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Wouter Dhondt
Belgium
Anzegem
My armor is contempt. My shield is disgust. My sword is hatred. In the Emperor's name, let none survive.
When I now saw this Coppelius, the frightful and terrific thought took possession of my soul, that indeed no one but he could be the Sandman.
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Man-Thing Army Breaker
This is our sixth session from the Terror at Talabheim adventure.
Players:
Snorri, a Dwarven apprentice runesmith
Ronny, a Human initiate of Morr
Arwen, an Mutant-Elf apprentice wizard
Alex, a Human hedgecraft apprentice
As you'll read a lot of this session was characters going to their second career. But it is also the conclusion to the adventure. It wasn't the easiest thing to do to get the NPCs the characters needed for their career into this part of the adventure (town being under siege and all). But I think it worked out ok.
Having defeated the necromancer Gugula Skell, our heroes go to full loot mode and ransack the palace. They take everything that is lying around which might have some value (*). After taking everything with them they decide to go back to the Temple of Morr and give the head of the necromancer to the Abbott. Outside the palace when hear the sound of electricity and see a warp-lightning coming from the Dragon's Home district. They ignore it and continue to sneak through the alleys. They are detected by a skaven patrol however, but they are able to kill the skaven without too much problems. Except for Arwen shooting an arrow in Ronny's leg.
Again, Ronny goes to see the Abbott alone while the others wait. The Abbott is delighted that the necomancer is killed and awards Ronny with full priesthood. Ronny also requests some gold (as he promised the dwarf a lot of gold if he'd help) but the Abbott can't give a lot. Only 20 gold coins of the 100 coins Ronny promised to give Snorri. So Ronny gives the gold to Snorri who isn't happy about it. The dwarf gives Ronny one week to get the rest of the promised gold. With that they decide to return to the stonehome of the dwarfs so Snorri can do the trial and be accepted as a student of the master runesmith. On their way they notice a house, heavily guarded by skaven, but they ignore it. They enter the stonehome and when Arwen sees the torches on the wall his firebug insanity kicks in. He takes one of the torches and acts all negligent and sets fire on Ronny's coat. Ronny tries to dodge it but fails. He's able to remove the coat before it's full ablaze. Shooting an arrow in his leg could be described as an accident, but setting him on fire is too much for Ronny and he hits Arwen in the mouth, teeth falling out. Snorri asks the dwarf guards to seize the two guys and lock them up before they can do more harm. And so Ronny and Arwen are locked away.
Snorri visits the master runesmith and informs him he's ready to take the trial. The runesmith explains him he wants Snorri to fetch the Battle-Axe of Grimmir, which is in a complex somewhere below their current position. Snorri agrees and is escorted to the entrance of the trial. The entrance is blocked by a portcullis and Snorri doesn't find a way to open it. The runesmith informs him his companions can join the quest if they want (**). Snorri finds Alex in the kitchen, haggling for herbs. He also visits the cells and explains the others he's willing to let them out if they join him on his trial. Arwen agrees, but Ronny wants the debt of 80 gold forgotten. Snorri declines and Ronny stays in his cell. Back at the entrance the others don't find a way to open the portcullis either, and Arwen informs the others to try and lift it. This works after a few tries and they enter a new room with two doors leading out.
Snorri opens the door leading south and finds a couple of goblins in the room. The fight is quick though the goblins do their share of damage. After this room they enter a corridor. They look for traps but can't find any so they follow the corridor into the next room. This room is huge. The first thing they notice is an iron statue of a dwarf the size of an Ogre. The iron statue has several runes on it and two axes instead of hands. There is also a stone statue of a dwarven fighter here and a shrine with a Battle-Axe on it. There are also runes on the Battle-Axe. They feel something will happen when they take the axe and get as far away from the statues as possible. Good thing as well cause as soon as Snorri touches the axe all doors close and the iron Rune Guardian comes to life.
Snorri and Arwen immediately attack the Rune Guardian while Alex decides to pray in front of the stone dwarf statue. The statue stays the way it is though and Alex returns to the others when Snorri received some blows from the Rune Guardian. He has a hard time healing the dwarf and it looks like the Rune Guardian is too powerful for them. But at last a final blow is able to bring the Guardian down. There is no visible damage to it, it just looks deactivated. The doors open again and the "adventurers" decide to take the same route back, ignoring all other doors and possible treasure. The master runesmith is waiting for them when they exit the test chambers and congratulates Snorri on his success. He's willing to take him as a new apprentice and learns him a few new runes.
Back in the stonehome they ask the dwarfs about the house and what might be in it for the skaven to guard it like that. The dwarfs don't know what's in it, but they can lead them to it through an underground tunnel. Snorri pays another visit to Ronny in his cell. Ronny mentions he'll never be able to pay the debt locked in his cell so Snorri decides to free him as well. They are all back together again and follow a dwarf in the tunnels. There are multiple tunnels everywhere and would be lost without a guide. After a while they reach a staircase and the dwarf tells them they should be able to get in the house they want. They climb the stairs and arrive in a store room after removing a stone. Opening the door leads them to a big area where they see a Bright wizard captured in some kind of magic bubble and several Skaven guarding him.
The skaven attack on sight. Ronni and Snorri at the front, hitting them with axe, hammer and mace. Arwen and Alex at the back casting and healing where needed. They make short work of the Skaven. After the fight, Arwen approaches the Bright wizard. The wizard can't move nor use magic and can only be freed by defeating the Grey Seer himself. Ronny finds the wizard grimoir and Arwen is allowed to use it as long as he frees the wizard. They ask where they can find the Grey Seer but the wizard doesn't know. The players suspect he'll be where warp-lightning came from. They go back to the stonehome and ask the dwarfs if they know where it came from and if they can guide them there through the tunnels.
The dwarfs agree and a longbeard joins the players. After a huge amount of different tunnels they reach another set of stairs. The longbeard goes first and arrives in an alley between several houses in the Dragon's Home district. There the players immediately see a huge warp-lightning cannon (called Man-thing army breaker). It looks unguarded at the moment. Alex and Arwen decide to create a bomb / Molotov cocktail to destroy the apparatus from a distance. They set the bomb on fire and then try to decide who should throw it. Arwen throws the bomb, not a moment too soon as it explodes right when it reaches the cannon. It doesn't destroy the cannon but it's heavily damaged. The sound of the bomb going off lures the Grey Seer himself to the site (he seems to appear our of thin air) and then all hell breaks loose.
The Grey Seer is an incredible caster. Only two spells are needed for the PCs to find out they are in real trouble. Good thing they had the longbeard with them as cannon fodder. As soon as they reach the Grey Seer he transports himself to another rooftop and keeps casting lightning and summoning rats. They decide to spread out and each player goes to a different rooftop to prevent the Grey Seer from jumping around. Their plan works and the Grey Seer makes an error in one if his jumps, getting too close to the longbeard. The longbeard charges and hits him hard. After that Arwen hits him with another bolt. The Grey Seer is on the brink of death. An incredible loud screech and he vanishes into thin air. They hear a lot of other screeches and rumbling in the city as all the Skaven run for their lives back into the sewer system after losing their leader. The players have saved Talabheim from the Skaven invasion!
They go back through the tunnels to the house where the Bright wizard was. He's free from the magic bubble holding him and accepts Arwen as his apprentice (***). He has a job for Arwen. The bright wizard tells them he works for the Reikland Raiders Blood Bowl team (****). He has to assassinate someone during the match against the Middenheim Maulers but can't afford someone to know he's behind it and he'll be watched during the game. So Arwen will have to do it. They leave the building and find all other citizens freed. This includes Countess Elise who thanks them all. They tell her they'd like to see the thanks in a more physical form (forgetting to mention they looted her palace) and she agrees to pay them what they can spare as they have a city to rebuild. They will also erect a statue for them where the obelisk of law once stood.
They do some shopping and Alex pays a visit to the now famous apothecary Daubler. He agrees to teach him some potions and learn him everything he knows.
This concludes the Terror at Talabheim. Where will they go next? Find out in our future reports.
*: I made a note to check the encumbrance rules before our next session. That'll teach them.
**: Maybe not the most logical thing, but I thought it would be boring for the others otherwise.
***: Yes I know an elven Bright wizard is not ok fluff-wize but:
a) he's a mutant now
b) he has the firebug insanity
c) he saved the life of a Bright wizard who'll teach him as a favor
d) the player wanted to take this path and pleasure beats fluff
****: Yes, Blood Bowl. Ok, not an official part of the Warhammer world, but if I keep it to human teams I should be ok, I hope.
All our previous Warhammer 2nd edition sessions:
A merry bunch visits the old world: character creation and their first adventure.
Of Chickens and Vampires (a merry bunch visits the old world , session 2)
The docks of Taalagad (ambvtow session 3)
The Port & the Plague (ambvtow session 4)
The Desperate & the Dead (ambvtow session 5)
They have guns! (ambvtow session 6)
Opposition in the Eye (ambvtow session 7)
All images are (c) Black Industries
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