Travels amongst the Border Princes (WFRP 2e) IC

[rax]

She will take a moment to lean down and tap Severin on the shoulder before saying quietly. 'You see Tick? I may go and keep an eye on him in case he's coming back.' Gabriele would like to speak to him again at some point but she would rather do that with less witnesses around.

"I see him. Just don't let him see you, unless you need to put him down to keep him quiet," he mutters back.

"I may just do that. Anything distinctive to recognize this fellow by? I'd hate to find myself being taken for a ride by some joker looking to part me from my hard-earned coin," Severin answers the man. "Speaking of which, can I stand you gents another round for your help?"

[Haval]

Gabriele will try to find the darkest area possible but will mostly rely on the crowd to screen her as she watches Tick.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Concealment vs. Ag 48 (we're outside, but in a village so the Rover +10 probably doesn't apply here)
(1d100)[87]
FP if needed
(1d100)[30]

[dojango]

Severin leads the men back to the bar and puts five coins down on the plank. The men hold out their tankards and the barkeep reaches deep into the barrel to ladle out the drink and fill them up. Then he spoons some into Severin's tankard. As they walk back, one of the men, a shorter, heavy-set man, says, "This guy Tick, he's about my height, but skinny. Like he's been missing a lotta meals. Uh, brownish hair, going to gray, I reckon. Like I say, he was one of Otto's boys, got a job over at the mines, helpin' keeping the slaves working."

Gabriele expertly fades into the shadows, but Harman is a little slower. The two robbers freeze as they spot him. They stop what they're doing and try to slink away into the shadows. Gabriele and Harman spot them loping away back towards the far side of the village. The drunk man rolls over on the ground, groaning.

[Haval]

Gabriele will wait a moment to make sure Tick and his friend aren't actually coming back. There was only so many places he could be staying here so he shouldn't be that difficult to find. To Harman quietly, 'The skinny one is called Tick. He's a bandit and a slaver. I think we're going to try and have words with him while we're here.'

[LarsWester]

Harman will nod when Gabriele mentions the one bandit's name and frown when he hears that the man is a slaver. Let me know when it's time to have some words. I'll check on that one maybe best to see how Severin is doing. Harman will excuse himself from Gabriele and walk up to the beaten drunk man and offer him a hand up. It seems I arrived too late to prevent a theft but maybe in time to save your neck. Do you need a hand? What is your name?

[rax]

"Appreciate the help, friend. Enjoy your drink," Severin thanks the man who described Tick. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see a man about a dog rather urgently," he chuckles, taking his leave with a meaningful wink as he strides quickly over to where Gabriele and Harman disappeared among the houses.

[Haval]

'I would appreciate the help.' Gabriele replies. 'Ideally I'd like to talk to him alone, but if he has friends here I can see them having a problem with that.' She'll keep a look out as Harman speaks to the victim.

[dojango]

Severin leaves the throng at the bar, the men quickly turning their backs on him. He heads over to where Gabriele is watching to see if the robbers return. They do not. Harman kneels beside the drunk victim and tries to get some sense out of him. Harman sees that he's a very young man, practically a kid. The robbers didn't manage to take his boots (poor quality as they are) nor his rough homespun cloak, but he has little else on him now. He groans in pain and mutters, "What? I don't. Pa's gonna kill me. I can't. I can't. Just let me sleep." He tries to push Harman away to lie down again. The boy appears to be stinking drunk.

[LarsWester]

Harman had plenty of experience with drunken idiots from his time serving with the River Wardens. Sailors were often prone to drinking to much the day before leaving a town. Looking at the young lad on the ground before him Harman knew that he wouldn't get anything coherent from the boy for some time. He knelt down. Friend you can't lay here it isn't safe. Come with me. With that Harman will stand the lad to his feet and get a shoulder underneath him. He marches the boy a few hundred feet away and finds a place with some underbrush. He lays the young man's head on a tree root. The boy wouldn't be in the same location if the two bandits returned for the boots and he should be relatively covered from the view of others. Rest here worry about your father and what he will do in the morning. Harman offers a drink from his water skin before leaving the boy and rejoining Severin and Gabriele.

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

StrengthifRequiredVs50 - (1d100)[24] to lift the boy up and carry if required.
PerceptionVs56 - (1d100)[55] to find a suitable "bed"

[rax]

"The fellow I was talking to says Tick's already got himself a new job as an enforcer at the mine," Severin reports to Gabriele as he joins her. "I asked about the attacks on the river boats and got the same rumours as before, except that Tick apparently claims it was neither the Stralwald halflings nor Otto's men doing the raiding, but a different gang altogether. So I guess we need to talk to him no matter what. We'll need to tread carefully though, given that he's working for Tollares now."

"Hey! Funny thought! Didn't you say you were trailing some river pirate that fled here from the Empire? Maybe's he's continuing his trade down here?" Severin asks Harman when he rejoins the two of them.

[Haval]

"The fellow I was talking to says Tick's already got himself a new job as an enforcer at the mine," Severin reports to Gabriele as he joins her. "I asked about the attacks on the river boats and got the same rumours as before, except that Tick apparently claims it was neither the Stralwald halflings nor Otto's men doing the raiding, but a different gang altogether. So I guess we need to talk to him no matter what. We'll need to tread carefully though, given that he's working for Tollares now."

'Makes sense. If he can make himself useful enough he can rob who he likes. Do you think there's any chance we can catch him alone without someone telling on us?' On the river pirates, 'Someone here will know who they are. If they don't work for Tollares directly maybe they come here to trade.'

[LarsWester]

"The fellow I was talking to says Tick's already got himself a new job as an enforcer at the mine," Severin reports to Gabriele as he joins her. "I asked about the attacks on the river boats and got the same rumours as before, except that Tick apparently claims it was neither the Stralwald halflings nor Otto's men doing the raiding, but a different gang altogether. So I guess we need to talk to him no matter what. We'll need to tread carefully though, given that he's working for Tollares now."

"Hey! Funny thought! Didn't you say you were trailing some river pirate that fled here from the Empire? Maybe's he's continuing his trade down here?" Severin asks Harman when he rejoins the two of them.

Harman scratches his scruffy chin nodding at the halfling's news. Funny thought indeed. I wonder if this new raider gang is associated with my quarry. Time will tell I suppose. When the booze hits the right mouths and they start spilling clues. Now that that little one is safely tucked away Harman jerks a thumb to where he stashed the boy. should we return to the pub or the wagons? Harman looks down at his two fellow scouts. We're here for a week with the caravan. I'm going to get so bored. Harman yawns.

[Haval]

I'm going to get so bored. Harman yawns.

'Maybe if we don't upset anyone' Gabriele smiles 'Whatever else we do I should take a look at that mine once people start going to bed.'

[dojango]

Harman expertly corrals the drunk away from where he was left, and away from the 300-foot cliff somewhere in the darkness. He finds a spot that looks relatively safe and tucks the kid in under his cloak, before returning to Gabriele and Severin. Heading down the path back to the wagons is not particularly safe in the darkness, and so they head into the village to find the inn. They pass through the maze of pitch-black corridors, illuminated only by the thin light of the moon. Fortunately they don't run into any footpads, and make it to the slightly larger open square in the center of town.

Severin was told that it was in the center of town, near Sol's headquarters. Sol's building is locked up tight, while the inn is open and some light is spilling out of the door. They head inside and see the huge millstone in the center of the room. A man is standing atop it, declaiming a story. The proprieter, an older man, is sitting in a chair (the only one, it seems) listening to him, while a few people are sitting on crude benches, listening to the story teller. To Severin and Gabriele's surprise, one of the men sitting on the bench is an old man with thin, graying hair. They'd last seen him in the wastelands at that strange and terrible Geheimnistag festival. Stanislaus Vorgrimler.

[Haval]

Gabriele is going to take a seat on one of the benches at the back of the room where Vorgrimler can't neccessarily see her. She'll take a moment to listen to the old man's story but she's curious to see if Vogrimler brought anyone with him.

[rax]

Severin sniggers at Gabriele's comments about not upsetting anyone. "Oh yes, like that's going to happen..."

Inside the inn, he follows Gabriele to the benches further back. "Looks like he made it out alive, then. I wonder what happened to his escorts?" he mutters when they spot Vorgrimler. "I don't suppose there's any immediate danger if he spots us. After all, we weren't working for the Duke when we had our first encounter and we have a legitimate reason to here. Of course, if it turns out him and his Emperor are real cosy with Tollares, then there could be trouble."

[Haval]

'And if he is I think that would be worth knowing about.'

[LarsWester]

There seems to be a common story between you two and that gentleman in THE chair. Harman nods subtlety towards Vogrimler. If there's something you think I should know then I'm listening but if you'd rather keep your secrets I understand. The Verenean scans the rough crowd for any familiar faces.

[rax]

"His name's Vorgrimler. We ran into him and some of his hired hands when we were gallivanting around the wilds to stop a local girl from being dropped into a volcano. Claimed he was scouting the area for a local lord who calls himself Emperor of the Heraclean Empire. There was some shooting after we got the girl out and we haven't seen him since. Our thinking was that the folk intending to do the sacrifice might have taken out their frustrations on Vorgrimler and his escorts," Severin offers.

[dojango]

The storyteller continues his tale. It seems to be about Heraklon fighting a foul monster of sorts. Vorgrimler is intently listening, making notes in a book in front of him. He doesn't notice as the innkeeper stands up and hobbles towards Severin, Gabriele and Harman. He whispers quietly, so as not to interrupt the story teller, "Welcome, friends. Would you care for a drink? Or a room for the night? We have two left, I must say, good beds, clean sheets. Only 5 silver for a room."

[LarsWester]

Thank you good sir. I would like to secure one of those rooms and perhaps a plate of food and a mug of ale. Harman looked around the general room try to get a measure of who else was paying for a room in the place and who was just drinking. I keep hearing about this Heraklon fellow down here. Quite the legend, no? Harman quietly offers to the others from the North.

[Haval]

'Vorgrimler does seem like the sort of person who could talk his way out of that, but maybe we owe him an apology.' To the Innkeeper, 'Just an ale, but I'll take food if you have anything.' The Inn seemed pleasant enough but she had intended to sleep down by the wagons.

To Harman, 'Just some mercenary. Who knows how much of it is true but the stories make him sound like Sigmar himself.'

[rax]

"A successful mercenary, in that case. Seems he fought for the Red Temple until he thought better of it. After that he was able to topple them and unite this region under his personal rule," Severin adds.

"You sure about that, Gabriele? It's pretty dark out there and the climb down won't be easy. I was thinking I'd get a room here for the night. You're welcome to bunk with me if you want," he says to his friend.

"I'll have an ale and some hot food if you've got it. Worked up an appetite climbing all those steps," he says to the innkeeper.

[Haval]

'Something for the Duke or this Emperor to aspire to then... or Otto if we're unlucky.'

To Severin with a grin, 'I can't see like you can in the dark but I think I can avoid falling over the edge.' The climb would be a pain though, especially as she'd have to come back up here in the morning. 'I am tired though. I'll take the floor for now if you'll have me. Maybe we can push a chair up against the door just in case someone gets nosy.'

'I'm going to have to go out for a walk in the night at some point though. You're both welcome to join me.'

[dojango]

The innkeeper takes your coppers for the meal and silvers for the room. "Thank you, the rooms are very clean. No bedbugs. Also very safe. We bar the door when the last people leave the main room." A few minutes later and an old woman comes out and brings you some small mugs of ale and a generous bowl of spicy goat stew. The story teller brings the tale to its dramatic finish, with Heraklon and the monster dealing each other mortal blows and falling to the ground, blood and ichor staining the dusty ground. Before the story teller can even take a swig from the cup the innkeeper's wife brings him, Vorgrimler begins asking the man questions about the story.

There is a ladder leading to the upper story of the inn. The innkeeper climbs up to show you to your rooms. They are on the third floor of the mud-brick building with a small window looking out over the rooftops of the village. The beds are, as promised, very clean, but there is not much space in the room for anything else.

[rax]

"Much appreciated, innkeep," Severin thanks the man as he shows the three of them to their rooms. "Is there a chamber pot in here, or where does one go if there's a crisis in the middle of the night?"

OOC: Just checking if it would be suspicious to go downstairs and unbar the door if we sneak out at night. I'm guessing yes...

[Haval]

Gabriele will get close enough to listen in to whatever Vorgrimler was asking the story teller. Presumably he had more then a mere academic interest in Heraklon.

Upstairs she will go to the window to assess the state of the roof tops. It felt like a lot could go wrong if she tried climbing around out there in the dark but it might be useful to have the option.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Perception if it helps to eavesdrop
vs. Int 38 (+20 Acute Hearing)
(1d100)[26]

[dojango]

Gabriele listens for a few moments to Vorgrimler. He's asking if the story teller has heard alternate versions of the story, where he learned the story from, that sort of thing. The story teller says he learned the stories from his family, and he says sometimes Heraklon fights a dragon, or a demon, or some other monster. Sometimes he has a companion with him, sometimes not. But the story always involves Heraklon leaving his throne room and kingdom behind to go out and fight some ancient evil... and to be struck down while doing it.

The innkeeper taps the side of the bed with his foot, indicating where the chamber pot is. "Just dump it out the window at the side over there," he indicates down the hall where the window opens up into an alley. Gabriele takes a look at the roof. This building is three floors high, so the roofs must be strong enough to support their weight. The exterior roofs should also be the same way, unless someone's been cheaping out on the roofing materials. The window is covered by wooden shutters, but is large enough for someone to squeeze out of.

[rax]

"Thank you," Severin answers the innkeep. "It's good to meet a man who takes pride in his establishment," he adds, taking note of the cleanliness of the room.

[Haval]

Before they go upstairs Gabriele will say to the others, 'I'd say Vorgrimler's looking for something. Maybe the place wherever Heraklon actually died.' They could at least pass this information onto Le Houet later.

Upstairs she'll grimace a little at the notion of just chucking everything out of the window. Out in the woods you could at least do all that a decent distance from wherever you were sleeping. To the Innkeeper, 'Thank you. Given all I've heard of Inselberg this Inn is a lot more pleasant then I was expecting.'