[WFRP] The Bloody Crown II

[LCP]

Kelda laughed.

“You travel in strange company, no? A halfling and two of Rorik's own.” She looked at Sorin and Skender. “What are you doing with these lowlander skraels, eh?”

Sorin shrugged, and jabbed a casual thumb in Baldred's direction. “He pays us.”

Kelda gave an equinanimous nod. “That is fair enough.” She looked up at Sieghard, and raised her voice so it would carry clearly across the road. “If you're going to shoot, shoot. I don't like having crossbows pointed at me, boulder man.”

He noted that her shield arm tensed a little as she spoke. That shield was certainly broad and thick enough to catch a bolt, but he had a good angle; she would have to be preternaturally fast to get it between them in time if he were to pull the trigger now.

Baldred gave Sieghard a warning look. It was clear he didn't want bloodshed. “My name is – is Baldred. I am travelling to Last Water with goods to sell.” He paused. “If I let you search my wagons, how do I know you won't rob me?”

Kelda laughed again. “You don't! You are just going to have to trust me, eh?” She came forwards, but the rest of her men stayed where they were. “Relax, is-Baldred. Why would we kill you? We have so little company out here as it is.”

Some of the tribesmen laughed. Approaching the carts, Kelda slapped Skender heartily on the back.

“The Jarl's pet priest doesn't care about traders for Sermena. We search your carts, we let you go. Rest here 'til morning with us!” Her teeth flashed white in the pre-dusk dimness. “Best not to be travelling these hills at night.”

OOC:

Spoiler

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The tribesmen are armed mainly with iron spears and war axes. Their armour is a mixture of fur, leather and chainmail.

Results of Ludo's knowledge check:

• Rorik Wolf-Risen came to the Raven Hills with a band of seven other Norscans, who now serve as his most trusted lieutenants. This Kelda is presumably one of them.
• The hill-folk are seen by the rest of the Reaches as backwards savages. They have a long-standing enmity with the people of the Shepherd's Valley, whom they periodically raid, but the Waste provides a very effective barrier between them and Last Water, meaning they were never a concern for Ludo growing up.
• Many of the Reaches' most idiosyncratic local customs and superstitions either stem from or are kept by the hill people. They have a strange religion which reveres Morr as king of the gods, and while the lowlanders make occasional offerings to the local god Nahorek, the hill folk are said to revile him as a daemon. Their priests have been heard to claim that they are the 'guardians of the Reaches', but coming from a people whose main activity is raiding their neighbours, these pretensions are generally treated with contempt by the people of the other princedoms.

[Northern Lad]

Viggo Hirtzel

As he saw Sieghard leave his hiding place Viggo fought the urge to stay hunched behind his rock, taking deep breaths he rose and followed Sieghard. This is madness! he berated himself as he skidded down the slope.

He made sure that he stayed close to the mercenary, observing the Hill Men and their leader from over the stocky fellows shoulder.

OOC

Spoiler

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Viggo will take especial interest in Kelda's appearance / accent and her Lyre (not sure if tests are necessary?)

Kelda - Common Knowledge (Empire) Int [31] - (1d100)[32]
Lyre - Musician Fel [38] - (1d100)[51]

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa warily stood in the open. The odds were not good, even with surprise - which they did not have. But unless someone did something colossally stupid, it did not seem like they would be having a fight after all. Despite her earlier eagerness for some action, Elsa was hardly disappointed, as things were going to be interesting in any case.

The pyromancer watched the other woman, Kelda, with open fascination - her casual authority, her swagger, her confidence, her casual disregard for diplomacy, the way she wore that armor as if born in it. She walked and talked like she owned the place, and nothing seemed to escape her senses. For her to be commanding these savage-looking men, she must be quite formidable herself. And there was that strange, wild aura around her... She was, in fact, exactly the sort of person Elsa had always strived to be.

Despite her distrust for Norscans, Elsa decided she liked this one.

"Leave it, Sieghard," she sighed, her eyes never leaving Kelda.

She walked back to the rest of the caravan to see Kelda up close, trying to look confident but not threatening.

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert had had difficulty puttting on his armour and only now rose to join the conversation. He held his hands aloft to show he has no weapons drawn.

"Herr Baldred speaks the truth Fraulein, we are merely passing through on our way to trade in the south. We certainly wish no trouble."

[LCP]

Baldred said nothing, but indicated his agreement with Adelbert. Kelda examined Adelbert's face with a curious expression.

“Empire man, yah?” she asked. “Interesting.” She didn't seem about to explain why.

Turning to her men, she motioned for them to come forward. Baldred dismounted from the driver's seat, and the tribesmen began to unload the carts, talking among themselves in their own coarse dialect as they did. Sorin and Skender would occasionally intervene with a shout to make sure they treated the goods carefully.

Stoutheart, meanwhile, had finally managed to scrabble up out of the ditch after his master. As soon as he laid eyes on Kelda, the little dog stopped in his tracks. Hackles raised, he slunk behind Ludo's legs, teeth bared in a low, persistent growl. Kelda ignored him, her nose held high. Instead she focused on what was being unloaded from the carts.

For the most part, the tribesmen seemed uninterested in Baldred's goods – that at least spoke to them not being robbers. They broke a pot, however, and when they found a cask of ale they lifted it over their heads with a cheer.

“That's my ale,” said Baldred, stepping in. “I paid good coin for that in Alvarran.”

“Here,” said Kelda, unfastening her brooch. She put it in Baldred's hand. “My men are thirsty. Share it with us.”

Adelbert could see the brooch was a fine piece of craftsmanship, with interwoven bands of gold worked into a complex knot. In the centre of the design was an angular wolf's head, with reddish-brown garnets for its eyes.

“Come, it will be dark soon. Let's get your carts off this road,” she said, once the last of the merchandise had been unpacked. She shouted for her men to load them back up. Ludo noticed the mules shied away from her as she passed.

“Empire man,” she said to Adelbert. “Walk with me. I want to hear how a civilised man came to the Raven Hills.” Some of the tribesmen laughed – Adelbert was pretty sure she was mocking him. She looked around at the others. “Are any of these your Empire friends?”

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert's cheeks flushed red but he walked over to join Kelda. As she gestured at the others he glanced at them and shrugged: "I met all of them of in the Reaches, Fraulein. Yes I am from the Empire but I came here for reasons of my own."

He looked at her closely and tried not let slip just how intimidating she looked. "So Kelda Wave-Born is it? I am Adelbert Schreiber of Averland. We are far from the Empire but further yet from Norsca... I will tell you my story if I could hear a little of yours."

[-Sentinel-]

Not wanting to be ignored by the most interesting person she had met in quite a while, Elsa chimed in eagerly: "I'm from Altdorf, ma'am. Name's Elsabeth Holt, Bright College apprentice."

Her tiredness had evaporated by now.

[LCP]

Kelda looked at Elsa with sudden curiosity. "Two Empire?" she said. "What is... Bright College?"

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert glared at Elsa. If the wizardress ending up getting them all killed he'd personally see to it she never heard the end of it.

Somehow.

[-Sentinel-]

Did the people here have strong feelings about magic? Norscans were known to use Chaos sorcery, so Elsa hoped she was safe of accusations of witchcraft.

"The Bright Order's one of the Colleges of Magic, ma'am. The one where they teach fire magic, mostly for warfare."

[LCP]

At this, the tribesmen with Kelda broke into a violent hubbub. While they might prefer not to speak Reikspiel, they clearly understood it well enough.

"We ought to take her to the Jarl," said one of them. "Before Sforza steals her!"
"No!" said another. "She is the one Wadim warned us of. Two from the north lands, as he foretold!"

"It looks like your little caravan isn't so everyday after all, Herr Baldred," said Kelda with a lazy smile. Baldred himself was looking something between furious and irate, but said nothing, his lips tightly compressed. "Are you sure you're headed to Last Water?" She stepped closer, tilting her head at the trader. "No special business in the desert?"

She looked across to Elsa. "Fru Holt, how would you like to see Morr's Seat?"

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

"The desert means nothing to us Fraulein." Adelbert inerjected.

"Frankly I would not have come this route by choice but since we are I'd prefer to keep moving, as I'm sure would we all."

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa's eyebrows shot up as the reason for Kelda's interest in Empire people became clear. Had their arrival truly been foreseen? She knew that most fortune tellers were charlatans with deliberately vague predictions, but surely the Celestial Order were not the only people in the world who were the real deal.

"Fru Holt, how would you like to see Morr's Seat?"

Elsa was very interested now, and not very good at concealing it, try as she might. "Hmm. I do have a commitment right now, as you can see," she said, more in an attempt to get Kelda to tell her more (and appear at least a tiny bit professional in front of her current employer) than out of genuine reluctance. She was well aware, in any case, that the caravan would go wherever the hell Kelda and her men wanted it to go.

[LCP]

"Maybe I'm not giving you a choice," said Kelda. Elsa couldn't tell if she was joking or not. "The Jarl sends me to watch the road, and I let a real live wizard slip through his fingers? What will he say to that, hey?"

Her manner was jokey, but there seemed to be an edge of real danger lurking beneath the whole situation. Baldred bristled.

"Fraulein Holt is a member of my caravan," he said, "on my pay. You can't take her anywhere."

"Can't?" Kelda made a face of mock fear. "Can't is a strong word, Herr Baldred."

The silence lingered for a few seconds.

"Come!" said Kelda, turning away from the road. Stoutheart whined and snapped. "Come, eat. We can talk with food in our bellies."

[Northern Lad]

Viggo Hirtzel

Throughout the whole unloading process Viggo kept to himself, never straying far from Sieghard. Despite his blossoming friendship with Sorin and Skender, he worried that these hill men may prove to be less than amiable.

Just as Viggo was starting to feel a bit more at ease, Elsabeth decided to speak up in that high born Altdorf manner of hers. From their reaction, the hill men seemed less than pleased to discover another member of their party hailed from the Empire. Best keep my mouth shut for now, he thought, Don't want to be giving them a third reason to get excited!

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

"Thank you but we are not hungry Fraulein." Adelbert said stiffly, his eyes growing hard and his tone harder. "As I said we do not intend to remain in these parts long."

He turned and looked to Baldred for confirmation.

[LCP]

Baldred nodded firmly. "I think we'd best be moving on," he said. "We can still get a few miles in before the light goes."

Kelda turned around and stepped back into the road. "And refuse our hospitality? Don't you want to see the glories of our hall?" She gestured to the ramshackle watchtower, which drew a few sniggers from her men.

"There are goblins in the crags, Herr Baldred. These hills are no place to camp alone after dark."

"Be that as it may," said Baldred, "we've many miles to go, and we came prepared. I think we'll be on our way."

He stepped back towards the carts, and found his way blocked by Kelda's spear.

"I really don't think you will," she said, and now the last of her flippant manner had drained away. "Wadim sent us here to watch for two men from northern lands, and that is what you have," she said, looking at Elsa, "even if one of them is a woman."

Sorin and Skender were reaching for their weapons. So were Kelda's men.

"Stay here, drink your ale with us," she said, "and prove you are not this jackal-god's servants, and maybe I will let you go." She gave Adelbert another mocking look. "It would be a pity to get blood all over those fine and delicate clothes, yah?"

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert blushed again, to his own annoyance. Walking forward he purposefully positioned himself in between Baldred and Kelda's spear. The scribe reached down his shirt front and pulled out his owl pendant.

"Is this proof enough for you Fraulein? Even in Norsca they must know whose emblem this is... and She is no jackal."

[LCP]

Kelda shrugged. "A man can have more than one god. Your southron gods are all the same to me."

The hill-folk didn't seem so sure, and were murmuring among themselves. It was clear, however, that none of them were about to overrule Kelda.

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert smiled, but there was no humour in his smile. "That's the rub. They are not the same to us."

He folded his arms and looked at the warrioress mockingly: "You have heard us; we won't go with you willingly. If you attack... I won't lie you will probably kill us but where will that leave you Kelda Wave-Born? We will be dead and you won't have your two Imperials to bring back... and you never will."

Deliberately he turned his back on Kelda to address Baldred. "Ready the carts Herr Baldred, I believe we are done here."

[LCP]

"You have heard us; we won't go with you willingly. If you attack... I won't lie you will probably kill us but where will that leave you Kelda Wave-Born? We will be dead and you won't have your two Imperials to bring back... and you never will."

Kelda made a wry face, and looked from Adelbert to the first cart, then to the second cart, then back to Adelbert.

"I'd say that'd leave me with both of your carts," she said, "and two dead Imperials to bring back." She gave a sunny smile. "Morr's Seat is not that far. Wadim will still recognise your faces if we keep the ravens off you."

Baldred took over, nudging Adelbert not-so-subtly in the ribs as he did.

"Holt's not the one you're looking for, Kelda. You said it yourself, two men. And men from 'northern lands'?" He raised his eyebrows. "That's fortune-tellers for you, hedging their bets. Pretty much all of human civilisation's north of us here." He inclined his head in Elsa's direction. "And as for her, she's barely a wizard. Just a chit of a girl, really. If she were some jackal-worshipping sorcerer, do you think she'd be doing guard work for someone like me?"

His words seemed to mollify Kelda a little. Still, she seemed unconvinced. "I do what Jarl Rorik commands," she said, stubbornly.

"What can we do to convince you it's not her you want?"

Kelda seemed to think on the question for a while.

"Show us your power," she said at last to Elsa. "Show us your magic."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo scratched Stoutheart behind the ears to calm him, and hooked the string that was his leash back on, before sitting heavily on a rock. "Morr's Seat is a long way. Are you planning to recompense Baldred for time without protection?"

"But Baldred's right. I bet half the carts that come through here have two people from the north, and these two aren't even both men. They don't worship the jackal, it's obvious."

[-Sentinel-]

"And as for her, she's barely a wizard. Just a chit of a girl, really."

Elsa's jaw tightened. She was so utterly sick of being patronized that she did not pause to consider that Baldred might in fact be saving them a lot of trouble. She did not intend to lose face, no matter the consequences. Failing Kelda's challenge on purpose was quite out of the question.

She had no need to prove her destructive powers, as earlier in front of the Duke; she just needed to impress. And some of the most impressive spells were in fact the simplest ones.

"Fine then." Mumbling incantations under her breath, most of them more for dramatic purposes than out of genuine necessity, she very slowly raised her gloved hands, her fingers casually brushing the brim of her hat - which, to onlookers, started to glow orange as if on fire, though no heat emanated from it.

Spoiler

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Light spell on the hat. Two attempts if needed. I guess Elsa can see from the corner of her eyes if it works.

Channelling 48: (d100)[4]
Target number 2/3: (d10)[7] - Success.

Channelling 48: (d100)[18]
Target number 2/3: (d10)[4]

With her hands raised claw-like above her head, she shouted something unintelligible at the red sky.

Spoiler

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Sounds. Two more attempts.

Channelling 48: (d100)[85]
Target number 3/4: (d10)[3] - Nope.

Channelling 48: (d100)[56]
Target number 3/4: (d10)[5] - Success.


LCP, please let me edit the results into this post before you update. Done.

Nothing happened.

Elsa glared up at the sky. "Well, that was underwhelming."

She yelled out her incantation again, this time with noticeable irritation. Thunder cracked right overhead - a sound that must not be heard often so close to the desert.

"Aaaah. Much better."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Watching the display, Sieghard was forced to admit to himself that it was far more impressive than what she had done in front of the Duke. The fact that it hadn't taken as long probably helped.

"We're not about to abandon Baldred. Won't be on his pay forever though... Let us pass and maybe we'll be more willing to see Morr's Seat when we head north again."

[LCP]

The tribesmen drew back in superstitious awe when Elsa's took light, but Kelda stood her ground, grinning at the display. With the setting sun behind her, her eyes seemed to reflect the glow of the spell like mirrors.

When the thunderclap rang out, though, even Kelda jumped, looking up at the sky like a startled animal. When she saw no stormclouds gathering, she relaxed, laughing a deep, throaty laugh. Her followers didn't seem so amused.

"We should take her back to Wadim," said one of them, in a deep, gutturally-accented voice. "He will show her true magic."
"You mean rattle his old bag of bones at her?" rejoined Kelda. "Do tricks in a tent filled with smoke? This is far more entertaining."

She shook her head, looking at Elsa with a shrewd regard. Though she hardly seemed overawed, for some reason the Norscan seemed to be looking at Elsa with more respect than before. "Wadim said he was looking for two men," she said at last, pitching her voice to carry to the others. "The cunning man and his silent companion. We have a cunning woman and her very noisy friend." She shot Adelbert a casually contemptuous look. "They do not fit."

Wandering back down the line of the carts, she gestured down the road with her spear. "Have your way, Empire man. Go your own way and make your own fire." She stopped in front of Baldred. "But I will have my brooch back."

"You traded it to me," said Baldred stubbornly.

"And now I am trading it back. A small price to pay for free passage, don't you think?"

"This is robbery."

"No - no, what do you southrons call it? This is taxation." She chuckled to herself and held out her hand. "The brooch."

Glowering, Baldred handed it over. Kelda smiled and bobbed her head in exaggerated thanks.

"Come on, men," she called to her followers. "We have a desert to watch." She looked back over her shoulder to Elsa. "If you ever want to put your talents to better use than guarding carts, Fru Holt, come to the Jarl!"

Some of them grumbling to themselves, the hill-folk followed her back towards the watch tower. Sorin and Skender watched the barrel of ale go with them, a certain wistful look on their faces.

"...well," said Pepin, speaking up at last. "I think we got off fairly lightly, considering."

Baldred shot him a black look, but said nothing. Shaking his head, he pointed to the goods the tribesmen had strewn across the road.

"Get those back on the carts," he snapped. "Shallya's teats, girl, are you going to go shouting 'I'm a wizard' to every bandit we meet?"

In a foul temper, he stomped over to see to the mules.

OOC:

Spoiler

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I'm going to skip forwards at this point, but feel free to act out any further conversation/recriminations in timesplit posts.

---

1

Baldred insisted that they travel well into the night before they finally came to a bone-weary halt. The merchant seemed to be under the impression that Kelda and her ruffians might creep back down under cover of darkness to relieve him of the rest of his cargo. His fears were perhaps not entirely unjustified: twice, Ludo thought he saw a dark figure trailing them through the swiftly-falling dusk.

They made camp among a circle of rocks that offered good protection from attack, and set watches the same as the night before. Baldred wasn't talking to Elsa, and went to sleep without a trace of the good humour that had characterised the days before.

---

1

Bezahltag, 12th Nachexen

They awoke to a cold wind blowing in from the northwest, bringing grit and dust with it. The fine particles of dirt got into the eyes and mouth, irritating the eyelids and parching the throat.

"Wind can't make up its mind," said Baldred, his grudges of the night before seemingly taking second place to this new development. "If it shifts into the west, we could be in trouble." Turning to those who had not yet fully shaken themselves awake, he saw to galvanising the camp into action. "Come on, you slugabeds. I want to be in Turnpike before it gets any worse."

Soon enough, they were heading south again. The hills seemed to grow wilder and more barren the closer they got to the Waste, with more and more sharp-edged pinnacles of rock rising even higher to the east. Sieghard knew they were at the junction of the Raven Hills with the impassable wall of rock known as the Giant's Teeth. The Teeth were the barrier between the Waste and the fertile lands of the Azril, and on their eastern side supported a certain amount of vegetation and wildlife. On the western side, they were a wind-blasted wasteland of sand-sculpted rock.

By noon, the slope of the hills had brought the Waste itself into view. A great flat expanse of white, it hid beneath a haze of windblown dust and sand, blurring into the distance. It seemed to stretch to the horizon, the sun making the air above it shimmer. Squinting into the glare, Adelbert thought he could make out the outline of structures rising above the sands - but the air shifted, and the mirage vanished like a burst soap-bubble.

The sun was dipping again by the time they approached Turnpike Hollow. It had been a day of steep descents, and they were almost at the level of the desert. Elsa could feel the heat washing off it like a bath, for all that it was winter.

Turnpike lay in a steep gully between two great blades of rock, the slopes of the enclosing ravine steep and scattered with scree. All Sieghard could see were a few rather sorry-looking huts clinging to the hillsides, but Baldred brought the carts to a halt all the same.

"They've seen us," he said, pointing to something glinting on the stony hilltop above the village. It might have been a mirror, catching the sun. "They'll be waiting there, and there." He pointed to two high vantage points, well above the road. Both were sheltered by great screens of parched boulders and twisted shrubs. "Form two groups with Sorin and Skender. Circle round behind them and wait for them to try to spring their trap. Once they see they're rumbled, they ought to give up without too much of a fight." He pointed to the village. "Pepin and I will take the carts through the pass once you've had enough time to get in place. And in the name of whatever god you please," he said, shooting a glance at Adelbert, "make sure they don't see you coming."

The vantage point he had indicated on the left side of the road was high and steep-sided, with a little gully running down beside it. A paltry excuse for a stream provided enough water for a few stunted trees to grow there, sheltering from the sun in the shadow of the rockface. They would provide a lot of cover on the approach, but the downside was an extremely steep scramble up what were essentially cliffs at the end of the journey.

The vantage point on the right was lower and more accessible. This time the downside was that it was on the side of the gully that adjoined the desert; the terrain around it was far more barren and windswept. All that it offered in terms of cover was scattered boulders and dry brush.

[RossN]

Adelbert Schreiber

Adelbert returned Kelda's contempt with a smirk of his own.

"Mark me well Kelda Wave-Born. We'll meet me again..."

After the hill tribes left he helped gather up Baldred's stores. He also refused to speak to Elsa for the rest of the day.

~~~~

When they came to the ambush point Adelbert chose to go on the right, feeling his heavy new armour would make the steeper path much more risky.

[-Sentinel-]

Watchtower

"If you ever want to put your talents to better use than guarding carts, Fru Holt, come to the Jarl!"

Elsa grinned back. "Thanks! I might just do that once this business is done."

This may well be the life she needed, in a place where true strength was respected - a place where witch hunters or Bright Order enforcers would never think to look for her, and even if they did, would have to go through a lot of trouble just to reach her. A place where a person like her could rise high, unconstrained by civilization's petty rules.

But for now, there was work to finish. Elsa watched Kelda walk away with a sorrowful feeling of missed opportunity. "I really like her," she told no one in particular.

"Shallya's teats, girl," snapped Baldred, "are you going to go shouting 'I'm a wizard' to every bandit we meet?"

Elsa snorted. "You're a man. When you need others to understand you're not to be messed with, all you have to do is carry a sword at your belt. Me? I have to tell them I'm not to be messed with. And half the time they won't even believe me until I show them."

For the rest of the trip, she showed very little concern for the others' coldness; it was a small price to pay to impress someone who had the Jarl's ear.

---

1

Turnpike Hollow

Elsa squinted at the left-side vantage point, then at the right, indecisive. "We got any ropes we can spare?"

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard produced some rope from his pack. He had been eyeing the left side himself.

"How's your arm? Good enough to climb?"

[Northern Lad]

Viggo Hirtzel

Viggo had to admit to himself that Elsabeth's demonstration was impressive, she definitely had a flare for the dramatic. He had no idea why the Jarl might be looking for a pair of Empire men, but he was sure that he had done the right thing by remaining silent. Only once they were on the road again did he allow himself to unwind a little.

~~~~

"And in the name of whatever god you please," he said, shooting a glance at Adelbert, "make sure they don't see you coming."

"Wait, sorry. What are we doing here?" Viggo shared looks between Baldred, Adelbert and Sieghard. "Too much of a fight you say? You want me to sneak up on a load of blood thirsty bandits and fight them?!" His left eye took flight, obviously not happy at the prospect of a confrontation. "I've paid good coin for this journey and so far I've sat on guard duty every night, nearly been killed by a band of savage hill men and now you want me to go.." Viggo trailed off, aware that his reticence to help might not go down too well with his new companions.

"Alright," he huffed somewhat sulkily, "give me a bloody moment." Viggo quickly took off his bright green coat and delved into his pack drawing out a leather vest and serviceable brown work coat and trousers. Rooting around a bit more in his pack he pulled out a pair of throwing axes in a harness, which he threw over his shoulders before changing as quickly as he could. He blushingly tried to keep a cart between himself and Elsabeth.

Throwing his pack and waterskin onto the back of one of the carts Viggo followed after Sieghard, dragging his feet, his face somewhat ashen at the prospect of what was to come.

[LCP]

Baldred shrugged. "You don't have to go, minstrel boy," he said. "Like you said, it's this lot I'm paying. Stay on the carts if you'd prefer."