Session 2 - Bath and Funeral
General Summary
• A fancy man who calls himself Amadeo de Luca wanders into the town of Aleksandrovka from the woods. He is cold and is looking for shelter and food. He meets Prokhor, who questions the traveler’s gender. Amadeo runs into Irina and gets covered by a wool that he doesn’t seem to like too much. Ivan enters after chopping wood and begins to feed the stove. Everyone is cautious of the new traveler. Amadeo shares that he hopes to find his friend (Marco) and shared that he and the rest of the people he was traveling with were attacked in the woods. He shares that he is a merchant. Not being able to say at the convent Ivan and Amadeo make their way to Lada's home. After introductions and honeycake snacks, Davajaav welcomes everyone inside and Lada is left wondering if she should consider the hospitality industry. Ivan returns to chopping wood, something he is good at but doesn’t necessarily enjoy.
• Irina visits the new widow, Anna, to let her know that her husband has been murdered. The widow wails and demands to see the evildoer. Irina shares that she will be contacting the magistrate and that justice will be served. The widow cries and demands to see her husband’s remains and soon the entire town comes to the scene to discuss their ideas about what happened. Irina reads the last rights, and the remains are buried.
• Amadeo is inspired to sing at the conclusion of the funeral, his voice reaches high notes, and the townspeople are impressed. He is invited to stay with Pyotr and soon Amadeo finds himself sitting on pechka (an oven bed) and later in a banya (a bathhouse) where he tries to avoid getting drunk with his potential future father-in-law. They take turns hitting one another with bundles of small tree branches, with no ill intent. Darya attempts to seduce Amadeo and naked activities ensue.
• Lada is back at her hut and is experimenting with making a dough that she saw her grandmother make as a child. She is not sure what the secret ingredient is, but she is hoping one day she can have a dough friend.
• Ivan is digging a grave and attempting to stand guard, although this comes with a cost that he is unsure if he is willing to pay. (I was a little unclear here, so if it needs correcting, please let me know)
• Irina meets Mother Superior, who tells her that the details of the recent death should be kept secret and that common folk would not understand. Irina offers to travel to see the magistrate but talk of a tribute makes this more of a challenge than desired. Irina is told to trust in the Lord and that he would guide her.
• Irina arrives to talk to Davajaav about keeping what happened to the body they discovered a day earlier a secret. Lada has some questions for Irina about the body and expresses concern about the smith's whereabouts and the danger he could pose to others. Irina insists that she is doing what she can to take care of the matter. Soon after a seemingly drunk Amadeo arrives, soon followed by Pyotr who would like to make a business deal with him. Amadeo is eager to leave town before he gets into any trouble, and the rest of the party has reasons of their own to leave for a short trip the next day. A worried Amadeo writes Darya a letter to clarify his intentions, and agrees to give it to a nun who could read it to her should she come looking for him.
• Before the sun rises Pyotr comes looking for Amadeo once more, not satisfied with Lada’s suggestion that they look for him a day later. Lada asks Irina to have someone watch her estate while she is away, and as they get ready to depart, notices that various people from town begin to approach her home.
Report Date
20 Mar 2022
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