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.

Session Seven

Sunday 9th September 2012

Chapter V:
Metamorphosis of Villa Hahn
“From the west they came, this unruly mob. They claimed they served the Child, the true heir of Sigmar, the scion foretold. How quickly they forget brave Valten and his great sacrifice for our glorious nation. How quickly do they forget the courageous young men and women who gave their lives in the face of appalling horror. People do their best to put the Incursion behind them, to rebuild in this uncertain future, but it terrifies this scholar how easily Old Worlders latch onto hope, even when it’s so clear that their saviour can bring only despair.”
Altmar Nachtmann, Scholar.

A series of misfortunes, double-crosses, and disturbing revelations have left the heroes empty-handed in Altdorf. The Child is missing. His cultist kidnapper is gone. The PCs have lost Ansel’s journal to Baroness Theodora Margrave, but they still know Tobias heads for Ansel’s childhood home.  From Ansel’s journal, the PCs know Ansel performed the ill-fated ritual in the village of Ruhrhoff. The PCs also know that Ansel fled the place, leaving behind the accursed Necklace of Unfailing Loyalty and the remains of his true love in the tatters of that home. Now, where this town lies is a good question, for it’s not on most maps.

Checking the maps in the Sigmarite library in Altdorf, they eventaully  find Ruhrhoff is a small village about 350 miles north-east of Altdorf and about seventy miles south-west of Wolfenburg, placing the village somewhere on the far side of the Drakwald in the province of Hochland.

To get there, they plan to go by river to Talabheim, then North to the village of Hergig, then on foot to Ruhrhoff itself, if they can find it.

They buy passage on a riverboat to Talebheim easily enough, and this takes an uneventful 7 days.  There, they cannot find a boat heading where they want to go, but do buy passage eventually on a coach - another three uneventful days pass and they find themselves boarding for the night in an inn in Hergig.  From here, though, it is on foot, a three day march, assuming they don't get lost, through the forest.  Luckily, asking around gives them a pretty good indication of where the town lies.

Encounters in the forest are minimal - though they do meet a group of Knights Panther from Middenheim, who want to know their business in the woods.  The PC's show their letter and all is well.  They share camp and Ralf cooks up some rabbits the Knights have caught, and they part ways the following morning on good terms.  The Knights warn the PC's about the village of Kietchdorf, which lies in between here and Ruhrhoff - it is full of plague and is best avoided.

The PC's avoid Kietchdorf, skirting around it completely, and arrive at Ruhroff - a small town of about 50 houses, most of which are burned down, smashed up or boarded up.  The town is completely deserted, but they do find some fresh footprints around the centre of the town, including those of a child, but the footprints go to several houses and the PC's have no clue as to which house Ansel's grandparents lived in.  Back to Kietchdorf for gossip, then...

When the PCs enter the town, they do not see many people about and the ones they do look pale and sickly. Some cough continuously, and others are covered in boils and lesions. The few people that look healthy are doing the work of several or are tending to the needs of the sick.

Only a few places are open for business: the general store, smithy, and tavern.

The village’s general store is a modest-sized building with a sharply peaked roof and a chimney climbing the building’s side. Beneath the veranda is the front door. A few broken glass windows fronting the shop offer a look inside, revealing a general supply store. Painted on the wall is a good likeness of a whistling wanderer, hefting a stick over his shoulder from which hangs a bag.  The owner is an old man but shows no sign of sickness and is polite, if a bit gruff. He suggests that they talk to Gerhard Dietrich at the local tavern, The Watering Hole.

In the Watering Hole, Gerhard says, “Ansel Vorman? I think a family with that name lived in Ruhrhoff. Wouldn’t be there no more tho’. ‘Cause ain’t no one there no more. ‘Cause that town ain’t there no more.  I knew some Vorman’s that lived in Ruhrhoff on the north edge of town. Had a two-storey cottage, they did, lucky bastards. Big orange chimney.  can't miss it. Course, now that I think of what happened to the town, maybe they weren’t so lucky.”.

He hesitates, then asks if he can ask a favour.  “The way you people ask questions and the way you look, you have seen a lot. My boy went missing ‘bout four months ago. Just up and disappeared one night. I believe it was them cultists that got him. Anyway, I was just wondering if you folks could keep an eye out for him? I know it’s a long shot, but I have to ask.”

They agree, and he says, “Thank you! His name’s Johann, and he’s nineteen years old. He might be wearing a family ring on his right hand. I couldn’t find it anywhere at the house.” He then shows the PCs a ring on his own hand with an elaborate family crest on it. The ring seems cheaply made, and it is an obvious attempt for the  owner to look important.

Back to Ruhroff, with no problems in the forest.  The town of Ruhrhoff has been completely devastated, another victim of the Chaos Incursion. Most of the buildings and houses have been burned to the ground, and those that do remain are boarded up. Occasionally the PCs see a yellow “X” on the doors of some of the buildings. Characters know this is a commonly used plague mark. The roads have been cracked and torn up, and the ground is scorched beyond saving.

Miraculously, the cottage still stands. A modest, two-storey building.  The interior of the house is mostly empty, the contents taken by the owners or ransacked long ago. Shattered pieces of wood and jagged stone that used to be part of the walls and ceiling lie about the floor. There is a staircase leading up to what remains of the first floor. Everything is covered in thick layers of soot and dirt. A foul smell hangs in the air, worthy enough to make a person gag.  Several footprints wend their way through the rubble from the front door to the cellar and back. The PC's can tell several people, not just two, have been through here recently.

The upper floor of the house is in danger of collapsing. There is nothing of value up there.  Following what they can remember of Ansel’s journal, the PCs attempt to head down into the cellar but are immediately struck by a horrible smell and even worse sight. Dried blood covers the floor and walls. Shards of bone and lumps of oddly preserved desiccated flesh litter much of the cellar’s floor in a great dark stain. Only Mormocar summons up enough willpower to descend into the cellar, shouting up: "I've found the necklace! It's gone!" All he can see is a chain shaped blood stain indicating it has been taken, and fresh foot prints on the floor.

As the PC's leave the house, intending to follow the trail of footprints, they are attacked by 4 mutants.  It is a quick but bloody fight, one of the mutants has acid for blood and this causes both Konrad and Grondi to be heavily wounded as the acid blood soaks them when this mutant is killed.

Searching the bodies, they discover a mark - a strange tattoo that emanates magic - on each of the bodies depicting three circles with a fly sitting in the middle. One of the mutants has a piece of paper, on the back is a description of the PCs, on the front a scribbled note:

The PC's now realise that Master Hahn must be Ruprect, and that he needs to return to his parent's house if he is going to perform the ceremony to bind the boy to him.  They have a good feeling that Jan / Tobias has the boy, the necklace, and the instructions for the ceremony - they just don't know where Ruprect Hahn's childhood home might be.  Alone in a deserted village, there is no-one to ask!  They decide to return to Kietchdorf.

The journey back to Kietchdorf is not uneventful - they are attacked by a band of 8 goblins, who fire their shortbows at them, causing Konrad to lose a fate point as he was already heavily wounded from the fight with the mutants - the goblins are quickly and brutally taken care of, however, and the team arrive back in Kietchdorf with no more trouble.

There, they are told,  “Ruprecht? I wonder if you mean one of Lucius Hahn’s boys. I don’t think he was born noble, but he sure acted like it.  Villa Hahn is a huge stately manor about four miles west of Wolfenburg.”

So they travel towards Wolfenburg, along the river, on foot, with no trouble.  Arriving at Villa Hahn, they discover a bridge over a filthy river leading to the stately home, but the bridge is down and the only way across would be to wade through the filth, or find somewhere else to cross.

Konrad, however, has a better idea, and he and Grondi cut down a tree (after about 17 minutes of hacking away with Grondi's two handed axe...) so they can all cross the river, which everyone managed without falling in and catching some vile disease...

The session ended with the PC's at the entrance to Villa Hahn...

Session Six

2nd September 2012

The PC's have a number of clues to go on - well, not so much clues as names:

Ruprecht.  Tobias.  Ansel in Altdorf.  Estelmann.

The first thing they do, after hitting the shops, is to introduce themselves to Lord Frederick.  After hearing their tale, (and being a little surprised to find them all worshiping Karl) he asks them to find the boy, as power like his cannot be allowed to be controlled by Chaos.  He has never heard of Ruprecht, and Ansel could be anybody as it is such a common name.  He does know that Estelmann is the name of a book shop dealing in rare books, and gives them the address.  On the way to Estelmanns, the PC's are approached by a badge seller (selling tin badges, mostly of religious symbols) before noticing smoke coming from the direction of the street they are heading to.

Estelmann's bookshop is alight, and the houses next to it are beginning to catch, too.  Residents are forming bucket chains to try to put out the blaze, and the PC's help, until a large group of witch hunters turn up and stop them from firefighting, telling them to 'Let it burn.' as they suspect the owner had been dealing in forbidden books.  The witch hunters will not listen to reason, and become threatening when the PC's try to convince them to allow them to save the buildings next to the shop - they are adamant: Let it burn.  They do not leave until the shop is burned to the ground.  The PC's question the crownd to find that Estelmann himself is still alive - came crawling out of the shop early on in the fire and is now being looked after at the Shallyan Hospital.

They visited the hospital, convinced the Sisters there that they were friends of family, and the closest to family that Estelmann has, and were allowed to visit him. They spoke to Estelmann, watched from the windowsill by a big black pigeon.

When asked about Ansel, Estelmann becomes hysterical, saying he already told the other man all he knows, and the other man still broke his legs and set his shop on fire!  He names the other man as Jan, also called Tobias - who wanted to know about Ansel.

Ansel was one of Estelmann's best customers, buying from his special stock... he has to give Jan / Tobias a list of his most special customers.  But at this point a load  Hunters turn up and Estelmann begs them to kill him.  He tells them hurridly that in the cellar of his shop is a trap door, leading into the sewers.  If they follow the sewer North, they will come to an iron door, seemingly rusted shut.  He gives them a key to this door from around his nexk - this is the secret store of all of Estelmann's special books.  He also tells them that there they will find, on shelves, the names of all of his special customers - the same names that Jan / Tobias has got.  The PC's kill him before the Witch Hunters get hold of him, and manage to get out of the hospital without them withc hunters seeing them.

They went straight back to the burned out shop, spotting the black pigeon several times along the way, and found the ruin was being watched closely by the Witch Hunters.  They snuck up one one, Ralf grabbing him from behind, and warned him off. They mentioned the name of Osric, a fellow witch Hunter, and told the guy to tell his boss they were working for him.  The Witch Hunters dispersed. This bought them time to explore the secret book room in the sewers without the Witch Hunters involvement...

Getting there was a minor pain, as the floor of the book shop was dodgy and collapsed.  But they found the room - the iron door already prised open - and the room was empty.  They did find the strips of paper glued loosely to the shelves, though, bearing the names of Estelmann's best customers:

On the way out, they were surrounded by the Witch Hunters and attacked - the name Osric clearly meaning nothing (the leader, wwho named himself as Golphus Drabben, said that he knew Osric had been badly beaten) - before the fight could really take hold, though, Drabben was knocked out by a falling brick... looking up, the PC's could see a black pigeon flying away...

Investigating the names on Estelmann's list was not easy - Lord Frederick told them that all were of Noble birth, but many were dead - at least six murdered by a serial killer in the last year, who had been named The Vengence of Sigmar.  The Vengence exposed people as Mutants and killed them, nailing a tin badge of Sigmar's Comet to their foreheads.  The PC's immediately thought of the badge seller they had met before - a Mr. Dibbler...  Lord Frederick also pointed out the name Ansel Vorman on the list, as they had asked him before about an Ansel.  Vorman was a Sigmarite priest - skinny fellow, big scar on his forehead.

They finally tracked him down, but found him lying curled in a pool of his own blood, moaning softly. He is naked and horribly mutilated. He is also mutated - feathery diagonal gills under each arm open and close as he breathes, making a doggish snuffling sound. He is barely, mumbling half coherently under his breath.

"Sigmar, Don't let me die wearing these marks of chaos"

The team tried to speak to him, he slowly woke from his reverie. Ansel weeps, then speaks, as much to himself as them, "Waiting for me. I tried not to tell him, but I... the pain was too much. He knows where the necklace is. He knows the lncantation..."

He then looked at the PC's and said, confused,  "No, Tobias. Your tortures won't work now - I am beyond pain..."  Mormocar tried to heal him, whilst not having the Heal skill or any healing potions or magic.  He died. The gills under his arms close and are still.

They did find a set of diaries in his apartment, Volumes 5 to 13, but Volume 10 was missing. He had been stabbed his apartment robbed, and had crawled away to die - he was also a mutant - with gills on his sides.  These gills helped him to sniff out other mutants...

From the small northern town of Keck, Ansel was a bright, lonely merchant's son with an aptitude for magic. In his teens he fell for a wood carver's daughter. When she spurned him he ran away to Altdorf determined to join the Colleges of Magic. intending to find a magical way to make his love fall for him. When his teachers wouldn't tell him what he wanted to learn, he began looking in forbidden books. He ran away from the Colleges and studied on his own, buying books from Estelmann until the witch hunters came for him. He ran to Marienburg and fell in with Ruprecht, who promised him the power to win back his lost love.

Ansel didn't like Ruprecht or Tobias, who also assisted Ruprecht, but the promise of knowledge kept him in the sorcerer's service. Two years ago Ruprecht acquired the Necklace of Unfailing Loyalty -a necklace that would make the wearer love whoever placed if upon them. Ansel decided that he would steal it and use it on his lost love.

What happened next is in the missing Volume 10  Volume 11 starts wirh Ansel in Altdorf ~ repenting his investigations into rhe dark powers and mourning the death of his love. He doesn't say exactly what happened, but it is dear the Necklace killed the girl and gave him his scar and Mutation. His mutation is
both a blessing and curse. He hates his gills and prays to Sigmar to take them away, bur they also help him. He has decided to make his penance to Sigmar by killing as many Mutants and Sorcerers as he can, and his
gills can smell other Mutanrs. He uses this power to hunt down and kill them. On the last page of the journal is a final passage:

 As they are now after a missing book - they head back to the Library of Sigmar (they had been there while looking for Ansel in the first place) but it was closed, so they went to bed and came back the next day, where the main librarian told them that Helmgart had written a book called Blood on the Reik, and that First Blood probably referred to the first edition, which was in the Rare Books Room.  Off they went to fetch it - and waht should fall out but Ansel's 10th Volume of his diary - containing the following:

They took this book and info back to Lord Frederick, who was aghast. "This is terrible! If this sorcerer binds the child to him with this ritual then the cult will be firmly under the control of the ruinous powers. The Emperor must be warned Come with me!"  Frederick was holding onto the journal as they all ran from his house.  As he stepped out of his mansion to his coach, Frederick. the guards and the PCs are attacked by a flock of pigeons, including the black one, and men in black, who steal the book then run for the wall of the estate.

At the wall, the thieves throw the journal over and escape onto rooftops, the PC's hot on their trail.  A big rooftop chase ensued, until a Lahmian Vampire turned up and took the journal from the thieves and handed it over to her lady who had just arrived in a big black coach with a coat of arms full of pictures of bats...

 
The young vampire was in fact a Thrall named Sophia, and the Lahmian Countess introduces herself as Baroness Theodora Margrave. She thanked the PC's for doing all the running around and getting the book, and points out how she had helped them via her pet pigeon, and throws them a purse with 500GC in it before driving off.  (Ralf tried jumping from the rooftops to the roof of the coach and battling Sophia alone on top of the moving coach - he ended up minus one Fate Point, upside down in a big pile of shit, just his feet poking out the top... The Lahmians rode away leaving the PC's alone and without the diary.  And then the Witch Hunters showed up again...

After a brief discussion along the lines of "Why are you not going after those vampires???" ("What vampires?" "They are in a bloody black coach with bats on the coat of arms!!" "Oh, that's the Baroness - very important family.  Love bats...") - they managed to confuse the Witch Hunters enough to have them arrest their own leader as he was carrying a forbidden Grimoire which he had confiscated from someone else... the PC's managed to get this Grimoire and leave the withc hunters to decide whether to burn their leader or not....

They have a long trip ahead of them if they are to get this necklace, Lord Frederick gives them some money toward the trip and begs them to get the necklace and return it to Altdorf - it is clear that Tobias has left the City with the Child and the description of the ritual and a good idea of where to find the necklace - and the Vampires have the same information, though for what possible use they have no idea - this is now three different Vampire Clans (Blood Dragons, Strigoi and now Lahmians) they have encountered in this mystery and one Chaos Cult (Nurgle) - what is going on?

end of session!