40: Dunkelkiefer

Marktag 16^th Sommerzeit

Berta was in the middle of the flooded heath being pulled down into the water by mysterious dead hands. One of the hands tried to grab Balden, too, and it looked like he could not avoid it, but he gave a small prayer to the dark marsh spirits and that seemed to help.

Berta couldn’t break the strong grip but Max grabbed her, and together they ripped her ankle free. And Dietrich could see that there were three sets of thin, dead-looking hands beneath the water. And so he tried to summon a spell to affect the dead, but he couldn’t manage it.

And then you could all see, a few dozen yards across the water, what looked like three young women gesticulating angrily at you, and you soon realised they were dead, and it was pretty frightening.

Once more they tried to grab Balden’s leg and this time they managed it. Berta stabbed her spade into the water and seemed to get a good hit on one of the limbs. But when she withdrew her spade, it seemed to have had no effect.

And Max fired his handgun at one of the women across the water, and could have sworn he got a good hit on her, but again, there was no effect. And he said something about magic. So Dietrich tried to undo whatever spell was causing the hands to attack, but that made him realise it wasn’t actually a spell, but he did perceive lots of Shyish and Dhar.

Balden managed to pull his leg away from the grip of the dead hands, but it hurt. And Berta shoved him into her cart and began to push it away from the ghostly women. Max called to the women to see if he could get some sort of reaction from them, but they dismissed him angrily. And Dietrich withdrew, too, trying to channel some magic as he did, but he failed again.

And as you withdrew from the flooded area the women faded into the mist, and you decided you needed to give them a wide berth. So, remembering the map from the Queen’s Grace you plotted a course south of the area, heading for higher ground and avoiding the river to the north. But you were wary of elves (Berta said she had seen one) so you didn’t want to drift too far south.

Everyone had different ideas about the route to take and you just seemed to wander aimlessly until nightfall and you needed to make some sort of camp. Max managed to find some dry wood for a fire. You had all bought new coats, but expecting a sea journey, had not prepared for crossing the wilderness, so you didn’t have a tent and you all had to huddle under Berta’s makeshift cart-tarpaulin shelter as you finished up the last of Frau Hoffen’s sandwiches.

And fortunately, despite your lack of preparedness, and your makeshift shelter, and the drizzle, you managed to have a safe and mostly restful night.

Bakkertag 17^th Sommerzeit

In the morning, it was a bit brighter, and although there was nothing for breakfast, you worked together a bit more constructively on your navigation, and agreed on a route to take. And soon you had rejoined the road, and you managed to reach Schaphof by lunchtime.

You found the Stone Chicken inn, and splashed out for a breakfast-lunch double meal. You talked to the landlady, and Balden mentioned the three women. She said that there was a local legend of three evil sisters who drowned in the River Bleich many years ago, and who pulled unwitting travellers to their deaths if they got too close to the river.

Then you asked her about the halfling, and she was loathe to tell you about him, until you gave her three shillings. And then she said one had been through there two and a half days before. He had a thuggish bodyguard, and a local tramp called Ditte as a guide. And they had just kept themselves to themselves and left first thing in the morning. She said they had headed to Dunkelkiefer, and that you could probably reach it by nightfall if you hurried. And so you bought a load of pies from her, and left.

You followed the road to Dunkelkiefer, and sure enough, you got there by dusk. It looked like a decent sized place where most supplies would be available. And there were two inns. The Lost Crown looked nicer than the Beggar and Barrel and so you stayed there, and ordered hot baths.

You asked the landlady about the halfling but she hadn’t seen him. Berta had the idea to ask the gate guard, and went to talk to him. And after giving him three shillings, the guard said he had heard of a halfling from a couple of days ago who had employed a couple of the day-shift guards, Stefan and Ernst, for a job he didn’t know about. But they would be around in the morning.

Bezahltag 18^th Sommerzeit

You all had a very decent night’s sleep at the Lost Crown. You decided it might be a good idea to buy a tent, and then you went to talk to the watch sergeant. He seemed aghast that some of his men would take money for a side job while on duty, but after you gave him three shillings, he told you you could find Stefan and Ernst in the barracks.

And after six more shillings, Stefan and Ernst told you that they had been employed by a halfling to escort him, a mercenary, and a local guide, to an old haunted ruin a mile south of town. They had overheard the halfling saying he ‘bet they had been double crossed so he was going to triple cross him.’ At the ruin they had been ambushed by a bunch of hoodlums, the mercenary had killed one, and the rest had run off.

You wondered about the identity of the hoodlums, and the guards agreed that the Beggar and Barrel was a likely place to find them, so you paid some more money to have them accompany you there.

You didn’t see any hoodlums there, and you spoke to the landlord, but he wasn’t that keen on helping you. But while you were talking, Balden spotted a man come into the bar, spot the guards, and then leave again, quickly. And so you chased him.

After a pretty terrible chase, you managed to catch up with him just outside the town gates, and you all sat down for a rest together, and Dietrich gave him some weirdroot. He was happy enough to tell you that he had been hired by a man called Gustav to ambush the halfling and grab his scroll case. But it had gone wrong, one of his colleagues had been killed, and the rest of them had run off.

He described Gustav as a smart, young, city-type, perhaps a merchant or a scribe from Marienburg but he didn’t know where he had gone. And none of the hoodlums were working for him any more.

And so you decided to go down to the ruin, just to make sure. And everyone’s stories seemed to check out. You found the body of a hoodlum lying in the ruins, and you also spotted a few halfling-size footprints in the mud. Berta gave the hoodlum a respectful burial.