10: Halsdorph

Festag 15^th Pflugzeit

So you were on your way to Halsdorph. It wasn’t long before Egg started complaining about the journey and asked to go home. Max told her that she might like the Black Ship in Marienburg where she could make a load of money gambling, but Egg said she wasn’t interested in money (she didn’t really know what it was) and threw one of her guilders away. And then, through seemingly just bad luck, Max fell into a deep puddle. You managed to convince her that it would be good to go to school, and she agreed that Mr. Whiffle wanted her to go.

After travelling most of the day you managed to get to Halsdorph which was a sizeable village but not much busier or smarter than Grimpengratz. You went to the only inn, the Horn of Plenty, and got food and drinks and a room. Egg didn’t like the stew so you had to buy her blueberry pie.

The landlord mentioned that three other Marienburgers had been staying the previous night so this was unusually busy for him. He explained that Halsdorph was off the Marienburg-Gisoreux road so it didn’t get much traffic. And the land around had been sinking over the last few years making it increasingly difficult to farm, and lots of locals had been moving away.

He told you you would have to cross the Sickly Marsh to get to the Gisoreux road, and that it was a dangerous place. And you chatted about one-eyed bog-daemons. You asked about a coach but he said there wasn’t one, and the roads were probably too poor for one, anyway, but you might be able to buy a horse at the stable down the road.

Heinrich and Max went to find some transport while Kris stayed to look after Egg. He told her lots of tall tales about life on the Sea of Claws, but she wasn’t that impressed with them.

At the stable, all they had was a sad donkey called Blossom which you agreed to buy so Egg could ride. And you noticed three decent riding horses. The stable master said they belonged to big-city Marienburger folks like yourselves. You told him that you were heading to Gisoreux.

Meanwhile, Max was just about to get Egg to sleep when there was a loud knock on their door. He told them to go away, and someone replied that they were brothers, but Max insisted. And then, as if by magic, the latch on the door lifted, and the door opened.

Kris hid behind the door and as two men entered the room he got a good hit on one of them, who turned to fight him, while the other tried to grab Egg. Then, while Kris was struggling, a woman, who you recognised as Katarina van der Post, entered the room, and she cast some magic at him, which made lights spring from her hands and hurt him. Then the man swung at Kris and he just managed to dodge out the way.

It was around now that Max, Heinrich, and Balden returned from the stable and they heard the disturbance up in the room and ran to see what it was. Balden entered the room to see one of the brotherhood on the bed trying to grab Egg, but being rather unlucky about it, and he stabbed him. Katarina blasted Kris again with her magic, and Heinrich got a good blow on her, killing her. And without their leader, the other two quickly surrendered. Egg said that the incident had been good fun and Mr. Whiffle had really enjoyed it.

Then the landlord came up and wanted to know what all the noise was about, and he got mad when he saw the mess and the blood on the floor. But you rummaged through the brotherhood’s stuff and found some money which you gave to him, and he felt better about the situation.

You tied the two brotherhood thugs up and put them in the cellar with Katarina’s body, and you interrogated them. They told you they didn’t really know much about what was happening and that Katarina was their boss. And when you asked if she was head of their cult they scoffed at that, as if she was only a minor player.

They told you that it was their job to kidnap Egg and bring her back to Marienburg, which made you wonder whether you taking her to Marienburg might be playing into their hands. You asked if Goffman was on their side, and they said no. So you decided to continue towards Marienburg, anyway.

That night, as you all slept in the same room, Balden had a dream that Egg woke up and sneaked to his bed before plunging a ceremonial dagger into his heart. And then he woke up to see that Egg was still asleep.

In the morning you left quickly, telling the landlord you were off to Gisoreux. And you told the stable master you were to pick up the horses for your friends. He probably didn’t believe you but he charged you a couple of guilders for their keep and let you take them. And you picked up a load of feed for them. Balden and Max shared a horse, while Egg took the donkey.

You travelled for about half a day and then the ground began to sink and get wetter, and the trees became more twisted again, and you were in what you guessed must be the Sickly Marsh.

It was difficult to see where the track led, as it was so waterlogged but Balden magicked up some lights to help him navigate. And you passed what looked like a large bonfire burning in the distance. And even though it was approaching evening you decided to give it a miss and continue along the track as best you could.

And by dusk you felt like you had cleared the worst of the marsh and you made camp. Despite some poor efforts at making some kind of shelter you managed to get some sleep under the baleful gaze of the second moon, which seemed to be growing increasing larger over the last few days. And as he fell asleep Bladen heard a whispering voice telling him to ‘Bring her to me.’

Wellentag 16^th Pflugzeit

And as you set off in the morning you saw a formation of hawks fly overhead, again. Egg started complaining again. Balden had had enough and shouted at her to shut up. And Egg told him that Mr. Whiffle had said he was going to fall off his horse. And in a little while, Balden fell off his horse and hit his head, and it started bleeding. And none of you really knew how to deal with the wound.