[WFRP] The Hour After Midnight

[LCP]

Pieter

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"Oh, it's horrible," sobbed the woman, blowing her nose into her shawl. "It's Mr Fendahl, my lodger - I thought I heard him shouting out in the night, but he always did, him being a soldier and all. Just to think, I was lying there, while... while that was happening, under my own roof!"

"Mrs Strauss lives a couple of houses down," said the landlord, sending one of the serving-girls to fetch a handkerchief. "Just behind the inn."

"He's dead!" wailed Mrs Strauss, burying her head in her hands. "All torn up, like... like some kind of animal got him! How could it get in? If it got into his room, it could get into mine!" She blew her nose noisily again, her voice still strangled with distress. "All torn up! No-one's safe, not when there's something that can do... that... to people in their beds..."

OOC: Vanilla Fel test, I think. (A PC with a high stat... somehow that just feels wrong).

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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"I'll... I'll call the Watch," lied Pieter quickly.

Any sympathy he might have had for the poor woman was overpowered by his excitement at the chance of being one step ahead of the Hounds; this realisation made him feel slightly guilty, but now was hardly the time to ponder on it. He scrambled to his room, picked up his adventuring gear and, almost tumbling down the stairs, ran out of the inn.

A couple of houses down. Just behind the inn. Got it.

[LCP]

Pieter

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Heading out of the Graf's Arms, Pieter ducked into the side-streets behind the tavern, heading in the direction the landlord had indicated - the scene of the crime was not difficult to find. A gaggle of street children were gathered outside, looking up at the door of a small, ramshackle house with grisly fascination and chattering among themselves: Pieter would be very surprised if the reason for their congregation was not the weeping woman's sudden exit from that same door.

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Not waiting for an invitation, Pieter strode past the children and turned the doorknob.

[LCP]

Pieter

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The door was still unlocked - stepping over the threshold, Pieter found himself staring down a young girl - perhaps eleven or twelve - holding a broom handle threateningly in his direction. She had been sitting in a rickety little chair, facing the door like a sentry.

"Who are you?" she yelped, her 'intimidating bark' coming out as more of a squeak. "Where's mother?"

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

If we do end up bailing on this meeting, this will be edited or deleted. Oh, and if possible, Illiiya would have BEGGED someone to stick around and wait for her to finish. She doesn't want to be here alone if everyone else leaves after their meeting.

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Illiiya looked about the place fearfully, imagining all the horrid things that could be done to her with the cruel metal devices that Jagrun kept about. Were she in better state of mind, she might wonder why she knew so many of them and what they were used for. Instead she was just mortified. She just knew this man was looking for any excuse to blame her.

M-my name is... an... I-Illiiya. Um... Illiiya J-Jaelrae. She stammered, her voice shakier than was normal even for her, I... um... I-I don't really have... a profession. I t-travel around with... um... Ithelus and... and he t-takes care of me.

She paused a moment and tried to calm herself down... an utterly futile and unsuccessful gesture.

P-please don't hurt us. She pleaded, seeming on the verge of tears but afraid to even raise her voice, We d-didn't do anything wrong. In fact... w-we're trying to help. Please d-don't hurt us just because we're elves. We're not hurting anyone.

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Holding his hands up, Pieter squatted until he was level with the girl and forced a friendly smile.

"She's fine. Listen, my name is Hans, and I'm here to see Mr Fendahl. Can you tell me where he is?"

[LCP]

Illiiya

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"No-one said you had done anything wrong," said Jagrun, impassively. "However, I will make a note of your claim."

There was an awkward silence as the quill scratched on the parchment. Illiiya could see the letters being traced out, upside-down from her point of view.

Done - nothing - wrong.

Not - hurting - anyone.

Finishing, Jagrun looked back up at her.

"If you'll excuse me, however - your place of birth? I think you forgot."

[hr]

Pieter

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"He's dead," said the girl defensively, keeping the handle of the broom between herself and Pieter. "How do you know his name?"

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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"Because your mom told me," answered the initiate, slowly laying his hand on the handle of the broom. "I'm here to... um... make sure the ones who did this are arrested. I need to see Mr Fendahl."

[LCP]

Pieter

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The girl jabbed the broom-handle at him, shaking his hand off it.

"You're not a guard. Who are you?" she asked, aggressively.

OOC: Time to use that nifty Fellowship if you want to get past her, Sentinel.

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Sighing inwardly at the precious time being wasted, the initiate reached into his robes and pulled out his magpie pendant.

"I'm a friend. And I'm here to make sure your mother and yourself are safe."

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Okay, let's go then. But my luck will only hold out for so long.

Target 51: (1d100)[1]

Edit: ...whoa. Ranald is still with me for now, it seems.

[LCP]

Pieter

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The girl stepped back a little, lowering the broom. She clearly recognised the symbol.

"He's upstairs," she said, sounding a little embarassed. "Mother said for me not to look."

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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"Thank you," smiled the initiate, reaching into his purse for a silver shilling. "Here, take this. You're a brave girl."

As soon as he walked past her, his face became grim. Time to go up those stairs and have a good look at this corpse...

[Another_Poet]

The Sparrowhawk

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“Pray have a seat. I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. Aldric Jagrun.”

"Rafale. They call me the Sparrowhawk." He sat. He put his hands in his lap, so that the table blocked Jagrun's view of them, yet he seemed casual.

“To begin – if you could please tell me your name, profession, and place of birth.”

"Born in Delberz, Sir. By profession I am an investigator for Captain von Brucker. Previously I've hunted criminals in the surrounding countryside as well. I don't tolerate injustice, Sir. I weed it out. And I'm happy to help any way you need, Sir."

[LCP]

Pieter

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Ascending the narrow, dusty staircase, Pieter found himself stooping down a bow-ceilinged landing to a door that hinged menacingly ajar – pushing it open, he was instantly assailed by a wave of stink, the stench of blood filling the air.

Mr Fendahl’s room was pokey and poorly furnished, carrying all the trappings of poverty – its details seemed irrelevant compared to the gory horror that crouched in one corner. The man seemed to have crawled there, trying to put his back to a wall – it had done him no good. Most of the soft tissue of his face was gone, his feet and hands having suffered a similar fate – his right arm, held up over the skeletal wreckage of his features, had been stripped almost bare, red strings of torn tendon still clinging to the blood-slick bones. Most horribly, his abdomen looked like it had been gnawed open, a horrendous crimson hole opening into the collapsed, empty space where his internal organs should have been. There was no sign of them anywhere else in the room – it looked as if they had been devoured on the spot.

The man’s blood was all over the floor, smeared and scattered far further than it should have from simple bleeding. It seemed dreadful to think that one man could have so much blood in him...

OOC: WP test to avoid the gain of an Insanity Point at the sight of the corpse. If you want to make a more thorough investigation of the room, make an appropriate roll: I have described only the salient details of the corpse since it grabs your attention as you enter.

[hr]

Raffy

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"Rafale. They call me the Sparrowhawk."

“Surname?” asked Jagrun, calmly.

"Born in Delberz, Sir. By profession I am an investigator for Captain von Brucker. Previously I've hunted criminals in the surrounding countrside as well. I don't tolerate injustice, Sir. I weed it out. And I'm happy to help any way you need, Sir."

Jagrun did not answer for a few seconds, appearing to take care to write down Raffy’s response.

“Well, that is good to hear,” he said, his eyes returning to his subject. “And I believe you have already made a start – you were one of the men who actually confronted the mutant Puderbrand, is that not correct?”

He set down his quill.

“Please give me your account of how you discovered him.”

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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"Oh, for the love of Ranald," Pieter murmured aloud, taking a step back in horror.

Death and violence were not unfamiliar to anyone who roamed the backroads of the Empire, but the initiate had never seen anything close to this before. Trembling violently, he scanned the room for details he might have missed.

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WP test for insanity, target 30 (meh):
(1d100)[60]

Search test at half Int, target 23:
(1d100)[87]

Re-roll Search test with Fortune Point if failed:
(1d100)[50]

Awesome.

(If the Hounds or the Watch have not arrived by the time Pieter finishes his search, he will make a hasty exit.)

[LCP]

Pieter

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Steeling himself to ignore the grinning carcass the corner, Pieter did his best to examine the room – it was difficult to keep his thoughts on the task, the body’s empty eye sockets seeming to stare into the back of his head.

There were no possessions in the room that gave much away about what kind of man Mr Fendahl might have been – except that he was a poor man. A small travelling-chest rested against one wall, seeming to be the sum of his worldly possessions – it contained some faded clothes, a brass medal, and a handful of coins. The medal indicated that he had fought at the Battle of Ferlangen – an ex-soldier then, and recently discharged.

The room itself was clearly ill-kept – there were signs of Delberz’s ubiquitous rats, a gnawed hole in one of the floorboards in the opposite corner from where the body lay showing that they had made themselves at home. The blood had reached even there, smeared along the base of the walls, scraped across the naked floorboards – apart from the tangled sheets of the bed, however the horrid, irregular stains never reached higher than a foot or so off the ground.

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter

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Still trembling, Pieter turned away from the horrible mess. Remembering his false promise to the woman, he decided to tell the city watch about the murder. With any luck, perhaps some stubborn lieutenant would even keep the Hounds away from this place long enough to delay the Witch Hunter in his investigation.


OOC: That's about it. Pieter goes directly to the watch.

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar

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Flicking a final glance at the horse's collar, Lothar saluted the templar before taking his seat. "Herr Jagrun. My full name is Lothar Fischer, son of a -um- a fisherman. Utrecht, Nordland." He paused to allow the inquisitor to write that down.

[Another_Poet]

Rafale the Sparrowhawk

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“Surname?”

Raffy fidgets for a minute, then says his surname, in a somewhat low tone.

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OOC:

I never chose a surname for Raffy and I think I'll keep it that way, as I like just knowing him as the Sparrowhawk and he prefers it that way too. But of course he has a surname, and he'll say it to the hunter.

When asked for his account of the confrontation with Puderbrand, he gives it. He stays accurate to what really happened as best he remembers it, leaving out the embellishments of the telling at last night's gathering. "Sir, I think that if it were not for the grace of Sigmar and the great gods, I would not have lived to help finish him off," he says with a certain self-aware humility.

In the telling, he does especially play up the failings of the Hounds: he says a few things like, "We were surprised no one else had asked about that, sir. We understand no one would have talked to the local watchmen, but the Hounds have the advantages of plain clothes and familiar faces. It's a shame they didn't catch it, Sir." And: "The Captain warned us that the Hounds wouldn't help us, Sir, and he was right. That surprised me, Sir. I've always seen loyal Sigmarites cooperate with sworn guards of the peace in other towns, Sir." And his favourite: "The funny thing is, Sir, that when we finally got a hold of one of his associates, the chemist Pilserier, the Hounds tried to stop us from even just asking him questions. It's like they were protecting him, Sir. I don't mean to impune anyone, Sir. It's just what happened."

Some details he specifically leaves out:

-Anything having to do with help from the Society, or Maria.
-Anything having to do with Ithelus' criminal connexions or talking to the crime boss.
-Any unnecessary details, such as where they're staying or who told them Clue X. He just gives a rough sketch of their investigation, and then recounts the confrontation in the house (and the tunneling activities) in detail.

[LCP]

Pieter

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The Guard were stretched so thin in these parts, it took him a while to find a man in their uniform – discreetly avoiding a patrol of Hounds that passed, he found a pair of watchmen near the edge of the Fields. Their faces fell as he recounted his discovery.

“Ulric’s hide, not another one,” muttered one of them. The other one nodded to Pieter. “Lead the way.”

OOC: Unless you want to interact with these guards, you should feel free to move on to anything else you want to do once you've taken them to the crime scene.

[hr]

Lothar

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Carefully writing down Lothar’s words, Jagrun looked up at him.

“A military man, I see. You are no longer with the army?”

[hr]

Raffy

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Jagrun seemed to listen intently throughout Raffy’s story, making frequent notes. When the Sparrowhawk talked about Halbermann’s men, the Witch Hunter’s eyes followed him closely.

“You are not the first person to say as much. Would you describe their actions as suspicious?”

Writing down the answer, he set down his quill.

“You mentioned the man Pilserier. Are you aware that he is dead?”

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar

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"No, sir. Discharged some time ago. Decided to take up arms a bit less official-like, see what I could do to help out. After Cap'n- ah, Captain von Brucker asked us to help in the city, I couldn't well say no, could I?" He paused.

"It's been an honour, doin' the Gods' work hunting mutants and saboteur's o' the Hammer's Temple. I only wish that -well, not to impugne Sergeant Halbermann, sure he's a godly man- but his lads don't seem to have done too well. Only wish that they'd been found sooner, see my meaning."

Lothar nods, clearly uncomfortable, twisting the copper ring he wears on his right hand. "If you'd like, I c'n -can- give the same report of the fight with the mutants as I did to Cap'n -Captain- von Brucker." He cleared his throat. "But I'll bet you've already asked him."

[LCP]

Lothar

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"Nonetheless, I would be interested to hear your account. I am given to understand that you are the man who actually killed the mutant."

He nodded. "Pray continue."

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar

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Lothar nodded, and launched into a fairly accurate recounting of Puderbrand and his hideout. He placed emphasis on his own bravery, noting that he slew three of the mutants including the claw-handed leader. Raffy was not swept aside, but in this tale, the lad was certainly no heroic figure, sword shining. He was competent, but rash; something closer to actual events.

Absolutely no mention was made of Maria, or the Society. He did place emphasis on the role of Pilsierer, and the carter which the group had yet to interview.

"We couldn't get anything out've the apothecary, sir. Pressured him as hard as possible without breaking anything valuable, but he clammed up real tight. Claimed he'd be out by later today." Lothar shrugged. "I figure you'd put that down, sir."

OOC: To save space and time, his related account is basically identical to that given to von Brucker, here. He stammers about as much.

[LCP]

Lothar

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The Witch Hunter looked up from the notes he was taking.

"I take it you have not heard, then, that he is dead." He watched Lothar's face carefully for the ex-soldier's reaction. "I sent one of Halbermann's men to bring him here earlier this morning. He was found poisoned in his cell, along with another suspect the guards had brought in - your carter, I believe." He paused. "I intend to obtain a full explanation from Captain von Brucker later today."

"When you spoke to him, did he seem afraid of anyone? You may well have been the last people to speak to him before his death."

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar

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Lothar blinked in surprise, then shook his head. "I'd like to say I'm surprised, sir, but-- actually, I think I am a bit. Poisoned? I woulda had money on the... uh, those he served... coming for a... Well. Somethin' more like those other murders, if you follow my meaning." The soldier cleared his throat, fingering his ring.

"Afraid? Not really. I mean, he was sure, certain as rain the day of a red dawn, that he was gettin' outta there." Lothar stroked his beard a few times, frowning into the desk. "I think he said that there wasn't anythin' worse we could do to him than others- I was thinkin' he meant. Uh. Um..."

Lothar coughed and carefully did not look at the black iron instruments scattered about the small stone room. "I'm not sure he was afraid of anyone not in Sigmar's service, sir."

[LCP]

Lothar

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Jagrun raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps he misjudged his 'friends'," he said. "You mention the other murders. Apart from his contact with Puderbrand, were you aware of any indication that Pilserier was in league with sorcerers or heretics?"

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar

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Lothar barked a laugh at 'friends'; a laugh that quickly became a cough when he realised that Herr Jagrun was not speaking in jest.

"Ah... not as such. The others searched his cart, and only found some sort of weird root. Turned out they were used for drugs, although they were in a hidden container.

"Uh... was he a mutant? I mean, that'd give him a reason to help the others. The creature that talked t'me said that Puderbrand had 'known'," the soldier made a vague 'mystical' gesture, "that each of 'em was tainted. Maybe that's it?"

[LCP]

Lothar

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"The body has been taken to the temple of Morr. I will have it examined before it is interred," said Jagrun, wetting his quill again to take note of Lothar's words. "No sign of deviancy of the flesh has been reported in Pilserier's case, however." He paused. "The carter Hoffer, though, had twelve toes on his right foot. His corpse will be cremated with the others."

His eyes returned to Lothar's face.

"Are you aware of any possible connection between Puderbrand or Pilserier's activities and the recent killings?"

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar

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Lothar shook his head. "No idea. They were grand-thinking types, even if they were servin' someone with the money. I reckon if they had the..." Lothar paused, making the sign of the Hammer. "If they coulda done anything like that, I wouldn't be standing before you now."