tomboys and troublemakers: a wfrp 2e game

[bramblefoot]

"dont let them get wet" the magus says gruffly. he takes you aside and says "i sense something dangerous will happen on the riverboat. i have a gift for you, should that happen"

he pulls a small ash wand out of a pocket in his robes and proffers it. "for you, as a token of my goodwill"

Spoiler: ooc

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this wand, when held, grants a +1 to the magic characteristic

[MrAbdiel]

“To the lady Mystera Partidge, as you say, good Earl. I presume she has the receipt payment. I will guard your delivery with my life and sacred honor.”

With such promises in place, he bids the Earl farewell, and makes his way toward the Academy - since he’s in the nice part of town, he might as well see if Talabheim’s library has some military classics he might peruse. And he may well regroup with Wighard there, too.

[bramblefoot]

as you are perusing the library, you do come across a copy of Chant d'Aceir, by sir gilles du lancre. the copy is old, but well-loved and seems to be in good repair

[wilphe]

Wighard takes the offered wand and cannot repress a gasp as he feels the winds of magic flow more vibrantly and vividly than he has ever experienced.

Th-thank you Lord Magus, I shall take good care of it and hope not to use it

+++++=

At which he will take his leave upon seeing Sir Bertelis

[bramblefoot]

"guard it well" the magus says, and walks away, whistling a happy tune.

Spoiler: ooc

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are we ready to move on to the riverboat?

[wilphe]

Spoiler: OOC

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If we are not biting on this hook, I think yes

there has been a strange dog-headed creature terrorizing the village of westvein for a couple months. they offer 25 gold crowns and a good draft horse for the head of the beastie.

Though frankly that looks like too little reward for too much risk

[bramblefoot]

Spoiler: ooc

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shall i bump it to a wagon and two draft horses?

[LarsWester]

Spoiler: ooc

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shall i bump it to a wagon and two draft horses?

Spoiler: ooc

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I think that the low reward would be part of the appeal for Bertelis and Emil- our Bert and Ernie. Gimgroth will be the grouch. Wighard are you Cookie Monster with that insanity? I thought we had bitten the hook. I just don't know where the village of Westvein is in relation to Talabheim.

[bramblefoot]

Spoiler: ooc

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we'll say the village is on the way to altdorf, maybe two days ride from the capital city

[MrAbdiel]

Spoiler: OOC

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Lol you guys we have a whole OOC channel!
One more thing from Bertelis before we are ready to hit the road.

After reconvening the company at the preordained gathering point - the Academy Library - Bertelis gives the group his rundown on opportunities, explaining both in turn.

"...And since we're heading in that direction anyway, it seemed no trouble at all. A very small package, too - perhaps jewelry. A very easy task, but the premium he has purchased is our security and trust." He slides the first half of the payment, a pouch of fifty karls, over to Wighard. "And if we go overland, as I hope we do, we can stop off and solve this crisis for the people of Westvein. Twenty five, plus a draught horse that we might call Siobhan's, and we'll be half way to having our pulling team for a cart. I do not know what wolf-headed beast this will be - it does not sound like the typical goat-men of the forests - but I am interested to find out."

Finally, he presents his last offering to the group: a faded old book from his pack, and a map of an indistinct topography.

"I found this book and map, back in the mine in Trundheim. They're both in poor condition, and I have spent some of our spare hours trying to be certain of their nature. But the book matches one in the library here, which helped me understand some missing elements: A Compendium Of Corsairs, Lucas Veiger's profiles of two dozen famous corsair kings of the western sea over the last two hundred years. It seems whoever owned the map had reason to believe this map's purpose was to mark the a treasure trove belonging to one such pirate - but did not know which. He had made his way through a number of profiles in the book, using clues from their histories to try to place where in the larger world the map corresponds. The burial point is inside some kind of cavern or mine, that much seems certain; and the mine in Trundheim was the last to be eliminated in the seeker's quest - it seems it is not the treasure of Captain Donas Scheirbeck, shameful son of the Trundheim region. My best guess is that the seeker sought out the treasure in the mine, perished there in some accident of natural cause, and was hauled out of the mine, thought a casual hand who had died in his labors; leaving the book secreted in the rock until my later discovery."

"All that is to say, this may well be a map that leads to a small or large amount of wealth - and if that is true, it is better we honest men recover it than some dishonest pirate with another map, if such exists. I have travelled over much of the empire - but I had hoped my esteemed companions might add their expertise to mine and grant some additional insight into this map, while we are in a fine place to research."

Spoiler: Treasure Time!

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See Bramble, I didn't forget the map! I fluffed out some details of the corsair book, to make it correspond to the map, if that works for it.

Bertelis is hoping his friends - particularly his two friends with huge muscular intelligence scores - will be able to narrow down the possible locations of this treasure to maybe a handful across the empire (or beyond?), and correspond them to heretofore unspecified pirates listed in the corsair manual.
That way we can go treasure hunting when we're near those places, or go seek them out deliberately at some point, and find... well, who knows. Either a very impressive or very disappointing treasure.

You can decide how you want to play that out, but if I were you, I'd do something like this:

Allow Intelligence checks from Emil and Wighard, because they're the smarties. Probably sum their successes/fails.

Based on the degree of success or failure, we might come up with a number of possible sites to look for the treasure.
Maybe a large number of successes means as little as 3 potential sites; a big failure might mean as many as 10.
I'd secretly pick which one was 'real', and then let us decide when and how and if we're going to search any of those locations - which, given how far pirates range, might be anywhere from Araby to Norsca, at your discretion.

That's how I'd do it, anyway. Let us know how we should proceed with that!

[wilphe]

I have a job to deliver a few cases of magical reagents to Altdorf - which my patron indicated may be attacked.

I would prefer to see these safely delivered first and then resolve the matter at Westvein, and I would prefer to take the river for it as I don't want to see them smashed up on bumpy roads.

He looks at Bertelis

You still intend to go to Couronne?

Also you think this may be what attracted our yellow eyed friend?

Remind me we need to report him to the authorities

[MrAbdiel]

You still intend to go to Couronne?

Also you think this may be what attracted our yellow eyed friend?

Remind me we need to report him to the authorities

"Perhaps we can take the river to Altdorf, then jag out to Westvein before striking west in Earnest. And yes, I think you're right - I ought not dishonor my father by defying his wishes directly and returning home. But Couronne is not particularly close to my father's holding in Bordeleaux -and as you suggested, perhaps we will have some opportunity to assist with the strange disease, being only so close. I cannot imagine what the yellow-eyed witch desired; I doubt it to be gold and treasure, though. More likely he sought depravity for its own sake, as such reprobates do."

[wilphe]

Also friends, as you remember I had a brush with death on the way here.

So I had these made and after some donations was able to get them blessed by the Priests of Morr and Shallya.

I hope you do not disapprove of this expenditure of company funds

He has 5 small broaches if you like, with the image of a burning slug on them


They need not be worn openly to be effective

He smiles at Bertelis

Spoiler: OOC

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Lucky Charm:

Good for just one use, you can use the luck charm to reroll one test or ignore a successful hit.

If the latter, you must announce you are using the charm prior to
determining Wound loss.

[bramblefoot]

you book passage on the chaleur, a good barge headed to altdorf, with a decent reputation and room for the horses. the first night passes smoothly, but can i get a wp roll at -10 from all of you except wighard?

Spoiler: ooc

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pm's will follow this depending on how well or poorly you roll

[wilphe]

Wighard stows the real crates under his bunk behind his armour (because he won't wear it on board) and shield (ditto - though its on top so he can get it)

The decoy crates he puts in a corner with a blanket over them and a warning sign that says "fragile"

Spoiler: Wighard and Siobhan

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Yes he is sharing rooms and the like with her.

Firstly because this is a real thing that happened

Secondly because he realises she's an teenage girl and that bad things can happen to her on her own

Thirdly because she has a talent and wants to keep an eye on her

Its not a sex thing and would not be out of the ordinary in universe

[bramblefoot]

everyone except wighard awakens with a jolt. they are currently floating above the barge with silver ties connecting you to your bodies. It's dead quiet. hell, you could hear a beetle spit, if they spat

Spoiler: sir bertelis

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you get a vision of your fathers estate. how bad does it look?

Spoiler: wighard

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sir bertelis' map begins to glow. gonna check it out?

Spoiler: grimgoth

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you are floating above a ruined dwarfhold. corpses lie everywhere, and the smell of death is strong. strangely, there is plenty of loot lying around, like whoever was here didn't loot it.

[wilphe]

Wighard breaks off imparting the first 15 articles of Imperial Magic into Siobhan and turns his attention to the map

Things that start glowing in the middle of the night are often a distraction, that said someone would have to be very well informed about us to chose that as the thing that starts glowing

He approaches the map but does not touch it, it is generally glowing or is there any particular location marked out?

Spoiler: OOC

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And Emil?

[MrAbdiel]

Spoiler: Bramble!

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Did you mean Emil, for the second spoiler above? Wighard being on watch?

A Dream of Bordeleaux

Before he has time to appreciate the unusual lucidity of the dream, the world of trees and river and empire gloom washes away. A spiralling grey fog opens up, and suddenly he feels his boots sinking into soft grass - grass, he would contend, grows better, and greener, and softer in Bretonnia. There, the Myrmidian sun shines her favor down the yeomen, and the bannermen; and a breeze, clear of the poisoning pall of the Empire's industry and magical hubris, fills his lungs. The sensation is almost enough to make him cry in his sleep; and absently, ignorantly, he wanders across the familiar grounds, past the hearty idyllic toil of the pickers in the vinyard and the vinters stomping in their tubs, past the small herd of hobby cattle penned in Hercule's farm, which he knows so well because...

Why? Because why? What happened here?

Taking his eyes from the pink stone keep ahead of him, he stops to look around at the little farmstead. Hercule is nowhere to be seen, and the cattle offer no insight; but on the ground, near his foot, is a smoldering token of familiarity. The spade - the lightning-wracked one he carries now on his hip, which miraculously caught the blast of evil lightning flung at him by the bray-shaman those years ago. He leans to wrap his grip around his smoking, hickory handle and raises is up to eye level to look upon the peach-hot glow of the iron that had saved his life. Yes - that's what happened here.

Except, all at once, it appears to be unhappening. The unlikely victory and first saga of his story as a knight errant splits and empties like so many grapes under the heel of wicked destiny's editorial flare. The smoke from the spade is rising up not to a sunlit sky, but a sky darkened with smoke - from Hercule's burning homestead, from the dozens, hundreds, of burning buildings belonging to the peasants on his father's land. In horror, his blue eyes behold the stalking bestial figures in the far distance at another peasant's thatched home - Magdelene, widow of Jean-Scot. A a trio of indistinct human figures are run down by two distinctly goatish bipeds, and one huge stalking bull-headed beast; the pitiful cries of their desolation reaching his ears moments after their lives ended.

Rejoice, peasants, for the knight of Bretonnia is your shield.

Where are they? Where are the knights of his father's house, with his frail brother Andre riding along side their father to drive the beasts away? Nowhere in sight was the small but powerful lance of ten riders - thirteen, if with his father, Andre, and skilled Mateo being permitted to come alongside. But the defenders of the estate where nowhere to be seen. Where are Dermand and Maheiu - certainly knights in the courts of other fiefs by now, but by that binding honor-bound to ride out with those chevaliers and assist? Where were the yeomen, and the bannermen, pulling the peasants into order? Scattered, and desolated, as the fire ate up the buildings, and the vinyards; devouring all marks of civilization, as beasts do.

Finally, his attention is turned to the box castle on the hill as a shuddering crack fills the air - the sound of the gate splintering under the pressure of a great log the beasts had hauled up to use as a ram. The crowd of shaggy, braying shadows poured into the broken door, and a wail rose up from within as the pillage began inside. His eyes, despairing, tracked to a flicker of white, and cornflower blue. In one of the wooden towers at the corner of the keep, where there ought to yeomen fletching the beasts at the gates, was his father's wife, Deanna. Even in this apocalyptic moment, she struck him as scandalously beautiful; her dark hair free and flaring behind her. Peasant women covered their hair mostly, with their bonnets; women of quality covered their hair entirely in wimple and gorget. Only prostitutes, foreigners, and - at the other end of the spectrum of virtue - damsels of the Lady exposed their hair so freely; and Bertelis had only seen his step-mother's hair once in his life: on the day of her wedding to his father, in which her feminine bearing and loveliness, just three years his senior, burned itself into his mind as the archetype of a woman. In the three intervening years, Bertelis had fought his way through a confusing web of emotional responses to this woman who was at once the deeply inferior replacement for his long passed mother, and also so striking in appearance and demeanour that a sixteen year old squire was naturally spun into sequences of thought entirely unfitting for such a relationship. By the end of those three years, that youthful infatuation for this forbidden beauty, and childish resentment for this intruder in his home, had strangled each other to death; and what remained was the kind of feeling that most step-sons and step-mothers must content themselves to: a not-quite-familial, but close-enough warmth and respect. But the ghost of his infatuation rose up here in the dream, where such things are unbound; and as the flames licked up the wooden posts holding the tower, he saw both Deanna as his father's wife, holding three year old Celeste protectively to herself as the end drew in... and also Deanna as a woman in distress, beautiful and frightened, calling out to him from a mute mouth for salvation. Such women forsook the mastery of arms to master instead the craft of home (from which all gallantry springs) and the art of courtly grace (which shields a home from many threats which are not born of fire or steel). In doing so, the ancient bargain of man and woman demanded that the men for which such a woman makes such a home and a courtly peace be prepared to defend her from fire and steel; to the hilt; to the death. A pact of dependency of one sex to another and back again to make - at least, in those cases where this pact was not abused or forsaken - the dynamic union of parts which lay at the heart of every line of Bretonnian poetry and act of grail-sought valor.

And Deanna, little Celeste in her arms, both depending on him and men like him to deliver them from the savagery of the world, opened her mouth to call out with a voice that did not come to her one last time. Then the tower broke, and its smoking pieces and its fragile occupants tumbled below into the fire.

[bramblefoot]

there are six blips on the map

the first is up by the sea of claws between verborgenbucht and rossin

the second is smack dab in the middle of the ruins of castle drakenhof

the third is way the fug up in norsca, about five finger lengths due north from last kislev settlement

the fourth is in the pirates republic of sartosa, about a finger length and a half east from sartos

the fifth is in araby, about two finger lengths southeast from vulture mountain

the sixth is on the island of lyonesse off the coast of brettonnia

Spoiler: emil

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you have a conversation with professor petrus lorrimar in your sleep. we will handle this in pms

[wilphe]

Wighard undoes his broach and takes another piece of thin parchment - lining it up with the map.

He then pricks six holes through both sheets at the points indicated.

Take heed, think why I did that.

One I wasn't that keen on touching it directly

Two. Holes or marks on the map itself might well be removed. It is magic after all. Now we have a backup.

Here endeth the lesson

He pauses

If we live young lady you are going to get to see a hell of a lot of the world.

And you will find that the world doesn't have many nice places in it

[LarsWester]

A dream of smoke and ore.
Gimgroth felt the strange sensation of not being in touch with solid ground. It disturbed him greatly. Steeling his courage he opened his eyes to see the ground far below him. He closed his eyes and braced for the fall and impact that never came. Slowly he opened his eyes again and observed the same spot of ground far below him. Keeping his eyes open he surveyed this patch of earth far below him. He could see faint wisps of smoke rising from what looked like ruined homes. It took taking the whole picture in and imagining what it used to look like for Gimgroth to understand that he was familiar with the location. Not sure how but he was above Kazad Sedazund the dwarven mining outpost due South of his home in Karak Grom. Straining his eyes to make out details in the land below Gimgroth could see the slaughter bodies of dwarf, man, and mule strewn over the outdoor housing area. What was odd was that those who committed the slaughter seemed uninterested in the place's wealth. Wagons laden with ore could be seen still attached to their dead mules. Weapons lay in the dead hands of their dwarven wielders but there was no sign of what force came and did the killing and burning. There were no goblin or beastfolk bodies. No remains of any kind to provide a clue as to what was behind this attack. There was no way of knowing if what Gimgroth was seeing was Kazad Sedazund as it currently is or a possibility of things to come. Gimgroth closed his eyes to the dizzying scene below and the heights above it he currently hovered. Broken Runes. he cried before reverting to a childhood rhyme
"Now I lay me down to rest.
Me fathers axe on me chest.

If I should fall with grudges due,
I'll be back, lookin for you.

[bramblefoot]

sir bertelis and grimgoth awaken to see wighard bent over the sir bertelis' map. the map appears to be glowing. what are you all doing?

Spoiler: ooc

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do you describe your dreams?

[MrAbdiel]

Bertelis's eyes snap open, and he lays there on the deck of the barge, head rested on his pack, fur cloak for a blanket; staring up at the stars winking in and out of the world as the gloomy clouds shift over them. I am tormenting myself, he decides; finally sitting up and sparing a groggy glance over to Emil, who still dozes peacefully; and Gimgroth, just now stirring. But his eyes are quickly drawn to the glow, where Wighard and Siobhan conspire; and he restlessly pushes himself to his feet, crosses to them, and joins the conspiracy of questions about the map.

Spoiler: OOC!

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Bertelis will vaguely mention his distressing nightmare to Wighard at breakfast, as out Shroud Agent seems the best one to catalogue and consider if such things have meaning; or atleast to catch and offer perspective if some has been missed. But he'll gabble along now with the rumors of treasure, for now; unable to get back to sleep, and probably rested enough as it is.

Bramble, did you want me to generate interesting corsairs to go with those points on the map, with the understanding that anything learned from the book could be wrong and you can always spring surprises on us at any time? I'm pretty happy doing these kind of lay-ups, but I don't want to backseat drive at all.

[wilphe]

Well I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that map has revealed six locations

The bad news is that only two of them are places you'd ever want to visit and two of them scare the absolute stuffing out of me

[LarsWester]

Gimgroth awakens with a murmur. He sees Emil still sleeping but the others gathered around the map. He shakes his head as he can't believe his eyes. The map is emitting a strange eerie glow. Gimgroth rises and stumbles over to join the rest. Well me paw always said I was a bit sick for wanting to see the whole world. Seems like I'll be getting the chance after all.

Gimgroth keeps the horrors of his dream to himself for now.

[-Sentinel-]

Spoiler

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WP at -10, target 36: (d100)[2]
Fortune: (d100)[2]

Emil awoke from a half-remembered dream about Professor Lorrimor, and joined his companions around the map. His eyebrows went up at the locations indicated on the map.

"Just chartering a ship to get to those places would cost an awful lot," he observed.

[wilphe]

You need money to make money, this is how the injustice in the system perpetuates itself, you of all people should understand that

Wighard observes dryly

Spoiler: Bertelis

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Wighard will listen carefully to his account of the dream

Well to be honest I am just figuring this out for myself. Were you being called upon or expected to do something? Did you do anything or did you just observe?

I suppose it is not unusual for your thoughts to turn to home, given recent news, but I don't know if that means anything or is anything to do with the map

Did Gimgroth and Emil have any dreams?

[MrAbdiel]

"I admit, I was sceptical about the map; and the possibilities of its being a real treasure that was worth the expense of seeking it were small. But this... is a blessing, I think; perhaps Ranald invested in encouraging fools to a venture. Why else would it show six alternatives? The number of faces on a die, after all. I'll bet each corresponds to a corsair from the book, but only one will have treasure buried in a place that corresponds to the smaller map. And one of them isn't far from the coast of Lyonesse - the isle Lyonesse, even. I shall bet that's for Eonath Bleakscythe; the dark elf mercenary corsair prince. I shall study that entry in the book when the sunlight permits, tomorrow."

Spoiler: A later conversation with Wighard

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"I do not know. I think, perhaps, I am just caught in anxiety about my home, since the letter. Such dreams are common, yes? Calamity, and the impotence to avert it? Just my aching heart, I think. As for Gimgroth and Emil, I cannot say. But if they dreamed such personal things as I, I should be inclined to let them guard those thoughts until they think them especially relevent."

[wilphe]

I have an open schedule and the journey is sure to be interesting

Spoiler: Bertelis

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Well from what I understand for talking with the Raven Lord's priests - and this only applies to those in his church anyway where both of us are only devout lay followers

If a dream shows you doing something - it is an omen you have to act upon

If it shows multiple people doing something- depends if anyone else involved shares your dream

Anything else may or may not be prophetic

[bramblefoot]

the party disembarks at the village of westvein. the pier is a mess, and the village is hardly better. hastily-dug graves lie in the fallow fields, and a large stone tower sits in the center of town. the village consists of two-dozen hovels, a rickety inn with stabling and a shoddy blacksmiths place. a slightly more impressive hovel is probably the hetmans house