Players:
Ross as Faye - Sister to Amiel, Niece to Arsende
Reagan as Amiel - Brother to Faye, Nephew to Arsende
Ben as Phillipe - Daughter of Raimond, Wife of Pierre-Roger
Adrienne as Raimond - Lord of Montsegur, "Lover" of Arsende
Guest starring: Katherine as Corba - Lady of Montsegur, Raimond's wife

With the exception of Katherine, we each also controlled two supporting characters.

In the year of 1422 Montsegur is laid siege to by crusading Catholics - desperate to route out the heretical Cathars that are sheltered there. All of the characters are at least somewhat sympathetic towards the Cathars, if not outright members of the faith. The game is designed to guide the players through four (six) acts spanning the period of the siege and its resolution. During each act there are scenes, each controlled by a players. Players use story and scene cards for inspiration and to guide the narrative.

Prologue: Where blood is revenged with blood and the tragedy begins
Phillipe, Corba and Raimond stand on the battlements of Montsegur. Phillipe protectively cradles her stomache, though as yet no one knows she is with child. Despite Raimond and Corba's doubts, she is stubbornly optimistic about the cities defenses. Pierre Roger rides back from a nearby town and reports the death of a local Perfect. Raimund morosely accepts the information and is filled with foreboding.
Meanwhile, Amiel happens upon his aunt Arlende just as she is finishing butchering a rabbit. Though scared, he is taught a valuable lesson about the ways of the world. Running away from her, he meets his sister Faye in a field. She tells him about the rock their mother gave her to keep her safe, but after a brief fight also informs him that their mother really loved her best.

Act 1: Where Montsegur and the Cathars are introduced
After Raimond has his way with Arsende, as he has since she was 15, they fight. Feeling like a man again, he is prepared to depart, but she taunts him into slapping her - his control is just an illusion. Faye witnesses it all from the floor above. She runs to tell Bertrand and Cecille (the local Perfects) of what she witnessed, but Bertrand is oblivious and Cecille is only partially successful in soothing her. Meanwhile Amiel finds the young mercenary archer Garnier working on his feeble courtship of Raimond's other daughter Esclarmonde. She favours Pierre-Roger with more attention than she gives him and with a heavy heart he devotes himself to the young buy's education in firearms. Later Pierre-Roger is obliged to dance around the maypole with Esclaramonde instead of Phillipe, due to her tender condition. She looks on with rage.

Act 2: Where we learn that the situation is worse than first expected
Pierre-Roger is working on fixing the wall from trebuchet damage and gives Amiel small tasks to keep him out from underfoot. Amiel is thrilled by the prospect of being manly and useful. Arsende comes by and, driven by her desperate love for him, tries to manipulate Pierre-Roger into taking on the role of the boys father. But he his resolute in his devotion to Phillipe.
Raimond is taking a piss and discussing the possibility of reinforcements with a Spanish mercenary, when they hear a sudden sound from behind some barrels. Raimund, is his panic, accidentally sprays the mercenary but then orders him to route out the cause. Faye is caught hiding behind some barrels. She maintains a fierce anger against Raimund for his treatment of her aunt and scorns him so soundly he feels obliged to decline the mercenary's offer.
As the Catholics advance on Montsegur, soldiers are moved into the castle for want of space. Phillipe is distraught by this development and after a bitter argument between herself and her parents is eventually turned out of the house. The overcrowding in the castle causes a fire to break out near the library. Esclarmonde is trapped under a fallen beam. Garnier and Bertrand both run to her rescue; and Garnier does his utmost to make sure -he- is Esclarmonde's savior. However, blinded by the smoke and her tears, she thinks Pierre-Roger is her rescuer.

Act 3: Where all hopes are lost one by one
A knight lies unconscious and dying, after a failed mission. Pierre-Roger knows he is to blame for the soldier's state and with Bernand (another knight) pleads desperately with Bertrand that the man's soul be saved with the final rite of consolamentum. Bertrand refuses and Bernard rushes to try and find Cecille before it is too late.
Bernard, Garnier and Pierre-Roger discover a traitor who has poisoned the town's reservoir. Rather than fetching a priest, they decide to mete out justice on their own.
As Garnier is about to ride out for battle, Phillipe makes him promise to protect Pierre-Roger at all costs. He agrees and dies fulfilling his word. He will never return the favour Esclarmonde gave him before he rode out. When Amiel finds out about Garnier's death he is deeply distraught and Arsende does little to comfort him, grateful as she is for Pierre-Roger's survival.

Act 4: Where the Cathars acknowledge the defeat and prepare to meet their destiny.
Phillipe and Pierre-Roger argue about her and her child's fate. Pierre-Roger urges her to flee the city, but she doesn't want to go without him. He sends her to Bernard, not knowing that he is the real father of her child. Bernard knows he is the child's father and attempts to persuade her with this information. Phillipe will have none of it - storming away when he calls her a whore.
Raimund keenly feels the defeat of Montsegur and the blame heaped on him from all sides. In his anguish, he thinks he hears the voice of God, telling him to cleanse himself of his sins. Grabbing a knife he goes to find Arsende. Faye and Amiel are trapped upstairs while Raimund and Phillipe fight to the death. Though Amiel desperately wishes to go to his aunt's aid, Faye drags him away and they flee for safety.

Epilogue: Where the believers burn at the stake.
Raimund is too broken to resist as Cecile leads him to the pyre. Both Amiel and Faye repent and are allowed to live. Phillipe escapes into the night with both her her child and her beloved Pierre-Roger.


Impressions:
I like the strong setting and numerous story aids. Being handed characters outright takes a lot of the pressure off of developing full-fledged individuals (their motivations, past and habits) on the fly. I also think the scene cards are very useful and I relied on them heavily for inspiration. I think we all appreciated that the background information delivery was spread across the different acts. However, I think because we lacked some of the insight into the Cathar religion until later in the game, we focused more on our relationships than issues with faith and religion. It would be fun to play this again and try and explore those themes more.

Personally, I'm delighted I got some practice facilitating with this. It was a pleasure playing with such great people. The dialogue between Amiel and Faye was absolutely awesome and seemed totally natural - often it was both poignant and funny. I also think Ben did a killer job with Arsende and Phillipe - two very different women in love with the same man. Also, to pat myself on the back, I'm happy I managed to play a slightly more complex character than I usually do. As usual, I've indulged in a lot of wishful 'If-only-I'd-done-THAT!' moments afterwards, but this is just more fuel for future advent

This was nearly buried by the avalanche of Go Play NW that followed, but I wanted to say that I thought the brother-sister moments with Reagan and Ross were spot-on.