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  1. - Top - End - #1141
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    Default Re: [WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

    Adelbert

    Adelbert was almost falling over with exhaustion. Even with the heat from the flames he almost felt as he would never feel warm again, the pain from the necromancy like a ice shards in his soul. Still the appearance of the dwarfs raised his flagging spirits and with the rest of the priests he joined the bucket chain snaking down to the river.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheSummoner View Post
    "A murderer called Klammenberg is responsible for it[.]"
    Urgrim nearly fell over out of shock. "What?" Jostling closer, he got a better look at the state Sieghard was in - and then saw Adelbert too. "WHAT? You found him? You fought him?" He looked around, awed, taking in the details of the scene, and the blood drained from his face. "By the gods. Is everyone alright?" A pause. "... Hildebrand?" he appended in a small voice.

    In a brief moment, he had collected himself. ― Axes of the dwarfs!, he said in Khazalid. ― We cut firebreaks with the umgi warriors. He switched to Reikspiel and turned to Ludo. "Can you stand? Here, lean on me. If you can, you can give orders to the Thorns, and we can both translate to and from Khazalid."
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  3. - Top - End - #1143
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    “We speak the umgi tongue well enough, Jotunnsson” said the Dwimmulson smith, clapping a meaty hand on Urgrim’s shoulder. Looking back, she raised her voice to the other dwarfs. “Come on, zakis! There’s axe-work needs doing!”

    Rushing through the heat and smoke, humans and dwarfs alike bent their backs to the task. Roth returned shortly with what tools he had managed to gather, but the dwarfs were already doing a better job on that front than Sieghard could have hoped for.

    Sieghard himself felt as if he was cooking in his heavy armour, exhaustion weighing down his limbs as his throat grew raw with smoke and shouting. Adelbert felt much the same, all his willpower focused on just keeping his feet. Jocasta was the next link along in the bucket chain, her face shining with sweat as she slung buckets with the best of them. Sooner or later, he was going to have to tell her about Balios...

    They worked through the night and into the morning, the moons sinking back behind a wall of smoke as the sky began to lighten in the east. They could not stop the spread of the fire down Half Moon Alley and the adjoining streets, but the tireless work of the bucket brigade managed to halt it at Memmet’s Lane. North of the alley, the dwarfs made good headway pulling down the wooden upper storeys of the houses in the fire’s path, but were driven back when the flames reached the brandy barrels in the Butcher’s Head and the tallow stores of a chandler on Pie Street, roaring up above the rooftops with a new ferocity. Four of volunteers were dragged from the conflagration on Pie Street with burns to their face and hands, while in Red Square two of the dwarfs had to wrestle a woman back who tried to run into the fire, screaming something about her daughter.

    Those two fiercest tendrils of the fire raced almost to the river gate before the frantic axe-work of Urgrim’s dwarfs managed to finally cut a firebreak in front of them, just a block from the ramshackle warehouses that leaned against the inside of the city wall. Pitch, turpentine and lamp oil all came into Savonne down the river; if the fires had reached those stores, the fight might have been lost for good.

    As it was, when the sun finally inched above the eastern wall, the fire finally seemed under control. Smoke drifted from the blackened ruins it had left in its wake, a charred scar that stretched across the Old Town from Tower Street to the Street of Sorrows. It could have been much, much worse - but that would be little consolation to those who had lost everything. As the dawn illuminated the extent of the destruction, their voices began to rise on the breeze, clamouring in grief, confusion, and anger...




    Geheimnistag

    Elsa awoke somewhere quiet and cool. Blinking, she raised her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes - and felt pain shoot through her left arm, bright and excruciating. Her whole body felt weak and sick, like the world’s worst hangover. She felt as if just moving too quickly might make her bones crumble to dust inside her.

    Her left arm was splinted and swaddled in bandages, a dead weight at her side. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Ludo sitting up in the next bed over, sipping from a wooden bowl of some kind of broth. Behind him, the figure of Shallya smiled mournfully down on them from a small stained-glass window, early morning sunlight picking out the bleeding heart on her breast in brilliant red.

    “You’re awake?” said a white-robed initiate, entering the room with another bowl. “Shallya be thanked. Here, take this.” She pressed the bowl into Elsa’s good hand. “You need your strength.”

    OOC:
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    Everyone is at the same time, early morning. I'll leave those at the scene of the fire to formulate their immediate plans before throwing any more stuff their way.

    A bit of book-keeping: I don't think Elsa picked her staff up again after she dropped it, so that will have been lost in the fire. Adelbert will probably want to check on his rooms on Half Moon Alley and any possessions he had stashed there.
    Last edited by LCP; 2019-08-11 at 11:26 AM.
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    WFRP 2E - Tales of Perilous Adventure
    The Hour After Midnight
    The Lord of Lost Heart
    Ill Met By Morrslieb

    Dark Heresy 1E - Wake of the Byzantium
    Episodes: I, II, III, IV, V

    WFRP 2E - The Bloody Crown
    Threads: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X

  4. - Top - End - #1144
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    Default Re: [WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

    Geheimnistag

    The ache had built up, in his muscles and bones, as they worked from dusk until dawn to throttle the inferno, but Urgrim had been able to ignore the sensations thanks to the unrelenting urgency of knowing there was more yet to be done (or, more plausibly, the adrenaline). When it finally looked like they'd caged the beast, down by the river, the exhaustion finally hit him in full. He slumped back against a wall, and slid down to sit on his haunches on the ground as his vision went dark for a moment. He wondered what the death toll was.

    He wondered how many deaths he'd been responsible for.

    He'd made the decisions so quickly, in the furious heat of the moment, when his practised eye began noticing the locations of greater and lesser vulnerability in the combustible neighbourhood. He hadn't intended to take an authoritative role, but when he'd spoken, the team had listened, and begun to do as he said: pulling back from the lengths of houses that he reckoned could not be saved; sacrificing acres of the town to be burnt in order to race ahead of the embers and cut the firebreaks in advance at more strategic positions. It had seemed like a dream, just happening through him. It had made complete sense at the time, but now, like dream-logic, he was struggling to recall what had been so clear to him hours earlier.

    There would have been people in some of those sections he'd condemned. He'd known that, hadn't he? He must have known it at the time. It wasn't that he'd ignored it, it had just been that he - he knew what had to be done, so he'd done it, without letting himself be anguished. Now he had the privilege to despair, and ask if it had been the right thing to do, if it had even been his choice to make. But the fire wouldn't have cared for the philosophy of the thing. It couldn't be reasoned with, or debated on morality. It did not know good, or evil, it just knew fuel and air when it found them, and in a way that made it all very innocent ...

    A pitiful moan broak through his throat and lips like the wail of some dying beast, and then turned into a bout of coughing. Urgrim pushed himself to his feet. His body and his mind were knackered and numb. He wandered among the other dwarves, most of whom looked equally drained and dog-tired. He clasped arms and thumped shoulders, exchanging noises of gratitude, respect, encouragement, even quiet and tired pride. He wondered if they saw any difference in his eyes now.

    Staggered and staggering, Urgrim shuffled back in the direction of the Temple and the source of the blaze, searching for Sieghard. When he found the commander, Urgrim simply sat down beside him, closed his eyes, and breathed heavily.

    "I feel like the walking dead," he managed, in a cracked voice from his dry throat.
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  5. - Top - End - #1145
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    So last night was not just a bad dream.

    Elsa wordlessly accepted the bowl of broth with a shaking hand. It was hot enough to be painful to drink, but she powered through it. The pain felt only fair, given how much pain the fire (her fire) must have inflicted. She felt sick and exhausted, not only physically but also mentally. In retrospect, the wall of fire she had put up had hardly even been necessary. They could have dealt with the undead shamblers easily enough.

    She dared not ask how much damage had been done, how many people had died, before the disaster came under control. At least the city still stood, or at least, the part of it where the Shallyan hospital was located. Ludo was alive. And the others were fine, she assumed, or they would be here as well... unless they were dead.

    No reason why they'd be dead. I woke up outside the house and they were alive. Or did I dream that?

    And what of Klammenberg and the vampire? She had seen Udolf die, but not the other two, and in the confusion of battle and almost dying, she had not paid attention to what had become of them. She certainly had not seen their bodies.

    Sieghard. I need you here.
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    The Bloody Crown (WFRP) as Elsabeth Holt, rogue pyromancer and court wizard

    Quote Originally Posted by TheSummoner View Post
    Oh wow. I will never again underestimate [our characters'] ability to turn friendly conversation into a possible life or death situation.
    Quote Originally Posted by LeSwordfish View Post
    Ludo has a crowbar, if that helps.

  6. - Top - End - #1146
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    Sieghard

    Poor choice of words, Sieghard thought, but Urgrim had no way of knowing of Klammenberg's necromancy, Udolf's true nature, or the zombies.

    "Same," he replied, "I'm grateful for the help though. You and the rest of the dwarfs. All of this would've been much worse if you hadn't showed up when you did." It was hard for Sieghard to gather his thoughts. So much had happened and he was more exhausted than he could remember being in a long time.

    "We found Klammenberg," he continued after a pause. "Him and his monster. Found them, fought them, tried to kill them. Both escaped," he said bitterly. "Whatever it is they were up to, any proof of it burned with Sundial Passage." He turned to where the halberdiers were milling about "Bring Udolf over here. The dead man that fought for the enemy," he clarified. "This one was with them," he told Urgrim. "Haven't had a chance to get a good look at him yet, but he's not human."

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    "I've been watching." Ludo said. He looked by some miracle intact, but his chest was wrapped in bandages and he was as exhausted as Elsa had ever seen him, with dark circles under his eyes. "Couldn't sleep so I watched through the window. Looks like it's out now."

    "Sieghard got me out, and Adelbert. They were both alive when I was carted off."
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  8. - Top - End - #1148
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    Urgrim waved a hand at Sieghard's thanks. Helping hadn't been something he'd done out of choice, but necessity.

    He tried to whistle at Sieghard's revelation, but his lips were dry and cracked, and an uncomfortable spluttering sound emerged instead. He opened his eyes and pushed himself back to his feet, to watch the halberdiers. "His monster. Was it - well, was it what we thought?"

    Urgrim's nose wrinkled as the militia dragged something foetid towards the pair of them. "Grimnirs dongliz! That thing must have been dead for, well, months!" He broke into another spluttering cough and covered his face with his arm. Furtively, he looked around to see if any of the Dwimmulsons were nearby enough to have heard his obscenity. "I mean, ah ..."

    Lowering his arm, he looked uncomfortably at Sieghard. "The others ...?"
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  9. - Top - End - #1149
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    At the Temple of Shallya


    ""Sieghard got me out, and Adelbert. They were both alive when I was carted off."

    "Thank the gods," breathed Elsa. "The vampire... did we kill it, at least?"

    Now that his mistress was awake and speaking, Morrslieb ended his vigil and flew off, hunting for food.
    Spoiler
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    Running:
    Voyages of the Ghostlight (Risus)

    Playing:
    The Bloody Crown (WFRP) as Elsabeth Holt, rogue pyromancer and court wizard

    Quote Originally Posted by TheSummoner View Post
    Oh wow. I will never again underestimate [our characters'] ability to turn friendly conversation into a possible life or death situation.
    Quote Originally Posted by LeSwordfish View Post
    Ludo has a crowbar, if that helps.

  10. - Top - End - #1150
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    "No. It turned into a jackal... thing, and fled out of the window."
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  11. - Top - End - #1151
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    Sieghard

    "It was," Sieghard said. He pointed to the dents in his armor. "The monster used no weapon but its magic. It did that with its hands. I drove it back. Wounded it. I'm still not sure how I did it, but somehow I did. It's still alive though. As alive as it ever was anyways."

    "We lost a man in the fighting," he said. "The others are in the care of the priestesses. Still alive last I heard."

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    Adelbert

    Adelbert moved as if in a trance, sheer exhaustion weighing him down like iron chains. In some ways it was almost a relief, numbing him from the horror.

    Eventually he found a moment to speak to the other clergy. 'I'm afraid... I'm sorry to say Balios died. He fell during the fight with the vampire and the necromancer.'

    It wasn't even technically a lie. The Balios-zombie was dead and burnt to ash. Later perhaps he'd reveal the whole story to the others but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to shatter Jocasta like that. 'We fought the undead in that building immediately before the fire. Brother Liebrecht I think you best examine the being we slew, if that is the right word. Not the vampire himself or Klammenberg but some necromatic monstrosity.'

    He led the clerics over to join Sieghard - and Udolf.

  13. - Top - End - #1153
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    Sieghard, Urgrim & Adelbert

    Jocasta took the news of Balios' death with a numb stare. Perhaps she hadn't known the senior Taalite long enough for his death to hit her as hard as Adelbert had feared. Perhaps she simply didn't have enough energy left to grieve.

    Udolf's body was still wrapped in those heavy clothes, now almost black with soot. It took some effort to pull the coachman's hat off his head, it being wedged down almost to his ears. Unwinding the scarf wrapped around his face, Liebrecht stared down into the dead man's face.

    It was a human face, puffy and white as the belly of a dead fish. Black rot had eaten the soft tissues of his nose and part of his upper lip, but otherwise the skin seemed remarkably well-preserved. A strong smell of alcohol and brine wafted from the body, masking the foetor of rot beneath it. His blank, staring eyes were surprisingly vivid - a rap of Liebrecht's fingernail on one confirmed it was made of glass.

    "He has been... embalmed, I think," said Liebrecht, hardly sure enough of himself to speak. Pulling down Udolf's collar, he revealed an ugly, blackened welt all the way around his throat. Sieghard had seen enough hangings to recognise the mark of a noose.

    Liebrecht looked up at the others. "This body has been dead for months. You say he fought you? Here, tonight?"
    Spoiler: My Games
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    WFRP 2E - Tales of Perilous Adventure
    The Hour After Midnight
    The Lord of Lost Heart
    Ill Met By Morrslieb

    Dark Heresy 1E - Wake of the Byzantium
    Episodes: I, II, III, IV, V

    WFRP 2E - The Bloody Crown
    Threads: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X

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    Sieghard

    "He did," Sieghard confirmed. "If you remove his coat, you'll find he's wearing armor beneath it as well."

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    Sieghard, Urgrim & Adelbert

    Stripping off Udolf's coat with some difficulty - the dead man's arms were heavy and stiff as logs - revealed a mail shirt that had definitely seen better days. Sieghard wondered what the last time Udolf had removed it was. Probably never. Dead men didn't need to sleep, or, from the smell of the padding underneath, to wash.

    Everywhere the rusting mail didn't protect, Udolf's body and arms had been hacked to ribbons by Sieghard's sword - far more punishment than anyone living could have sustained. There was no blood around the wounds, whatever remained in Udolf's body having long coagulated in its veins. A deep wound in his gut revealed no sign of entrails within - just clumps of damp, stinking sawdust that spilled out when they turned the body over.
    Spoiler: My Games
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    WFRP 2E - Tales of Perilous Adventure
    The Hour After Midnight
    The Lord of Lost Heart
    Ill Met By Morrslieb

    Dark Heresy 1E - Wake of the Byzantium
    Episodes: I, II, III, IV, V

    WFRP 2E - The Bloody Crown
    Threads: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X

  16. - Top - End - #1156
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    Adelbert

    Adelbert felt queasy just looking at it, but somehow managed to find his voice. 'We should probably take it to the Temple to have a proper look at it away from all this chaos, at least unless you object Brother Liebrecht. Sieghard you should come too - you actually fought this thing, and you too Urgrim given your own experiences.'

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    At the Temple of Shallya

    "No. It turned into a jackal... thing, and fled out of the window."

    Elsa rested let her head fall on her pillow and sighed deeply. Turned into a jackal and fled. She believed it, but few people would; Captain Sforza and his wife certainly would not. It was as if all the planets in the sky had aligned to turn an unlikely victory into a bitter and inexcusable defeat. Not only had their enemy escaped to kill another day, but they could provide no concrete evidence that the situation in that accursed house had been as dire as they claimed—dire enough to justify all the damage they had caused.

    To any outsider, this would not look like a desperate, heroic battle where mere mortals managed to put an unfathomably ancient monster to flight, but a self-inflicted disaster being explained away with wild and unverifiable claims.

    "Well. At least the monster lost its hiding place. And we killed Klammenberg........ right?"
    Last edited by -Sentinel-; 2019-08-11 at 02:45 PM.
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    Running:
    Voyages of the Ghostlight (Risus)

    Playing:
    The Bloody Crown (WFRP) as Elsabeth Holt, rogue pyromancer and court wizard

    Quote Originally Posted by TheSummoner View Post
    Oh wow. I will never again underestimate [our characters'] ability to turn friendly conversation into a possible life or death situation.
    Quote Originally Posted by LeSwordfish View Post
    Ludo has a crowbar, if that helps.

  18. - Top - End - #1158
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    Sieghard

    "I can't right now," Sieghard replied. "Someone has to explain all of this to Lady Sforza. And making her wait won't make it any easier. I'll join you when I can."

    He gestured to Udolf's body. "Move him into the temple and keep watch over him to make sure he doesn't start moving again, but I don't want him buried yet." Perhaps if he could persuade Irene to come to the temple, Udolf's remains could be used to convince her to finally take the threat Klammenberg posed seriously.
    Last edited by TheSummoner; 2019-08-11 at 02:56 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by -Sentinel- View Post
    "Well. At least the monster lost its hiding place. And we killed Klammenberg........ right?"
    "I didn't see." Ludo didn't have the heart to add that he hadn't seen a body when he'd been knocked down.
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    Adelbert

    Adelbert nodded slowly, expression grim. 'Yes, I suspect she'll want to talk to the rest of us too.'

    He looked if possible even more weary than before. 'I must go now check in on my house to see if it survived the fire. Everything I own is there. I'll meet you at the Temple soon.'

    Adelbert touched his holy symbol, closed his eyes and whispered a brief prayer.

    OOC:
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    Channeling: (1d100)[18] vs 53
    Blessing of Healing (5): (1d10)[3]

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    Urgrim

    "I'll go with Schreiber," Urgrim said. "See you at the Temple. Hang on a minute, Schreiber, let me just see the Dwimmulsons off." He paced off to the closest remaining dwarf volunteer.

    ― I'm staying here with the umgi, he said. ― Would you do me a favour when you get back up to the hold, and take a message to the Rinn for me? It is the old enemy. Tell her I have confirmed that. It is the old enemy. I'll be in your debt.

    Bidding thanks and farewell to the rest of the nearby clansfolk, Urgrim shuffled back over to Adelbert. "Right. To your lodgings, and then the Temple. Let's be about it as quick as we can, before I fall asleep standing up."
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    Default Re: [WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

    ― I'm staying here with the umgi, he said. ― Would you do me a favour when you get back up to the hold, and take a message to the Rinn for me? It is the old enemy.
    A greybeard dozing against the handle of his axe woke with a startled snort. “Urks?” he demanded, looking around with wide, staring eyes. “Where?”

    The dwarf that Urgrim had actually chosen to speak to squinted at him with a dubious expression. They had all heard his Saga performance - this one clearly wasn’t struggling to put two and two together, but seemed very suspicious of the answer. “The old enemy,” he repeated, slowly. “I’ll tell her.”




    Urgrim & Adelbert

    The house on Half Moon Alley was still standing, but was a charred shell of its former self. Touching the blackened remains of the door, Adelbert stepped back and watched them topple inward in a cloud of ash.

    What remained of the stairs was clearly not climbable by anything heavier than a rat. Sifting through the ash and debris of the ground floor, Adelbert pulled up a floorboard to unearth his stash of coins and the treasures from Kheneb-Ptra-Urush, mercifully undamaged by the fire. Everything else - his clothes, his books, the furniture - was gone.

    As he stood surveying the devastation, a slow groan of scorched timber alerted them to the fact that the gutted structure might not remain standing too much longer. Urgrim quickly pulled the priest out into the open street, and they hurried on their way to the temple.

    ~

    At the temple, Liebrecht and his initiates had got Udolf’s body onto the mortuary slab. Naked as the day he was born, they could see clearly now the long line of dark stitching that ran up the centre of his stomach. A smaller, messier area of stitching sealed up the ragged hole where his genitals would have been.

    “There is no sign of healing,” said Liebrecht, waving one hand over the stitches as he clutched a perfumed handkerchief to his nose with the other. “These were done after death. A common embalmer’s practice, to remove the organs before they can rot. Though usually performed with more respect.” He prodded the largest of Udolf’s wounds with a finger, pushing out another lump of congealed sawdust. “The body has been expertly preserved, I suspect through magic as much as the mortuary arts. I must revise my earlier estimate… I believe this man has been dead for at least a year.”

    “All very well,” said Jocasta, looking as tired as Adelbert felt, “but what do we do with it?”

    “The soul left this body long ago,” said Liebrecht. “I think we would be best advised to burn it.”

    “That question can wait,” said Raqiyah, the other priests falling quiet and attentive as she spoke. “First - I would hear Brother Schreiber’s account of what happened in the Old Town last night.”




    Sieghard

    Leading his bone-weary soldiers back through the smoking streets, Sieghard tried to ignore the shouting crowds that clamoured for their attention at every corner. Some were begging for help; others hurled abuse, blaming the Captain’s men for their misfortune. “Where’s the witch?” one gap-toothed man shouted above the heads of the crowd, and others joined his chant. “Where’s the witch?

    A similar crowd was gathering outside the castle, Roth and his veterans turning to hold them back as the ahosi opened the gates for Sieghard’s returning troops. Falling in beside Sieghard, two of the Southlanders escorted through the keep and up to Lady Sforza’s chambers.

    Irene was standing in front of a mirror, scrutinising her appearance with the kind of close attention that would make any of her husband’s courtiers wonder what they had done wrong. She was dressed severely today, in a gown of black and dark, dark green. She wore a corset that seemed designed to imitate armour, although Sieghard doubted it would stop an arrow. She would have to do that with her stare.

    “Sieghard,” she said, turning to face him with a swish of silks as soft as the slither of a snake. “How good to see you… unburnt.”

    She paused, her eyes flicking to the faces of the ahosi to either side of her tired, sweaty, soot-stained visitor.

    “Where is Hildebrand?”
    Last edited by LCP; 2019-08-11 at 10:44 PM.
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    WFRP 2E - Tales of Perilous Adventure
    The Hour After Midnight
    The Lord of Lost Heart
    Ill Met By Morrslieb

    Dark Heresy 1E - Wake of the Byzantium
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    WFRP 2E - The Bloody Crown
    Threads: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X

  23. - Top - End - #1163
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    BlackDragon

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    Default Re: [WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

    Adelbert

    Gone...

    If Urgrim hadn't pulled him back Adelbert might have dropped to his knees were he stood. As it was he managed to gather enough of his wits to scoop up the gold and stumble towards the Temple.

    Everything... gone. My home. My books. My tome of Verena. My research. my journal. Gone...

    He barely heard Liebrecth speak at the Temple. What on earth did the cadaver matter when his books were gone? It was only when Raqiyah spoke that something cut through the fog.

    'We eventually did find the house where Klammenberg and this were hiding. The necromancer was clad in enough talismans to drown a witch and though I am no expert I suspect they aided his charms concealment. They weren't expecting us, but it mattered little as the vampire was there.' He shuddered at the memory. 'I escaped through a window during the fight so you must ask Commander Sieghard for the final moments but I remember the monstrosity wielded very powerful magic that nearly flayed our souls from our bodies and seemed almost impervious to our own attacks. it also had a pack of mindless undead, zombies I believe they are called though happily our wizardesses fire burned them well enough. At the end I witnessed the vampire beast take the form of a jackal and escape. I believe we had wounded it, at great cost and we also injured Klammenberg before his flight but I have no doubt we'll hear from them again at some point.'

  24. - Top - End - #1164
    Titan in the Playground
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    Sieghard

    I can't lie to get her out of this, Sieghard realized. Even if Elsa actually had been innocent, Irene was convinced and there was likely no changing her mind. The best he could hope for was to convince her there were bigger problems.

    "She's with the Shallyans, wounded," Sieghard answered. "The creature nearly tore her arm off." That ought to at least get her attention.
    Last edited by TheSummoner; 2019-08-11 at 08:33 PM.

  25. - Top - End - #1165
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    -Sentinel-'s Avatar

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    At the Shallyan hospital


    "I didn't see."

    Elsa had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. If all this had been for nothing... Well, not strictly nothing, as Elsa was sure they had managed to foil... something. But it would certainly look like nothing to the people who held her fate in their hands. She only hoped her mistake would not cost the others their future. She was prepared to bear the full blame if need be.

    "We need to get Sieghard and Adelbert in here as soon as possible," she said morosely. "There are many things to discuss. About what happened, and where we go from here."


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    And maybe Urgrim, but Elsa doesn't view him as a full-fledged party member yet.
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    Running:
    Voyages of the Ghostlight (Risus)

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    The Bloody Crown (WFRP) as Elsabeth Holt, rogue pyromancer and court wizard

    Quote Originally Posted by TheSummoner View Post
    Oh wow. I will never again underestimate [our characters'] ability to turn friendly conversation into a possible life or death situation.
    Quote Originally Posted by LeSwordfish View Post
    Ludo has a crowbar, if that helps.

  26. - Top - End - #1166
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    LCP's Avatar

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    Adelbert & Urgrim

    "The form of a jackal?" asked Hieronymus.

    "A trick," declared Liebrecht. "If this beast is a shape-changer, surely it can assume any shape it pleases."

    "But it chose a jackal," Hieronymus repeated. "Brother Liebrecht, you know I have nothing but respect for the beliefs of your sect, but the evidence..."

    "He is still here," Raqiyah said. Once again, the high priestess' pronouncement seemed to silence the squabbling of her juniors. "I saw him in my dreams, more clearly last night than ever before. The darkness has not left Savonne; questions of what name it pretends to can wait."

    "What do we do, then?" said Jocasta. "How do we fight it?"

    "For today, we do what we have always done. We serve the people." Raqiyah stepped forwards. "The people will be looking to us to conduct the ceremonies. To show we are not afraid. Our neighbours in the Old Town will be needing us more than ever after this fire; we will not let them down."

    Brother Liebrecht bowed his head and murmured something about instructing the initiates. Nodding, Raqiyah turned her blind eyes in Adelbert's direction.

    "Brother Schreiber," she said, reaching her hand hesitantly towards him. "A word in private, if you please."




    Sieghard

    Irene blinked. The conversation was clearly already going off the path she had planned.

    "Creature?" she demanded. "What creature?"
    Spoiler: My Games
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    WFRP 2E - Tales of Perilous Adventure
    The Hour After Midnight
    The Lord of Lost Heart
    Ill Met By Morrslieb

    Dark Heresy 1E - Wake of the Byzantium
    Episodes: I, II, III, IV, V

    WFRP 2E - The Bloody Crown
    Threads: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X

  27. - Top - End - #1167
    Titan in the Playground
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    Default Re: [WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

    Sieghard

    "The creature that killed D'Evangelisti and the priests," Sieghard replied. "We've been working with the Temple, trying to learn everything we can. It's taken some time, but we finally managed to track it down. Lady Sforza, I realize how this must sound, but the killer isn't human. I've seen it. Fought against it. The monster terrorizing Savonne is a vampire.
    Last edited by TheSummoner; 2019-08-11 at 11:51 PM.

  28. - Top - End - #1168
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    LeSwordfish's Avatar

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    Default Re: [WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

    A series of soft clicks announced Ludo's entry into the room, walking slowly and heavily with his weight on a human-sized cane that extended over his head like a bargepole. He moved up to stand next to Sieghard at the front of the room, and bowed his head to Irene. "My lady."
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  29. - Top - End - #1169
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    Thragka's Avatar

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    Default Re: [WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

    The Temple

    Urgrim stood by Adelbert's side as the Verenan described the events of the night, watching his companion; this was the most detail the dwarf had heard so far of the altercation. When the other humans began arguing over the implications, though, he couldn't help losing focus, much as he tried to follow. This was a grand temple, for the Reaches, though he'd seen grander in Tilea. But this one seemed very umgi, he thought. All their gods, together, in this big open space, squabbling - yes, that was umgi for you ...

    "You go on," he said to Adelbert when Raqiyah reached for him, through half a yawn. "I'll be, eh ... over here." He wandered to a bench and took a seat. His eyelids closed ...
    Last edited by Thragka; 2019-08-12 at 05:58 AM. Reason: typos
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  30. - Top - End - #1170
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    BlackDragon

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    Default Re: [WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

    Adelbert

    He is still here? Somehow, impossibly, the day had just grown worse.

    'Of course Mother Raqiyah. Thank you Urgrim my friend, we'll talk later.'

    He followed the senior priestess.

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