[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XII

[Thragka]

Urgrim held up an open hand towards Ludo. "We can't run from them, Ludo, that's the thing. They're faster than all of us, 'cept for you." He spoke calmly, trying to keep the exhaustion out of his own voice. "I want to get back there as much as you do, but we're sleeping bats if they turn on us again. And you can't go in alone." He waved in the vague direction Elsa had ridden off. "Elsa was on her horse, she must have gone back to the camp. She'll be telling the Prince to turn right around, if he isn't already. As soon as she's back, we'll head for Sieghard."

[LeSwordfish]

"Well, then I'll go in on my own." Ludo said. "If the witch is still alive, or the vampire, then maybe none of this mattered! I'm not losing this for the sake of ten minutes waiting for the wizard."

[Thragka]

For a moment, Urgrim looked like he was just too tired to understand Ludo's point – or perhaps bodily exhaustion was competing with rational thought. But then he pulled a shuddering noise, somewhere between a sigh, a yawn, and a deep breath. "Right. You're right, especially the witch. I'd forgotten about her. We can chase her down, that's for sure." He took another breath, and dusted himself down with his hands, in a ritualistic attempt to freshen up and ready himself for another exertion. "I'm with you."

[LeSwordfish]

"Good," Ludo said, his tone softening a lot. "You're the tracker, we'll need you."

He turned back to the thorns. "Spread out. Go slow and careful: look for anyone who might be down or injured. Shout as soon as you're spotted."

"I'm going straight to where the vampire was."

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Ludo is heading, stealthily, straight for where Nahorek fell. (1d100)[24] vs 84

[LCP]

Elsa & Jarla

Tattie struggled to find her words, intimidated by the whirl of events around her. “I felt… something,” she said. “Does that mean… are we leaving?”

With a jingle of chainmail, Grunlok came stumping over. “What happened down there?” growled the Dwimmulson leader. “Where’s Jotunnsson?”

Shouts and bugle-blasts were now resounding over the camp as Sforza’s command went out. The soldiers had been given instructions to stand ready before the ambush party set up - now they were forming up in battle order. Off to one side, Father Hechsler and Sister Ioana were having a quiet but animated discussion with the Prince.

“Ufdak umgi,” muttered Grunlok. “No-one tells us anything here. He thinks he’s taking the fight to Varag Kol without Clan Dwimmulson, does he? He can think again.” He stopped and looked around. “Where’s that big wazzock got to with Zonbrynaz, eh? Where’s the spear?”

---

Ludo & Urgrim

Some of the Thorns hesitated and hung back, Urgrim’s words of caution clearly resonating with them. When Ludo plunged back into the fog, it took until Hanna gripped her crossbow and followed him for the rest to follow suit.

They went slowly, as Ludo had instructed, keeping a lookout in all directions. A keening wail echoed from somewhere back towards the ruins. Instinctively, the Thorns closed ranks, raising their crossbows and watching the coiling mists for any sign of ghostly shapes.

None appeared. Holding the lantern high, Ludo began walking slowly forwards again. He saw a hint of movement up ahead - a glimpse of something sleek and dark, vanishing swiftly into the mists. The image of the last mounted wight charging through the ranks of the Thorns forced itself unbidden into Ludo’s thoughts. He did his best to put it out of his mind, and trust in the eyes watching behind him.

A tendril of fog shifted, and Ludo saw a more concrete shape loom out of the murk - the weathered plinth and broken feet of the ancient statue. Rushing forward, Ludo saw the dark shapes heaped at its base - the remains of Kleinrabe and his men, and behind them, the armoured figure of Sieghard, sprawled out pale and motionless on the ground.

The spear in his hand was broken, its shaft splintered into pieces - though the spearhead remained intact. Its golden glow had faded to nothing. Next to it, Ludo could see the Jackal’s onyx mask, fractured clean in two, and a ragged heap of empty robes, swaddling an empty shirt of bronze scales. Of the body that had once occupied them, there was no trace - it was as if Nahorek had returned to the dust of the plain.

[-Sentinel-]

"I felt… something," Tatiana said. "Does that mean… are we leaving?"

"I certainly hope so," said Elsa with a very forced smile. "We just have to make extra sure the Jackal's dead."

Grunlok broke in: "What happened down there? Where's Jotunnsson?"

Elsa licked her lips. "Urgrim... fell behind. But he was alive the last time I saw him. Commander Sieghard managed to drive the spear into the vampire before the ghosts overwhelmed us; now we have to go back and make sure it's truly over. If there's anyone still unaccounted for, we'll find them."

"Where's the spear?"

"Still over there, I think." Elsa paused. She was still reluctant to suggest out loud that Sieghard was dead, as if voicing it might make it true. "I lost sight of Sieghard shortly after the vampire fell."

[LeSwordfish]

"Sieghard!" Ludo hissed, running forward. Until now, he had found it impossible to believe that Sieghard could have been killed - old rock face had always seemed so tough, so vital - but he was very still now. Ludo grabbed at his commander, checking for breath or a pulse. "Sieghard! Are you - you can't be dead, come on-"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

The closest thing to a response Ludo got was an unintelligible groan. Sieghard's body felt as though it had been robbed of all warmth, but he was still breathing.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo let out a choking gasp of laughter, bitten down for quiet. "I knew it! They'll have to try harder than that to kill the Slayer!"

He turned back to the thorns, trying to call them over quietly. "He's alive! We need to get him back to the Shallyan."

[LCP]

Ludo, Urgrim & Sieghard

The other Thorns came hurrying up. "Morr's breath," whispered Ingwald. "He looks halfway to being a ghost himself."

Sieghard Only

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Sieghard’s memories were a terrifying jumble. He remembered the phantoms surging in around him, the voices of the dead screaming out as one as the burnished gold of the spear struck the polished stone of the mask. He remembered the wave of darkness that had washed over him as it shattered, the feeling of cold fingers closing around his heart. He remembered silence, and the soft touch of sand under his fingertips.

He remembered something else too - the blurry face of Mala stooping over him, her black hair matted with blood. Her words sounded muddy and muffled to him, as if he were hearing them from the bottom of a pond.

“Was it worth your life, then, to kill him? Will they write it on your tombstone? Here was the man who threw spears in the face of gods. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair.”

She leaned in close. “Listen to me now,” she whispered, “and hear my curse. What became of the last man to wield that spear is what will become of you and your master.” Her voice dripped with raw, wounded bitterness. “Your strength will abandon you. Your petty empire will crumble around you. This land will swallow you, and even the wind will forget your name.” She stepped back, half turning away. “One more dead brute, in a long line of brutes.”

The memory faded, and he found himself once more in the present, looking up into Ludo’s worried face. He felt frozen and numb, as if he had just been dragged from an icy river. The faces of the Thorns crowded around him - of Mala and the spirits, there was no sign.

As the Thorns gathered round their fallen leader, Urgrim looked around, taking stock of their surroundings. He could see the vampire’s robes, and the shattered remnants of his mask - but look as he might, he saw no trace of the Jackal’s staff.

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That’ll be 1 Insanity Point for Sieghard!

---

Elsa & Jarla

“Grungni’s beard,” exclaimed Grunlok, “you mean he got him?”

Sforza’s conversation with the priests seemed to be drawing to a conclusion. Ioana headed back towards the tents, while Hechsler and Barbaro hurried off together towards where the ranks of soldiers were assembling. Looking around, Sforza fixed his eyes on the first of his soldiers who had returned from the ambush, and demanded he give him his horse. Once he had it, he rode out in front of his troops.

<Men of the Iron Company! Men of Magritta and the Reaches!> His voice rang over the heads of the assembled soldiers, cutting through the fog. <You have followed me far from your homes. You have conquered armies and kingdoms. Tonight, there is one more victory for you to claim.>

Drawing his sword, he pointed it down into the valley.

<The Jackal is dead! His body lies on the plain below us, slain by your brothers in arms!> An excited murmur ran through the ranks, breaking out in some places into cheers and whoops. Sforza held up his hand for quiet.

<Already you have seen his puppets falling from the sky. Only a few wretched spirits remain to guard his body. Our priests are passing among you now, to bless your weapons and make them fit to send these ghosts back to Morr’s realm. We will mount their master’s skull on our banner, and burn his cursed tower to the ground!>

This time the cheers were deafening. Sforza let them die away of their own accord before he spoke again.

<This necromancer thought he could challenge us. He meant to make an army of our dead. Let everyone see, the Reaches have only one lord! One army! And nothing can stand against us!>

Roaring their approval, the Iron Company began pounding the butts of their pikes against the hard earth, the rhythmic crash echoing over the darkened hills. Sforza gave a tigerish grin and spurred his borrowed horse back towards where Elsa was standing.

“Holt!” he called out. “Find Esteban and go with him. The Brotherhood will be your bodyguards. Daniele is blessing their weapons now.” He stopped as he saw Grunlok. “Signor Dwimmulson, we would be honoured to have you with us as well.”

“Aye,” said Grunlok. “That you would.” He drew his axe and ran his thumb along the edge. “If the Black Hound’s really dead, then we wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

[-Sentinel-]

"Holt! Find Esteban and go with him. The Brotherhood will be your bodyguards. Daniele is blessing their weapons now."

Elsa privately doubted Barbaro had enough faith in him to make his blessings effective, but she found it best not to voice her misgivings. She was glad, however, to have been assigned Valdes as a bodyguard; this was the man who, though already injured in battle, had volunteered to face the Orc king in single combat at Manann's Keep.

<Honored to fight by your side again, Esteban,> she said, nodding to the Magrittan. <I have a spell for bravery. It's only a few minutes in duration, so I'll cast it on us when we're about to set out. Trust me when I say ghosts are terrifying.>


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Already rolled for successfully, so this is just roleplay.

Almost afraid to ask, but do Barbaro-blessed swords seem magical to Elsa's witch-sight? Magical Sense 93: (d100)[54]

[RossN]

Jarla

Trying not to look annoyed that the prince whose life she had saved hadn't said so much a word of thanks to her Jarla mounted Countess, her pistols at the ready.

She'd done her part against the vampire (and she hoped Adelbert was looking with approval from Morr's realm), and she hoped Sieghard was still alive but right now she was far more concerned about Mala getting away than the tower. She was going to ride off after the witch and finish their conversation.

"Countess ja."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard Only

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Well worth it, Sieghard thought. He had never expected to die an old man in his bed. His only regret was that he hadn't gotten the chance to drag Mala to Morr's gate with him. Mala left and his thoughts turned to the Thorns and to Ludo and to Elsa. That was another regret to add to his list... that he hadn't had more time.

All around him, he saw the ghosts of those he had led to their deaths and those he had been unable to save. Among them were Ottilda and the rest who had fallen at Rivermouth and Nath, the Caerfort folk who had been swallowed by Nahorek's storm, and Adelbert too. All were watching and silently judging him. He wondered if what he had done was enough to atone for failing them. Probably not, he realized. Nothing would ever be enough, but he had done everything that he could.

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Might be an interesting opportunity if RossN wants Adelbert to say anything... Or if he thinks Sieghard would think Adelbert would say anything since it's vague whether this is all in Sieghard's head or not.

Also does Sieghard get a WP roll on that insanity point or is it automatic?

[LeSwordfish]

"Get him back to the camp." Ludo instructed. "He needs a healer."

He turned to Urgi, and managed a strange, strained smile. "Can you tell... has someone taken the body away from here? The witch ran off north... does it look like she's come back?"

[Thragka]

"Take the spearhead and the mask too," Urgrim said. "Get them away from this cursed place. Make sure one of the priests takes a look at the mask."

He hunkered down onto his haunches, trying to assess as much of the scene as he could see through the mist.

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Follow Trail 54 - (1d100)[12]

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo picked up the spearhead himself, hoping it wouldn't be too obvious to the Thorns that in all honesty he didn't trust anybody but himself with it - and even keeping it himself felt like unreasonable risk.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard made a noise halfway between choking and a cough as the crossbowmen lifted him. "Still alive," he spluttered. "Rivermouth witch... Still alive,"

[Thragka]

"You know what happened to the staff, commander? She take it?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Didn't see," Sieghard replied, his head hanging low.

[LCP]

Elsa & Jarla

Valdes looked a little miffed at the idea that he or his men might need their bravery supernaturally supplemented, but said nothing - he only compressed his lips into a tight line, and gave Elsa a nod of acknowledgement. Ahead of them, Barbaro was passing down the line, swinging a battered old aspergillum that he had dug out from his tent. Elsa didn't know if the Classical words the Myrmidian was mumbling were the correct liturgy, but as the Estalians knelt and held their blades out to be blessed, she did think she saw the faintest white light around the drops of water that fell onto the steel.

Even with Barbaro and Hechsler working together, there were a lot of weapons to bless - it would be a while until the army could move down into the valley in force. Instead, they moved out in detachments. Valdes' was one of the first, just after the first troop of Iron Company men had started down the slope. The hillside behind them was coming alive with moving pin-pricks of light, torches burning through the misty night.

The wind had risen a fraction, and some of the fog seemed to be thinning, peeling away in shreds from the valley floor. They had just reached the spot where the ground levelled out when Elsa made out the broken stump of the statue up ahead - and beneath it, the lights of Ludo and the Thorns.

---

Ludo, Urgrim & Sieghard

The ground in the valley was hard and stony; even after these weeks of rain, it would not hold a decent print. Still, by the way the smaller stones lay undisturbed, Urgrim thought he could rule out anyone having dragged a body away from the site, least of all one as long and gangly as the Jackal's. The silver bolts still lay embedded in the vampire's torn and punctured robes, some of them stained with a black substance that might have been blood.

A splash of red on the stones nearby was blood of a more human kind. Someone had come this way who had been bleeding - someone who had come from the direction of the open plain to the north-east, and returned that way, away from the ruins.

In the back, one of the Thorns called out. Lights were approaching through the fog, descending from the direction of the ridge. From the sound of voices that rose with them, it sounded like reinforcements on the way.

[Thragka]

"Not to worry," Urgrim said, pointing out the blood to Ludo and the nearby Thorns. "I think we've got her trail. You've done a fine job, Sieghard. They'll sing songs of this night. It'll go in the Dwimmulson records for the next three thousand years, eh?"

[-Sentinel-]

Before leaving

"Sire, may I suggest our soldiers don't weigh themselves down with too much armor?" Elsa asked Sforza, while the weapons were being blessed. "Against ghosts, it'll be more of a hindrance than a help."

---

Well, Ludo and Urgrim were still among the living, as were most of the Thorns. That was hardly surprising, as being good at running or hiding was a large part of their purpose as scouts and rangers, but it relieved Elsa of some of the weight inside her stomach. And among them...

Is that... Sieghard?

Elsa resisted a mighty urge to rush forward to meet him. But it was most definitely him; looking wan, but alive. She greeted him with a broad grin as her group reached the gaggle of Thorns around the site of the battle.

"Hey. You look terrible." Her eyes darted to Nahorek's empty robes and broken mask, then back to Sieghard. "...Do you think that's it?"

She was not sure what to make of the absence of a body. The first time someone had killed the vampire, there had been a body. Why not now?

[RossN]

Jarla

Jarla looks at the survivors in open surprise. Happy surprise but still. She stopped Countess by the edge of the surviving group and nodded to them.

"Congratulations... What about Mala? Any sign of her?"

[Thragka]

Urgrim nodded happily back at Jarla, and returned Elsa a wry smile of his own. "Aye, there's a trail. She's injured – we should catch her. We'll finish this yet."

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa grinned back at Urgrim. "That sounds like a job for the Thorns. Revenge for Rivermouth, at last. But the Prince is sending the rest of us into Nath to burn down the Jackal's tower. The priests had our weapons blessed."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard managed a weak smile when he saw Elsa

"I've felt better," he said. To her question about Nahorek, he didn't have a good answer. "Not sure... I hope so."

[LeSwordfish]

"We could use a rider, or a couple of horses." Ludo said. "She's hurt so can't go fast, but has a head start."

[Thragka]

"Good," Urgrim said, with another nod. As exhausted as he was, he couldn't help but be bolstered by Elsa's jubilant mood. There was a sense of victory here, of companions reunited and a hard toil bearing fruit.

"We have the mask," he said. "That should go in the priests' care, I think. The staff is missing – either the witch fled with it, or the dead northerner took it. The prince should know that." He rubbed his brow. "It'd be something, to see that tower come down, but I think my skill's best used hunting the witch down. With the Thorns."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo nodded. "The trail won't be easy in the dark. I say we send a couple of riders ahead along her path, and follow with the trackers, as fast as we can keep her trail."

[Thragka]

Urgrim nodded. "One of these days I'm gonna have to learn to ride one of those things, he muttered.