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The Rot in the Slums was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2020 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.
Description[]
Eivor travelled to the slums of Paris to eliminate Bishop Engelwin.
Dialogue[]
Eivor found herself into the outskirts of Paris and noticed a hatch open, near some dead Frankish soldiers. Climbing down, Eivor noticed some rats and pushed them away. Within the passage, Eivor saw a kneeling Sigfred over another dead soldier.
- Sigfred: Wolf-Kissed! Here!
Eivor talked with Sigfred.
- Sigfred: How did you find me? Where's Toka?
- Eivor: Toka guessed you would be here. She is still in Melun looking for your missing watch.
- Sigfred: I lost Engelwin, but this soldier told me he is heading for the church nearby. Come. We can go through the slums.
Sigfred rose up as Eivor followed him.
- Sigfred: Gah! Even from here I can smell the piss of the slums.
- Eivor: Sigfred, I mean to stop this fight from coming to England. I must meet with Charles.
- Sigfred: For what? You cannot bargain with these thralls! Have you forgotten my fallen brother, Sinric?
- Eivor: No, and that is why I must try. It is why I came to Francia. If I kill Engelwin, I want you to help me get an audience with the king.
- Sigfred: There is no reasoning with you, Wolf-Kissed. You are as wild as your namesake.
Both Vikings climbed to the top of a ruined structure and watched a speech being made.
- Odo: In our veins run the blood of holy kings and conquerors. The Northern may have numbers, but we have God!
- Sigfred: That is Odo, Count of Paris and right-hand man to the king. Drumming up support for his army, no doubt.
- Odo: Our courage and honor will not fail us, no matter how hot the fight. We will overcome this evil, as we always have.
- Sigfred: Self-important as always. The one next to him is Gozlin, Bishop of Paris and a fearsome warrior ... for a Frank. Those two are for another day. You have to get to Engelwin, and to do that you have to find your way into the church. The answer is down there in that stink.
- Eivor: That is not much to go on.
- Sigfred: If it was easy, I would have killed him myself already. You have an advantage. You are unknown to these ... people.
- Odo: The raider Sigfred is almost at our gates! And what does he want? What the Northerners always want: blood and silver, yours and mine.
- Sigfred: Me, they know quite well already. Someone down there knows something. All you have to do is get them to tell you.
- Eivor: I have your word. Once this is done, we find Charles.
- Sigfred: As you say, but work fast. I cannot leave Melun unguarded long, and this Frankish stench already turns my stomach.
Gozlin signals Odo to look in the distance at Sigfred and Eivor. Odo commanded his guards behind him to attack them.
Gozlin and Odo see Sigfred in the distance
Sigfred: Three guards? Insulting. I will deal with them, while you find Engelwin. He is hiding in his church. Will you sneak in, convince one of his own to aid you, or cover the streets with blood?
- Eivor: As you would?
- Sigfred: They deserve no less. But you are the Wolf-Kissed. You do not need my advice. So what will you do?
- Eivor: I will find my own way.
Eivor started to infiltrate Paris and came across Odo's previous speaking grounds.
- French Soldier 1: Count Odo is the protector of Paris, the king's man, and he has told you the truth! You cannot trust the Northmen to do anything but be Northmen ... because that's what they are ... Northmen. This is not the first time they have come and it will not be the last. But we must make it the last. Because at the last ... it is up to us!
- French Man 1: Damn these nobles, always talking down to us. We don't hear a word from them until there's trouble.
- French Man 2: Let him speak.
Eivor traveled along the grounds.
- French Child 1: Bread or coin. Bread or coin.
- Eivor might have gone to the church's entrance before following any clues and spoke to the priest at the gate.
- Eivor: The church appears closed.
- French Man 3: It's the plague. We're still receiving tithes, however. God will receive your offering too, Northerner.
- Eivor: There must be a way I can get in.
- French Man 3: Only those on urgent business for the bishop may pass.
- Eivor: I could be on such business.
- French Man 3: If you were, you'd have mentioned the watchword. But you haven't. So you aren't. Come back once the plague has passed.
Eivor may have made her way to Boatmen Baths Tavern for a clue. Eivor walked inside and noticed everyone looking at her. Eivor walked to and talked with the barkeep.
- Eivor: Are you the owner?
- French Woman 1: Owner...that's such a naïvely hopeful word. What can I get you?
- Eivor: I need to find the bishop.
- French Woman 1: The bishop? I can tell you he's not in this mud pit, my friend. He wouldn't risk ruining his royal sandals. There is a priest who does the bishop's numbers in here at times. Last I saw, he was talking to a table of soldiers.
Eivor left the female barkeep.
- Eivor: Wine loosen lips as well as ale. Someone at the tavern might know something that'll get me into the church.
Eivor overheard a couple of guards talking.
- French Soldier 2: Someone needs to report back to the bishop, tell him the nosy scribe is taken care of.
- French Soldier 3: Well, not me. My cup isn't empty yet, and that bishop makes me uneasy. For a "servant of God," he has a terrible temper.
Eivor saw a letter on the table near the soldiers.
Captain's Orders
- Captain,
My scribe has unhappily proved himself to be of treacherous character. Find him and make certain he does not return to trouble us further.
The materials in his possession are stolen and of a nature most personal. Included is a watchword allowing entry to the church. It cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Recover and destroy everything. Leave no trace. I must insist upon your utmost discretion in this matter.
Report to my priest at the gate when the matter is resolved.
–E.
- Eivor: I could look for the scribe at the plague district, or see if someone here knows something more.
Eivor heard a man crying around the tavern.
- French Man 4: What does a bishop and his soldiers want with my daughter? She's a good girl. Never did wrong. She's all I got!
Eivor talked to the drunk man.
- Eivor: You mentioned the bishop.
- French Man 4: He took her. My daughter! She's gone. She's a good girl. Never any trouble. She wouldn't steal anything.
- Eivor: Who took your daughter? Was it the bishop?
- French Man 4: The bishop's soldiers in the slums. Said she stole the bishop's silver, that she has a devil and needs deliverance. Wassat? Wha'd you say?
- Eivor: I will find your daughter here in the slums, and she will help me find Engelwin.
Eivor left the father.
- Eivor: That is two good leads.
- Eivor could have went to the drunk father first then the soldiers' conversation.
- Eivor: I could look for the drunk's daughter at the slums, or see if there's more to learn here.
Eivor left the tavern.
Eivor traveled to the Plague District.
- French Man 5: God himself holds you over this pit of hell, like a spider held over the fire. Your own wickedness makes you heavier than lead.
- Eivor: Now to find the scribe.
Eivor talked to a man on the ground.
- Eivor: I am looking for a priest. He works for the bishop as a scribe.
- French Man 6: The bishop! I do not know about that. One of the nuns might know. I do not know anything!
Eivor went and talked a nun nearby.
- Eivor: I'm looking for a priest who helps the bishop with his numbers. A church scribe.
- French Woman 2: You as well? He's popular today. It must be serious if it's bringing you all down here. We don't get many visitors.
- Eivor: Someone else was looking for him?
- French Woman 2: Guards from the city. He didn't seem too pleased to see them. They got to arguing, then all left towards the sewer.
- Eivor: Tell me where the sewer is.
- French Woman 2: Just over the rise. Be careful though. With all those plagued bodies, it's not clean and smells to high heaven.
Eivor traveled down the western sewers.
- Eivor: The sewer opens here. The soldiers must have taken the scribe inside. Agh! That is the stench of death.
Eivor went further into the sewers and saw decaying bodies.
- Eivor: The bodies here are decayed and falling apart.
Eivor searched and saw another body.
- Eivor: This body has rotted in the water. It's been down here a long time.
Closer, Eivor found a blurry list.
- Eivor: Blurred by the water, but this is a list of some kind. It must have come from the scribe.
Eivor noticed a watery entrance, occupied with more dead bodies.
- Eivor: Plague corpses, just as the nun said. Floated here from somewhere ahead.
Eivor swam underwater until she found another opening.
- Eivor: Argh, my mouth is sour with the filth.
Eivor was outside and noticed rats and a dead body.
- Eivor: Rats! They're small, but their teeth are sharp. That is a priest's robes. This must be the scribe.
Eivor noticed a letter on the floor.
Scribe's Letter
- There can be no doubt. Bishop Engelwin is stealing from the tithes. The parchments I carry show it. Engelwin already suspects my discovery. I must leave the church or die here.
I have gained the watchword and will use it to get pas the gate. It is:
JOB 1:21
How apt a scripture to his many perversions! I fear my deception will not last long, and the bishop's guards are everywhere. I can only think to go to the slims. The sisters will hide me. From there, I will leave Paris under cover of night and flee to Evresin.
God grant me mercy, and may Saint Germain protect me!
- Eivor: A list of numbers that show Engelwin mishandling tithes. The scribe discovered the bishop was stealing money, and it got him killed. This is a watchword. "Job 1:21." It will help me gain entry to the church.
Eivor found another note. [citation needed]
Diary of the Brave Cook
- Day 1. Today I enjoyed my first porridge using my "secret" ingredient. Quite tasty, if a bit lumpy and "furry"
Day 5. More "rorridge" today - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is an acquired taste, but such a joy to slurp down...
Day 15. I AM THE RAT KING
THEY OBEY MY MAD PIPER THOUGHTS AND SCURRY THROUGH THE DARK PLACES BETWEEN THE STARS
Eivor went to the entrance of Sainte-Geneviève Church.
- French Woman 4: Is that another one dead? O, it's not natural.
- French Man 7: Don't touch it! It's the plague for certain.
- French Woman 4: It's not just the plague. That's four in one day. It's a bad omen. God help us!
Eivor came close to the entrance.
- Eivor: The guards here are heavily armed. I should be careful here.
Eivor overheard a conversation near the entrance.
- French Soldier 4: The tithes are collected and accounted for.
- French Man 3: Excellent. Where are the man tasked with the other matter?
- French Soldier 4: Ah...they have not returned yet, Father.
Eivor spoke with the priest.
- Eivor: The church appears closed.
- French Man 3: It's the plague. We're still receiving tithes, however. God will receive your offering too, Northerner.
- Eivor: Job 1:21.
- French Man 3: How did you come by this watchword?
- Eivor: Is it not enough that I have it? Or would you like to question the bishop about his business?
- French Man 3: Strange that he told me nothing of this, but...of course. You may pass.
The guards parted way for Eivor.
- French Man 3: Let the Northerner through.
Eivor traveled to the Flooded Slums and found two notes.
A Monk's Letter
- My news is grim. The heathens march ever closer, and food grows short.
The peasants now eat a dish known as 'rorridge,' something more awful than it sounds. How can they digest those awful, naked tails?
Even worse tidings, several of the brothers of the monastery are missing and believed lost.
Brother Guillaume and the rest ventured into the flooded crypt to retrieve some holy relics, a great treasure, but have yet to emerge.
Pray for us!
–Brother Jules
A Father's Lament
- I hope things are better in Bordeaux than they are here...
Alas, but there is no easy way to write this.
Little Pepin is missing. We were starving, and he grew sickly and weak. There is so little to eat these days.
The only food I could get was 'rorridge' - you know what it is, but I told poor Pepin it was horsemeat.
It is tough to prepare, how the pot would squeak as they were boiled. The meat made Pepin ill. I do not know how he had the strength to flee.
I hope the heathens come soon and put an end to our misery.
- Henri
This is a title
- While this is the text
She soon saw a collection of soldiers grouped together.
- Eivor: Stop struggling!
- French Woman 3: No! Let me go! I don't want no deliverance! Leave me alone! Help!
Eivor saw the drunk's daughter and eliminated all the guards.
- French Woman 3: Help! Don't just stand there, help me!
Eivor released the girl.
- French Woman 3: It's not safe here! This way!
Eivor followed the young woman and then talked with her.
- French Woman 3: That was close.
- Eivor: You're welcome. Your father told me the bishop took you.
- French Woman 3: My father? Yeah, the bishop's soldiers. I didn't steal nothing neither! Then they wanted to give me deliverance.
- Eivor: You stole from the bishop? That was bold.
- French Woman 3: Well I just said I didn't, didn't I? Well, I didn't take no silver. It was just a little church key.
- Eivor: I want that key.
- French Woman 3: So did the soldiers, but you are too late. I sold it to bandits in the sewers. They got it cheap too!
- Eivor: My reward for helping you is to fight bandits.
- French Woman 3: You are welcome. Good luck, the sewers stink. I have to get to my father before he is thrown out of the tavern again.
Nearby, Eivor went down the sewers' opening.
- Eivor: This must be the sewers.
Eivor found evidence within the sewers.
- Eivor: Fresh tracks. Bandits must be close.
Bypassing more rats and the bandits, Eivor noticed many stocked goods.
- Eivor: These goods have been packed for travel. The bandits are smuggling.
Maneuvering through more rats and bandits, Eivor came across a table with a letter.
Big Job, Boys
- Listen up, Rats.
We've been doing alright taking from the smugglers, but now it's time for something big.
Everyone knows they're hiding a fortune in ransom silver underneath Sainte-Geneviève Church. When the Norse strike, we'll bust in, grab it for ourselves and leave Paris to its fate.
Everybody loses but us!
–The Rat King
Eivor also grabbed the key on the table as well.
- Eivor: The key has a Christian cross cast into its bow. This is a church key.
Eivor returned to the Broken Baths Tavern and saw the girl had reunited with her father.
- French Man 4: I thought I'd lost you! But here you are, back safe as ever. Thank God Almighty!
- French Woman 3: Of course, Papa. But you have to stop drinking so much. It does you no good.
- French Man 4: You're back! Where were you? Thank God Almighty! I was so worried.
- French Woman 3: O, Papa.
- Eivor may have fought her way through the guards or sleuthed her way in another way.
Eivor entered the grounds and heard a priest giving a speech.
- French Man 8: Every one of you has sinned and fallen from God. And why do you sin? Because something inside you compels you! Only God can burn away the darkness in your souls. Go to his altar. Seek deliverance while it may yet be found!
- Eivor: Whatever deliverance is, it sounds grim.
Eivor later overheard a small conversation.
- French Woman 5: Did you hear that priest? He was talking about deliverance again.
- French Man 9: They are always talking, usually about offerings. You would think God himself was poor if you listened to him.
- French Woman 5: Hush! Don't say such things! You'll be taken for a heretic, and sent for deliverance yourself.
Eivor entered the church and spoke to a man neared a locked door.
- Eivor: I need to find Bishop Engelwin. Do you know where he is?
- French Man 10: If you are here for deliverance, you have a long wait. My brother has been upstairs waiting for hours now.
Eivor climbed upstairs to find the next priest.
- French Man 11: It can't be right. Bishop Engelwin didn't say anything about this. Why are they screaming? What do they do in the basement?
Nearby, Eivor found a note near the priest.
Deliverance Note
- DELIVERANCE
Child of God, do you struggle with sin? Do you want to walk more closely with your Savior? Would you like to know and understand your Heavenly Father's plan for you?
God Himself has made the way. Come to His altar, seek out his goodness, and find your own deliverance!
Eivor spoke to the man.
- Eivor: Are you here for deliverance?
- French Man 11: Yes ... I don't know. I want to be close to God. But those screams don't seem right. Does it seem right to you?
- Eivor: Your deliverance ritual, is it with Engelwin?
- French Man 11: Yes, he does it alone. I'm next in line and I ... I don't think I want this.
- Eivor: I could take your place, and see Engelwin for you. Then you could leave. Tell me what I must do.
- French Man 11: You need a robe. They won't let you in without their special robe. Then you go down to the corridor and talk to the priest.
- Eivor: Give me your robe.
- French Man 11: My robe? They gave me one but I didn't put it on. I left it somewhere around here.
- Eivor: I will find it and take your place. You should leave now before they call for you.
- French Man 11: Yes ... yes, you're right. As soon as my nerves settle.
Looking around, Eivor found a chest nearby and retrieved the Bellatores Robe.
- Eivor: This must be the robe I need. It is well made.
Equipped with the Bellatores Robe, Eivor looked around within the church and found a passage underground near the altar. Walking down, Eivor came across a doorkeeper.
- French Man 12: I see you are ready for the ritual.
Eivor spoke to the man.
- French Man 12: Take this key. Prepare your heart and when you are ready, enter through this door. The bishop is waiting for you.
Eivor obtained the basement key and opened the door. Eivor was greeted by a blinded woman.
- French Woman 6: Welcome, traveler.
- Eivor: Your eyes are covered, yet you see me.
- French Woman 6: Justice and innocence are both blind, yet see more clearly for it. Find them, light the way, and see the treasures of God. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. The way through darkness to your deliverance is clear when it is lit by God.
- Eivor: It is a riddle. The way to deliverance ... that must mean Engelwin.
Eivor looked around with Odin vision and lit a small fire nearby.
- Eivor: That is one. The nun said "lights." There must be another.
Eivor looked around more and lit the next small fire.
- Eivor: That is two.
- French Woman 6: Justice and innocence light the way. Without them, we are blind.
The door opened.
- French Woman 6: Naked you came from your mother's womb, and naked you will return. Enter here now, naked and alone.
Eivor entered the corridor and found Engelwin, whipping another priest.
- Eivor: Engelwin.
- Engelwin: It is always this way, deliverance or death. Another soul for the Day of Judgement. All thy judgments are just. Amen.
- Eivor: This disguise may not be convincing up close. I should keep my distance from the guards.
Eivor looked for an opening as she found a list of instructions.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR DELIVERANCE
- 1. Wear your official robe. You will not be permitted to see the Bishop without it. It is an acceptable covering for your unrighteousness, without which you cannot enter the sanctified chamber. Robes are available on the upper floor.
2. Prepare your heart. You are bringing yourself before Almighty God and his minister, who will brook neither deceit or duplicity.
3. When it is time, present yourself to the deacon at the entrance to the Bishop's inner chamber. He will let you in.
4. You may not leave until the ritual is complete. Guards are there to ensure your obedience.
5. You will be asked to remove your robe, thereby revealing yourself fully before God and his holy servant.
6. Kneel in the ritual water, and wait for the deliverance to being.
Arrangements have been made for you following the ritual.
Eivor still heard Engelwin talking aloud.
- Engelwin: Only those who know God can truly know beauty. And to truly know God, we must suffer. This is a paradox, and is itself beautiful. You must enter the pool. We cannot begin until you are cleansed by the ritual water. Come, my child. Like the priests of old, you must be cleansed by water before approaching God. Step into the pool.
Eivor found a letter on a table to the left of Engelwin.
Note from Engelwin
- Father William,
I expect a complete collection of tithes by week's end. Instruct your men not to skip the northern quarter again. I am well aware of their lazy indiscretions. Next time the shortfall will be taken from their wages, and yours.
Do not tally any of the coin, I forbid it. I will make a full accounting of it once it is delivered to me.
–Bishop Engelwin
- Eivor: This is more than just greed. Engelwin is gathering a war chest.
Eivor kneeled in the water as Engelwin walked closer.
- Engelwin: Come. Do you know why you are here, child?
- Eivor: Yes.
- Engelwin: You have been chosen for a great honor. Yet being chosen is only the beginning. What we do now won't be pleasant. Remember, the Lord has said, "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."
- Eivor: Yes, I remember.
- Engelwin: Others shown themselves ... unworthy, as you have seen. My hope is you will fare better.
- Eivor: I will.
- Engelwin: Your confidence speaks well of you. Once we begin, we cannot stop. I will not heed your cries. Your soul depends on it. The devil will not endure the pain, so you must. Do you understand?
- Eivor: Yes, I understand.
- Engelwin: We may discover in the pain there is a delicious pleasure. God himself grants it as a mercy to aid us in the struggle. Now, make yourself ready. Disrobe and do not leave the pool until I grant you leave.
- Eivor: I am to be unclothed?
- Engelwin: Do not be concerned for modesty. Once you comply my guards will leave, and we will be alone for the ritual.
- Eivor: Very well.
Eivor started to disrobe.
- Engelwin: Guards, leave us.
Eivor wore her delicates and her Hidden Blade.
- Engelwin: Very good. You have made the correct choice and now, we will begin. Accept, I beseech thee, this freewill offering, O Lord.
Eivor used her Hidden Blade and stabbed Engelwin through his neck upward. Engelwin grabbed his throat as he fell into the pool, making it red.
Engelwin's death
- Eivor: Your offering is accepted.
Engelwin noticed Eivor's true appearance.
- Engelwin: You are an imposter! Guards! To me!
Eivor stepped back in shock as Engelwin used his flail on her. Engelwin stabbed Eivor with his short sword and killed her on the spot.
- Engelwin: Touch not the Lord's anointed, you ungodly heathen.
Eivor followed the same path if she initially disrobed.
- Eivor: I will not be naked, you loathsome draugr (ghoul).
Eivor attacked Engelwin.
- Engelwin: There's an intruder! Guards! Guards, to me!
Eivor fought against the bishop and his guards.
- Engelwin: I cast you out, devil! I will purge you! God fights with me, heathen!
- Eivor may have also assassinated him stealthily as well.
From Engelwin's personal effects, Eivor garnered a key and a strange crest.
- Eivor: He had a strange key and a strange chest on him. I should find a way out of here quickly, before he's discovered.
Eivor exited out of Engelwin's sanctum.
- Eivor: That bishop's mind was afflicted by a strangeness I do not understand. He held a crest and a key. I should look around for what it unlocks.
Outcome[]
Eivor located Engelwin in the chambers of Sainte-Geneviève Church and assassinated him, recovering a mysterious crest and a key from his body.