[WFRP] The Bloody Crown X

[LCP]

Adelbert

Leaving the others in the mortuary room, Adelbert guided Raqiyah out into the corridor and - at her indication - through into the main hall. The high priestess didn’t seem old - not like Hieronymus, who Adelbert was sure had been born with a mental age of fifty-six. There was something ageless about her calm, unseeing eyes. Nevertheless, as he held her arm through the shadowed hall, Adelbert was struck by how frail and tiny she seemed, as if a gust of wind might blow her away.

Taking a seat on a stone bench, Raqiyah motioned for Adelbert to sit next to her. The main doors were shut, leaving the hall empty except for the two of them and a pair of initiates setting out candles for the holy day. The sun slanted in through the high windows, casting long shadows from the statues of the gods. Dust motes glimmered in the morning light, shining a little redder than usual through the smoke that still hung over the Old Town.

“This creature you saw,” said Raqiyah, “the vampire. Describe it to me.”

She listened closely to Adelbert’s description, without interruption. When he was finished, she sat for a long while in silence, seemingly considering the words that would follow.

“Ever since the death of the Estalian,” she said at last, “I have been seeking answers from Morr. Our god is the god of death and dreams, but my dreams have been… clouded. Not my own. I seek our enemy here, and instead I see… dust, and thirst, and darkness. A shadow in the south.” Her voice grew faint and monotonous, and her face grew cold and distant. “Rivers will run dry and the forests wither. The stars shall grow dim, flicker and die. And death shall reign from forever to forever.”

She blinked as if coming out of a trance. “Last night was the first time I saw the true face of the enemy. The same face you describe. Perhaps there was some… concealing enchantment that perished in the fire.” She smoothed her robe over her knees. “Or perhaps he simply feels he no longer needs to hide from me.”

“The necromancer may believe he is in control. He is not. This is something that has been building for a long time, perhaps as long as the stones of this temple have stood.” Looking up at the statues surrounding them, Adelbert found his gaze lingering on the statue of Morr, with the great, sleek hound at his feet. The likeness to the beast he had seen on the roof was troublingly close. “Whatever our lords and princes may believe, it will not be defeated without the help of the gods.”

Slipping out of her dreamlike tone, Raqiyah became more brusque and businesslike. “I have been speaking with Father Hieronymus. We have agreed that although your conduct has... not always befitted a priest of your order, your courage and commitment in pursuing this enemy cannot be faulted. We have need of that courage now, and it is past time you were anointed a Father of the Temple.” She turned her unseeing face towards the ceiling. “The Day of Mystery would be an auspicious day for such an elevation, wouldn’t you agree?”

---

Sieghard & Ludo

Irene arched one perfectly-plucked eyebrow.

“A vampire,” she repeated, her level stare giving no clue as to whether she believed the claim. “And did you kill it?”

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert's breath caught in his throat as he heard the High Priestess's words. For a moment he seriously thought he was going to faint then and there, his mind overwhelmed by this on the heels of so much else. He had to reach out, almost as if to balance himself from falling over.

'Thank you Mother Raqiyah, I am honoured. I shall do the Temple proud and I shall do Her proud,' he stressed the capital 'H'. Oh thank you my goddess for shining a trail through the shadows!

After a moment he found his voice again. 'Mother Raqiyah you spoke of courage. I am not sure I have it, for I do know braver men. I do know this however: necromancy is the creed of cowards and imbeciles. What sane man knowing there is such a thing as a soul would bind the immortal part of himself to a shambling corpse for eternity? To abandon the touch of a lover, the taste of food, the rewards beyond death that Morr himself offers? Klammenberg has a certain power but anyone who starts down such a path is a fool indeed.'

He paused allowing the words to sink in before continuing. 'And if the man is a fool how much more so is his master? How many centuries has this vampire swaddled himself in darkness, a slave to wretched impulses, hidden from the world like the runt of a rat litter? Can you even say something that clings to such a beggarly form of existence purely out of terror of death is something to be feared? Again there is power in his magic but examine him in Verena's holy light and we see a feeble creature indeed. No Mother Raqiyah the world will not belong to him or his kind, those absurd mockeries of mankind. The gods are with us. Morr with His wisdom and grace and Shallya with Her tenderness and my own patron the Lady of Mysteries who I love above all others. Those same gods who gave us minds and voices and free will. We'll win, I have not a glimmer of a doubt.'

He felt a smile cross his lips, the first he could remember for ages. 'And one more thing: we hurt the vampire. Oh it was strong as a mountain and old but it is as mortal as any of us and one day sooner or later its time shall come.'

[LCP]

Adelbert

“Your faith is commendable,” said Raqiyah, “but you should not let it blind you. To fear is human. There can be no bravery without fear.” She kept her face raised towards the ceiling. “If you ask me if I fear the works of the Great Necromancer… then yes, yes I do. But I will fight them all the same.”

She rose slowly from her seat, feeling with her hand until she found Adelbert’s shoulder. “We will hold the ceremony at vespers. You should rest and prepare yourself.” Adelbert suddenly felt keenly aware of how filthy and bedraggled he looked, still caked in the soot and sweat of the fire. “Until then, Brother Schreiber.”

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"No, but it is wounded," Sieghard replied bitterly. "I cut off part of its face, but it fled before I could deal the killing blow. It and the necromancer with it. Truth be told, I'm not sure how I managed even that much. The creature is monstrously strong. Swinging at it was like trying to hack down a tree."

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

“You cut its face,” said Irene, her voice as clear and bright as sunlight on ice. “And all it cost was burning down half the city. I assume that was you? There are a lot of very ugly, very dirty people outside saying they saw Hildebrand at the scene of the fire.” She cocked her head to one side. “One hates to leap to conclusions, but… fire witch… enormous fire…”

“I think I’ve heard enough of your ‘report’, commander,” she said, airily looking away. “You will be relieving Esteban at the pass as soon as he can be recalled. In the meantime, I want you and your men to disperse that mob outside the gate. If that’s something you think you can manage.”

[LeSwordfish]

"And when the vampire sees that the only people who can fight it have been sent away?" Ludo asked. "It's targetting priests and healers. The necromancer kicked a lamp over as soon as he saw the wizard was there: her and Sieghard out of the city was exactly what he wanted. We came within an inch of killing them and you're going to send us away. Esteban is a good soldier but he doesn't know what we know, and he won't be able to protect you or the city next time the vampire decides to kill someone important."

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

“And how many people have you ‘protected’?” snapped Irene. “Constanza and the fish monk are dead. Your friend the Estalian seamstress’ daughter is dead. Gods know how many peasants have died in this fire. And even if I believe your preposterous story, the killer is alive.”

The two ahosi in the doorway exchanged looks. Taking a deep breath, Irene composed herself a little before she continued.

“I have no intention of sending Hildebrand anywhere, but it seems to me that one soldier is as good as another. And what you are good for right now is getting this rabble off my doorstep.” She fixed the two of them with the imperious stare of someone who had never been told ‘no’ in her life. “So do as I command.”

[LeSwordfish]

"If you bring Esteban here, he'll be dead in a week, and in two weeks so will you." Ludo said. He was aware he was unlikely to persuade her this way but frankly had no intention to be sent away from the city by this nobleman's wife. He rounded on the two Ahosi at the door and pointed at the one on the left. "You! What metal are vampires weak to?"

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

The Southlander gave a startled blink. She looked to her comrade, then back to Ludo.

"I... I do not know this word 'vampires'," she said. "It means what?"

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo turned back to Irene. "See? It comes through the door right now, you think they can scratch its face?"

He tried to moderate himself. "The captain will need to know about the fire anyway. If I may, I want to request that we put this decision to him."

Spoiler

Show

Once again a "Charm" test for Ludo being an absolute ********: (1d100)[68]

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard stood in shock for a moment. He had nothing to do with the fire. If he hadn't been there, it likely would've been far worse.

"Ludo, shut up." Sieghard snapped. Sforza didn't believe the threat was real. He would take his wife's side. She was the one who needed convincing and Ludo wasn't helping. "The killer is wounded. That means we have time, so long as we don't squander it. And we have proof that the tale is true - the body of one of their minions." He paused. "Before Alvarr took the city, I warned him of the dwarf tunnels. After they used them to take it, the Captain said he regretted not taking my warnings seriously. We're only stuck dealing with this now because the necromancer was ignored for so long. If you send us away, continue to ignore this and not take the warnings seriously, you will lose Savonne."

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

"The captain will need to know about the fire anyway. If I may, I want to request that we put this decision to him."

“You may not,” said Irene - but Ludo thought he saw a flicker of worry in her eyes. She’d seen Astoria’s body, and they’d won her around by appealing to her sense of security before. Unfortunately, any rare self-doubt she might have been experiencing was banished by Sieghard’s intervention.

Locking stares with Sieghard, she stepped towards him, so close that he could smell her perfume over the stink of smoke that still clung to him. Sieghard had faced down orcs and daemons, but standing nose-to-nose with Irene, he found his signals somewhat fused. Somehow she contrived to be beautiful even when she scowled.

“Muzio may suffer you to speak this way to him,” she said, softly, “but you will not speak this way with me, commander. I am the daughter of Giancarlo Federico de Vela, cousin to the Prince of Tobaro, and you are a nameless peasant who should be grateful for our patronage.”

Holding his gaze without blinking, she straightened her back. She was only a few inches taller than Sieghard, but she had a talent for making people feel small.

“You want to show me a corpse?” she said, raising her eyebrows. “I will see it. After you have carried out my instructions.” Her eyes flicked to the door. “Clear the crowd.”

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"The vampire won't be stopped by your names," Sieghard replied, turning to leave.

"Could've gone better," he muttered to Ludo. "What are we going to tell the crowd?"

[RossN]

Adelbert

'Thank you Mother Raqiyah, and yes I admit I could do with a rest,' Adelbert answered, feeling almost too drained for the the occasion. He tottered off to wash, change into a simple robe - and then try and find something fitting today's ceremony.

Enroute he took the time to examine his 'wounds' if such were the right words.

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Heal: (1d100)[46] vs 76

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

"Commander!" Irene's indignant voice rang after Sieghard as he walked out the door. "Commander, you will not turn your back on me! Sieghard!"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard was sorely tempted to keep walking. He was sore, he was exhausted, he was covered in soot, and he he had nearly died. After all that without even a chance to rest, he had little patience for arrogant noblewomen who seemed determined to ignore danger until it came to tear out their throats. He stopped and turned back to Irene.

"I was going to carry out your orders and clear the crowd," he said. He kept his words polite, but he wasn't able to keep the impatience out of his tone. "Was there something else you needed, Lady Sforza?"

Spoiler

Show

The comment to Ludo was meant to be after we were out of earshot of Irene. Consider it a timesplit.

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

Irene looked a little surprised that he had stopped. "You bow when taking your leave of your betters, commander," she said at last. "You bow."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard silently matched Irene's stare for few seconds and then did an exaggerated bow. There were more important things to worry about than a bit of pride, even if he couldn't resist a bit of sarcasm as he gave her what she wanted.

[LeSwordfish]

"She was a knight, of the order of the blazing sun." Ludo said as he left. His bow was barely more serious than Sieghards.

Outside, headed towards the crowd, Ludo shrugged. "Stick to saying it was the murderer?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Why is it always us having to deal with this?" Sieghard grumbled as they made their way up the wall. "She's the one in charge of the city. Does she even care about what's happening outside of the keep?"

"Many of you are angry," Sieghard said, addressing the crowd. "You're confused and you want answers. And you deserve to know what is happening." He paused. "The fire that tore through Savonne last night was no accident, it was started by the murderer Klammenberg. The same man who has been murdering priests under cover of darkness both here in Savonne and in the north before that. He is a mad man, a godless man, a man who wants nothing more than to bring ruin to those around him. We have been hunting him ever since we learned that he was in Savonne, and last night we found his hiding place. He chose to set fire to the building and flee rather than face justice."

"Klammenberg has been driven from the city. If he returns, he'll be hunted like the beast that he is," he continued. "The damage he caused and the lives he has taken cant be undone, but we will rebuild. Savonne has endured worse than the likes of him. We are stronger than one madman."

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

The crowd outside the gates was much larger than the one that had gathered after Constanza's death. Sieghard thought he recognised some faces from the chaos of the night before.

"You've been saying that for a month!" yelled a man from the back of the crowd, his voice taut with anger. "If this man's to blame then where is he?"
"Where are we supposed to go?" shouted a woman in singed clothing, holding an infant close to her body. A swell of voices rose up in support. "What are we supposed to eat?"
"Where's the lady Sforza?" demanded another, practically screaming to be heard above the din of questions.
"Where's my son?"
"Where's the witch?"

As the tide of angry shouting washed up and over him, Sieghard found himself very glad to be on top of a tall stone wall.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Calm yourselves!" Sieghard shouted over the noise of the crowd, "Lady Sforza is meeting with the priests. They're working to make arrangements for those who have lost their homes!" It was a lie, but a reassuring one and more importantly, one he could deal with without them being able to see through it.

"If you've lost your home to the fire, head to the temple this afternoon and speak with the priests! They will be able to find you somewhere to stay until we've rebuilt!"

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

"Liar!" someone shouted, but no-one else took it up. For most of the people in the crowd, Sieghard's promise was exactly what they wanted to hear.

"What about the witch?" cried out someone else - a woman, by the sound of her voice. Sieghard searched the crowd, trying to match a face to it. "I seed her! I seed her set the fire!" She began chanting again, and this time a few voices joined her: "Where's the witch? Where's the witch?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Enough!!" Sieghard shouted, "The captain's wizard was with me when Klammenberg started the fire! She burned herself trying to keep it contained and is recovering! It might've spread faster and turned the entire city to ash if she hadn't!"

"I was there the entire night working to put the fires out! You saw me yourselves!" And if you didn't, you can at least see the soot. "I want the damage repaired as much as any of you, but crowding around the keep isn't going to make that happen! Clear out and let us get to work!"

Spoiler

Show

Sieghard will spend 100 xp on an advance to int and roll perception to try to pick out the one who started shouting about Elsa.
(1d100)[91] vs 51

Assuming command is appropriate, he'll spend another 100 on +10 to that and roll it to disperse them.
(1d100)[99] vs 64
(1d100)[85] reroll

Goddamn those are some terrible rolls...

[LCP]

Sieghard and Ludo

People started booing before Sieghard had even finished speaking - clearly they found his denial about as convincing as a wolf in a sheepskin going 'baa'. Perhaps he shouldn't have tried to claim Elsa had tried to help put the fire out. Her skills did famously lean in the other direction.

A few people were slipping away at the edges of the crowd, but many more remained, taking up the chant of where's the witch? loudly enough to drown out Sieghard's voice. They clearly weren't going anywhere.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo turned to Sieghard. "I think we might just need to get the halberdiers in for this one. We don't need to hurt them, just get them to disperse or shut up. We can send a runner to the temple: that's the only place we can send refugees to. Maybe clear out some of the empty barracks for them."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"You may be right" Sieghard muttered, "We'll use the Volunteers though. Shields, not halberds."

He turned back to the crowd. "I've already given you your answer! Now you can either clear out or I'll have you cleared by force! You won't get another warning!"

Spoiler

Show

We'll try intimidation before actually resorting to force.

(1d100)[75] vs 61
(1d100)[87] reroll

If this doesn't work, he'll round up the Volunteers. Their orders are to just shove them back from the keep with their shields. They are not to actually draw their weapons.

Are. You. F***ING. KIDDING. ME? Every single roll and reroll. It's like a 1% chance or something to fail all 5 of those

[LCP]

Sieghard & Ludo

Sieghard's threats were met with jeers, the crowd beneath the wall caught up in the rush of their defiance. Descending the narrow steps to the courtyard, Sieghard began to gather his men. With Zollner on river duty, he struggled to remember the names of the other Volunteers, but soon enough he had a sizeable number gathered behind the east gate. The chanting of where's the witch? was audible even over the wall.

"They're after Mistress Hildebrand?" asked a soldier - Lutz, was he called? - still sporting the angry scar across his face he had won at Arrow Heap. Looking into the man's false eye, Sieghard reassured himself that the veterans of the battle were probably the least likely to join the townsfolk's witch hunt. "Bet if she was really here they wouldn't be so eager."

The gates swung open, and the Volunteers marched out, presenting a tight wall of black shields. The crowd edged back, a few more groups breaking away from its edge rather than stay to tangle with the Captain's soldiers - but bold voices goaded the others on, shouting taunts and demands. While the mob had shrunk to about half its original size, it still outnumbered the soldiers several times over.

"We want to see the witch!" shouted a woman at the front of the crowd, pushing against Lutz's shield. "Let us through!"
"She burned my house!"
"She killed my boy!"

A big man with wild eyes and a singed black beard shoved one of the Volunteers much harder, almost knocking his target to the ground. The militia shoved back, and the order of their line broke up in a brief, violent scuffle. When it cleared, two of the big man's friends were hauling him back by his arms, and a woman was rolling on the ground with blood pouring from her nose. Pushing herself to her knees, she spat at the feet of the soldier who had struck her.

"Brutes! Jackal take you all!"

The jeers grew louder, and the people towards the back of the crowd began to throw things - shoes, sticks, whatever they had to hand. The Volunteers sheltered behind their shields, weathering the hail of improvised missiles as best they could. A dead rat bounced off the shield of the man nearest Sieghard as he looked to his commander, the request for permission to draw swords clear in his eyes.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard shook his head. If there was any killing, he wasn't going to be the one to start it. "Shields up! Push them back! Break up the crowd!" he shouted.

[LeSwordfish]

"They want you to think it was her!" Ludo shouted. "The killer kicked over a lamp! He wants the witch hunted down! Are you murderer's lackeys?"