noble was still distraught, but he confirmed what Davide had said and mentioned Bartolomeo di Baccio, Michele's rival - could this be the man who broke into the workshop and stole the plans? Emiliano also stopped her to warn that Fra Gottifredo had returned to town to fetch 'real guards' to deal with Michele di Lodovico's killer. The group hurried out and returned to town, where they hid Davide in their barracks overnight. In the morning, Ilaria, Heidini, Chiara and Lia headed out to villa where Bartolomeo was working on a fresco for the di Credi family, to the north-east of Fiumenze. They deputised Davide and took him with them as well: Heidini and Chiara were starting to quite enjoy his company. After befriending the snooty door warden there, they found that Bartolomeo had not come in to work on his fresco that day. They agreed to go look for him at the tavern where he lived, back in the city.
Back in Fiumenze, the five found a group of guards hired by the Apothecaries' Guild hanging around outside Bartolomeo's tavern. Heidini tried to sneak past them, but was spotted. The thugs attacked, but Lia bit the first on the hand so hard that he dropped his weapon in pain, and Heidini used her crossbow to shoot the sword out of the second's hand. Intimidated, the Apothecaries' Guild hirelings hurried off to look for reinforcements. Inside, Ilaria, Heidini, Chiara, Lia and Davide found Bartolomeo's dead body. He had been strangled by someone so strong that his neck had been broken. Nearby were a hammer and chisel that Bartolomeo had used to defend himself during the struggle, with marble dust on them. Davide also found the plans for creating living statues, and took them. Clearly, Bartolomeo had stolen the blueprints and created his own living statue to show he was as great an artist as Michele. Inspired by the hatred of his creator, this second statue had killed Michele, before returning to murder its maker!
At this point, guards arrived outside the tavern, led by the Gonfaloniere di Giustitia himself! The four sbirri used magic to hide Davide, before going to talk to their patron. He was furious with them for angering many important people, and confiscated their badges and truncheons. Ilaria, Heidini, Chiara and Lia were members of the city watch no more.
Image: 'David.' Michelangelo Buonarotti, 1504.
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