heretics shall burn! (IC)

[littlebottom]

you trudge into the city of middenheim, the rain is terrential, there is mud in the streets, making for an unpleasent squelching noise as you walk through it, and rather undesireably leaving mud on your boots.

even with the terrential rain, your presence is felt, as people slow down in the rain to look at you, then quickly hurry on faster than before.

a thunderbolt cracks dramatically behind you in the distance. the wind is lashing at your cloak, as you look around the streets calmly you spot a couple of men hurridly leaving a tavern and the lights flicker off.

there is an only just audible;
clang.... clang.... clang... clang.... clang... clang... clang.... clang.... clang.... clang.... clang.... claaaaaaannnnngggg........ the final bell rings in your ear.

the taverns seem to have closed early but the door on the nearest tavern is not yet shut. the barkeeps proberbly locking up for the night any minute now though.

[Xsesiv]

Markus clanks over to the tavern door as fast as his suit of armour will let him, the noose hanging from his belt ominously. He taps the barkeeper on the shoulder with a gauntleted finger. Quietly, he says: "Excuse me sir, but I would like to spend the night at this inn, if you would let me."

[littlebottom]

Without turning the barkeep simply says, "were closed, your too late, and yes, i know its raining, but thats tough, because were already full"

[Xsesiv]

"Sir, I do not think it is a good idea to turn me away, lest you be accused of hindering my holy quest in Sigmar's name." Markus draws himself up to his full height and pulls the barman around to look at him. "Now, you may be closed, but will you grant a poor weary traveller a night's respite?" he smirks.

[littlebottom]

the barkeep is exreamly angry as you forcedly turn him around, but the anger dissapears in a heartbeat only to be replaced with resounding fear. "y-ye-ye-yes sir, weve a single room left, end of the corridor...i-its a silver piece for the night with brekfast and all you can drink in the mornin'...s-sir."

[Xsesiv]

"That's better, sir. No need to be so afraid." Markus winks at the man and walks inside, wiping the drips of water off the steel plates of his suit. He looks in at the bar to see that it is shut, snorts and walks to the end of the corridor, stripping off his armour he checks his massive collection of weapons is not damaged, dries it all off systematically so that it doesn't rust and goes to bed.

[littlebottom]

a crack of thunder illuminates the corridor as you travel towards your room, the barman jumps and hurridly goes behind the bar through the back door and out of sight.

you awake next morning in the dull light of early morning, the clouds are still thick, but some light penetrates through to the city.

as you look around the room in better detail, you notice a photo of the barman and a young girl sitting on his shoulders on the bedside table.

[Xsesiv]

Markus gets up and puts on all his armour again, attaching his many weapons to their places, goes out of the door and looks into the bar and sits down. "Are you serving any food?" he asks whoever is behind the bar at the time.

[littlebottom]

the same barkeep is behind the bar "err, yeah... GEORGINA, ANOTHA BREKKIE PLEASE." he calls behind him into the kitchin "anythin' else sir?"

[Xsesiv]

"Well, a beer would be nice. I never could stand that "ale" stuff...and I couldn't help but notice a picture in that room, of you and a little girl. Pardon my saying so, sir, but I haven't seen her about."

[littlebottom]

at that moment a woman who holds an amazing likeness to the girl in the picture walks out from the kitchen with a plate overflowing with sausage, bacon, eggs, scrambled eggs and 2 raw eggs in egg cups

"you... saw? thats our girl. shes been missing for about 5 months now... all searches have stopped. the local watchmen who investigated it recon she went outside the city to play and fell somewhere, but they havnt found the body! theres still hope!"

"quite, georgina, the man doesnt want to know about that." turning back to you the barkeep says "sorry, but pork and eggs be all we got at the moment. the local butcher has closed so we have to fetch it from across town and its alot more expensive over there."

[Xsesiv]

Markus tucks into the bacon and eggs at an extremely fast rate. "Sir, it could easily be that your daughter has simply fallen down a well or been eaten by wolves. But children are a very popular sacrifice for some insidious, heretical cults, the sort of things I have devoted my life to destroying, and they are known for causing people to disappear without trace. If I come across her, I shall return her here. Where did you last see her?"

[littlebottom]

Georgina, who was halfway though going back into the kitchen, turns round and bursts with excitement "wow? would you really? thank you thank you, id do anything just to get her back! anything! absolutely ANYTHING! thank you thank yo-"

"shut ya yappin' an' let me handle this... sorry about her. we last saw my daughter leaving the inn and heading to the right, which, is indeed the way towards the gate... but there are a multitude o' places a young girl like that could o' wandered off to in this city, i spose you would have to ask for witnesses or somethin?"

the wife is still very much in your face with a beaming smile that simply says "thank you" you have also noticed, that her top couple of buttons have miracilously become undone...

[Xsesiv]

Markus stands up and tosses the promised silver coin onto the table. "Sir, madam. I take my leave." He does so, leaving the bar and turning to the right. Before making this public, he checks between the bar and the gate on the right for manholes and drains.

[littlebottom]

there is indeed a manhole cover into the sewers here, inbtween the bar and the gate to middenheim. it looks like it has been opened recently, but thats no supprise with all the work the sewer jacks will be doing clearing out the mud from last nights rain.

[Xsesiv]

Markus leaves the town gate and grabs a branch from the nearest tree, then returns to the town with the branch and lights it in the bar's fire. Torch in hand, he enters the sewers.

[littlebottom]

upon entering the sewers, you find... a very sewery smell... also, there is a source of light from up ahead and just round a corner.

[Xsesiv]

Markus draws his sword and holds it behind him, torch in front, to ensure the sword cannot be knocked aside. He creeps towards the light.

[littlebottom]

the light stays roughly stationary, it bobbles about a little, along with a the scraping sound.

as you round the corner, there is a sewer jack with a lantern on his belt and a spade in his hand, trying to remove the mud, as you round the corner he sees the light from behind him and turns round.

"i know i know, im not done yet but... wait a second, who the hell are you?"

[Xsesiv]

Markus doesn't put the sword away. "Markus Schmidt. Witch Hunter. Who are you?"

[littlebottom]

"a witch hunter?! im fred gordon, im... a sewer jack. im............. cleaning the sewer? somehow i feel i dont want to know why your down here, so could you just leave me to it please?"

[Xsesiv]

Markus pushes the sewer jack aside and continues along the sewer.

[littlebottom]

the way behind the sewer jack is almost blocked with mud, it would be possible to climb onto the top and crawl along a few feet at the small gap at the top.

[Xsesiv]

Markus leaves the sewer, meaning to come back later when the sewer jack has finished cleaning out the mud.

Instead he goes back to the tavern and picks up the picture. He goes to stand in the town square on whatever platform there is and shouts out loud "Has anybody here seen this girl?"

[littlebottom]

you push a particularly crazy man off his pedistal, he was rambling on about something to do with carts without horses or somesuch, but when you start waving the picture about you pull a small crowd who examine the picture one says "i know this girl, lives over in the tavern dont she?"

another remarks "yeah, but shes dead!"

"i didnt hear about that! when?"

"few months ago im afraid..."

the general consensus is that she is dead, until a particularly shady man, of whom you cannot see his face, for his wide brimmed hat, and his head tilted low. "shes not dead... her parents just use that excuse to get people to go on a wild goose chase after her and set a trap for the poor mug, the past 8 people who went looking for her dissapeared shortly after." the man then turns and walks off down an alley before you can push your way through the small crowd

[Xsesiv]

Markus tries to fling his net over the man. [roll0] BS 55

[littlebottom]

the net comes down over a few people at the back of the crowd just infront of the mysterious man, the aim was true, but the people got in the way.

[Xsesiv]

"Damn it all." Markus retrieves the net and goes back to the bar with a few choice word for the barkeeper and his wife.

[littlebottom]

and the GM wonders what these choice words are?

[Xsesiv]

Markus walks into the front door and quietly asks the bartender whether he could have a private word with himself and his wife in the kitchen.

[littlebottom]

the barman nods and turns to the patrons in the bar "you lot dont touch a drop from behind the bar, or else!" and follows you into the kitchen, keeping his eye on the bar whever possible.

his wife sees you enter, and runs up you and hugs you tight "youve found her havnt you!? i knew you would!"

[Xsesiv]

Once there, Markus closes the door and draws his repeater crossbow. "Right, so what's this I've been hearing, about the people who have gone looking for your daughter in the past disappearing?"

[littlebottom]

the wife leaps back in fear. "wh-what? we dont know what your talking about! after the watchmen stopped searching, your the first one whos looked for her!"

[Xsesiv]

"Not true. A man with a big hat on told me you've had 8 people out looking for her, and none of them have come back alive."

[littlebottom]

"8 people? we wish! if only we had that many looking for her, maybe we would of found her by now!" says the barkeep.

the wife takes over "infact, only 7 people have even enquired about what happened to the girl before you!"

[Xsesiv]

"You are beginning to try my patience. What happened to those 7?"

[littlebottom]

"what? we dont know! they never came back to the tavern, none of them ever came back before you."

[Xsesiv]

Markus grinds his teeth. "Got them before they could come back, did you? Or possibly, have you got an enemy in a man with a hat?"

[littlebottom]

"a man in a hat? have you gone insane?"

[Xsesiv]

Markus lowers the crossbow. "No. Alright, people, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. I will look for your daughter. If something happens to me, I will know who to track down." He puts away the crossbow and leaves the tavern to go and look down the drain at the sewer jack's progress.

[littlebottom]

the time elapsed is enough so that... he has cleared about 3 foot of thickness of the sewer blockage...

[Xsesiv]

Markus screams at the sewer jack to get on with it and goes to the Watch headquarters to get an account of the search.

[littlebottom]

the watch ask you what business of yours it all is, and wont let you know anything without giving good reason.

[Xsesiv]

Markus draws his sword and his noose. "I am a Witch Hunter, on a holy mission from Sigmar. If you don't want the Empire to be riddled with Chaos scum, you will allow me to strike my blow for order."

[littlebottom]

"fine, we believe you, what you wanna know? the search? well... it turned up no body at all... no remains, nothing. as thus we suspect she fell and her body wound up somewhere on the mountain of which we cant get to. she has been seen before playing outside the gate next to the drop, and there was no other trace of her, i mean, its as if she went to sleep one night and vanished into the neather by morning."

[Xsesiv]

Markus goes out of the gate to look down the drop, he ties one end of his 20-yard rope around his waist and looks for a nearby tree or rock to tie the other end to.

[littlebottom]

climbing down, you discorver a rotting boddy, very little left on it, appart from tattered clothing. the body seems too big for a girl, and the clothes are not that you would expect a girl to be wearing, but there is a bag next to the body, which contains a diary... (if you can read it)

[Xsesiv]

A diary and nothing else? OK, Markus will take the diary and climb back up the rope, then take it to somebody who can read.

[littlebottom]

the diary rambles on about lots of irrelevant things, untill you get to the last couple of days entries, they go something like this:

i heard about the missing girl, i had to find out more. i asked her parents about her, but told them nothing of my want to find her.

(next entry)
it seems the watch searched for her but couldnt find her, so i decided to look for her body on the cliff... i saw a strange man in a hat that covered his face in the dead ferret.. he talked to me, but never revealed his name, or even showed his face, but his information seemed impeccable. but first, im going to check over the cliff. i only hope i find her body so that her family can atleast know for sure what happened.

[Xsesiv]

Markus throws the diary back over the cliff and goes off to the Dead Ferret to skulk about outside looking for Hat Man.

[littlebottom]

we seem to be missing each other at the moment, and as its my birthday tomorrow, i doubt you will see much of me over the weekend, sorry, we will get back to this game and such after the weekend, i might manage to pop on dependant, but have a nice weekend either way:smalltongue:

[littlebottom]

make a perception test. listening.

[Xsesiv]

OK, Markus has Int 43 and Perception +10%.

[roll0] Target 53

[littlebottom]

standing about all you hear is the general murmur from inside the tavern.

[Xsesiv]

Markus heavily sits down outside the door with a resounding clank and waits for Hat Man to emerge.

[littlebottom]

men come and go, then it hits you, he might not be wearing his hat! you wouldnt recognise him!

[Xsesiv]

Markus looks in the window, peering around for a large hat, being worn or sitting on a chair or table.

[littlebottom]

you dont see the hat or coat anywhere from outside.

[Xsesiv]

Quietly fuming, Markus walks inside and clanks up to the bar. He loudly orders a beer, pays, then walks around, ostensibly unable to find a seat, but really listening in to people's conversations, trying to recognise the man's voice.

[littlebottom]

roll an EASY perception test.

[Xsesiv]

OK.

[roll0] Target 73

[littlebottom]

yep, thats the voice you heard before, its a slightly drunken looking man, chatting loudly about something to do with some underground cult...

[Xsesiv]

Markus looks around, wondering if he could simply shove a bag over the man's head and drag him out. Deciding it's too crowded, he sits down opposite the man, crossbow pistol concealed under a fold of his cloak, but ready to fire (aimed).

"Sir. You know some information that could be very valuable to me. If we keep this on civil terms, I suspect we will all be so much the better for it. May I buy you a drink?"

[littlebottom]

you see a quick flicker of panic on his face, as he realises you know him, but it quickly subsides, although you think that his current expression is purely to disguise his fear.

"er... err.... why not?" his eyes dart to the windows and the doors

[Xsesiv]

Markus grins malevolently, and when he talks this time it is with force and certainty. "Why so hasty, sir? Herr, this man needs a drink. Or two," he adds to the barkeep.

"Sir. I could not help but overhear that you are privy to some information. You know what I am talking about. No breaking for the door. I don't want to extract what you know. It would be much better if you simply told me."

[littlebottom]

"i dont... know anything, wait thats a lie, i know some stuff, like the sky is blue! but nothing incriminating, you cant make me talk! you dont know anything... well, maybe you know something? or maybe you dont!"

[Xsesiv]

"Does the word "cult" ring any bells, sir?"

[littlebottom]

"of course it does, everyone around here knows about the GSC"

[Xsesiv]

"The...what, may I ask?" Markus wonders how a pre-literate society has managed to make an acronym. And also just what the GSC is.

[littlebottom]

"the GSC, ted, tell him about the GSC"

"the GSC is the general society cult, its the cult for everyone! well, originally we called it the general society government of middenheim, but we were told it only passed for a cult. its kind of like a thing where we all get to have our say in what goes on in and around middenhiem" Roll a perception test "and this keeps middenheim productive and a nice place to live and--" he continues to ramble on.

[Xsesiv]

Markus wipes his brow in relief. There was another GSC he had to deal with a while ago, and the name wasn't quite so savoury.
[roll0] Target 53

[littlebottom]

you notice the hated-unhatted man exiting the main door, it seems he used his friend as a distraction.

[Xsesiv]

Markus gets up and follows the man out of the door, once outside, he draws his preferred weapon, the repeater crossbow, and points it at the man's back. "Stop now, sir, and tell me what you know, because I have no qualms about using several pounds of Imperial steel to sever your legs. Also, you may be arrested as a heretic, and burnt at the stake. Or hanged. Stop."

[littlebottom]

he attempts to escape but stumbles slightly drukenly onto the floor, making for an easy capture.

[Xsesiv]

Markus leaps forward, noose in hand, and lassos the man and ties him up on the floor. He sits down and leaves Hat Man on the ground for a bit to stew. "Sir, if you do not co-operate, I will extract the information. I am being perfectly honest."

[littlebottom]

"i...ill tell you... but not here, and only if you promise not to tell anyone."

[Xsesiv]

Markus drags the man down the manhole and into the sewer. He pulls the man into a dark alcove and whispers to him. "Well, sir, nowhere is more private than here. Tell me what you know. By the way, people are normally less forthcoming. Well done. So." He leans back and listens, watching the bound man on the floor.

[littlebottom]

the man attempts to cover his nose, but hands tied, fails miserably...

"that girl, that went missing... shes my daughter. she was only a couple months old when those 2 took her, they did unholy things to her, but... my wife and family being dead, it was my word against both of theirs, so ive been trying to get back at them ever since, but but but, the things theyve done are unforgivable, but to erase her from the face of the planet?! shes nowhere to be found, atleast before i could see her grow up, even if it was from the other side of the street. ok?! OK!? is that what you wanted to know?!"

"if, if you find her... will you bring her back to me?"

[Xsesiv]

"I'm not some mediator, but if I find the child, I will find out who she belongs to. Even if it's only for burial. And actually, no, sir, that wasn't what I wanted to know. What I wanted to know was what you knew about a certain insidious cult, one of many gnawing at the roots of the Empire of Sigmar, and how you knew it."

[littlebottom]

"i just want to hold my own child in my arms... my wife died giving birth to her... please! i know they are holding her alive somewhere, they must be, theres been no body found!"

[Xsesiv]

Markus loosens the man's bonds. "...There is a small crawl space at the end of this sewer. If anyone wants to hide anything in a town, it will be in the sewers. You can come with me to check it. I still want to know about this cult when we've finished though." By now he has almost finished. He ties some rope to the man's arm as a sort of leash and goes to check the crawl space.

[littlebottom]

the sewer jack seems to be on a break or has gone off to go to sleep as he is no longer here, but the crawl space is.

[Xsesiv]

Markus enters the crawl space and...crawls?

[littlebottom]

after a dirty, smelly, long crawl, you emerge into the full size sewer again, only problem is, its too dark, there are no lights, and you must be wary of your footing.

[Xsesiv]

Markus tests each step with his axe handle and feels along the walls. There's nothing better, and it's not worth going back for a torch.

[littlebottom]

you tread on something squishy... but it has some substence, infact, it retracts as you step on it...

[Xsesiv]

Markus gives the substance a hard kick and readies his sword.

[littlebottom]

it retracts again, there is almost a small "MMMFMF" as you kick it.

[Xsesiv]

Markus reaches down and grabs whatever it is, yanking it up to right before his eyes to see it.

[littlebottom]

the unhatted man remarks "we must be under that tavern by now"

as you yank the thing towards you, you see a leg. a human leg.

[Xsesiv]

Markus shows the leg to the man. "Is this your child's?"

[littlebottom]

as you pull the leg around towards the unhatted man, you feel the weight and a dragging sound... the legs still attached firmly onto something.

[Xsesiv]

Markus bends down and looks closely at the leg.

[littlebottom]

its a leg...

im guessing your following the leg to see whats attached.

you find a body, although, warm. infact, as you look into its eyes, they look at you. a body is correct, a dead one is not.

[Xsesiv]

Markus grabs the body by the hair and drags it upright.

[littlebottom]

you see pain spark across its eyes, but it fails to stand up, its arms also seem to be tied behind its back.

[Xsesiv]

Markus slashes the ropes behind the person's back with his sword.

[littlebottom]

the arms fall loosely by its side, but the eyes do seem to show some reflief, the arms and legs you notice are quite thin, the body has been malnurished for a while.

[Xsesiv]

"Can you talk? Can you get up?" Markus asks the person.

[littlebottom]

there is no direct reply, but the person seems to make an effort to talk. you get a breathy sort of reply that makes very little sense, it sounds more like talking while simply breathing.

p aaaaa...... n paaaaaaaaaa.....aaaaain

[Xsesiv]

"Pan pain? Well, it is clear this person was brought down here after being knocked out with a frying pan. We'll sort that out."

Markus ties the person to the rope and begins to go back through the crawl space.

[littlebottom]

as you get to the other side, you see the child in the light, her clothes are tatters, her bones visable through her skin, her legs seem broken. and she has a massive scar on her throat.

the man blurts out when he sees her in the light "is that really you?! by sigmar, what have they done to you?!"

he turns to you "thank you, thank you so much... ill take her to my home, and tend to her wounds and injuries. you go sort those... those... Monsters! out." he gives you directions to his home and asks you to come see him afterwards

[Xsesiv]

Markus goes to the tavern and walks up to the bar. "Sir, madam, could I talk to you privately again?"

[littlebottom]

the parents agree and usher you into the back room. you also notice an odd sight. a manhole cover peeking out from under the carpet under the table.

[Xsesiv]

Markus pulls out his repeater crossbow. "I found your daughter. She was in the sewer, directly accessable by that manhole there, with two broken legs and some other injuries, she had also been hit with a pan. So, you know what, either you surrender now and I burn you both at the stake, or I shoot you now. Your choice."

If they seem to be running or grabbing weapons, he will fire the crossbow and finish his speech.

[littlebottom]

the man runs infront of his wife. "dont hurt hur! we didnt do anything to our daughter! shes been missing for months!"

[Xsesiv]

Markus rolls his eyes and fires the crossbow twice.

[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]

[littlebottom]

you raise your crossbow and fire twice, catching the man in the throat and he collapses clutching at the arrow. the second catches the woman in the eye and digs deep through the skull, both now lie dead on the floor.

[Xsesiv]

Markus retrieves the bolts, then drags the bodies down the sewer and dumps them there. He goes to Hat Man's house.

[littlebottom]

you exit via the back door, not wanting to raise the suspicion of the customers.

you arrive at his house and knock on the door... there is no answer, you knock again, and recieve no reply, but shortly after, you hear a manical evil laugh from inside.

[Xsesiv]

Markus hurls himself through the window with the crossbow ready.

[littlebottom]

you enter a foul scene in the eyes of sigmar, the girl is stretched across a table arms tied in the corners, the "father" holding a cerimonial knife carving a strange circular symbol into the table around her, there are also 4 others that 4 of the 5 points to a massive pentagram on the floor. the father sees you enter.

"you... you... you disposed of them pretty quick?! i was hoping you would burn them at the stake in the town center, and by the time you would of gotten here, you would of found nothing but a thank you note. i suppose i must tell you the inner workings of the plan..." he goes into evil mastermind mono-logue mode "you see, the child isnt actually mine, the child belongs to the owners of that tavern... shes not mine, never was, never will be. i kidnapped her, well, i saved her from falling off the cliff, but then i kidnapped her anyway. ive been throwing anyone off the tracks but you... you are bright... a little too bright i might add. i placed her in the sewer under their man hole, knowing you would make the conclusion that they were using it to hide her. infact they hardly ever use that man hole. but it was a risk, a gamble, but it paid off... i had been biding my time you see, the ritual was not ready, but with you snooping around, i thought id rather take my chances with the daemons of chaos than be burned at the stake! although unfortunately your premature return means that you cannot live to see the after effects of our little party... as you will be DEAD before its over! ATTACK HIM!"

the other cultists pull ceromonial knives from their robes and turn towards you.

[Xsesiv]

"Foul heretics! Die!" Markus fires the crossbow at the nearest cultist, then at the leader, intending to cripple rather than kill. These people need to be burnt at the stake, to let people know the evils that riddle the Empire. [roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3]

[littlebottom]

the first misses wildly and embeds into the far wall, although the second skewers the leaders foot and attaches it to the floor.

[Xsesiv]

Markus snarls and fires another couple of crippling shots at arbitrary cultists.
[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]

[littlebottom]

the closest cultest drops to the floor, his blood flowing along the lines carved into the floor that create the pentagram.

[Xsesiv]

Markus grins at his success and launches off a couple more shots at the cultists. [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]

[littlebottom]

another cultist recieves the pointy end of the stick they call an arrow and clutches at it as he slumps slowly to the floor.

[Xsesiv]

Markus drops the crossbow to the floor and charges at the nearest cultist shoulder-first, hoping the weight of his armour and his body would knock the man flying. Nobody likes 400 pounds of force ramming shining steel into their face.

[roll0]

[littlebottom]

the cultist quickly dodges, and as he does so, trips you up onto the floor.

[Xsesiv]

Markus rolls over and picks himself up. Anything but amused, he charges the man with his sword. [roll0] [roll1]

[littlebottom]

he sidesteps and bangs the back of your helm with the hilt of his dagger, roll a T check.

[Xsesiv]

OK

[roll0] T 54 (+50)

[littlebottom]

you have severe ringing in your ears, and you are deafend for [roll0] rounds

[Xsesiv]

Markus turns around and raises his sword, aiming and slashing across the cultist's eyes.

[roll0] [roll1]

[littlebottom]

you sever the top half of his head clean, his brain flys freely through the air untill it splatters onthe far wall and slowly slides down before flopping to the ground.

[Xsesiv]

Markus turns around and stares with glittering eyes at the remaining, injured cultists. "I suggest you surrender now!" he roars, using their friend's robe to wipe his own brains off the fine sword which he flourishes. [roll0] (Intimidate)

[littlebottom]

he hesitates, but advances on, much more cautiously and fearfully though.

[Xsesiv]

Markus rolls his eyes. "Suit yourself, sir," he mutters, before executing his amazing shoulder-charging manoeuvre. [roll0]

[littlebottom]

the shoulder connects with the cultists chin, knocking him out cold.

[Xsesiv]

Markus goes around to the injured cultists, bonking them on the head with the pommel of his sword. He then ties them up and drags them one by one to the town gallows scaffold.

He then takes a chair up there, and brings the girl and sits her down on it.

Once they are on the scaffold, he has a stake erected and fuel put round it, ties them to it, takes up a torch, and begins his speech. "People of Middenheim, these men have been found preparing to sacrifice an innocent girl, this one to be exact, to their depraved gods after having mutilated her! Will we allow it? No, we will not! Let this evil be purged in Sigmar's name..." After several minutes of this rambling, he drops the torch on the straw.

[littlebottom]

the girl watches at first as the flames lick ever higher, but turns her head away when the flames begin burning their flesh, the crowds jeer at them on the stake, throwing anything and everything at them.

the fire lights up the night sky, the ashes floating through the sky like a sea of stars, the deed has been done. the heretics, have burnt.

but there are allways more, allways, and when we find them, they shall burn too. the heretics, shall allways... Burn.

[Xsesiv]

Markus jumps down off the scaffold towards the crowd, not caring whether they catch him or simply move. He walks on and out the other side of Middenheim. One cult for a night in the city isn't too bad. Corruption ran deeper in maleducated little villages...

[littlebottom]

the villagers allow you to pass, seeing the work of sigmar done by witch hunters is as scary as it is inspiring.

upon leaving the city, the heavens open up slowly behind you, as if the skys cry over middenheim, or maybe a clensing shower, to wash away the corruption. the reason is unsure, but it is an impressive sight from further away, there seems to be a collective of clouds only over middenheim, and they rain, slowly, but never stopping.

[Xsesiv]

Markus keeps walking.

And walking.

Prepared to walk all night if he has to, he continues to trudge down the road in full armour, looking for a village which he can educate through torch and blade.

[littlebottom]

as he travels he sees a large amount of people coming down a dirt path to his side, through the woods onto the larger road on which you were currently traveling.

[Xsesiv]

Markus draws out his sword and hails the travellers with it. "Hello there, travellers! No news of any mutant sightings or witchery in this area, is there?" and he smiles in what is clearly intended to be a polite way, but comes off looking somewhat sinister.

[littlebottom]

"mutents? witches? yer 'avin a laugh aint ya? trying ta take tha piss out o' us poor peoples jus' cus our little village was attacked by some ghastly beast?! you wait till you see it lad, an ye wont be laughin then!"

[Xsesiv]

"I haven't laughed for three years, good sir," says Markus coldly, waving his sword about over his head like a madman. "I'll sort your problems out, though. Where is your village?"

[littlebottom]

he tells you to just follow the dirt path.

[Xsesiv]

Markus does what he's told.

[littlebottom]

as you travel the path you realise its alot longer than you previously thought, and the sun is beggining to set with no village in sight...

[Xsesiv]

Markus carries on. He's got no reason not to walk all night if he has to, and nothing to gain by stopping.

[littlebottom]

you keep walking through the woods, after a couple more hours, the only light is from the moon, and you have the feeling someones watching you... you spot a sign saying the town is in less than a mile too.