[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XII

[LeSwordfish]

"Adelbert, the wounded," Ludo said. "Johann's bleeding out."

He stepped forward, sword raised, tip pointed at Gunda, indicating for the survivors to join him. "It's over, Gunda." He said levelly, trying to keep his adrenaline down, but his voice raised high enough for the rest of the Falcons to hear. "Even if you kill us all now, witnesses got away. You think you can catch a halfling in a forest? Those gentlemen have got the right idea. You're not stupid. Turn and leave now or more of your men are going to die for nothing."

OOC

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Half action move to the square below Adelbert's current position. Half action... not sure what test this is. Intimidate? Command? I'm sure i'm taking hefty penalties, whatever it is: (1d100)[13] Based off Fellowship 72 probably. EDIT: Nice.

You think you can catch a halfling in a forest?

[RossN]

Adelbert & Ludo

Adelbert nodded and staggered back out of the front line to try and help the downed Johann - not that he was in much better condition himself.

OOC:

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Move to Johann
Heal: (1d100)[52] vs 76.

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

Johann's arm was a wreck. Ripping away the blood-soaked sleeve, Adelbert did his best to fashion a tourniquet, pulling it tight around the mangled limb. Johann groaned - at least that showed he was still conscious. As Ludo issued his ultimatum, the two Volunteers still on their feet spread out to encircle Gunda, keeping a wary distance.

"You put up a better fight than I expected, I'll give you that," said Gunda, sounding supremely unconcerned as she scanned the faces surrounding her. "The good doctor's going to have to pay us double. Kaspar if you take another step back there is no-one from here to Erengrad who can save you from what I'm going to do to you." She could only have seen him out of her peripheral vision, but the Falcon who'd been inching back towards the horses froze where he was standing.

Crossbow loaded, Rike stepped out around Adelbert, pointing it squarely at Gunda's head. "Give up!" she said, her voice shaking a little while her aim stayed firm. "It's over!"

Gunda rolled her eyes - then in a split second, her hand became a blur of motion, and Rike fell back, the crossbow falling to her feet. A knife was sticking through her hand, blood already pumping over her fingers. Gunda grinned.

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[RossN]

Adelbert & Ludo

Adelbert looked at the mercenary in disbelief.

'You heard the woman, she means to kill us all for gold,' Adelbert called out to the battered Volunteers. 'But I know you soldiers won't go quietly; too strong, too tough, too good to just lie down and die. If we fall we'll drag her to Morr's gate with us. If we win we'll have shown ourselves better than the best and by all the gods I know you're better than this scum. With me Volunteers! With me! Cut her down!'

He finished his speech with a roar as he charged at Gunda, his sword raised.

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Spending my Fortune Point for an extra action

Charm test to Inspire the surviving troops. Adelbert has Public Speaking so hopefully it will work!

Charm: (1d100)[66] vs 61

Charge Attack on Gunda: (1d100)[73] vs 51
Damage: (1d10+4)[12]

Charge Attack on Gunda: (1d100)[68] vs 51
Damage: (1d10+4)[13]

[LeSwordfish]

"**** it, mob her!" Ludo shouted, a considerably less eloquent effort than Adelbert's, and charged in alongside him. "Drag the murdering ****er down!"

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

Gunda pivoted nimbly out of the path of the first Volunteer who lunged at her, using the man's body to foul Adelbert's charge and sending him crashing into the Volunteer who was coming the other way. Drawing the dagger from her belt again, she raised her voice to a shout:

"Kill the halfling! I'll take the rest!"

The two Falcons looked to each other then charged back into the fray, blades bared. Ludo leapt out of the way of the sabre that swept towards him, but the Volunteer next to him went down in a scream and a spray of blood.

In the centre of the melee, Gunda was moving so quickly that Adelbert's eye could hardly follow her. He swung at her again, making her duck - she rose inside his guard, driving her blade through the meat of his arm. The sword had scarcely fallen from his numbing fingers before she threw her weight against his chest, driving him back against the trunk of the tree behind him.

"Like I said," he heard her say. "Nothing personal. Just business."

The edge of the dagger slashed across his throat, and he felt the warmth of his own lifeblood spill across his chest. Slumping down among the twisted roots of the tree, Adelbert watched the world fade into grey fog.

~

Adelbert awoke in the desert. Not the Waste - this was another desert, one he had seen before. Its level sands stretched far away, under a fathomless, starlit sky.

He stood up, feeling his neck. There was no wound - no wounds anywhere. He felt... nothing, in particular. No tiredness, no pain. No longer feeling the weight of his mail shirt, he looked down and saw he was no longer wearing it. You couldn't take it with you, they said. He supposed that was true.

Rising out of the sand a little way away stood a stone table, upon which lay a broken pair of scales. Beyond it loomed the gate, one black pillar and one white, leading into darkness. Someone else was standing in front of the table, looking very lost. Adelbert realised it was Klammenberg.

"No," Klammenberg was muttering to himself. "No, this can't be right. This is... this wasn't the plan." He was patting his pockets, searching for some tool or trick - but he didn't have any. He was dressed in a plain grey shift, the same as Adelbert.

He looked round. "Schreiber!" he said. "You're here too? You've got to help me, something's gone terribly wrong. We shouldn't be here." All the necromancer's smooth self-assurance was gone; he sounded like a terrified child. Adelbert even thought he saw tears in the man's eyes. "What are we going to do?"

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo howled in pain and fury as he watched Adelbert fall.

"Run!" he shouted, trying to make eye contact with Rike through the melee. "Run! Get out of here!"

He slammed his shield sideways into the knees of the Falcon next to him, and turned to run, as fast as he could, down the road.

OOC

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Activate Flee!, full action Run south. I assume the opportunity attacks will get me but... last chance.

[RossN]

Adelbert

So this is it. Not even killed by one of Szorza's minions but because I was with someone his wife wanted dead. Adelbert didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Both seemed appropriate.

He walked over to the altar - where else was there to go? - and gave Klammenberg a sympathetic look. 'Unless Nahorek was lying or delusional, and I'll grant both are a possibility, these are the gates of Usirian. I had a vision of this place before when those Norscan raiders tried to seize the book. Your master was here then and told them that he could either preserve their souls or they could pass through the gates into oblivion... but I suppose I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.'

Adelbert sat down on the sand trying to make himself comfortable. 'I imagine we are meant to think this is all the afterlife has to offer but frankly it seems a little much for a vampire no matter how old to have become the sole judge of the dead. Oh I've no doubt we're dead but our souls have been diverted from our intended destination. So, in the absence of anything else I suggest we wait Klammenberg. If this is the only afterlife we shan't be waiting long, but if it is a trick... a diversion, or trap or oubliette of the soul then your master will be here eventually.'

[LCP]

Ludo

Ludo felt the blades of the Falcons slash at his back as he turned to flee, sprinting for the trees. Gunda shouted something after him - whether it was a threat to him or her men, he couldn't tell.

Deeper into the woods he ran, his heart thundering so loudly in his ears that he couldn't hear how far his pursuers were behind him. Low-hanging branches whipped at his face, tangled roots snagging his feet, but still he ran on, avoiding every trip and stumble the Thornwood tried to throw in his path. At last, clothes torn, face bloody, he reached the point where he couldn't run any further - panting for breath, he came to a halt in the hollow beneath an old dead tree.

The only sounds he could hear were his own breathing, and the lonely croak of a crow. He looked around - left, right, front, back - but nowhere could he see Gunda or her men. He was alone.

---

Adelbert

"Dead?" said Klammenberg. "No, I... we can't be dead. That wouldn't... I've got too much to do." He ran his fingers nervously through his hair, turning out and looking into the wide, open desert. From here to the horizon, he could see nothing but the endless, barren dunes. Nothing but emptiness, silence, and the gate.

The silence was broken by the croak of a raven. Flying out of the veil of darkness beyond the gate, it landed on the altar and cocked its head at Adelbert, surveying him with dark, beady eyes. Klammenberg looked at it with open horror.

"...It's what he believes," he said at last, in a tiny voice. "That there's nothing beyond the gate... because the gods are dead. He saw his gods die." He looked up at the towering stonework - white and black, the colours of Morr. "I don't think he believes there can be new gods."

Raaak. The raven croaked again.

"I can't go through there," Klammenberg said, after a long, long pause. "I can't."

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert looked at the raven and after a long moment of hesitation bowed his head in a gesture of respect. Then he turned back to Klammenberg.

'We all had things to do. Unless you have a brilliant scheme to return to the world of the living either we go through there or... or we don't. Those seem to be the only choices left to us. You aren't the only one who is scared. Your master might have seen his gods die, or so he thinks, but I broke with mine. I'll get no reward or comfort in the afterlife from Morr. I'm leaving friends and responsibilities behind, people I'd give anything to have one more word with. I wasn't even killed by someone with a grudge against me.' A flicker or a smile appeared on his face momentarily. 'In retrospect I think we would both have been better off staying in the Empire.'

He stood up and held out a hand to Klammenberg. 'Gateways by definition are an opening between two states. They might be locked, they may hidden, they may even be walle off but being gates they all lead somewhere. I think Nahorek told himself there was nothing beyond there because it allowed him to pretend he wasn't afraid. Afraid of being judged, of meeting all of his victims, direct or indirect. And he'll still be afraid when my friends send him here. Even if in nothing else prove himself your superior.'

He turned towards the gate but didn't walk through until Klammenberg was ready. As he waited he whispered a string of names to himself: 'I'm sorry Ludo, Elsa, Sieghard, Urgrim, Viggo, Bertelis, Rhadegund, Krucke, Jocasta, Hierynomous, Cezar, Lena, Oseye, Etunu, Stefania, Ioana, Herschel. I'm sorry.'

As he whispered his goodbyes to the living into the desert air beneath those strange stars he waited for his enemy to gather himself so they could walk through the gates together. Whether moments or years however long it took.

[LeSwordfish]

A scream was boiling up inside Ludo: he wanted to scream and scream at the top of his lungs, to sob like a child, to howl at the sky: it felt like a physical thing inside him surging to get out. But he couldn't, he was being hunted, and instead all he could do was cover his mouth with his hands, and grit his teeth, and let it out as a pained hiss. He spent some time like that, crouching in the dirt, struggling not to scream with all of his battered body.

Adelbert was dead - for real this time, and after so many things they'd survived together. They'd escaped the lost library, they'd escaped Nath, and now he had died... to some sellsword, who hadn't even been looking for him. It was so desperately unfair. They had been doing so well, and now... what did Irene want him dead for? Was Sforza trying to hunt him down? Were Sieghard and Elsa still alive? That daemon had posessed Hanna - was she now posessing someone else?

And they had been doing so well! He had captured Klammenberg and the staff - which presumably, Gunda was now messing about with. Klammenberg was dead, at least, but they hadn't questioned him, hadn't been able to find out anything about Nahorek... hadn't been able to burn the body. Moltke and Jens were dead, and he had lead them to it, Hans was dead and Rike and Johann were both struggling to survive, more of the Volunteers were dead... he had lead them to that.

It was a long time before Ludo moved, but when he eventually did - struggling to his feet and beginning his slow trek - it was eastward. Petra and his father would be long gone by now, and he had nearly no way of finding them - and no way of helping them if he could. Trying to get to Adelbert's body or the staff would just get him killed. He needed to get help, and to find out what was happening. He needed to go - putting all of his stealth abilities to the test - to Manaan's Keep.

[LCP]

Adelbert

Klammenberg had nothing to say to that. No enigmatic turn of phrase, no witty comeback. He just stood, staring, paralysed with fear and indecision. So Adelbert waited.

The wind whistled over the desert, raising swirls of sand from the lifeless dunes. Perhaps minutes passed, perhaps days - Adelbert wasn't sure what meaning time had in this place. Looking down at his hands, he saw they were beginning to become slightly transparent. Klammenberg was too, as if the very stuff of his soul was wearing thin. On the crest of the dunes behind them, Adelbert could see the shadow of the Jackal. It wasn't coming any closer. It just stood there, watching. A carrion-eater waiting for its prey to expire.

Klammenberg had seen it too. He didn't run towards it, but shrank from it as if afraid. He looked back to Adelbert, then the gate, and seemed at last to come to a decision. Head bowed, he turned and followed Adelbert quietly into the dark.

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Some pretty classy last words from Adelbert, even if only Klammenberg got to hear them. Who's Herschel?

---

Ludo

Through the grey haze that covered the sky, it was hard to find the position of the sun. Ludo did his best to make his way east, taking care to cover his tracks. At one point, he thought he heard breaking branches behind him, and heard voices calling to one another through the trees - but if they were the Falcons, they passed him by without finding his trail.

He was still under the cover of the woods when the light began to fade, and a thin, cold rain began to fall. Exhausted and in pain, he found he could go no further. Curling up under the bole of a tree, he did his best to cover himself with leaves and fallen branches, and drifted into a cold, wretched sleep.

---

Festag, 4th Kaldezeit

Manann's Keep

It was a cold, grey Festag morning, and Sieghard was out for an innocent stroll around Oberth's workshop. He wasn't sleeping much at the moment anyway, and if he happened to take his morning constitutional in a circuit that let him get a good look at the guards around Elsa's temporary prison, well, no-one should read too much into that. It was a small town.

It was early enough that much of Manann's Keep was still asleep, and Sieghard could be alone with his thoughts. Or so he thought - as he passed the spot where the overgrown wreck of Evatt's landship still lay among the fields on the north side of town, he spotted a small, dishevelled figure waving to him from the treeline. That couldn't be... Ludo?

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard squinted and stared Ludo, not believing what he was seeing. Where were the men he had taken with him? Where were Moltke and Jens? Where was Adelbert? Something was wrong. Careful not to quicken his pace, he walked over and pretended to relieve himself against a tree.

"Morr's teeth, you look half dead!" Sieghard hissed. "What happened? Where are the others?"

[LeSwordfish]

"What the hell is happening here Sieghard?" Ludo said, his voice weak and plaintive. "What's happening?"

"We were ambushed on the road, by Falkenwald's men. They... they said they were there for me. They killed Adelbert, Sieghard. Cut his throat. Why would they do that?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Oh gods no...

It took a moment before Sieghard was able to speak. "They've arrested Elsa," Sieghard said, his head swimming. "Her apprentice too. They said they were daemon worshipers. That the goat girl tried to dig up the book. That she was working with the daemon from Nath and it changed one of her goats. They had a trial, a sham of a thing where Elsa wasn't even allowed to defend herself," Realization began to dawn on him. Sieghard clenched a fist, his hand shaking. "She asked to have you speak for her."

[LeSwordfish]

This time, Ludo didn't hold back the scream. He didn't care that it might be audible by the guards at the watchtower, just roared in pain and frustration and grief.

AAAAAAUGH

"She - she got arrested? For demon worship?"

Why do they - she didn't - "

Ludo slumped down heavily against a tree. "We were so close, Sieghard! We caught him! We caught Klammenberg, had him bound and gagged, were marching him over here. We could almost see the town. And now it's all falling apart! It's just... it's always been falling apart! We don't catch him at the temple, we don't stop Armin, we march into Nath and everyone dies, and now we finally, finally get something good and it gets taken away from us! Moltke's dead! Klammenberg's dead before he could spill his guts!"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Ludo, calm down," he urged. "You're hurt. I'll fetch Doctor B-" Sieghard cut his sentence short and his expression darkened. It was the same look he had on his face the moment before he had killed Rogar. The same look he had worn as they plotted Fischwillen's death. Urgrim's warning echoed in his head.

Remember your feeling about Falkenwald? Just saw his number two, Gunda, whispering to that Bianco in the tavern, with a couple of other fellows. Tried to get close enough to hear them, but – well. They spotted me. Don't reckon they're up to anything good, though.

"I'll slit the bastard's belly open is what I'll do," he said, fighting the urge to yell. "He did this."

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Sieghard's next actions depend on whether or not anyone heard Ludo yelling. Originally I was planning on getting Urgrim and having him round up a few of the dwarfs who volunteered for Kheneb and having them bring a spare set of dwarf-style clothes so Ludo could hopefully blend in, but if he's already been spotted, then there's no point in trying to sneak.

[LeSwordfish]

"Bianco?" Ludo asked. "Falkenwald's lady said who it was - she said Irene sent her."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Irene did this?!" Sieghard said, shocked. "Then she had Bianco arrange it for her. He was talking with Gunda a few days ago and then she disappeared." He glanced around to make sure they weren't being watched. "I'm going to get help. Stay here and stay quiet until it comes." He stared hard at Ludo. "Don't tell anyone what you told me about Irene and don't repeat what I said about Bianco. Not yet. We'll get them back for this, I promise you we will, but we'll have to play our cards close to our chests. For now it's better if we act like it was all the Falcons who did it. If the Prince wanted you dead, he wouldn't have needed to send them, he would've had the Iron Company do it. But if we start accusing his wife or his doctor right away, he won't listen. We need actual proof if it and we need everyone to see it. Anything less and they'll just try to brush it under the rug."

Sieghard turned back to town, no longer bothering to act as though he was just out for a causal walk. He found Urgrim with his men and pulled him along with Hanna and Ingwald alive. "There isn't much time to explain," he said. So far as he knew, Gunda hadn't returned yet. It would be better to act before she did. "Ludo is back, but he's injured. There was an attack on the road and right now I'm not sure who we can trust. I don't want anyone knowing he's back who doesn't have to. Urgrim, I want you to ask a few of the Dwimmulsons to help fetch him. Dwarfs from the group I spoke with the other day. Bring a spare set of clothes and dress him like a dwarf and bring him back here." He could only hope that among a small group, no one would notice that Ludo didn't really have a dwarfen build. He quickly explained where he had found Ludo and then turned to Hanna and Ingwald. "I want you to fetch Sister Ioana. Have her come alone. Don't mention Ludo by name." he thought for a moment. "Fetch Father Hechsler too."

[Thragka]

Urgrim

"Whoa - wait. Sieghard, stop." Urgrim gently raised a hand up to Sieghard's torso. "I will get help, but I need you to understand that I can't tell them what to do. They're not under my command, any more than you are. You know, the Rinn thought I could tell you what to do when she wanted you to talk to Skorgrund. So give me something to work with here, alright? What the hell's going on that's got you so afraid of anyone seeing Ludo come back into the village?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"They wanted to ask him about the ruins, didn't they? They wanted to see if we could learn anything from that priestess, right? They volunteered to do this, you said." Sieghard replied. "Adelbert is dead and Hildebrand is in chains. Ludo is the only one who can speak to her. If Ludo dies too, there is no expedition to Kheneb." he gave Urgrim a pleading look. "There isn't time for this right now and I don't know half of it myself yet. I just know we have to get him back here and we have to keep secret about it. He can tell us the full story once his wounds are treated."

[Thragka]

Urgrim

"Adel- Adelbert is dead?" The shock hit Urgrim like a blow to the gut. He'd been concerned about Schreiber's condition since Nath, but that counted for nothing against the revelation. "Gods ..." He shook his head, as if to rid himself of the confusion; it remained hovering about him nonetheless. "Right. Right. I'll get some dawi."

With a quick half-walk-half-job, Urgrim made time and a half to the Dwimmulsons' quarters in the barracks. Seeking out Berki, he drew the younger dawi aside.

"Something's gone badly wrong," he muttered. "Ludo Stubbs is back, but he's hurt, and Sieghard- Commander Sieghard is afraid of – well, I don't know, but he seems to think someone in the village wants Stubbs dead. I need your help. Get ..." Urgrim dithered half a second, and then made an inspired guess. "Moragina. She was kin to Thrunrik, wasn't she? Get her, bring a change of clothes for Stubbs, and come meet me north of the river, beyond that broken-down umgi contraption. You can make it sound like I want something daft but please don't mention Stubbs to anyone else but her," he explained. "If we lose Ludo, this whole thing's for nothing."

Sending Berki on his way, Urgrim paused a moment in indecision. "Sod it," he said to himself, and made for the earthworks, hoping Skorgrund's age might have him already up and wandering.

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If Skorgrund happens to be at the earthworks, Urgi will repeat the first two sentences above to him, and ask him to come along. If not, straight to Ludo.

Breathing deeply as he passed the tufted wreck of the landship, Urgrim scanned the trees for any sign of Ludo. "Grombolg," he called quietly as he reached the edge of the woods.

[LCP]

Berki looked deeply disconcerted by Urgrim's news, but hurried off to find Moragina all the same. Leaving him to it, Urgrim found Skorgrund where he'd hoped, up and 'testing' the earthworks on the east side by prodding them quite vigorously with an axe. Urgrim was pretty sure if you were going to do that you were supposed to use the handle.

"Someone wants him what?" said the old dwarf, furrowing his wiry eyebrows. "Who? Why?"

Seeing the hurry Urgrim was in, he shook his head. "I'll come," he said, "hear it first hand. Grungni's beard, it's always something with these umgi."

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Skorgrund with Grunlok's fortifications

I'm figuring the non-Skorgrund dwarfs + the priests will arrive after Urgrim, so I leave the scene between Thragka and LeSwordfish for now

[LeSwordfish]

"That's me, I think," Ludo said, emerging from the undergrowth. "Sorry, it's... most of the Khazalid i know is about mines. Zaki Grombolg is "father halfling", right, that's what they called my father..." Ludo had spent much of the previous half hour worrying about Petra and his father - he had presumed that they would get away, but perhaps Gunda was as good a tracker as she was a fighter... surely they would have followed him, right, instead of the halflings they didn't want.

Ludo looked terrible: several deep barely-clotted wounds, the dirt and scratches from the Thornwood, and bone-deep fatigue had all taken their toll on him. He leaned against a tree-trunk for support. "They... we nearly had him, Urgi. We caught Klammenberg. Then Falkenwald's men ambushed us on the road. They killed Adelbert and Moltke, and we had to kill Klammenberg before he could escape. They took the staff, too, the staff he was looking for."

[Thragka]

"Oh, Valaya's tears ..." Urgrim breathed at the sight of his friend. "Let me take a look at your wounds." He took his soap and his diminished bottle of spirits from his pack and tried to clean the obvious cuts, but waited for the Shallyan sister before he tackled anything more serious. "Just breathe. Help's coming."

"'To far Yar Urbaz, his staff,'" he said eventually, stepping back from Ludo. "That's what you read in the histories, aye?" he said to Skorgrund. He opened his mouth again, to follow up, but realised he had no idea what to say. "You got him, though. You beat Klammenberg. You couldn't have known what was going to happen. Falkenwald's ... whatever's going on, we'll see justice done. For Schreiber, and the others."

He shook his head; his gaze dropped. "I saw the woman, Gunda, talking to Bianco. I knew they were up to no good. I should've ... I'm so sorry, Ludo, I could've stopped this."

Urgrim furrowed his brow and glared upwards into the upper layers of the forest. "Bianco ... Bianco? That's what all this is about? The damn trial? Bloody – umgi politics? The Jackal will scour these lands and they'll be fighting to be prince of the sand dunes and king of the bones." He spat contemptuously, pulled a throwing axe and hurled it at a nearby tree in frustration.

[LeSwordfish]

"You couldn't have known," Ludo said. "The staff... did you say you'd heard something about it. He got it from the ruins in the desert, south of the red pyramid."

[Thragka]

"The Dwimmulsons' history said when the Jackal was killed the first time, his staff was taken to a city in the west. He had a staff, the book, and ... a crown, I think." Urgrim caught his tongue before he said something stupidly obvious like Guess he wants them back. He pulled his axe from the splintered bark of the tree, and sighed.

[LCP]

Skorgrund listened with a stony face and furrowed brow. "Aye," he said. "Book, staff and crown, that's right. Or the closest in the umgi tongue at least." He took a long pause. "You seem to be following this better than me, Jotunnsson. You think the manlings are killing each other over this business with the wizard?"

It wasn't long before Berki and Moragina arrived, carrying the clothes that Urgrim has asked for. The halfling frame was not at all like that of a dwarf, and Ludo filled them out like the world's most undernourished beardling - but least under the heavy mining helmet it would be hard to see his face. Moving close together, they escorted him quickly to the old barrack-houses beside the moat.

Hanna and the priests weren't far behind. Seeing Ludo's wounds, Ioana went straight to work, while Hechsler stood there looking shocked and disoriented. The Sigmarite clearly wasn't a morning person at the best of the times, and hadn't yet had a chance to shave. As Gustaf fetched Ludo a bowl of porridge from the pot, Skorgrund filled Hechsler in with his own blunt summary of what he had heard.

"Falkenwald?" Hechsler blurted out. "Why?"

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IC knowledge for Urgrim I guess - there's some overlap in Khazalid between 'crown' and 'headdress', or maybe at a stretch 'mask'.

[LeSwordfish]

"I think it's about Elsa," Ludo said. "She asked for me and... Falkenwald wants me not to get here. I guess, so she's executed... for whatever reason."

He looked up: with his wounds bound he was already starting to recover. "What's been happening here? She was arrested?"

[Thragka]

On the treeline, Urgrim gestured with his hands. "Not a human crown, a head-thing," he said, miming a snout and two long ears. "He took that from the Temple in Zhufund. We've kept the book safe. That just leaves this staff."

At Skorgrund's question, he threw a confused shrug and a shake of the head. "I'm supposing so? Sieghard seemed to understand it all in an instant. I hope –" Urgrim caught himself. Though he was warming to the Dwimmulson elder, he knew the next few hours were going to be crucial to the survival of the joint war effort. "I know his first thought will be of stopping the Jackal, rather than this, this, commedia, drama, farce, between the umgi." Urgrim wasn't sure which, if any, of those umgi words Skorgrund would understand – he himself had picked them up in Tilea – but he was sure the elder would get the gist.

Urgrim helped Ludo change into the dwarf clothes as best he could, whispering thanks to Berki and Moragina on their arrival. He walked beside Ludo back to the village, giving the halfling his arm for support. In the barracks, he lent Ioana an extra pair of hands as she needed.

"What Falkenwald's goal is, we're not sure yet," he added to Ludo's answer to Hechsler. He shot Skorgrund a quick look which he hope conveyed the umgi are too irresponsible to be given the full picture right away so let's keep quiet about this for their own good, alright? He poured a splash of usquebaugh over Ludo's porridge. "It was that damn daemon from the ruins caused this mess with Hildebrand," he said to Ludo. "Remember the Commander's horse? I tracked it all the way north to the city. The horse died, causing some trouble for the city guards, but evidently the daemon escaped. I told the Prince, and Father Heironymous, but didn't have much chance to keep tracking it myself. I was in the Dwimmulhold most of the time." Urgi sighed. Could another part of this mess have been prevented, had he made some choices differently? "Anyway, the morning the throng is due to march south, there's a big hubbub at the keep. We only hear days later when the umgi arrive here, but Tattie was caught trying to dig up the book. One of her goats started talking to her and convinced her to do it. When the Prince got here, his first order was to arrest Elsa and have her court-martialled."