Where our intrepid group reaches their destination, the prosperous town of Bögenhafen on the River Bogen, where the Schaffenfest festival has just begun.. UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS Following the attack on the Berebeli, the group took stock of the situation. Josef had extinguished the flames and a discussion ensued about the attacker's motives. Baroon speculated that the man was looking for the real Kastor Lieberung - the man who looked - before his untimely death at the hands of a mutant ambush - just like Cornelius Hainrich, Apprentice-extraordinaire of the Celestial College. Surprisingly, the noise of the battle hadn't awakened the sleeping hamlet of Weissbruck - not even a watch patrol came to investigate. Josef barked orders to cast off immediately, swearing loudly while tending to his badly burned beard, which was in a sad state. The party complied, throwing off the mooring lines and kicking off from the quay with the barge-poles. The party traveled silently but swiftly, with a lookout posted, worried that more attackers may lay in wait in the darkness along the river banks. As they moved down the river south, Josef asked Hugo to take the helm, while he went belowdecks to get some sleep. At one point, Hugo narrowly avoided a large rock in the river, difficult to see, just before a direct collision. As rosy-fingered dawn appeared, Josef came up and took over steering, giving the remainder of the group time to rest - if not sleep, given the events of the past night. The Berebeli headed south, for Bögenhafen, where Josef intended to deliver his cargo of Reikland wine and make a tidy profit. The Berebeli reached a fork in the Reik and headed south along the estuary, the Bogen, which would take them to their destination. The next day's journey was uneventful, and Josef worked the boat and her crew hard, moving as quickly as possible down the river. Luckily, the Berebeli had sustained no major damages in the attack. JOURNEY'S END They reached the town of Bögenhafen at dusk, as the sun was beginning to set. The town docks were covered in barges and men moving cargo here and there, a scene of bustling activity. Despite the busy docks, Hugo was able to find moorage space easily, and the group tied down. After all was secure, Josef leapt from the boat. He seemed quite happy to be off the boat - his beard was severely singed and looked sort of like a roasted broom - and informed the group he was heading to hire stevedores to unload his wine and to see the Steinhäger merchants to collect his payment . He said he would be staying at 'the finest accommodations in town' the Journey's End - and with that he disappeared into the crowds. The group headed into the closest tavern - the Boar's Prick, where they were greeted by an empty, grimy common room and a dour-looking barkeeper. He shouted abuse at them in response to their simple questions, and they left, somewhat bemused. Cornelius asked some people if they had knew where to find the offices of Mssrs. Lock, Stock and Barl - thinking of Kastor's inheritance - only to receive blank looks and shrugged shoulders. The streets of the town were filled with people moving in one direction, talking excitedly about the Schaffenfest. Brighly coloured pennants hanging from windows and poles swayed in the evening breeze, as the group gradually made their way from the quays down the Hafen Strasse, moving with the flow of the crowds, towards the gates where the festival was being held. They passed through the central square of the city and the great Temple of Sigmar, surrounded by the temples of many other of the gods, including the God of Bogenhauer, the local god of the town, the Temple of Ulric with it's massive bonfire and squat, simple appearance, the Temple of Ranald the Trickster, and many others. THE "SHEEPFEST" On emerging through the massive town gates, the group wandered into a large livestock pen area with an ongoing auction, selling all manner of draft animals. As they made their way past, they were attracted to the boisterous cries of a flamboyantly dressed man next to a veritable mountain of a man standing with his arms crossed, one leg on a cut log. The man proclaimed the giant to be Groop, the "Peoples Champ" and undefeated in arm wrestling. Prompted by Drake and others, Hugo accepted the challenge, with many in both the crows and party placing bets. Just as the match started, Cornelius' eyes rolled back into his head as he saw the future, and altered it. There were cheers from the assembled crowd when Hugo defeated "The People's Champ" decisively within a few moments of starting. The promoter stood, his jaw agape, before sheepishly handing over his money. "I'm ruined!" he cried, before berating Groop, who seemed stunned by the turn of events. Cornelius smiled knowingly as he collected his winnings. Following this trifling victory and flush with the coin they had won, the group, lead by Drake and Hugo, wandered towards the jousting tournament field and tents they could see. On the way, they passed an ornate, large tent, where the Festival Court was being held. Outside the tent, a filthy dwarf in rags was locked within a stockade. Baroon addressed himself to the dwarf, asking how he found himself in such a predicament. The dwarf replied he owed a single gold crown for unpaid debts, over some beer. Baroon, feeling compelled to action seeing an honorable dwarf in the stocks, given his religious beliefs and against his better judgement, went and paid the fine. The dwarf, freed from the stocks, introduced himself as Gottri, and immediately started asking for money "so we can celebrate m'freedom, an all' ". Baroon eventually gave in, and gave Gottri another gold crown who immediately disappeared into the nearest beer tent. Reaching the tournament fields, the group was stopped by men-at-arms dressed in the livery of noble houses, who informed them the tournament was an exhibition-only event, between the Knights and Squires of his excellency Graf Wilhelm von Saponatheim and his grace Grand Duke Leopold of Middenland - no outsiders were allowed, even if they were nobles. Somewhat dejected, the group turned to head back to the town. WELCOME TO THE FREAK-SHOW On the way, they could hear a promoter shout "Roll up, roll up! In just one day from now you can witness the most original and astounding display of zoological curiosities ever placed on exhibition in the entire length and breadth of this glorious Empire!" Doctor Mathusius Zoocopeia, as the banned tied across the two wagons behind the main proclaimed, was said to show all manner of unusual beasts from around the Known World, and "some parts not yet known", said the Doctor with a wink. The group could see many cages under a tarp on one of the carts. As they listened, a strange creature, looking like a miniature, three-legged goblin, burst from the cages area and ran towards the crowd. It was stopped with a curved hook wielded by the Doctor's dwarf assistant, and thrown back into its cage. By this point, the sun had completely set and although the moon was nearly full and the evening pleasant, most of the Schaffenfest had closed for the evening, other than the beer tents. After a few hours of revelry, the group headed back into the town proper where they were lucky to find lodgings at the Traveller's Inn, near the town gates. In the morning, the party headed outside, and discussed their plans, with Drake and Baroon planning to head to the Temple of Sigmar. As they talked, they became aware of a commotion near the town gates, where they saw the same three-legged goblin from the previous evening running, with a group of watch-men in close pursuit, along with a screaming Doctor Mathusius. Drake drew his greatsword and gave chase, with Hugo and Baroon following. Dronk and Cornelius stood and watched, chuckling, as at least two dozen armored men chased the mutant goblin along the city wall, until reaching a small iron grate with a single broken bar, it squeezed through and disappeared into the black, just as its pursuers reached it. A crowd formed, and both the town Magistrate whom Baroon had paid the fine to earlier, and Doctor Mathusius along with many watch-men and a Sergeant of the Watch, along with merchants and other townspeople, all began to shout angrily. The magistrate demanded that the creature be removed from the sewers - dead or alive - and offered free accommodation in the Journey's End to any who would take up the offer. Meanwhile, Doctor Mathusius was distraught over the loss of his 'prize specimen' and offered a purse of 50 gold crowns to whomever could return the three-legged goblin alive. The party accepted both offers, and a member of the rat-catcher guild was called up, who brought the group a ladder and took them to a wooden manhole in the center of the cobblestoned square. When they opened the lid, they were greeted by a pungent stench which was nearly overpowering. Dronk deftly lowered himself into the hole so he could hook the ladder into the fastening, which was located several feet into the hole. "Manlings must've built this sewer" he commented with some disdain. ENTER THE SHIT The group descended the ladder and with Dronk in the lead, made their way down the pitch-black sewers. The only source of light was a lantern held by Hugo. Dronk initially couldnt find the trail of the goblin, but after some searching and several hours underground, they picked up the trail. The sewer had a narrow platform on either side, and a 5 foot wide trench of flowing human waste that sloshed against the platforms. It was around this time Baroon noticed motion on the surface of the waste river. He shouted a warning just as a creature, looking like a rippling boil of molten black wax, and smelling of death and filth, burst above the surface. With a prayer to Sigmar, Baroon smashed the thing with his warhammer in a mighty overhead strike - as he swung a second time, he could see his weapon had become severly corroded, as though by a strong acid. Cornelius muttered some arcane incantations and let loose a blast of freezing energy, which froze part of the monstrous blob, and Dronk filled it with crossbow bolts. It flailed about, helplessly, before ceasing to move and dissipating into an oily slick on the waste river. The group cleaned themselves up as best they could and moved on. Not long after, Dronk smelled a familiar smell - sewer gas. He quietly warned the party and Hugo snuffed out the lantern. They tied a rope around Dronk, who handed it to each party member in turn, in this way he led them through the dark tunnels with his dwarvish vision. After they cleared the gas-filled area, Hugo re-lit the lantern and they pushed on. Not much further down the tunnel, Dronk could see a lump floating in the surface of the sewage. Investingating, the party found it was Gottri - the dwarf whom they had found in the stocks - his heart ripped out, his arm severed, and other severe wounds covering his body. Baroon made the sign of Sigmar as the party dragged the corpse onto the platform out of the human waste, propping it up against a wall. He swore they would return for the corpse and give it a decent burial. As they reached a junction, Baroon thought he could hear something strange, like light scratching noises. The rest of the party had already leaped across the sewer, when the swarm of vermin burst forth from a nearby pipe, immediately attacking Baroon and covering him in furious sewer rats, all seeking to find a soft spot in his armor, chewing, biting and clawing. The rest of the party scrambled to react..
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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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