Thursday, August 31, 2017

WFRP 2nd Ed - Terror in Talabheim (Like Rats in a Trap)

Hi All,

Real life chores have drastically reduced my hobby output. This is the notes from a couple of sessions ago that I just didn't have the time to finish until now. Sorry, still no pictures.

Last time we evaded death in the Tallows, met Deadeye and found Genaro. We find the group in the cellar of a decrepit house, it is one of the Dwarf's hideouts/ forward operating base. After telling the group that “something big” is about to happen, Deadeye begins to strip down his fancy metal crossbow.

Sally tells Deadeye the group needs to report for duty with the town guard at 6AM. Vincent asks “What's going to happen? Nihilus said you had a task for us.” Deadeye says no, he had a debt to Nihilus. He then goes on to explain our predicament, “a city inside a crater, one entrance, plague inside. It's a besiegers dream come true. Skaven poison everyone and then attack!” Deadeye then explains that it is his mission to try and stop this.

We plan to return to our duties with the town guard and take Genaro with us. Deadeye gives us the name of a guard at the gate to the Merchant district, Schreiber, who will “pay his debts” and let us through. Deadeye also admonishes us to not lose Genaro again and, if we can, get out of the city and head for the center of the Crater. He says that he knows the Skaven poisoned the wife and daughter of Captain X and tried to blackmail him. Deadeye is certain the vermin will try to capture the Countess next.

Deadeye says that the Empire does not know what it is up against. Skaven tunnels go from the Empire to Araby. The invasion will come through the Ratholds, these are old Dwarven tunnels. Deadeye is part of a team of Dwarven rangers, but his team is scattered fighting the foe. He says we can stay the night, eat and drink, but must be gone by dawn. He will deactivate the traps for us.

Leopold suggests the group take Genaro to Daubler, the apothecary. He reasons that it is farther away from the Ratholds and Daubler is working on the cure for the Grey Ague and may be able to heal him. Deadeye knows Daubler, “he is a good man,” and warns “if you see a black clad Skaven, run!” At this point the conversation turns to Deadeye being a very unusual Dwarf. He says, “if I was a normal Dwarf I'd be a Slayer.” The group notices that there are very few Dwarven things about him, Most of his equipment appears to be man made.

Deadeye's parting advice is this, “Stay and help as long as you can. It will be bloody, desperate and brutal. The Ratmen use a mix of technology and strange arcane powers. They don't care about losses. You will lose the city, you cannot stand up to there numbers, technological advantage or arcane power.” He goes on to say, “you can stay and fight or escape, you need to reach another part of the crater outside the city. The Imperial Army will eventually come, but Talabheim is practically invincible from the inside. The Ratmen's plans may be bigger than just attacking the city, they seem to want the Emperor to know they are attacking.”

The group is troubled by the apparent lack of options facing them and not sure what to do. Deadeye relates that everyone is now on their own, he has lost contact with his superiors. “You guys are in one hell of a mess,” he says. “You can't get back out through the Ratholds, we're all trapped in the Crater. Life is a long list of disappointment.”

He instructs Lukas to open a peculiar looking crate. Vincent backs away. Inside are 6 fist sized silver spheres with something strange poking out from the top. They are covered in Dwarf Runes. He tells us to each take one of these “grenades” from Zhufbar. “When you see a big group of Skaven or a Rat Ogre, pull the pin and count to 3 then throw. There will be a big explosion.” In the crate next to Leopold are enough doctor's bags for each person. Sally looks wistfully at a round of cheese. Deadeye tells him that it tastes better aged under your hat.

With that Deadeye goes to sleep in a corner of the room, it is nearing midnight. The group briefly discuss the plan of action for tomorrow. Get to Daubler's, continue duties with the “Pups” and possibly try and gain access to the countess. We then look to the stock of gear in the room to see if we can replace some lost or missing items. Lukas takes some leather leg armor, and Leopold takes a shortned tunnel fighting crossbow and some bolts. Sally just practices with his sword breaker. They go to sleep and dream of flesh eating rats.

The group wakes up anxiously, with plenty of time to get to where they are going. No one has gotten enough sleep. Sally gives Genaro some more of Daubler's medicine and Vincent asks if he can take a sword. After eating Deadeye gives us each a hearty slap on the back and sends us on our way. “Try to find me if you live.”

We leave the safe house for the gate. It is still dark. There are many sick people in the streets, but we easily make it to the gate closest to the Ratholds. The guards on duty won't let us through and believe we are sick. We demand to see Schreiber, who quickly comes to the gate. He is young, stocky and has tired eyes. Sally mentions “a mutual friend wants to remind you of your debt.” Schreiber tells the other guards we're not sick, and to let us through. Sally pays the 10p from the warchest and we're in the Merchant District.

The streets are mostly empty, the few people who are out look suspiciously at one another. Many doors are marked with either a red X or the rose of Shallya. Even the Bulldogs patrolling the streets look despairing. While the rest of the group heads for Daubler's, Vincent rushes to God's Row to try and see the Seer at the Temple of Morr.

There is a light in the window at Daubler's shop, but no one in line to get in. We knock on the door and Daubler quickly answers and lets us inside. “ I haven't slept much since you gave me Widenhoft's notes” he says tiredly. “I still need a few days to find a cure.” Sally asks Daubler to take care of Genaro. He agrees. “Normally I would have to report you.” Genaro is put in a guest room. It is very clean. “I will take good care of him, but most of my effort will go to finding a cure.” Sally tries to leave 2 gold, but Daubler refuses. Sally insists, so Daubler acquiesces but gives us each two healing draughts.

Meanwhile, Vincent arrives at the Temple of Morr. Outside many are praying for Morr to not take their soul. There are no priests outside so Vincent enters the Temple. Many black robed priests are praying inside. He asks for Von Solleck again, and again gets the same reply. “He comes and goes as he pleases.” Vincent asks if there is a person with some authority he can speak to about his dire vision. The priest says Vincent should tell him, so Vincent relays his dream. “It looks like Morr has a special purpose for you. Interesting. We will pray and discuss.” The priest then tries to end the conversation with “We are busy with the dead from the plague.”

Vincent tells the priest that he knows the cause of the plague and that the Skaven are attacking the city. The priest stops him and says “Morr has a purpose. On our behalf, please continue to do Morr's work. May the god of death and dreams watch over you.” As he leaves Vincent asks, “can you spread the word to those most able to protect the city?” The priest nods and Vincent is overcome by a very sinister feeling as he leaves.

15 minutes before their shift is to start, Vincent arrives for duty. Corporal Kopinski shows up on time nd informs the group they are still on Morr's rounds. Lukas is now puling the cart. We have one more day of Morr's rounds and then begin our turn at sewer duty. We leave all our long weapons behind and carry only daggers into the dark and nasty tunnels. Our job is to check and see if any new, unexplained, excavations have been added to the system. Leopold draws point on the first day and is given a small wooden shield as well. It is dark, damp, claustrophobic and malodorous work that goes on for a total of 4 days. The group has been given a map of sorts, but it is not up to date. At the end of each day the group returns to the Three Apples Inn. Wanda is happy to see us and says that we can stay one week for free because we didn't run when we could have. Sally pays 20 shillings from the war chest for our food for the week. The portions are a little smaller, but the food is still the best we've had.

The group daily checks in with Daubler. He still looks very tired. Genaro is no better or worse and Daubler is “getting there” on the antidote. Vincent also has the opportunity to check in with the priets of Morr and finds out something disturbing. In the last few days they have not received the number of bodies they were expecting. They should have received many more given the scale of the disaster. “We should be receiving twice the number bodies.” They ask Vincent to find out what is going on. “Everyone who dies must get a proper burial.”

The group makes some inquiries about the missing bodies and there is an acknowledgment that there is a problem, but they don't know the source. There is also talk of a food shortage. Maybe the missing bodies are being eaten. The portions at the Three Apples have gotten noticeably smaller.

On the 3rd day of sewer duty, below the Merchant district, Sally is in front and hears running. It is a dark and bloody cloaked Ratman. The group kills it mercilessly. It appeared to be fleeing something, and though armed, did not put up a fight. Kopinski orders us to search the body. Vincent probes the corpse. It is similar to the ones we fought with Eladio. It is covered in filth and boils, appearing too diseased to even walk. It also appears to have been shot in the back. There are burns around the wound.

During our time in the sewers we have encountered and killed 5 ratmen. They were all rabid and appeared to be fleeing something. Kopinski always refers to them as Rat Beastmen and tells us to shut up with talk of Skaven/ Thagaraki. On our final day we find a low cavern at the end of a tunnel. There is a strong odor of gunpowder, blood and musk.

The cavern is filled with Skaven corpses. “By Taal, this is horrible!” gasps Corporal Kopinski. The bodies are cold and appear to have been shot down as they ran. Steel bolts are embedded in the bodies and the cavern walls. A visibly shaken Kopinski orders the group to search the bodies. Most are similar to the ones we have already encountered, but there is one that stands out. This one has strange runes on his clothing and appears to have been stabbed in the eye after death and had something dug out from the socket. There is nothing else of interest revealed in the search. The group tries to make sense of the scene. Vincent wonders if they are warring factions of Skaven. Sally wonders who else could possibly be down here with firearms, almost every body has been shot multiple times.

Kopinski, still looking pale, says we are done for the day and orders us back to the surface. As we are being dismissed, Sally invites Kopinski for a drink. He declines and says he must go and check on his wife. “Don't tell anyone about what you saw here today. That's an order!” The authorities have made another call for all Dwarves and Halflings in the city to help with the sewer patrols, but have had to make due with mostly humans. The sewer patrollers are called Terriers. Every group that has gone down has seen Skaven. They have appeared crazed or panicked in every case. The injury rate for Terriers is about 50%. Morr's rounds has become an easier duty, there are fewer corpses to deliver.

Back at the Three Apples, everyone seems worn down and there is a lot of drinking going on. There are rumors of Flagellants, and the plague, ravaging the countryside. Everywhere there is food rationing. The Knights of the Stag have put down an uprising and the Army of Talabheim has been stationed around the manor. A Dwarf Captain of the Terriers has been rumored to have gone insane, killing his men and then himself. The Priests of Morr say that bodies have been stolen. Rats no longer fear people.

This week of “volunteering” has made the group question their decision to enter Talabheim. The locals say the rich are anxious about riots and have been fortifying their manors. In chatting with the other patrons Leopold learns that a number of young litigants and judges have looked at the laws and found that volunteers must each be paid 1 shilling per day. Lukas learns that fires set by Flagellants have destroyed two neighborhoods in Talagaad. Sally learns all the wealthy have to protect their own wealth. They have paid 10,000 gold to hire troops. He also learns that the army around the Great Manor is there to protect the Countess from assassination.

The one bright spot to our day is a message from Daubler. We rush to his shop to meet him. He greets us with cups of moonshine. “I've done it! It's not just a disease, but a poison!” He hands the group a syrup that smells of mint and tells everyone to drink it. Everyone does, but Lukas waits to see if we die first before drinking his. Daubler relates that he has given the antidote to the Shallyan's to mass produce. Genaro is healed, but the grey patches on his chest and neck are permanent. The group joyfully heads back to the Three Apples.

Back at the Inn we eat and drink for 1 penny each. As we dine the group comes to the consensus that Kopinski may be up to something. His behavior has been strange. We go up to our rooms, Sally and Genaro in one; Lukas, Vincent and Leopold in the other. In the middle of the night Lukas and Leopold awake to the sound of rustling coming from the street. Looking out the window they are shocked to see the street and rooftops flooded with hundreds of Skaven. Leo shouts alarm and quickly grabs his crossbow. Lukas grabs his hatchet and dagger. Sally wakes up and grabs his sword and sword breaker. Vincent grabs his sword and shield. There is no time to put on armor. A ratman suddenly crashes through the window, Lukas and Vincent push him out. Vincent the grabs his pack and runs for the door, Leopold follows. Lukas, surprised that his room mates do not stand and fight, grabs his boots and backs out of the room.

The group escapes the Three Apples as it is overrun by a swarm of Skaven. As foretold by Deadeye, they appear to have come from the Ratholds. We are quickly swept along with the crowd in the street. Thousands of panicked people surge towards the Law district. The Skaven are faster and mixed with the cries of fear are the sounds of people being cut down and ripped apart. We aren't fast enough, and Genaro is even slower with his bad foot. Some of the Skaven get ahead of the crowd and start attacking the flanks. We see Wanda and her staff trying to defend themselves by throwing rotten food. A few archers try to shoot the Skaven, but there are too many. Bulldogs try to say they are just rats. It is obvious they are not.

Sally is hit by a Ratman, Lukas is narrowly missed. Vincent blocks a blow with his shield and Leopold ducks under a blow that kills a woman next to him. Genaro bludgeons a ratman to death as he stumbles forward. The Skaven now come down from the roofs. The crowds have made the street impassable. Vincent stumbles and falls to the ground. He is trampled and separated from the group as they are pressed forward by the crowd.

Vincent tries to stand up as a wall of Skaven are approaching. Genaro is slowing us down. We can see barricades down the street and hear the sound of gunfire coming from that direction. Things look dire indeed.


Session XP: Sally 105, Lukas 100, Vincent 105, Leopold 125

Well, there you have it. Things don't look good for the group. At least for Leopold he doesn't have to worry about encumbrance any more. All his gear was left at the Inn. He's in his night shirt and has a crossbow. :p

Thanks for looking.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Paint Table Saturday 199 - Imperial Guard and Bones figures

Hi All,

Well this week didn't see me complete anything. Time waits for no man. But I got fairly far with the first squad for my Imperial Guard unit.


I see a few missed spots here and there. Mostly shades of grey and black on these. If I was a smart person I would have primed them in the base uniform grey color. But I'm not that smart. There were also some spray primer issues that had to be resolved. I had intended them for BeerMaW week 8 but couldn't get them finished. I can't seem to get a lot done these days, I think the heat spiking back up may have something to do with it.


Not so much found as relocated. As I've mentioned, I've been cleaning up so I don't appear to be a crazy person to my in laws. I had put this in a box and then piled other stuff on top of it. I then realized that I could do some terrain pieces for quick BeerMaW entries. September is going to be super busy for me and I may fall way behind. This resin piece is from Dragon Forge in their terrain section.



I also got a couple Oxidation Beasts and a bunch of Ankhegs to throw into a fantasy or Sci-Fi scenario. I'm thinking as random encounters for the Ambull scenario. Sorry about the blurry pics. They were rushed one evening and I didn't realize they were that bad.

I placed my order with Mini Monsters and used the coupon code from Mario to essentially get free shipping. I'll share pictures of the products when I get them. I'm excited about these as they have some neat stuff for reasonable prices and shipping.

Happy painting.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Found Treasures and what's on the table

Hi All,

I am in the process of trying to clean up all my junk. In the bottom of a box, in a plastic sandwich bag, I found these.


I believe these were part of a trade I did with Jeff K. at Brian's birthday bash last year. I gave him a couple of unopened blisters of Orc archers, if memory serves. Of course it could be some other transaction I've completely forgotten, who knows. The important thing is I found some cool figures.

From top left Clockwise: Chaos Renegade "One-Eye" 070302/13 in the 1991 Blue Catalog here, Plague Monk with Warp Scroll and Dagger 074406/10 from the 1991 Red Catalog here, An unlisted Marauder Orc Shaman from the MM20 range here (scroll to the bottom, first picture in unlisted.),  Servitor 2 072000/2 from here and here (I had a hard time finding him), and lastly First Space Marine Scout from the Uncataoged Rogue Trader section here.

Cool stuff. Oh, and if you have a Chaos Renegade backpack you're willing to let go, let me know.

Anyway I haven't gotten a lot done but here's what's on the table.


I'm concentrating on the IG right now in an attempt to get them done for week 8 of BeerMaW.


The basic idea is black and grey for Borborygmus Prime. I went with Walnut for the straps and pouches/scabbards. I just didn't want too much straight black, it's boring. For the guns I'm thinking dark metallics.

I pulled out Abdul Goldberg to remind myself how I painted the chainsword and found a couple of chips in the paint on his hair. I can't catch a break with this guy. My Genestealer leader also had a chip on the tip of his pistol thing. Perhaps my home made foam case isn't so great. I'm going to look into bubble wrap pouches. One kickstarter sent figures in those and that might help.

Thanks for looking, hope your hobbying is going well.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Paint Table Saturday 198 - Spunk hauler and a pair of Ambulls

Hi All,

Busy week here. The weather has been hot and fairly humid for us, had an iron on label inside my hat melt and stick to my head a little. Not very pleasant. I also got challenged to a fist fight on Facebook, and lost it on the guy, so I'm only peaking in periodically over there to post pictures once in awhile. Quick in and out. You can still message me or email me if you really need to get a hold of me.

On to the minis.


So this was the next Colony 87 figure that I had on the table. It had been started and abandoned, like the other two recent figures, some time ago. I finished him on Thursday before heading off to San Soo class. Sort of a futuristic Milk maid if you will, I'm calling him the Ambull Semen hauler. I just realized I forgot to name him, so a quick trip to the Ordo Malleus Name Generator and we have Felipe Aloy. One of the names generated was Dick Kok, but that was too low brow even for me. ;)


The Ambulls, from Knightmare Games, were a late addition to the queue. I started assembling them on the 15th and finished them late last night. Very simple paint scheme. Slather everything black. Dry brush 4 increasingly lighter shades of grey. Use Glaze medium to add three brown/tan shades to bits. Use two more colors each for spot coloring eyes and tubes.

The right side seemed to be picking up a lot of glare from the lights, the varnish may not have been completely dry. My matte varnish also may be not mixed very well and be a tad shiny. This was my second time using glaze medium and I still don't really like it. It seems very gloppy in application.

Not totally sure what to paint next. I have a lot of basic household cleaning and maintenance to attend to this weekend. I still have those plastic dwarves handy, but I also have some Genstealers handy, Blood Bowl Orcs, Newhammer Zombies, Imperial Guard etc sitting primed. Finishing half started figures has felt pretty rewarding, but working with the Ambull scenario mojo has kicked it up a notch.

We shall see.

Thanks for looking.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

More Ambulls

Hi All,

In between getting called out to a fist fight on facebook and standing out in the mid day sun for two hours a day, I've done a tad more work on the Ambull idea.

I finished the base coats and put a few highlight layers on the Spunk carrier.


And I tried to clean up and put together the two Knightmare Games Ambulls I have from their Space Raiders line.


In the interest of time I did not pin the arms. Usually I live to regret not pinning but I'm open to repeating my mistakes.

People have been commenting with lots of good ideas, keep em coming. Airbornegrove sent me a link of a very nicely painted Ambull on the Oldhammer Spain blog here.

It appears that the general idea is some kind of overall earthy color on the plates with a bright, contrasting color on the soft fleshy areas.

While doing a Google Image search I stumbled upon this post from The Bearded Quail. In it he talks about the history of 40k and how they double purposed fantasy figures they had lying around to be the menagerie of Space. He also diplays an enormous 3D printed Ambull that somebody in the States makes, but what really caught my attention was this page from WD99.


I'll be reading it through and see if there's anything I can use for my scenario.

Also I'd like to welcome Phil Curran to the blog. I didn't see a blog listed in your profile. If you have a hobby blog I would be happy to link to it.

Thanks for looking everyone.

Monday, August 14, 2017

Ambull Farm

Hi All,

So after my epiphany about Ambull husbandry I decided to look in the Rogue Trader rule book. Guess what? "Ambulls originate from the dangerously hot polar rock-deserts of Luther McIntyre IX. They can survive extremely hot temperatures for long periods, a factor which has led to attempts at domestication on several desert planets. As a consequence, Ambulls can be found on many planets throughout human space." (p. 207)

So my idea of a Ambull stud farmer is not so crazy after all. The seed of my scenario idea is more safari than farm, although I suppose that could be a twist. Raid on the Ambull farm.

Any way there is one upfront issue for an Ambull scenario. The figures are rare and expensive. A perusal of eBay shows them available from about $25 - $30 with most being in the UK.

You can get new ones, sculpted by Diego, from Knightmare Games here for about $15. Much more reasonable but I want a lot of Ambulls potentially on the table so that gets expensive quickly. I have 2 of these already, but like genestealers, I think you need swarms of them for this idea.


So I went with plastic Umber Hulks from the Dungeons & Dragons Nolzur's Marvelous Unpainted Miniatures on Miniature Market here. They are on preorder, due out in November, but are currently priced at about $4.50 each. Now we're talking. I ordered ten.


Further down in the paragraph there is mention of the Ambull's favorite food, the Crawler. The picture shows a squid like monster with a shell that looks like a subterranean drill. I have never seen a figure for this but Reaper makes a Bones version of the Ankheg for $3.49 each here. I am enamored with these as another food source for Ambulls.


So the jist of the scenario would be collecting this valuable product, and/or stealing it from other collectors. Bands go around hunting and subduing Ambulls but it's hazardous work. You can't tell without checking their cloaca if they are male or female. You also can't kill them. You want the females to keep the stock growing and collecting from dead males drops the value to next to worthless as they dump musk into their systems upon death which ruins the product. So once subdued, odds Male, evens Female.

Anyway it seems like it would be a good scenario for using blinds and perhaps hidden movement. The main thing is making sure that everyone at least has the potential for equal access to Ambulls.

Just the bare bones right now. I have to figure out what weapons could be used to subdue rather than kill. A neural disruptor jumps to mind. We shall see. Thanks for looking.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Paint Table Saturday 197 - Matthias Mulders, Merchant.

Hi All,

Another figure finished. Instead of going to the gym last night I finished this guy.


Using the Ordo Malleus Hiver name generator, I named him Matthias Mulders. I was trying to figure out a particularly Rogue Tradery, Necromunda-y thing for him to trade but was unable to come up with anything. Maybe Ambull semen dealer?


I decided to give a back shot because he has some stuff going on with his backpack. You can see the mold line I didn't deal with properly on his hat. It's also on his arms. Once I get it in my head to plow forward I don't go back and fix things.

I think I started him with craft paints, but mainly ended up going over everything with reaper. I think the hat band is the only surface craft paint application. He also got the 4:2:1 ratio grunge wash all over.

No paint note book stuff today, I scooped up all the paints to photograph him and submit him on time for BeerMaw week 6.


So here's a bunch of stuff that is on or around the desk. Those two 80% done gretchin for Dave B., Makari witha chip on his base and his banner to finish. The Colony 87 water/petrol carrier. 10 plastic Dwarves that I unearthed recently. Reaper anniversary Grim Reaper. Space Raiders 2 BFO (Big Fucking Ork). My sons three Plastic Chaos Terminators, he has five but we haven't built the last two. Finally the milkmaid set for Curt. You can sort of see here I ruined the butter churn with a heavy black "wash."

I also had some dill hole call my post about spam, spam. A quick piece of advice. If you find yourself confronted with something on the internet on a group you are not a member of, keep your comments to yourself. Nobody asked you for your opinion. Shut up.

Thanks for looking and happy painting/gaming.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Let's remove Spam Comments

Hi All,

I made another quick video to help you remove annoying spam comments from your blog. Unlike the G+ ones, you can't report the profile and get them blocked. Somebody pointed out that this could be open for abuse and get legitimate profiles blocked.

Anyhow, here's how to do it through your blogger dashboard and clear it off your blog relatively painlessly.


I recorded this one using my gaming headset. It appears I need a pop filter and perhaps need to have my sinuses checked, as I snort a lot. Sorry about that.

Hope it's useful to you.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

WFRP 2nd Ed - Terror in Talabheim (You're in the Army now)

Hi All,

It's going to be another art free post. Perhaps I need to figure out a way to add to the story in some way with my own art. Problem is I can't really draw very well.

Anyway, here's the next installment in the story.

It is the groups 2nd day in Talabheim. They have met Daubler and delivered all of the materials needed to make an antidote for the “Grey Ague.”

Still in the temple quarter, Vincent and Leopold go into the temple of Morr. Vincent picks a black rose from outside and puts it in his clothes, Lukas and Sally stay outside. Vincent approaches one of the preists after he finishes his prayers and tells him about his dream and that he would like to meet the seer Paul Von Solleck. Solleck “sees Morr's wisdom in all things in the World.” The Seer is not available at the moment and the priest says that Vincent can help with the bodies while he waits, if he so wishes. After some short prayers the two go back outside.

On Reliquary Row, Leopold tries to buy a holy symbol of Morr. The merchant tries to sell him saint's bones at first but then offers “Thrice blessed” silver holy symbol from Luccini in Estalia for 12 silver. Leopold is suspicious but can't talk him down to 6 silver. Sally, being from Luccini in Tilea, takes exception to the merchant and argues with him. The merchant insults Sally who “accidentally” knocks over his trinkets. The group heads back to the Three-Apples.

On the trek back the group overhears various talk. The Countess has lowered the drink tax, no more extra penny per pint. There is a lot of talk about the Plague and how the Countess is going to combat it. The disease is in full effect inside the city. Sally pays 8 silver from the warchest for the group to pass through the gate.

The Three-Apples is bustling and the group can smell Wanda's delicious food from the street. They go upstairs to check on Genaro, who is still in bed shivering. Sally recalls the regimen for Genaro that was prescribed by Herr Daubler. Genaro coughs after inhaling the canister and passes out. He seems to be doing better. In lieu of a bath, Sally orders 5 wash buckets for 6 pennies. The young halfling servant and some others quickly bring them up. Leopold tells them to leave them in his room, so they won't see the state of Genaro. Sally cleans Genaro while Lukas, Vincent and Leopold go to their room to get cleaned up. Leopold is unsure about washing if it isn't his birthday.

After about 15 minutes Sally, Lukas, Vincent and Leopold head downstairs to eat. Before going downstairs Sally tells Genaro the cure will be ready in a couple of days. The dining hall is packed and Wanda and her servants are rushing around serving the delicious food and drink. A young Halfling girl with long braids and rosy cheeks comes to take the groups order. Today's specials are Hammer bone Steak, pork dumplings and blood sausage with cabbage. Leopold orders the sausage, the rest order the dumplings and 4 ales. Sally pays 20 pennies from the war chest. Vincent plans to go to an Armorer and the Temple of Morr, Sally and Leo agree to tag along to help haggle, Lukas decides to try and rest up.

Many shops are closed in the Old Market, but find Von Kompft's Shoppe. Inside are many strange weapons and armor. Many skulls also line the walls. Behind the counter is a huge man with fiery red hair. Half his face is tattooed and he wears a dark apron. Vincent discusses repairing versus replacing his damaged leather armor. Sven Von Kompft says he will give Vincent a good price because he sees that he is a fellow adventurer. Sven reveals in conversation that his father was Norscan and his mother was a Nordlander. He had to retire from from adventuring after taking an arrow to the knee. Leopold also considers buying a few pieces of chain mail to prepare for Vampire hunting. There is then much back and forth about the price. Sven offers to discount Leo's purchase by 5 gold if he will collect that sum from a certain Judge Steppenstolen who owes that amount on a Rapier. After a short discussion about shaking down a judge versus just robbing him, the group decides that the time it would take to accomplish this is not worth saving the 5 gold crowns. Time is money. We eventually end up talking him down to a 15%  discount. Sally gets a sword breaker, Vincent buys leather armor and Leopold buys a sleeved mail shirt and mail leggings.

Once outside the shop the three see it is starting to get dark so they head back to the inn. Everyone sleeps deeply until they are awoken by shouting the next morning. “All men ordered outside” is being shouted loudly from downstairs. The group gathers up all their gear, Vincent is the first downstairs. Leopold tries to convince Sally that he is not a “man” and should stay put with Genaro, but in the confusion they all come downstairs.

Three guardsmen usher them outside “by order of the Countess!”  Fifty men are being guarded outside by 12 “bulldogs.” Genaro is separated from the group. The others protest but are informed that everyone infected with the plague are being dumped in the Tallows. The rest of us have been conscripted into the guard as “Pups.” We will be paid 1 penny per day to either collect the dead or patrol the sewers. Vincent asks to be stationed in the temple district and is nearly clouted by the Sergeant. All along the street able bodied men are being pulled from their houses. There are many protestations and people who fake being sick. They are beaten and forced into units. We are put together in a unit under Corporal Dieter Kopinski. He looks very young with blonde curly hair and puffy cheeks, but he has an air of competency about him.

“Alright men, you are now known as pups! I'm here to make sure you stay alive! Our duty for today? Morr's round!” He informs us that we will spend the next two days hauling bodies from their homes. After our duties we are free to go, but must report for duty by 6AM at Ibbenstrasse 12 by the Nordgate. Genaro is already long gone. We go house to house, Leopold is tasked with pulling the cart. Some have only a few dead, others entire families have succumbed. At the end of the day we bring the cart to the Temple of Morr, Vincent is not allowed to go inside.

The day ends at 7PM back in front of the guard tower at Nordgate. Corporal Kopinski says we will have one more day of Morr's round and then probably be put on sewer duty. After a brief discussion the group decides to do whatever it takes to find Genaro in the Tallows. They reason if he is not found tonight he will never be found. The guards at the gate to the Tallows give the group a hard time, but eventually let them through. It is pitch black, so Leopold lights his lantern. Lukas uses his keen sense of direction to lead them through the maze of alleyways. Leopold sees some thief signs that say to head to the Dagger Platz, East of Holler's Corner. The Platz is a surprisingly open space for the Tallows, but it is filled with all kinds of debris, heaps of trash and more sinister piles of unrecognizable filth.

“Well, well!” exclaims a man as he steps out of the darkness. Simultaneously the group is surrounded by about 20 men. They carry various clubs, daggers and meat hooks. Sally takes the lead in parlaying with the bandit leader. Leopold tries to ingratiate himself to the leader by mentioning Ranald the Protector. These men are godless. They say they have found Genaro and believe him to be a Noble because of his expensive prosthetic foot. Sally tries to negotiate his release for 24 crowns, or an additional 24 crowns to babysit Genaro for us for a few days. The leader scoffs and says 200 gold crowns “or we kill him!” Leopold is visibly trembling with rage, he wants to smash the bandit in the face with his mace. After a little more fruitless negotiating the bandit says “I'm tired of you now.” His men advance to attack. As the group prepare for the grim battle, out of nowhere, a hail of crossbow bolts savagely cut down the assassins. Within seconds the the fiends are whittled down. 15, 10, 5 and then only the leader. He tries to run and is hit with such force that he flips over, dead.

Vincent exclaims “We may have found Deadeye!” A figure emerges from the shadows and says “Aye manling!” He is stocky and wearing a cloak with branches sticking out of it. His armor is of a strange construction, elastic metal and studded leather. He wears a helmet with a sculpted face plate that looks like a bearded face and one eye is covered with a strange lens. He is bristling with bandoliers and weapons, and is holding a strange metal double crossbow with a spy glass mounted on top. He holds it nonchalantly, but one gets the impression he would be ready to use it at the drop of a hat.

“I am Deadeye manling. You found me!” he says and then goes on to relate how he has found Genaro. Apparently Genaro was worried about us looking for him and sent Deadeye to find us. Sally tells him we were sent by Nihilus, but Deadeye requires proof. So Sally produces the message from Nihilus and tosses it to Deadeye. As the dwarf starts to leave, Vincent goes over to the fallen assassin leader and takes his short sword. Deadeye quickly disappears into the maze of alleyways and the group has to hustle to keep up. They follow him, twisting and turning, for about a half an hour. Lukas notices that he has lead us in circles. He finally leads the group to a building and disarms a trap in the front door. Once inside he uncovers a trap door in the floor and orders us inside. 

Small torches are set in the earthen walls of the tunnel. After about 20 meters it ends in a sturdy door. Deadeye fiddles with the latch and appears to disable another trap. He opens the door and motions the group through. The inside is about the size of two inn rooms. The ceiling is low but a man can still stand without trouble. The room is filled with many crates and barrels. Towards the back is a bed which, to the groups great relief, holds an improved Genaro. Just to the side of the door is a weapon rack, it appears to have enough arms and armor for 4 to 5 people. Deadeye does something with the door and says “it's armed.” He then starts taking off his gear and putting it on the rack.

The Dwarf has light blonde hair and blue eyes. There are strange blue tattoos under his eyes. His eyes seem dead. The group thanks him for his hospitality, for saving Genaro and taking them in, but he says “It is not hospitality, just a debt.” He offers them food but has no alcohol for drinking. Sally and Leopold try not to look too disappointed. Vincent asks, “Do you hear scratching in the walls?” to which  Deadeye replies, “ I am here to fight Skaven. The city has days.” Vincent looks wistfully at the short sword he took from the assassins corpse. There is a tally of the killed scratched into the blade, the number of scratches is sobering.

Experience:

Sally 130, Lukas 115, Vincent 115, Leopold 115

Another session in the books. We will be playing again the second week of August, so stay tuned.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Paint Table Saturday 196 - Chochtoxtoc, Slann Merchant

Hi All,

This week has been odd. Fatigue mixed with 7 nosebleeds in 4 days sort of set the tone. I wasn't sure if I was going to have to get my nose cauterized, but I made it through last night without choking on blood. No idea where this latest round came from. As a kid I got a lot of spontaneous nosebleeds but haven't had one since high school. The last nose bleed I even had at all prior to this was when I landed on my face after being thrown in San Soo class, and that was several years ago.

On to the figure.



So here is Chochtoxtoc, Slann Merchant. You may recall his fishmen bodyguards from last time. Once again the main impetus to completing him was waffling on color choices. I was going for a poison tree frog scheme that was a little different from the green tree frogs that dominate the internet.


Here we have the state he was in a couple of weeks ago when I planned, and failed to finish him and others for Week 4 of the Beer Miniature a Week challenge. I seem to be consistently off schedule by a day, but I'm calling him my week 5 entry. I'll try to have next weeks done by Friday.

I also wanted to welcome Jason Berman to the blog. I'm sorry I didn't notice when you started following. If you have a hobby blog you would like me to link to, just let me know.

And lastly, before I forget, I used the Lizardman Name generator from Fantasy Name generators here. I also found a web archive link to one from the GW store here, but I didn't like it as much.

Happy painting.