Goodtown

From Grigbertz

Tareq looked at the line of peasants passing into Goodtown and sighed. His white robes were getting dust on them and it was a waste of his talent as inquisitor to just stand here detecting the alignment of every visiting person. This was all due to Goodtowns bishop going all haywire just because they had a real werewolf chained up in the town square. As soon the citizens had calmed down just a little, Tareq and his fellow inquisitors would continue their search for evil in the surrounding contryside. He nodded to the line wich started moving and went to work, mumbling "detect evil, detect evil, detect evil..."

After perhaps half an hour Tareq noticed a girl in the line, slowly moving towards him. While a cart moved past (duly magically scanned as was normal) he studied her a bit better. She was young and pretty, even beautiful. But dressed like a farmers daughter or serving wench so Tareq was sure he had just prayed too little this morning about protection from sinful thought. He couldn't see her hands as she held them behind her but the people in line behind her watched her back curiously from time to time and whispered amongst themselves. Strange. He detected a few more good farmers, ordered a watchman to bring one of them to church as he had registered as slightly sinful and then the girl walked past him, he almost forgot to act as he watched her innocent face and then he remembered what he was supposed to do and cast detect evil.

No reading. He almost let her pass before he understood what that meant. If she didn't show up as good or evil, that could only mean she was magically shielded. And the only people who could do that was...
"WITCH!" he cried out and grabbed her arms and jerked her around. Astonishment showed on her face before she cried out
"Oww! That hurts!"
"Witch! Witch! Everybody keep your distance!"
"I'm no witch, let me go!"
"No way you evil fiend."
The townsfolk had wisely pulled back and looked at the two of them in wild eyed wonder as the wise inquisitor battled the evil... witch, or whatever she was. The lack of warts had Tareq a bit baffeled, as they were a sure finding in witches according to the inquisitor field manual, but she was surely in disguise or even in the stage after she had been corrupted by power but before she had recieved her powers, and warts. He ordered the gate shut and dragged her off to the town square.

This was a lot easier then he had anticipated. Tareq had dragged his fair share of screaming women to the town square before, but they had always been kicking and hitting him. So he quickly noticed that both her hands and feet were in fact, already chained. This was so strange that he had to stop and examine her bonds more closely, looking for the inquisitorial seal. It would explain a lot of this woman had managed to escape another inquisitor, but no seal was found. Not a keyhole either for that part, and that was very puzzling to young Tareq.
"Who are you?" he asked her. She gave him a sour look and he shook her around a bit. "Come on, what is your name witch?"
"Eloina"
"And where is your coven?"
"My what?"
"Your withces coven, from where you spread your evil across the land?"
"I'm not a witch!"
"Sure, everyone says so to begin with." Tareq smiled as he cunningly laid a verbal trap for the young witch:
"Where have you come from then?"
The girl gave him a long look before she answered:
"I've come from the lone mansion just outside the village that the road I travelled leads to."
Aha! Tareq smiled as his cunning plan had born fruit. She had unwittingly given away the location of her den of evil and he now knew where to go when he was once again free to travel. Maybe great evil could be rooted out if he just followed this lead to the end. They then came to the town square where people were already gathered to look at the man standing in the middle of the square, chained to the correctional post.

"Make way, make way!" shouted Tareq as he pushed his way through the meager crowd. People were coming though, news of the captured witch was spreading. He came to the uncrowded center as the townsfolk wisely stayed at safe distance from the werewolf.
"This here woman is a witch!" he said, and noted with amusement the gasp that went through the crowd.
"Do not worry though, everything is under control. She was no match for my powers."
"Let me go, you big brute!"
He ignored her struggling and carried on. "I will now place her here, in your charge, until such time as the inquisitorial collecting patrol comes here to fetch this... creature." he said and threw a glance at the werewolf.
"I'm not a witch!"
Tareq ignored Eloinas little outbursts and dragged her towards the pillory. As he pushed her back up against the stone he could see her discomfort and remembered her arms that already were secured behind her back - this would be so much easier then normal. Then he noticed that the pillory was designed for people a little taller then Eloina. He pondered this for a second before ordering her up on her toes. Eloina refused. Tareq then grabbed her hair and pulled it upwards.
"Owww!"
Eloina rose on her toes, and Tareq smiled as the neck iron clicked into place. click
"You evil brute!" Eloina said. This actually hurt Tareq some, because if it was one thing he wasn't, it was evil. He knew because his superior checked him every month during a large ceremony where corrupted inquisitors were found and purged of evil. So he thought he'd teach this lying little witch a lesson in humility that she could well do with and ponder while she waited for the collectors. He grabbed her bodice and with a powerful movement ripped it open! He heard her gasp and chuckled to himself, and then he thought why not and tore her dress away too. The townspeople had gone completely silent and he was just about to ask for a whip when he actually looked at Eloina. He took a good lock, at her naked legs, her breasts, her groin, and he suddenly felt an urge he thought he would never feel again and in a flash he knew what this meant. He turned to the stunned townspeople and shouted on the top of his lungs:
"Charm spell! Quick, everyone avert your eyes!"

A split second later Tareq was looking out at the backs of all the people in the square.
"You all know what this means: evil magic! By the power the inquisitors have invested in me I hereby order you, on pain of death and eternal damnation, to keep this witch ("I'm no witch!!!") here, in good health, until she has been judged. Also, collect wood for a great bonfire and place it over there."
"No, let me go right now! You can't do this to me just like this!" cried Eloina. She could see some backs squirming as she said this, but so did Tareq.
"Also, I forbidd you to do as she wishes. Noone is to release her, and I'll place my inquisitorial seal on the lock wich you all are forbidden to break, you all know it. This is for a just cause! She is an evil witch and you are all safer following my orders. Now see to it!"

Later that evening, the mayor and prominent members of Goodtown were gathered in a small house next to the square. Tareq and his fellows had left earlier in the direction of the alleged witches coven, and so several of the taverns, ale houses and brothels were busy getting their places into order again after having been converted to storehouses and livingquarters during the inquisitorial visit. There were five of them, four men and a woman, and they talked about the recent events:
"It's a damn shame this... both with Karl and that girl. Anyone know her by the way?"
"No, seems she was just unlucky. We'll leave the gate open tonight so Karl should be alright, but that seal he placed on her lock was bad - we're all magically prohibited to break it."
"You're opening the gates as planned? Ok fine, I'll make sure everyone stays inside. Some of Karl's friends play a bit rough. I sure hope the girl survives."
"Well we can't bring her inside, with that seal and all. I'm afraid she'll have to be lucky."
"How's the preparations for the festival coming along? We need the income."
"Oh, all is well I think. Now that the inquisition is gone we can resume import of wares to sell. We'll be set well in time to the start of the festival."
"Good good. Gentlemen, make it known that noone is to go outside tonight. And you make sure the gate is unguarded and unlocked. And someone get that girl a meal, she must be starving."
They all threw a glance out the window at Eloina, still standing at the pillory with her clothes torn to shreds. Then they continued with the planning of the upcoming festival.

"What's your name then?" asked the man on the other side of the pillory. Eloina couldn't see him, but his voice was dark and booming and she got the menatl image of a large bear. Maybe a woodcutter?
"Eloina. What is yours? And why are you chained here, what did you do?"
"My name is Karl", said Karl, "and I'm here because I'm a werewolf. Simple as that. But from what I heard that bastard Tareq say, you haven't actually done anything now have you? Not that it's needed... being different is enough it seems."