Archibald Lawrence

Story/Journal

• The Past

  Archibald Lawrence was the son of a simple tavern keeper. He grew up in the Tavern helping his mother and father run the business. He began doing the general upkeep that comes with any tavern: Washing the dishes and mugs, running errands, helping the stable hands, helping with the washing of the linens, and fetching drinks as well as food for the patrons. As he grew, he was most definitely his father's son: He was big for his age, and in his teenage years he was the size of an average man. His father soon had him working with their bouncer to be rid of trouble, and he started his training in the school of hard knocks. Wading into tavern brawls along side the bouncer and his father with bare knuckles or cudgel in hand. He learned all the dirty tricks, and spent every spare hour being taught boxing from a local instructor who was a frequenter to the tavern.
  
  The day came though when his father was too Elderly to help do much more than keep the books, and Archibald took his place as the bartender as well as manager of the Tavern. Though, he was still comparatively young and foolish, he had learned a lot and befriended many of the regulars of the tavern easily. One of said regulars approached him one evening, requesting a boon in return of payment. The regular, Oliver Blackwell was, unbeknownst to Archibald, the leader of a local occultist group.
  
  Archibald agreed as the sum of coin was hard to refuse, and allowed them to meet down in the spare room in the cellar. Oliver was a charismatic man, as most cult leaders are and soon had Archibald mixed up in the cult as well. The spare room was turned into a ritual chamber, and was kept sealed at all times. The chamber was later hidden after the cult leader hired a stone mason to conceal the ritual chamber with a false wall over the door. Archibald was ordered to offer the man a full meal, a night of free drink, and the nicest room in the tavern once the work was done. Included in the order was to murder the man so that the secret of the room was never revealed.
  
  The Tavern became the head quarters for the cult very soon. A cover for the things that the church would surely burn them all for. They spent a decade hidden away. Practicing dark summonings, speaking to things on the 'other side' and learning their secrets. Archi himself was usually found at the bar, acting as a gate keeper of sorts for his 'brothers and sisters'. Until the night of the Dark Hallow.
  
  The cult itself had become overconfident in their successes, and steadily building skills over the years. It was one night decided that they would summon something much greater than the minor spiritual couriers, demons, and elementals they had learned their trade from. That night, they succeeded after nearly a year of preparation and sacrifice. The door was opened, and Anansi the spider god heard their call.
  
  At the time, Archibald had the counter and kept the 'front' going while they did their summoning. Though, when Anansi began to push her power through into the summoning circle the patrons of the tavern promptly went mad from her unseen influence. Fighting the madness, Archibald tried to stop the summoning but knew that the closer he got to the sealed chamber the stronger the influence would be. The more likely that he would fall into the same trap as the others. Instead, he fetched the most potent barrel of liquor from behind the bar. Stuffing a rag into it, and lighting the bit of terry cloth the big bartender-cultist booted the item down into the cellar and ran like mad.
  
  The entirety of the Tavern burned to the ground that night, killing cultist and patron alike. Archibald, haunted by what he had done both for the cult, and in burning the tavern, ran. He ran for several years. Traveling far and wide, making his way however he may. Then, one day he boarded a boat headed back to his homeland. On the voyage, the boat stumbled into the rift, and deposited him here.