Father O'Reilly, worried for his nephew, went into town to check out the barracks. He soon returned.
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| "Wit' two posts and all" |
"They've built a huge pile of wood in th' town centre!" he spluttered "Wit' two posts and all. Methinks you two be guilty. Witches."
The parish cottage had a root cellar under the kitchen, so the Father hid the Deacon [Shane] and Tess down here, and then covered them with turnips, parsnips and onions. He would have used potatoes too, but these were still under UAT in England.
Sure enough, a bunch of soldiers arrived to arrest them both. The Father made up some sob story about them leaving and fleeing for Corke, so the soldiers did a desultory search, and left.
Tess and the Deacon really did then leave for Corke. They took a circuitous route through Baltimore, evaded the patrols, and hit the road. They had donned some lame-arse disguise, but it would not have fooled anyone; more good luck, than anything else. God smiles upon His own (even if they be a witch and a gender-confused priest(ess)).
At the same time, Elrick [Ian] was half-a-day ahead, on the Corke road, in pursuit of the other outlaws of the party: Ab Siddy [Darryl], Art [Jeff], Roma [Chris] and Mrs Siddy. Elrick could actually use the main road - he had nothing to hide, and thus he covered ground far faster than the shambling others. Not only did they have to travel slow so that Ab's mother could keep up with them, but they took goat tracks and other convoluted rambling walkways, to remain hidden from the road. A normal traveller could do Baltimore to Corke in two solid days, if he pushed hard, or three at a more leisurely pace. But by goat track, and off road, it'd take ten days or more.
Near Skibbereen, Art and Roma spotted Elrick as he strode manfully down the road. They intercepted him, and then all three (including Elrick) noticed that he was being tailed. A shadowy figure melted into the hedge row, 50 paces back - but not quick enough!
All three ambushed the wretch, pulled him out of the shrubbery, and threw him face to the ground.
He professed innocence, and claimed he was named Baron Bliss.
Baron was searched but he had nothing suspicious, except for a shiny shilling, 1603 minted.
He eventually confessed: He was sent to follow Elrick by Captain Carmichael, of the Baltimore barracks
"What do you do when you find him?" asked Art.
"Report to the soldiers in Bandon Bridge," said Baron. "To a Sergeant Tucky. Sergeant Ken Tucky. Password 'Kenneth'."
They were a bit suspicious until Art pointed out the glowing "PC" emblazoned on Baron's forehead.
[ DM note: Baron's player's real-life name is Deacon. So, to add to the confusion of NPC Father O'Reilly and Shane's Deacon Father O'Reilly, we add Deacon's Baron Bliss to the mix. Now we just need a relevantly named NPC Baron to complete the quartet. How about the Baron of Corke, from the famous Father family, named Deacon? Baron Deacon Father. ]
With that awkwardness out of they way, they all welcomed Baron into their band; a band of witches and child-killers. They insisted on their innocence, of course, but there was always a little voice of suspicion in the back of Baron's mind.
This little voice was not helped later into the night. About two hours before dawn, Second Watch spotted a figure. The moon was just three days past full, and it was a lovely clear night, so all was bright. It was a man figure with goats legs and horns."A devil!" cried Roma, in horror.
The figure spoke in broken Irish Gaelic. It wanted a toll. Art approached it and offered it some items. It was only interested in iron. So, they ended up giving it six iron arrow heads (from their stock of 45). It didn't (or couldn't) touch the iron, so pushed the arrowheads into a sack with a stick. Then loped off.
Meanwhile, Deacon and Tess, half a day back, camped down on the side of the road that night. Neither had any navigational skills, so they were on the actual main Corke road, mistakenly thinking that they were on a surreptitious side track. They had a quiet night, praise the Lord.
Tue 29-Apr
Because they were on the main road, Deacon and Tess made good speed, and, at day-end, caught up to the slow group near Ballywand. [ A useful contrivance to get the split party back together again. ]
Now Baron had to contend with two more convicted witches in the group. But Tess was a babe, so he didn't mind her so much. Though, the Deacon said he could magically cure (more evidence for witchcraft).
Later on in the day, Baron was on point. He noticed some suspicious figures on the track in the distance. Two men dressed with leather jerkins and cloaks. Roma and Elrick suspected they might be O'Donnells. They'd heard tales of these outlaws back in Baltimore. The O'Donnells were a faction of the Irish rebels who had been defeated in the Nine Years war (ended just this year), but had now gone guerrilla and they practically ruled the wilds, outside the influence of the English controlled towns.
So, rather than risk engaging with them, the party went off, cross-country, north towards the nearby hills.
That night it started to rain. So they had a miserable night.
Elrick and Tess had Weather Sense. Both predicted storm and heavy rain for the next few days.
Second Watch smelt human sweat from upwind. A quick check confirmed that it wasn't Ab (he was downwind). But it was too dark to investigate and they didn't want to light a lantern, so they let it go, and broke camp before light.
Wed 30-Apr
Up high on the hills, they got a good view of the surrounding area, despite the rain. The village of Ballynacarriga was off nearby.
Off to the north-west, there was a clearing in the woods, which was filled with tents and bivouacs. Maybe this was an O'Donnell camp.
Not daring to risk the camp, nor the village, they followed the track they were on northwards, deeper into the hills, and came to the Bandon river gorge. The river was running high, from all the recent rain. They followed this downstream on the south bank.
It was a wet, but quiet, night.
Thu 1-May
More wet trudging, all day, next to the Bandon river.
During the day, the rain got heavier and heavier. Towards dusk, they left the gorge and out onto plains. Here, it was no longer wilderness, and was cultivated and farmed. They found a barn and had a dry and uneventful night.
Fri 2-May
In the morning, the rain was still heavy.
Elrick and Baron went into the nearby village Curroughlickey for supplies. This village was about the halfway point, Corke to Baltimore, so it had an inn. Inside were four English soldiers in the common room. The soldiers were drinking and gambling, and paid no heed to the two.
Elrick and Baron had a good feed and a bath. Then got some supplies, and made their way back to the sheltering group.
Resupplied, the group upped sticks and travelled all day, cross country, finding another barn for the night.
Sat 3-May, Last Quarter
 |
| Bandon Bridge looking N |
The rain was still heavy, so they trudged miserably to the east. The road here followed the Bandon river, so they stayed away from it and travelled cross country. It was muddy and tiresome, and they made very slow progress, bordering on "pathetic".
Near dusk, they came to the town of Bandon Bridge.
Again, Elrick scoped out the town, alone. Soldiers were on the actual bridge checking everyone who crossed.
The party needed to cross this bridge, because the road to Corke continued north (on the far side). This was the only bridge across the Bandon, until Kinsale 15 Irish miles [ 30 km ] to the south east at the mouth. And anyway, the road to Kinsale followed the river, on the far bank.
Due to the recent storm, the Bandon was in flood. But even with normal flow, it would be a difficult crossing if forded here. (21 cumecs)
As Elrick was leaving, he noticed that the witchfinder's wagon was here, outside the Bandon Inn. Oh dear.
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