Afflicted Church

The title of this article is conjectural. Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure **conjecture**.

## General Information

### Inhabitant(s)

Brother Morel
 Father Thomas
 Laurentius  (transient)

## Behind the Scenes

### Chapter(s)

"The Strangers"
 "Retribution"

*No one goes near the church anymore...*[src]
Clervie warns the children away

The **Afflicted Church** is the place of worship for the population of the afflicted town, set in the Aquitaine region of France. Now, it is a place of ruin and defilement, and serves as the setting for the ending of the second chapter "The Strangers" and the entirety of the third chapter "Retribution".

## History

### Background

Once the rat swarms entered the town and began infecting the people living there, a horde also invaded the church, killing many of the monks who began breaking up furniture to build barricades and keep lit fires everywhere they could to try and keep the rats out. The vermin proceeded to make a nest in the Crypt of the Three Saints beneath the church where they would come out to prey on anyone who remained.

### The Strangers

Amicia de Rune and her little brother Hugo, having lost their home and been chased throughout the town by the angered and fearful townspeople, end up in the church courtyard where they are cornered by the town's de facto leader: Conrad Malfort. Amicia is forced to fight and kill him, and the two children take shelter in the main chapel to pull themselves together.

### Retribution

Safe for now, Amicia and Hugo take some solace in the quiet and religious surroundings of the chapel. Amicia can take some rosary beads from this area so that she and Hugo can use them to pray for their parents later.

The door to the rest of the building is crudely barricaded, so they proceed deeper into the building via a ladder that leads through a broken window into the central courtyard where they spot Father Thomas chopping wood. He warns them away but as they follow him further they notice all the beds and stools are chopped to pieces, with Hugo wondering if they did so to make bigger beds. Thomas warns them away again, but recognizes their family crest and offers to sneak them into the crypt so they could escape unseen by the townspeople. Leading them underground, he explains how the plague started, but ultimately fell prey to a rat swarm when he wanders into a dark hallway to look for Brother Morel, who had already died in one of the passageways.

Using the rats fear of light, the de Runes make their way through the tunnels into the crypt, managing to navigate the grisly nest and making it outside into the afternoon light as rats begin to tunnel through the walls.

## Design and Layout

### Exterior

Like many Catholic churches, this one is a large, tall stone building. It is built on a high hill overlooking the rest of the city and thus is a major landmark. The interior hallways are geometric and straight with a few curved stairwells, and the tunnels beneath are expansive and supported with stone pillars. Many areas are barricaded.

#### Graveyard

Out front of the church's main door is a small graveyard with a handful of tombstones and a tree surrounded by a stone wall on the left, an iron fence on the right, and secured with a small iron gate. This is where Amicia must fight and kill Conrad Malfort. The area is littered with barrels and wooden crates intended to be broken up, and stones can be picked up to be used as ammunition for Amicia's sling.

### Interior

#### Chapel

The first room inside the massive, sturdy wooden front doors of the church, this room is the single largest and highest as would be expected. It has high ceilings supported by stone arches, windows, the wall behind the pulpit is decorated with a statue of the Virgin Mary, and several small alcoves to the sides have smaller statues of Mary along with lit candles where one can pray in silence. Few of the pews remain, and bits of debris are strewn across the floor.

#### Courtyard

This square-shaped enclosure is open to the air and has a raised stone walkway, arched walkways below, and space for chopping wood and gardening. A number of recently dug graves marked with crude wooden crosses can be found, and Hugo can pick some carnations to put in Amicia's hair. In a smaller area off to the side is a small covered well.

#### Dormitory

A long hall filled with the wood-and-cloth wreckage of the priests' beds. Amid the daylight streaming in from outside, it paints an unsettling image, and foreshadows even greater terrors to come...

#### Crypt Entrance Hall

A wide, low room, it is filled with candles and a stairway leading down into the Crypt itself, with a statue over the doorway. There is a large number of candles and many pieces of debris here.

## Trivia

* This area is the first part of the game where the rats are explicitly seen.