Taranik House has gotten the word. Taranik House was made to get the word. The house may have more than one entrance, but the windows are arrowslits, every door bars from the inside and the inner keep is solid stone and has only one entrance. Lictor Rouen Stought and her armigers have already geared up for war, armigers in infantry half-armor and Rouen in full hellknight plate, the great horrible glaive she carries is already in her hand.

"We welcome the assistance of Paralictor Rosa in our defense," Rouen says flatly.

Ricard-Blaise Roig and his armigers are mostly doing what Rouen tells him to. He only prepares spells because it's in the rules.

He'll take a frontline role unless they tell him not to. Better him than someone they'd need to pay to resurrect.

Later, but not that much, Tomàs shows up the same way.

Her oaths would let her hide with the abbey. Her honor does not. She also volunteers for the front line, second rank.

Regill has sent one of his armigers out in plainclothes with copies of certain important documents, to go to ground so that even in the event that Taranik House falls their superiors will receive accurate reports. The second he has sent to herd the servants into the cellar, then obscure the cellar's trapdoor as much as possible. The third is sweeping the house for traps that could have been set by a servant with mob sympathies. 

And Rouen Stought can go back to trying to organize the defense of the house. There's the outer wall, which is an outer screen, not a fortress, and then the main house, which is certainly built to hold out but, crucially, was built when they had signifers who could Create Water. It's wood, not brick or stone. And there's the keep. That will hold.

She counts heads. Looks to her like they're up to nineteen combatants. They could hold the keep with two and they'd need fifty for the wall.

"Inside the house," she says. "When they come. Armigers with bows on the roof and the windowslits, to shoot them down when they try to cross the wall. Then two for the front door, two on the back. Rosa, Tomas, the front; Regill, pick your man for the back." Rouen does not, unfortunately, think she should take one of these positions. "Keep buckets of water for small fires; if they spread we fight our way back to the keep."

"Understood. Chain practice would be to attempt to leave most alive and take prisoners, but you are in command and I will neither insist others do so, nor do so myself if you forbid it. It has a minimal but not negligible impact on my effectiveness."

She calculates. "Prisoners are a benefit but ten prisoners are not worth one armiger to guard them. Do so only when they are decisively incapacitated and not when it poses a risk to the life of any knights or armigers."

He nods.

The two armigers that Regill didn't send to ground return and are stationed at the windows with crossbows and orders to preferentially fire on targets carrying torches. 

Tomàs also nods silently and takes position with Rosa at the front door.

As their sole signifer, Ricard-Blaise is left wishing he prepared better spells for this situation. But he has Haste, and Haste makes up for a vast multitude of sins.

Regill commandeers an armiger with a polearm and stations them both at the back door. 

The thing about hellknights is, the thing is.

They're hellknights. It's not very hard to know they're bad guys! They wear spiky black armor! They worship Asmodeus! They go around calling themselves "the Order of the Scourge" and talking about how the whole reason they exist is to fight freedom of speech or "the Order of the Pyre" and existing just to persecute Sarenrites! This isn't secret! Everyone knew it back when they were in power and executed people in vast numbers and stood guard by Asmodeus's priests and lords, and everyone knows it now. They're the bad guys.

The things that are different are, now, nobody wants them alive. They don't have armies any more. They don't have Asmodean priests any more. And we, we have Iomedae's blessing.

So, let's say what we always wanted to say: DEATH TO THE HELLKNIGHTS!

"DEATH TO THE HELLKNIGHTS! DEATH TO THE HELLKNIGHTS! DEATH TO THE HELLKNIGHTS! DOWN WITH THE DEVILS! DEATH TO ASMODEUS! DEATH TO THE DEVILS! DEATH TO THE DEVILS!" There's someone trying to make a speech there.

Disorganized rabble. 

Idiot criminals.

If you ever got rid of us you'd start being sorry real fast.

Lictor Rouen Stought will go out. She is armed. She is very, very armed.

"This is an unlawful assembly."

Chuck a rock at her!

It bounces off her helmet to no particular effect.

"That is an unlawful attack on a subject of Her Majesty," she says. "Cross the fence, and you violate Her Majesty's laws and will suffer punishment -" she smiles behind the helmet "- by the law or by the blade."

Echoing it, a Mage's Decree sweeps across the landscape: Stop rioting. Go home immediately. The primary temple of Abadar offers sanctuary for the night, for anyone injured or caught outside

That sounds like a bluff and an illusionist's trick! "KILL THE HELLKNIGHTS!" A man rushes forwards. "You! HOW MANY ARE IN THE DUNGEONS?"

None - all Regill's prisoners were already transferred. Not that that matters. She turns and walks back into the house.

"Come on," the man says, turning to the crowd. "Empty the dungeons! Empty the pits! Bring the light! BRING THE LIGHT!"

And then he'll try to climb the wall.

That'll do it.

"DEATH TO THE HELLKNIGHTS!"

And now there's a hell of a lot more of them.

Of course there are. Nothing travels in packs like idiocy.

Anna's not really looking forward to this, but you don't just refuse to defend an ally who's already given you critical support, much less when it's been only a few days since they did.

You brought this on yourselves, rabble. Come on, your sentence is waiting.

Rouen is stalking through the house, watching from every window. Where is the mob going? Are they moving to surround the house and attack from all sides, or focusing on the front of the wall? Are they coming up in vast numbers, or only a few?

Oh, there's a lot of them coming. But so far it looks like up the front.

The sound of crossbows cranking, bolts firing, strings drawn back and released - bolts made to punch through armor going through flesh and keeping going - the screams of men injured or dying, the thump of men climbing and keeping climbing - 

They're still coming, covering the fence like a vast swarm of ants and behind the lines someone's singing.

It'll be fine, it'll be fine...

Hellknights to the lamppost. 

It'll be fine, it'll be fine...

The hellknights, we'll hang them!

Why is every single song-sorcerer Chaotic. Why.

Occasionally Hèctor Rosa has contemplated making it illegal to hold unscheduled concerts. He has concluded this could not be thoroughly enforced and is therefore Unlawful to enact.

Thwock thwock thwock these armigers might or might not get killed, they can't control that, but they can make sure they don't have to face Paralictor Derenge and explain their incompetence. 

And then it starts raining, and raining, and raining. It doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon, as the spikes atop the wall are suddenly slippery to the touch, then drenched, then cold.

The crowd is not going to be discouraged by a little rain! Hellknights to the lampposts!

Tomàs looks up, and briefly scrutinizes the sky. "That is not a natural rainstorm. It came on too quickly. The archmages are taking further action." Iomedae smiles on them.

"Then we will have an easier fight than expected. I hope I can sally out and take some ringleaders prisoner before they entirely flee."

"That depends on their composition." Rouen tries to avoid saying that things depend on luck or the gods, because the gods are evil and luck is just another word for fate, which no longer exists.

"Of course, Lictor."

(Rouen is at least as eager to kill lawless rioting scum as Rosa is. She's just shutting up about it.)

The first people make it over the fence without being horribly killed by arrows or crossbow bolts!

They are instead torn to pieces by raging axiomatic hyenas.

... Okay, raging axiomatic hyenas are the sort of thing that will give some people pause, especially when there's a lot of, you know, horrible screams and you can't see much because of the rain.