Rangnir tries to follw as quiet as possible, alas he is not used to being sneaky...
Indeed, as Mareike turns around, the blade of Granhof's axe flies towards her neck...but as if by magic, the blade misses her by an inch and with a screeching sound hits the gat tower next to her!
Mareike gasps as splinters from the gate spray her face. Lurching away she spins and swings Pa's axe over her head and down upon the Chaos-tainted man.
Reckless Cleave : 3 blue, 3 red
"We cannot be in two places at once, Zad, Mareike needs us now, that cults may cut her to pieces, he doesn't seem normal. Franz reloads his weapon while waiting for Zad to join him. He doesn't fire for fear of hitting Mareike but should she fall, he will.
The dwarfs give their best to descend the ladder without making too much noise...they are not very successful, but still the chanting does neither change nor stop.
As you reach the sacrificial chamber again, you instantly feel that it is unnaturally hot in here, furthermore the air feels very dry, it reminds you of a desert...
About fifteen paces away sits Dr. Schreiber in a circle of strange-looking, hastily scribbled signs. He rocking back and forth and singing some weird kind of song that sounds like it was played reversely.
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Mareike tries a wild swing with her axe, but Bertoldt quickly ducks and dodges the powerful but also exhausting blow (0 successes, 1 fatigue).
Fernis cast a wary eye to Rangnir then lifts his axe, gesturing "Whack him?"
Granhof realizes that he soon will be surrounded by enemies and even though the rage of the Blood God obscures his thoughts, he knows that he won't win such a battle.
With a howl of rage he whirls around and hacks at the bar that locks the gate. Wood splinters, but for now the gate remains locked...
Whack him!
With an internal prayer of thanks to Sigmar, Mareike levers her axe into the air and smashes it with all of her might at the back of Granhof's neck.
At a delibrate pace, Franz puts his pistol away, draws his blade and will advance to the fight.
St:3, To:3, Ag:4, In:3, Wi:3, Fe:4 -- Def:0, Soak:0, Wound Threshold 12 - Wounds:0, Corruption Threshold 8 - Coruption:0, Fatigue:2, Stress:1 --
Stance:Reckless 3(Reckless - default) -- Current Action: Ranged or Extreme shot as needed ; Recharging Cards: none
Other available action : Extreme Shot -- Action Recharge: 0 (This action is my only non-basic action card.)
Needing no further goading the warrior leaps into action determined to halt the blasphemous incantation. Raising his axe, Fernis throws himself into the assault.
While Franz and Zad jog over to the gate, Mareike buries her axe in Granhof's shoulder who half-heartedly tries to dodge the deadly blow.
Crimson blood oozes out of his wound and there is again the metallic stench.
With another unearthly howl the cultist raises his axe and lets it fall on the bar, this time splitting it in two!
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Fernis ends the chant with a clean swipe of his axe, the hapless doctor loses his head and his life...
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Alarmed by the fight at the gate Blucher and Lord Rikkard have left the relative safety of the shrine and sprint over to Zad, Mareike and Franz.
Quickly re-assessing the situation, Fernis raises his shield and retreats to Rangnir's side. No cultist are gonna risk my chance donning gromil armor. "Waddaya think?"
Rangnir looks closer at the ritual chamber - are there any chaos paraphernalia, something possibly used in the ritual?
No, the room looks unchanged...besides the headless cultist in his chalk circle :)
Did the 'atmosphere' of the room change at all with the fullstop of the ritual?
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Gagging at the stench from the chaos tainted blood pouring from Granhof, Mareike tugs her axe free and swiftly spins around, burying it in the man's back.
Something is still very much not right here! Quick, help me remove the body from this room, just in case. I fear the ritual might not be done with, yet!
Without saying a word,Fernis grabs the other arm and begins dragging the corpse away from the circle.
By pulling the body away you also wipe away most of the chalk on the floor. After you have pulled the corpse to the other side of the room, you suddenly feel how the air begins to feel normal again, the strange sensation that you felt when you entered the room has disappeared.
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The axe bites deep between the shoulders of Granhof and the power of the blow pushes him forward - the strike was lethal but the cultist uses his last gasp to stem the gate some inches open - through the gap Mareike is able to behold the forest's edge...and feels how all strength is drained from her muscles...behind a swarming mass of ungors a massive bull-headed monster, twice the height of a man and far greater in bulk waits. A minotaur whose horns have been mutated into deadly antlers.
Rangnir takes a deep breath, then points to the stairs. So, lets hope this was all that was coming from within the walls. Although I am afraid the Beastman won't let us cheer this victory.
Seeing the mad cultist cut down, Franz puts his blade away, clearing the way to draw his pistol.
Nodding in agreement, Fernis takes off toward the others. "I hope they caught the others...."
Mareike turns from the gate, her axe help limply in her hand, blood and gore dripping onto the dirt beside the slain chaos-man. Her eyes wide, whites almost glowing , she says softly "We need to close the gate. Something very big is coming."
Outside Lord Rikkard and Blucher have now reached the others, just in time to hear Mareike's words
What?
Blucher says and pushes Mareike aside to peer through the gate...a moment later you hear a hollow sigh from the seasoned veteran.
Well...time for some heroic deeds I guess...defend the gate or retreat into the manor?
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Inside Fernis and Ragnir have reached the grand hall again as they hear Granhofs last unearthly howl from the gate.
Fast to the gates! Rangnir runs as fast has his dwarven legs can carry him-
Rangnir and Fernis reach the others the moment the pale Blucher pushes the gate shut
We have to barricade the gate, quick - you there, gardener, you and the girl... he gives Mareike and the bloody axe an irritated look you get the coach over here, we can block the gate with it.
Oh...uh... Lord Rikkard stammers and points at the roof of the mansion W...What's that?
On the roof a female figure stands holding what looks like a painting abover her head...
Franz shakes himself, trying to cope with the rapidly deteriorating situation. Seeing the figure at the roof he draws and fires his weapon at her, making the assumption that she's up to no good.
Taking the shot.
St:3, To:3, Ag:4, In:3, Wi:3, Fe:4 -- Def:0, Soak:0, Wound Threshold 12 - Wounds:0, Corruption Threshold 8 - Coruption:0, Fatigue:2, Stress:1 --
Stance:Reckless 3(Reckless - default) -- Current Action: Ranged or Extreme shot as needed ; Recharging Cards: none
Other available action : Extreme Shot -- Action Recharge: 0 (This action is my only non-basic action card.)
3 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1 white and any other dice for the dice pool.
Jolted out of her reveirie by Bulcher's shove, Mareike shoots him a quick glare. Seeing the woman and painting on the roof she yells to Franz "I told those dwarves we should have burnt that thing!!" Turning to Zadlu, she says "Help me with the carriage!" then runs to the carriage and starts pushing.
Franz' bullet misses the woman by about half a metre and she begins to invoke the Ruinous Powers...words are carried over to you that sound like a twisted version of Reikspiel - actually as if she was speaking in reverse. Suddenly the painting in her hands begins to glow and floats away from her hands ever higher.
You can now make out that a terrible lidless eye is in its centre surrounded by purple clouds and yellow lightnings and while you stare at the painting spellboundly, the sky slowly takes on the same purple hue...
"Grobi loins.",Fernis says as he raises his shield and prepares for the worst of it.
"Grobi loins.",Fernis says as he raises his shield and prepares for the worst of it.
Someone should get up there, we can't be sure that Franz' next bullet hits! Lord Rikkard says and points at the roof.
By Sigmar, even the sky changes?! What is happening here...we before Blucher can go on, Olver Gand appears from the kennels, he has a nasty cut on his chest but otherwise looks unharmed I've found all the staff members and locked them in in the kennels...no harm from that side - uh...is that Karla? he asks incredulously as he follows everyone's gaze to the roof.
Franz looks about at their few numbers then makes a decision. "Marieke, we can spare you the most from the gate. Go after Karla, stop her any way you can. I'll keep firing."
He follows his words with action.
Reload, take another shot.
St:3, To:3, Ag:4, In:3, Wi:3, Fe:4 -- Def:0, Soak:0, Wound Threshold 12 - Wounds:0, Corruption Threshold 8 - Coruption:0, Fatigue:2, Stress:1 --
Stance:Reckless 3(Reckless - default) -- Current Action: Ranged or Extreme shot as needed ; Recharging Cards: none
Other available action : Extreme Shot -- Action Recharge: 0 (This action is my only non-basic action card.)
3 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1 white and any other dice for the dice pool.
Mareike tears her gaze from the terrible sight in the sky, and nods to Franz. Starting to run for the lodge, she stops "How did she get up there?"
Franz takes aim and for a second it seems like the world holds its breath - then the thunder of the pistol pierces through the silence and the bullet hits Karla right in the face. Her head blasts apart like an overripe melon and her lifeless figure skidders off the roof...sadly, the painting still hovers in mid-air.
"AMAZING SHOT,MY BOY!"Fernis bellows with a grand smile upon his face. "Now what shall we do about that.", he finishes pointy to the demonic painting.
Marvelling at the amazing shot by Franz, Mareike repeats her question
"She musta been the one that jumped out the library winda. Took off like a bat that one. We couldn't catch her an' instead of givin' chase went and caught one of 'em in the basement in the middle of some ritual that we halted by relieving the gent of his head."
Mareike stares at the Dwarf for a moment , the excitement must have made his brogue just a bit thicker
"The window....right." she says then sprints for the manor's front doors. As she runs, her eyes continue to roll upwards to the smearing sky above the manor roof. Burn! It has to Burn!
Skidding to a stop in the main foyer, Marieke grabs a candlestick from the table and lights it in the fireplace. Placing her axe to the side, she also grabs a torch from a wall scone
Flame in hand, she runs up the stairs to the library and leans out the window to see what the climb is going to be like.
Turning his attention back to the gate, he says, "What can we do for that, dawi?"
Franz looks on the results of the shot with satisfaction. "Finally! Was begining to wonder if I was as well trained as I thought. Ah well the dark forces are strong here, just need to have faith and be persistant and the gods will guide us to victory."
"Yes, is there anything here we can use to brace or block the gate?" Franz looks around for anything that could do that.
Something heavy enough to withstand at least one or two blows of that monstrosity? Perhaps the table where we were supposed to be poisoned tonight?
As you poke your head out of the library window, you realise that the climb is not as difficult as you had feared, there are some stones missing in the facade where hands and feet could be placed and the thick cover of ivory looks like it could also support you.
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The carriage in front of the gate is a good start to barricade it - if you are looking for more material then yeah, furniture could be something to start with...on the other hand:
Suddenly you hear a metallic clang - a ladder has been leaned against the wall - soon the first ungors will climb the battlements...