Saturday, September 6, 2025

The Enemy Within - Session 104

30/11/2024

The Foresters' Arms

They ride on past Hovelhof and a mile or 2 along the prison road they find a spot to run the cart off down a slope and make camp without fire. Amos makes shelters expertly to protect them from the light rain. Farfordda fails his roll to resist Mariposa's dream stalking, and Amos wakes from a dream of rats gnawing on his left arm to find a blister and coughing marking the start of his Itching Pox affliction.

They break camp early, Farfordda canters off ahead while the dwarves follow behind at cart pace. He ignores the Wolf Watch, though succeeds at an intuition roll to see the purple winds of death eddying around it. When he reaches the thin arm of the mountains that Hohenfarht nestles in he leaves his horse and climbs a ridge to see back over the way he has come. He spies a group of Nordlanders leaving the NE trail and waits until the Dwarves show up in their cart just after 1pm. These same Nordlanders hail the dwarves when they meet asking for news from Middenheim - they go there to celebrate the ordination of a new Ar-Ulric, good luck and beware of Sigmarites!


 


Shortly after the Dwarves rendezvous with Farfordda at the foot of the mountain spur. They decide that the Dwarves will push on to the village and Farfordda watch the road from a high vantage point. From up here he can see a compound like a Coaching Inn to the north and the Wolf Watch at the ege of the forest in the west. He spots the prison convoy a little after 2pm and watches it pass then follows on behind. He can see that Magdalena has been removed from the prison wagon and is manacled to the rear of the supply cart, she is filthy and looks in a bad way. 


Meanhwhile the dwarves arrive at Hohenfarht late afternoon - they tie up at the Inn (The Foresters Arms) and order food. Amos insults Wanda the young owner, asking her if there are anymore of her people here (she looks Strigany), consequently spending much of the remainder of the time coughing, sneezing and eating outside. Thindra does a good job of charming her though, tells her theres a prison convoy coming this way and that they are heading into the mountains on a dwarven pilgrimage, she asks about the giant bird skull over the bar. That came from her Aunty as a gift to her father who passed away last year - its a griffon skull, her aunty (she hasn't seen him since dad passed) is a professor in the city. Oh not Prof Eunice Hasche, the Beasteria Prof? Why yes, the very same! 

So Thindra makes it known that they know Eunice and lately had an agreement to meet which Eunice failed to do. Wanda tells her that one of her assistants was through here just before the last Chaos Moon - yes Gauis is his name. She also tells them that last week, the day after the chaos moon a troop of Tuetogen Brotherhood came to the village, tore the doors from their Sigmar temple, cast out their Priest and beat the reeve for protesting. She is appalled, they were supposed to visit today (festag) to make sure there was no Sigmar worship going on.


The Dwarves are debating what to do for sleeping arrangements, they can't really afford to stay in the inn, Wanda tells them they can camp on the common at the other side of the villlage but she'll need to charge them for fodder and stabling for their horses. Amos heads off to set up the tents and Thindra hangs out at the gates to keep an eye out for Farfordda and the convoy as the gates will be closed at 7pm. Norgrim stays in the bar which is fairly quiet (the locals drink at another tavern) for a Festag. The only other occupants right now are Valeria a merchant taking beer to the picket (at some point Thindra spoke to her and she explained the picket is a camp and wall around the Brass Keep since it was occupied by chaos warriors in the last great chaos incursion several centuries ago) and Luther a traveling minstrel. He buys a small keg of ale. 


Norgrim is still sat there when the prison convoy arrives and chaos ensues - Wanda asks him if he can drive their coach out from the the coach house as the convoy need to make use of it. Valeria is also having to move her wagon. Thindra and Amos enter the inn to get a measure of the situation - One of the prisoners (Magdalena) is desperately ill and will be kept in the coach house while the others stay in the prison wagon, the priest convinces the driver (who seems to be the boss of the situation) that he or the nun should stay here with a guard while they ride on...


Its 8pm (20th Vorgeheim), a warm evening and Farfordda is in the trees by the wall, he has spotted the dwarves & their tents though they have not seen him...

 

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