Session Seventeen

Sunday, 9th December 2012
Final Session
The PC's wandered the Womb, fighting everything they encountered and finally getting the three keys they needed from the Mother, the Maiden and the Crone.

The Womb was a maze.  The full map can now be shared.

Session Sixteen

Sunday, 2nd December 2012
Chapter IX: 
Womb of the Black Witch
Part 1

The Party spent a bit of time on the ledge, wondering how to find their way into the lair of the Black Witch after Karl.  Mormocar decided to take the rowing boat out to the middle of the slime covered pool - despite not knowing how to row.  He managed to drop the oars into the water and drifted randomly before falling in when trying to row using his sword.  He was immediately attacked by a big one eyed serpent and a Nurgling...

Meanwhile, up the path towards the rest of the PC's trundled what was left of Tobias from earlier in the campaign - (Session Eight - "As Tobias died, a strange alien like organ tore free from the dead flesh, sprouted limbs, and escaped through the hole in the back wall...") - only now, it has degenerated into a barely humanoid mass of bone, tumours, and hair - Tobias' face sometimes pushes out of the skin on its body and silently screams.  It attacks and the PC's kill it.

Mormocar is wounded by the one eyed serpent, and fighting underwater alone is taking time - he manages to kill the serpent and spots at the bottom of the pool a thin membrane, covering what looks like a cave mouth... everyone else dives in and battles a serpent and a nurgling but all get through the membrane relatively unharmed.  Ish.  Gregor does get a nurgling touching him which then absorbs into his body completely, but aside from that and a Wound or ten they are mostly OK.

The pond is really a water-filled pit that’s wider at the top than it is at the bottom. A pale slime covers the rocky walls, and about 5 yards below the surface is a strange spongy section of wall, about a yard wide and two yards tall.  The surface is elastic and gives to the touch. Putting any kind of pressure on the wall enables a character to push through it and enter the opposite side, thus entering the Lair of the Black Witch. As they pass through the membrane, it closes behind them, so when a character finally reaches the other side, a brief squirt of pond water accompanies him before the hole closes again.

As soon as they are through, Gregor vomits out the Nurgling, which has doubled in size.  It calls him 'Mummy' and jumps into his arms -  but it does not live very long as the characters all attack it.

Light is needed, so Mormocar casts Marsh Lights before realising they are the size of fireflies, and then he casts magic light.

Ralf lights a torch.  They are inside the Black Witches lair...

It’s humid, and there’s a disgusting stench here - an uncanny blend of rubbish, excrement, and decay. The walls, floor, and ceiling are a dull grey colour, slick with condensation. A closer look reveals they are riddled with tiny blue, red, and brown striations.

Hanging from the ceiling in places are spongy orange tendrils, sort of like roots but more fleshy. Black oily water collects in puddles here and there, and things move in them, sending ripples across the surface.

The PC's explore this strange environment, losing Fate Points and plenty of wounds along the way.  They manage to pick up several keys in several rooms, and kill two Vampires - Lord De Trois and Lydia Von Carstein - and collect keys from them, too.

They managed to explore maybe a third of this place, and left plenty of caverns unexplored.  In one  strange chamber the PCs hear whispers in their heads (which cause a few insanity points...) This small room is dark.

When the PCs enter this area, among the whispers they hear:

• “The keys fools, the keys! They are the answer!”
• “Seek out the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. They offer the true path!”
• “Orcs are funnnnnggguuussss… fuuuunnnnggguuuuusssssssss!”
• “Beware the Halflings’ pies!”
• “Her remains… destroy her remains…”
• “Eat not the yellow snow!”

A lot more happens - every room it seems has some new danger -  much too much to list here - but the place feels alive.  We shall leave this sessions write up here, with them deep inside this strange womb-like dungeon...

Sessions Fourteen and Fifteen

Sunday 18th and Sunday 25th November 2012
Kislev

These two sessions were just the party getting to Kislev, and travelling North after the Crusade (they got into a lot of fights along the way, notable with a witch and a vampire, and they kept seeing a giant black dog covered in ice in the distance which would howl at them then run North. they later found this dog was named Black Ice, and he belongs to the Black Witch who lives in the mountains to the North.

They finally found the remains of the Crusade in a town called Zhidovsk, which was full of disease and vampires - the old leaders of the Crusade were all gone - dead of disease - so they asked after Karl and found he had gone to the mountains in the North to 'look for his mother' - at the Crags of Shargun, and so they didn't stay in town for more than five minutes.

Eventually, the PCs come to a place where the ground rises sharply. Huge rocks stained with droppings and smeared with moss jut out of the loose soil. The Crags rise above the characters, and travelling much further is impossible without climbing. A few steps later, the characters find a large pond covered by a skin of green algae and speckled with dead flies. The skin is broken in places to reveal black waters beneath. Of far more interest, at least for now, is a dark cleft in the face of the rocks of the Crags that rise up on the other side. Tied off there, the PCs clearly see a small boat.

The party had been beaten there by the remnants of Lorianoc's Elven Kithband Warriors.  The party killed them and were left alone with a pool covered in slime, a boat, and a cave.

Searching the cave turns up nothing, aside from a pile of old bones and an impressive cave painting that stands at least seven feet tall. Painted in charcoal and smeared with blood, it depicts a shadowy woman with a pale face and black eyes. Konrad touched the painting and found his fingertips covered in black dust that won’t come off.

This is what the crags and pool look like.

This is where we left them...

Session Thirteen

Sunday, 4th November 2012
Wedding Bells in Sylvania

The journey between Siegfriedhof and Helfurt tooks 2 days by the main road, skirting the southern edge of Hunger Wood.  The Tunelway Coachmen refused to take them into Sylvania, so as the PCs were travelling without escorts they were attacked by Wraiths, Ogres and Giant Bats soon after departing Siegfriedhof.

This took Fate Points and left them heavily wounded.

They arrived in Helfurt, and stayed at the Hotel Mistgarten.

Mistgarten is operated by a cranky innkeeper called Bärzil and his nagging wife Prunehilda, and a waiter named Manuel, who was from Estalia.  Bärzil is a toad-like snob with a pathological desire to please anyone he thinks is a Noble, so Sir Ralf was welcomed as soon as he knew he was a Sir.. Bärzil generally believes no customers of Mistgarten are actually worthy to stay there. Prunehilda is quite the opposite, and she is grateful when rare guests happen by. Bärzil and Prunehilda bicker constantly, bully Manuel, and generally make lives a misery for their guests...

Bärzil is stressed, but also pleased, because Mistgarten has the job of providing food for a wedding at Helfurt Hall tomorrow - Lady Lydia Plicticos is marrying a boy who was brought in by the Strigany's who are camped at the edge of Town...

They went over to the Camp and spoke to Mama Raluca, leader of the Rumanyik Strigany Clan.  
When they describe Karl to her, she says no - the boy they have brought to marry Lydia is Ahmed... who they have brought from Marienburg...

Lydia refuses to see the PC's , so they wait till the next day and while she is getting married to Karl at Helfurt Hall, they search her castle for clues as to her being a vampire - and find plenty.

Most notably, in a secret room off Lydia's bedroom, they find Rows of bookshelves line the walls, and the desk is piled high with scrolls and ingredients. Wires dangle from the ceiling.

The following items were found here:

• One of the Nine Books of Nagash. Written in High Nehekharan.  Lydia has underlined encrypted words throughout, and the last page is annotated in Reikspiel. 

Lydia’s translations provide clues about the words encrypted on the triptych panels.

• The two missing Zandri Scrolls and Lydia’s translation notes. 

Together with the Book of Nagash, and the Code of Nines handout they have, these notes give the PCs enough information to unlock the words on the triptych. 

• Assorted stone tablets from Mistgarten, many of which are cracked or pieced together from fragments. The runes resemble those found at the Styrigen Mound near Siegfriedhof.
• Ancient hieroglyphic tablets , in surprisingly good condition. The hieroglyphs are in High Nehekharan.
• The Sigmar panel of Lanfranchi’s triptych.

 There are portraits of various Von Carstein vampires lining the walls, and there is a clear family resemblance with Lydia.

The PC's hurry back to Helfurt Hall and immediately attack Lydia, who, after a couple of hits turns into a bat and flies away.  The boy she is marrying is Ahmed from the Crusade camp...


Just then, though, some Raven Knights and Black Nights from the Abbey at Siegfriedhoff arrive, demanding the PC's step aside and allow them to kill Ahmed, a foul scion of Nagash. 

Ahmed hides behing Mormocar begging the PC's to save him, but Konrad chops off Ahmed's head.

The Black Knights / Raven guards continue to insult the PC's and accuse them of being in league with Vampires... so Konrad and the PC's kill their leader and a couple of Knights before the rest retreat - leaving the PC's to figure out the clues they have and figure out where to go next...



End of Session.

Session Twelve

Sunday, 28th October 2012

Chapter VII - Death Us Do Part:
Siegfriedhof / Abbey of Blessed Aethelbert

Following the Abbot's  introductory speech about Undead being everywhere, he introduces himself properly: Darius Geistwächt, Grand Abbot of Blessed Aethelbert.

The PC's tell him very little, though they do let on that they need to see the Tomb of Linfanchi, and that they are hunting vampires.  Darius allows them to stay in the Abbey, so long as they:

1. Don't mention certain small furry creatures - the abbey is full of cats for a reason! Daius cannot even stand the mention of these long tailed things!
2. Succeed at their tasks - which mainly involve feeding cats
3. Stay on good terms with all the Priests.

They are allowed to stay in the Novices Dormitory.

Over the next three days, the PC's discover a Skaven plot to take over the Abbey, and they snoop around the Abbey a lot, finding information hidden in a secret library, which enables them to gain entrance to the Tomb of Linfranchi to find a missing Panel of the Triptych.

They befriend the cats (apart from Mormocar and Gregor, that is) and destroy the skaven - there isn't much else to report other than the things they found - so I shall just post the handouts and maps!

In the main library, there is only one book about Vampires - inside that book ("Vampire Ballads") is this handwritten note:

In the Secret Library (which they eventually found), were

Four of Lanfranchi’s vellum Zandri Scrolls, bound together with string. A folded piece of parchment is tucked into the package.

Five Styrigen Tablets with parchment pinned underneath one of them

 
A pitted, lead-lined box rests on a stone pedestal. If the PCs open the lid, a foul-smelling green smoke issues forth from inside it. Looking in the box, PCs discover a rat skull set into an iron chain. The Foul Pendant is the source of the green smoke and is kept in a lead box because it contains Warpstone. The Foul Pendant confers 2 armour points to every hit location, in addition to normal armour.  The Abbot later confirms that Shroud Agents captured the Amulet from a fallen Skaven champion during a battle.  Konrad craftily his it in Linfranchi's tomb, and when he found out what it did, he retrieved it...

The Styrigen Tablets allow the PC's to enter the Tombs - along with the clues they had found opening the puzzle box, and Grondi's Dwarven understanding of Runes.

The PCs went to the burial mound at the entrance to the tomb where a circle of five stone obelisks surrounds the mound, culminating at a great megalith portal on the south-eastern face. The megalith is inscribed with runes matching those on the Styrigen Tablets in the abbey’s forbidden library.

Replacing the Styrigen Tablets in the correct sequence atop the cairn allows the Portal to open:
 
The blood pattern -

 
and the Miragliano Puzzle Box may provide clues to discovering the correct sequence,which is:

Man, Blood, Earth, Life, and Mother.

Solving this also has some magical effect, which Mormocar could feel but not identify... but it allowed them entry finally to Linfranchi's Tomb.  It also gave them 1000XP and 2 Fate Points each - double the XP for the one who solved it: Konrad.

When the PCs first see Lanfranchis’ tomb, they instantly recognise it from their dream of rats coming out of a sarcophagus. They got together and opened the lid. Within the sarcophagus is Lanfranchi’s armoured skeleton. Lanfranchi’s folded hands clutch the magical spear Donnacanto alongside the central panel of his famous triptych.

Mormocar steals the spear.

Magic Item - Donnacanto 
This weapon is a heavy spear with a rowan wood shaft fitted with a brilliant silver head. It functions as a demilance.

Magic Powers: 
When the wielder charges, Donnacanto sings like a divine choir, allowing allies within earshot to re-roll previously failed Fear Tests.  This re-roll - and all subsequent Fear Tests - are made at +10 as long as Donnacanto can be heard. The spear continues singing until combat ends.

History: 
 According to legend, the voice of Myrmidia is channelled through Donnacanto.

Finally, after the PC's help defeat the Skaven, the Abbot gives the the following information:

The Fellowship of the Shroud exists as a order at the Abbey - The Black Knights and Raven Knights believe the Undead threat must be eliminated at all costs. The ranks of the Fellowship include spies, witch hunters, and scholars, though a few priests are also members. 

 The Abbot says that he would very much like to study the young Scion of Nagash who was kidnapped from Talabheim. Furthermore, Geistwächt produces a letter from his desk and gravely appeals for the PCs to confirm Lydia’s activities before he unleashes the Raven Knights on Helfurt. 

If Lydia is found to be a Vampire, she must be destroyed and her stolen Zandri Scrolls returned to the Order of Morr.

To thank the PC's for their help, Geistwächt gives them each gifts to help them advance in their careers.  We ended the session with everyone advancing... they are going to need those advances!

Next stop: Helfurt...

Session Eleven

Sunday, 21st October 2012
Chapter 7
Till Death Us Do Part
Part 2
Wurtbad Bound

By now, the party has plenty of reasons to head south along the Old Forest Road. Karin and Lothar still await them at the Ten-Tailed Cat,  The fare is 7 gc per day. The complete journey to Wurtbad will take five days by coach.

Eighteen miles south-east of Talagaad, at the southern base of the Talabheim crater, is the village of Waldfärhte. As Karin and Lothar have been riding all day, Waldfärhte is the farthest they go before resting their horses. There’s an inn at Waldfärhte called The Countess’s Elbow, where the party spend the night.

After Waldfärhte, there are two villages (Liebstedt and Warghafen) before the Old Forest Road enters the wooded Färlic Hills.

The PC's meet a group of flagellants traveling south, whom they recognize from the Crusade.  They give them food, and the flagellants reveal they had been South looking for a religious artifact - a painting - part of a triptych - (one of three) - showing Sigmar at the tree of hope. They had been sent to look for it by someone named Krantz.

The Old Forest Road is bumpy, making sleep en route impossible.  Not much happens during their time at the various inns, but Mormocar studies the Vampire's (whom he reads is called Lord De Trois) Journal they found and learns more about the legends surrounding Nagash and the Vampire Prophesies.  What he found out is presented at the end of this update.  

He also read about the Triptych (he looked specifically for this as it was mentioned in the note found in Lord De Trois book) - a series of three paintings by Leonardo da Miragliano, based on earlier paintings by the crusading Tilean Merchant Prince Giovanni Lanfranchi of Remas, - one depicting Myrmidia at the Tree of Hope, one depicting Sigmar at the Tree of Hope - and a third that no-one knows about... the painting of Myrmidia at the Tree of Hope can be found as a fresco on the ceiling of the Temple of Myrmidia in Wurtbad.  As for information on Where the Sigmar section is, or the unknown section, Mormocar can find nothing.

During their travels, Konrad is visited by dreams.  On the second day out, he dreams

You stand on a vast, white field at the convergence of a thousand intertwined stairways. Above you, hundreds of black stairs stretch infinitely into white space. Below you, hundreds of white stairs descend into a black void. Down the black stairwell a figure approaches - your mother. She looks exactly as you remember her, except she’s made entirely of wood. She stops for a moment at the great convergence and then speaks: “I’m leaving now.” She then descends one of the white stairways.

Konrad follows her down the starirs, the dream continues.

You must run to keep up with your mother, even though she is only walking. You arrive at a still pool, and your mother is gone. Two reflections appear in the pool. One is Karl. The other is you as a young child. Both children reach up to you, the palms of their hands skimming the surface.

He reaches out to pull his childhood self out of the water, and awakens.  Throughout the dream, he can hear a puzzled voice in the distance saying, 'I expected a halfling...'

On the fourth day out, the party arrive at the small town of Hermsdorf.  This southernmost settlement on the Old Forest Road is a small logging town with nearly 400 inhabitants. Hermsdorf is built near the crest of a low hill, overlooking the Wurtbad valley that extends 15 miles to the south.

They try to lodge at the smaller of Hermsdorf ’s two inns; the One-Toothed Saw, but it is full. They see a  coal wagon is parked beside the stable, in plain view.  The landlord confirms that three men who own the cart are staying in an upstairs room, but there is no boy with them. He refuses to give the room number of his guests.

Mormocar goes out alone to check out the coal cart, but the stable lad looking after it challenges him and he fails to intimidate the lad, who shouts for the Watch.  Two watchmen come running over and Mormocar punches the lad, and another two Watchmen appear and between the four of them they put him in stocks for assault... after being pelted repeatedly with rotten tomatoes and horse poo, Mormocar finally convinces the Watch to nip into the pub to talk to his mates, who will explain everything.  Konrad produces paperwork stating that they are on Empire business, which is none of the Watches business, and that, furthermore, the kidnappers are in the upstairs room.  The Watch and the PC's spend 9 rounds trying to kick in the door... once in, the room is empty and the window is open - checking out the window reveals a stream running below it - it looks like the occupants have jumped out.  They all go outside to check, apart from Grondi, who stays behind to search the room and finds a man hiding in the wardrobe, who attacks.  Grondi quickly knocks him out and sits on him till the others get back from searching for whoever had jumped out of the window.

The stream led to a channel flowing quickly towards the town wall through a hole, cascading down a steep gully into the River Stir, and there was no sign of anyone by the time the PC's arrive.  They return to the room where Grondi had captured the man, who was called Jamal.

Interrogating Jamal using Torture is effective, eventually.  Jamal remains tight lipped until Konrad starts burning his legs with a hot sword... whereupon he gives up what information he has:

1. The boy is to be taken to a town called Helfurt in Sylvania, where he will serve the Dark Master’s plan.
2. The location of their hideout in a cave five miles south of Hermsdorf.

Calling the Watch to take care of Jamal (which they did by sticking a sword in him and saying, 'Sentence for kidnapping  is death.'), they had a decision to make:  Helfurt is a good three hundred miles away, while the cave is five miles away.

They decided to check out the cave.  It contains: 3 bedrolls, a boulder stained with dried blood, a sacrificial dagger, stale provisions, and two hand-written tomes containing prayers to Nagash. In the fire pit is a partially burned letter.

They travel onwards towards Hermsdorf - taking the charcoal coach and spare horse that Jamal and his mates will no longer be needing - Ralf getting Karin and Lothar to try to teach him to drive on the way.  The fifth night out from Talegaad, Konrad is again visited by a dream - again, the voice in the background says, 'Yaga's thoughts said Konrad was a halfling'... the dream he had was as follows:

You stand on an open plain of black stone. The sky is pure white, and your child-self stands before you, miles away yet almost within arm’s length. A huge raven with featherless, leathery skin descends from the sky and carries the child away in its claws. On the horizon, you can see a garden of stones, in the centre of which stands a withering tree.

He awoke at this point wondering why the voice in his head thought he was a halfling - the only link he can remember being that Rolf had told Madame Yaga that he was called Konrad when everyone else had given a made up name... but could that be significant?

Wurtbad
They start off by shopping at the blacksmiths - one Winston Smith - who buys their charcoal and Ralf's leather jerkin, and sells Ralf a set of full mail armour he had made for a halfling who had never collected it... and recommends his Uncle Winston's Inn - the Jungle Bar - when asked for recommendations.  They have a very tasty Curry Goat there, which goes straight through Mormocar, who needs to take some chilled toilet paper to the privvy with him afterwards.

Next stop at Wurtbad is the Temple of Myrmidia.  The temple is poorly kept, and only a single priest maintains it - Father Dougal. The columns are crumbling, and the walls are stained from weather. Few mercenaries visit Wurtbad these days, but the temple remains a historic landmark.

The domed ceiling is painted with a famous fresco by Leonardo da Miragliano, the brilliant inventor and gifted artist. The fresco was Miragliano’s last commissioned work before entering the Emperor’s service.

Fresco - Myrmidia, Beloved Daughter of Morr, at the Tree of Hope

The paint has faded on this fascinating piece of art history. The fresco is based on an earlier painting by the crusading Tilean Merchant Prince Giovanni Lanfranchi of Remas, a highly skilled artist and devoted theologian 500 years before Miragliano’s time. The Lanfranchi originals are lost, but it’s believed that Miragliano copied Myrmidia at the Tree of Hope from one panel of the triptych. One of the other two depicts Sigmar’s vision at the Tree of Hope, but the third is unkown.  The locations of the other two panels is unknown.

Father Dougal asks the PC's a favour - he has a bad back, and there are some jobs that need doing in the temple - if they help him, he will try to help them.  The PC's agree, and are given three tasks:

Task One: Clear Cobwebs from the Rafters - Ralf clears the cobwebs in an hour.
Task Two: Replace Broken Tiles on the Floor  - they do this together, and it takes a good few hours.
Task Three: Fix a Leak in the Apse Dome - If left unchecked, this leak could result in irreparable damage to the fresco. Konrad climbs up and fills the crack with pitch - this takes 15 minutes. At the top of the ladder he notices a loose brick on the fresco, at the base of the tree. Removing the brick causes a small metal box to fall out - Konrad quickly pockets this.

For helping, Father Dougal tells the PC's the following:

• Lanfranchi collected artefacts and scrolls on his crusades to Araby and founded the order that would precede the Fellowship of the Shroud, a Morrian sect based in Siegfriedhof.
• One of Lanfranchi’s expeditions landed him in Nehekhara by accident, where his army fought against the Zandri Tomb Kings.  Lanfranchi later became a renowned Vampire hunter.
• The third, unknown section of the original triptych is rumoured to be buried in Lanfranchi’s crypt in Siegfriedhof.
• A bunch of flagellants has also visited a week or two ago asking for information on the triptych, but he had sent them away without information.

He also offers to pay them for their help, but Konrad refuses payment, and the PC's drive off - as soon as they were out of sight, Konrad pulled out the metal box.

This ingenious little box, made of brass and steel, bears a small tinge of rust.  It has runes inscribed on the surface, and Konrad recalled the model as the pattern at the Talabheim crime scene. The box has many moving parts, which can be configured into different shapes. Referencing the crime scene pattern, Konrad solves the puzzle box in about fifteen minutes flat.  Inside the box is a tiny scroll with six words forming a circle of Classical script.

Clockwise from the top, the words are: Portal, Man, Blood, Earth, Life, and Mother.

The PC's are now heading to Helmfurt, where Jamal said the boy has been taken.  Siegfriedhof is on the way so they plan to call in there on the way.

The journey between Hermsdorf and Siegfriedhof takes nine days. These are uneventful save that Ralf learns to drive, and all the PC's share a dream at the same time:

You are in a dark chamber. Before you rests a stone sarcophagus, its lid slightly askew. A rat emerges from within, followed by another, and another, until the lid is forced aside by a surging torrent of chittering vermin. Rats are everywhere. You awaken just as they overwhelm you.

Karin and Lothar tell the PC's a little of what they know about Siegfriedhof as they get closer.

On the north shore of Lake Svarsee, the town of Siegfriedhof is built into the face of a rock pinnacle high above the surrounding landscape. Below the new town lie the ruins of Old Siegfriedhof, destroyed by a Skaven assault half a century ago. Now all that remains is an overgrown clutter of charred foundations. Skaven tunnels still exist beneath the ruins of Old Siegfriedhof, but they are flooded and unsafe.

When Siegfriedhof was rebuilt by the Order of Morr, the town was moved to high ground next to the Abbey of Blessed Aethelbert. Of the town’s 300 inhabitants, nearly one third reside within the abbey. The remaining two thirds are composed of farmers, woodsmen, and oblates serving the Order.

When the PCs arrive, they are approached by a motley patrol of four suspicious militiamen. Questions are asked about the PCs’ purpose and destination. The patrol strongly suggests that coach and horses should be stabled at the Widower’s Comfort, which turns out to be owned by the lead militiaman's mother, who charges them 2 GC to stable the two coaches and the spare horse and donkey.  Konrad is outraged at this blatant overcharging.

When the PCs reach the abbey, they are met by two silent Black Guards blocking the entrance with crossed axes. They knock. After a moment, Brother Horatius appears and welcomes the PCs into the vestibule.
 
Horatius questions the PCs and asks their names. During the exchange, a group of black cats brushes up against the PCs’ legs.  The PC's stroke the cats.  When they ask to see the the Abbot, Horatius asks the party to wait (5 minutes) and they are then shown to a private room.

The PCs are seated before the abbot, who scrutinises them closely from behind his desk.  He says,

“These are troubled times for the Order of Morr - and for the Empire. The Undead are restless - not just in Sylvania - but also in the Reikland, Middenland, and Ostland. They recruit servants from the living on an unprecedented scale, foolish pawns who believe their foul masters will reward them in death.” 

Konrad is more concerned with corrupt militiamen ripping off strangers by virtually forcing them to pay for overpriced stabling at his mother's inn.  The Abbot says he will look into this.

We ended the session at this point :)

***

Notes from Mormocar's reading of Lord De Trois Journal...

The Vampire Prophecies

Across the Old World, scholars of ancient Nehekhara work at piecing together the history of Necromancy.

Many scrolls and hieroglyphs have been recovered from the Land of the Dead over time, but these artefacts are often damaged or mistranslated—or were deliberately encrypted by their authors a millennia ago. The ambiguous nature of these records has fostered conflicting theories concerning the origins of Vampirism in Lahmia, the Vampires’ exodus to the Old World, and the High Priest of the Mortuary Cult who would become the Great Necromancer Nagash.

In fact, there is a devoted following of academics working in secret to uncover the truth behind the Nagash apotheosis legend. After the Great Necromancer was driven from Khemri in –1650 IC, he seemingly vanished from recorded history for nearly 500 years. Based on recent exploration and secondary sources, most historians now agree Nagash attained godhood, raised Nagashizzar, and fought a major war against the Skaven during those missing years.

Scrolls from the Nehekharan city of Zandri link Nagash’s apotheosis to the five Vampire bloodlines.

The exact translation of these hieroglyphs is heavily debated, but they seem to indicate Nagash’s bloodline was cursed by the Old Gods, and extensive conditions must be met in order to lift the curse. Interpretations of the curse vary widely, according to the nationality and religion of the interpreter. This field of scholarship comprises a hodgepodge of historical half-truths, rumours, and theological exegesis collectively known as the Vampire Prophecies.

Of course, Vampires rarely agree on mundane issues, much less the true nature of their curse and, more importantly, what must be done to lift it.

Each Vampire bloodline has a different interpretation of the prophecies, but all are devoted to lifting the curse of the Old Gods and bringing about the Age of a Thousand Thrones. 

The Thousand Thrones were first spoken of by W’soran during the fall of Lahmia, but little more is known of them by mortals. Based upon the Zandri Scrolls and the captured memoirs of Vampires throughout history, it has been surmised that the Age of a Thousand Thrones will be brought about by a tremendously powerful spell, or profane miracle, that will bring great changes to the natural order of the world. Vampires will no longer need to hide from the sun, or even drink blood from mortals for survival. Mortals will worship their undying overlords as Gods. However, only one thousand Vampires will survive to see this empire of darkness, and he who lifts the curse of the Old Gods will rule them all.

What follows is a short summary of each bloodline’s theory about the prophecy.

Von Carsteins
According to this bloodline, Vashanesh (i.e. Vladimir von Carstein) was the Scion of Nagash who escaped the curse of the Old Gods. When the Sun God Ptra no longer rules the sky, the bearer of Vashanesh’s ring will become the overlord of a Thousand Thrones.

Lydia von Carstein has discovered an alternate reading of the prophecy involving the Old Gods of northern belief and soul-bonding rituals from ancient Lahmia.
 

Lahmians
The Lahmians believe Karl is an avatar of Sigmar harbouring memories and knowledge gleaned from Nagash when Sigmar donned the Crown of Sorcery.  By learning Nagash’s true Elixir of Life formula and the power words employed by the Necromancer to command the vampires, Lahmians seek to dominate the Age of the Thousand Thrones.
 

Their mistress Neferata has commanded her daughters to recover the boy and bring him to the Silver Pinnacle, her legendary tower high in the Worlds Edge Mountains. The Vampire Queen intends to beguile Karl with a potent ritual, learn his secrets, and gain the power that will allow her to enslave all Vampires, as the true Champion of the Night.

Blood DragonsBecause the first Blood Dragon Abhorash never knew Nagash, most Vampires of this bloodline do not concern themselves with the Thousand Thrones prophecies. Blood Dragons are unlikely to have been implicated in the prophecies, so they dismiss such talk as the foolish dreams of weaklings who desire a return to former glories without paying the requisite price in battle. Many Blood Dragons are so focused on battle-readiness that they have never heard of the prophecies at all. Occasionally however, they do become implicated in the schemes of other bloodlines.
 

Necrarchs
The spawn of W’soran are extremely well-educated about the Vampire Prophecies, having access to volumes of research conducted over the ages by Nagash’s most loyal disciple. Their partial exemption from the Blood Curse makes Necrarchs rather arrogant, each one believing he is destined to be the Master of a Thousand Thrones. Necrarchs look to numerology, astrology, and genealogy for clues about how to lift the Blood Curse. Lord de Trois, who resides in a tower near Wolfenburg, and who has written the journal the PC's have found, has drawn connections between the three returns of Nagash and his own three stages of transformation.

Strigoi
The Strigoi Vampires believe Karl is truly Sigmar Reborn, but Sigmar received the Blood Kiss during his great battle against Nagash’s army. The kiss purportedly was delivered by a Strigoi vampire who had rallied under Nagash’s banner when Strigos fell. This connection to the once glorious Kingdom of Strigos implies Karl must be the Champion of Night and predestined ruler of the new Vampire kingdom. However, the Strigoi also believe the bloodlines have become diluted and only by receiving the Blood Kiss from each of the five major bloodlines can Karl truly awaken his birthright and lift the curse of the Old Gods.

Session Ten

Sunday, 14th October

Chapter 6
Part 2
Exit, Stage Left

This isn't going to be as big an update as usual, because most of the action was on the stage

The play went ahead, amidst attacks on Karl from the remaining Heralds of the New Dawn on the stage, Lorianoc and some of his Elves in the rafters, and a Necrach Vampire (Mormocar recognised the Clan due to his academic knowledge of Vampires) - all of whom our heroes managed to fight off.

All of the Heralds were killed, and two of the Elves.  Lorianoc, 4 elves and the Vampire escaped - the vampire by turning into a bat and flying off, the Elves by getting out amidst the confusion.

In the confusion, the Vampire dropped a hand written journal on Vampire Prophesies, but it is all riddles and cryptic prophesies and will take a while for Mormocar to figure out.

Mormocar already knows a little about the five bloodlines due to his Academic Knowledge of Vampires - the known bloodlines are the Von Carstiens, the Necrachs, the Strigois, the Blood Dragons and the Lahmians - during this adventure they have encountered vampires from all of these, apart from the Von Carsteins.

Mormocar also knows that the first Vampire, Nagash, went to the Tree of Hope and became a God - as did Sigmar.  More info will require reading the book and figuring it out...

Inside the journal was this:

Chapter 7
Death Do Us Part
 
For five days after the Play, the PC's are questioned and thanked for oonce again saving Karl.  They are finally approached by Helmut.  Karl has gone off again, and he would like them to follow him...

“Good morning, friends. Karl has gone with the Brother Frederich, a Senior Priest of Morr who sits with me on the boy’s inner council. Karl had a vision that convinced him to visit Talagaad to receive wisdom on a matter of great importance to him - from a seer in Little Kislev. The woman’s name is Madame Yaga…or something like that. Brother Frederich has hidden the boy in a black hearse and is transporting him under the pretext of performing funeral duties. Now, I don’t question the priest’s resources, but I have reservations concerning his competence, and -  now that I’ve become implicated in this plan - perhaps his motives too. Though our wonderful boy insisted on travelling unescorted, it would ease my worries if you’d be willing to shadow the coach and ensure his safety.”

So off they went, by coach, to Talagaad (paid for - at least up to Talagaad and back by Helmut).

Driving the coach were Karin and Lothar, who have driven the Wolfenburg to Wurbad route for years.  The journey takes six days, stopping off for fresh horses and a bit of shopping in Hergig.

They finally locate Madame Yaga (after forgetting her name) in Little Kislev in Talegaad - she asks their names but they give false ones (everyone gives a made up name apart from Rolf, who says his name is Konrad) and they ask about Karl... but Yaga claims not to have seen any boy recently, and gives them a bunch of dodgy sounding predictions such as,

“The sign of the Raven hangs above your head like a sword. Break the bird’s wing, given a chance, and your doom may be postponed.” 

and “Explore every cave, for one will contain unguarded treasures. Sleep not on your back, or you may choke upon your tongue.” 

and "Your mother liked pies" (to Rolf)

but as they are leaving, Yaga goes rigid and says,

“Wait, I do see a boy, and he’s in great peril! The men with faces of coal have taken him from the garden of Morr. If you hurry, you might reach him in time!”

The PC's asked where the nearest Temple of Morr was, and headed there.

The temple consisted of a domed mausoleum surrounded by rows of winged, skeletal statues bearing scythes. The temple was protected by an iron fence covered in black roses. The outer gate was open, and a lone watchman guarded the entrance to the mausoleum within. Konrad told the guard that they were working for the Empire, and they were allowed in.

Inside, a crowd of priests, watchmen, and city officials stood in a wide circle talking loudly and ignored the approaching PCs. Laying in a pool of blood at the centre of the room was a murdered Morrian priest. The crime scene had been cordoned off while the watch cleaned up.

Looking at the dead priest, the PC's noted:

His legs were crossed and his head turned sideways, one hand folded over his breast and the other extended to his side. Mormocar recognised this as the oft-sculpted pose of Myrmidia, the Tilean Goddess of War. A famous old fresco at the Myrmidian Temple in Wurtbad depicts the Goddess standing in this pose before the Tree of Hope.

The bloodied index finger of his outstretched hand pointed to the southeast, where a crumbling statue of the Tree of Hope stood.

A series of geometrical shapes had been drawn on the floor in blood.

 They were asked to leave the scene at this point.

The other clue they had from Yaga's prophesy was "Men with faces of coal" - it is common knowledge in the Empire that "Coal Face" refers to Charcoal Burners, and their guide tells them that there are a lot of charcoal burners camped at the burnng Pit just south of Talegaad, and he leads the PC's there.

There, they are told by one of the Charcoal Burners:

“There were some burners who shared a tent, but they didn’t seem to do much work. Two or three, I reckon - I didn’t really pay them any special mind. Just recently, two of ‘em packed up their gear and headed south by wagon. A third burner passed through the camp a few hours later with a boy we figured was his son, though we’d never seen him afore. Seeing his friends had left already, he went after ‘em on horseback. Seemed to be in a hurry. He headed down thattaway, south on the Old Forest Road, I think?”

The PC's returned to the coach and agreed a price to go South down the Old Forest Road...

End of session.

Session Nine

Sunday,  23rd September 2012

Chapter 6
Heralds of a New Dawn

The PC's and Karl, after securing the temple and taking  the Necklace of Unfailing Loyalty (Rolf took this, due to his immunity to chaos) headed back to Keitchdorf to collect the Sam the donkey.  Karl said he needed to go directly to Kislev, so they decided to head towards there, past Wolfenburg (where Gregor, now being played by Richard, came from) on on Eastwards into Kislev.

The week long trek back to Keitchdorf then over to Wolfenburg enabled the PC's to heal a little, so by the time they got close to the ruined City they were in much better health.

As they got closer to the City, they saw, from a  small bluff at the forest’s edge, a chaotic jumble of tents, campsites, and ditches below their lofty position. The sprawling mass of humanity was arranged in a half mile wide semicircle around the broken walls of once-mighty Wolfenburg, where the ruins of this famous city still sent tendrils of smoke into the air from the few souls that still lived there.

Rising above the encampment was a sea of banners, snapping in the chill breeze, and beneath them tent awnings drooped miserably, beggared men and women wandered aimlessly, and carrion crows circled overhead.

A sudden gust of wind carried with it the stench of the unwashed, of open sewers and death.

As the PC's scanned the crowded mass below, they saw an enclosure encapsulating a gaggle of stained tents. The camp had been erected against a length of the city walls that seemed to have escaped the destruction. The interior of this enclosure was busy with figures constantly moving to and fro, and flying from a wooden mast attached to the largest tent was the banner of the Child.

The Crusade had come to Wolfenburg.

A rough trail lead down from the bluff. Once the PCs reached the flattened area below, they discovered that a large tract of the forest has been cleared to make room for the Crusaders.  Wooden stumps dotted the ground and the ground between wass a sodden morass of mud, excrement, and the other leavings of the Crusade mingled with the ruined soil from the hordes of Chaos that swept through this area.

The sanitation of the camp was awful, resulting in a mire of filth underfoot and a ghastly odour permeating the air, attracting clouds of flies that are impossible to evade. Only the most organised campsites contain latrines. Most of the Crusaders spent a penny wherever they could, resulting in squatting men and women being a common sight whilst navigating through the throng.

Most of the Crusaders reflected the unkempt state of their camps: they were dirty, smelly and diseased. Close quarters and poor cleanliness had taken their toll on them, no doubt not helped by the large numbers of vermin scampering through the effluvia.

As they made their way through the press they were greeted withthe guarded looks, the strange heraldry, and the occasional scuffle between Crusaders wearing different badges, costumes, or even tattoos.  The Crusade’s composition had changed somewhat since the last time the PCs were here. Many distinct groups now have their own banners flying above dingy tents.

As the PCs escorted Karl into the encampment, the change over the Crusaders was astounding. As the boy picked his way through the mire, arguments stopped, fights halted, and the bickering exchanges fall silent as one by one the Crusaders dropped to their knees at the boy’s approach. Like a rippling wave, the entirety of
the encampment stopped what they were doing and turned to face this otherwise ordinary young boy.  The characters sensed this made Karl uncomfortable and he even paused in his march to look at the PCs and said, “so many faces… I recognise none of them… tell me… who are these people?”

Soon after, Helmut himself in the company of the other members of the inner circle along with an honour guard of a dozen armoured knights arrived. As with all the rest, they fell to the filthy ground, whispering prayers of relief.

Helmut, tears shining on his cheeks, reached forward to take Karl’s hand and kissed his soft skin before placing the hand on his wet face, smiling, his eyes bright with relief and joy. After a few awkward moments, Helmut stood, his blue robes smeared with green mud, and called out to the crowds “Sigmar has taken mercy on us all and has returned from his enemies. Rejoice friends for our destiny is at hand!”

Helmut and the rest of the Inner Council soon spirited the boy away towards the centre of the encampment, the high priest pausing only long enough to offer brief thanks to the PCs and inviting them to join the Council in an hour hence to give their reports. As the inner circle headed off through the crowds and mad cultists caper and dance and sing and play all around, the characters were left in the midst alone but for one familiar face: Nils.

In the month or so since they last saw him, Nils has aged terribly.  Gone is the eager fresh-faced youth of the young acolyte of the Reaper’s Bounty, and standing before them was a haggard man, with haunted eyes, and pale features. Despite his obvious fatigue and worry, Nils smiled at the characters, revealing yellowed teeth and cracked lips that bleed with the gesture.

“Friends,” he said, “it is good to see you. Sigmar be praised that you have returned safely to us.”

He stepped a bit closer and whispered, eyes darting back and forth, “But it is not safe to talk here. Enemies surround us. Come, I know a place where we can talk before your audience with the Inner Circle.” The characters followed.  They walked about 10 minutes or so, deftly avoiding the large puddles of slime, slipping past exuberant celebrants, and finally came to a large white tent, stained brown from use and the elements. The tent’s interior was dark and smoky, pregnant with the smell of incense. A small shrine to Sigmar stoods towards the back and damp rust-red rugs covered the floor.

Nils took a seat and gestured for the PCs to do the same.

“I fear that this is the one holy place left in this camp. Notice that it’s empty,” he says with a frown. “It is no matter. We must get down to business.”

He explained that he and Father Johann had fallen out, and that Johann was now on the inner council, having taken the place of Jan / Tobias.  He went on to say,

“This business with the boy has never quite sat with me. Now I’m not denying that he may be Sigmar Reborn, oh no, I wouldn’t dare, but the lad doesn’t seem to have the same effect on me as he does others. Perhaps my faith isn’t strong enough… It doesn’t matter. If I cannot see it, I must strive harder to accept the revelation of my peers, and until then, I can work to save this boy from the evil that swirls about him.

“Friends, there are enemies everywhere. Just as Karl has drawn the pious, the mad, and the hopeful to his ranks, there are those who would use the boy for some foul end. We have already seen their efforts back in Altdorf, and whilst you were away, they have grown, spreading like a cancer through our ranks. All around us, the Crusaders, once united in their devotion to the boy, have now fractured, broken into different schisms built upon their own interpretations of Karl’s divinity. The division has allowed undesirable elements to slip inside the Crusade and work their wickedness from within. The signs are everywhere. Certainly, Karl’s return should smooth these troubles somewhat, but I fear the damage is done. The Inner Circle, the fools that they are, refuse to see the signs, refuse to listen to reason, and if they don’t act now, it will be too late. The matter is even more tenuous now that Karl is back, for… dare I say it… ? I fear someone or something wants to kill the Child.

“Proof? I have none except for a growing feeling of dread. You can see it in the faces, in the soiled rags of the plagued, in the very filth in which we wallow. His life is in danger. I ask you… no, I beg you, if you have any love for this boy, please seek out this darkness and destroy it before it is too late. Even if you deny the boy’s divinity, we must see this mad campaign to its end for Sigmar has opened this path before us and where it leads is divine will. I beg again, will you help me?”

They answered that yes, they would help.

They then went to their audience with the Inner Circle.  The Compound was much more sanitary than the rest of the camp, it even had working latrines.  They were taken to Karl's Tent, which was luxurious.  The walls, decorated with gold and silver and hung with brilliant tapestries depicting key scenes from the Life of
Sigmar. A thick carpet covered the floor of this oval room and comfortable upholstered chairs ring the outer edge of the chamber. In the centre of the room stood a wooden platform covered in gold leaf and on it sits a throne sized for a child.

 Karl was already seated on the throne, and six of the chairs were occupied by the councillors. There were chairs for the player characters and they were invited to sit. Karl smiled warmly at the PCs and offered them a word of welcome.

The Council now comprised of:

• Helmut - still the Leader.
• Lord Wilhelm Eisenbach - still there.
• Father Johannes Seibolt - fatter than ever
• Koller - a Veteran of the war against Chaos, from Wolfenburg. He has 20 men at arms in the Inner Circle.

Helmut welcomed the PC's and thanked them for saving Karl.

“You have proved yourselves true champions of Sigmar and you are living examples of dutiful servants of our God. I, on behalf of this esteemed council, thank you. In recompense for your bravery and your great deeds, I name each of you Templars of the Child.”

He gave them each a black tabard to show their rank, and said,

“Friends, I fear this title also carries some responsibility, for you see, whilst you did achieve much against the filthy cult that had infiltrated our ranks, I fear that these villains remain in our encampment, working against our holy cause and interfering with our progress. I ask that you walk amongst the people, watch and listen for any sign of corruption and wherever you find the agents of Chaos, you have the authority of this Council, nay of this Child, to cleanse these villains with holy flame. What say you?”

They agreed.  Seibolt, Koller and Eisenback did not seem overly pleased, Eisenbach in particular stating that they had no proof that Karl was indeed their Karl, which caused the PC's to immediately challenge their authority - but Helmut was adamant that the inner Cuncil could be trusted, and that the PC's now needed to check the rest of the camp for traitors.

As the characters left the chambers of the inner circle, they encountered a pair of men waiting for their turn to speak with the Helmut and the boy. The men were dandies, clearly, wearing fine, if threadbare, attire, large floppy hats with wilted feathers, and armed with slim foils.

Upon seeing the PCs, one bowed deeply and said, directly to Mormocar,

“Sigmar’s breath! Why, you are a natural, do you know? Why Rory, would you not agree?”

The other man stepped forward, shaking his head. “Indubitably! He seems made for the role!”

The first man said, “My friend, we are putting on a grand performance in a few days to welcome the Child back and I must say that you would be perfect for the part of the Lass! My name is Wilhelm Schumacher, have you heard of me? I see. Well, if you are interested in participating in the greatest show in the lands, seek me out at the stage. I trust you are trained in theatre? No? No matter. Yes. You are perfect! Please, now that I have met you, I can’t imagine the show without you!”

Mormocar declined.

The hung around the camp, on the lookout for anything suspicious.  Ahmed showed up and they asked him to report back anything funny, too.  The camp had split into lots of factions - people worshiping Karl in different ways, even some people who clearly were not worshiping Karl at al but who were there to make money and rip people off. The PC's spend time doing various things, like rescuing a midwife from an angry mob because she had delivered a baby that looked like it might grow up to be a beast man (covered in light hair, small lumps on scalp that might be normal or might grow into horns...) - they let the midwife and baby share their tent in the Inner Compound...

The next thing they knew, Ahmed's father, Ali the Striganay, staggers up to them choking.  He drops dead in front of them, clearly poisoned.  He is clutching a leather wineskin.  The wineskin has a stylised coiled serpent motif embossed upon its surface, and a maker's mark.

They managed to read the maker's mark as "Saddlemakers and Leatherworker's Guild of Wolfenstein", and decided to go and have a word.  Gregor, being from Wolfenstein, knew where the Guild building was.

 In order to progress in their investigation, the adventurers must face the ruins of Wolfenburg. The city was a mess. Hit hard during the Chaos Incursion, few of the original structures remained, being a mass of broken
masonry, rubble, charred wood, and the bones of those who died here.

Some reconstruction had begun, but since Ostland was never a wealthy province in the first place, it’s slow going. The once-mighty walls encircling the city have all but toppled and those that still stand bear the dimples of impacts from stone tossed by catapults.

Luckily, the PCs didn’t have to dig too deeply into the city to find the Leatherworkers Guild House. The converted tavern was located just inside the walls of the city and the PCs ad Gregor, who knew the area well.  Inside, they found a bound leather ledger with a coiled serpent embossed on the cover. Success! The ledger revealed the serpent motif as the makers’ mark of one Burgher Felix Vendt, a tradesman down on his luck, if the bills of sale in the ledger are anything to go by. A little bit of detective work revealed that wineskins were not his main line of business, however, each sale is listed. The PCs have half a dozen names to investigate.

The Suspects

• Widow Curst - 12b Flay Court - 3 wineskins bought
• Bernt Hessler  - Brewers Guild house, Hops Market - 20 wineskins bought
• Boris Leichgart - Smithy, Lower Wall Walk - 10 wineskins bought
• Captain Yeller - Officers’ Quarters, Imperial Barracks - 10 wineskins bought
• Ernst Krantz - The Fiddlers Inn - 5 wineskins bought
• Ollo Veorhoven - Ollo’s Panoramas - 5 wineskins bought

They searched only a couple of these places before they found what they were looking for - Boris Leichgart at the Smithy - or rather, a cramped attic above the ruined old Smithy.  The blackened walls of the ground floor attest to the ferocity of the fire that claimed the life of the smith and his apprentice, but those same walls saved the attic room from destruction. The internal staircase has also been destroyed. Now the only entrance is through a trap door in the floor of the upper level. When Boris is receiving a visitor, he lowers a knotted rope to allow access. The PC's convinced Boris that they meant him no harm, and he allowed them in.

Info From Boris

• The wineskin they had got from Ali contained Chokeweed extract.  This poison must be drunk, and is lethal if the victim does not receive healing.  Victims usually exhibit a swollen and black tongue.
• Chokeweed Extract can be used for purposes other than murder.  If one part of the poison is diluted with ten parts of water, the resultant solution can be used to remove warts, hair and general skin blemishes. Diluted with twenty parts of water, it makes a very good dye.
• Three people from the Crusade have been in to buy chokeweed extract, which Boris had put into the wineskins.
• A man calling himself Brother Marcus purchased one wineskin of the poison from him.
• A mean-looking man named Karl purchased three wineskins of the poison from him. The man wore a distinctive blue belt.
• A distinguished-looking gentleman who named himself Dieter van Dorf from an organisation called the Heralds of the New Dawn bought three wineskins of the poison from him.
• Boris has other things to sell, including Healing Poultices, Healing Draughts, and antitoxin kits - this could be a useful shop while they are stuck out here so far from civilisation.

Back to the Camp, the PC's start their investigations by looking out for Karl with the blue belt.  It seems he is the leader of a faction calling themselves the Bluebelts - who believe that blue is the colour of the child Karl, so everyone should wear a blue belt to show loyalty to him, and that everyone should rename themselves Karl in tribute to the Child.  They also insist on calling all the PC's Karl, so conversation with them was a little frustrating.  After a fair bit of confusion, it turned out that they had used the chokeweed extract as a dye, because their veil, which bore the face of Karl, had faded.  Karl and the Bluebelts had
been using diluted Chokeweed Extract to touch up the Veil, ensuring the markings remain clear. All their wineskins are accounted for,

Brother Marcus they could not find, but he does so a service at Noon every day outside the entrance to Karls Compound, so they could see him tomorrow.

Investigating Dieter van Dorf, camp gossip told them that he and his companions had a big green pavilion tucked away from prying eyes amongst the rubble of the wall up north.  The PC's easily found this, though the entrance was protected by a maze of loose rock and rubble.  The PC's decided to smash straight throug it and challenge the men directly.

they were greeted by Dieter himself, and saw the top third of a wineskin poking out of Dieter’s wide belt. A stylised serpent motif can be seen embossed onto the leather. When challenged about the wineskin, Dieter and his mate called for help and their comrades emerged from the tent and there was a fight, which the PC's won by killing everyone there.

In the tent, the PC's found that cushioned chairs and feathered mattresses filled the interior of the pavilion, revealing the relatively rich accommodations.

It was clear from the number of beds that any Heralds the PCs had already encountered were but a fraction of the larger numbers and there must be many more in the encampment.

On a wooden table in the centre of the pavilion is a pamphlet for the passion play, which is to be performed one day hence in Karl’s honour.

Two sheaves of parchment containing lines to the play were also discovered, upon which two parts have been underlined.

A quick search of the Heralds’ possessions turns up two elaborate actors’ costumes and some less richly appointed extras apparel. There is also a vial of a viscous black fluid.

The PC's took this information back to Helmut, who said,  “Friends, it is clear the Heralds you have already encountered are but a few and that this plot is already well underway. This situation is troubling, indeed, for it was my hope that this play would lift the spirits of the Crusaders and remind them of their united purpose. If only there was a way that the show could go on and for us to be able to catch the killers.  The Crusade needs the play and Karl needs to catch whomever it is that’s behind this plot. What if one or more of you participated in this drama, taking a role in the performance. I realise that this gives you little time to prepare, but it would give you access behind the stage as well as give you a commanding view of the audience! What do you say?”

As Mormocar had already been offered the role of the lass in the play, it was decided he should take the role and be fitted for his pink dress straight away...

End of session.

Session Eight

Sunday 16th Sept 2012
Villa Hahn (Continued)

Last week, we left our heroes standing at the gates of Villa Hahn, Ruprecht's childhood home, on the trail of Tobias and Karl.

This week, everyone had a new character booklet, and it turned out when filling these in that they were so over encumbered with stuff that they shouldn't be able to walk.  We decided it only fair to retrospectively give them a donkey named Sam and offoad all the stuff they couldn't carry onto the beast, and that Sam is currently stabled back in Keitchdorf with most of their money.

The GM promised not to be evil with this arrangement.

Anyway - back to Villa Hahn - this entire session was based on the search here, so this update should not be as long as usual.  Maybe.  Especially as they avoided most of the areas in the grounds.

The PCs came upon a small, weed-choked path that lead to an old, sagging estate.  The path wended some 600 feet between thick woods shrouded in shadows until it ended at a rusted iron gate hanging in the centre of a mostly ruined wall. A bronze plaque on one of the pillars declared this estate to be Villa Hahn. The gate was in bad shape - half of it lay in the muck, nearly sunken in the mud. Wheel ruts in the soft mud revealed a heavy wagon or carriage had recently been this way, but it faded when it hit the cobbled road leading to the manor house.

Little remained of the Villa’s former splendour. Archaon’s armies devastated the region, and the Villa is no exception, even though the mansion itself escaped unscathed. The land, however, was darkly poisoned, the once fertile soil now a sloppy marsh of foetid water and stinking mud.  The once-bright paint on the Mansion itself was faded, and a glistening sheen of sickening oil coated the structure, giving it an ochre hue. The windows were all bricked up.  All the beautiful landscaping that once existed was long gone. The sodden ground belched up streams of noxious gas  The once pristine and orderly flowerbeds were choked with weeds.

They avoided what looked like a pool filled with slime at the front of the house, and checked out the stable.  Although it was intact, there was not much here except for old droppings turned white with age, and a few rusty tools and rotten saddles. In one stall was a complete skeleton of a horse.  A pitted green brass plate overhead proclaimed the bones to be “Beauty.”

The most interesting thing is the small cart attached to a very dead horse. It looked as if wolves had set upon the beast and ripped it apart where it stood. In the back of the cart was a child’s coffin. The lid had been removed and flipped upside down. Scratch marks covered the inside.

The PC's hesitated here, and were attacked by a pack of four giant wolves which they managed to kill, but not without being wounded (Ralf lost a Fate Point) - they made their way to the mansion itself, checking for footprints but not being able to follow any trail due to the mud.

The entrance was through the front double doors. One of the two doors stood ajar, revealing darkness beyond.  muddy footprints were evident all throughout the vestibule, heading into the main hall beyond and up the stairs there.

They searched all of the rooms in the mansion, most held nothing of interest but some did.  In a study they found, in a locked drawer, a ledger detailing the importing and exporting of illegal goods into Wolfenburg from all around the Empire and beyond. Very high prices are listed next to these objects accompanied with initials, but no names are given.  A note was inside this:

In a dining room a shimmering ghost of a woman appeared and began to mutter, “Kill the killer… kill the killer… kill the killer"

In the Wine Cellar beneath this kitchen, they met Lucius Hahn, Ruprect's father - still alive - or maybe not... Upon close inspection, Lucius is little more than a coat of living flesh, kept alive by the foul will of the appalling creature that stole his skin.

The massive insect is beetle-like with long, twitching antennae and an impossibly long tongue that it kept curled up until it wished to drink Lucius’s fluids. It rested on Lucius’s back with its six legs lodged into him.  It attacked the PC's, Lucius urging them to keep away - but the creature used Lucius’s body as makeshift armour until he was gone, and then it fought on its own.  It did not last very long.

In Erich Hahn's bedroom, they found Erich’s personal diary in a nightstand. There were several pages torn out of the middle of the diary, and the writing that followed looked like the hand of a different person.

As the PCs drew closer to the next room - Genevive's bedroom -  they heard the sound of a little girl crying. and saw a man, Gregor Schlossberger, in leather armour and holding a sword in front of him. At his feet was what appeared to be the body of a mutilated woman in a blood-soaked dress. The man stared across the room at a terrifying mass of flesh and sinew.

Between him and the horror was a little girl who was crying. The creature beyond her had skin that was oily black like that of a slug, and it was covered in horrible sores and seeping pus. Razor-sharp spikes and tentacles stuck out of the creature in random places, and the fingers and toes on its four legs, and four arms were webbed and had what looked like stingers on the ends. No heads were discernible, but one face was where the stomach would be and another was on its back.

Having read the note they found in the diary in the other room, the PC's guessed the little girl was Genevive, and also a creature of chaos, and killed her first.  Then they and Gregor killed the creature.  Gregor explained he was an adventurer from Wolfenburg, and had only come into the mansion in search of treasure.  He became a companion for the party. Searching the bodies revealed the little girl was wearing a strange necklace - three intertwined circles with a fly in the middle - they had by now come to recoognise this as a symbol of Nurgle, and did not take it.

Finally, in Ruprecht's bedroom, they found a journal.

From this, they correctly guessed that the entrance to the Temple they were looking for lay in the maze, and they needed the necklace the girl was wearing to get through the maze.  So they went back to her room and took it.

They headed straight to the maze, not exploring the rest of the grounds, and as they had the Sigil of Flies from Genevive's neck, quickly found their way to the centre of the maze - a large clearing with a circular mound of oily blue-black flesh in its centre.

The mound was about 1 or 2 feet in height and roughly 12 feet in diameter. Several black tendrils or roots extended from the mound and dug into the nearby dirt. The mound occasionally pulsed as if alive, and they  saw fluids of green and yellow racing through translucent veins just below the surface of its skin.

When the PCs approached, the mound opened from its centre with a wet tearing sound, its flesh pulled tight to the outer edge of the circle, like a sphincter. Five cultists climbed out of this newly formed... bum hole. The cultists as surprised to see the PCs at their temple as much as the PCs were surprised to see someone walk out of a giant mound of bruised flesh. The cultists attacked the PCs, and the mound closed behind them.

After the PCs dispatched the cultists, they tried to go inside the temple, but the mound did not open for the PCs when they approached it.  The only way for the PCs to enter the temple was to hack through the material.  This method was not pretty nor did it smell good. The skin of the mound was tough, and they had to hack away for an age, getting covered in pus and blood and other disgusting goo by the time they made a large enough hole to climb through.(one or two of them gaining an Insanity Point for witnessing this horrific sight...)

Inside the Temple
Clearing away the darkened flesh, the PCs found a blue stone staircase descending into the earth. There were nine steps in all, stopping at a bare anteroom. Through an arch, the PCs saw a long hall pierced with a row of alcoves on either side.

The walls, ceilings, and floors of the temple were made from large blackish blue stones that make every corridor and room look like bruised flesh. The air in the temple is almost unbearable: the smell of rot and decay permeates everything.  Throughout the complex, cloudy mucus oozes from between the cracks of the stones, dripping from the walls and ceiling and bubbling up from the floor. In places, these sticky strands of goo actually form webbing.

Through the arches were sleeping crèches for the cultists. They hold maggot-ridden scraps of cloth and bile -stained bedrolls.  The hall stank of vomit and urine. Yellow chalk drawings of what looked like flies and other insects along with symbols and runes cover the stone walls.

The temple library is barely that. It was mostly used as a storage area for Ruprecht’s books and items too dangerous to keep in the house. A couple of small shelves house a few books, mostly covering topics such as the history of Nurgle cults and some depicting simple religious routines and rituals that are not of a magical nature. The PCs search the shelves, and discovered a leather-bound book of obviously higher quality than the others - The Libram Pandemic.  Penned by Hadred over 150 years ago, this book was a catalogue of hundreds of diseases. It described the diseases, usual locations they are found, and even some cures for a couple of them.  It looked valuable, and exuded magic, so Mormocar had a quick look through and put it in his bag for later.

There was nothing else of much interest on this upper level, so the PC's made their way down the stairs.

From down the hall and around the corner, the PCs heard a constant droning - chanting from the cultists. The ritual to bind Ruprecht to Karl with the Necklace of Unfailing Loyalty had begun.

As the PCs passed one of the cages, a man reached for them through the bars, screaming. His mouth, hands and chest are covered in blood. The body in the next cage had Human teeth marks in it. He continued to scream, but the PC's ignored him and stormed instead straight towards the sound of chanting, weapons drawn.

When the PCs turned the corner, they saw the Plague Shrine. An altar on the far side of the room stood 3 feet tall, decorated with what appears to be viscera. Set into the floor with snot-green mosaic tiles was an octogram positioned in the centre of the room.  When they entered the shrine, 9 cultists stood around the octogram facing the altar. Tobias, Karl, and the high priest are standing at the altar with the high priest chanting and lifting the Necklace of Unfailing Loyalty above his head about to lower it around Karl’s
neck.

The PC's attacked. This disrupted the Ceremony and the Priest did not put the necklace onto Karl's neck, but instead started Channeling, ready to use some foul magic.  Tobias did the same.

Shortly after combat began, Sophia, the Lahmian Vampire Thrall and twelve of her allies came into the room behind the PCs.  They had followed them all the way from Altdorf!

Sophia said, “I knew you would lead us to the boy. Humans are so simple. Neither one of you will be taking the boy. We need him. He will follow his destiny. He will be the Champion of the Night!”

And there was a huge fight - Tobias killed a number of the Lahmian thugs with a single spell, the PC's and Gregor killed Tobias, the Priest and Sophia and all the minions.

As Tobias died, a strange alien like organ tore free from the dead flesh, sprouted limbs, and escaped through the hole in the back wall.  When the Priest, Johann, died, a swarm of biting insects burst from his body and attacked everyone around before dispersing.  This had been a tough fight - and there had been no sign of Ruprecht - presumably the ritual to bind Karl to him did not actually need him to be there, and he is still somewhere North as indicated in his diary.

Karl survived the battle, clearly, and as soon as he spoke, all the PC's immediately fell back into worshipping him... Gregor didn't, but everyone else did...

We left the session here, the PC's surrounded by dead bodies, in the temple with Karl.  The GM awarded Fate points on top of XP's as the party had lost several, and they had just killed two high ranking Nurgle Cultists and a Vampire Thrall, so it only seemed fair...

End of Session.