[WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

[Thragka]

Urgrim

29th Vorgeheim, or, Elsa's memory

"I mentioned the name, and the fellow looked like he was trying hard to remember something. Then he just went blank in the face and said he didn't know anyone like that. I wouldn'a thought much of it if you hadn't been talking about wi- about magic and memories."

30th Vorgeheim, the Butcher's Head

Urgrim gave an assentive grunt to Otto's report, a flagon of dreadful beer at his lips. I've got to stop ordering this piss.

"She say anything else? Don't worry, lad," he added gently as he took in the young man's anxious demeanour. "You've held up your end of the bargain now, far as I'm concerned. I'll make sure the Commander knows that. But it'd be a favour to us if you wouldn't mind stocking here a little longer." The dwarf slid a few pfennigs across the table. "Get yourself a drink, sit down somewhere - not with me - and hang about another half hour, looking nervous. Aye, like that." He smiled softly to show he was teasing. "I jus' wanna see if it makes the landlady uncomfortable. Then head on back to the Commander and tell him exactly what you told me. Alrigh'?"

Shooing Otto off back in the direction of the bar, Urgrim settled back into his seat and continued people-watching. Occasionally, he sighed and raised the beer to his mouth to take a quick gulp. He'd paid for it, and it seemed a waste not to finish it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Urgrim wants to keep an eye on the landlady (as inconspicuously as possible) just to see what she does next. He'll also watch out for anyone who appears to be going upstairs but not to the roof seating, if that appears to be possible. I'll roll Perception, with Fate. Perception74 - (1d100)[99] reroll - (1d100)[63]

I'll be online pretty frequently for the rest of the evening UK time, so can respond to anything out of the ordinary fairly immediately rather than dragging it out to tomorrow!

[LCP]

Urgrim

Otto needed no particular talent as an actor to do as he was told and look nervous. However long he loitered, he seemed to draw no further attention from the landlady - nor from anyone, except a young woman who lingered briefly at his table. Otto wasn’t a bad-looking lad, by human standards, but he clearly was in no mind to flirt with strangers tonight.

Watching the other patrons come and go, Urgrim kept his eyes peeled for anything suspicious. As far as he could see, they all looked like ordinary umgi going about their business. The sun sank below the level of the houses, and as the punters began to trickle out of the Butcher’s Head, Urgrim considered that he should join them. Whatever was stalking the streets at night had yet to show a taste for dawi blood, but that was no reason to take chances…

---

Konigstag, 31st Vorgeheim

Dawn broke blood-red over the city on Konigstag, the sun’s light seeming slow and sticky in the dusty air. There was still not a cloud in the sky, and the heat seemed to be getting to some people: a couple of fights had broken out during the night, making work for Shallyans and Morrites alike. Ingwald thought it likely due to the power vacuum left behind by Dragos’ death; Hieronymus ascribed it to the waxing influence of the moons. Either way, Sieghard was glad to hear that the casualties still seemed to have most of their blood on the inside.

Descending from the castle to the riverside, the party went together to see to Dragos’ dogs. They no longer tried to bite Elsa, even before feeding, but that was about as much progress as she had made. They would simply wait attentively until she brought out the butchers’ scraps, at which point the cage that held them descended into uncontrollable barking chaos. At least the barks no longer seemed directed at her.

OOC:

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Can you describe the end state into which you’re looking to modify the dogs’ behaviour?

Ludo & Sieghard

Leaving Elsa to her own devices, Ludo headed to the Old Town, Sieghard tagging along with him. Going door-to-door between the little shops that dotted the winding streets around Half Moon Alley, he held up one of the printed handbills bearing Klammenberg’s likeness and asked the shopkeepers if they had seen anyone matching the description. Most shrugged and shook their heads, though the size of the reward had a few of them picking their brains for anything that could be useful.

In an apothecary’s shop on Needle Street, the gimlet-eyed old proprietor took the poster from Ludo and squinted at it over the top of her half-moon glasses. “Isn’t this that new Verenan fellow up at the Temple?” she asked, then squinted a little harder. “No… you know, I think I did have a fellow like that come in, a good while back. Buying charms, I think it was.” She reached up with her stick and rustled the bundles of dried herbs that dangled from the rafter above her head. “Paid real gold. I thought the coins looked funny, but I took them to Herr Armand and he told me, real gold. That was before the sickness took him, Morr rest his soul.”

She shook her head. “It’s funny,” she added, looking a litte concerned, “but I’d completely forgotten until you asked. You’d think you’d remember a fellow like that.” She looked down at the poster again. “How much did you say was the reward?”

Elsa

Heading back alone through the streets of the city, Elsa made for the carpenter’s shop. The man didn’t seem to have quite twigged to who she was, and didn’t take kindly to being disturbed from his work.

“What? What is it?” he demanded, red-faced and covered in sawdust. “You’d better be looking to buy a chair, young lady, or I’ve no time for you.”

It was difficult to see in the bright daylight, but Elsa thought she could just make out a glimmer of Ulgu hanging over his eyes, as insubstantial as a shred of gauze.

Adelbert

Around noon, Hieronymus and Grigore appeared at the temple, escorting two visitors with them. Adelbert recognised one of them - a tall, thin, weathered-looking man with a deep tan and a staff capped with a stag’s antler, he was the priest of Taal he had seen at the Conclave. The woman with him was shorter, plumper, considerably younger, and carried a staff of her own topped with a sheaf of wheat. He guessed this might be Mother Gaertner’s successor.

“Brother Schreiber,” said Hieronymus with a smile, “good to see you! You see our letter-writing was not in vain. Father Balios and Sister Jocasta have answered the call.”

“This had better be real, Hieronymus,” said Balios. “You know I’ve never liked coming into town.” He sniffed the air like a wild animal, wrinkling his nose at the smells of the baking city. “Our place is out in the green country. You know that troublemaker Armin is out in the west Downs, spreading his heresies?”

“Four priests of the Temple are dead,” said Hieronymus flatly in reply. “I assure you, Father Balios, it is extremely real. And you’ve arrived at the perfect time to help.” He turned to Adelbert. “Brother Schreiber, when is it you think your friends among the Captain’s men might be ready to assist us with our rites?”

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"A hundred and thirty-six crowns," Sieghard answered.

"Do you still have any of the funny looking coins?" he asked, his thoughts immediately turning to the gold they had taken from the ruins. "Could we see them?"

[LeSwordfish]

"How many charms did he buy to need to pay with multiple gold crowns?" Ludo asked thoughtfully.

[Thragka]

Urgrim, 30th Vorgeheim, The Butcher's Head

As Otto took his leave, Urgrim downed the last of his beer with a grimace. Oh well. In for a pfennig, in for a crown.

He made his way to the bar and waited for the landlady's attention. "An ale, please. How much for room and board?"

When he got an answer, he ordered a meal. "Friend of mine told me about this place, but he said it was a fellow running it. How long you been in charge?"

If the landlady was willing to answer his questions, he had another few queries lined up:

"Old fellow took sick, did he? I heard folks were pent up in here. Can't have been fun.

"Oh, my friend? Well, actually, haven't seen him in a while. Dwarf with ginger hair. Heavy drinker. I'm trying to find him actually - hoping he didn't take sick when things were bad. You wouldn't have seen anyone like that?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Gossip, with Fate, against 16: (1d100)[73] (1d100)[65]

[LCP]

30th Vorgeheim - Urgrim

The landlady looked down over the counter at Urgrim and sniffed. "Twelve schillin' for the room" she said. His questions about the previous owner didn't seem to go down well. "My husband passed away during the sickness. Not that it's any of your concern."

At his questions about Thengdrim, she shook her head. "Haven't had anyone like that in here," she said. "We don't get many dwarfs."

---

31st Vorgeheim - Sieghard & Ludo

"How many charms did he buy to need to pay with multiple gold crowns?" Ludo asked thoughtfully.

The old apothecary's eyes flicked from side to side. "Well you know," she said, "Witchbane and daemonsroot ain't cheap to get. And I like to charge people what they can afford. He looked like an educated sort." Here 'educated' clearly meant 'rich', at least in the apothecary's estimation. "Funny how things come back to you," she mumbled.

"Do you still have any of the funny looking coins?" he asked, his thoughts immediately turning to the gold they had taken from the ruins. "Could we see them?"

Even with Ludo's natural charm, the woman was cautious about showing strangers where she kept her money - but after giving Sieghard a long, wary look, she stooped down behind the counter. There was a clattering of items being rearranged, a certain amount of cursing, the click of a lockbox lid - and at length she rose stiffly back up, a single coin pinched between her bony fingers.

"There it is," she said, putting it on the counter where she could easily snatch it back. It looked very much like the coins they had taken from Kheneb-Ptra-Urush, an uneven disk of bright gold, worn smooth by age. It bore the device of a stylised jackal's head, and a shallow indentation that looked like a tooth mark. "Pretty, ain't it? Herr Armand thought it might be Arabyan money."

[LeSwordfish]

"No, I'm serious," Ludo said. "How much did he buy? And what? Only fair to charge what people can afford, of course, but if you can remember what he bought that would be very useful."

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

"I'll have to check," said the apothecary, quickly scooping the coin back into the pocket of her apron. "Like I said, I'd clean forgotten until you asked. But I've got my ledgers for what goes in and what goes out." Pulling a heavy, cheaply-bound book across the counter, she levered it open. "Let's see, it'll have been more than a month back now..."

They waited for a while in silence as she flicked through the dry pages, squinting through her spectacles. At last, she stopped.

"I think this must've been the day," she said. "Three bundles of witchbane, three of daemonsroot, two of dried mistletoe. And a genuine toadstone besides." She turned the ledger around so that Ludo could read, though he had to stand on tiptoes to see above the counter. "If I'd known everyone'd be getting sick I'd've held on to that..."

[LeSwordfish]

"Did he clear your stocks out?" Ludo asked, "Or did you have plenty left? And what does each of these plants do for the afflicted?"

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

"Oh I've plenty left of the daemonsroot," said the apothecary. "They're more charms than cures. People hang 'em over doorframes and such to keep wicked spirits away, just like your rabbit's feet or your jackal claws. I got some of them too if you're buying." She opened a drawer filled with such talismans. "Daemonsroot I have heard talked about as curin' the Tomb Rot, which is a very nasty affliction. Still if that gentleman had had it I'd think I'd've noticed."

"Toadstone, now that's one of a kind," she added. "Meant to keep you safe from all kinds of poison and sickness. Don't know when I'll get my hands on another. Ain't easy catching the right kind of toad."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo hmmed thoughtfully. If Klammenberg had been buying up all the charms that would have been one thing. Maybe it was to conceal the more important Toadstone? "Tomb rot?"

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

"Not a common disease, but a nasty one. Stiffens up the joints and dries out the skin. Grave robbers often get it, poking around places they shouldn't." She shook her head. "But it ain't hard to spot. If that man had it I'd eat my shoe."

[-Sentinel-]

At the carpenter's shop


"You'd better be looking to buy a chair, young lady, or I've no time for you."

On a normal day Elsa would have offered to pay him for his time, but the past few days and nights had not been too good for her disposition and she just gave the carpenter a flat, irritated look.

"You will make the time," she replied. "I'm the court wizard, and you may have heard of what kind of magic I'm good at." She gazed around the shop meaningfully; many wooden things around here. "I'm looking for a fellow who's been going by the name Schnitter. Dark-haired man from the Empire, with a scholarly sort of look. I've been led to believe he may have been around here before, perhaps with a companion of few words."


OOC

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Can you describe the end state into which you're looking to modify the dogs' behaviour?

Hmm, good question actually. Elsa is no dog trainer, so even if she gains their trust, there's no guarantee she can make them loyal to the Thorns while keeping them capable of serving as attack animals.

What happened to the man we found in the warehouse, again? Is he a prisoner?

Are there any city-based professions that make use of large dogs? I guess we could just sell them and let them be the problem of someone who actually knows a damn about dogs. (And as a last resort we can sell them to a butcher.)

"There it is," she said, putting it on the counter where she could easily snatch it back. It looked very much like the coins they had taken from Kheneb-Ptra-Urush, an uneven disk of bright gold, worn smooth by age. It bore the device of a stylised jackal's head, and a shallow indentation that looked like a tooth mark. "Pretty, ain't it? Herr Armand thought it might be Arabyan money."

Oh, that's interesting. Sadly Elsa doesn't know about that and cannot pursue this line of inquiry with the carpenter.

[LeSwordfish]

"Right." Ludo said, distracted. "We'll come back at some point if you're due a portion of the reward. Thank you very much for the assistance so far, and we'll be in touch later."

Outside the shop he turned to Sieghard excitedly. "What if that's the magic? He's making people forget him! And if we jog their memory, they remember him again!" he gestured around. "Elsa said half the people in the Old Town had the signs of the magic, maybe this whole street is full of witnesses. Let's find her now, she said she was going to the carpenter."

Elsa, Sieghard, Ludo

Elsa turned at a polite cough behind her to see Ludo and Sieghard striding up. Ludo at least looked like he had been walking fast and excited: whether Sieghard was more taciturn or simply longer-legged was hard to tell.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa nodded silently to Ludo and Sieghard, a bit surprised to see them here but determined not to let that interrupt her unless what they had to say was urgent.

[LCP]

Carpentry Chat

The carpenter spluttered a little at Elsa's imperious words, but quietened down as he took in her appearance. Everyone had heard the stories about the Captain's wizard. Was it really worth taking a chance?

"I'll tell you the same as I told the dwarf," said the man, what had started as a defiant protest trailing off into a dull wheedle. "I haven't seen no Schnitter. I don't know why you're all so keen on him, but I never heard of him. I just make chairs." He hesitated, too cowed to tell Elsa to leave, but clearly hoping that she would. "And tables. Chairs and tables, mostly."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo held up the poster. "This man. Might have been called Schnitter or something else, might have been accompanied by another man all wrapped up in bandages like a leper." It was a great opportunity for him to test his theory.

[LCP]

Carpentering

The man squinted at the poster until something seemed to click inside his head. In her second sight, Elsa saw the last shreds of Ulgu around his eyes melt away in the light.

"You know, I think I did see a man who looked... a bit like that," he said. "He didn't give me a name though. Just said... said he was looking for a relation of his?" He blinked, seeming almost surprised at the sudden remembrance. "Said he was worried about them because they were living alone. But he couldn't tell me their name, so I sent him on his way. No time for chancers and timewasters, me." His eyes drifted to the bottom of the poster. "That's quite a reward..."

[LeSwordfish]

"He's making people forget." Ludo said, turning to Elsa. "That's what you're seeing with the winds. I bet everyone who's got the-" he gestured at his own face "- has had a conversation with him. And if he's just asking for people living alone, I bet one of them knows where he is right now."

[LCP]

You Said This Would Be About Chairs

"The... " - the carpenter mirrored Ludo's gesture, looking equal parts baffled and unsettled. "What's that meant to mean? Have I got something on my face?"

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo made a "shut up" gesture at the carpenter without looking and continued. "We've got the posters, let's get men on the street asking people, that seems to do the trick. We can also check people who were at the crime scene - maybe Burhan or the people in the old town have more information about the killings that they don't remember."

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert bowed to the newly arrived priests. 'Greetings Father Balios and Sister Jocasta. As sad as the circumstances that brought you here, your presence is very welcome.'

He turned to Hieronymus. 'Soon Father Hieronymus. Herr Sieghard has a plan to deal with the necromancer Klammenburg, and when he falls into our hands we'll be ready.'

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa reservedly thanked the carpenter for his time. Only once outside did she allow her excitement to show. "We finally have a trail of breadcrumbs," she told Ludo and the others. "I saw the magic dissipate as he started to remember. All we need to do is jostle people's memories... it's simpler than I thought."

The gears in her mind turned quickly. "Klammenberg was looking for a man who lived alone, but couldn't give a name. I bet he just wanted to find any house with a lone occupant, which he and his servants could easily take over to set their ambush for Mother Costanza. Now... quite a few people seem affected by the illusion spell, so I think he's been asking a lot of questions around town. In any case, anyone with the Grey Wind around their faces is someone who's had dealings with him."


OOC

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I think the plan is clear. Elsa uses her Magical Sense to detect who is affected by the spell, and we poke at their minds with descriptions of Klammenberg and Udolf in order to make them remember what Klammenberg wanted to know when he approached them. We might be able to figure out what the trio will do next, or where they'll go.

Let's start with the quarantine area.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"There's also the bit about the Toadstone and the herbs." Sieghard said. "The Morrites might have an idea of what he's planning with those."

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If we need to fetch men, Sieghard can go get them, but given that we need Elsa to zone in on whose had contact with Klammenberg, I'm not sure how much we'll get out of more men but only one Elsa. I'm also skeptical of Burhan being helpful. Elsa's been around him and he wasn't noted as being affected (though she wasn't specifically looking for it at the time), and Klammenberg also wasn't aware that he was around or else he'd be dead.

[-Sentinel-]

"Hmm. Herbalism isn't my field," admitted Elsa. "And there's only one of me to go around, so I'll focus on what only I can do. Ludo, mind coming with me? You have a glib tongue and you've been very useful just now."


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@Sentinel & TheSummoner: I'm not clear if you're waiting on me or further discussion. As always, if you want to do something IC, do it.

Yes, sorry, I was intending to move ahead with the plan. Starting with the quarantine quarter, then moving on to the Shallyan hospital (including patients and nuns).

Not sure if I still need to roll Magical Sense, as I rolled nothing during the last scene and still managed to see the wind of Ulgu. This is kind of an important matter as it pertains to Fortune Points: if I ever spend one on a test that I never actually needed to roll, I want to know about it so I can have it refunded. This can be a matter of life or death later on.

Anyway, Magical Sense 88. (d100)[54]
Fortune: (d100)[35]

Does the hypno-hobbit need to roll Gossip?

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"I'll do what I can as well." Sieghard replied. "Just point me to who we need to ask."

As they worked their way through the area that had been hit by the "plague," Sieghard approached the people Elsa indicated, showing them the posters and asking if they remember seeing anyone matching Klammenberg's description. And if so, how recently and where.

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Gossip rolled OOC.

[LCP]

Walking through the streets of the Old Town with a wizard pointing at people was a good way of scaring people off, and pretty soon the townspeople began to give them a wide berth. Still, in these crowded streets there were few places to go, and by the time the sun had passed its zenith they had accosted more than a dozen people who showed some signs of enchantment.

Most still showed no sign of recognition when shown the poster, the mystifying miasma still clinging around their eyes in Elsa's second sight. Around one in three found memories coming back to them in the same manner as the carpenter. Of those, most remembered only seeing someone in passing, not stopping for any kind of conversation.

All of them had seen him around dusk or dawn, largely in the tangle of old streets between Half Moon Alley and the Temple. A pie-seller on Tower Street remembered selling him pies on at least three different evenings, while a red-toothed beggar on Dog Lane claimed to have seen him feeding the birds on the east side of the Temple. The most recent sighting was from a scribe who said he had come in to buy some ink and parchment, and had been very curious about whether she did much business with the Verenans. Pressing her further, Sieghard learned that her shop was on Summer Street, at the north end of the district - the same street where Hieronymus lived.

[LeSwordfish]

"If he's just applying it to anyone he walks past then enough people and we could map the whole area he's in." Ludo said. "We should get the militia out here, get them all talking about it, that way we can cover more ground even if we don't know who's affected and who isn't. And get sketches of Udolf as well, maybe he's some of the rest of the drawings. And dawn and dusk... resting during the day?"

The last revelation was by far the most concerning to him. "Sounds like Hieronymous might be next."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"The militia can't see what Elsa sees," Sieghard pointed out. "We've only got one of her."

"Sounds like Hieronymous might be next."

"It does. But now that we know it, we can keep him out of harm's way. Maybe try to lure the killer into a trap with a fake Hieronymous."

[LeSwordfish]

"We don't need them to, if we get enough of them out, they can just ask everyone."

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What time is it now?