[WFRP] The Hour After Midnight

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Not enemies, Pieter thought. They sound scared.

"Who's there?" he whispered towards the darkness. "What are you doing here?"

[LCP]

Pieter

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There was a stunned silence from the other end of the tunnel - then a sudden, rustling rush of movement, ending abruptly as soon as it started. A multitude of different voices erupted - all hoarsely whispering, though whether they could not speak or were trying to remain quiet, Pieter could not tell.

"Who's there?"

"Where are you?"

"How did you get down here?"

"Are you a soldier?"

"Don't move!"

"Please, help us!"

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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By the gods, these people... are they prisoners?

He went back to fetch his torch and cautiously advanced toward the voices, the fingers of his right hand crossed in the mark of Ranald.

"Name's Pieter," he said in a low voice. This was hardly the time for a fake name. "I'm alone. I'm looking for friends."

[LCP]

Pieter

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Advancing down the passageway, Pieter stopped as something at ground level - or close enough - caught the light of the torch.

It was a tripline of coarse, hairy twine - snaking away into a hole in the muddy wall of the tunnel, it was stretched taut. There was no sign of any trap that he could see - just this string, enigmatically stretched across his path.

The voices were still keeping up their whispering clamour - one of them was repeating the same two words, trying to be heard over the pleas of the others.

"Don't move!"

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Who built this place? Gods, I shouldn't be doing this on my own.

"Is that the only trap?" whispered Pieter. "What happens if I just step over it?"


(If no one warns him against it, Pieter will do so.)

[LCP]

Pieter

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"It's an alarm," replied the voice. "Don't touch it."

"Don't listen to her!" came one of the other voices - the speaker sounded a little uncertain, though. "Collaborator!"
"Shut it, Hiemlich! They'll hear!" came a third.

The first voice spoke again - clearly a woman's, now that Pieter heard it again. "The line is attached to a bell in another chamber, to warn them if people are escaping. If you trip it, they'll come running. Step over it. Very carefully."

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Cautiously, Pieter stepped over the string and walked towards the voices, his eyes watching the ground for more traps.

"I'm here to free you. How are you restrained?"

I might need Ithelus...

[LCP]

Pieter

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The tunnel did not go far - coming to the end, Pieter found himself staring down two adjoining walls of thick, rotting timber and rusted iron, heavy doors set into each one. Between the slats of the cells, or cages, or whatever they were, gaunt, grubby faces stared, filthy hands with broken fingernails and bloodied fingertips gripping the metal bars. The smell of their squalor was palpable.

The cage on the left was packed with people, each one emaciated, scarred, and clad in the barest of filthy rags. The smaller cage on the right held just one person: a woman, maybe no older than Pieter, or maybe in her late forties - whatever this place was, it had put the same mark on her as it had the others, her face sunken and lined beyond anything Pieter had seen on the Fields.

As he paused, a dirty hand grabbed at his sleeve, pulling him closer to the cage on the left.

"How did you get in here?" said one of the prisoners, excitement cracking his voice. "Do you have the keys?" said another, eyes flicking between Pieter and the heavy lock on the door - a lock of peculiar, angular, almost makeshift craftsmanship, unlike anything Pieter had seen before.

"Are you with the army?"

"How did you find us?"

"Please, you have to help!"

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Slaves. A slave trade ring, here under Delberz! Pieter shook with a mix of confused, overlapping emotions. Truly, Ranald had brought him here for a good reason.

"I will free you," Pieter promised, his heart thumping in rythm with the mysterious machinery. "I have no keys, but I have a friend who can pick locks. Listen to me, you have to be patient, keep hope, and act calmly. I'll be back with help as soon as I can."


(Unless the prisoners have something else to say or someone gets in my way, I will go back to the well.)

[LCP]

Pieter

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"No!" said one of the slaves, pushing their way to the front - a young man, perhaps. "No, no, you can't go! You can't leave us!"
"Keep it down!" hissed the woman in the other cage - the man seemed not to notice, or not to understand. He seemed nearly out of his wits, trying to catch at Pieter's clothing. "Please! Please, don't go! Help us!"

"Shut him up!" came a hissed whisper from inside the cage - others dragged him back from the bars, blackened, emaciated hands muffling his yelps. Somewhere out in the darkness behind him, Pieter thought he heard a noise - in the cell, a man with an unkempt beard that ran down to his waist turned to him, thrusting his face up against the barrier. His yellowed eyes were wide with fear.

"Run!"

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Oh Ranald, just what I needed: a panicking idiot. Hope no one heard him...

"I'll be back."

Trembling, the initiate turned around, stepped over the tripline and half-ran, half sneaked towards the well to get help.

OOC: Just need to know if I make it without trouble.

[Another_Poet]

Not Pieter

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Raffy is a little disappointed that Illiiya turned around before he could play his joke on her, but he can see the others are surprised ((I presume)) to see him topside anyway.

"Helluva tunnel system down there. Lothar and I found a branch that connects with the sewers, way over by the Altmarket. Where's Pieter?"

The answer occurs to him before anyone can answer. Angry or worried, he runs up to the mouth of the well and looks in. "Dammit, how long's he been in there? There're mutants down there!!"

[BloodyAngel]

Not Pieter

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He went down because he was worried about you. Illiiya said in a panic, He's not alone down there, is he? He could be killed!

Illiiya leaned over the well and called out into it for Pieter... but somehow, she suspected he was far too far gone to hear her.

[Another_Poet]

Not Pieter

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Raffy looks at Lothar with a weary expression to see if he is ready to go back down and save their newest ally.

[LCP]

Pieter

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Hurrying out of the prison-tunnel, Pieter thought he heard a sound away on his left – his mind transformed it into padding footsteps, growing closer. Turning, he headed back the way he had come as fast as he dared, mentally cursing every squelch of his boots in the mud of the tunnel floor. The flickering torchlight made every shadow assume monstrous proportions, tendrils of darkness crawling after him behind the irregular bumps of the tunnel wall.

He reached the door: opening it as quietly as he could, he bit back an exclamation as a fat, black rat skittered back from the other side, crouching into shadows to one side of the tunnel. It gave no further ground, watching him with a strangely implacable gaze as the reflected flames of the torch danced in its beady eyes.

Somewhere in the darkness behind him, a hideous, distorted sound echoed out of the tunnel’s gullet: a squealing, animal chattering, complex and inhuman. Glancing over his shoulder, Pieter stepped quickly over the threshold, making to close the door behind him: as he did so, the rat darted between his feet in the opposite direction, hopping over the raised base of the door and scuttling away into the deeper dark.

Shaking his head, Pieter closed the door as quietly as he could, then turned and half-ran up the corkscrewing tunnel that led down from the well. There were mercifully no sounds of pursuit – after what seemed an eternity of scrambling in the dark, he felt a swell of relief as he caught sight of the faint light of the well-shaft ahead, the rope still dangling down to the level of the tunnel.

[-Sentinel-]

Everyone


Pieter reached the bottom of the well, panting, and grabbed the rope as if his life depended on it. Maybe it did.

"Ithelus!" he gasped urgently. "Pull me up!"

As soon as he stepped out of the well, he seized the Elf's shirt and started spluttering incoherently in his face. This day had been long and stressful for him, and what he had seen down there was just the last straw. It took him a while to calm down and realize that Raffy and Lothar had somehow gotten back to the surface. He decided to postpone questions: time was of the essence.

Taking a deep breath, he started over.
"Slaves, Ithelus. There are slaves down here, kept in cages. They look pretty bad. We have to free them. You can pick locks, right?"

He threw a nervous glance over his shoulder, as if expecting the slaves' unseen masters to crawl out of the well.

[Another_Poet]

Raffy the Sparrowhawk

Raffy helped haul Pieter up and as soon as he was over the wall the Sparrowhawk had the bell of his 'bluss pointed down into the darkness, fully expecting that something was after Pieter. Although nothing manifested, he kept his gun trained down the hole as Pieter got his breath and shared his info.

"Slaves got you that scared?" Raffy asks a bit gruffly. But he doesn't seem to think twice about it. "Let's go. Ith, you stay behind me. Pieter too. I'll blast anything what tries to stop us."

As he ties the rope around his waist, he adds, "We'll need you to give us directions, Pieter," in case the other man was thinking he needn't go along.

[-Sentinel-]

"Let's go. Ith, you stay behind me. Pieter too. I'll blast anything what tries to stop us."

Pieter angrily gripped the muzzle of Raffy's blunderbuss. Was that boy a halfwit or a maniac?

"You won't blast anything if you want to come out alive," he hissed. "Don't know how many slavers are in there, but I know it's more than we can handle." He pointed at the well. "The plan is simple. We sneak in, we free the slaves and we get out. We're not here to fight, and we're certainly not here to die. If you insist to come along, the 'buss stays here."

Pieter took a moment to catch his breath. He was not prone to outbursts of emotions, but this day had not been kind on his nerves.

"Lothar," he called. "You're a decent fighter, right? I'd rather have you with us than Blunderbuss Boy. If we need to fight our way in, chances are it will be in close quarters. We'll have to be quick, silent and subtle."

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar looked up from trying to scrape the muck off his boots with a stick. He wrinkled his nose, making an unpleasant face. "This stuff is vile, I tell you. Uh. I think we should *all* go, and the same way Raffy an' I came back- one o' the branches led through the sewers.

"It's a real unpleasant..." he gestured helplessly at his boots. "A real unpleasant wade, but it'd be worth it so we aren't all split up. But if there're folks down there needin' rescuin' we need to get on it. Oh, and just by the way- Raffy's a damn good fighter 'swell. I mean, I'm better, sure," the soldier grinned at his friend, "but he knows how t'use his blade."

He straightened, tossing aside the stick. "Illiiya, if you ain't comfortable with it, run an' tell Cap'n Marius. Backup never went astray. But we gotta go now."

[-Sentinel-]

"Sewers?" Pieter wrinkled his nose. "Ah. That explains all. At least, this proves there are several exits. I hate to be without a way out." He scowled at Raffy. "I'm sure you're a good fighter, but you won't be using the 'buss unless the situation hits rock bottom. We don't want to make our presence known too early... or at all."

The initiate was not so sure that warning Von Brucker was a good idea. The existence of such a slave trade ring under the city could not possibly have remained a secret without complicity from someone high up. Whoever these slavers were, they had powerful friends.

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

You're all going? Illiiya asked nervously.

They won't all come back.

I... I don't know. I don't feel right. It's not safe. She muttered, trying in vain to come up with an excuse that would stay their hand, Why don't we all... um... get backup... and go together?

They won't listen to you. They never listen to you.

We... we shouldn't go down there. Please don't go down there. She pleaded.

You're weak and pathetic. All you can do is wait here for them to die. Every. Last. One.

No! She raised her voice suddenly, holding her head, I... I mean... Please... I...

She didn't know what to say, or what to do. Panic flooded through her as she tried to think, but she couldn't block out the awful voice in her head. She knew it was right. She knew she was weak. But she didn't want her friends to die. She couldn't let them.

I'll... I'll go too. She said softly, her voice shaky.

At least... we can die together.

[goblinpaladin]

"It's not that stickin' together, gettin' backup, and going down, isn't a bad idea- it's a great idea," said Lothar. "Thing is, Pieter might've called attention to himself, or the slaves are due to be murdered in sixty six minutes or somethin', and waiting could prove... bad."

[Another_Poet]

Raffy the Sparrowhawk

Pieter grips the barrel of Raffy's blunderbuss. The boy's finger twiches at the trigger as his anger comes up. He could kill the coward right now. But precisely because he is not a madman or a half-wit, he does no such thing.

"Hrrrk..." comes the sound from Raffy.

SPLEH. He conjures a massive wad of phlegm and spit which he horks across Pieter's face.

If Pieter takes a swing, Raffy simply absorbs the blow and does not fight back. Instead he takes the chance to speak sharply while Pieter is close.

"You know nothing," he says simply. "I go in first with the gun. On the way out, I take the rear. That way if the mutants find us, I'll block the tunnel with the gun and die while you make your miserable escape. You and the slaves."

If Pieter still hasn't let go of the gun, he will deliver a sharp (but intentionally not-full-strength) blow with the butt of the weapon to Pieter's ribs to get the man to let go.

"That was my plan from the start. Not going in firing. You don't know what you're doing, so get in line and give us directions."

((If others want to retcon based on these actions feel free.))

Raffy prepares to go over the side of the well. As Illiiya freaks out and then resolves to come he says to her, "We'll need you, Illiiya."

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter's eyes flashed angrily at Raffy, and for a moment he looked about to punch him in the face. Then, abruptly, he let out a mirthless chuckle.

"You're a fool, do you know that? A thick-skulled, stubborn, suicidal fool. But I'll grant it to you, you've got guts... more guts than I. Perhaps the world does need people like you. Not too many, of course..." He rolled his eyes, grinning. "Let's cut the drama, shall we? We'll make sure no one needs to sacrifice himself. And we won't leave a single man behind. Sorry if your to-do list included dying like a hero: you'll have to postpone it."

His jaw tightened in grim determination. Although he had no such delusions of heroism, he could not allow the atrocity of slavery to continue. The path Ranald had set before him was clear.

Pieter turned to Illiiya: "I understand your fear," he said soothingly. "But this isn't about what we want to do... it's about what we have to do. I know I couldn't live with the knowledge that I left innocents to toil under the whips of slavers." His face grew grave. "Your cat. Mr Cat, is that his name? Can be useful. Animals have keen senses."

Cats also happened to be sacred to Ranald, which was a definite plus for Pieter. They would need all the luck the Gods could give them.

[Another_Poet]

Raffy

Raffy regards Pieter coolly at first, as if waiting to see how the man is going to trick him. But it seems Pieter is actually trying to defray the situation, at least for now. Raffy gives him a nod, then ties off the rope to the bucket-axel atop the well. He goes over the mouth of the well and tests the rope with both hands. If it holds:

"This way no one has to hold it. Climbing should be easy with the walls to push against."

Then he disappears down the well, going hand-over-hand into the darkness. His lantern is hung precariously from his belt.

As he climbs down he thinks about Pieter's words. Maybe I ought to buy that guy a pommander, he thinks. And looking down into the dark: If I live through this I need to get a few petards.

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter knelt and whispered a quick prayer to Ranald. Then he stood.

"Honestly, I'd rather enter by the sewers." He looked uneasy. "I thought I heard movement behind me while I was leaving, and I might have been followed. I don't want to fall into a trap, you understand..."

[Exeson]

Ithelus feigns surprise at Pieter's earlier suggestion, 'Pick locks? what are you talking about?'

Ithelus looks around as the argument rages. 'Guys, I agree with Illiiya, we should all go to the guardhouse. Not that I don't want to rescue the slaves as soon as possible and all but if we die down there with no one knowing where we went then nothing comes of it. Better the guard know where we are going and can maybe give us one or two guards as well, if there are a lot of slaves then we could use some more people for crowd control.'

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar scratches the back of his head. "Aye, I see yer point, an' all but- well..." the soldier looked distinctly uncomfortable, peering over the well. "It's all...diseasey down there. I'd rather not go down at all, but if we're gonna do it, we gotta get those people out afore the rot sets in."

He rubbed his arms and looked between Raffy, Ithelus and Pieter. "If we all ain't about to try an' kill each other, that is. Ith, if you an' Illiiya want to go get the guard, that's fine. But we can't wait on 'em- they might not be able to respond right now, or want proof, or a hunnerd other things."

[-Sentinel-]

"We don't have much time," said Pieter between clenched teeth. "When the slaves saw me, some went almost hysterical. It's only a matter of time before the masters notice that they're agitated. Besides, I think a few of them can't be trusted to hold their tongues... Collaborators, lickspittles or something." He turned to Ithelus. "I need you down there, and I need you now. We're trying to sneak into the place, not storm it."

[Exeson]

'And I'm not going into that maze without someone knowing that if I'm not back to come and look for me. I've seen what they do to people. I've seen how they make your skull grin as they spread your blood around the room.'

He spins around, 'I'm not saying leave them to rot, but I also know that emotions can cause us to rush into things, now lets stop arguing and get to the guard, sharpish.' Without waiting for a reply he turns on his heel and, scooping Illiiya up in his arms, begins to run back to the guardhouse.