[WFRP] The Bloody Crown VIII

[LCP]

The streets of the city were busier than usual. It wasn't only the outsiders seeking shelter behind the walls - many of the city folk had clearly recognised the opportunity presented by the newcomers, and the number of street traders and other such entrepreneurs hawking their wares or looking for an easy mark had increased. The Duke's men were on the streets and doing their best to keep order, but their numbers seemed greatly reduced. Ludo saw no more than two at a time, mostly on the wider streets around the keep and the markets.

The river gate was the first place he saw more. There were a similar number of sentries here to the squad who had been guarding the south gate, but they were handling nothing like the same flow of people. The only people coming this way would be coming from the east bank, and Sforza was on the west - the river kept them as safe as any walls. If anything, it looked like a good number of people were heading out. Narcisa knew the sense in that - she remembered what it had been like during the last siege.

Slipping out one by one, they reconvened in the shadow of the curtain wall, out of sight of the guards at the gate. Ahead of them, the bridge rose out of the water, grey and solid. The piles on which it stood were heavy, dark stone, quarried from the same rock as the Dwimmulhold. The river had worn their faces smooth, but they must have been as old as anything in the city - Narcisa had heard more than once that they were dwarf-built. The intervening spans, however, definitely bore the hallmark of human replacement and repair.

A good number of people were gathered at the base of the bridge, taking advantage of the traffic to try to sell good luck charms, food, 'papers of readmission', or whatever else the travellers crossing over would by. Two of Alvarr's guards were keeping the actual entry-way clear, and a steady stream of carts and foot traffic was passing by them. There weren't as many here as there had been trying to get in by the south gate, but there were enough that the guards had their hands full just handling the flow.

[RossN]

Narcisa

Narcisa knew nothing about gun powder and in any case didn't especially want to draw attention to the halfling or the bounty hunter so she clung to the various peddlers at the base of the bridge, pretending to interest herself in their wares. If trouble arrived she might have a chance of spotting or hearing it.

[LeSwordfish]

"Could maybe get it in under the bridge." Ludo said to Karlott, while pretending to look over at the river. "It'd be harder to spot under there and probably do more damage... Would be hard to justify why it was down there, though."

"How can we light the explosive? Can you do, um..." he waved his hands expressively but unhelpfully: he had only ever read about this. "A thing with a flaming arrow? Or just get a trail of powder to somewhere we can set it off?"

[aberratio ictus]

Karlott Tannhöfer

"Well, I guess I could." she whispered, in thought. "But the commander would want me with him. Doing both? Tricky." She took a moment to examine the bridge's surroundings. "You'd probably be best served with a trail."

[LCP]

Behind the gaggle of hawkers, a short and narrow flight of steps led down to the muddy riverbank beneath the nearest arch. It looked like it ought to be out of sight of the guards standing watch at the gate, and old high-water marks on the stonework showed the river was well below its highest level - but even so the ground down there would not be dry. It seemed uncertain whether powder laid on it would light.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo inspected the staircase for a little while, then shook his head. "No. We'd never get the cart down there and never carry the barrels down without being spotted."

He turned to the span of the bridge instead. "Alternatively, we drive the cart over to one of these weaker patches and wedge the wheels there so it gets stuck. Lay the powder trail across to the other side while we pretend to unload it, and then light it from there."

Karlott wouldn't be on the mission later tonight, but Ludo found himself liking the scout, and suspected she had her head screwed on well in the same way as Sieghard.

[aberratio ictus]

Karlott Tannhöfer

“You're probably right.“ she said, but there was uncertainty in her voice. “But it would be in full view of the guards. It's a risky maneuver.“

[LeSwordfish]

"At night? With all the guards over there on the gate?" Ludo said cautiously. "They might come over to investigate but it shouldn't take long - only as long as needed to lay the trail and light it."

"I can't think of a way to do it that isn't more risky."

[LCP]

With no-one voicing any better ideas, the three of them slipped back through the river gate, and made their way down through the markets to the south gate. There were still a good number of people passing through, and it was easy to blend into the crowd. The houses here came fairly close to the inside of the city wall - it would be easy enough for Sieghard and his group to loiter in an alley somewhere close by.

OOC:

Spoiler

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A Perception test at +20 to pick out the best spot.

Ludo and Narcisa had got to the gate first. Just as Karlott was joining them, one of the sentries on the gatehouse parapet shouted something down to the guards on the ground, and they began hurrying the last stragglers through the gates at an accelerated rate. It looked like th army had been sighted.

[RossN]

"That was quicker than I expected." Narcisa admitted. She looked at Ludo. "You're boss better be better than the current lot when he takes over... if he takes over."

[LeSwordfish]

"Mmm." Ludo said, noncommittally. "The alleys, maybe? At least with the gates closed, the crowds will be gone."

OOC

Spoiler

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Perception vs 68: (1d100)[64]

Karlott's got lovely high perception but I believe a seperate roll still has better odds than an Assist.

[LCP]

Walking nonchalantly down the busy road that ran behind the wall, Ludo peered down each of the side-streets that led off into the adjoining houses. Any one of these alleys seemed like it would serve their purposes - but Ludo noted one close to the market road that was particularly narrow and close to the gatehouse. It led behind a baker's shop that looked to have been abandoned, most likely during the last siege. With no light from the surrounding buildings, and the overhanging roof of the empty house blocking out the sky, after sunset it would most likely be darker than the inside of a snake's gullet.

Horns were blowing on the watchtowers now, and a good number of the bystanders milling about inside the gates had started climbing one of the nearby sections of wall to see. Alvarr's guards were too few to shoo them away - instead they were busying themselves closing the gates, despite the protests of those still stuck outside. Leaning inconspicuously against a wall, Narcisa saw that reinforcements were on the way - a troop of twenty or more coming down the market road from the direction of the keep. She had only seen the man at their head once or twice before she'd been forced to leave the city, but still she knew him well enough by reputation - Alvarr's bulldog, Eugen Jager. It looked like the defence of the city hadn't been entrusted entirely to old men and boys.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo's eyes widened as he watched Jager and his squad thunder past. Thirty men was far too large a force for even Sieghard to take on.

"We'll need a distraction" he muttered, watching the group for any other clues, as if some weakness would be revealed by how they ran. "Maybe Sieghard will have an idea?"

He turned his eyes skyward, shielding them against the sun and casting about for the silhouette of Morrslieb. Hopefully Elsa would see it too.

An idea came to him. He didn't like it at all, but that didn't make it go away.

[LCP]

The stairs up to the parapet were so old that generations of footfalls had worn deep wells in the limestone steps. Elbowing his way up, Ludo wriggled his way to the front of the crowd that had gathered at the top - but found the battlements too high for him to see over. He had to wait for Karlott and Narcisa to make their way through to him before he had enough breathing room to clamber up to a higher perch.

What had been a cloud of dust on the southern horizon had resolved itself into Sforza's marching column. Ludo could see the glint of the Iron Company pikes at the head of the line. A handful of mounted officers rode ahead of the army, looking barely more than specks from up here. Narcisa recognised the one on the white horse as the Captain. She remembered the horse better than the man - it had looked like an expensive horse.

As the army came nearer, more soldiers were materialising on the battlements. A trio of archers ran past towards the gatehouse tower, pushing the gawking onlookers aside. Karlott could see more appearing on the watchtowers to either side, bows in hand. She could practically feel the air of nervousness radiating off them. Armed and armoured as they might be, Alvarr's men were heavily outnumbered, and knew it. The city wall was the only thing standing between them and the enemy - if Sforza had the means to assault it in force, their chances looked slim.

Most of the civilians trapped down below had begun to scatter, leaving only a stubborn few still pleading to be let in. The army had begun to spread out across the plain, the banners of the Brotherhood and the ahosi flying alongside the black and gold of the Iron Company. Spurring his horse forwards, a rider broke ranks and approached the gate. Drawing his horse to a halt at bowshot's distance from the walls, he raised his voice to speak to the defenders.

"Duke Alvarr is defeated!" Ludo recognised Caracciolo's voice. "Captain Muzio Sforza offers his greetings to the people of Savonne, and invites you to surrender the city without bloodshed. Open the gates and lay down your arms!"

OOC:

Spoiler

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Let me know if you want to watch this exchange play out, or get back to the others.

[RossN]

Narcissa shivered. This would not be the first time she'd been in Savonne when it either fell to invasion or was under siege.

"Your boss is cleverer than I thought." she whispered to Ludo. "I see he's not the one risking riding up in bowrange."

She when back to studying the horse. If things went really badly, it just might need a new owner...

[LeSwordfish]

"If he's saying Alvarr is defeated..." Ludo said, watching intently and thinking hard.

OOC

Spoiler

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Lets see how this plays out.

[RossN]

Narcissa whispered back: "Just hope no one thinks to ask why they don't have the Duke's head on a pike or one of senior officers trotted out in chains to speak up or his own banner or... well you get the picture."

[LeSwordfish]

"All academic when he rides over the hill to the east later." Ludo muttered.

[LCP]

"Surrender?" came a belligerent shout in reply - Jager's voice. "Does your boss think we were born yesterday?"

"All those who served the Duke will be spared!" Carraciolo shouted back. "We will allow you to return to your families, or join our own glorious forces. This is the mercy of Captain Muzio Sforza." He rode a few paces closer - Karlott noted that the commander of pike didn't seem to be a very confident rider. "But you must lay down your weapons, and open the gates!"

No words came in reply - just an arrow, loosed from the gatehouse ramparts to slice through the air about a foot above Carraciolo's head. He clearly wasn't as far out of range as he'd thought. Pulling his horse's head around, he spurred it back towards friendly lines.

The crowd on the battlements immediately began murmuring to one another, searching for truth or lies in the words of Sforza's messenger. As the hubbub of voices grew, a door banged open in the gatehouse tower, and five or six of Alvarr's soldiers emerged to clear the masses off the wall. Jager was with them, and as the soldiers began to shoo people down the steps, some in the crowd began shouting questions to him about the whereabouts of the Duke. Ludo tried to make himself inconspicuous - not difficult, with so many tall folk to hide among.

"Is it true? Is he dead?" asked one man, a lean fellow with grey stubble lining his jaw. Jager fixed him with a glare that could have melted iron.

"Did your mother drop you, or were you just born stupid?" was his answer. He switched his mode of address back to the crowd at large. "Come on, off! All of you! The last person off this wall will be taking the short way down."

[aberratio ictus]

Karlott Tannhöfer

If she was being honest, she had imagined the situation differently. A lot differently. Karlott instinctively bit on her lower lip as she heard about Sforza's troops being sighted, and that didn't change during the whole exchange. Wasn't the plan that they would stay out of sight until the gates were opened? With the city's garrison alerted like that... the whole operation had just become a whole lot trickier.

"We should head back." she said, sullenly.

Spoiler

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I suppose I could roll a belated perception for the Sieghard hiding spot?
(1d100)[29] vs 85

[LeSwordfish]

"Shout out that that's not a 'no'." Ludo muttered to Narcisa. "He'd recognise me."

OOC

Spoiler

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If Narcisa sensibly declines, I'm happy to go back to Sieghard.

[RossN]

"No thank you. I'd sooner keep my neck." Narcissa says after a moment of silent disbelief.

[LCP]

Slowly - the steps down were narrow - the crowd of onlookers was corralled back down to the ground. Extricating themselves from the flow of people, Ludo, Karlott and Narcisa cut through the back streets back towards the Warren, where Sieghard and the others still waited at the Yellow Dog. It wasn't long before they were back outside the tumbledown tavern. The two Thorns guarding the cart gave them a wary nod of acknowledgement as they headed inside.

[LeSwordfish]

"They've spotted the army." Ludo said to sieghard in a low, worried voice. "And added extra guards to the gate. Jager and twenty men. You can get close without being spotted but... there's so many of them. We might need to get them away."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"What do you mean, They've spotted the army?" Sieghard demanded with a dangerous edge in his voice. His expression was uncomfortably similar to the one Ludo recalled him wearing when he realized Rogar had abandoned them to die.

"Have the men staying take anything you dont need and get moving before word spreads and they close the river gate. If they already know, you may need to wait on the other side of the river until it's time to strike. You stay here," he said to Narcisa. "I want to hear everything that happened."

Spoiler

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The best I can come up with to get the guards away is to have Narcisa run up screaming about how that was all a diversion and Sforza is attacking from the east and they need reinforcements moments before they hear the explosion from the bridge. That and possibly starting a riot. If you think you need her to take out the bridge or have a better idea, then go ahead and object.

[LeSwordfish]

"Sforza's whole force has ridden over the hill. Carraciolo rode out and told them the duke was dead."

Now or never, Ludo.

"I... Do you trust me, Sieghard? After everything that's happened I don't really know but... If you do... I have an idea."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Just tell me the idea and be quick," Sieghard said. Trust didn't factor much into it, if Ludo's idea was workable, he there was little choice in the matter.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo looked around and then lowered his voice again, so only Sieghard could hear. "I know who Adelbert's contact was, and he knows who I am. If I went there, I could tell him that Sforza's planning an attack by stealth on the north gate, and try and get Jager and his soldiers moved there."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard had questions about just how Ludo knew this, but he would save them for later. Lowering his voice, he replied skepticaly "And if you do this, will you still be able to get the powder to the bridge? Taking the south gate means nothing if Alvarr is free to march in through the east."

[LeSwordfish]

"Someone else will have to do that - Karlott and Narcisa, maybe? It's not great, but... there may not be any options."