The Enemy Within - Session 140

 26/4/26

Taal be with you

Having got a view of the eastern approach to Karak Skygg the party make a plan for tomorrow. Following the river would expose them to the Skaven guard post to the north of the the Needle, but Farforrda knows there is a valley which winds up behind that ridge due north of Ingrid's cave - if they make for that perhaps he can cast Lie of the Land again and find a route which avoids the obvious, easily monitored approach.

 They ask if they can leave Carnac with Ingrid, the dog is not best suited for clandestine journeys, and she happily consents. Farfordda asks if he might join her in prayer to Taal at the simple shrine she has constructed in the back cave, to which she also consents. 

It is now raining fiercely outside so they spend the evening in the cave, Magdalena also in prayer and even Norgrim, much to Thindra's surprise intoning half remembered invocations to Valaya.
Farfordda gifts Ingrid a glass of Dreamwine and sitting before the Taal shrine sets about consulting the Tarot. 

Are the Skaven trying to summon something? 

The hand he gets could not be clearer, no - they have built some terrible weapon, utilizing the huge lump of wierdstane acquired from Wittgenstein.

They wake after a night of unsettling dreams to the sounds of Ingrid boiling up some breakfast gruel. Farfordda has trouble shaking his nightmare - feeling like he spent all night running through forest to warn the people of Stust of the oncoming Beatsmen horde, passing those odd ale merchants they saw at Magnus Rest trading with Valeria Roth, to arrive and find the village empty, a table covered in butcher's implements, dripping with blood by the well in the square and a great gelatinous mound of eyeballs stacked nearby.

Ingrid tells them she has decided to make for Dunfurter today, as soon as the weather looks more settled, she'll take Carnac with her. It is not raining at this moment, but the sky is heavy and everything wet, a chilly morning with more rain on the way. 

They say their goodbyes - Farfordda grimly instructing her that should their dead bodies be here when she returns, to bury them and take nothing. Taal be with you.

They tramp back down into the valley, and follow it to the west, around the peak they climbed yesterday. It is close to midday when they cross the ridge and begin their descent to the river, getting a brief glimpse of Karak Skygg before they enter the deep river valley. 

They get soaked to the skin before the afternoon is out, fording the river, then its sibling just before sunset. It is after dark by the time they reach the mouth of the valley they were bound for. Too dark to find much of a camp, and little in the way of a firewood. The rain has stopped, yielding to a cold clear night with a waxing Mannsleib bright in the sky, it is a mere 4 nights till the full moon, till Morrsleib joins it on Geheimenistag. 

In the morning Farfordda breaks from the party to travel swiftly and reach a point to cast his spell. Magdalena and the dwarves make their way slowly up the valley, foraging and collecting firewood as they go. They find a sheltered spot, close to where the valley narrows steeply, dig a fire pit and rest. 

Farfordda follows the valley, it widens out with one arm running north east, the other north west, narrowing towards Karak Skygg. 

He wastes no time with channeling, using Herzen's wand he casts Lie of the Land once more. With his mind's eye he can see that if they scale the ridge at the north west end of this valley they can enter the river valley that cleaves the eastern flank of the old volcano, avoiding the guard post they spied yesterday completely. Furthermore he can see the narrow, low channel that likely marks the outflow, but it is west of the main entrance, meaning they will need to pass in front of the mountain's maw to gain access. 

There are at least two miles to cover between Karak Skygg and the Needle. The undulations of the mountainous landscape may provide cover, if approached carefully. Although the details are obscure, he can tell that there are five strata of dwarven halls from the base of the mountain to the caldera at its top. 

As soon as he finishes soaking up the folds of the land he heads back to the others. On route, as the sun sets he hears the sound of distant bell tolling 13 times, echoing down between the mountains from Karak Skygg. 

He reaches their camp after dark. It is the 22nd of Nachgeheim, a chilly overcast night, promising more rain soon... 

The Enemy Within - Session 139

18/4/26

Ingrid

Farfordda, reflecting on his magical scrying of the land realises that there is a potentially more concealed, if longer route to the cave near the ford, so after burying their unwanted gear they head north up the valley, away from the river Taub and trudge up into a long high valley running North East. 

A few hours into the trek, not long after the ground has turned damp and boggy Carnac starts barking - some 200 yards ahead of them, a slow lumbering mass that could easily be mistaken for a rocky landscape feature, turns towards them. It is a confused looking troll, which gets all the more confused as the party rush behind some handily nearby boulders and Farfordda casts Murmured Whisper to have a voice off to their right shout Troll!

He follows it up with Marsh Lights, creating glowing points against the leaden sky which succeed in distracting the dumb brute, and leads it off in a wide arc around them. They watch anxiously as it disappears down the way they came.

By late afternoon the sky clears, and it gets notably cooler. They are deep in the mountains now and their view restricted by close peaks and the flanks of great, rock strewn valleys. 

It is close to sunset when they find the valley of the cave. But their destination is nowhere to be seen, so the party rest under some wiry mountain trees as Farfordda attempts channeling the winds of magic to cast Lie of the Land again. His sing song enchantment comes to nothing and he's driven to use Etelka Herzen's wand once more (to the mocking accompaniment of the dwarves). The cave it turns out is not far above. 

They scramble up the slope, barely seeing the entrance in the low dusk light. Magdalena's twitching nose smells smoke. Farfordda approaches while the others hold back. Five yards out he hears a burst of dramatic coughing, and a wheezy voice trying hard to sound menacing, cries out to stay back.

'Ingrid is that you?'

The dirty haggard face of the hermit pokes out from the cave  mouth - ah elf, it is you!

The wide low entrance gives way to a steep slope down to this rocky chamber that Ingrid uses as her living room. Skins stretch on racks, pots, knives and working implements litter the floor. A small fire throws light across the space, and up another slope opposite the entrance they see furs hanging, obscuring the narrow openning to what Farfordda knows is another chamber.
 

They gather around the fire and catch up. 

How did they get on with the Holzbek's she asks? Did they get the little girl to Dunfurter? They tell her of Baron Holzbek's death from corrupted wound inflicted by the beastman Gazrin One-horn, that they never got to meet him and that Ada is actually his daughter. 

She tells them that she never got to drink that bottle of Eilhart they traded with her; a few days after they met she had a run in with some Orcs and had to abandon her cave. She has not long returned, after spending weeks hiding on the other side of the mountain - she was caught in that great storm at the start of the month and has been poorly ever since. 

Having been round the other side of the mountain though she has some intelligence on Zerlumptberg. On overcast nights, you can see the cloud above the ragged mountain peak bathed in a sickly green light, and twice at sunset she has heard a bell tolling, echoing down the valley. People too, she's seen a few small groups of humans, coming and going up along the river to the delta.
 

She asks them what they plan, and Farfordda in relating their struggle with the ratmen mentions Unterfraus, how the whole village was abducted, vanished. She becomes ashen faced, that's where she was born, where she grew up. Distraught she retires to her sleeping chamber.

In the morning she tells them that she left the village for the mountains when she was 12, to escape an arranged marriage. She had been planning to try hold out here for winter and search for another suitable cave next spring but now feels she must visit Unterfraus. 

They explain that it is abandoned, there will be no one there. Farfordda tells her she won't last winter if she stays here though, she should leave, go to Dunfurter. Magdalena offsets the menace of Farfordda's dark warnings by saying they have friends at Dunfurter. Speak to Von Reiter or the Steward and tell them 'she is here to do Verena's business', tell them that she knows Magdalena, saviour of Ada. The Holzbek's owe them much. Please speak with the girl Ada, tell her the tale of a Knight fighting Orcs and Trolls, always doing the right thing no matter how dangerous or difficult. Be like the knight.
Perhaps she'll go, for now Ingrid makes breakfast and tells them they're welcome to stay here as long as they need. 

It is a cold morning, but clear, so the party decide to take advantage of the weather and climb to the peak high above Ingrid's cave to get a better view. Taking minimal equipment they begin the ascent and reach the summit near midday. 

It is an almost perfect spot to see north west up the river valley, being higher than any ridge this side of the river. They can see the broken top of Karak Skygg, but its base is hidden behind the peak Ingrid calls the Needle. Amos inspecting carefully with their telescope spies what looks like a crane or metal structure protruding from the north east flank of the extinct volcano, near the top, and tendrils of smoke rising from within the caldera. The base might be obscured, but it is clear that there is a navigable route either side of the Needle. They can see signs of the logging camps mentioned previously by Ingrid. 

They spend a good hour up on the cold peak, and finally spot Skaven. There are a troop of 10 or so loitering at the tip of the forested delta, and a couple in a sort of fox hole or guard post, high up on a slope north east of the Needle - those Skaven will have a good view over the delta.

They make their way carefully back down to the cave. It is late afternoon on the 20th of Nachgeheim, 5 days before Geheimnistag...  

The Enemy Within - Session 138

 4/4/26

Taking No Chances

Carnac, Norgrim's dog starts to bark as Thindra and Amos release their crossbow bolts at the unsuspecting Orcs resting under a tree ahead. Farfordda takes cover behind a boulder, relinquishing first shot to the dwarves only as he pauses for thought - could they parlay rather than fight? Magdalena sends their horses back the way they came and Norgrim marches forwards with Carnac at his side. 

Two of the Orcs return fire with bows as the others charge. 

 

Soon Norgrim and Carnac are engaged in melee with the great axe wielding leader and another with a cleaver. Carnac wrests the shield from one and Magdalena charges in before Norgrim lands his first blow, disarming the hulking leader with a critical to the arm. 

The party soon have the upper hand. The first orc to fall (taken down by Amos and Thindra) shockingly coughs his way back to life and makes a run for it but is chased down to the riverbank and dispatched by Magdalena. The other Orc archer was the first to make a break for it, getting on a fierce sprint he would likely have escaped had not Farfordda cast Entangle all too well, and brought the Orc down in an eruption of  roots, though he paid the price in the form of further tainting from Corruption. The confused Orc pleads for mercy as Farfordda races up and delivers the killing blow. 

It was all over in minutes. 

Norgrim and Amos sustained injuries which Magdalena attended to before chasing after their horses. They dumped the Orc bodies in the river and considered next steps. 

Farfordda employed Etelka Herzen's wand to cast Lie of the Land, searching for some spot where they could make a secure camp. The only cave he sees is nearly 5 miles north, just over a mile west of the ford in a high valley behind the ridge on the west bank of the Taub. They cannot make it before dark, and not with the horses, so they elect to retrace their steps and make camp in another valley half way back towards where they started out this morning. 

It is well into night by the time they pitch up, digging a pit for their fire in the hopes of minimizing their visibility - they need its heat to dry their clothes and gear.

The following morning they decide to release the horses, ditch what they cannot carry and make for the cave. They split the rope between Thindra and Norgrim and dig a pit to bury their tents and the barrel of gunpowder. They send the horse and mules off packing in the direction of Dunfurter and return to the river, getting back on the trail a little after 10am on the heavily overcast morning of Nachgeheim 19th ...