[WFRP] The Bloody Crown

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa's smile wavered as she contemplated ramming a fireball down the armored man's throat and pulling it out the other end. Now's not the time and place, she reminded herself.

"See," she told the innkeeper, "I just tell people I'm a wizard and they go with it just to be on the safe side." She grinned and rolled her eyes.

[LCP]

The innkeeper looked at Sieghard - then at Elsa - then back at Sieghard. In his experience, coin was coin, and he wanted to keep it.

"Why don't you two settle this between yourselves," he said, with a weary slump of his shoulders. "I got work to do."

Removing his blackthorn cudgel from beneath the bar with a wary look at both antagonists, he slung the weapon over his shoulder and shuffled out of sight.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard moves his hand to his sword.

"You burn down the whole forest or just the village, witch?"

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa gave the mercenary a smirk. "Why would I do such a thing, even if I could? I've nothing against these people. They suffer enough already under people like you, I wouldn't want to add to their burden." She finished her ale and added two pennies on the bar for a refill, trusting the innkeeper to notice them when he got back. "If anyone did any killing or burning in Elmridge, it was the men sent by your boss."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard laughs.

"And if they hadn't sent men out to rob travelers and murder the duke's men, Jager never woulda had to bring those men in. You trying to start a riot didn't make things any easier for them."

[-Sentinel-]

"They were doing a pretty good job of working themselves up for a riot without my help." Elsa shrugged, and winced from the pain in her left arm. "Just passing through, I'm not here to cause trouble. Oh, but wait a minute, I've no obligation to justify myself to hired goons like you. Good day."

Turning away from the mercenary, she knocked on the bar three times to bring the innkeeper's attention to the coins she had just put down. To any onlookers, she looked a bit on edge, always shifting on her stool.

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I'm going to pause here to let other PCs react to Elsa.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Wouldn'tve been undeserved if the bitch did burn their village down."

Sieghard mutters, thinking back on Elmridge. Dealing with the witch had given him a thirst, but he wasn't about to line the innkeeper's pocket with more of his coin after that.

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert could have strangled Sieghard for going out of way to irritate the spellcaster but decided that if the two were not going to kill each other there and then he wasn't going to be the one who started to the fire.

Going to the bar himself he waited for the barkeep to finish with Elsa so he could order breakfast. It was blatantly obviousto him Elsa had a run in with someone (though given her personality it would be odd if she hadn't.) Probably not bandits either or she wouldn't have come up with that bar brawl story. Which meant trouble; she was in it or she had caused it. Or both.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard keeps his voice down to keep Elsa from hearing.

"It's no coincidence that woman shows up here when she did. Witch has been following us. Like as not it was her that hit you with that rock."

(edit: more)

He pauses for a moment.

"Wait for me if you like or head up to the castle on your own and I'll meet you there later."

Then at a normal speaking level, he adds.

"I'm going to go check the market again. There was a man selling some good wine yesterday and I want to see if I can pick up another bottle."

(For LCP)

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Sieghard heads outside and finds a spot where he can watch the door without being spotted, or atleast not spotted easily. If the witch woman was following them, he was going to find out why.

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert nodded at Sieghard, then took a seat at a table for breakfast. As he moved to sit down he glanced at Elsa briefly and uneasily, clearly waiting for her to make a move... or not as the case might be.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa felt in a slightly better mood after her first ale. She spotted the man who had been a bit less brutish than the others in Elmridge. The Averlander. What was his name, again? Adelbert.

"Why do you travel with people like that, 'Bert?" she drawled without preamble, jerking her thumb at the door through which the mercenary had left. "You don't look like anyone's dumb muscle. Seems to me you must have fallen on pretty hard times to take a dirty job like that."

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

"Adelbert," said Adelbert automatically (he loathed being called Bert). He glared at the wizardress but there wasn't much force to it and after a moment he sighed and gestured for her to take a seat beside him. "You may as well get some breakfast while you're here then. You... well honestly you do look like you've fallen pretty hard yourself."

[Sodalite]

Wolfgang

Wolfgang awoke last, and though he would have gone down to the main room to eat and speak with Adelbert, seeing Elsa there made him reconsider. He could leave through the window again, this time downwards, and simply not return, but that could easily lead to him being questioned as to why he did that later, and so for now, he waited just outside the main room, hoping that she would leave soon enough.

[-Sentinel-]

[U][COLOR="Blue"]"You may as well get some breakfast while you're here then. You... well honestly you do look like you've fallen pretty hard yourself."

"Touched by your concern," said Elsa dryly, noting how Adelbert deliberately avoided her question. She stared at the bottom of her distressingly empty tankard. "I've had worse injuries. A healer will patch me up quick; if this was life-threatening, I'd be dead already."

She leaned closer. "Unless you intend to make a career out of bullying peasants, I've no problem with you - I won't lie, I did pretty bad things too and I'm willing to do more of there's money in it. Just be careful. People like Jager will be the first on the gallows if and when the common folk decide they've had enough."

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

"Well, it sounds like they haven't decided yet." Adelbert drawled. "Who knows I might be able to help them when I plea their case to the Duke." The scribe's words were omptimistic enough but his expression and tone of voice said what he really thought about such chances.

"Anyway there is a shrine to Shallya in the religious quarter of town... which brings me to something else." He looked around and lowered his voice. "The Bretonnians have a temple devoted to their Lady here and inside it a relic to one of their knights. He has the strangest sword I've ever seen in my life and I was wondering if with your training you'd be able to make anything of it."

[-Sentinel-]

A smile dawned on Elsabeth's lips. "Make anything of it, uh?"

She had heard of supposedly holy artifacts attracting the Aethyr over the years and becoming magical. Either that or they were magical to begin with, which led the faithful to see them as divine. One way or another, her interest was aroused. A quick look, maybe even a probe with her witchsight, would not hurt.

If the sword did turn out to be magical, well, it could just not be left in the hands of some warlord from the 'Princes. College wizards had standing orders to retrieve any enchanted artifacts not already in the possession of the eight Orders, lest irresponsible people use them for evil or selfish purposes. But right now duty was only secondary to Elsa next to her curiosity. That, and the possibility of enraging an authority figure or two.

"I... could take a look, I guess," she muttered, failing to conceal her eagerness.

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert glanced at that smile and quickly began to wonder if he was going to regret having told her that. Well too late now. "Brother Odo, the custodian is harmless if a bit touched. Try not to do anything to upset him please." The scribe said unhappily before looking at the wizardress. He winced sympathetically as he took in the state of her arm. "Okay, first we'll see about the healing, then the sword." He hesitated a moment before adding: "You do look pretty bad. Mind if I ask how...?"

Much to his own surprise he felt a pang of concern for the woman. Utterly obnoxious though she might be the Reaches hadn't been kind to him either and he felt a bit of sympathy.

[-Sentinel-]

"As I said. Got knifed." It was obvious from Elsa's tone that she intended to say no more. "Yeah, I should get this looked at before it gets infected or something. Whatever the innkeeper says, I trust the surgeon more than the Shallyan. Tools and know-how work better than faith and good intentions and sh!t, in my experience."

Plus, someone who worked for money was easier to bribe to keep her mouth shut.

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Well so much for sympathy, Adelbert thought to himself. He shrugged and turned away again. "Fine. I have my own appointments so I'll meet you at the temple later."

After finishing breakfast Adelbert got up and left for the door.

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Adelbert is heading for the market to check on his new clothes and try and pick up some more local information about town.

[-Sentinel-]

"Later."

Tired of waiting for the innkeeper to acknowledge her again, Elsa counted a full minute after Adelbert's departure, then left the Boar and Crown in search of that surgeon on Pike Street.

[Sodalite]

Wolfgang

The other two having finished their conversation, Wolfgang enters the main room, orders some food, and then sits down to contemplate what he will do.

On the one hand, a tomb is not exactly a place you can climb into, even if the chapel is raised. On the other hand, he isn't even the only one wanting something taken from inside, and on top of that are the possibilities provided by a magical sword. After a few moments of considering, he decides he'll try and tag along, out of sight, and see if they go through with trying to get it. If they do, he'll mention it to them, or at least Adelbert.

[LCP]

Elsa & Sieghard

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Walking out again into the streets, Elsa did her best to find her way to Pike Street. It was still quite early and there were not that many people around willing to give directions. The tedious task of extracting the information felt like it was sapping what was left of her willpower.

At last, she found the street she was looking for. Little more than a back-alley, a leaning house cast half the lane into shadow. A wooden pole hung over the building's front door, stripes of white and red paint flaking and faded in the border sun. Even more faded letters were scrawled over the shop-front, advertising the owners' business.

MADAME MORTE, BARBER, SERJEON
&
HERR LEIBER
PURVEYOR OF FINE MEATS AND PASTRIES
VERY RAISONABLE PRYCES

The street was deserted. Taking a step forwards, Elsa became aware of another shadow behind her, and turned around. The familiar shape of Sieghard the mercenary had appeared at the mouth of the alley, looking back at her.

---

1

Adelbert

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Heading into the awakening market, Adelbert made his way to the tailor's. They were not yet open. Sitting down on a block of stone, Adelbert watched the stall-holders setting up for the day, the smell of strange goods and fresh food drifting across the market square.

OOC:

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Make gossip checks to gather information. If you have any specific questions, that'll help me in providing specific rumours.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

(Sieghard and Elsa)

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From where he waited, Sieghard saw Adelbert leaving the inn. Probably headed towards the castle he thought to himself. When the witch woman emerged shortly after, he considered confronting her there and then, but decided against it. Too much chance of someone heading in or out and seeing it.

Sieghard followed at a distance until she headed down one of the smaller streets. This early in the day it was empty and likely to remain that way for a while or so he hoped.

"Why are you really here, witch?"

He had his crossbow loaded but kept it low enough to not be immediately threatening.

"Honest answers. Now. And I'd think twice before yelling for the guard. Jager's name holds some weight here and I think we both know whose side he'd take if they dragged him back here."

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa and Sieghard

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MADAME MORTE, BARBER, SERJEON
&
HERR LEIBER
PURVEYOR OF FINE MEATS AND PASTRIES
VERY RAISONABLE PRYCES

Elsa chuckled softly. There was something darkly funny about how a building was shared by someone who made amputations and someone who sold meat of an unspecified nature.

The mercenary appeared behind her so quickly that she instinctively reached for the wind of Aqshy. The man had a loaded crossbow and a grim expression.

"Why are you really here, witch?"

Elsa took a deep breath and put on her insolent smirk. "Whaddya mean by here?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "The Border Princes? The Duke's land? Alvarran? The surgeon's house? And what'll you do if I don't answer, shoot me?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard and Elsa

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"Let's go with all four. Enough has happened that I don't believe it's a coincidence that you'd show up here. Now answer or you'll find out what happens."

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa and Sieghard

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Elsa rolled her eyes. "I'm here in the 'Princes to map out the Aethyric patterns over the land. I'm here in Alvarran 'cause it's one of the only shreds of civilization in this Sigmar-forsaken land, so it's not that big of a coincidence that we happen to meet again; believe me when I say I'd avoid you if I could. As for why I'm looking for a surgeon," she said, jerking her thumb at her wounded arm, "it's because I'm not gifted with instant healing powers, sadly."

She threw him a challenging look. "Now tell me, what are you planning to do about it? 'Far as I know, you have as much power as Jager gives you, and he's not here."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard (featuring Elsa)

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"Oh? I thought you had business in Savonne. Wasn't that the story you used before? Where did you get that wound? No more stories."

[-Sentinel-]

Sieghard and Elsa

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Gods, was the man irritating.

"Got that wound in a bar fight at the Beetle. And College business isn't to be discussed with non-wizards and foreigners."

She deliberately turned his back on him, as if daring him to shoot her from behind, and knocked on the door.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard (featuring Elsa)

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"Same bar fight where the scribe got his headwound? I said no more stories."

He pauses for a moment.

"The elf lord in Savonne. What's his name? If your order sent you down here for something in Savonne, I can't imagine they'd do it without telling you that much."

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert strolled amongst the early morning crown, looking out for those who looked to be in a good mood or naturally talkative or at the very least wouldn't tell him to vamoose (in less polite language) as soon as he opened his mouth. His main interest was in the court but if he saw pious looking citizens heading to or from the Temple District he had a few questions for them as well.

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Adelbert is trying to find gossip on the Duke's court in general, on Janos Forkbeard (the chancellor Klammenberg mentioned) in particular and if anyone knows if there is a shrine (or even just a priest) to Verena in the Reaches.

Political gossip: (1d100)[19]
Forkbeard: (1d100)[52]
Religion: (1d100)[74]