Where the group manages to disrupt the plans of the Order of the Golden Dawn, but not without sacrifice. BLOOD IN THE STREETS The Watch patrol arrived and found Hugo von Wolfhardt, surrounded by the bodies of a score of men. Blood flowed into the gutters, as Hugo stood, one hand perched on his war-maul, which rested business end on the ground. There were gasps of shock and amazement as the Watch took in the scene, then they readied their weapons. Hugo found himself staring down the barrel of not one, but two hand-cannons. The rest of the group, except Cornelius who watched from the shadows of the broken window, moved to the back of the house where the injured thug found a knife at his throat, held by Drake. Hugo began explaining he had been attacked by the group of thugs, and the Watch listened to his story as they began examining the bodies. "They're mostly from the Stevedores Guild' said one. Another spotted Cornelius, who emerged from the shadows. The Watch questioned them, and they told the story of the magistrate's disease, and being attacked. At first suspicious, the Watch became convinced the story was true when Gilda, the magistrate's aged housekeeper, came running from the home where she embraced Hugo and Cornelius. "It's all true, by my eyes! They've saved Richter, they saved the magistrate from the curse he was under, and from these ruffians!" she sobbed. The leader of the Watch called for the Mourner's Guild, and took statements from the party, except for Baroon and Dronk, who remained hidden upstairs. The Watch-captain left guards to watch the Magistrate's home, as he worried that more might come. Whatever was going on, it was clear there was some evil afoot. Inside the building, the group began to question the thug whose legs had been so badly mangled by Hugo's war-maul. His name was Claus, and he had been given the job by the head of the Stevedore's Guild, one Hencshel Schwab. Dronk and Drake alternated as 'good cop' and 'bad cop' with Dronk providing the severely injured man his pipe full of pipe-weed, and Drake threatening to kill him. The others stood around menacingly as Claus told them the story. Apparently Claus and his gang were often paid to intimidate local merchants, or undesirables from out of town. "It was just another job, I swear!" he said, between sobs. Great strands of mucus poured from his mouth as he went on. "We were only supposed to follow, but the boys 'ad a lil' too much drink, and some of 'em was chewin' weirdroot and - I think it 'ent to their 'eads, sir." Now they knew - someone had paid, or asked this Mssr. Schwab to send these thugs after them, to report on their activities. Clearly, whatever was going on in Bogenhafen, this man had something to do with it. A plan was concocted and carried out - using his pistol, Cornelius conjured a magical hand to fire it, some distance from the house but close to the guards - they as expected ran off to find the source of the gunshot. As they did so, Drake and Hugo left the magistrates house, with the wounded thug in tow. Walking the streets they found a thick mist in the air, and as they made their way to the Stevedore's Guild, they could not help but look up, where they say Morrsleib, nearly full, seemingly so low in the sky as if they could reach out and touch it. Before their very eyes, the moon seemed to manifest eyes and a giant maw filled with daemonic teeth. Drake found himself breaking into a cold sweat before he managed to avert his gaze. When they made it to the Guildhall, they pounded on the door. After some time they swung open and three thickly-muscled men answered, angry. "A message for your boss." said Drake as he threw the now-unconscious Claus at them, where he landed at their feet with a thud. "He doesn't need to send men to follow up anymore. Now, we will follow him." The three men seemed angry but did not move to attack, having sized up Hugo and Drake - still covered in the blood of their attackers - and deemed it unwise to do so. Their message and cargo delivered, the two headed back to the Magistrates house. A RESTLESS NIGHT AND A THANKLESS MORNING The group decided to stay at the Magistrates house, to watch over him. A restless night passed, with the group haunted by strange and disturbing visions. In the morning, Gilda treated them to a fine breakfast as they discussed what to do next - the Magistrate, although clearly recovering, was still unconscious. Magirius would be sending for them in the afternoon once he learned of the location of the ritual. Baroon, who had passed a particularly restless night, suggested to the group they hire some whores to distract any guards present at the ritual. This raised some eyebrows, coming as it did from a Sigmarite War Priest, but Cornelius and Dronk agreed this could make sense. As a result, the group split up. Baroon and Drake headed to the Temple of Sigmar, while Dronk and Hugo headed to the Traveller's Inn to wait for Magirirus to send word. Cornelius left to find a brothel where he could hire some 'help'. At the Temple of Sigmar the priesthood remained in the conclave. Drake took the time to meditate, while Baroon also sat and prayed for guidance from Sigmar. However, his vision was interrupted - instead of feeling the power of Sigmar, he saw a mass of writhing female flesh, all thighs and breasts and supple skin. As the vision moved closer, the figures turned to look at him and he screamed aloud in horror - their faces were twistedly mutated and daemoniac, with sharp fangs, tentacles, and bulging eyes, some with the faces of flies. "Baroon...we're coming for you Baroon.." they whispered. He awoke from this vision, his body covered in sweat, and gripped his symbol of Sigmar. Meanwhile, Dronk and Hugo started knocking back pints of stout at the Traveler's Inn, awaiting Magirius's message. Cornelius was quickly directed to the most well-known brothel in town, The Beloved of Verena. There, he found a large, luxurious bar and gambling hall, with many courtesans. His lust for gold got the better of him and he found himself gambling at bone dice with a gruff dwarf. Within a few hours, he had lost all his money to the grinning, pipe-smoking dwarf who shrugged 'Better luck next time'. Cornelius attempted to ask around about Brettonian brandy, and found there was indeed bottles of the stuff at the bar, but having no further money found himself asked to leave. As he exited the brothel, he ran into Baroon who had been looking for him since the disturbing vision. Baroon asked him if he had hired any whores, but was told the story of losing the money. Baroon was relieved, and together they headed to the Travelers Inn, where they were promptly joined by Drake, who has stopped at the Temple of Ulric to make a donation. Thus reunited, the group began to drink and eat a little, with Hugo von Wolfhardt paying the tab. Dronk shared with the group the story of his coming to the Empire, where his group of smugglers looking to bring banned Bretonnian Brandy into the Empire for a huge price was ambushed by greenskins, and everyone slain but Dronk. He also told the story of his family, and the fall of Karak Grimm nearly a century ago, after which the survivors had fled to the outskirts of Mousillon, where they lived in a slum shantytown along the walls of the great city. MURDER HE WROTE Eventually, as the shadows began to lengthen, it was now late in the afternoon and still Magirius's messenger had not appeared. Drake was about to stir the party from their revelry when the door to the quiet common room of the Inn swung open. A messenger boy, clad in fine silks in the colors of the house of Magirius entered and placed a rolled piece of parchment on the corner of the table. "My master wishes to see you." he said, then departed without a further word. Cornelius, watching him depart, felt uneasy but didn't know why. The group quickly retrieved most of their gear from their room upstairs, paying the greedy landlord as they moved, who counted their coins carefully. Then they were in the streets of Bogenhafen, heading through the streets to Magirius's house in the Adel ring. As they headed there, it began to rain, and dark clouds covered the sky making it nearly as dark as night. They arrived at the house to find no doorman present and the gate wide open. Apprehensively, they began moving into the house. They found the clothes of the messenger boy sitting near the entranceway. Puzzled, they moved into the house, up the stairs to where Magirius had met them the night before. When they emerged into the merchant's study, they found a horrifying scene. A pool of blood covered the floor, with Magirius's body laying face down in it, behind his majestic desk. His throat had been cut. They quickly began to search the room, and found nothing of particular interest - ledgers of wool and wine sold, the counting of cargo and wages owed. However, in the blood on the desk, it appeared someone had written something with their finger. It seemed to say 'WHSE 13' but the 13 could have easily been an 8. As the party discussed what to do next, they heard a shout from the yard of the house. Looking out the window, they could see the messenger boy talking to a large group of the Watch. He was pointing at the house and crying. The group of Watch, at least 8 strong, charged into the house. "Uh-oh." thought Dronk, who had been searching the house for valuables or anything of interest. Hugo headed to the attic, where he could find no trace of Magirius' two daughters. From downstairs came the sound of heavy boots, and someone called "Come on down with your hands in the air! We know you are in there!" Baroon sheathed his warhammer and began heading downstairs to meet the Watch. "Are you mad?" cried Cornelius "We need to get OUT of here - it's a set-up!" Baroon turned and replied calmly "No blood must be spilt today. I will explain to the Watch what has occured." Cornelius could only watch, horrified, as Baroon headed for the stairs. Before he could get there, Drake rushed past and down the stairs, his greatsword at the ready. When he reached the foot of the stairs, Drake saw a number of Watchmen, some pointing hand-cannons in the direction of the stairs. From another room came a call "Drop your weapons! We know you have murdered Magirius!" Drake snarled back "My weapon? You can try to take it from my cold, dead hands! We have done nothing wrong!" As he did so Baroon pushed past him, his weapon still sheathed, his arms outstretched. "There has been a misunderstanding! We did not kill Magirius!" Dronk sat listening from the top of the stairs, his crossbow ready. Hugo looked out another window, where he could see more Watch in the yard. Cornelius let Luna, his snake familiar, out of his robes, and she slithered downstairs. THE STAND-OFF A tense moment passed, where you could cut the tension in the house with a knife. The Watchman closest to Baroon was sweating and shaking visibly, the weapon aimed down the narrow corridor directly at him. If he were to fire, Baroon would be cut to pieces. Baroon paused, then continued forward "You must allow us to explain.." he said. And then the hand-cannon went off. There was an enormous noise and a flash, and a cloud of gunsmoke filled the corridor. There was silence for a minute, then, from the smoke, emerged Baroon, completely unscathed. Despite being in a tiny corridor, somehow Baroon had not been injured, even slightly! One of the Watch could be heard muttering 'Its a miracle!" and the one who had fired dropped his weapon, his fingers numb. The situation thus defused, the Watch-captain came forward. There was an interrogation held down the hallway, then the Watch followed the party upstairs. As they came up, Dronk and Hugo hid themselves. The Watch-captain was led to Magirius's study where he inspected the body. A heated discussion began, as Baroon, Drake and Cornelius explained what had happened, including the suspected Chaos ritual, the attack of the thugs, the messenger boy and the sickness of the Magistrate. Eventually, the Watch-captain was swayed by their arguments - especially as the messenger boy had apparently disappeared - and agreed to let them go as long as they reported to the barracks within the next day. "Don't try to leave town - we have eyes at all exits and you will be shot like animals." he said, simply. Shaken, the group left, thankful to have avoided a night in the cells and a possible hanging. Hugo and Drake quickly headed out an upstairs window using Dronk's grappling hook and rope, and the party regrouped outside Magirius's house. "We must find Magirius's daughters" said Hugo. Drake, agreeing, nodded and said "Yes, and we must go to this warehouse 13 and put these cultists to the sword!" The rest of the group readied themselves and they started for the warehouses, along the River Bogen near the center of town. As they started, the rain became even heavier. None had ever seen a more fierce storm, the rain coming down in sheets. A unnatural mist filled the air, and the sky had been darkened by storm clouds. It was impossible to say what time it was, but certainly it seemed to be nearly sunset. WAREHOUSE 13 Drake led the way as they marched towards the warehouse district, but in the unnaturally heavy rain, he became disoriented. They group made slow progress towards their destination, despite no-one being on the streets, having headed inside to avoid the downpour. Eventually, they reached the warehouses, but it had taken far longer than expected. As they headed down the alleyway behind the warehouses, they kept to one side of the buildings. Looking up, through the hail of water, they could see a faint greenish glow coming from within the cloud cover. As they approached the warehouse, they could see figures in the rain, indistinct at first, then clearer. Drake, seeing the figures, charged forward, his greatsword dragging along the cobblestones as he ran. One of the figures turned to look in the direction of the noise.. At that moment, the rain stopped. Didn't slow down, or trickle out - it just stopped. Completely. The entire alley was now visible, with the rain stopped. A coach and horse stood in front of the entrance to the warehouse, along with half a dozen of what looked like mercenaries. Hugo could see these were no inexperienced warriors, for their were well-equipped with crossbows and curved swords. With a cry, the mercenaries turned and the battle was joined in earnest. The group could hear shouts from around the corners of the warehouse, and heard the thump of heavy feet. Dronk fired and narrowly missed at one, the bolt embedding in the wood plank beside him. Dronk managed to dodge the return shot, and the man cursed. Baroon stood before Cornelius, shielding him, as he prepared an arcane incantation. Hugo charged forwards, past Drake, and swung Vikas, his war-maul, in a mighty arc, crushing a man's skull and killing him instantly. Drake turned, just in time to deflect the blow from a warrior who had run down the shadowed alley beside the warhouse. His counter blow bloodied but did not kill the man outright. Dronk fired again, this time hitting the man across the street directly, then charged forward in his general direction. The return shot skipped off the cobblestones. Meanwhile, many more mercenaries fired their crossbows, but all missed, except one fired at Hugo, who felt it skim along his arm, opening a minor cut. More mercenaries charged down the alleyways at the sides of the warehouse and emerged into the street which was now bathed in a pale green light, nearly as light as day. Glancing up, Baroon saw the clouds now swirled around a hole that had opened in the clouds directly above the warehouse. From this hole, it looked like the cursed moon of Morrsleib was emerging. THE RUINOUS POWERS The melee continued, with Dronk reaching the mercenary he had been exchanging fire with and slaying him with his rapier, stabbing him directly in the heart. Hugo smashed down two more men, snarling as he did so, the battle rage apon him. He received some wounds in return, and felt his blood rushing.Cornelius blasted the man nearest Drake with a bolt of frozen energy, and as he tried to raise his arm to attack, Baroon felled him with his warhammer. Another opponent confronted Drake and they fought toe to toe for several minutes. Drake could see this man was a veteran fighter, and as he cut the man's cheek open, causing severe bleeding, his opponent countered with a stab in the guts, that passed through Drake's newly reinforced armor and into his stomach. Drake felt his life-force ebb, his wound severe. Baroon rushed forward and used the power of Sigmar to aid his injured companion. As Cornelius readied another blast of frozen energy he was briefly distracted by Hugo's hammer, which was carving a path of bloody death through the mercenaries. "Is he...laughing?" thought Cornelius, as he unleashed his deadly magic, killing yet another of the mercenaries where he stood. As they fought, the group began to hear a chanting noise from within the warehouse. The sound was dark and unearthly, and greatly disturbed them. "The ritual has begun!" cried Baroon. "We must hurry!". Dronk had crawled under the coach and fired his crossbow from a prone position, killing another guard. Drake swept his sword with all his might and decapitated his opponent, the head bouncing across the cobblestones, the cut Drake had inflicted on his cheek giving him a horrifying, permanent smile. The mercenaries fought to the last man, but the group was victorious. Hugo and Drake had been wounded, but invoking the power of Sigmar - and Baroon using his medical kit - they were able to bandage themselves up back to fighting shape, as Dronk worked on the heavy, reinforced warehouse door with his thieve's tools. After some minutes passed, it became clear Dronk would be unable to open the surprisingly complex lock. "It's ok" said Hugo. "I have something just for this, my own lock-pick." and produced a crowbar. He smashed it into the door and heaved, with Drake providing support. With the crash of splintering wood, the door shuddered and smashed inwards. BLOOD AND IRON As the door collapsed, the group could see the inside of the warehouse. A group of seven hooded men swayed around a copper pentagram, much like the one they had found in the cellar in the sewers. Behind them stood another man, hooded and dressed like the others but whose robes had arcane writing down their sleeves. In one hand he gripped a wavy-bladed sacrificial dagger. the other held a scroll from which he appeared to be reading. The sound coming from his lips seemed not of the world, a tongue harsh and evil-sounding that none recognized. Behind him stood more men, all hooded, two of them holding what appeared to be a female prisoner, her feet and hands bound, and a bag over her head. She did not struggle and appeared to be unconscious or drugged. With little delay, the battle was joined. Dronk rushed down one side, avoiding the pentacle, firing his crossbow at the cult-leader, and hitting him in the chest, causing him to cry in pain, then stabbing a cultist to death as moved quickly. Hugo rushed down the other, smashing another with his warmaul, sending the man flying. Baroon cast a shield of Sigmar's faith on Dronk, who grinned. Cornelius fired a bolt of energy at the man who was leading the ritual, and hit him directly in the chest, staggering him. Drake charged directly at their leader, screaming a war-cry that could hardly be heard in the din of battle. As he did so, he used his sword to knock over one of the candles that burned at the tip of each point of the pentacle, and kicked at the lines drawn in salt. Abruptly, the chanting stopped. The whispers from beyond seemed to halt, and the unnatural light seemed to leave the room. By now the cultists were aware of the intruders, and began to fight back, feebly. They were clearly not fighting men, and died screaming and begging for mercy, mercy none found forthcoming. As the party dispatched the cultist with relative ease, Dronk raised his greatsword, intending to decapitate the leader - and in his mind, Cornelius saw what fate had decreed. Drake would reach the man in time to have a fearsome arcane spell, an arrow of acid, strike him in the face. In his mind he could see Drake's face melting as he collapsed to the ground, the dark mage laughing as his friend died. Using his celestial magick, he quickly rearranged the threads of fate, and as the mage cast, the spell missed widely, instead hitting the wall of the warehouse. The mage glared around and saw Cornelius and cursed blasphemously, just before he fell over dead. By now few cultists remained, and the ritual seemed stopped. The group felt a sense of relief. Then a daemonic voice sounded. "You have failed me, Tuegen..." Stepping forward from the shadows at the back of the warehouse came a man, clothed like the rest and unnaturally handsome. As the group watched in stunned horror, his flesh bulged and twisted, and from the shell that was a man burst a hideous daemon, its face changing constantly from one visage to the next. They thought they recognized some of the faces - the messenger boy - and all felt a wave of horror, but steeled themselves for the coming contest. The daemon grabbed the scroll that the cult leader had dropped and began to read from it in a foul tongue. As it did so, it peered at Drake and smiled. Drake felt his mind invaded by the creature and suddenly felt like he was falling into an endless black pit. When he came to, he was in a tower with two windows, one which appeared to be looking out his eyes - the other to a hideous, twisted hell from which he was forced to avert his gaze. He watched through the other window with horror as he realized he could not control his actions. THE CROWN OF MADNESS The others saw the light fade from Drake's eyes, and a strange spectral crown appeared above his head, like the halo of some insane angel. He snarled and chopped at Hugo who was nearby, opening a wound in his chest. Hugo saw that his friend was consumed by madness and tried his best to protect himself. 'You must come to my friend! Snap out of it!" Baroon by now rushed forward, seeing the Daemon reading from the scroll. Dronk was finishing off the remaining cultists, and their nerve broke, between seeing the ruin of their companions and the fearsome Daemon, heading for the doors. Cornelius marched forward, the words of power coming to his lips. In his mind he remembered a spell long-practiced, and threw a Chromatic Orb at the Daemon, who laughed as it missed. Hugo meanwhile attempted to flee Drake, rushing over to attack the Daemon. As he did so, Drake - now possessed by the Daemon - slashed at him with his greatsword, cutting a wicked strike from his shoulder across his back to his thigh. Hugo cried out in pain and could feel the blood rushing down his back. As Hugo felt himself losing consciousness, a great surge of anger and adrenaline filled him, and he roared in rage, flinging himself at the Daemon with newfound strength. Meanwhile, in the prison his will remained in, Drake prayed to Sigmar for the power to regain control. THE END OF THE BEGINNING Cornelius fired another spell at the Daemon, this one catching him full in the face. It howled in rage, then charged Cornelius, and nearly cut him in half, instead ripping the sleeves of his clothing, and causing his blood to spray. He steeled himself as he prepared another spell, knowing the next strike from the Daemon could be his last. Hugo, in battle rage, swung his war-maul wildly, missing the creature. Dronk fired his crossbow, having finished the cultists, and hit the thing in it's ankle. Baroon rushed forward, his warhammer ready. The Daemon swung again for Cornelius, the scroll for now forgotten, but missed. The possessed Drake moved to finish off Hugo, but as he swung, some aspect of Drake's will returned, causing him to miss narrowly. Drake, in his mind, smashed at the window with all his might, but he felt slow, and his blows weak. However, cracks emerged in the corner of the window in his mind. He could see himself killing his friend and companion, and rage and emotion overcame him. The group now unleashed all they had on the Daemon - Hugo, his strength failing, smashed the creature with his war maul - Dronk stabbed it with his rapier - Cornelius blasted it with arcane power - and Baroon called for Sigmar's aid as he brought down his warhammer on the reeling Daemon. "In Sigmar's name I smite thee, Daemon!" he screamed, his hammer falling like a thunderbolt on the thing's head. "I SMITE THEE!" he cried again, and again his hammer fell, this time, the thing's head exploded outwards, black ichor splattering the party. Hugo looked at Baroon for a moment and grinned, saying "Well done, you are a true warr-" then collapsed on the floor, covered in his own blood. Baroon rushed to tend to his wounds as the Daemon's ruined corpse fell to the ground. The warehouse floor under it seemed to melt as the corpse started to be absorbed into the floor. Spectral hands reached from some twisted hell and pulled the remains of the Daemon into the Ether. Cornelius managed to grab for the scroll as they did so, tearing a piece from the corner. Drake, in his mind, saw the window smash to a thousand tiny shards, then found himself back in control - but could only stare in horror at his friend Hugo, whom he had so nearly killed. And then all was still, except for the screams heard outside the warehouse, where a crowd had gathered. Around them lay the ruin of the Order of the Golden Dawn. The rest of the group stood, exhausted, clutching their own wounds, as the Watch began to arrive.
3 Comments
Observer
6/26/2016 05:42:31 pm
Kick ass and chew weirdroot...and I'm all outta weirdroot..
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Cormack Cragpush
6/26/2016 08:56:23 pm
That doesnt sound like Dronk, Dronk would be too busy shoving his head in some hole
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Drake Blackheart
6/27/2016 01:18:27 am
It was an awful day that, I nearly killed my friend and I can still feel the tendrils of the monster in my head... Never again.
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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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