In which our heroes set off from the Coach and Horses Inn towards Altdorf, down the main Middenheim-Altdorf road through the dense forests of the Reik.
Click Read More to expand this entry. THE MORNING AFTER The coachmen, Gunnar and Hiltz, both moved very slowly preparing the coach to leave. Lady Isolde and her entourage protested vigorously at anyone trying to get into the coach, though they backed down when Hugo and Drake entered. As the coach was now full, Cornelius, Dronk and Baroon all clambered on top, amongst the luggage, which included many boxes of fancy hats, to their chagrin. After some time, including a last-minute piss, several naps and at least one extended retching fit, the coachmen were 'persuaded' to get underway, with Gunnar taking the reins while Hiltz fell into a deep sleep. Gunnar whipped the horses into a lazy trot. In the coach, Lady Isolde glared angrily around, furious at having to share the coach at all, despite the two having introduced themselves as from noble families. "I haven't heard of them, so they clearly couldn't be important" she thought to herself. The bookish man studiously avoided the interested glances of Hugo, attempting to find what he was reading, without saying a word. A BUMP IN THE ROAD Soon after leaving the Coach and Horses, it started to dawn on the heroes that at the slow rate they were travelling they would not reach the next coaching inn on the way to Altdorf before dark. Baroon, familiar with piloting simple carts, though never a coach, offered to take the reins from Gunnar, who happily complied, and promptly fell asleep. Baroon was able to whip the horses into a faster rate of speed, a fast trot, ensuring that the group would reach the next inn before the sun set. Coming around a corner, Baroon failed to notice a large stone in the road in time to stop the coach hitting it straight on, shattering one of the rear wheels and causing the coach to flip over on it's side, tossing everyone (except Dronk, who skillfully rolled then landed on his feet) on the roof onto the hard ground, prone - and the people in the carriage to be sandwiched together painfully. Though bruised, no-one was seriously injured. After pulling themselves from the coach, Lady Isolde furiously scolded Baroon as 'a half-wit who shouldn't be in charge of a donkey' while nursing a bruised leg. Her serving-girl Janna was hurt, with a injured ankle, and Baroon helped apply a splint and balm to sooth the pain. RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING The group righted the coach together with tremendous effort, and Baroon quickly chanted a prayer to Sigmar before reattaching the wheel. Lady Isolde barked orders at her servant to collect her luggage, but she was interrupted by Drake, who together with the others, began to help collect the baggage and reload it on the coach, fastening it securely, before boarding the coach. As they did so, rain began to fall. Gunnar spit and laughed at Baroon's offer to drive, saying 'I think it is best if I drive now' before mounting the carriage. Drake took a seat beside him while Fritz, who had taken a hard fall, moved to the roof and curled up to sleep. Dronk attempted to claim Drake's cabin seat, to which Lady Isolde screamed 'There will be no soaking DWARVES in this coach'!' and her bodyguard moved to stop Dronk entering. At this, Cornelius helped Dronk force his way into the cabin with a solid push, and so he did, taking a seat to the intense irritation of Lady Isolde. Drake prodded Gunnar to drive on, and so they did, onto the main Altdorf-Middenheim road, passing a road sign marking 45 miles to Altdorf. As the day progressed, the rain grew more heavy, and the forest grew denser and darker as they moved. THE STENCH OF DEATH Rounding a sharp bend in the road, Gunnar screamed and the horses reared as they came apon a gruesome scene. Laying in the road, a figure is perched over the mutilated corpse of a coachman next to an overturned coach - a familiar one, the Four Season coach that had nearly run the group over when they arrived at the Coach and Horses. This figure had, perhaps, once been a man, but now feasted on the flesh of its kin. A great swarm of flies swarmed around it and yellowish pus oozed from its eyes and mouth. Its flesh appeared rotten and hung in shreds. As the coach skidded to a sudden halt, the horses reared at the sight and smell of blood and broke their moorings, charging north into the forest, dragging a screaming Gunnar with them, whose arm was entangled in the reins. With the exception of Drake, those taking in the scene froze at the sight of the hideous man, who charged the coach, leapt onto Fritz and plunged a dagger to the hilt into his chest. Fritz screamed with pain and horror as blood spurted, just in time to catch Hugo full in the face as he emerged, along with Dronk, from the coach. With lightning reactions, Drake swung his mighty zweihander in an arch directly into the head of the man-thing, cleaving it in two from head to breastbone. The corpse tumbled into the road. As the party composed themselves, Cornelius began examining the body, now covered in a writhing carpet of flies. Baroon sprung into action, bandaging the critically injured Fritz who lay screaming on the coach roof. Hugo scanned the nearby woods and was the first to hear a loud sound crashing towards them - but it was only Gunnar, bruised but uninjured. SCREAMS IN THE WOODS A hideous screaming coming from further up the road caused Lady Isolde to scream at Drake ' Are all Templars of the Firey Heart such cowards?' and beckoning the group to investigate the screams. While Baroon tended the now-unconcious and bandaged Fritz, Hugo, Dronk and Drake proceeded towards the source of the screams, while Cornelius readied a spell of eldritch power and warily scanned the forest. Hugo, Dronk and Drake emerged into a clearing where a massacre had taken place. The corpses of a man, two women and a child in peasant garb were strewn about. Hideous creatures - corrupted by Chaos - capered about. A weird creature with eyeballs growing on stalks was the source of the screams, for its leg had been severed and blood gushed all over the ground. An impossibly obese thing was applying pressure in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding, while a bestial goat-faced man, and another with strange scaly skin and a beak rummaged through the corpses. The final monster - what once must have been a man - had bulging eyes and a long, pointed head. It drooled stupidly and stared into the woods. A FITTING RECOMPENSE With a war cry, Hugo and Drake charged into the clearing, engaging the twisted spawn of Chaos, as Dronk readed his crossbow beside a large boulder. The battle was joined in earnest, and the shouts reached the ears of Baroon and Cornelius, back at the coach, who hurried to meet their companions. Hugo was charged by the enormous fat creature, who died screaming with a mighty hammer blow, sending globs of fleshy tissue everywhere. Rushing forward quickly, Drake nearly cut the goat-man in two, and Dronk narrowly missed the beaked horror - who aimed his own crossbow squarely at the Templar of the Firey Heart and inflicted a long cut as the bolt skimmed along his flesh. The drooling pin-headed thing charged and dealt Drake a mighty blow with its axe, as it giggled incoherently. At this Hugo surged ahead, striking down the pin headed thing and it died screaming, its brains scatted on the uneven ground. Just then, Cornelius and Baroon burst onto the scene. With an arcane muttering, Cornelius unleashed a blast of frozen energy at the screaming mutant with eyestalks, freezing its head solid and stopping the screams short as it fell, stone dead. Baroon uttered a prayer to Sigmar to protect Drake, who fell to one knee and invoked the holy light of Sigmar. Sigmar answered the call, and Drake could feel his wounds closing slightly, the blood clotting. The beaked thing, seeing its companions cut down in a matter of moments, turned into the dark wood and fled. Hugo and Dronk gave chase, followed by Cornelius, magically enhanced, but the mutant escaped into the dense woods which he clearly knew well. SEEING DOUBLE On returning to the clearing, a patrol of Roadwardens lead by one Sergeant Altus arrived. They questioned the group intensely, but the honest answers given by Drake, and the obvious corruption of the horrors they had slain helped convince the official that no crime had taken place. The Sergeant ordered the burning of the mutant corpses and the Roadwardens began to collect them. After doing so, Drake stooped and lit the pyre, which began to slowly burn, consuming the unclean things. A thick black stink filled the air. The Roadwardens now turned to collecting the bodies of the innocents slain, one retching as he did so. Two others pulled a previously-unnoticed body out of the tall grass, and swore an oath to Sigmar as they did - the man who lay dead with two crossbow bolts in his back, wrapped in a purple robe, was the spitting image - he could be his exact twin - of Cornelius Heinrich, Apprentice to the Celestial College. "Well, thats something.." Cornelius exclaimed, as he approached the body. The bonfire began to grow and started to crackle satisfactorily..
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The WizardIn time, you will come to know the tragic extent of my failings... Past Journals
September 2017
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