Hi All,
Hope you had a safe 4th of July and Canada Day. We had our usual of eating too much and staying inside.
I still have a backlog of battle reports to share with you and the zine is slowly but surely coming along.
In the meantime here is the text from my notes from our last WFRP session with some great art by J.Brisken.
Talagaad has been cut off because of
the plague, the situation is dire. At night roving bands of Sigmarite
flagellants and giant rats roam the streets. 400 Hochlanders,
desperate to flee the fear and misery, have been killed storming the
Taalbaston gate.
Sally and Vincent had met with Rudolph
Nierhaus, who told them to find the Estalian Eladio Sortano down by
the docks, he would be able to take them into the city by secret
ways. Returning fro the massacre, Sally and Vincent meet with Lukas,
Leopold and Genaro at the bottom of the Wizard's Way. All except for
Leo have been greatly affected by the carnage. Genaro has now been
sick for three days. It's a good thing the group has the trusty mule
Lorenzo to help carry gear and supplies.
Early the next morning the group sets
out for the docks, in search of the mysterious Estalian. The streets
are mostly abandoned. The few people out and about cover their mouths
and noses and avoid coming close. Vincent takes the lead with spear
and shield while Leopold brings up the rear with his sling at the
ready. The others all have their various ranged weapons in hand. The
smell of death and burning flesh hang like a pall in the air. In the
shadows can be heard the scurrying of rats.
The Eel Inn is closed so the group
heads for the Ten Tailed Cat. The Ten Tailed Cat knows “Dead Eyes.”
(Now I wrote this, but I have no idea what it means and I forgot to
ask in the heat of writing notes.) Genaro is visibly paler each hour,
we must get him some shelter and rest. Leopold, Lukas and Sally enter
the Inn while Vincent, Genaro and Lorenzo the mule wait outside.
Everyone inside is quiet and moody. The bartender eyes the group,
looking for any outward signs of infection. The three walk up to the
bar and Lukas orders three beers, tipping two extra pennies. As they
sip their beer they scan the room. There does not appear to be any
threats. They are on edge.
Lukas then strikes up a conversation
asking if the barkeep knows Eladio. “Yeah, he sells fish on the
other side of the river at the docks” he says. “He is dusky
skinned, well dressed, and smells of perfume.” He goes on to say
that he has heard it is much worse on the other side of the river.
Patrols are killing anyone who looks sick and he suggests we should
leave town. The three finish their beers and head back outside.
After a brief discussion with Vincent
to fill him in the group decides to head for the bridge across the
river Talbec. The North side is worse off than the South side. People
fish to survive and we can see abandoned boats along the docks. Just
the day before the group had seen people jump into the river and try
to climb aboard a passing river boat. On the docks Lukas and Leopold
spot a man fitting the description of the man we are looking for. He
is selling fish at a stall in an otherwise deserted area. Sally
casually walks over. The man looks very healthy. He has dark eyes,
black hair and a small mustache. He wears a stained apron over a fine
tunic. Sally sniffs the air and can smell his perfume over the stench
of the fish. They then drop into a witty conversation where Sally
deftly drops the password. (I some how totally missed Bryan saying
it, it was so smooth.) Eladio tells them to meet him at the Crooked
Shoe at 10 bells. The group decides to head to the Inn and wait for
Eladio there.
As they walk back to the South side of
the river, Lukas remarks upon how smugglers are rumored to go through
tunnels under the Taalbaston wall. The group makes it to the Crooked
Shoe without incident, but it is a grim and dark place. Lukas,
Vincent and Leopold go inside and Vincent haggles the price of a room
down from 1 shilling to 10 pennies each. However there are no stables
for Lorenzo and they won't accept anyone who looks even the slightest
bit sick. We know that the sun will set at 7 bells. Lukas thinks we
should split up, but the rest remember the dififcult fight with the
rats so they nix that idea. The group decides that the dead
Apothecary Widenhoft's house will be a good place to rest up and
recover their strength. As they chat on the streets to the house they
remember that Neihaus told them to look for the Apothecary Doppler
once inside the city.
Widenhoft's house is still empty when
they arrive. As they step inside their nostrils are immediately
assaulted by the stench of corpse. After a bit of a struggle we force
Lorenzo into the front room, he balks at the smell but Vincent is
able to calm the beast. While Vincent and Lukas stand guard Loepold
and Sally try to get some rest in the small single bed upstairs.
Vincent searches the house again, but doesn't really find anything
new. Being a devout follower of Morr, Vincent decides to bury
Widenhoft. He wraps him in a blanket and drags him to the garden for
burial. In an effort to prepare the body Vincent attempts to remove
the dagger. In doing so he accidentally nicks his hand. It is
excrutiatingly painful and he can immediately see the veins look
black from the point of the cut. He quickly drinks a healing draught.
It helps with the pain and appears to counteract the poison. He
finishes taking the body outside and performs the rites of Morr.
Sally and Leopold end up giving Genaro
the bed and are able to make themselves comfortable enough on the
floor to get some sleep. Seven bells comes around and the sleepers
reluctantly get up. They search the house for food but don't find any
so they eat some of the rations that Lorenzo has been carrying. With
their bellies full they head out for the Crooked Shoe Inn. As we
walk the streets we can hear exhortations to Sigmar. Vincent, in the
lead again, turns a corner and stumbles upon a small square. In it
are five men in rags carrying morgensterns and flails who are giving
a sermon of some kind.
One of the flagellants cries “Look
brothers, a heathen! He has the sickness! You will be cleansed!”
Vincent tries to ingratiate himself to them with a cry of “For
Sigmar!” but they charge him shrieking “In Sigmar's name!”
Hearing the commotion Sally and Lukas rush forward and see the
fanatics rushing Vincent and a smoldering pyre with a scorched body
on it. Leopold, bringing up the rear, tries to move Lorenzo and
Genaro to the side of the street for some cover. He cannot see what
is going on around the corner.
Vincent steadies himself to receive the
fanatics charge. Only three can get at him at once. The first misses
and Vincent deftly parries the other two with his spear and shield.
Sally shoots one fanatic in the arm with his crossbow while another
fanatic parries Lukas's hatchet blow. Leopold scrambles for a place
to tie Lorenzo, the mule is getting spooked by the commotion. Leo is
barely able to keep the animal calm.
Vincent then swiftly counter attacks,
hitting one in the chest and another in the temple causing a large
gash. He cries, “Unbeliever, die!” Vincent still has three
fanatics attacking him while Sally and Lukas have one each. Sally is
missed while Lukas is hit with a flaming censer. He catches on fire.
The fanatics attack Vincent. He parries the first and the second
accidentally smashes his friend, setting him on fire. The burning
fanatic ignores his condition. Vincent dodges his blow.
Sally falls back towards Leopold and
Genaro, drawing his opponent away from the group. Lukas successfully
puts out the flames on his arm. Seeing his friend being chased,
Leopold drops Lorenzo's reins and rushes to aid him. Vincent does
another vicious attack. He misses one but can tell he has given the
other a grievous wound when the man spits up blood. The flagellant
who is on fire is engulfed in flame. He runs frantically across the
square screaming.
Seeing Leopold as he rounds the corner,
the fanatic chasing Sally charges Leo. Lukas is missed by his
opponent. Sally decides to draw his sword instead of reloading his
crossbow. He tries to strike the flagellant but is blocked. Lukas
takes a parrying stance and manages to hit his opponent in the leg,
opening a large gash in his leg. Being charged, Leopold drops his
sling and pulls out his club and dagger to defend himself.
The fanatics facing Vincent continue to
rain fiery blows down upon him. The first misses, but the second
manages to strike him in the arm and set him on fire. The one
attacking Leopold misses and Lukas narrowly misses being struck in
the leg. Sally comes up behind the fanatic attacking Leopold and
deftly slices major veins in his arm and leg, killing him.
Lukas is in the dance of death with his
opponent, neither makes any headway. Leopold, now free of an
opponent, runs around the corner shouting “Your theology is
flawed!” Vincent fails to put out the flames on his arm and is
engulfed. He falls to the ground and his beard and eyebrows are burnt
off. Lukas barely avoids a crushing blow to his leg as the two who
were attacking Vincent start advancing on him.
Sally also runs back around the corner
towards the square and sees Lukas about to be set upon by three
fanatics, Vincent on fire on the ground and a fanatic on fire running
off into the distance. Lukas backs towards his arriving comrades,
there is nothing he can do for Vincent. In his fury, Leopold misses
and is hit with a crushing blow. He escapes being lit on fire, but is
sent sprawling ass over tea kettle into the wall. He lies there
unconscious. Sally, like a pinwheel of death, cuts another flagellant
but narrowly avoids dropping his sword. Lukas strikes another blow,
but the fervent warriors appear to feel no pain. The fanatics fail to
hit, but push Sally and Lukas further back around the corner. The
fire on Vincent still rages.
The flagellants are now in Genaro's
sights. The weakened warrior shouts “I will show you bastards!”
as he lets loose a crossbow bolt. Somehow he hits the one fighting
Sally in the armpit, dropping him instantly. Sally, seeing his
opportunity, charges one of the fanatics fighting Lukas but misses
him. Lukas delivers another mighty blow. He cannot believe his
opponent is still standing.
The fanatic facing Sally miscalculates
his strike and crushes his own skull, Lukas barely parries a strike
to the groin. While the fanatic is occupied, Sally darts in and stabs
him between the ribs, he slumps with a gurgle. Lukas wastes no time
and runs to Vincent, putting out the flames. Vincent is still alive,
but his mail coat and leather jacket are completely ruined. His
spear, leather leggings, clothing and cloak are all reduced in
quality.
Genaro is in shock that he was able to
kill somebody, Leopold manages to get up but is amazed that his leg
was not broken, he limps back to Genaro. In the confusion Lorenzo the
mule has run off. The rations, Lukas's great axe and long bow are
gone. The group picks themselves up and finishes the trip to the
Crooked Shoe. They hunker down in an alley nearby near a dead body.
Using Vincent's now ruined Araby
clothing, Lukas tries to bandage himself and Vincent. He fails and
drinks his healing draught. After a short while of sitting in the
ally, Sally suddenly feels the barrel of gan in the back of his head.
Standing there is Eladio. Gone are the colorful clothes. He is
dressed all in black with leather armor, a rapier, and several powder
pouches. He brusquely asks why we want to enter the city. Sally tells
him we are looking for an antidote to the plague.
Eladio says that Captain Neirhaus has
killed himself, Rats who walk like men are on the loose and we must
leave now. He hands each of us a black bag. He moves swiftly but lets
us keep up, Leopold and Sally help Genaro. Outside town they scramble
up the slope towards the Taalbaston. At the base of a large oak he
instructs us to pull out our storm lanterns and light them. He then
appears to walk into the oak. As we approach we can see a hidden
spiral staircase going down. Eladio leads and Lukas takes the rear.
The staircase looks well crafted and well used. We descend into
tunnels, some natural and some man made, many branch off into
horrifying darkness. After traveling for about an hour Eladio pauses
in a natural cavern and instructs everyone to drink some water. Sally
tells Eladio how we witnessed Rat men poring a silver powder into the
river. He says that he fought the Skaven in his youth. They are not
beastmen but something far worse. He says there are cities of these
vermin under every city in the Empire. He relays that they were
blackmailing Neirhaus and that's why he killed himself. The Skaven
are not forgiving. Talabheim has fallen prey to it's own defenses.
Sally and Leopold hear a scrabbling
sound. Three cloaked rats with rusty weapons enter the cavern. They
attack.
So nearly killed in one battle and about to get into another at the end. We'll see what awaits our heroes next time.
