matt’s

GameDev

Premortal

About

For years, an idea has been evolving my head. A young woman who does not return the affection of an unpleasant clodhopper falls victim to the plebs' superstition and is suddenly suspected of witchcraft. With the help of true friends and the disfavor of false friends she hardly survives a bizarre hunt, but still, her end is predetermined...

Teaser

Somewhere in Germany, near river Rhine, early autumn 1489. It's nearly midnight, rain is pattering on the rooftops, and a severe storm is rising. Window shutters are clattering, dross is blowing through the empty streets. Only one person is hastening through the night.

Anna, daughter of a chandler, is on her way home. She's soaked to the bone, her long, wet hair is glued to her body. On her arm she's carrying a basket with edibles. Her mother died short after her birth, and her father fell ill while he was tilling the fields in summer, so she has been managing the shop for the last months. Although seventeen years old and one of the most beautiful women in town, she is still unmarried. In contrast to her mothers last will, her father never tried to force her into marriage. Today, she's telling everyone, that she does not have the time to care for a husband, as long as her father suffers from his sickness.

Anna turns into a narrow alley. The backdoor of the shop, which is her and her fathers home, is at the end of the street. She wipes a hank of hair out of her face, when suddenly someone steps out of a dark corner to grab for her left arm. Annas basket slumps on the rainy paving. She screams scared, but immediately stops when she recognizes the person. Johann is a burly, simple peasant with a fairly large estate outside the town. He visited her fathers shop regulary since she started to help out at the age of 12, and it was more than obvious that his interests exceeded the purchase of goods. Anna had to stop his importunate advances several times in the past, and so she bends down, rolling her eyes, to pick her goods up, while Johann starts to talk at her unremittingly. "Johann, you know that we both can't get together", she finally stops him, turning around to walk the last steps home.

"Father, I'm home!", Anna says when she enters the hallway of her home. She puts her wet cloak down and opens the door to the bedroom, where her father is lying. "Anna, my girl, please make a tea for me.", her father says with a trembling voice. While Anna heads towards the chimney to prepare a tea and dry her clothes, someone roams behind one of the windows. It's Johann, who followed her. "If I won't get you, nobody shall get you!", he whispers angrily.

The next morning, Anna is awakened by a riot outside the house. Dozily she recognizes words like "witch" and "burn", before the first stone smashes one of the front windows. Annas father steps insecurely towards the front door, which suddenly breaks open. A mob of raging peasants flounces the sales room, overwhelming the weak shop owner. "Bring the witch out!", "You can't hide! Get out!", Anna hears now clearly, before the first men enter the sleeping room.

Some minutes later, Anna is put in chains and guarded towards the fields outside the town. "This was your work!", the peasants scream angrily, pointing at the fields that were destroyed by the nocturnal hail. "It wasn't me, it was the storm tonight!", Anna tries to argue, but her voice remains unheard. "You shall burn, witch!", one of the men screams.

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