Note that
some of this is written by one of the PCs, and a little confused.
We
began with only Arfalas, a gamekeeper for one Baron
Uli von Mensch (yes, I know, in-joke) in a forest outside Middenheim,
heading
up to town to give evidence at a trial the good Baron had arranged for
a
poacher.
At this stage, the Baron had power beyond his rank, having the ear of
Graf
Boris Todbringer (canon NPC and ruler of Middenheim). This being the
case, the
trial was something of a formality. After proceedings were over,
Arfalas made
the most of her days off, eventually deciding to spend the night lodged
in a
tree in the
She was sadly, however, disturbed by a clash between groups of drunken
Snotball
(a local sport involving a small Goblinoid) hooligans beneath her tree
which
ended in three fatalities. Observing a mob of graverobbers bear four
bodies
away, our law-abiding heroine followed.
Arfalas
gave chase. Along the way she collected a couple of adventurers to aid
her; a
stout warrior with a runic blade and a Bright Wizard. With their help
she
chased off the bodysnatchers, who were feeding three of the corpses to
a
furnace in an alchemist's shop, while the alchemist poured a green
liquid down
the throat of the fourth man.
The Bright Wizard succeeded in setting the shop on fire, and legged it;
the
warrior died taking the lion's share of punishment from the thugs; and
Arfalas'
bowstring snapped after accounting for one of the remainder. Her sword
stood
her in good stead for the other, and when the fourth man revived, she
pursued
him. His explanations, however, left her confused. That was session one.
In session two, she returned to the forest, killing some inept beastmen
and
organising a beater party for a hunt the Baron was intending to set out
on.
Session three saw the addition of Shenta, a young
female wizard's apprentice with pure-black eyes (not, however, the
result of
Chaos) and Kalf Kadrikson. For
various reasons, these two were present at the hunt - where the Baron
seemingly
went insane, killing two of the beaters.
Arfalas tried to stop him; he promptly turned on the party, but they
escaped on
Gorrik's cart. (Gorrik being one of Kalf's leatherworking employees).
The Baron was witnessed by other nobles, and denounced at court; though
the
Knights Panther later killed the doppelganger responsible (as Arfalas
rescued
the captured, naked Baron), he has not been able to regain the Graf's
ear.
As for the fourth session...
Naomi plays Klaus von Leiben, a young noble's son.
I'll use her account:
Klaus had recently arrived in
Middenheim with two friends, Leo and Pieter, who have come for the
adventure.
Being a 17 year old noble Klaus did have his sights set on the princess
(like
he has a hope!) so he went looking for the court Bard whom, having some
music
skill himself, he hoped he could get talking about the court and, more
importantly, the princess. Couldn't find her but he did manage to get
ripped off
in a posh inn, throw his wine in the fire and storm off in disgust,
stopping a
short way down the street to put his hat out. Not in a happy mood he
decided he
needed a drink so went to a cheaper tavern and got himself a nice stong
pint of
Bugmans XXXXX (or 5 X, note that Dwarfs have trouble drinking the
strongest
version which is 6 X and the elf got completely rat-arsed on 4 X).
He woke up with a slight hang-over and decided to sit quietly in the
corner,
not moving other to breath.
He woke up again feeling much better and a bill for 6 shillings, paid
and
decided to go back to his lodgings in order to see what his two friends
were up
to.
He finds the two friends playing cards, realises that they have been at
this
for 25 hours (they thought it was just the one hour, not the brightest
of
chaps) and after winning a few hands off them they decide to go for a
wander
round town to check on the local totty.
Unfortuntly on this venture they get ambushed by a gang of 8 thugs, Leo
and
Peite get killed almost instantly though one managed to take their
attacker
with them. Klaus on the other-hand is a little annoyed by this and
kills three
of them before the watch turn up. Three had made a run for it but one
got
caught there and then.
With the thanks of the Watch Klaus goes to get himself healed as he
suffered a
few wounds in the fight. At the temple is where he comes across the
others, of
course the elf gets his interest first and she introduces herself and
the
others. Since he has nothing to do, no friends left and he rather
fancys the
elf he decides to join them.
The dwarf turns out to be a good source of armour so Kalus gets himself
some
leather armour and so does the elf....according to the dwarf he got to
measure
her...then took an inch off everywhere just to make sure it was a good
fit....I
think this was the point Klaus started really drooling.
In the Skaven tunnels they wander about for a while before running into
3
Skaven guards. Kalus of course rushes straight in and kills two of them
(one
with some help) and then rather over excited rushes off. They called
him back,
he turns round and gets klobbered on the head for all his wounds and
starts
watching the preety lights while the others try and kill the rat ogre.
He
managed to come round in time to do a little damage but once it's dead
they
decide heading back would be a good idea since the elf has seen
something
disappear into the ceiling of the tunnels.
Reaching the exit they find a Skaven Assassin, Klaus of course
imediatly tries
to charge it despite being nearly dead but the elf hangs onto his belt
and
stops him. The dwarf attacks instead, gets tripped up and then the
Skaven asks
them to try and kill more of the ogres as they do not fit his master's
plans
and then vanaishes into the ceiling.
They nip back to Midheim in a cart they managed to hitch a lift on, the
elf
tying up Klaus' wounds since he's a bit out of it and the two wounded
(Klaus
and the wizard apprentice) go to get themselves healed while the other
two do
shopping.
Klaus catches up with the elf in time to go see her boss (who was more
involved
earlier but Klaus wasn't there for that).
Current situation: Klaus has invited himself into the group with an elf
(who he
fancies and is feeling encouraged since she stopped him killing himself
and
tended his wounds), a wizard apprentice (who he doesn't trust as first
a) he
does not like magic and b) has pure black eyes which reminds him of
chaos, even
though he is re-assured she's not) and a Merchant Dwarf who he thinks
at the
moment is a 'decent chap' as he got some leather armour off him.
So
they return to town, selling the Rat Ogre's skull and the warpstone
shuriken
previously acquired to a pale guy in an alleyway. After a little time -
Klaus
needed a tad of attention from Shallya, unsurprisingly, while Kalf
decided to
try his hand at the wool trade, with some success - they descended
again into
the tunnels.
(we'll skip over Klaus' unfortunate murder of an urchin)
An encounter with a rat swarm left them little if any the worse for
wear, but
Kalf's lantern was trapped within the swarm. The keen ears of certain
among the
party (Klaus and Arfalas) picked out a sound, which Klaus discerned was
pan
pipes. Arfalas' ngiht vision enabled her to make out a humanoid,
strangely-headed shape... on the ceiling. It vanished when she
approached,
causing the piping to stop and the rats to flee.
On closer inspection, Kalf discerned a camouflaged opening in the
ceiling and a
network of claw-holds suitable for scrambling along it. A little
unsettled,
they continued down the tunnel, encountering a group of four Skaven.
Do I need to say that Klaus immediately charged?
Out of the lantern's field of light into the semi-darkness?
Arfalas' bow picked off two of them. Klaus accounted for a third, by
which time
Kalf had joined him, cudgel and shield raised. An astonishing display
of
ineptness ensued on all parts - Kalf simply couldn't connect, but the
other
combatants all managed to sheath their swords in the wall. Klaus was,
however,
on his last legs by this time, and Arfalas tugged him out of the
combat,
stepped into his place, and finished the last ratman.
The party here decided to split - Shenta and Klaus went back to
Middenheim,
while dwarf and elf pulled a Gimli/Legolas and continued, finding
firstly that
they were being watched by an unseen observer and secondly, that the
Skaven
could manipulate certain areas of the tunnel network - which led them,
due to
Kalf's strength and persistence, through a concealed door and down a
staircase
into a huge, brightly-lit cavern, the centrepiece of which was a
gleaming metal
dome with a forge of green fire, four or five Skaven including a
pale-furred
mage fussing around it, and a low moan of agony coming from no
discernible part
of the room.
Eventually emerging from the tunnels near the Baron's summer house,
they met up
with their comrades and consulted Shenta's master for information,
though he
could provide them with little. Returning to Middenheim, Shenta heard
rumours
around the Wizards and Alchemists' Guild - rumours of disinterred
graves in the
Morrspark (a cemetery, dedicated to the god of death, Morr), and bones
in the
The cause was clear; a necromancer. A tense conversation in the back of
Kalf's
shop ensued, during the course of which it was revealed that the
shuriken and a
couple of Skaven blades had, in all probability, been sold to the
necromancer
responsible.
Shenta was exhausted due to a healing attempt and stayed home, but
Klaus, Kalf
and Arfalas went cruising for answers in the East End, finding instead
a mob -
attracted, doubtless, by the presumed riches of the (actually intensely
cash-strapped) noble. Kalf's calm talk stayed their hands for long
enough to
elicit that the nameless necromancer was in all probability 'old man
Bairstein', but then the fight was on.
Cue more NPC ineptness and critical fumbles. Highly embarrassing. But
nevertheless Klaus once more found himself within an inch of his life;
the
session ended with our heroes victorious and Klaus once more in the
care of
Shallya.
Problem is, he hasn't the money to do that again, and they're getting
annoyed...
OK.
What happened next...
Arfalas had a brainwave, essentially, and linked the despoiled
Who had left. The priestess with whom they spoke requested they bring
him back
to have his stitches removed; accordingly, they found him at his
townhouse and
did so.
It was then requested that when he next got himself nearly killed, he
go
elsewhere (Erich Hinfallig's address was then handed over).
They then repaired to the forest, followed the trail of a ransacked
cairn to a
mob of Beastmen, and were ultimately victorious. Klaus, however, was
covered in
blood during the fighting, and threw himself into a patch of shrubbery
to wipe
it off.
Said shrubbery turned out to be nettles. Enough to seriously wound him.
Kalf and Arfalas went exploring, leaving the other two to defend
themselves. Klaus
took out his flute and began to play a tune. The tune that had
previously
summoned rats in the tunnels below the forest.
Shenta's sixth sense alerted her in time for her to throw herself to
the side
as a vast hole opened up in the ground, but Klaus tumbled through. And
found a
giant rat licking his face, another's claws tickling softly at the
leather of
his trousers...
Shenta's scream brought Arfalas and Kalf back at a run, but she also
started
accounting well for herself with the Skaven spear. Kalf slew one,
Arfalas
brought two down with her bow, and Shenta sliced the final one on the
forest
floor.
Klaus was still trapped. Arfalas shot and killed a rat by his foot,
then fired
at the one investigating his inner thigh.
And missed.
And rolled a 6 for damage.
This pushed the already wounded Klaus over the limit, breaking his leg.
He
jerked; both rats panicked and bit him. He sports an ugly scar on his
face (now
disguised by artful cuts into a fencing wound, much sexier.)
Kalf descended into the hole, killing one and driving the other away
with
curses. Arfalas joined him, got the wrong end of the stick about
splints, and
broke the leg again. (99 to figure out first aid).
They extracted their comrade eventually (largely due to Kalf's
ministrations -
Valaya bless the surprisingly dextrous fingers of the dwarves) and
hauled him
the two days' travel to Middenheim, and to Erich Hinfallig.
Arfalas paid for the treatment, and the dice were rolled...
And Klaus called in his luck, and THAT dice was rolled...
And with the luck bonus, the die roll was exactly on the threshold of a
full
recovery. Klaus spent the period regaining mobility in gambling (to
afford his
ludicrous cost of living) and teaching Kalf to read and write (ditto).
Shenta
buried herself in covert researches on a semi-comprehensible scrap of
paper
recovered from the Beastmen encounter, written in a magical language.
This meant, when Klaus had been mobile a week, Arfalas was the one who
first
detected the presence of a skeletal, ten-foot-tall creature in the city.
(Incidentally, guys, you all get 4 standing points).
Shenta followed the necromancer who had summoned it, hidden in her
Stealth
spell. Kalf and Klaus confronted the skeletal rat ogre, Arfalas took
her bow to
the mage and later to a skeletal champion he summoned, and Shenta
suddenly cast
her fear aside and attacked the mage. Despite being blasted by his
magicks, she
fought valiantly, while Kalf destroyed the rat ogre (most of the damage
was
his, as was the final blow). Klaus then charged off to save Arfalas
from the
skeletal champion, succeeding with a single devastating slash.
And then Shenta killed the wizard in combat with her Skaven spear.
Resisting
his attempt to possess her, she learned his home address.
The Watch arrived, and their attendant wizard took care of the
destruction of
Johan Bairstein's all-too-mortal remains. Sadly, the spellbooks
(containing
certain dark formulations) are now in Shenta's possession, while
Arfalas
pocketed the money. The warpstone shuriken that embroiled our heroes in
the
matter was finally passed to the Wizard's and Alchemist's Guild for
destruction.
Since then, Kalf has persuaded the Komission for Trade and the
Komission for
Non-Human Interests to invest in Kadriksen's Mercantile Enterprises,
though the
full payment per week will be 115 gold.
-Kalf
was presented with a rune axe by the dwarves of the city, increasing
his
initiative and his ability against armour.
-Shenta began conning the party into payinng for spell components (hey,
it's
worth a shot).
Then the session proper began. The group reconvened and discussed what
they see
as the key problem (this grey seer I really need to get around to
writing up.)
To this end, they decided to descend in to the tunnels and put paid to
his
experiment once and for all. Kalf asked that the party delayed its
action until
lunchtime, as he had work to do, and they went their separate ways.
Kalf bought a new shop, went to the dwarven stonemasons' craftguild,
and
commissioned a forge. He then bought a cart-horse and cart, and hired
his
metalworker (another dwarf). It occurs to me he still needs to hire
someone to
drive the cart, but hey... it can't start for another three days.
Klaus went to the Wizards and Alchemists' Guild to have the balm from
the
necromancer assayed. They looked oddly at him, and began asking how
he'd come
across it. Rather than explain his perfectly legitimate and indeed
laudable
means of acquisition, he lied.
He implicated his butler. And suggested the man might leave for Kislev
at any
moment. (Kislev, for those who don't know, is next stop for the Chaos
Wastes.
Mmm... dark magic... anyway.)
They sent a witch hunter named Siegfried after his butler.
Meeting up again, the four noticed his arrest, and managed to get him
let off.
In the process, Shenta was nearly shot through the head (her eyes seem
like the
stigmata of a Chaos worshipper).
Klaus lied again. Badly. With a choice of words that will yet prove
dangerous.
He was told not to leave town.
The party left town. Klaus followed them.
(Which, for those of you scoring at home, is three strikes.)
They went to the skavenhole. They found new tracks.
Wheeled ones.
Following them, Arfalas found a rat ogre minus his lower limbs, plus
large
chunks of warpstone embedded in his flesh, plus a wheel in place of his
legs,
plus a large quantity of blades in his back. Dead.
The blades were of Skaven manufacture.
*The
scene opens in Skaven tunnels, just heading down from the entrance are
four
bold adventurers...well three bold and one pissed*
Wandering around in the tunnels the band come across a cart, full of
warpstone,
being pulled by a giant rat and skaven slaves
The slaughter ensures with one of the skaven managing to take his own
head off
with a stick, damn glad he did not hit me with it, must a been a magic
stick!
They wander round and find a few more fights. Since token combat bunny
is being
hit by everything that is thrown at him they decide to retreat only for
the
Skaven assassin to drop down and tell them there is no way out except
to deal
with whatever is below.
They reluctantly go down to find a huge room with a Grey Seer doing
something
spoogy in the middle.
*A fight ensures which I can't remember most of*
A stranger turns up and tries to shoot the gray seer.
Klaus swings for the Grey Seer and manages to take him down with a blow
of 20
to take him down to 1HP (forgot to add my damn strength on or I would
of killed
him with one blow...arse!)
The stranger turns out to be the Witch Hunter who arrests Klaus and
charges him
with wasting the time of the lawful agencies
Being the libe tongued scoundrel he is (not!) he manages to get the
longest
prison sentence there is for his rank and ends up going to manual labor
camp
for 3 months and getting another insanity point
His recent adventures leave him with a phobia of rats as well...oh joy!
Joining back up with the other three they decide it might be best to go
somewhere else for now
Kalf gives Klaus the sword that they found in the tunnels, Alfarlas got
a bow,
Shentar a ring and Kalf a breastplate.