[WFRP] The Hour After Midnight

[amgodtic]

Seth ***** an eyebrow at Marius.

[LCP]

Pilserier's Cell

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Considering the apothecary's words for a moment, Marius looked back at Seth.

"You found this man. Does that answer your questions, or is there more unaccounted for?"

[goblinpaladin]

Pilserier's Cell

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Leaning away from the man's ear again, Raffy called to Lothar. "I hear they put 'em in the vat toes-first, so they don't die too quick. That right, Lothar?"

The soldier nodded in response, a quick grin crossing his face. After the snivelling man spurted lies in response to Raffy's offer, he shook his head and stepped closer to the bars.

"That's a nice story, Pilly, but it doesn't mesh with other things we already know. You'd dealt with Puderbrand before, after all. Before the old Cathedral went up..."

[LCP]

Pilserier's Cell

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The apothecary looked round at Lothar.

"What? Who told you that?" he asked, rather too quickly. "I mean... maybe I might've seen him before. I wouldn't remember, if he hadn't... changed before then..."

[Another_Poet]

"We also know that you were relaying information to Puderbrand's gang from someone calling themselves the Court. Now here's the thing, maggot... if you were being threatened with physical harm, it's not a crime to relay information. You could still get out of this, because an innocent man would help us. If we know who 'the Court' is we can go after them. We can tell the Church you've already told us what you know. I'll even look sad when I testify that you were coerced. But if we don't know who 'the Court' is... well, then all we've got is you. And someone has to burn for this, don't they."

It's not a question.

[LCP]

Pilserier's Cell

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Pilserier licked his dry lips, looking from Raffy to Marius, and from Marius to Lothar.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? For me to... ha... incriminate m'self."

He moved back a little into the cell, out of Raffy's reach.

"Whatever you think you know, that's some dead mutant's word 'gainst mine. You want me to 'fess to something in front of him," - he pointed to the captain - "that's a very different kettle of fish, ain't it? That's enough to see a man sent down for good."

"I already told you plenty. If you're not going to be reasonable, I'm done talkin', and we'll see who burns. I'll be out of here before tomorrow, you watch."

[amgodtic]

"Oh, Adolphus..." Seth mentions as an aside, "did your niece make it in alright? Or was it your nephew? You'll have to excuse me, all the running around yesterday gave me a headache, I must have got mixed up."

[LCP]

Pilserier's Cell

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The apothecary looked round, seemingly surprised by this new angle. He seemed to take a couple of moments to marshal his thoughts before replying.

"That... that was just a misunderstanding," he said, weakly. "I - I have a nephew and a niece. Yes. I told them not to come."

[Another_Poet]

Raffy

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"You're foolin' yourself. You think you're going to get out of here like that? Didn't you hear what I said? Inquisitor. Inquisitor. You'll be out of teeth and fingernails before they even finish talking about your cart. You think you're going to live to see a trial from them? Hell Pilserier, I'm a loyal Sigmarite and I'd confess if it would get them to stop putting that red-hot poker up my backside. Or in my ear. So yeah, they'll get a confession... if we have to hand you over."

He backs away from the cell as well, as if he is just about done here. "So I'll ask you my question just once more. Last chance. If you're innocent, and you were forced to relay messages on fear of your life, you will be walking out of here tomorrow. So speak up now and help us. Who is 'the Court'? Who are they, and where do we find them?"

[LCP]

Pilserier's Cell

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Adolphus shook his head.

"The Hounds don't scare me. And neither do you." The sweat on his forehead seemed to give the lie to his words. "I'll be walking out of here before your Templars can lay a finger on me, be sure of that."

"You want to watch where you're sticking your nose in, mister." He seemed to look sideways at Marius. "You might find things out you'd have been better off not knowing."

[Another_Poet]

Raffy the Sparrowhawk

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Raffy turns toward the door. He looks at Marius as he does so, and addresses him: "It's a shame, sir. But we all have to die somehow."

He salutes casually, and leaves.

((Waiting for the others outside I guess.))

[goblinpaladin]

Pilserier's Cell

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Lothar sighed melodramatically. "It's a shame you've got to be like this, Pilly. Now it's your word against a chap who offered to help us, legitimate men of this town, an' us- heroes of the hour." He snapped his fingers. "You'll burn faster'n that, my friend."

The soldier paused a moment. "I'm not like our young friend, though- I'll give you two more chances. One to tell us about the Court; the other to tell us about your interest in mutants and beastmen.

[LCP]

Pilserier's Cell

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"If you could prove anything, you would've said it," said Pilserier, unpleasantly. "I'm finished talking to you. Mark my words, you'll be sorry you treated me this way."

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

It takes some time for Illiiya to calm down, as she shivers and rails against the presence of things that no one else can see. Holding on to Ithelus tightly, she will eventually grow calmer. Having him there certainly seems to help.

I'm all right.... I just... just... She'll catch herself for a moment as her expression breaks, and she seems ready to collapse again, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I thought I would be ok on my own, but... I wasn't. I could hear them. All of them! I'm sorry Ithelus, I'm ruining everything for you! You shouldn't have to take care of me all the time! I try... I try so hard... but when I'm alone, I can SEE them! They won't go away. Never go away...

[LCP]

Ithelus (& friends?)

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Heading off towards the northerly side of town, enquiries among the people on the street made the murder sites easy to find - half of Delberz seemed to have heard. Crossing the river and striking north towards the Fluchtling Fields, Ithelus found himself looking down a street of ramshackle, recently-constructed houses.

In the centre of the street, a slightly larger building bore a painted sign that read:

Rosa Jessen's Boarding House
Rates Reasonable

Beneath the sign, standing by the front door, was a man leaning on a slightly rusty halberd. He wore a white band round his arm - a Hound, standing guard.

[Exeson]

Ithelus

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Ithelus hugs Illiiya, at a loss as what to say. He holds her tight, 'It's ok. it's ok. I don't mind. You're not ruining anything for me. They can't get you, they're just trying to scare you'

*****

Ithelus walks up to the hound, nodding at the man, 'This the place where the murder happened?' he asks in a matter of fact tone. 'I'm here from the Captain, he wants me to have a look around.'

[LCP]

Ithelus

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The militiaman looked at Ithelus with an expression that tried and failed to hide his surprise at the appearance of an elf in front of him.

“From von Brucker?” he grunted. Giving Ithelus a long, suspicious stare, he seemed to make a decision. “Wait here.”

Shouldering his halberd, he ducked back through the front door, closing it behind him and leaving Ithelus on his own. There were muffled voices inside, and the sound of feet on steps.

A few moments later, the door opened again – Ithelus found himself staring straight into the yellow-bearded face of Sergeant Halbermann. The man blinked as he recognised Ithelus.

“Well, look who it is,” he said. “I did hear there was a couple of elves doing the Captain’s dirty work for ‘im. Should’ve guessed, I s’pose.”
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the door guard standing behind him. The same devilish grin he had worn on their first meeting crept back over the Sergeant's face.
“Berthold here says you’re here to see my crime scene. That right?”

[Exeson]

Ithelus

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'Your crime scene?' says Ithelus with mock surprise, 'Are you saying you are involved in this? here, wait, let me just write this down,' He pretends to rummage around in his pockets, 'I didn't think I would get a confession so soon actually, The captain will be pleased.'

[LCP]

Ithelus

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Halbermann snorted.

"My crime scene, 'cause we found it. You just bear that in mind."

He leaned against the doorframe.

"You want to see it or what? I got no objection to the Captain's men having a look, but we're tryin' to do our jobs here. Can't all be having fun gallivanting after changelings," he said, mockingly.

[Exeson]

Ithelus

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Ithelus chuckles slightly, 'But Sarge, I thought your job and sole purpose was to find and capture those changelings? I suppose I better hurry up and have a look around before you and your men trample over everything.' He moves forward and enters if the sargent moves out of the way, 'You know, I was wondering what you guys have been doing all this time, it only took a group of five lazy misfits a few days to find them, and you have a whole private army of upstanding and dutiful men under your command.'

[LCP]

Ithelus

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“Funny, that,” said Halbermann, an unpleasant smirk crossing his face. “The Lector told me all about your little adventure. There we are, hunting away for months, and then you and your friends just... stumble across them.”

Turning to lead the way into the boarding-house, he leant close to Ithelus’ ear as he passed.

“Almost like you already knew where they were,” he said, quietly.

Like so many buildings in the poorer parts of Delberz, the interior of the boarding-house was poorly lit, a rickety wooden staircase leading up to the lodger’s rooms – another militiaman stood at the top of it, while beneath it, a woman wrapped in a dusty shawl sat in a padded chair that was leaking straw, staring into space. She looked as if she had seen a ghost.

“The feller was a lodger here,” said Halbermann, his voice returning to a normal, conversational tone – “paid his rent, no enemies to speak of.” He began to stump his way up the stairs, the Hounds who were milling about on the landing moving out of his way as he led Ithelus towards the scene of the crime. “Then, early hours of this morning, old woman Haeckel down there – the landlady – heard him screaming. The door was locked, so she ran to get help – which is where we came in. Bein’ on patrol at all hours, like upstanding and dutiful men, o’ course.”

Gaining the landing, Ithelus found himself looking down a low-ceilinged corridor, lined with doors – one stood ajar, a pair of Hounds standing guard outside it. They saluted sloppily as they caught sight of the sergeant – but Ithelus’ attention was drawn rather to the unpleasant smell that was wafting from the unseen interior of the room. It smelt like a butcher’s shop on a hot day...

“So,” said Halbermann, mischief dancing behind his bright blue eyes. “You want to see him, you say? Go right on in.”

[Exeson]

Ithelus

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Ithelus laughs at the sargent's remark. 'Sir, comments like that are playing with fire, careful you don't hurt yourself.' On sensing the smell Ithelus rolls his eyes he takes a deep breath. Can't void infront of these people He sighs and steps into the room.

[LCP]

Ithelus

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The door had clearly been forced, as Halbermann had said – pushing it open, he stopped as he saw the horror that dominated the centre of the pokey bedroom.

The remains of a man were sprawled on a sagging, straw-stuffed mattress – the tangle of woollen bedclothes that hung around him were stiff and dark with dried blood, looking as if they had been dipped in a vat of red dye – traces of the stuff were all over the room, speckling the floorboards in hideous trails.

The soft tissue of the corpse’s face had been torn away, eyes, cheeks, even the tongue missing from the crimson, skeletal wreckage of the man’s features – more horrible by far was the gaping void in the centre of his torso, his abdomen collapsed like a deflated balloon to reveal the hollow ruin of his ribcage. The innards were gone, the space that should have been occupied by the heart, the lungs, the liver a torn, empty vessel. A single, fat-bodied fly buzzed around the room, settling occasionally on the gruesome remains as it kept an eye on the newcomers.

“Grim, ain’t it?” said Halbermann, appearing at Ithelus' shoulder. “When we got here to break it down, he was lyin’ here like this – and old woman Haeckel swears not a soul passed in or out all the time in between. There’s another one down in the warehouses by the docks, just the same – and not a sign of what they’re missing anywhere to be seen. It’s like the rest of ‘em was just... consumed.” The militia sergeant seemed to take a certain relish in the word.

OOC: Take a WP test or gain an Insanity Point. Anyone yet to post who retroactively decides they went with Ith, that goes for you too.

[Exeson]

Ithelus

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Ithelus gags. Hard. 'By Sigmar's holy fist,' He turns away sharply and closes his eyes but there is no way he can get that image out of his head. He refelxively grabs onto Haldermann's shoulder. He can see the body ifront of him, the grim face almost smiling. Come on, join me, it's fun when you get used to it. He shakes the voice from his head and slowly returns to the room and trying not to look at the corpse he moves over to the window, checking the lock, and then all around the room, well, everywhere but at the corpse.

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WP test: (1d100)[99]
Search test(1d100)[79]

[LCP]

Ithelus

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The lock showed no signs of having been tampered with. The window was shuttered, and too small to allow access to anyone larger than maybe a halfling’s child – traces of the man’s blood were everywhere, on the bare floorboards, on the cheap furniture, even smeared on the base of the walls, to a height of maybe eight or nine inches from the floor. The victim had clearly not been living in the lap of luxury – there was a gnawed hole in wall of one corner of the room, the clear sign of a thriving rodent population in the boarding-house. The blood had reached it too, dried traces lingering on its splintered edges.

Clearly taking perverse pleasure in the elf’s horrified reaction, Halbermann leaned against the wall.

“So. No way in or out. Bits of ‘im vanishing into thin air. And another one a couple of streets down, as far as we can tell almost exactly at the same time.” He grinned. “You and your mates found some mutants. Looks like we found a sorcerer.”

[Exeson]

Ithelus

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'if that's true, then by all means make yourselves his enemy rather than me.' He gags again as a wave of stench hits him as he forgets to breath through his mouth. 'What were his possessions? Did he have anything unusual on him?'

Ithelus could see it every time he closed his eyes, that face leering at him, the exposed jaw forming to him a morbid grin. Look! I'm all empty, well fancy that! it seemed to be saying. He was definately going to have a strong drink or seven tonight, and maybe a few nights after that.

[LCP]

Ithelus

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Halbermann shook his head slowly.

"Nothing worth noticing. One of these Schoppendorfers, come in since the invasion - had enough money to pay for a roof over his head, but not much else, 'pparently."

He pushed himself off from the wall, walking over to stand by Ithelus.

"Now get this straight. I don't begrudge the Captain nothing - someone's got to keep the rabble in line, and his men do a decent job. So I've shown you what's here to be shown. But this is the Church's investigation now, and if you lot go sticking your noses in where they're not wanted - well, there's a man coming in what the Lector called on special-like, for this case. A man with expertise. Man like that comes into town, no-one's above suspicion. Couple of elves, knockin' about, I 'spect they'd be first on his list for questioning."

His voice dropped.

"You think this is bad? At least he stopped screaming, after a while. I heard the Templars can keep you alive for weeks. So you run back to the Captain, tell him what you saw - and tell him we got it covered."

He slapped Ithelus on the back like an old friend.

"Right?"

[Exeson]

Ithelus

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The slap came as a shock to Ithelus, still absorbed in his thoughts. His eyes suddenly took on a hard edge to them and he looked Halbermann straight in the eye. 'This is a murder, and will be investigated as the captain sees fit. You don't touch this room without his say so or your bollocks will be on the spit.' His hand fingered the hilt of his sickle as his face curled into a snarl, 'And if you ever threaten Illiiya again I'll be sure to be the one roasting them.' There was something cold about him now, detached. 'oh, and sargent, that's a lovely pair of ears you got there. I'd look after them if I were you.'

[LCP]

Ithelus

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"Illiiya? That her name?" said the Sergeant, innocently. "Now why would I be talking 'bout her? She done something that the Lector's friend might want to know about?"

He grinned his wicked grin.

"Looks like you've still got to learn who's got the power in this town. The Captain's daddy does what his blushing bride wants, and my pal the Lector tells her what that is. We got twice the men and twice the money and this" - he thumped the wall of the murder room - "is our job. The Guard might be alright at chasin' thieves, but we're here because the city needs us. To root out the rot."

He turned, looking over Ithelus' shoulder.

"Berthold!" he shouted. "Brecht!"
Two Hounds appeared in the open doorway. They too did their best not to look directly at the corpse.
"The elf gentleman was just leavin'. Show him the door, will you?"

[Exeson]

Ithelus

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Ithelus shoulders past the Hounds. 'Hounds, more like whipped dogs' he mutters at the men's reactions. He strides out of the house and makes sure he is out of eyesight of the house before ducking into and alley and violently voiding his breakfast onto the floor. Seven drinks? he thought as he was on his hands and knees wiping away spittle from his chin, at least twelve.