[WFRP] The Hour After Midnight

[LCP]

Lothar, Raffy, Seth & Illiiya at the Carter’s Rest

Spoiler

Show

Heading back to the Carter’s Rest, the party ran up against a frustrating dead end – apparently Friedrich Hoffer had no friends, at least among the carters of the inn. There were no clues as to where the man might live when he wasn’t driving the cart that was still stabled out behind the tavern. The landlord was the only helpful source of information:

“He came by yesterday, ‘bout ten in the evening – came back in a hurry, though. Seemed a little out of sorts. Said he’d be back same time today for his cart.”

[hr]

Lothar, Seth & Illiiya, looking for Ilsa Weisemann

Spoiler

Show

Ilsa Weisemann was not exactly easy to find: starting outside the Carter’s Rest, the group had the good fortune to meet a man who had heard of her on the Drakwald Road, pointing them in the direction of the Fields. Parting ways with Raffy, they set off over the river.

After no small quantity of hard work in digging out her location, they came to a run-down, single-floored abode that could equally well have been described as a hovel as a house: certainly no bigger than a cottage, it had the look of having been constructed relatively recently, and poorly. A weary-looking horse was tied to a post outside, its long face buried in a rough trough of feed. The Fields themselves were easily visible from here, the hovel clinging to the side of the Drakwald road where the last traces of the town smeared out into the surrounding country.

Stepping up to the door, Lothar knocked. There was a sound of movement from within – footsteps approached the door, and a bolt thunked back. Opening it a crack, a woman’s face appeared – she could have been anywhere from her early twenties to her late thirties, her hard eyes and wary face doing their level best to give nothing away.

“Who are you?” she asked, a mite confrontationally – there was a distinctive rural element to her accent. “What do you want?”

[hr]

Raffy at the edges of town.

Spoiler

Show

Delberz was bigger than Raffy remembered from the days of his childhood - walking from road to road as he covered the main exits from the town, he soon found his feet complaining at their treatment. Everywhere he walked, he saw the same story at the edges of the town – buildings that were halfway to being shanties, families huddling into what shelter they could six to a bed. Here and there, campfires burned where the streets ran out, a meagre defence against the winter’s cold.

On the Altdorf and Middenheim roads, the City Guard seemed to maintain a reasonable presence – recognising their livery from Marius’ men, Raffy found his enquiries leading to little. A coach had come in from Middenheim, various merchant caravans had passed to and fro: enquiring at the riverside docks, various passengers had embarked on a barge that had left for Altdorf, but if the dockside workers had noticed anything about them, they had forgotten.

On the smaller roads, a couple of men on horseback had left on the Walden road for Mittelmund – timber merchants, securing shipping in Delberz, from what he could gather. Apart from them, it was difficult to gather more information: the roads were not properly watched, and often when they were, it was by gaggles of Hounds rather than the Guard, pulling the same tricks that Halbermann had when Raffy had first arrived in town...

[hr]

Ithelus reporting back to Marius

Spoiler

Show

The Captain seemed surprised to see Ithelus again so soon – listening to the elf’s account, his expression hardened.

“Well, you did the only thing you could, if Halbermann was there. I suppose there’s nothing to be lost by sending a couple of men back with you – making it look official ought to persuade Halbermann to cooperate, for now.”

He rang a bell for the guards.

“If you’re going to get the doctor, might I suggest taking him one of those roots from the apothecary’s chest with you? We’ve yet to have them identified.”

[Exeson]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Ithelus nodded and left the guard house with the two men and a few of the tubers in a bag, he had been careful not to touch them directly. He felt more confident about the thought of returning to the house with the men in uniform.

'I'm Ithelus by the way,' he says to the two men after a few steps, 'nice to meet you both'

Making his way to the doctor he knocks on the door when he arrives.

[LCP]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Doctor Rasen answered the door - he seemed a little surprised to see guards on his doorstep.

"Oh - hello," he said, recognising Ithelus. He gave a half-hearted, joking smile. "Come to arrest me?"

[Exeson]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Ithelus chuckles slightly. 'No, but I'm sure when I'm done you will wish I had. I've got some pretty grim things to discuss with you doc.' He swings the bag off his shoulder and steps inside.

'Firstly, you will most likely have heard we arrested Pilserier the other day, and we found a whole chest of these hidden in his wagon.' Ithelus opens the bag and shows it to the Doctor. 'Thing is we don't know what they are, and considering what he has been arrested for I don't think many people in this place will. Coukd you take a look? I'm sure payment can be arranged with the Captain.'

[LCP]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Raising an eyebrow, Doctor Rasen picked out one of the roots, turning it over as he examined it.

“Mandrake root,” he said, with a look of distaste. “Not illegal, I’m afraid – at least, not here – but despicable nonetheless.” He handed the root back. “They’re the basic ingredient of a highly addictive drug. If Pilserier had a chest of them, he was probably supplying someone here in Delberz.”

He looked back at Ithelus.

"Was there something else?"

[Exeson]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Ithelus nodded, his face looking grin. 'Thank you, I'll pass that back to the captain. There is another thing, and this is the grim part.' Ithelus sighs, 'As I'm sure you have heard there were two murders recently, and they have been blamed on sorcery. The captain asked me to take a look and see if there is perhaos not a more mundane reason and someone is just covering their tracks. The victim has had his organs removed, and I would like you to take a look at the body and tell me if they were cut or ripped out or if indeed somehting else strange.'

He pauses for a long moment, 'Now, it is a pretty brutal scene, and I'm not looking forward to going back there, so I'm in no way going to force you to take a look, I wouldn't force that on anyone.'

[Another_Poet]

Raffy the Sparrowhawk

Spoiler

Show

Raffy will ask more about the "timber mechants" who left on horseback as they are the only ones traveling at high speed, thus the most likely suspects.

In addition, he will ask the Hounds about who has come and gone too - mostly, who has gone. He'll try just chatting with them. If they give him guff or recognise him as the troublemaker who came into town a few days back, he'll offer this deal:

"How 'bout this, gentlemen? A gold crown--" (he produces one) "His imperial majesty on one side, and the mark of our lord Sigmar on the other. I'll toss it in the air, you call heads or tails. If you get it right, you keep the coin and I walk off a poorer man. But if you're wrong, the coin goes back in my purse and you tell me about anyone who left in a hurry yesterday or today. Deal?"

If they agree to the challenge I will use an Agility check (vs. 39) to make sure the coin comes up in my favour. If I miss, I'm willing to spend one or both of my Fate points to make it work.

Remember also that I have quite a few crowns from Maria that I want to give to poor people, so bribing the refugees to remember some "forgotten" details is also on the menu. Just tell me what it costs.

I don't know what other rolls are needed (if any), but my stats are here, I trust you to roll for me.

[LCP]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Doctor Rasen frowned.

“I hadn’t heard, actually. But if it’ll help Marius over Halbermann and his men, I’ll do it.”

Packing a small bag, he followed Ithelus and the guards to the scene of the crime. A Hound was still standing guard outside, although there was no sign of Halbermann. The militiaman blocked their entrance as they approached.

“You can’t come in here,” he said, haltingly. “Sergeant’s orders.”

OOC: Breaking off here to allow Ithelus a chance to handle this on his own, but if he doesn’t want to I can let the guards take their own approach.

[hr]

Raffy

Spoiler

Show

No more information was forthcoming about the timber merchants – only that they ferried timber between the foresters out to the west of Delberz, and the cargo barges that left from the docks.

The Hounds, meanwhile, regarded Raffy with curious expressions as he approached, seemingly surprised to see a citizen approach them so freely. One – a man with a hammer-brand on his hand and a few of his front teeth missing – frowned deeply at Raffy’s proposal.

“Gamblin’s a sin,” he rumbled, his voice a gravelly but lisping rasp.
“Ah, shut it, Jurgen,” said another, younger Hound. “A crown’s a crown.” He nodded to Raffy. “Alright then. Heads.”

Spoiler

Show

Coin flip! 1 = heads, 2 = tails. 2 re-rolls rolled just in case, assuming you wish to use both Fortune Points as you said.
(1d2)[1]
(1d2)[1]
(1d2)[1]

...the dice, they do not like you today.

Seeing the coin come down heads, the Hound stretched out his grubby palm with a grin.

"Pleasure doin' business with you, mister."

Finally, Raffy headed over to the Fields, spreading a little coin among the dispossessed of that grim place to the tune of four schillings – no-one had noticed anyone unusual pass, however, the branch of the Drakwald Road that ran alongside their campsite a tributary of the Middenheim road and thus rather too busy for every passer-by to be remembered.

[Exeson]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Ithelus starts chuckling, 'Oh really? What's your name?' Ithelus is being friendly towards him in what seem to be a genuine tone, 'Look [isert name here], thing is I'm under orders from the Captain to go in there again, god knows I don't want to. You've seen it right? You'll understand then that I wouldn't be trying to go back in there unless I had to.'

[LCP]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

"Hans," said the Hound. Listening to the elf, his eyes flicked from Ithelus to the liveried guards behind him. "Alright then," he said, reluctantly standing aside.

Rasen visibly blanched when he saw the body, covering his mouth and looking away - opening his bag, he donned a pair of leather gloves and an apron, mastering his revulsion and tentatively approaching the corpse.

After about five minutes of silent unpleasantness, he straightened up again and turned to Ithelus, rusty smears of red on his gloves. The two left the room, the doctor clearly glad to be out of the corpse's sightless gaze.

"The wounds are too ragged to be clean cuts," he said, cleaning his gloves and throwing away the cloth. "If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they almost look like they've been gnawed... which would imply that the missing organs have been eaten." He swallowed hard at the unpleasant thought. "I don't suppose it could have been some kind of wild animal? The thought that a person could do this..."

[Exeson]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Ithelus waited outside the room. At the doctor's words Ithelus flinched, 'That's what I feared. Thank you Doctor, I realise this has not been pleasant for you.'

Ithelus takes in a deep breath and walks into the room, the only place he has not checked was the body itself, he looked round to see if perhaps he could find and prints, animal or human on the sheets and the body.

Once finished he will walk unsteadily out of the house. Stopping at the door he nodded to Hans and offered his hand to shake. 'thank you Hans, if the Sargent gives you problems about this just tell him I threatened you or something and send him to me.'

After receiving a reply Ithelus will move back to the guardhouse to report his findings, including the fact that the markings on the body support the Sargent's theory that something had eaten the organs.

Spoiler

Show

Do I have any time left before the end of phase 2?

[LCP]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

The sheets were soaked with blood - the poor victim had evidently bled copiously even after his death, blotting out what hope there was that the killer might have left marks behind on the woolen blankets or the tattered remnants of his skin.

The Doctor returning to his surgery, Ithelus headed back to the guard house: Marius heard his report with a grave expression.

"Well, it's hard to see how the Hounds could have faked that," he said, quietly. "A pity about the roots, though, if the doctor says they're not illegal - I was hoping we might use them to extract a better confession." He paused. "Thank you."

OOC: That's your two actions for the phase, so I'm afraid we'll have to wait for the others to finish up. Feel free to specify your actions for the next phase - bear in mind, though, that you're assumed to have an opportunity to meet up and communicate what findings you want to in between, so the others may have ideas that influence you.

[Exeson]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Ithelus nods, 'Thing is sir, I've seen it and there is no way one person could eat that, which suggests either a wild animal or more than one person or..... a demon' Ithelus gulps, 'Sigmar forbid'

Ithelus sits down, 'Sir, the roots could still be used as a tool to get him to talk. If you let me bend the truth slightly.'

[LCP]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Marius raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

[Exeson]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

'Well sir, we know that this root is used to make a drug, and indeed that is what the doctor suggested he was keeping them for. These murders sir, perhaos we could suggest that there was a connection between the drug and the murders. Thing is, we have to assume he was invovled then, because he was in possession of the roots that were hidden away. Of course if he chooses to talk we could then offer to casually 'forget' about the whole root affair.'

He sits down waiting for the others. 'Because we can actually forget about the roots because they are legal, so we will not be making a promise we can't keep.'

[LCP]

Ithelus

Spoiler

Show

Marius looked sceptical.

"You're free to try, but your friend already offered him a way out from investigation by the Church - on a charge of associating with mutants. He believes his 'friends' will get him off scott-free, and soon." Marius paused. "You'd have to convince him you had absolute proof he was involved. And if he wasn't... he'll most likely know you're lying."

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

For ye mighty DM!

Spoiler

Show

Actually, despite the suggestion earlier, Illiiya would very much prefer to go with Ithelus. She'll lurk in the back, avoid the carnage if he asks her, and be quiet... but she's nervous, and wants to be with him. If you don't mind saying she was retroactively with him for that exchange, she'll be a quiet observer. If it's too much trouble, that's fine. Let me know and I'll put down my reactions to whatever group she's a part of.

[goblinpaladin]

Ms. Weisemann

Spoiler

Show

Lothar cleared his throat and attempted for his most charming smile. "Ilsa Weisemann? M'name's Lothar. May I come in? I'm pokin' in to some things, and I hear you can help. I'd really -um- appreciate it." The former soldier tried to look as non-threatening as it is possible for one to look when one's belt clanks as one moves. That said, he was from the country himself- although a different one, with more salt in the air.

Spoiler

Show

I figure a Fellowship roll is appropriate- if this doesn't go well, Lothar will point out that he has some coin.

(1d100)[41]

[LCP]

Lothar

Spoiler

Show

The woman didn't open the door any further. Lothar noticed her eyes flicked to his arm before returning to his face.

"You with the Hounds?" she asked, suspiciously.

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar

Spoiler

Show

The soldier grinned broadly, barked a laugh. "Not on your life pret-- uh, Ilsa. I'faith, they harassed some of my mates, coming into the city. Gits."

[LCP]

Lothar

Spoiler

Show

Ilsa seemed to reconsider. She still didn't open the door any further.

"You heard I could help?" she said, slowly. "Who told you that, then?"

[goblinpaladin]

Spoiler

Show

"Friend of a friend. Some toff, said you were the woman to see." Lothar smiled and gave a half shrug. "I've a terrible head for names. I'll wager I'll forget yours, soon as I walk away."

[LCP]

Lothar

Spoiler

Show

Pausing for a beat, she opened the door.
“I don’t know what you think I can tell you, but you may as well come in.”

The interior of the hovel was not quite as Lothar had been expecting: while cramped and sparsely-furnished, it was reasonably clean and tidy. It had the look of not being lived in much – there was a tangle of saddle-leathers on a bench to one side of the single space that formed the entirety of the building’s interior, and a scuffed, short-barrelled firearm on a bracket on the wall above the bow-backed bed. Next to the door, a grey cloak was hanging on a rusty peg.

In the centre of the floor was a cooking-pot – something was stewing, the smoke rising into the roof where a central opening served for a chimney. Ilsa returned to it, still keeping a safe distance between herself and the newcomer.

"What is it you want, then, Mr Lothar?"

[goblinpaladin]

Spoiler

Show

Lothar nodded to the old firearm on the wall. "A nice piece of work; a little older than I'm used. You a shooter?" He paused, clearly a little awkward.

"I, uh, we're looking into some of the, hmm, events around the city of late. I was told that you knew some things about the Lector? Things not many folk're told?"

[LCP]

Lothar

Spoiler

Show

“I hunt,” she said, flatly. Her tone implied strongly that this line of conversation was at an end.

Listening carefully to his enquiry, she gave whatever was cooking a vicious jab with a wooden spoon – it rolled over in the churning water, giving Lothar a glimpse of what looked like skinned rabbit. When Lothar was finished talking, she gave a slight smile – the expression looked singularly out of place on her face.

“You’re not too good at being subtle, you know,” she said, straightening up. “I suppose you heard that from those nobs in the Society. Sure as Shallya I didn’t tell anyone else.”

She sat down on the edge of the bed.

“What I know, I’ve known for thirteen years. So your events of late’ve probably got nothing to do with it. If you still want to hear it, you’d better make it worth my time, because this is nearly done and I’m hungry.”

[goblinpaladin]

Spoiler

Show

Lothar grinned, glad his beard covered his cheeks. "I'm a soldier, not a spy. Wouldn't know the first thing about being subtle. But yeah, I want to know." He stretched his arms and nodded to the stew. "I'll happily give you a karl if I can have a mouthful. I love rabbit."

[LCP]

Lothar

Spoiler

Show

Ilsa seemed fairly impressed by the prospect of a crown.

“Help yourself,” she said, gesturing towards the pot.

“Alright then,” she said, when the soldier had taken his share and handed over the money – “I’ll tell you, but I don’t want trouble with the Hounds. If more people start turning up after this, it’ll me looking for you. You understand, Mr Lothar?”

After waiting for acknowledgement, she continued.

“I suppose I ought to start at the beginning. I grew up in a village near here, off the Middenheim road. Totden, ‘s called. When I was nine, we had some trouble – something was taking livestock in the night. They ignored it until it started taking children, too – the old wives said it was a Child of Ulric, out of the old stories – but when it got out of hand, the men sent for help.”

She reached down, filling her own bowl from the stew.

“Help came, and it was some Southern priest of Sigmar called von Kemperbad. He would have been in his late thirties then, back before he got so lofty – still an up-and-coming man, though, looking for advancement. He whipped up the village, said the monster had nothing to do with our gods – that it was a creature of Chaos. They hunted it and cornered it in Fenkman’s barn, and I watched them burn it.” She paused. “It just looked like a frightened girl to me, but they said they were sure. And when the fire was out, von Kemperbad reached into the ashes, and there was a wolf skull, so I suppose they really were.”

“Anyway, he was the hero of the village after that. My older sister Freya, she thought he was wonderful – that he’d saved us all – and treated him as such.” She paused again. “I suppose he would have been quite a handsome man back then. After a couple of days, he left, moving on to bigger things – and after a couple of weeks, Freya realised she was pregnant.”

“She still thought he was her knight in shining armour, so she decided to go after him – she thought if she told him she was carrying his child, he’d do the right thing and marry her. I mean, he’s a priest, right?” There was a bitter, scoffing tone to Ilsa’s words. “She left the village, and that was the last we heard. She couldn’t read nor write, so my mother decided to believe she’d found her priest and married him. I never bought it. She would at least have visited.”

“So when the pox took my mother, and my father soon after, I sold what we had and went looking for her. It turned out von Kemperbad had headed back to Altdorf, cosying up with the high-ups there. Freya’s trail led right up to his door – and apparently, when she found him, she was very big in the belly. Takes a long time to get to Altdorf from the provinces when all you’ve got is a handful of copper and some priest’s name.” The resentment had not ebbed from Ilsa’s voice. “Three people said the same thing – she’d went inside that man’s house, and that was the last anyone ever saw of her. Now he’s Lector von Kemperbad, and he doesn’t have a wife, and he doesn’t have a child.”

“I was a bit too young to understand it when it happened, but of course, it would look bad, wouldn’t it? An ambitious man like him, on his way up, and suddenly there’s some peasant girl knocking on his door, carrying his bastard child. Wouldn’t do for a priest. So, if you ask me, he killed her.”

She stoked the fire under the stewpot, a little more sharply than before.

“And that’s all there is to it. I hope that’s of some use to you, Mr Lothar.”

[Exeson]

The Guard House

Spoiler

Show

Ithelus nods at the captain's statement and sighs. He idley begins to play his dice inbetween his hands, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, occasionally glancing at illiiya. He had to concentrate to try and keep the image of that grinning corpse out of his head, thank sigmar she had not witnessed it.

'Illiiya, did you sense any magic at the house?' he asks

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

At the Guard House

Spoiler

Show

Illiiya looked up at Ithelus with a slight nod. She looked a bit weary from moving about all day, and had been uncharacteristically quiet, even for her. She'd kept her new pet with her like a security blanket throughout the day, and was currently feeding and petting the small feline as she sat with Ithelus.

Mmnh... I could feel it all over the house. She said shakily, T-that's why I didn't want to go in. It was strong inside where you went. Very strong. All over the walls. Inside them. Like ash left from a fire.

She shuddered softly at the memory, despite being the one who had brought it upon herself. Most of the things that really scared her she compared to fire. She would likely always be terrified of it.

I.... I don't want to find it. She confessed nervously, All the voices are very strong here. I c-can hear them... every night. And this one is... it's killing people. It's free.

She hunched down low in her seat like a scared child, as if hoping she could disappear.

I-I don't want to see it Ith. She pleaded with him, tears forming in her eyes, It hurts. C-can't we just... go?

[Another_Poet]

Raffy

Spoiler

Show

Squatting against the wall of a hovel, Raffy considers his options. He sighs.

He lifts the purse Maria gave him, keeping it hidden under his cloak but testing its weight. 13 crowns left.

He goes to the most hungry, desparate looking people he can find. He knocks (or hallo's, if they're in a tent) and steps inside uninvited.

He nods curtly by way of greeting, no explanation for the intrusion. "How'd you like to make some money?" he asks.

(assuming they do)

"How do you like these Hounds?"

(assuming not so much, even if they're guarded in admitting it)

"I got one crown for you. A crown. And a crown for a dozen other families. IF..."

He takes a step back from their eager hands and faces. "If you do somethin' fer me. Somethin' risky."

The deal is this. 13 families get 13 crowns to run up and pelt the nearest group of Hounds with goat ****, garbage, rocks and anything else they care to chuck. (He has moved to a different area after his gambling trick, so he won't be the immediate suspect.) While they throw things they should yell about how they saw the Hounds harboring a mutant, a guy with a claw for a hand.

"That's it. That's all you gotta do. Pelt 'em, and spread that story. Can you do that? Fer a karl?"

(Assuming they agree.)

"Awright. Go get 12 other families you trust. 12 families who need money. And listen... don't get yerselves hurt. When the reinforcements show up, run fer it. Maybe they'll ask if someone bribed you to say it... go ahead and say yes. But when they ask what I look like, just say this... I looked a lot like Halbermann, only younger."

(Pause.)

"Deal?"

Raffy will oversee paying people, his hand on his gun, and makes them all repeat the story they're gonna tell (including that he looks like a young Halbermann). He makes sure they're heading toward the Hounds before he goes the opposite way, disappearing into the city. He tosses his hat into one of the fires keeping the homeless warm, and goes to his inn where he shaves. Then he gets ready to share his info with the others over lunch.