He smiles inwardly. Perhaps a little bit of his history will survive with those watching him
At the mention of the lost healer, he quickly cleans up and gears up
"We can't have that, best find her"
"Yeah, let's find her"Elsa says as she stands and gets her Shield and Pick ready.
Constanza requires more convincing, she rises and squints sceptically as the others make ready;
"Feh! Nonna shuffles off into the mist and we all go running after her?! Il Bestie del Caos probably gnaw on her old bones already..."
She shakes her head and grabs her gear, as she moves past Captain Shiller the mercenary scowls and rubs finger and thumb together;
"Questo costa di più Capitan! Rescue costs more eh..."
Hans leads you into the forest, keeping to the numerous game trails that criss-cross the woodland.
He stops here and there to indicate a patch of herbs that has been picked clean, moving deeper into the wooded gloom.
Less that 10 minutes pass, when a clearing opens up, revealing Granny , basket of herbs in hand, cowering against a nearby tree.
Across the clearing stand 3 cloaked Elves with drawn bows. One of the, the leader presumably, speaks in accented Reiklander "Explain yourself, witch, or my arrows fly true!"
Granny protests, "Nay!Nay! Just gathering herbs, is I....no witch am I"
Spotting Granny, and the three strangers harassing her, Alric strides forward.
"HEY! Why are you bothering an old lady!? Leave her be!"
Only after the words have passed his lips, he realizes he is looking at elves. Alric freezes where he stood. He has never actually seen an elf before, but heard some crazy stories of these dangerous forest-dwellers.
They might be in deep trouble, now.
Constanza hangs back and slides a bolt into her crossbow and grim intent, murmouring to those nearby as she does;
"Only know Elfo Alti... how you say? High Elves from back home. Not these wyld ones... Bella bows they carry but I back mio balestra..."
She levels her flatbow and waits...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Pfft Elves." Elsa asked as she shifts to a relaxed but ready stance, with shield more forward instead of her pick.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
THe elves eyes narrow as both Constanza and Elsa show more hawk than dove, a couple of the archers turning their weapons towards the newcomers.
Michel step forward and declares, "Mon amis! Let not the darkness of the Forest creep into our hearts. She is but an old woman , foolish even to venture alone into the forest...but harmless!"
The Brettonian's honeyed words have a soothing effect on the elves disposition and the bowstrings relax and arrows are soon pointed to the ground.
The leader makes a gesture, and the others take position behind him, watching the Forest.
"I am Glinir. We patrol the Forest, killing those who bring Chaos to the Land. Why are your, and she , in the Forest?" he asks, his voice still tight with tension.
"Well met Forest Lords" Elsa Says trying to curtsy. It was really awkward as she was more used to dwarven salutes.
"We came to seek the woman and get her back to the caravan. There be Beastmen and Mutants possibly afoot." Elsa says standing straight and ready to fight. She wasnt one to fully relax around unknown variables.
Glinir's eyebrow raises at Elsa's sign of respect, and inclines his head in response.
"Caravan? Beastmen? Can you explain?" he asks bluntly.
Hans steps forward, sketching a few awkward bows to the imposing Elf leader, "If I may, Elf, sir. 'Twas I that found the Beastman army headed towards Untergard. The Capt'n decided to evacuate the survivors to Middenheim..."
The Elf frowns, "An army of Beastmen. That is troubling. The survivors of Untergard you say? You held fast against the Chaos, and all this side of the River owe you thanks!"
Then with a few harsh words in Elf-speak, the other Elves vanish into the forest, in the direction of Untergard.
"We would see this army for ourselves, perhaps thin the herd somewhat." Glinir states firmly, then with a nod to each of you, also turns and disappears into the gloom.
Hans lets out a long breath, "Granny, you can't be wandering the Forest alone. Those elves would have sooner pincushioned you with arrows as not!"
Granny flourishes her herbs, "Was just gatherin' , was I! " she growls, completely unrepentant.
With a scowl, she begins to trudge back the way to the caravan.
As the elves disappear back into the forest, Constanza stands down - lowering her crossbow and unloading the readied bolt.
She smiles with admiration at Granny's cantankerousness;
"Brava Nona... next time take one of us. You gather. We vegliare..."
The mercenary points her gloved fingers at her eyes with a nod.
"Well, that could've been worse, I'm glad that worked out" he breathes out a sigh of relief
Following the Hans back to the caravan, Granny muttering the whole way, the Forest's gloom seems to darken and a quick glance into the foreboding darkness reveals a glimpse of the elven war-party, fliting through the underbrush on each side. When the light of the caravan fires comes into sight, the elfs disappear back into the Forest.
There are a few cries of joy when the party returns successfully with Granny, mainly from the orphans she cares for.
Granny reaches out and gathers both Constanza and Elsa closes, whispering "Thank ye, dearies. When those Elfies found me, I thought I was done for. "
On the journey back and on arriving back a the caravan, you noticed that Hans kept glancing at Granny's basked or herbs, scowling, then muttering to himself, the shaking his head as if unsure of something.
Alric watches the elves disappear into the forest. Only then he realizes he had been holding his breath the whole time.
"Well, I'm glad we could resolve this peacefully. I've heard some scary things about those elves."
"I too echo Alric. It is our pleasure, apart from duty, to have helped you find you way back to your wards" as he smiles while looking on the happy reunion
Constanza flashes a hard smile;
"We would have made puntaspilli... pincushions of them Nona."
She then falls into line, to escort their elderly ward back to the caravan.
Perception
1d100+10 Perception
Granny successfully returned to her orphans, the caravan of refugees settles for the night.
The day dawns slowly in the Forest, but the morning passes without incident. The Forest is dark and oppressive, but quiet, like a calm before the storm. Mid-afternoon, the scouts return to the caravan with grim tidings. At a crossroads up ahead there is the remains of an ambush and the road is choked with bodies. The corpses and wreckage will have to be cleared before the caravan can continue on its way.
Captain Shiller orders a rest break while the obstruction is cleared. He indicates the Heroes of the Bridge, a dozen other able-bodied men and several Watchmen to go ahead. Father Deitrich and Granny come along, to bless the dead and hopefully tend to any survivors.
Following the scouts, the group finds the crossroads, where two wrecked wagons and fifteen mutilated corpses litter the ground. Granny move through the carnage and then moves away, declaring that there are no survivors. Father Deitrich the begins to do his holy work.
It is found that all of the corpses are adults, nine men and six women. Though bloody and torn, the clothing of two of the men and two of the women was once of excellent quality.
One of the wagons has an emblem on it, a set of scales with scrollwork underneath that says, Delberz
This is a common symbol more Merchant's Guilds. Delberz is a trading hub to the west, on the River Delb
Most of the travellers died of arrow wounds. Crude, black-fletched arrows stud the corpses.
The are goblin arrows. The Drakwald is said to be home to several tribes of greenskins.
among the wreckage is found a dented but usable shield and a quiver with 10 crossbow bolts. Otherwise , all other valuable have been stripped away.
Alric goes pale on witnessing the horribly mutilated bodies. Would this have been their fate as well, had they stayed? For a moment he just stands still, unable to move - and the big man has never looked so small. Only the hollering from the others help him snap out of it, and he starts helping to clear the bodies.
"Hey, here's a shield and some crossbow bolts!" he pulls the items from the wreckage for others to see. He wouldn't have much use for either of these, but perhaps some of the others would like to have them.
Elsa fingers the rings on her necklace and focuses. She had seen death before, but this...She shivered as she remembered the goblins and their attack. It was horrible, but this, this seemed worse somehow?
"Shield, yes, right" She says coming too at the end. Her consciousness snapped back.
The scene was gruesome. That was a fact. But he was from Musilon. This kind of thing could be seen daily in almost any town. All kind of scourges were roaming about, one lapse of judgement could lead to fates worse than death
"Any loss of life is to be mourned. Given enough time" he shakes his head sadly
He looks over to Alric "Good find, could be useful for some. I prefer my spear. Have to train even if it's in the heat of battle. The Lady requires devotion in the craft"
WP (36)
Belzakk has seen so much lately that the additional mayem has no effect on him.
Knowledge: The Empire (31)
Knowledge: The Empire (21) Challenging
Search (31)
Belzak picks up one of the arrows and shakes his head.
"These are Goblin arrows".
Constanza also baulks at the bloodshed. She pauses by one of the mutilated bodies, her usual hard face, softened with emotion as she shakily whispers a prayer;
"Che gli dei concedano loro un riposo sereno..."
"May the gods grant them peaceful rest..."
She nods in agreement at Belzakk's assessment, a welcome distraction from the horrific scene;
"Si... Gobino. Drakwald is a covo... haunt for them."
Her eyes see nothing in the carnage, but Alric's keen eye draws her attention to the crossbow bolts;
"Buono eye Osterlander. I will take the bolts."
The main road is well used but the other fork in the crossroads is a narrow track that is wild and overgrown. A raven is perched upon a faded sign that points up the road. Granny Moescher nods at the bird, and then stops dead in her tracks. She reads the sign a few times, and begins to speak, as much to herself as anyone else, "Fahndorf....My family came from there." She looks to the ground and shakes her head, "My father died there."
Naturally, some of you look curiously at the old woman, and she continues, "Graf Sternhauer's soldiers killed him. He was a good man. He was an innocent man. All he did was hide some food from the Bailiff. he didn't want us to starve in the wintertime. They burned him to make an example for the rest of the village. Damn nobles. As if this life wasn't hard enough without their boot heels upon our throats." she says with venom.
A few moments of calculations in your head and you realize, if Granny's account is true, she'd be over 100 years old.
As you listened to Granny's account, the other men had been labouring, pulling the corpses to the side of the road, where Father Deitrich blesses each one. Without warning, you hear the Priest shout out in alarm and then he disappears from sight. You hear a loud thump and a cry of pain.
Rushing over, you find the Priest has fallen into a pit....several wooden stakes pierce through Father Deitrich and blood slowly fills the bottom of the pit. Miraculously, he still lives. He looks up at you and salutes you with a bloody fist, "I die with a relic of Blessed Sigmar in my hand. For that at least, I can be thankful. But do not leave this holy icon in this wretched place. Take it from here and deliver it to the Temple of Sigmar in Middenheim. Swear to me that you will do this!"
The pit is in front of a large log. Behind which you see quite a few small holes in the ground. This must have been where the goblins stages their ambush, having stuck arrows in the ground.
Michel rushes over, wanting to help him, but sees he is beyond any aid he could offer. As he takes relic from him, he holds his hand and nods
"I will do my utmost in this task, go with Sigmar. May you find peace"
Turning to the others
"Be careful, we don't know how this happened. Watch your step!"
Elsa blinks and holds up her hand. Fingers moved as she mouthed numbers. Counting in her head, aligned with motions, seeking solid evidence of what GHranny just said.
It was improbable, yet welcomed. Such a diversion kept her from the mangled remains nearby.
INT+10 (41)
PER +10 (31)
Belzak stands by as Michael assists the dying priest. He begins to pray manically as the realization dawns on him that the father is no more.
"Let's take his body and let me perform rites over it to ensure he joins Sigmar in eternity. Would it be best if a fellow priest of Sigmar carries the relic"?
Constanza keeps a hard look on her face at Granny's tale of woe.
"Si Nona. All nobles are bastardi... so I say take their moneta when you can eh..."
As the clumsy priest slowly succumbs to his wounds, the Tilean mercenary eyes the terrain, then slowly moves to the log behind the pit, gesturing to the others with a crossbow bolt;
"Ah... Astuto goblino... Look here. Arrow holes. Someone stupido falls into the pit, then goblino up pop and tiragli delle frecce... uh, shooting them with arrows..."
She then nonchalantly peers back into the pit and the expiring Father;
"Si si, pray for him , but someone should safeguard his moneta sacra... how you say; holy coins, too no? Michel of Mousillon can you find the sacred borsellino... purse?"
Michel nods as he gets up slowly, letting go of his hand, then turning to Belzakk first, then to Constanza "I gave him my word, ill hang on to it, if that doesnt bother you, i do not wish to be one to simply give away my promise the first chance i get" he then continues "That is a good idea, we should find it"
Alric understand barely half of what the Tilean is saying, but he sees the ambush spot as well. Cursed goblins...
"Rest in peace, Father Deitrich. We swear to take your icon to Middenheim." the big man's voice is weak. One more soul lost. Will this never end..?
"Well it does bother me a bit that a heathen has a religious icon of my beloved Sigmar... but I guess you've got it".
Belzakk with the others help suggests that after he prepares the body and prays, perhaps they use the existing hole as a pre-prepared grave and fill it in with a marker to designate this as a holy grave.
"Heathen? Really? Well, in that case, have your relic and I hope a broken promise is not the end of me" as he hands over the object
"Heathen? Really? Well, in that case, have your relic and I hope a broken promise is not the end of me" as he hands over the object
"You need not consider this act a broken promise. I will need help to return this to the temple and by doing so it will only enhance your promise".
Belzakk takes the icon and carefully wraps it in a cloth and positions it inside his outerwear.
"Thank you for doing the right thing. I'll ask Sigmar to protect you in my prayers".
Belzakk then address all the adventurers.
"In fact I will need all of you to help ensure this holy artifact is returned safely to the temple in Middenheim. Help me and Michel". He takes a moment to lay his hands on Michel's shoulder.
"Let us first get these people to safety, then I implore all of you to quest for return of the artifact. I can't promise you monetary rewards, but I can promise rewards for your soul".
Constanza listens and watches as Reiklander and Bretonnian argue over the relic, before smiling.
Likely a fake poor stupidi bastardi...
When no-one seeks to unburden the dead priest from his coin purse, the Tilean brings the conversation to a point;
"Mamma Mia! No monetary reward Reiklander? You could start with the Santo Padre's purse si? Surely he would want us to share his wealth no?"
She nods her head towards the crowd of refugees;
"His'a boots too. Anything one of these misero can use..."
Granny comes over from her reverie over her past, tut-tut over the Priests fate then rounds on Constanza, "Show some respect for the dead! Yon Priest and I never saw eye to eye, by I won't be standin' by letting you scavenge his body like a skaven!" she shouts, spittle spraying from her mouth.
She motions to the labourers and they begin to fill in the pit, "This'll be his resting place, along with the others! Sigmar bless them all!" she declares, her glare daring Constanza to contradict her.
"Easy there. Granny. Constanza. Let's calm down. We are all tired and the shock for sure is messing with our senses. But perhaps let's not burry him where he died, it seems... Wrong to burry him in a pit trap made by filthy goblins"
Elsa stands and heads to Granny and adks quietly." Um Granny are you sure that happened when you where young?"
Constanza backs off with feigned indignation;
"Altolà! Don' you compare me to ratto feccia Nona! Is a not about respect... is about the Santo Padre being charitable even in morto."
As the pit gets filled she shrugs, waving off any comments;
"Fine. Bury him and his gold where you like, I no care."
Vecchia Nonna pazza!
Granny casts a baleful eye at both Constanza and Michel, then turns to watch the laborers fill in the deadly pit, now holy resting place for Sigmar's own.
She turns, a bit startled by Elsa, frowning, "Of course, I'm sure!" she says with irritation.
The other graves are filled quickly, as they're fairly shallow....by necessity, the laborers casting nervous glances at the gloomy forest surrounding the crossways.
Seemingly taking charge, Granny then slaps her hands together, "Let's hie back to the caravan, no sense lollygagging around here..."
"I've no issue with taking the good fathers coin... as long as it is to help these good people start a new life rather than line our own pockets. I'm sure that's what he intended... and it will do him no good lying here in this dirt".
Constanza matches Granny's baleful stare, turning the crossbow bolt over in her gloved hand. At Belzakk's words she tuts and shakes her head dramatically;
"No-no-no Reiklander. Nonna Moescher has spoken. Meglio lasciare il tempo ai vermi!... how you say... best to leave the wealth to the worms!"
She spits, then moves back toward the caravan muttering in her mother tongue as she goes;
"Stupidi Imperiali del cazzo... I primi a dichiararsi poveri, i primi a seppellire il loro oro... Il povero scava la buca e il ricco la riempie..."
"Stupid f***ing Imperials... First to claim poverty, first to bury their gold... Poor man digs the hole and rich man fills it..."
When the road is clear and the bodies taken care of, the caravan is at last able to move on. By the evening, you make it to Immelscheld, another town that was sacked during the Storm of Chaos. Captain Schiller has the caravan make camp outside the ruins and sets guards as usual. Everyone seems relieved the caravan did not meet the fate of the travelers from Delberz.
Schiller sends a number of guards into the town to search for supplies while the rest of the caravan prepares what food they have for their meager dinner.
Later, the crying of child destroys the night's silence. Soon , other cries join in, making a chorus of wailing. Exhausted refugees curse the interruption and shout for Granny Moescher to calm the children. The only response is more crying.
When no respite in the children's wailing comes, Constanza stirs from her precious slumber.
Cursing in hissed Tilean, the mercenary rises groggily.
"Che gli dei mi diano la forza!"
Satisfied her stiletto and coin purse are still in her possession she buckles on her belt and grabs her crossbow and stomps toward the keening children...
Belzakk stirs from his sleep... dreaming of crying children to realize that it is not a dream. He rises grabs his mace and heads to see what the disturbance is. He sees Constanza heading towards the disturbance.
"Do you know why those children are crying"?
Michel joins Constanza as she goes to where the crying was happening. Children crying, even if it is hurtful to the ears, he would also like to calm their grief. If he could possibly do so. Children should be laughing. Not... This