Retribution

The swarm is revealed

## Trophies

*They ate him, Amicia! They ate him!*
Hugo witnesses the priest's death

"**Retribution**" is the third chapter in *A Plague Tale: Innocence*. It introduces the main enemy of the game, light mechanics, and grows the relationship between the siblings.

## Plot

> Chased by the paranoid and terrified townsfolk driven to a witchhunt, Amicia and Hugo took refuge in the town monastery. They now must seek out the local monks who know where to find Doctor Laurentius, their only hope of safety.
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### Summary

Having killed Conrad Malfort and taken shelter in the town monastery, Amicia de Rune struggles with having killed people, and the knowledge that she could likely have to do so again. She and her brother Hugo find comfort in the religious surroundings and relative peace as they try to find someone who will guide them to Laurentius, Hugo's doctor.

Climbing a ladder through a broken stained glass window, they find themselves in a courtyard and spot Father Thomas who sternly warns them away before limping inside. As they try to follow him, they find all the furniture has been broken up into scrap wood, including the bed frames. In the courtyard where the priest was spotted, Hugo picks a carnation to put in his sister's hair. They catch up to the monk who warns them again but then he recognizes the de Rune crest pendant around Hugo's neck, as well as the name of Laurentius. He devises a way to sneak the children out of the church to avoid the villagers through an underground tunnel called the Crypt of the Three Saints. He makes sure to bring a torch, telling them to not ever leave the light.

Along the way, Thomas explains in better detail how the Bite started and spread throughout the town, originating from bites in the night as people slept or were caught outside in the dark. Soon it had spread everywhere. People were dying, and by the time they had found out where it was coming from it was too late. When they reach the tunnel leading to the crypt, Thomas notes the absence of his only remaining fellow monk, Brother Morel, and, handing Amicia the torch, he begins to search for his partner. Suddenly, another ringing headache and an overwhelming dread afflict Hugo, and a sudden draft blows out all the candles in the tunnel. A massive swarm of ravenous plague rats appears, so numerous that they cover the floor and Thomas is caught in the dark passageway, killed, and devoured in frighteningly short order. However, despite their numbers, they will not enter the light cast by the torch, allowing Amicia and Hugo to continue onward. As they make their way through the passageways, they find what was left of Morel, who has suffered the same fate as Thomas having been caught on a dark stairway.

Deeper in, a black, thick, dripping, mold-like mass is found covering the walls, ceiling, and floor, indicating that the rat horde has made a nest in the crypt where they can hide during the day. The wood from the broken up furniture was used by the monks to provide firewood to make light and to help barricade parts of the tunnel in attempts to keep out the rats. Finding the entrance as the rats begin to pour into the tunnel through holes in the walls, the two barely make it out into the sunlight. Amicia is thankful to be alive but sees that Hugo is devastated by the realization that their mother, Béatrice, is dead. For the first time, Amicia lovingly holds the little boy to comfort him as the scene fades to black. This marks a significant closing of the distance between the two's relationship created by Hugo's isolation.

Navigation

* I – The de Rune Legacy
* II – The Strangers
* III – **Retribution**
* IV – The Apprentice
* V – The Ravens' Spoils
* VI – Damaged Goods
* VII – The Path Before Us
* VIII – Our Home
* IX – In the Shadow of Ramparts
* X – The Way of Roses
* XI – Alive
* XII – All That Remains
* XIII – Penance
* XIV – Blood Ties
* XV – Remembrance
* XVI – Coronation
* XVII – For Each Other