[WFRP] The Bloody Crown IX

[Erulasto]

Astoria was peering curiously at the ogres; what sort of fish could be caught by such a beast that would need a blade that long to gut? Though, perhaps a more traditionally sized blade would be a bit harder to use for their overlarge hands.

The notion of the ogre maneaters trying to fumble through dinner prep with tiny knives made the knight smile for a moment, but her expression shifted swiftly to a frown. Attacking the rear of Alvarr’s army – and causing chaos – could be taken in a similar vein as the ogres.

Sforza had said there were trolls in the Karst, hadn’t he? Astoria wondered if there was some way to get the trolls to do some of the work for them? There had to be a way to perhaps lure the trolls into the path of Alvarr’s soldiers.

”My Lady?” Astoria said cautiously. ”Do you know whether it would be feasible to try and lure some of the creatures from the Karst into Alvarr’s forces? If part of the goal is to sew discord, trolls would do remarkably well at it, I would venture.”

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Meaning no disrespect, but neither of them could find their arse with both hands if you gave them directions."

Neither could Fischwillen Sieghard was very tempted to say. "They're being considered," he repeated flatly. "They aren't the only ones. Whoever is chosen would need to be loyal, be able to follow orders and maintain discipline, and have the respect of the other men of the militia. Actual respect, not just being able to bully them into doing as he says." Truth be told, there weren't very many good choices. "And if he fails to meet my expectations, he can easily be replaced by someone who can."

"Now this is the last I want to have of any of this petty squabbling. Alvarr is the enemy, and tomorrow we will be marching for Putbad to push him out and end the war. I expect the three of you to be able to work together. Oswald and Heinfried, make sure the halberdiers are ready to march come morning, and if you see Ludo, send him this way. Roth, I want you to tell me everything you know about Putbad."

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Specifically, Sieghard is curious about where Alvarr's men are likely to be stationed, the locations of barracks, things we can strike at that would draw their attention without endangering civilians any more than the the town becoming a battlefield already will. Were there any walls around the town? I don't recall any being mentioned. I'm also going to repeat the question about whether or not we have a map of Putbad.

Calling for Ludo is just because IC Sieghard wants him in on the planning. If LeSwordfish has nothing to say on it, don't feel obligated.

[-Sentinel-]

"Really growing into that leadership role, Sieghard," said Elsa with some admiration, once the other soldiers were out of earshot. She wished she had people to order around, but her role as a wizard ensured she was only ever a valuable specialist, not a leader.

"Would you say it's better to leave horses behind for this trip, too?"

If they were going to move at a walking pace, they may as well not have mounts, which were a bit of a hassle in desolate lands and left deep prints for enemy scouts to follow.

[LCP]

Oswald and Heinfried sloped away, shooting dark looks at Roth over their shoulders as they went. Roth remained behind, answering Sieghard's questions about Putbad as best he could. "The place was never built to be fortified," he said, sketching a crude map in the dirt. "Guilders counted on the Karst to be protection enough. No walls, and not enough billets to sleep a proper garrison. Still, it's one hell of a cliff on the western side...."

OOC:

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Sentinel, I think you missed Astoria's question to Elsa.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo leaned over the sketch map, making sure not to tread in it. "Trying to get up that cliff against Alvarr's archers will be madness. They won't be able to volley properly from the city, will they? But they can still shoot down."

"How close do you think we can get before alerting them? They'll have sentries around the back of the city I guess, but can we take those?"

[LCP]

Roth shrugged. "There's a fair number of different ways through the rocks, though we'll be stuck on the north side of the river. I don't know what kind of sentries the Duke might have looking for us." He paused. "We don't have to stay quiet for long - just long enough."

[-Sentinel-]

”My Lady?” Astoria said cautiously. ”Do you know whether it would be feasible to try and lure some of the creatures from the Karst into Alvarr’s forces? If part of the goal is to sew discord, trolls would do remarkably well at it, I would venture.”

Elsa considered it. She liked the way Astoria was thinking. "If I see a perfect opportunity to do so, I might attempt it, yes. But I'd rather not play with trolls or magic any more than I have to. Both are unpredictable and uncooperative."

[LeSwordfish]

"Also, thats a town not a castle." Ludo pointed out. "You lure a troll into it and you could hurt a lot of people."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"We aren't unleashing wild trolls on a town full of people," Sieghard said firmly, putting an end to that suggestion.

"We don't have to engage them directly, we just have to keep them distracted," Sieghard said. "Even if they are alerted and the Duke sends more men after us than we can handle, we can always fall back. Time spent chasing us is still time they aren't firing on the Iron Company, and if they give up the chase, we can go right back to shooting at them."

He turned to Roth. "You can return to your unit now. If there's any more trouble from Heinfried or Oswald, come to me or to Ludo about it." He thought for a moment. "Go to Ludo in secret and he'll pass it along to me. If it does happen, better for them to not know I've been made aware." He waited until Roth had gone before speaking again. "We'll need to keep an eye on the two of them," he told Ludo. "I hope I'm wrong, but I can't help but fear Oswald and Heinfried picked up more of Fischwillen's bad habits than Norten did." He shook his head in frustration. "I'm going to go see that the Thorns and Volunteers are ready to march in the morning. Could you see to the ogres? They seem to be fond of you." He didn't really understand it, but he certainly wasn't going to question something that made things easier for them.

[Erulasto]

The idea of unleashing trolls on the town wasn't exactly what Astoria had in mind, but considering she had never been to Putbad herself - perhaps the awkward suggestion could be forgiven.

"Of course. I did not mean to imply we would let them loose around the people. Apologies." She said, cheeks colouring slightly.

The interactions between the rest of the mercenaries and Sieghard regarding whom would be leading them was a troubling sight. Sieghard was well thought to keep an eye on Heindried and Oswald. The knight thought that Roth was a fairly appropriate choice and she had come to like the man somewhat. His assistance in helping her when she had first awoken after the fight with Rorik was certainly not forgotten.

[LCP]

As Sieghard headed off to see to the men, Ludo set about securing their supplies for the journey ahead. Al-Makir’s men always guarded the supply wagons somewhat jealously, but talking with Abdul himself greased the way for Ludo to secure extra torches, rations and rope for the company. It would be a lot for the men to carry.

“You can give most of this to the ogres,” was Abdul’s advice, as they watched Rahim count out the supplies. “They can carry as much as an ox. Just don’t let them carry the food.” He looked over to where the Maneaters were cooking their catch. “Not if you want it to last.”

When Ludo did find his way over to the ogres’ fire, they greeted him with the usual good-natured rumbling they reserved for halflings. With Gorg gone, Ludo wasn’t sure which of the four to speak to – he recognised only one other, Kulug, among the survivors. Kulug would have to do.

They accepted their orders without fuss, confirming that they’d be ready to march when the “thinlings” were. They seemed remarkably blasé about heading back into danger after the losses they’d sustained at Arrow Heap – this war had cost them two-thirds of their number by now, but they soldiered on with stoic indifference.

---

Bezahltag, 8th Sommerzeit

The next morning, Sieghard formed up his militia to head into the Karst. The ogres were as good as their word, pushing through the ranks of the halberdiers to stand ready with their huge weapons slung over their shoulders. The company made ready to leave with pleasing promptness.

On the other side of the village, the rest of the army was mustering to push into the limestone gorge of the Azril. The Storm Swords looked to be going first, scouting the way for the Iron Company and the halflings. Seeing Sieghard’s contingent standing ready, the Captain saluted them from his white horse and waved them on.

Winding back through the narrow spaces of the old path felt very different with so many men behind them this time. They filled the gaps between the stones like a living, breathing, occasionally squabbling river. They caught no glimpse of trolls, though they found signs of their presence – gritty dung and crumbs of macerated rock. The Maneaters seemed much less concerned about it than the militia. “Trolls all cowards,” Kulug explained. “Never attack when we are so many.”

As the day drew to a close, Gustaf found his way to the front of the column where Sieghard was marching. “Where are we making camp, boss?” he asked, keeping his voice to a mutter so the others behind wouldn’t hear. “Not them ruins again?”

Looking back along the length of his column, Sieghard saw the difficulty. Harmugstahl was probably the only sheltered spot on their route where they would be able to make camp as one unit – to pick another place on the path would see them strung out along the path or otherwise squeezed into the chasms between the stones. Which would be fine, so long as there was no-one out there waiting to attack...

[LeSwordfish]

"Might have to be." Ludo said frankly. "Otherwise we're sitting ducks if someone finds us." He made a passable attempt at a smile. "Whatever it was that didn't fight us when there were ten of us isn't likely to tangle with an ogre, is it? Did you tell anyone else about that?"

OOC

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Charm test: (1d100)[82]

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Not much choice," Sieghard replied. "We've got too many men to do it anywhere else."

"We'll make camp within the walls around the tower. I won't order anyone to go inside," he assured Gustaf.

[LCP]

"Won't order anyone to go inside," Gustaf mumbled, largely to himself. "Ought to try ordering nothing to come out."

The light was mostly gone by the time they reached the ruins - even pushing them hard, Sieghard couldn't make such a large group travel at the same speed as the scouting party. To the east, the sky had faded to pure, starry black; to the west, only a glimmer of reflected twilight marked the passing of the sun. Harmugstahl stood silhouetted against the dusk, its walls pitch black in the gathering shadows.

The reactions among the militia ran the gamut of surprise, curiosity and caution. The Thorns were most wary - they had Gustaf to frighten them, and he wasn't the only one. Ingwald too remembered the Library. The halberdiers seemed the most curious, particularly Roth and Groz's other surviving veterans. They'd heard of this place before, but had clearly never seen it.

The ogres, by contrast, were as indifferent to the ruins as they seemed to most things. Dumping their heavy burdens on the gravel, three of them set to gathering what dead wood and brush they could find, while a fourth stomped off into the rocks. "Braug saw goats," Kulug rumbled when Ludo asked him where the other ogre was going. "Goats make good stew."

[Erulasto]

”What is the concern with the ruins?” Astoria asks curiously to Sieghard and Ludo. ”I assume there was some trouble there during your scouting expedition?” The knight eyed the ruins carefully, with a watchful gaze. If there was trouble, she planned on being ready for it one way or another.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Nothing of the sort," Sieghard said. "A bit of wind and some old stones and they get it into their head the place is haunted."

[-Sentinel-]

"There is definitely something magical about the place," said Elsa, too low for any of the Thorn rank-and-filers to hear. "The tower seems built to channel the Winds of magic to a cavern underneath. But my senses detected nothing hostile."

She would not admit it, but the eerie stillness of the place still sent a chill down her spine. But it did not look like they had any choice. Besides, they were a small army. There was nothing down there that they could not deal with.

She hoped.

[LCP]

It wasn’t long before Braug came back, a dead billy-goat under each brawny arm. The ogres’ brushwood fire was soon burning merrily, two goats’ worth of meat stewing in their blackened pot.

The militia scraped together a few smaller fires of their own, but fuel was scarce in these stony badlands, and the heat of a fire hardly necessary after the warmth of the day. Pitching their tents against the inside of the crumbling outer wall, the company settled down to get some sleep.

Elsa Only

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Once again, Elsa found her sleep troubled inside the walls of Harmugstahl. She dreamed of mischievous, sparkling flames, dancing out of the door of the old ruins and burning all her burdens away – the war, the Captain, the Colleges, all burning away into glittering smoke. It felt liberating.

She dreamed of a strange woman, dressed in the finest clothes – not corsets and court dress, as Irene would wear, but the robes and regalia of a real master of the arcane. She carried a silver staff, and sat on a throne of dark wood – the throne of Savonne. Twisting tattoos covered her face, familiar but somehow changed...

The throne and staff fell away, the woman and her finery dissolving to nothing more than dust on the wind. The world around her crumbled and blew away, until all that remained was a bleached white desert under a bottomless black sky.

In the distance, a tall figure in priestly robes stood with his back turned, looking down at a set of scales on a stone altar protruding from the sands. As he began to turn slowly towards her, the wind rose, whipping sand into her face until she could scarcely see. With it came bone-dry voices, rustling their warnings to turn, to run, to be anywhere but under the gaze of that distant figure.

She woke in a cold sweat, despite the heat of the summer night. She was alone in her tent, the broken windows of the ruins outside cold and empty. The figure in the desert was nowhere to be seen.

---

Konigstag, 9th Sommerzeit

The next morning, the company made ready to march again. A quick headcount confirmed they hadn’t lost anyone during the night, and soon enough they were back on the trail – though Roth and the other Imperials needed a little reminding, seeming too deep in some interesting conversation to hear the first order.

Another day’s hard march brought them over the bridge, and into the stunted rocks where the Karst began to dwindle into the high ground of the Uplands. The light was fading before they saw the Bunthafen road, but Sieghard knew from their previous journey that it couldn’t be far ahead.

[LeSwordfish]

After spending a significant proportion of the journey fretting about the Ogres crossing the bridge, Ludo was pleasantly surprised to see that it had gone well.

"How close are we to the city?" he asked Roth. "Could we be in the hills outside before sunset?"

[LCP]

Roth looked around to get his bearings. "Not sure exactly where this is," he said. "Doesn't look like anywhere close, though."

"You said the path comes out close to Bunthafen?" Vilmar asked Gustaf. Gustaf nodded.

"Then it'll be fifteen miles at least to Putbad," he said. "Another good day's march for sure."

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa only

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Upon waking up from her vivid dream, Elsa first took it for a glimpse of the future, or at least a future. By sunrise, now that she was fully awake and had had some time to think about it, she decided it was not anything of the sort, but merely a message... an offering. An attempt to both tempt her with a gift and scare her with the alternative, perhaps by the beings who were calling her to Harmugstahl. It was bait dangled in front of her: You could become that regal woman in your dream, if you so chose. If not... something terrible may triumph.

Still...

Even with that suspicion, she could not keep those images out of her mind.

Konigstag, 9th Sommerzeit

Elsa was relieved to cross the bridge without incident. It seemed to support the Ogres' weight well enough.

"Then it'll be fifteen miles at least to Putbad," he said. "Another good day's march for sure."

"Meaning we may be tired already by the time we get there tomorrow," said Elsa.

What would happen if the battle went badly, she wondered? Could both the Duke's forces and Sforza's end up too depleted to rule over the Broken Reaches?

[Erulasto]

Konigstag, 9th Sommerzeit

"That is not a reassuring thought." Astoria says as she made her way across the bridge. "What sort of terrain do we need to deal with on the road to Putbad? Not through the Karst still, I assume, if we are coming out near Bunthafen."

[LCP]

"It's a decent road between the two," said Roth. "Ought to be easier going than the rocks."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"We still have two days before the Captain said he'd be ready to begin the attack," Sieghard pointed out. "There's no need to rush or push ourselves to exhaustion. We'll advance at an easier pace and try avoid drawing attention for now." He turned to Elsa. "Would Morrslieb be able to tell us anything about how Alvarr has the town defended? Where he has his men?"

[Erulasto]

”Wise choice.” Astoria said, copper eyes scanning their surroundings. The Estalian would be well-pleased to get out of the rugged lands of the Karst and into an area where they could see the enemy coming a bit easier.

”Some foresight would be useful. Having at least a clue as to what Alvarr is up to while waiting for us would do us good.”

[-Sentinel-]

"Would Morrslieb be able to tell us anything about how Alvarr has the town defended? Where he has his men?"

"He's not good with numbers, but I believe he can tell us useful things," said Elsa. "Of course, we'll also have to let the main body of our army know about what he sees."


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Not sure how much daylight is left. Might be best to send Morrslieb in the morning.

[LeSwordfish]

"If we want him to get to the main army before they attack, he'll need to fly to the town, back to us, and then to them. Maybe send him out tonight, he rests outside the city until morning?" Ludo asked.

After the question of Morrsleib had been resolved, Ludo turned to Sieghard. "Lets stay here tonight, out of sight of the road. The less time we spend on the road, the better. Once we're on the road, we should be able to get nearby for tomorrow evening, right?"

Hearing no particular objection, he headed off, instructing the Thorns to draw back a little way into the karst and make camp in small groups, with at least a few watchmen to keep an eye on the road.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Sounds right to me," Sieghard replied. "We'll close as much of the distance as we can without getting close enough to be spotted, then stop to rest. Then under cover of darkness, go the rest of the way and strike before dawn."

[-Sentinel-]

"If we want him to get to the main army before they attack, he'll need to fly to the town, back to us, and then to them. Maybe send him out tonight, he rests outside the city until morning?"

"Maybe, if he's not too tired." Elsa tried to avoid pushing Morrslieb too hard since the incident with the crossbow.

"He can also scout out a good place for us to hide on the last night before the attack."

[Erulasto]

Astoria set about helping Ludo break the troops up into smaller groups to camp, and tried to keep her eye open for any avenues that would make them vulnerable during the night. Hopefully small fires would be best, they didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves as they approached the exit of the Karst, and even with rugged terrain helping conceal them, the Estalian didn’t relish the thought of the firelight drawing in the curious.

”Master Stubbs…” Astoria said, approaching the Halfling. ”Who do you recommend for the watch? Someone keen eyed, I’d hope. Perhaps we can have them try and keep an eye on things from some higher ground?” Astoria suggested thoughtfully.

When she had a moment, Astoria worked her way through the camps to take a look at the progress the Thorns had been making.

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Academic Knowledge (Combat/Tactics) vs Int 47

(1d100)[23]

To see if there are any weaknesses in their camp that could be exploited during the night, and to find good positions for their night watchmen to keep an eye on things.