The next few installments in our WFRP campaign. We last left off
if you need a refresher. I was going to give you the last three reports, wrapping up the campaign, but the last two are in bullet format and I'm going to have to listen to the playback of the sessions to flesh them out for you.
Lukas has headed to Dankerood to speak with the General. He will convey all we have learned about the Ratmen's plans and encourage him to attack the planned raiding parties. He will also encourage the General to keep Genaro safe, if possible, as he may have some invaluable intelligence on the production of the war machines.
Lukas has left Talabheim without much fuss after the sword and sanitarium raids. On his way to Dankerood he witnesses the sacking of a small village by the Ratmen. 15 older people are fed to the Rat Ogres. The younger people are put in chains and led back to the city. The Skaven also take all the food and livestock with them. All Lukas can do is hide and watch. He is far from the city and by himself.
As he approaches Dankerood some camouflaged Imperial scouts emerge out of the undergrowth. “Halt! Who goes there?” one demands. Lukas introduces himself as one of the resistance fighters with important information for the General. He is told “the General awaits with interest.”
The 5 scouts all seem very nervous. Dankerood is as Lukas remembers it, fortified with small cannons and soldiers. But the soldiers are tired, dirty and tattered. Eventually they make their way to an old nobles retreat in the town. It is the grandest manor in Dankerood and houses the General's HQ. Lukas is left in the care of the General's guards and is brought into his rooms.
General Jorg Hafner sits at a table eating. He looks slightly disheveled, like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. As Lukas enters, the General nods to a chair. “Please sit,” he says. He turns to a servant and asks him to bring food for Lukas. “Alright Private, please give your report.” Lukas is brought a bowl of yeast and bacon.
Lukas tells the General about the building of the war machines to launch poison spheres at the army outside the crater. He talks up Genaro's value as a source of information about what is being built. Lukas shares that an attack on the raiding parties might break the skaven morale. He also recounts the in fighting among the skaven that the group has witnessed and the information gained from Godford. The General stops him there. “Finish your meal, then sit with the scribe. You will stay the night.”
General Hafner is concerned about the raid that Lukas witnessed. He has listened to what Lukas had to say about Genaro and will redirect Sgt Van Zandt and his outriders to intercept the wood gathering party. Sgt Utter and his scouts will ambush the slaver party. If the deem things unsafe, however, they will not risk themselves for Genaro.
The General then asks what the group has done inside Talabheim. He wants results! Enemy commanders dead! War machines destroyed, and the gates opened! “You should contact the Temple of Myrmidia and the Dwarves in the Stone House.” He then suggests communicating a coordinated attack with signal flares.
The Dragon roars, rears back on its hind legs and comes down on the group in an avalanche of rotted muscle and bone. Sally hides behind a pillar to the left and Leopold a pillar to the right. Vincent advances on the dragon and it's claws miss him by a cat's whisker. Sally is swatted across the room, splintering a door as he crashes into it. The smell of brandy pervades his nostrils as, to his horror, he realizes the bottle in his backpack has been broken. Leopold tries to roll right again as a large cloud of pestilential air is breathed out by the dragon. It hits the pillar he was behind and appears to corrode it and the floor. It's as if they have aged 100's of years in a matter of seconds. Gugula Skell laughs maniacally atop the great wyrm.
Sally sees feet shuffling as he lies there in a heap. The room he has been knocked into is full of zombies. Sally does a back roll out of the doorway. Yavandir and Yorn are trying to get to another door on the other side of the room. Silka tries to flank the dragon behind a pillar. Leopold puts his sword back in his belt and takes aim at the necromancer with his pistol. Vincent also takes aim at her. She somehow senses his action and points her hand at him. The dragon's roar drowns out whatever it is she is saying. Vincent's shot misses and he is barely missed by a ray of black energy emanating from her outstretched hand. It dissolves the beam next to him. The double doors at the end of the room suddenly come crashing down and the zombies pour in over the hastily constructed barricade.
The dragon to his front, hundreds of zombies behind, Sally rushes into the great room and dashes for another pillar to hide behind. The dragon starts to puff up to make another breath as Leopold prays to Sigmar and fires off his pistol. The bullets aim is true, but the ball ricochets off some unseen force. Leopold is miraculously able to dodge the corrosive cloud. It is apparent that the dragon is now after him and the necromancer glares in his direction as she prepares another spell.
Vincent prays to Morr and raises his sword with both hands to attack the necromancer and dragon. He is being surrounded by zombies as he does so. Sally feels inspired by Vincent's courageous act, but fears it may be his last. Sally grabs Silka and tries to head for Yavandir and Yorn. Leopold, lying on the floor, scrambles to get up and get behind the next pillar. He almost makes it but is clipped by one of the dragon's fangs as it tries to bite him in half. He suffers a nasty gash down the length of his left arm, it is now useless and he loses grip of his hammer. The impact of the blow sends him sprawling across the floor to where Yavandir and Yorn are standing.
It is now time for Vincent to fulfill his prophecy. He tries to take advantage of the dragon's preoccupation with Leopold to launch his attack. He wants to directly attack the necromancer but realizes he cannot reach her. He tries to run up the dragons back to get her but misses and is swatted by the dragon's tail. Vincent slides across the room in the opposite direction as Leopold and ends up near Sally and Silka. Sally tries to push forward toward Yorn and Yavandir, Silka says they must stay where they are. Vincent, still stunned from the blow, lies on the ground in a heap.
Leopold sees that the chamber is now also flooded with zombies. He stumbles toward the door where Yavandir and Yorn were standing. They are running down the corridor inside. With his arm dangliing useless at his side, Leopold hurries off after them. On the other side of the great hall Vincent slowly gets up. The dragon and necromancer are mad, but are targeting Sally and Silka behind him. He moves behind the pillars, trying to follow them. Sally can feel the dragon and necromancer behind him as he runs. The dragons breath sweeps behind them, destroying pillars, and giving them the incentive to run faster. The three make it to the door on the left side, Sally smashes trough it and they continue to run down the corridor behind it.
Blinded by pain, Leopold continues to run down the corridor until he comes to an open door at the far end. He almost bumps into Yavandir and Yorn.
Vincent sees Sally and Silka go through the doorway and is few feet behind. He waits for a gap between dragon breaths and runs full tilt for the door. He is able to slide through the door as pestilential breath and dark sorcery destroy walls and furniture.
Leopold catches his breath. The bleeding in his arm has stopped but he still feels it. Yorn seems surprised to see him still alive. “We need to move, now.” he says. Behind them they can see the corridor filling with zombies. “Let's go!” Yorn says as he and Yavandir begin to run. Leopold doesn't think about it and follows.
Sally, Silka and Vincent are in a small round chamber that is marked by dragon's breath and magic. Silka wonders aloud, “How did she get that thing?” Sally is impatient to keep moving, the zombies are still coming. As they run, Vincent and Silka strategize about how to get Skell off of the dragon. As they argue about whether or not to try and escape by jumping out a window, they feel a huge tremor, like a huge object crashing through a wall. Windows shatter and furniture topples. It is quickly followed by another quake.
Meanwhile, back with Leopold, Yavandir has suddenly grown balls and wants to kill the dragon. Leopold firmly says no. Yavandir then tries to shame Leopold with a potted theology lesson about Sigmar. Leopold is not having it. “I don't have a magic dwarven hammer!”
Sally looks for something to make a rope to help them descend from a window. Vincent and Silka discuss what to do. They agree they can only leave after they have killed the necromancer. They know that the palace is damaged on the North West side. They form a plan to try and get there, but at first are not sure where they are in the palace. They are somewhere in the middle. Meanwhile Leopold is also looking for a way out.
Sally, Silka and Vincent finally get their bearings and head for the North West corner of the palace. Silka says some of the Skaven weapons may have weakened that side of the palace. She had heard that entire rooms have collapsed. Vincent and Silka talk about trying to catch the dragon there. Sally just runs.
Leopold has lost his sense of direction (botched a navigation roll). As they amble around zombies begin to swarm them. Yavandir yells “To arms, the enemy is upon us!” Leopold is attacked by a trio of the undead, Yavandir and Yorn five each. The necromancer is trying to zero in on us. The ambush feels unnatural. In his weakened state, Leopold decides to run for it. A zombie with silverware for fingers misses him as he runs past.
As they near the North West corner, Sally reminds Vincent “If I stay with you, remember this.” They eventually reach a part of the palace that appears battle scarred. The farther they go into this section they see that many men and rats have died. The rooms are very damaged. Scorched and blown up. They finally make it to what looks to be the Countess's audience chamber. There is a wrecked throne at the end and there are many pictures of her ancestors strewn about. The columns all look damaged, and there is still a strong smell of spilled blood in the room. It was obviously the last stand of the Countess's troops.
A chilled wind howls through the smashed high windows of the chamber. Sally looks around, considering making ropes out of the drapes. The crashing noise seems to be getting closer. Sally's sixth sense is working overtime. Out of the corner of his eye, Sally sees something under the rubble. A bronze cylinder with a torn leather hose. There is a strong chemical smell emanating from it. Silka wonders how the device works. Sally recalls that it is the same weapon used by the Skaven firing squad. He shudders slightly. It doesn't seem to have any solid ammunition. Vincent wants to try to and shoot it or set it on fire to blow up the dragon.
Silka and Vincent quickly rig up and light some torches and then make a trail of fuel leading to the tank. The liquid is semi transparent and has a strong smell. They drag the tank in front of the door. The crashing sound is getting closer. Silka and Sally take cover near the end of the chemical trail with pistols and torches at the ready. Vincent stands in the open to act as bait. He yells, “Over here beast!” The door explodes, showering Vincent with bits of wood and stone. In the cloud of dust Sally and Silka can see the crazy, heroic, Vincent standing with a sword in one hand and a burning torch in the other.
Gugula Skell begins to monologue. “I will send you to meet Morr. I will live forever. I'm tired of this game. I'm going to kill you now. Any last words?” With that Sally lights the liquid. The flame whooshes past Vincent towards the canister. Vincent dashes to the left as the dragon swipes a foul claw past him. As the flames reach the canister the necromancer's mouth is twisted in the black tongue of another dark incantation.
See you next time...
