[WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"You fight like a damn orc!" Sieghard shouted, driving Dragos back with another thrust. "No, worse than an orc!" he snarled as Dragos kept backing out of reach of his swings. "An orc would at least stand its ground!"

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Sieghard is at +20 from advantage. Maybe it's be smarter to just try to finish things, but I'm going to try Strike to Stun. Sieghard will roll normal attacks until he deals damage (to maintain full Advantage) and then make a stun attempts until one connects (but doesn't have to stun) after that. If all three of Sieghard's attacks land, but Dragos isn't stunned, the third roll will be a normal attack for damage. Note that Sieghard has Street Fighting, so whichever roll is the stun attempt will be at a further +10 to hit.

As before, if Dragos is incapacitated non-lethally, Sieghard doesn't finish him off. I'd rather take him alive.

(1d100)[99] vs 76 (51 WS +5 Best Sword +20 Advantage)
(1d10+6)[12] Damage

(1d100)[91] vs 76
(1d10+6)[13] Damage

(1d100)[91] vs 76
(1d10+6)[11] Damage

... How do I manage to whiff all three of those?

[LCP]

The Cave

Circling around the edges of Sieghard's determined assault, Dragos lunged suddenly forwards, trying to catch Sieghard's sword in the curved hilt of his dagger. Pulling back with a scrape of steel, Sieghard kept hold of his weapon, his enemy jumping quickly back to avoid retaliation. Dragos shook his head and snorted, a trickle of blood running down from under his prosthesis where Sieghard had driven it into his face.

"When I'm done with you," he growled between ragged breaths, "they're going to need a chart to put you back together,"

OOC:

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Dragos is going to try something different.

Standard Attack: (1d100)[59] - hit (thanks to the +10 for Standard Attacks)
Sieghard_Dodge - (1d100)[68] - dodged
If he hits, instead of inflicting damage he attempts a Disarm: DragosAg - (1d100)[65] vs. SieghardAg - (1d100)[73]

If the Disarm succeeds, he uses his remaining half action to kick Sieghard's sword out of reach. If it fails, there's nothing else he can usefully spend it on.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Better men than you have tried," Sieghard spat back. "Don't worry, I'll let you keep all your parts," said, continuing his assault. "I want people to recognize the body."

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Normal swift attack this time, stopping if he's incapacitated.

(1d100)[34] vs 66
(1d10+6)[7]

(1d100)[55] vs 66
(1d10+6)[7]

(1d100)[25] vs 66
(1d10+6)[12]

Dragos dodge/parry
(1d100)[31]
(1d100)[2]

[LCP]

The Cave

Twisting like a snake, Dragos danced out of the path of Sieghard's sword, catching a following blow on his dagger - but Sieghard kept the pressure up, a looping return stroke slicing another gash across the crime lord's arm. With a roar, Dragos surged back at Sieghard, once again throwing all his weight behind his blows. Once again, Sieghard evaded him, stepping out of the path of his swinging hanger with small, economical movements. Though shallow, Dragos' wounds were beginning to tell - and now he had left himself wide open.

OOC:

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Dragos will switch to an All-Out Attack:

(1d100)[84], (1d10+6)[16]
(1d100)[81], (1d10+6)[8]

oh dear dragos
beginning to see how you lost the nose

Dodge - (1d100)[27]
Parry - (1d100)[44]

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Seeing his chance, Sieghard lunged forward, determined to end the fight before Dragos could get his guard up again.

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Same as before.

(1d100)[71] vs 76
(1d10+6)[9]

(1d100)[20] vs 76
(1d10+6)[13]

(1d100)[67] vs 76
(1d10+6)[7]

[LCP]

The Cave

Sieghard's first strike sliced into Dragos' overextended arm, making the man stagger and curse. Before he could get his guard up, the second strike whirled back around. The dwarf blade cleaved into Dragos' skull like an axe through a rotten stump, only stopping when it struck the brass stop of his nose. Blood sheeting down his ruined face, the crime lord's mouth twitched into a snarl, his remaining eye blinking spasmodically - then his legs buckled beneath him, and he crumpled nervelessly to the ground.

Looking at their leader's body in silent horror, the six other men in the cave hesitated for a moment or two. Then, very quickly, they began throwing down their weapons.n,

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa was a tad disappointed to be robbed of her chance for a good fight, but she supposed that a single dead person was close to the best outcome they could have hoped. Sieghard was sure to gain prestige for so handily disposing of Savonne's most notorious gang of criminals, at no cost to the Thorns and Volunteers.

"Now we have to deal with the logistics of carrying our prisoners," she whispered to Ludo. Unless, of course, the place had another exit that did not require boats.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Restrain them," Sieghard ordered, relieved none of Dragos's men felt like doing anything brave. "We'll search the place for anything worth taking and then start rowing them back to the docks to take to the keep. Anything else we take, we'll put in the old Greenapple house under guard until we'e found cells for them and can come back for it. I want their boss's body too. Come morning, we'll hang it up at the docks for everyone to see."

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Search roll and reroll for Sieghard vs 46. They were counting coins, so there's at least some money stashed and presumably we'll find the stolen food as well... At least what they haven't already eaten.
(1d100)[59]
(1d100)[10]

[LCP]

The Cave

The militia in the tunnel came forwards, spreading out to take charge of Dragos' men. Their captives didn't resist - they still looked a little stunned at the manner of Dragos' death.

The cave was sparsely furnished, with two tables, a single bedframe and a wooden screen to give the occupant of the bed some privacy. All the wooden furniture looked half-eaten by damp and rot, as if it had stood here since before Belehir's reign. Feeling the lay of the stone, Urgrim wouldn't have been surprised if this chamber was at least partially flooded when the river was at its highest.

Seven bedrolls had been added to these old furnishings, along with an iron strongbox and a number of wooden crates and barrels. Most of the latter contained dry foods, lamp oil, wine, and other necessities for stocking up their hideout. One of the smallest barrels, however, was half-filled with what looked like shredded leaves. Ground almost to powder, the stuff was blood-red and tacky to the touch. Peering over the barrel's lip, Ludo felt fairly confident he was looking at half a barrel of Crimson Shade.

The strongbox was locked, but Sieghard quickly found the key at Dragos' belt. Those men who weren't engaged in the business of escorting the prisoners out gathered round as he opened it, their eyes going wide at the sight of what was inside. It was a lot of gold, probably more than most of the militia had seen in their lives. Sieghard of course had seen more, in the dusty halls of Kheneb-Ptra-Urush. Even so, he found the golden glitter from Dragos' strongbox briefly mesmerising.

As well as the money, there was a leather-bound book and a number of rolls of paper. Handing them to others who could read, Sieghard waited while Elsa and Ludo studied the documents. The book appeared to be a moneylender's ledger, detailing in a small, neat hand the people who owed money to Dragos' gang, and the amounts that they owed. By some very rough arithmetic, Ludo estimated the value of the debts in the ledger to easily exceed the value of the coins in the box.

The papers, meanwhile, were the deeds to a number of dockside properties - two warehouses, a boathouse and pier, and the Greenapple house itself (though the last bore no signature from any previous owner). All had the imprint of the same scribe, a man by the name of Orta. At least, Elsa thought it was Orta - his signature was very hard to read.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa leafed through the papers detailing Dragos' property. "Well, well... the government just got a lot richer," she noted with a grin. "We'll have to decide what to do about the debtors. Do we inform them that they now owe Sforza the money? Wouldn't want to leave them off the hook for dealing with criminals."

[LeSwordfish]

"Four of ours, two prisoners in each boat." Ludo said, keeping his voice raised high enough the prisoners can hear. "Any funny business, don't worry about getting them back to the keep alive. I'll go with the first boat, and we can take them up to the keep, and send the boats back to collect the rest of us."

Before leaving, he took a moment to whistle over the chest of gold. "I mean, Sforza takes a fifth part of all spoils of war, right? Is this the same? We give that much to him and keep the rest?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"He takes one coin in three," Sieghard said, double checking to see that his men were already moving down the tunnel and out of earshot. "But that doesn't mean he has any way of knowing how much was in the box," he whispered. He took a moment to consider Elsa's suggestion about the debtors then nodded. "Only seems right they should pay back what they borrowed. We'll give them a better deal than No-Nose ever would've, but they still gotta pay it back."

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It's a bit of a walk to the castle. I say just take the prisoners to the docks and leave them under guard while those not on guard duty ferry the loot back and forth. Drop the loot (not the lockbox, that stays in sight at all times) off at Greenapple's place with a few guards, escort the boatmen home ("it's dangerous at night, least we can do is see you home safely after your help"), drop the prisoners off, then come back with a wagon for the rest afterwards.

Re: the loot. Sieghard will claim the swordbreaker and the small pouch of coins Dragos had as his own spoils. The coins, I'm thinking we give Irene the captain's cut, give all of the PCs present an equal share and shove the rest into the militia's funds until needed. We'll take pretty much everything. The weapons from Dragos's men (and his sword and dagger) can go towards arming the militia further, the supplies into their stores as well. Dried food can either be saved or sent to the siege lines. Not sure what we can do with the Shade, but it's too valuable to leave behind for Varga to claim. Not sure how much a share for everyone is reasonable, anyone want to throw any numbers out there? And of course, we'll need the paperwork if we're thinking of collecting on those loans.

Re: the loans. We'll some time to look through the books to get a better idea of who owes what, but my initial thought is to forgive any accumulated interest and start fresh with an interest rate more reasonable than whatever Dragos was presumably charging. Anything they already paid counts towards paying off the principal.

Re: the prisoners. I had two ideas for how to deal with them. They aren't necessarily as mutually exclusive as they might sound. First, to be direct, has anyone ever thought about becoming a crime lord? Because we've basically got your criminal organization in our pocket right now. We'd need to determine which of them would be open to a new boss and which ones are better gotten rid of, but it's a potentially useful resource. Before all of this with Dragos started, I was already thinking they could be used to give us eyes around the city to use against Klammenberg. It's also a means to (literally) control the crime in the city. Better to keep it under our thumbs than to let Varga turn into the new Dragos. Speaking of, dealing with him is also on the list, but it's a much lower priority now that Dragos is out of the way.

The second thought I had was to involve the cult of Verena. Play it up as a show of fairness and justice. It also could give Adelbert a way to increase his own prestige in the city and an excuse to pass along a cut of the loot as a donation to the temple for their help in the matter. Why those things aren't mutually exclusive is that they'd be asked to determine how much guilt the men share for their involvement in Dragos's crimes and make recommendations, but the captain's men would still be the ones ultimately deciding and carrying out the sentence. Sieghard is more concerned about the appearance of fairness and justice than actually giving them a fair trial. If we deem them useful, then we make them useful. If not, then we punish them as is reasonable. And if they're not only useless, but also potentially dangerous to us, then we get rid of them.

Plans going forward are to escort the prisoners and loot back, ask Elsa to join him for a drink to celebrate a job well done, and then get some sleep. Tomorrow, I want to drag Dragos's corpse out where everyone can see it, parade him around, and use it and any resulting good will as an excuse to do some recruiting. After that? Probably check out our new warehouses and get to focusing on Klammenberg and preparing to deal with his vampire.

[LeSwordfish]

"Sforza's loaded and about to get even more so, he doesn't care about that." Ludo said. "Wiping peoples debts to Dragos makes you a hero, making them pay it back makes you another gangster. We need the public goodwill right now."

[LCP]

With pleas for clemency and implausible protests of innocence, the last of Dragos' men were escorted to the boats. With just these additional passengers, Dragos' extra boat would have allowed them to empty the cave in one trip, but Sieghard's determination not to leave any of No-Nose's goods behind necessitated two. Leaving some men to watch over the boxes and barrels, Sieghard took his place in the last boat of the first leg, clutching the heavy strongbox close to his chest. Elsa tried to ignore how much lower it made the back of the boat sit in the water.

Back at the docks, a number of onlookers gathered to watch as Dragos' men were bundled off to the keep. Murmurs began to spread as Dragos' body was dragged up onto the pier, before some of the Volunteers had the initiative to disperse the growing number of gawkers. They retreated back into the moonlit streets, but Ludo could still feel curious eyes watching from behind the shuttered windows of the houses.

The goods from the cave were stashed in the Greenapple house, the din from Dragos' caged dogs enough to wake the dead as the miltia tramped back and forth through the hall. The stink from their kennel had grown unpleasantly strong, and the animals looked gaunt and hungry. Trying his best to block out the racket, Sieghard made sure that the Crimson Shade was placed under lock and key before stepping back out into the warm night air. He took a deep breath, breathing in the smells of the river.

The lamps were still lit in the Fat Fish, the smell of hops and cookfires drifting on the feeble breeze. After a night like this, they could all use a drink.

---

Marktag, 28th Vorgeheim

Dawn broke into another cloudless day, the rattle of carts filling the dry air with the dust of the streets. It was market day, and the second week's worth of shipments from the eastern Downs were coming over the bridge into Savonne. Knots of hungry-looking people loitered by the riverside, looking for whatever morsels they could beg, barter or steal from the passing farmers. If Sieghard meant to make the docks his stage that morning, he would certainly have an audience.

OOC:

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I leave the narration of letting everyone know what happened to Dragos up to you guys (don't forget any attendant rolls). Let me know what plans you have going beyond that - with the immediate threat of Dragos dealt with, you might want to plan over several days. You have five more days left before Geheimnistag.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard brought a small party made up of men who had accompanied them to the cave the night before. He paused to give them instructions on where to construct a rough gibbet to display the body

"People of Savonne, gather 'round and see that law and order have returned to the city!" Sieghard called to those who had already stopped to gawk. He had spent some time the night before thinking about what to say, wondering how Viggo would've worded it. "Come look for yourselves and see the fate of all who would prey on the hard working and innocent people of our city. Before you is No-Nose Dragos, who thought himself a bandit king to ruled the docks and slums with fear and violence. Dragos the smuggler, Dragos the bandit, Dragos the racketeer, Dragos the poisoner, Dragos the murderer and now, Dragos the dead!"

"He thought that he was above justice and tried to hide, like a rat digging into its burrow. And like a rat, only when cornered did he try to fight." He drew his sword and held the point level with the wedge he had cut open in the side of the crime lord's face before sheathing it again. "It earned him nothing but a messier death. His underlings have been dragged out to face judgement and his nest burned out. The same end awaits any who would challenge the rule of law in the city. While Sforza rules, Savonne will be a place of peace and order!"

"You may all rest a bit easier at night knowing that the likes of No-Nose Dragos will trouble you no more, his grip over the people of Savonne has ended!"

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Fel skills have always been one of Sieghard's weaker points, but here goes nothing. He'll just give a little speech to try to get some attention and leave any actual recruiting to Ludo since he's actually the one with the silver tongue.

Since Sieghard isn't trying to get the people to do anything, is a straight fel test ok, or do you want an untrained charm?
(1d100)[57] vs 54 / 27
(1d100)[28] Reroll

Is displaying the body worth any sort of bonus? Because even if it's going to take untrained charm, that was a pretty good roll.

[LCP]

Sieghard was no Viggo, that much was for certain. Gesturing to Dragos' stiff, dangling body with his sword, his well-rehearsed words came out sounding more menacing than inspiring. Or at least, that was the impression he got from the faces of the assembled onlookers. As he let his gaze drift over them, he wondered how many of the boatmen and stevedores gawping up at the corpse on the end of the rope had in some way been part of Dragos' gang. This had been the heart of his little empire, and he must surely have had more men in his pay than the seven they had snatched from that dank cave in the Rock.

Whether the speech went down well or not, for the purposes of grabbing attention, Dragos' body was worth a thousand words. News spread quickly, and the initial gaggle of gawkers quickly swelled to a crowd. No-Nose Dragos was dead, and everyone in the docks wanted to see it with their own eyes.

[LeSwordfish]

"You know they'll start mixing this up with the murders too," Ludo said to Sieghard in a low voice. "If another one happens, they'll really panic."

[-Sentinel-]

27th Vorgeheim

Elsa stayed at the tavern longer than most, having challenged herself to make each drink last as long as possible instead of getting drunk as she would have done a year ago. By the time her friends were about to depart, she was no more than pleasantly tipsy. She was tempted to invite Sieghard to spend the night in her room, but decided to go over to Adelbert's house, as she and the priest had discussed. She made sure to let Sieghard know her reasons; he was not the jealous sort but she was aware of how odd her choice of bed might otherwise seem. "You're welcome too," she added, as if she had any say in who could stay under Adelbert's roof.

OOC

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As I said earlier, Elsa wishes to spend nights at Adelbert's place because she believes him to live closer to the source of evil, and is hoping that her magical sense will be able to pick something up (e.g. through dreams). She will be quite secretive about the whole thing, as she doesn't want any rumors about an affair.

---

28th Vorgeheim

Elsa made sure to get up early the next morning so she could sneak out of Adelbert's house without being seen by too many. Determined to do something about the caged dogs, she went to the market to buy five pounds of raw sausages, some roughly-crafted earthenware bowls, and a narrow-bladed but long-hafted spade. She visited the still-barking dogs, put the sausages and water in the bowls, and used the spade to push the bowls into the cages and remove as much of the excrement as possible from the cages without putting her hands within biting range.

She then sat down in the middle of the room to talk and sing to the dogs for an hour or so, even though their barking mostly drowned her out. Her words did not matter, and neither did their attitude to them. All that mattered is that they become used to her presence.


OOC

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I don't know how taming the dogs would work; I'm assuming that it takes quite a bit more than a single Charm Animal test to overcome their KILL KILL KILL conditioning and make them accept that they are under new management. Perhaps a sustained effort would work, such as a number of successful tests within a certain period?

Elsa has Charm Animal as an elite advance from the time she was looking for a familiar. Note that, for that first day, she is being exceedingly cautious and will never try to touch them. Carrot first, then we'll see about stick.

Charm Animal 39: (d100)[82]
Fortune: (d100)[99]

Edit: Oof. Another day? If at first you don't succeed...

No worries, I've no intent to have Elsa run around with a pack of dogs and add a crapload of bookkeeping to our fights and adventures. Once the doggos are more or less tame, Elsa will relinquish their responsibility to someone else. She just hates to let them go to waste. (Also she's a dog person¹. A big dog person. She would agree with Ron Swanson's quote: "Any dog under 50 pounds is a cat, and cats are pointless.")

¹ Not a jackal person, though. For some reason she's not a fan of those.


I'll need a price for Elsa's purchases, assuming normal craftsmanship for everything.

---

By mid-morning, Elsa decided she had done about as much as she could do about the dogs for today. On her way back to the market for some breakfast, she saw Sieghard give his speech in front of Dragos' body. She winced a bit at the muted reaction of the crowd; Sieghard did not seem very good at reading the room.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard - Last Night

Elsa stayed at the tavern longer than most, having challenged herself to make each drink last as long as possible instead of getting drunk as she would have done a year ago. By the time her friends were about to depart, she was no more than pleasantly tipsy. She was tempted to invite Sieghard to spend the night in her room, but decided to go over to Adelbert's house, as she and the priest had discussed. She made sure to let Sieghard know her reasons; he was not the jealous sort but she was aware of how odd her choice of bed might otherwise seem. "You're welcome too," she added, as if she had any say in who could stay under Adelbert's roof.

"I'm sure Adelbert would love that," Sieghard replied. "No, I think I'll pass so we aren't keeping him awake all night." There was some disappointment in his voice. He trusted Elsa of course, but that didn't mean he was happy to be spending the night alone.

Now

"You know they'll start mixing this up with the murders too," Ludo said to Sieghard in a low voice. "If another one happens, they'll really panic."

"Dragos isn't the only killer around and I never said anything about him being the one attacking the priests," he muttered. He wasn't stupid enough to make such a bold claim and knew that if he had it would only come back to bite him later. "If folk confuse the two on their own, there's nothing we can do about that but deal with it when it happens. For now, just play the crowd I guess. You're the one with the silver tongue, not me." Their reaction of stunned silence had made that fact perfectly clear.

[LeSwordfish]

"If you want," Ludo said. He thought for a moment, and then clambered onto a barrel. "Perhaps what the commander didn't mention was that Dragos' operation is finished now: all his accomplices in custody, his asset's siezed. You needn't worry about his gangsters coming to visit again - and if they do, then they'll find that a difficult career to keep." And more to the point, don't keep being a criminal and we won't need to arrest you.

"Next up, we're going to find the man who killed those priests, and we're going to string him up there too! This isn't the mad duke's reign, this isn't the wolf-risen and his bastards pillaging your homes - Captain Sforza will make Savonne safe and strong! Just you wait and see."

Not his best work, but it should do.

[LCP]

27th Vorgeheim

Weaving through the winding streets of the Old Town well after sundown, the warm haze of the Fat Fish’s ale began to give way to a cold weight in Elsa’s gut. They had discussed not walking the streets alone after dark… but the killer was only targeting priests. A wizard was different from a priest. Wasn’t she?

Quickening her step just a little, she hurried to the house in Half Moon Alley. Adelbert had already gone to bed, and took some time to answer her determined knocking. When at last the bleary-eyed priest opened the door, she spared a quick glance back over her shoulder before stepping over the threshold. There was nothing there.

The Lazar house was cramped and shabby compared to her quarters in the keep, though it felt a little cosier than those austere stone walls. From the window of the attic room, she watched the moons rise high over the rooftops, lighting the flitting to-and-fro of bats from the old Arabyan minaret on Tower Street. She did feel she was closer to something, some power, out here than behind the stone walls of the castle.

Dragging her gaze away from Morrslieb’s gibbous face, she felt her eyelids grow heavy. Her familiar nested down on her shoulder, the two of them drifting off together in the light of his unwholesome namesake…

Elsa

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Elsa’s dreams felt jumbled and disjointed. She saw Astoria’s pale body, eyes staring glassily back at her. She saw her reflection in the Brethren’s mirror, dissolving and blowing away into dust. She saw Dragos, standing with an expression of bafflement on his face in a desert of bone-white sand beneath a bottomless black sky. On an altar before him lay a feather, a pair of scales, and a long, hooked knife.

The dream fractured again, and she found herself back in the Shade-runners’ cave. She was alone here, but for the smeared pool of blood Dragos’ demise had left behind. As she watched, a sleek shape padded out of the shadows towards it. Bigger than any of Dragos’ mastiffs, it was an enormous jackal, its coat as smooth and black as onyx.

Slowly, it lowered its long head to the floor, lapping up the spilt blood. Elsa gave an involuntary intake of breath, and it stopped – lifting its head again, it sniffed the air, its long, pointed ears angling forward. Its burning eyes seemed to stare right through her.

You think you are strong enough to face him? croaked a cracked voice in her ear, bringing with it the scent of woodsmoke and burning flesh. She thought she felt the faint touch of a hand – or claw – on her shoulder. The jackal continued to stare, like a man squinting through thick fog.
No mortal is strong enough alone, whispered a second voice. The jackal looked away at last, as if satisfied that it had only seen a shadow.
So little time, rasped a third. Before the sand runs out.
Three times we shall come, hissed the voices together. Do not forget us.

Turning away, the jackal stalked into the darkness at the back of the cave, seeming to dissolve bodily into the darkness there. Feeling something wet run over her toes, Elsa looked down to see dark water lapping at her feet. The river was rising.

She turned and made for the open air, but the water was rising too quickly, its current dragging her off her feet. Throwing out her hands to catch her fall, she felt the rising tide flow over them. It was warm and thick, its coppery tang filling the air. Not water. Blood.

She struggled to her feet as the blood rose to her waist, looking back over her shoulder for someone, anyone to help. As it rose to her chest, she saw two points of light glimmer in the shadows. The jackal saw her now, of that she was certain. In the last glimpse she caught before the flood closed over her head, its face looked more like a bare canine skull than flesh and fur...

She woke gasping for air, her lungs taking a few breaths to convince themselves that she wasn’t drowning. What any of it meant, if it meant anything, she couldn’t say for sure – but she felt a stronger sensation of being watched now than she had at any point on her lonely walk through the streets. Rising from the chair where she had dozed off, she closed the shutters to block out the sickly moonlight, and at length slipped back into more restful sleep.

---

28th Vorgeheim

Elsa

The relentless barking of Dragos’ dogs was a welcome change from the silent ones in Elsa’s dreams. Ignoring their slobbering and scratching against the bars of their cage, she got them to accept some water before throwing them the sausages, at which point the interior of the cage descended into a barking frenzy that scattered water bowls and dirty rushes left and right. Her efforts to soothe them were utterly lost in the din, and she found that even her patience for the animals had limits.

Another day, she thought, watching the largest of the mastiffs wrench a link of sausages from the jaws of one of the others. They’re not going anywhere.

OOC:

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1s 8p for the sausages
1gc 5s for the spade
1s per bowl for the bowls.

Modifiable by Barter as usual

The Dockside Display

Some of the people in the crowd looked skeptical at Ludo's promises of an end to crime. Dragos had hardly been the first of his kind to tread the streets of Savonne, and he was unlikely to be the last. Perhaps some potential contenders were even watching as he spoke - but then, perhaps those people understood his message a little better. Either way, Ludo's oratory seemed to make the atmosphere briefly less grim, and a few people made approving sounds at the idea of this particular racketeer not darkening their doors again.

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Not sure whether to ask for a roll as I'm not sure what Ludo is aiming to achieve - just putting a less intimidating gloss on Sieghard's speech?

In terms of gathering a good-sized audience, just having your Dragos-on-a-rope is setting a very high baseline that speeches etc. only slightly modify. If you want to proceed to a recruiting pitch you should go right ahead.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa only

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This time, when the dry, rasping creatures visited her, Elsa managed to turn her dread into anger. How dared these spirits invade her own mind and tell her what to do?

No mortal is strong enough alone, said one.

I am not alone, she replied coolly. That's part of what makes me a mortal.

So little time. Before the sand runs out.

And then what? You'll keep sticking me with your little nails? She was at her wits' end, and her frustration about her own powerlessness made her feel emboldened rather than resigned. You tell me I need you, and then you tell me you'll visit dire consequences upon me if I refuse you. If you were here to help me rather than yourselves, you wouldn't need to threaten me.


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Hoping this defiance doesn't affect the events we've already written...

Three times we shall come, hissed the voices together. Do not forget us.

Does this count as a visit?

[RossN]

Adelbert

'I assume it went well since you are standing here,' Adelbert said to Elsa when she turned up at his door in the middle of the night. He yawned and stepped aside, allowing her entry before retreating to his own bed.

---

28th Vorgeheim

The following morning Adelbert went to the Temple, still ruminating about the uselessness of the other clergy. Clearly he'd have to take matters into his own hands.

He made a beeline to Hieronymous. 'That consecration you used in Caerfort. Must it be used in a dedicated temple or could it be used to make... say, a street, holy ground?' Adelbert scratched his beard. 'I think its time we take the offensive in this war and open up a front in the spiritual realm.'

[LCP]

Adelbert

Adelbert was lucky - Hieronymus was at the temple today. The reception he got from him, however, was almost as frosty as Liebrecht had been the day before. Regarding his acolyte with tightly pursed lips, Hieronymus took some time to decide what to say.

"I know what you think, Brother Schreiber," he said at last, restraining his voice so they would not be overheard. "The whole Temple knows what you think. You disrespected our high priestess to tell her so." He paused. "Twice."

Briefly closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. "Sometimes you make me wonder about the wisdom of taking you on at this age, Schreiber. Most of our initiates come to us as children. We learn humility by washing robes and scrubbing floors. We learn to put aside our pride." He looked Adelbert up and down. "But the goddess teaches us that it is never too late to learn."

"The question of discipline has been left to me. You will go to Raqiyah, and you will apologise for your behaviour. You will ask her what menial tasks you can take from her initiates, and you will perform them, without rest, without complaint, from now until sundown. Then you will have gone some way to repairing our reputation on this conclave. Then we can speak of rites of consecration." He looked into Adelbert's eyes to see if he had made himself clear. "Until then, if the Captain's men need our help, they can speak to myself and the high priestess. You will be scrubbing."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard let Ludo's words hang in the air a moment, watching the crowd carefully before clearing his throat to speak up again.

"Of course, there's always a need for more brave men to help keep the streets safe," he continued, about as subtle as Dragos's dangling corpse. "There's good pay, good food, and the thanks of the city for any man who can wield a sword or crossbow and wants to earn glory protecting the Downlands. Ludo, tell them of the sights we've seen and foes we've felled."

Spoiler

Show

Sieghard is just trying to do an intro/assist for the main recruitment pitch/roll. LeSwordfish, if you don't mind, can Ludo play retell glorified versions of a couple past adventures?

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert stood listening to Hireonymous for a long moment. His cheeks burned and his eyes widened at the rebuke. When the older priest had finished he took a deep breath.

'I resign. Goodbye Father Hireonymous.'

He turned on his heel and marched back home, where he could cry and yell in peace. In a way it almost felt freeing. At least now he could concentrate on catching Klammenberg and his crew.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo set to his usual recruitment patter, though his enthusiasm was a little dimmed by the crows taking an increased attention in the dangling corpse. Ludo had held remarkably little rancor for Dragos - sure, he'd put Ludo in a sack and threatened to throw him in the river. Compared to the many people that had tried to literally kill him, with a sword, in the face, that was practically neutral.

Spoiler

Show

Charm vs 72: (1d100)[100]

[LCP]

The Temple

“This is how you discharge your oaths?” Hieronymus called after Adelbert as he made to leave. The congregants in the temple looked round as the old priest raised his voice for the first time. “To serve the gods and their people? You abandon your duties for the sake of petty pride?”

As Hieronymus’ words fell on his ears, the owl pendant around Adelbert’s neck seemed to hang a little heavier. “As Verena is my witness, Schreiber,” Hieronymus said, a shade of melancholy creeping into his voice. “Your pride will be the death of you.”

---

Dockside

Most of the assembled dock-workers turned away from Sieghard’s makeshift gallows once the talk turned to the gold and glory to won with the army. They had jobs already, ones that didn’t require them to risk life and limb – at least, not on the good days. Among the starving rabble who had come to beg food from the passing wagons, however, the idea of becoming one of the people that food had been purchased to feed quickly gained traction.

Soon enough, Ludo had signed up fifteen new recruits. Eleven men and four women, most of them looked as if they would need some fattening up before they could be put to training with halberds or other heavy weapons. Dragos’ bloodstained face watched over them as one by one they took the Captain’s schilling, the rope around the dead man’s neck creaking softly as he swayed in the breeze. Pecking at the hard brass of his false nose, the first crow to settle on his shoulder squawked in displeasure.

Once they had wrung every last volunteer from the crowd, they headed over to examine the warehouses Dragos had left behind. They appeared much like the other warehouses surrounding them, cheaply built and hastily repaired in the wake of Alvarr’s siege. Ludo felt fairly confident that one of them was the place where Dragos’ goons had interrogated him and Viggo. Both were largely empty of anything valuable, though in one they found half a barrel of the cheeses and smoked meats that had gone missing from the stores, and eight small kegs of gunpowder. What the latter had been meant for, Dragos was no longer alive to say, but Sieghard suspected it wouldn’t have been good for Burhan’s boats.

Leaving the miltia to take inventory, Sieghard tucked Dragos’ ledger under his arm and headed for the keep.

---

Talking to Irene

The Captain’s wife was in the stables, dressed in immaculate riding gear and watching a hapless stable-hand try and fail to put a saddle on Belehir’s horse. The grey-bearded stable master was sweating profusely as she offered her barbed commentary on the spectacle, asking if all his servants were as good as this one.

“Commander,” she said, looking over her shoulder as Sieghard entered. “I hope you have a reason for this interruption. Can’t you see I’m dealing with important matters?” She turned in a swirl of green velvet, letting the stable master sidle away with an expression of palpable relief. “Have you caught the killer?”

She looked unimpressed when he told her he hadn’t, and uninterested as he filled her in on the details of their attack on Dragos’ hideout. When he offered her the ledger, she accepted it only reluctantly, as if she was being asked to examine someone’s dirty underwear.

“What is this?” she asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “Some peasant’s book of accounts?” Idly turning a page, she read aloud: “Costin the tailor, of Gods’ Row, one hundred and seven crowns… people go to money-lenders for sums like this? Why don’t they just ask their friends?” She looked genuinely baffled. “Do peasants not have friends? There’s so many of them, they must do.”

Losing interest in the question, she handed the book back to Sieghard. “I don’t care what you do with this. Keep it, sell it, throw it in the river. Just don’t bother me about it again.”

Looking round, she realised too late that the stable master and his boy had used the opportunity of Sieghard’s distraction to escape. From its stall, Belehir’s horse treated her to a blank, inimical stare.

---

Excuse Me Sir, Have You Seen a Big Black Dog?

Inside the keep itself, Elsa was searching for any record of empty houses in or around Half Moon Alley. Record-keeping was not the lords of the Reaches’ strong suit. There were some tax ledgers of Belehir’s and Alvarr’s in the castle library, but they didn’t preserve the detail she needed. The tax collectors hadn’t been interested in people’s addresses, only the contents of their pockets.

Sieghard’s militia were not much help to her either. Most were still outsiders to the city, and none had been tasked to patrol the streets outside those Sieghard had posted to watch the docks. The watchmen employed by the city’s merchants, though they seemed far less trustworthy, appeared to have a better idea of what was going on on the streets. Talking to a few in the South Market square, Elsa gathered that the greatest numbers of beggars and vagabonds gathered in the neighbourhoods closest to the north and south gates, where they were coming in from the western Downs. Neither gate was particularly close to Half Moon Alley.

Meanwhile, Ludo was taking Stoutheart for a tour of the murder sites. First Jakub’s in the docks, and then Constanza’s in South Market. The little terrier didn’t seem to pick up a scent at either, except when a fishmonger with a basket of perch passed him by, at which point he ran after her and did his level best to trip her up. The feral cats trailing the woman looked a little disappointed that he failed.

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert had been wondering whether he had made the right choice when Hieronymus spoke to him again. The younger priest shuddered. Right or wrong he couldn't go back now; the humiliation would be unthinkable. Unbearable. And what could he look forward too? A life of being that priest who had to grovel his way back in?

He fiddled with his pendant, face grey.

'Perhaps so Father Hieronymus, but it has stood me good stead in dark situations. Humility is not always the best defence against monsters.' He lowered his eyes. 'Though perhaps it is called for today.'


He braced himself, feeling the bile rising in his throat at what he was about to say. 'I will go to Raqiyah and apologise and do penance.'

[LCP]

Adelbert

Hieronymus looked surprised to say the least. After a long silence, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good," he said, putting a reassuring hand on Adelbert's shoulder. "Good. You will find her downstairs. Go now, we will speak later."

The lower levels of the temple were dark and cool, the smell of incense drifting from the sanctum. As usual, it took some time for Raqiyah to appear, one of her initiates having been sent to fetch her. Though she still looked tired and weak, she didn't seem as chilly towards Adelbert as the other priests had been.

"Brother Schreiber," she said. "You wanted to speak with me?"