[WFRP] The Bloody Crown IX

[LCP]

Adelbert Only

Spoiler

Show

Shout as he might, Adelbert saw nothing but darkness and whirling sand.

THEY CANNOT HEAR YOU, spoke the voice of the jackal. THE LIVING HAVE NO PLACE AMONG THE DEAD.

He felt a chill seeping into his bones, rising through his chest. His senses were dimming, his limbs leaden and sluggish. It would be so easy just to lie down, to rest upon the soft sand. Through the murk, a violet light was beginning to shine, growing brighter and colder by the moment.

REMAIN HERE AMONG THEM, said the voice, AND PERHAPS THAT WILL CHANGE.

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Time to wake up! No test required.

Head aflame, Hakon's corpse looked at Elsa with blank, crisping eyes. Its charring lips were still mouthing that dread name, now inaudible over the crackle of the fire. Wherever the flames licked close to the pages of the book, they guttered and died, the ancient magic of the tome extinguishing Elsa's fire like a candle dropped into an ocean.

The thing took another step forward. With a desperate cry, Sanne rushed forwards from the back of the cellar, burying her knife between the vertebrae of its neck. That seemed to give the Tileans some courage - shouting together, four of them piled through the door, short swords flashing. Hakon's body croaked and gasped as it was hacked apart, rasping words it could never have known in life. It fell, and the book fell with it.

On their right, the axeman's body fell too, its last good leg severed by Astoria while Ludo stove in what was left of its head. Neither body showed any sign of rising again - the book was up to other tricks.

Still lying where it had fallen, its pages began to turn in an unseen wind, the symbols hanging in the air above it burning brighter still. A roaring hiss filled the air, like rolling sand - and the wind exploded outwards from the open book, filling the cellar with its force. Amethyst spectres shimmered and screamed in the maelstrom, clutching with freezing hands at the living. Elsa felt the lethal cold in her soul, dragging the very life from her body, back into the hungry pages of the book...

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

The book casts the Lore of Death spell Wind of Death on the cellar. Everyone loses 1d10 wounds, no saves.

Elsa - (1d10)[9]
Astoria - (1d10)[6]
Ludo - (1d10)[6]
Adelbert - (1d10)[4]
IronCompany1 - (1d10)[3]
IronCompany2 - (1d10)[8]
IronCompany3 - (1d10)[7]
IronCompany4 - (1d10)[8]

[RossN]

Adelbert

Spoiler: Adelbert (almost) alone

Show

As he was swept away Adelbert hissed back through the pain and exhaustion. He whispered in Classical:

<'Your time is running out mongrel. Know this and be afraid; the gods live still... the gods...'>

'...live still,' Adelbert gasped, his words slurring into a scream of pain as he awoke fully.

Staggering away he called out: 'Elsa! Can your magic protect us?'

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa struggled to her feet. She was tired; not in her body, but in her soul. She could feel her very life bleeding out of her with every heartbeat, despite no injury being visible on her body. She would not be able to withstand the power of the Book for long.


'Elsa! Can your magic protect us?' shouted Adelbert. What he had been doing until now, Elsa had no idea.

"My magic can destroy things," she said, annoyed. Her voice came out wheezing and coarse. "This Book not included; believe me, I tried. Now someone get this chest around the Book!"

She was not ordering anyone to touch the thing directly, that much was sure.


OOC

Spoiler

Show

Away from books right now, so I don't know what spells could possibly help. I'll be home late tonight.

I'll leave the Book to whoever has a full action to spend.

[LeSwordfish]

"The chest!" Ludo shouted. "Get it back in the chest!"

He hadn't a chance of moving the chest himself, and had no intention of touching the book barehanded again, but could hopefully shout some sense into the Norscans and help them heft it over.

OOC

Spoiler

Show

(1d100)[47] Command vs 57.

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert nodded and Elsa's words then stepped over and touched the wizardess on the shoulder. 'May the Lady of Mysteries sooth your pains my friend.'

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Channeling: (1d100)[13] vs 53
Blessing of Healing (5): (1d10)[2]

Edit:

[LCP]

Struggling through the ghostly wind, two of the Iron Company men seized the chest, heaving it upright once again. As they dragged it over, a third crawled to the book itself. The wailing phantoms in the air seemed to whirl tighter around him, tearing at his bent back with insubstantial hands.

Hesitating for a long moment, at last he grabbed the book with both hands. Immediately, Ludo saw the skin on the man's arms begin to wrinkle and age, a shock of white washing through his black hair. For all his rapidly-waning strength, he couldn't force the covers shut - the wind howled louder, hieroglyphs blazing with hypnotic light on the ancient parchment. With what must have been a tremendous effort, he slammed the open book down into the chest, snatching back his hands in time for the others to slam shut the lid.

The killing wind faltered and faded, even the power of the book unable to reach through the thick lead walls surrounding it. Amethyst light blazed spasmodically in the seam beneath the closed lid, the chest bucking and shaking as the two Iron Company men who had carried held it shut. The Norscans had broken the lock - without the weight of the soldiers holding it down, the chest clearly wouldn't hold the book for long.

The man who had held the book itself had fallen beside the remains of Hakon, breathing in shallow gulps. Where once had stood a burly soldier in his middle years, there was now a withered old man, his wasted limbs rattling loose inside his armour. The others looked down at him in horror, waiting for the spell to lift. It showed no signs of doing so.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa blanched slightly at the sight of the rapidly aged man, her horror mixing with a somewhat guilty relief that she had not been the one making this dreadful sacrifice. She had hoped no one on her own side would die today... but this was almost as bad as a death.

"Ludo!" she snapped, peeling off a glove. "Find something to jam in here to keep it shut! Rest of you who aren't busy, get those dead bodies out of here; see if we can't starve the Book of its magic."

She knelt by the side of the box and quickly ran her bare hand along the crack. An orange glow pulsated from beneath her palm.


OOC

Spoiler

Show

Cauterize spell to melt it shut. Lead melts at only 327 Celsius; I hope this is enough.

(2d10)[7][7](14)

[RossN]

Adelbert


Adelbert nodded at Elsa and looked at Sanne. 'You heard her; help me carry Hakon.'

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo ignored Elsa, instead brandishing his sword at the two Norscans, his eyes flashing. "You see what this is? You see who you're working with? Where's the necromancer? Is he here in town?"

[LCP]

The lead of the chest softened under the heat of Elsa's touch, leaving a faint imprint of her hand in the dull metal. A violent flare of power from the book shook the chest in reply, and she jumped back as what felt like an iron nail drove through the meat of her palm. Clutching her wounded hand, she relaxed her grip slowly, expecting to see blood dripping through her fingers - but the hand was whole and unhurt.

The seal her spell had formed between the chest and its lid was only a thin film - the heat of her spell was only enough to melt the very surface of the metal. Any child could probably have forced it open with a suitable lever, but for now the diminishing struggles of the book seemed insufficient to break it. The two Iron Company men kept their weight on the lid, just in case.

"You see what this is? You see who you're working with? Where's the necromancer? Is he here in town?"

Throwing down her knife, Sanne glared back at Ludo. "I was working with you, little man," she spat back, pointing to Adelbert. "Who do you think told this one to warn you? Who do you think helped him escape?"

Domenico and his men had little time for such explanations. Three of them closed in with drawn swords, not lowering their blades until Arne too had thrown down his weapons. The young Norscan looked to Sanne and said something in their own tongue. Ludo couldn't understand it, but he sounded shocked and hurt. Sanne gave a monosyllabic reply.

"You're talking about the other Imperial, ya?" she said, turning back to Ludo. "He didn't travel with us. We haven't seen him since he met us in the Karst. Hakon had a place we were supposed to meet him after we'd snatched the book." She looked down at what was left of Hakon. It wasn't much. "I guess he'll be taking that secret with him."

"We should get out of here," said Domenico, breaking in on their conversation. "Get that thing out of here, too. Get it somewhere safe."

He was right. The forces unleashed by the book hadn't hurt only the living - the timber walls and ceiling of the cellar were bleached and cracked in curling, unnatural patterns - the decay of decades, worked in mere minutes. If you listened very closely, you could still hear whispering voices in the air - though now they spoke with their own words.

...Y'can't... kill me... y'can't... kill...

...He just told me to take the message. Please, I didn't know anything. Just let me go, please, let me go...

...I will need time to refine the remaining ingredients to the same stage. Days. I'll let you know when your presence is required...

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert smiled wearily at Ludo. 'I'll vouch for Sanne.'

The priest paused as he heard the voices. For a moment he was about to say how fascinating it was and how he should be writing it down but he sensed that would not be a popular statement.

'I have some knowledge of healing, I'll see to the wounded after we deal with the book. Then I really need to talk with you Elsa. And, uh, probably the rest of you but mostly Elsa.

[-Sentinel-]

"We should get out of here," said Domenico, breaking in on their conversation. "Get that thing out of here, too. Get it somewhere safe."

Elsa nodded, a tad distracted by the eerie voices. "I used to think somewhere fortified was the best place for this abomination. Now I think somewhere secret is the best place. I'll make some serious arrangements tomorrow. We'll also need a new chest made. One big enough to contain this one, so we don't need to take the Book out again."

Oh, if only we had left this Book right where we found it...

Then we would never have made it out of the Lost Library.

She put her glove back on. "Let's keep the blond man in a cell until we figure out what to do with him." Her eyes turned to Sanne and narrowed in suspicion. "My friend Adelbert trusts you, but I don't... yet. So don't expect to walk away without having to answer a few questions about what made you switch sides."

All in all, one man aged by a couple of decades was not the worst possible outcome of the night. Still she felt that he was owed some kind of reparations for the unintentional sacrifice of his last good years. All soldiers knew they might die in battle, but this? Growing old in moments? She had no idea how she would deal with this.

"You. I can't reverse what happened to you, but know this... I'll see to it that you won't be lacking for money again." If she failed to convince Sforza to pay him out of the treasury, she would pay him out of her own pocket.


'I have some knowledge of healing, I'll see to the wounded after we deal with the book. Then I really need to talk with you Elsa. And, uh, probably the rest of you but mostly Elsa.'

Elsa's only acknowledgement of Adelbert was a grunt. Did he know something the rest of them did not?


OOC

Spoiler

Show

Not sure how healing works for Wind of Death. Technically there's no rule saying a Heal test can't restore those wounds, but if there's no physical injury at all, I assume the Heal test takes the form of... I don't know, chicken broth and a warm bath?

[Erulasto]

Any comfort found in the final death of Hakon and Ulfgeir was swiftly lost as Astoria felt the icy chill of death creeping through her body - leeching strength and sapping will. Never before had she been subjected to the touch of dark magic before, and it was not an experience she was keen on repeating.

This book truly was accursed. It was no wonder Myrmidia took an interest in these events.

Sheathing her sword, Astoria winced at the throbbing pain of her broken nose as she side-eyed the chest containing the book.

"Do you know how long we have before Klammenberg realizes what's occured here?" Astoria asked of Sanne, a grim expression on her face. "Can we afford to wait, my Lady?"

Her gaze flickered to Adelbert, and the Estalian frowned.

"If there are things we need to know about Klammenberg, or the book...." Astoria's words trailed off as her eyes fell on the chest once more. "I would very much like to hear them. I can think of few causes greater served than this, and I give my word that you can count on my discretion and loyalty."

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert looks uncomfortable but nods. 'Of course Astoria... I'll explain in private.'

The priest's eyes flicked to Elsa. 'You have a room right? As soon as we're done here I'll go into it.'

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo sagged a little, the adrenaline leaving him only with faint embarrassment. "We need to know about him. Everything he said or did. He's going to try again and..." he gestured vaguely at the entire room. "Imagine if a person had control of this."

He looked around, and sagged further. "Can we... bury it or something? Anything to hold it closed long enough for us to think."

[LCP]

In the Cellar

The withered man looked up at Elsa with rheumy, half-comprehending eyes as she made her promises. Holding up a liver-spotted hand in front of his face, his only response was a distraught moan as his comrades hurried forwards to him to his feet. Others grabbed Arne, the young Norscan protesting vigorously as they manhandled him towards the door.

Ludo sagged a little, the adrenaline leaving him only with faint embarrassment. "We need to know about him. Everything he said or did. He's going to try again and..." he gestured vaguely at the entire room. "Imagine if a person had control of this."

"I was there!" Arne shouted, as the Tileans dragged him away. "I saw him! I can help!"

One of Domenico's men gave him a swift punch to the kidneys to quieten him down. Sanne looked about to object, but she still stood in a circle of Iron Company swords.

"Can we... bury it or something? Anything to hold it closed long enough for us to think."

"Arturo, Vincente, fetch some chains," said Domenico, finally regaining enough of his composure to give commands. "We lock this box tighter than a Miragliano vault. Federico, Giancarlo," - he pointed to the men holding down the lid of the chest. "Don't move."

The chest had stopped its violent shaking, though Elsa could still sense wisps of the potent magic within probing at the seam of the lid. Perhaps, shut back in its deadening prison of lead, the book was falling back into dormancy - or perhaps it was merely waiting its chance.

[-Sentinel-]

"Don't hurt the prisoner, just put him in a cell," Elsa instructed. "I'll be questioning him soon." Better sooner than later, before the young man had time to come up with lies, embellishments or excuses.

She turned to Sanne. "I won't lock you up, but you're not to leave the castle tonight. Try it and I'll hunt you down. If we can clear a few details out, I'll be glad to count you as an ally... Sigmar knows we can't afford to turn down any."

Given what they were faced with, she was almost willing to shake hands with Eugen Jäger.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo wondered whether to apologise for shooting Sanne, but decided against it. If everything here was arranged properly - he turned to Adelbert. "Sorry. What was it you wanted to say? Did something else happen?"

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert nodded grimly at Ludo. "Yes, but it will have to be in private." He stressed the last word and glanced meaningfully at the Tileans, then at Sanne. His expression softened as he looked at the Norscan woman.

"Thank you Sanne... I know that can't have been easy."

[LCP]

Sanne gave him only a hard stare in return. She seemed quite unlike Kelda, who'd always been so ready with a laugh or a grin. Then again, perhaps in the circumstances it was understandable.

"You kept your word, Empire man," she said, sitting down with her back to the wooden wall as the Tileans kept their guard around her. "That's all that matters."

[Erulasto]

Astoria watched Arne be led away by the men of the Iron Company, a firm set to her jaw. There may have been a lot of ill-will brewing between them, but now that they were prisoners, Astoria would ensure that they were treated as well as could be.

Even if it meant having to be present during the interrogation.

”What do we do with the book once we have it secure in the chest?”

[-Sentinel-]

”What do we do with the book once we have it secure in the chest?”

"Tomorrow we'll find a better place for it," said Elsa. "Somewhere away from people."

The Book could be kept either in a well-guarded place or in a secret place; it was hard to find a place that was both. And clearly, in light of tonight's events, the former option was less than ideal. They had foiled the Norscan plot, yes, but only thanks to a convenient set of circumstances.


OOC

Spoiler

Show

Are we waiting for something? I'm ready for the talk with Adelbert.

[RossN]

Adelbert

Now the gang finally have some privacy a visibly nervy and impatient Adelbert finally speaks up. 'I had a vision during the battle. I saw Nahorek... or at least the entity I believe to be Nahorek. He spoke with the souls of Hakon and Ulfgeir.'

Adelbert visibly hesitated, obviously thinking through what he was about to say next and looked at Astoria. 'This may shock you especially Astoria. Hakon, Ulfgeir and the being who may be Nahorek were in a vast and lonely desert beneath strange stars. Before us was an altar with a set of scales, broken and aged green and a great stone gate leading into darkness. It matched what I have heard - what I suppose we have all heard - the image of the final gate into Morr's domain. Though instead of the symbol of Morr the gates had the pictograms of Meskhenet’s people upon it.'

As he spoke Adelbert glanced down and noticed his hands were trembling. He clasped them together in an effort to stop them. 'The Nahorek-being claimed that he had once served the god of the dead in judging those passing on to the afterlife but now the gods themselves were dead and their kingdom was empty. He offered the choice to the shades of Hakon and Ulfgeir to venture into the dark, implying oblivion alone waited for them or to render their souls to his keeping.'

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa sat down on a chair, still a bit weak from the Book's life-draining magic. "A troubling vision indeed," she said, nodding. "But... just because Nahorek showed these things doesn't mean they're real, or even possible. He could merely be playing up his power, hoping all the cowards will sooner join him than oppose him."

[Erulasto]

”Nahorek…” Astoria mused, thinking back to her conversation with Elsa and Daniele what seemed, now, like so long ago. ”The name does not mean much to me beyond what I have heard locally. Who is this Meskhenet you speak of, though…and who are her people?”

Astoria leans against the wall, weary from the exposure to the dark magic, but not quite allowing herself to relax as of yet. She needed her mind as sharp as she could make it.

”Regardless of what this Death God’s origins are, the only way I can think of stymieing it would be through disposing of the book. My Lady…what about that volcanic region you mentioned? It would prevent most mortals from finding it, in the least. Or throw it into the sea?”

[RossN]

Adelbert

Adelbert looked at Astoria in surprise. That wasn't quite the reaction he was expecting. At the very least he'd have thought her more theologically troubled.

'Nahorek is a local spirit connected in some fashion with death. He is portrayed as a jackal and if the individual I spoke to in the vision told any semblance of the truth he was a servant to Morr - or at least the way the ancients perceived Morr. That would seem to correspond with what we know of his current belief in the Borderlands.' He paced nervously continuing. 'Meskhenet is a priestess of the ancient Nekharans who we found in an... er... undead state...'

Adelbert looked at Elsa in bemusement. 'Sorry, I'd rather assumed given she's helping with the book you'd have filled her in.'

He continued. 'Anyway she was the one who said that Nahorek was no god... but,' he trailed off, struggling under the weight of some emotion. 'She also said her gods were dead.'

[-Sentinel-]

”My Lady…what about that volcanic region you mentioned? It would prevent most mortals from finding it, in the least. Or throw it into the sea?”

"I don't know anymore," said Elsa. "The book has powers I was not aware of. We saw it levitate and cast spells. I don't think it'll be that easy. If we do try to get rid of it this way, and it escapes somehow, we'll have no way to know about it and prevent the enemy from finding it."


'She also said her gods were dead.'

"So maybe they were no gods at all," replied Elsa, hoping to appeal to Adelbert's confidence in his faith.

In any case she did not see how this changed anything, from a purely pragmatic standpoint. It meant the stakes were even higher, yes. But at this point did it make any difference in terms of what they had to do? What they were prepared to do?

[LeSwordfish]

"I can't believe we lost Klammenberg." Ludo said quietly. "I mean, we didn't... but I was really expecting him to be here."

[-Sentinel-]

"So was I. The man is cautious. But we have two Norscans who may know a few things."

Speaking of which, Elsa intended to go question the blond lad right after this conversation was over, while he was still shaken and confused. Tomorrow might be too late to get the unvarnished truth out of him.

[RossN]

Adelbert

'Yes, I suppose capturing Klammenberg might have been some use,' Adelbert said in the tones that suggested these irritating little practical problems were intruding on the far more important philosophical and theological concerns.

'As I stood before the gate and listened to Nahorek talking to the souls of Hakon and Ulfgeir I attempted to intervene. Hakon didn't hear me but I think Ulfgeir might have even though Nahorek surrounded me with a sandstorm and claimed that they could not hear me while the living had no place among the dead.'

Adelbert stroked unhappily at his goatee. 'Nahorek could tell the Norscans had died by the book and perhaps that the magic of the book had transported me there but he didn't seem to know where the book is. He desires it certainly but still,... is it possible that Klammenberg is not actually in cahoots with Nahorek? I wish I'd questioned him more... I admit I was perhaps overzealous in my speech. In retrospect the same mistake I made with Cacophrax.'