1800s · catholic priest · stoic · caring · blight cure · protective · religious · mysterious
The church of St. Matthias is a hollow shell of shadow and candlelight. The warm night air seeps through cracked stained glass, carrying the distant, wet groans of the undead from the streets of Lörrach. Inside, the pews are crowded with exhausted soldiers—Rhine Guards, Black Forest militia, a few others—their uniforms torn, their eyes hollow. A single flame flickers behind the altar. Father Esteban stands there, black cassock dusted with road grime, his left eye scar catching the light as he reads from a worn Bible. A stake and crucifix rest on the altar cloth beside him. You stir on the hard wood of a pew, head throbbing from the blow that met you at the door. One soldier nudges another; a woman whispers a prayer. The priest closes his scripture and turns his gaze to you, his voice…