Kroagaic makes his way over and along with Gograk give Valghaz a bow of respect. “Kroagaic and Grorak, of Clan Greathammer at your service.” Taking seats at the table that Grorak had come so close to smashing they both begin shaking their heads no vigorously as Valghaz confronts them with the rumors going around.
”Nay, nay, by the blood of our forefathers, them stories is a lie,” Kroagaic says emphatically. ”It’s that witch Herzen! Sure as anything, she’s behind any evil doings. She magicked us out of our gold, don’t you see…”
Grorak punches Kroagaic in the arm and says in a low voice, ”Nay, no talk about clan business here! These folks need to talk to Gorim himself, not here it from us.”
Kroagaic rubs his arm and gives his companion an angry glare but then nods in agreement, ”Aye, my brother is right, ain’t our place to talk about clan business. You need to talk to our Clan Chief, Gorim Greathammer. He’s bound to be in his home in Khazid Slumbol. It’s right outside of town.”
Valghaz had never heard of Clan Greathammer, which wasn’t that all surprising given that he had been but a young miner from a minor hold.
”A serious claim. We have had experience fighting a mage, before. It was…a messy business. Fortunately, for the mage.” He said, gravely. ”Will ye accompany us, then? I would speak with Lord Greathammer, and having an introduction from kinsfolk would be better than walking in unannounced.”
Krizta relaxes and goes to ask the bartender if they have anything to eat here.
Not sure what to make of the dwarven undertones of the conversation, Landolf held his peace. It appeared as though they would get more information about Etelka Herzen. He couldn't say that he was eager to face another foe like Teugen, but the situation was too grave to ignore.
Earlier in Kemperbad, Landolf and Yvonne approach a brandy dealer over 28 encumbrance of his wares.
dice=Landolf Haggle 41 +10 Yvonne assist]1d100
Following that effort, they try to acquire some armaments at a favorable rate. (50 encumbrance)
dice=Landolf Haggle 41 +10 Yvonne assist]1d100
----
In Grissenwald, Landolf watched the bar fight begin with interest. It wouldn't do to take great offense at drunken insults, however crass, but he also didn't want to casually ignore the affair. At any rate, Valghaz was taking enough offense for the both of them. He kept an eye on the remaining dwarf while watching the fight.
[dice=Lore Dwarfs 67]1d100
[dice=Charm 50]1d100Valghaz had never heard of Clan Greathammer, which wasn’t that all surprising given that he had been but a young miner from a minor hold.
”A serious claim. We have had experience fighting a mage, before. It was…a messy business. Fortunately, for the mage.” He said, gravely. ”Will ye accompany us, then? I would speak with Lord Greathammer, and having an introduction from kinsfolk would be better than walking in unannounced.”
Khazid Slumbol
More than two dozen Dwarfs live in this ramshackle collection of wooden huts. They were originally built well, but there has been little or no upkeep since. These Dwarfs are the last remaining miners, their money gone on drink.Kroagaic and Grorak lead you all to a large wooden shack. It looks just as run down as the rest of Khazid Slumbol.
Being Dwarf-built, the door is quite low. Humans will have to stoop to enter.
Sputtering torches are placed around the walls and these fill the building with acrid-smelling smoke. The floor is covered with moth-eaten wolf skins and a couple of large moths take flight as the adventurers enter. The smoke is unpleasant and makes it difficult to see.
You all will need to make a Challenging (+0) Endurance Test to avoid a coughing fit. The test can be repeated every Round until it is successful, but any Character who fails the test cannot speak and will only recover in the open air.
From the other side of the room a deep, commanding voice sounds. ‘Well, come in and stop that coughing. Ain't you used to proper air?' Through the gloom, the adventurers see Gorim Greathammer seated upon a stone throne, with four armed Dwarfs on either side. ”Well what do you want? I ain't got all day!”
Krizta ducks through the low door into the hut along with the rest of her group and waits for Valghaz to speak.
As Landolf made his purchase, he found that both brandy & armaments were facing an unexpected overstock, as a different cargo ship found itself foundered at the docks by necessary repairs. Taking advantage of the situation, he arranged for the Lucky Lady to take on some of the idle shipment.
-------
The armoas coming from the shack were...novel to say the least. Landolf had just faced worse from the mutant corpses on the river, however, and soldiered through his discomfort.
"Watch yer heads." Valghaz said, warning the others so that they did not need to be on alert. Seeing the miserable huts he could not help but feel pity. His own hold was not a rich one by the standards of the dawi, but even they had more pride than this. With only one structure looking halfway decent, he figured that it had to be where their clan leader was.
Coming in, he saw their leader and opened his mouth to introduce the group. Doing so caused him to inhale the acrid-smelling smoke. Out of pride he refused to back out, and instead tried to hold the cough in. Doing so proved to be a mistake, as it just made the coughing all the worse. The dwarf hacked the smoke out of his lungs. At length he stood up, wiped the unwanted tears out of his eyes, and walked forward.
‘Well, come in and stop that coughing. Ain't you used to proper air?'
Ignoring the barb, Valghaz walked forward. "Hail and well met, Lord Greathammer." Valghaz said. "We are the Black Thorn Company. I am Valghaz, of Clan Ironhammer. Templar of the Order of the Stone Wall, sworn to the Cult of Grungni. With me are Adelaida Lehner, Priestess of Sigmar and Krizta, a Bounty Huntress in the service of the Heldenhammer." He said, motioning towards the two women. "And this is Sir Landolf Gersun von Ubersreik, a nobleman of the Empire and proven friend of the Dawi." The introductions emphasized the company's religious leanings and social status. It was best to leave out their quest for gold and mercantile ways. "Naturally, given yer status as an honorable Throngrink, I come before ye with proper tribute. A gift, from our Company to yer Clan." He pulled out a scroll. It was dwarven made, not the flimsy paper that umgi liked to scrawl on. "This is a map. Before I took me oath to the Cult of Grungni and swore meself to his service for life, I came across this map. It is to a gold mine in the Grey Mountains. While I have not prospected it meself, it was given to me by a kinsmen who has been there. He had found gold, but could not tell how much, before the red-eyes drove him out and left him gravely wounded. Nay anyone was willing to make the expedition to free it. So I went to Imperial lands in the hope of raising enough coin to put together an expedition to go and clear it of the grobi filth that infest it. I have held onto the map until it could be given to those who could make use of it. As such, I offer it to ye and yer clan for the privilege of yer time."
"Now, as for why we are here. Word has spread of dawi indiscriminately spilling manling blood. Given that our company has members who have sworn themselves to Grungni and Sigmar, we came to investigate. Before long, we came across yer kinsmen, Kroagaic and Grorak. They rightfully decided that Clan business should nay be spoken about in public, and brought us here for an audience. If ye would, please tell us what has happened which has led to this state of affairs."
Adelaida lowers herself as she enters the place, and if she is surprised by the amount of smoke inside the room, she manages to keep her breath.
She listens to Valghaz, who is better suited to be their spoke person in the occasion, and looks around with curiosity
I've never thought I would see the inside of a dawi's home. If only my mom could be there, or if I could tell her later...
Once again, she marvels at how fast her live changed since she was wrongly accused of breaking the peace on a Marketplaz, and met those who became the Black Thorns.
She carries herself respectfully, standing at attention out of habit, as the soldier she never ceased to be.
Gorim accepts the map from Valghaz and sets it aside without looking at it. Expressionless he then listens as Valghaz introduces the Black Thorns. But, when Valghaz begins to discuss the swirling rumors of killings, he stands and shouts, ”ENOUGH! No dwarf of Clan Greathammer would do what you say.” Then, with a troubled look on his face he sits again on his throne and stares intently into Valghaz’s eyes, ignoring the humans in the room.
”Herzen must be behind any killings. She wants to drive our clan away from our mine by turning the simpleton townsfolk against us. She knows that we have figured out her plot and, and, will make her…” Gorim’s words trail off and he sits brooding for a moment.
Then as if he had made up his mind about something he nods and motions all four of you to come closer. ”The truth of the matter is the clan doesn’t have the strength to beat a wizard and her minions. I am embarrassed to say it, but you should know, she tricked us out of our gold mine. For 10 years, we mined our claim in the Black Hills outside of town but only found seems of coal. We made a living selling the coal to the town. But, no Greathammer wants to live their lives as coal miners. So when this Herzen, a noblewoman from Nuln comes and offers to buy the mine for much more than it’s worth we agreed to sell it to her and even build her a dwelling by the mine. We planned on staking a new claim somewhere more promising and left our mine to come here to resupply and then strike out for a new claim. However, whatever glamour that foul witch cast on us must have faded and we realized that no one would have paid what she did for a coal mine. Nay, she paid like it was a gold mine. Then we figured out that she must have enchanted the gold in the mine so we couldn’t find it and when we were fed up mining coal she swooped in and bought our gold mine out from under us. We went back to confront her but her Magick was too strong for us and we were forced to retreat back here. We took some of the money the witch gave us to build our little settlement and sent word to allied clans in the Grey Mountains asking for their help against the witch. But, no one would come because they want nothing to do with dawi outsmarted by a human. After that the boys started drinking a bit too much for their own good and we’ve spent all the witch’s money. In fact, I had to sell…well never mind that…let’s just say we’re almost completely broke but we ain’t letting that witch get away with it and will stay here forever if we have to until we get back our mine. Herzen knows we ain’t leaving on our own so now she’s turning the townsfolk against us to drive us away or have them kill us so she can keep our mine.” Greathammer leans back and falls silent.
Valghaz listened, his own face as neutral as he could make it. When Greathammer leant backward in silence, Valghaz replied "This witch..I would have more information on her, specifically. What has she done with your mine? Are there men working the mine, and if so what is coming out of it? And what magic did she use to drive ye away? What mundane defenses does she have? Where does she dwell? And have there been people disappearing around here? While I hear that the Greathammers did not do it, it matters when as it comes towards whether she is behind their deaths as well."
What proof do you have that she enchanted the mine? Just the high price she was willing to pay for it, or do you have something more substantial that would stand up to legal scrutiny?
Valghaz listened, his own face as neutral as he could make it. When Greathammer leant backward in silence, Valghaz replied "This witch..I would have more information on her, specifically. What has she done with your mine? Are there men working the mine, and if so what is coming out of it? And what magic did she use to drive ye away? What mundane defenses does she have? Where does she dwell? And have there been people disappearing around here? While I hear that the Greathammers did not do it, it matters when as it comes towards whether she is behind their deaths as well."
”Far as I know, she’s up at the mine by herself. They ain’t nothing coming out of the mine. She was in that nice sturdy house outside the mine when we dropped in on her…Magick…” Greathammer closes his eyes for a moment and then with obvious suffering continues, ”none of us ever seen Magick like she used. Only thing I can think of to compare is a tornado…but a tornado made with purple and pink lightning. She controlled how it moved and when it touched when of the lads it…it…blew ‘em apart. Lost five good lads in the time it takes to snap your fingers. And that ain’t even the worst part…from what was left of the lads, pink demons appeared. I killed one of them demons with my hammer and it just split into two more demons, blue this time. If we had stayed, she’d killed off the clan so we came back here. A week or so after that them attacks started.”
Valghaz turned to his companions and said "This witch must die. Ye all ready for this fight?"
We can't leave a witch using foul, corrupting magick inside the Empire. You know I am with you, Brother.
Landolf agreed, but the dwarf's description of Etelka's sorcery left him worried. "That magic sounds ferocious. Should we consult with the local Sigmarites before we depart? It sounds as though this witch may be even more dangerous than our last scrap."
Landolf agreed, but the dwarf's description of Etelka's sorcery left him worried. "That magic sounds ferocious. Should we consult with the local Sigmarites before we depart? It sounds as though this witch may be even more dangerous than our last scrap."
Unlike what you’ve heard from the dwarves, all the humans in town, including at the temple, say Etelka Herzen is a friendly, private woman who lives in a house near the mine and rarely visits the town. She seems to be an excellent example of what a noblewoman should be. A common sentiment is ”Lady Herzen keeps herself to herself and doesn’t put on airs.”
"Hate to say it, lad, but at this point we are the experts in this. Between Adelaida and meself, we're to be expected to handle such situations." Valghaz said. "Don't think that she'll blast us right away. Doesn't know who we be. Might well ruin her reputation. That, and we have ye. A nobleman. Ain't no reason for her to ruin her reputation by blastin' a noble come to pay a visit, aye? We can go in, lookin' like yer retinue. Play it from there, aye?"
Landolf frowns at Valghaz's words. "I hope you are right. But that...thing we saw in Bogenhafen...we may be known to our enemy. But we don't know that. Let's see what we can do."
Gorim Greathammer gives very precise directions to the mine. It’s an easy half day walk to the Black Hills that has you first pass through the belt of farms that surround Grissenwald. As you near the first farm, you see a young lad playing at the end of the lane of the farmhouse. When he sees your group he gapes at you for a moment then screams, ”DWARF!!” at the top of his lungs. The farmers flee in panic to the farmhouse. You can see them peering at you from the windows as you pass on the country lane that runs past the farm. The adults all seem to be holding weapons of some sort. They keep a wary watch on you until you’re out of sight.
The same sort of thing happens at the second farm you pass.
As you approach the third farm, a strong smell of smoke lingers in the air. Turning a corner you see that the farmhouse is a burnt ruin. There is no movement of any sort except for carrion crows feeding on dead farm animals.
In the front yard of the destroyed home you find a small poorly made (and poorly maintained) sword.
Fail
”Umgak.” Valghaz said, dismissively, of the blade. ”Isn’t even worth selling.”
Pass
Fail
Pass
”Grobi!” He said, as he gave the goblin’s corpse a kick. ”Where there be one, there be a dozen. There be tracks too. With wolves. We dealt with this before, aye? Tracks vanish into yonder woods.”
Do you think that the locals are attributing the foul deeds of goblins to the dwarves for some reason? If we took them proof of goblin involvement, might that calm them down?
”Mayhaps ye be right. If the grobi scum just leave death, it could be attributed.” Valghaz said, glad to have a traditional enemy to lay the problems upon. ”Worth dealing with after we kill this mage.”
Do you think the mage and the goblins could work together, Brother? Or would their hate for humans be too strong?
Pushing on towards the mine you come across a small clearing with a large solitary oak tree in the middle of the clearing. Propped with his back against the tree is a dwarf. He is ringed by four dead Goblins. The Dwarf is close to death himself, and has three Goblin arrows embedded in his chest.
”Gobboes!,” he gasps. ”They're in the mine — lots of them. They're taking our gold!”
Krizta searches the goblin bodies, hoping to pick up a usable bow, since that is presumably where the arrows came from.
Valghaz rushed to the side of the injured dawi and immediately began tending to his wounds. ”Nay ready for Grungni’s Halls, aye? Can’t die till ye count the dead grobi. Now, tell me the numbers while I do this, and be there any mages in there?”
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Adelaida guards her Brother, as he tends the wounds of his fellow dwarf.
She tries to find anything of interest on the dead goblins
But by now, she probably has walked over any clues.
Thrice.
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Krizta searches the goblin bodies, hoping to pick up a usable bow, since that is presumably where the arrows came from.
There’s an intact goblin bow on the ground next to one of the dead goblins. After a few quick practice draws you believe that you could use it even though it is clearly poorly made. There are also a handful (6) of useable arrows, each of them tipped with a thick black substance.
[dice=Heal 37]1d100
[dice=Last Fortune Heal 37]1d100Valghaz rushed to the side of the injured dawi and immediately began tending to his wounds. ”Nay ready for Grungni’s Halls, aye? Can’t die till ye count the dead grobi. Now, tell me the numbers while I do this, and be there any mages in there?”
Valghaz works quickly and efficiently to stabilize the wounded dwarf and manages to staunch the flow of blood.
”My thanks,” the wounded dwarf says with effort. ”maybe twenty, twenty-five gobboes and another ten or fifteen of those wolves they ride. You asking about that Herzen? Don’t know, may be in that house we built…didn’t see her.”
Adelaida guards her Brother, as he tends the wounds of his fellow dwarf.
She tries to find anything of interest on the dead goblins
[dice=Perception (34)]1d100
But by now, she probably has walked over any clues.
Thrice.
After a fruitless search of the goblins, Adelaida patrols the area unintentionally wiping away any tracks.
"Right. A dozen foot grobi and a dozen wolf fookers. Gonna have our work cut out." Valghaz muttered. Then, to the injured dwarf he said "Get goin' back to Lord Greathammer. We'll be goin' in. Hopefully will be back right soon."
To his comrades he said "Think that we need to focus on killin' the mage, aye? Lots of greenskin filth in there. In a stand up fight, they'll fill us full of arrows right quick. Would prefer to avoid that."
Krizta takes the poorly made bow and the arrows and nods, ready to follow Valghaz and help.
As you approach the mine, you see standing next to it a two-story tower that is clearly of dwarvish construction. The front door of the tower stands open. The mine entrance is a 10 foot by 10 foot square cut into the side of the hill. A pile of coal stands next to the entrance. There’s a faint odor of wolf in the air as well as a hint of the stench associated with goblins.
It’s mid afternoon when you arrive
”Frontal charge won’t work. I still think it be best to bluff this. Be a noble’s…eh, what’s the world? Enter-ogue? Ye know. The people who hang around nobles when he travels. If we be announced properly we may get close enough to kill her before she starts casting.”
Should we check and see who is holding that tower before we go down?
As the tower is at the mines entrance, we shouldn't risk to get down in the mines and get our escape route blocked by a second front, if the noble woman is indeed a witch serving the forces of Chaos.
The home is three stories tall, made of cut slabs of stone and is a perfect hexagon in shape. A shallow ditch surrounds the structure and a small wooden bridge spans the ditch ending at the closed front door of the building.
Adelaida sees nothing strange in the neighborough.
Huh. The building looks sort of run down and abandoned... not like anyone actually lives there, or if they do they don't care. Like squatters or something. See the litter and the broken windows? No one takes care of this place.
... It was a somewhat ironic statement given her own self-inflicted homeless status, but there it was. Easy to tell the signs if you had been watching for them for years.
"Huh. Good eye, lass." Valghaz said, only seeing the signs after they were pointed out. "Only see a single bridge to get to the building too. If the witch isn't there and the place is full of grobi..." He trailed off, trying to think up a plan on how to approach this. He looked to his companions expectantly.
Krizta goes over and tries the front door.
Landolf worried about fighting greenskins again. He trusted his companions, but against numbers, they would be swiftly overwhelmed. "We still need to find out what is inside that manor. Even if Herzen has abandoned it, there may be clues left behind."
As they approach the manor, Landolf carries his bow at the ready.
Krizta finds the door unlocked and is easily able to push the well made door open. The door opens into a rectangular room about 5 yards long and 3 yards wide. There are two interior doors set into the walls on either side of the room and the far end of the room appears to open into a room with a circular staircase.
Your senses are assaulted by disgusting sights and smells. The walls are covered with feces and other even less reputable substances and the floor is covered in trash and bones, some of the bones clearly human in origin. There’s a large pile of trash at the far end of the room.
Valghaz held up a hand to tell everyone to halt. Silently he slung his pick, pulled out his dagger and approached the pile of refuse…
…one hand went around the sleeping goblin’s mouth and the other sliced it’s throat. Using his weight to hold it down he grimly kept it from making any movement or sound, only letting it go when it was dead.
”Grobi.” He muttered darkly as he wiped the blood off of his knife and rearmed himself with his trusty pick.
Krizta keeps her eyes open for anything useful, and decides to switch to her flail, not trusting that something wouldn't pop out and force her into melee at any time.
[dice=Perception]1d100
Valghaz held up a hand to tell everyone to halt. Silently he slung his pick, pulled out his dagger and approached the pile of refuse…
[dice=Silent Kill?]1d100
…one hand went around the sleeping goblin’s mouth and the other sliced it’s throat. Using his weight to hold it down he grimly kept it from making any movement or sound, only letting it go when it was dead.
”Grobi.” He muttered darkly as he wiped the blood off of his knife and rearmed himself with his trusty pick.
The soundly sleeping goblin barely gurgles as Valghaz slits its throat. With only one slight twitch it expires.
From somewhere else in the house you hear an indeterminate number of squeaky voices raised in argument. By now you’re able to recognize goblin voices when you hear them. A much deeper voice roars out something unintelligible and the argument ceases.
"Think that the scum killed the witch?" Valghaz asked. "Think there might be an orc leading these fookers. Could return with the town militia..."