Episode 7: There Are Nooo Cats in Ubersreik Report

General Summary

Prequel to The Enemy Within Episode 07 - “There Are Nooo Cats in Ubersreik” 7/28/2019 Post-Game Notes   Day 9 (twelfth day overall; sixth day on the job) Continued, picking up around 1:00 AM at the Niederstadt Manor   After giving Captain Pfeiffer a list of requested supplies, Godabert and Beau rush back to the RMI to grab God’s bow and to make a copy of the sewer map.

• A drunk Conrad is trying to impress a well-dressed noble girl and two strapping young men with stories of the mutant attack at the party; Franz wants them to calm down with the “rat-head” talk
• They recruit Dimzad to accompany them on their “adventure” as a torch-bearer; he borrows a pair of Franz’s boots

Back at the manor, Kris & Karl interview some of the remaining guests and officials to learn their theories about what happened.

• Father Emming: power vacuum caused by Jungfreud removal to blame: the in-fighting of the nobility had led to demonic promises and ruinous pursuits.
• Witchhunter Mattias Hubkind: says the deranged flagellant you guys kicked out, Herr Kummer, was on to something. Thinks the wizard is involved.
• General von Dabernick: political retaliation; the Jungfreuds are somehow responsible
• Lady Nacht: no information; but she reiterates her compliments to the Crew
• Christophe Engel: something more sinister and deadly than cultists or noble rivalries at play
• Borgun Foambeard: mentions “Skaven…” and theorizes as to why humans refuse to acknowledge their existence
• Thurngill Flagonfiller: Falkenhayn was just in the wrong place at the wrong time; isn’t sure about Skaven, but beastmen or mutants certainly
• Sir Pierre: wasn’t here and doesn’t know what to think, but is lending his sword at the request of Christophe
• Captain Pfeiffer: “Ubersreik is a powderkeg, and every noble family in the Reikland would just as soon lay claim to the city as they would to light the fuse. None of these noble scions are above suspicion, of course, but something about the way this all played out makes me wonder if maybe we’re dealing with a different bastion of the elite.”

Into the well…

• The seven-man party follows a rough hewn tunnel from the well until it meets up with a main sewer. They follow tracks downstream, to the east.
• At a junction they follow tracks on a connecting sewer, and travel north.
• Herds of giant rats flush towards them on either side of the sewer. Pierre and Thurngill, leading each sub-group, sustain minor injuries from bites and scratches, but they do enough damage to break the swarm (thanks in no small part to Kris’s furious flurry of swordplay sending several rat heads popping over his shoulder in a fountain of hairy redness).
• Dimzad, who was behind Kris and is now covered in rat gore, is handed a new torch, but it falls out of his shaking hands. He then turns in a panic and runs back from whence they came. Kris grabs a torch and runs after him.
• Godabert spots a glint of greenish light in the distance, maybe 20 yards ahead. They proceed.
• Beau catches sight of a shadowy figure as it throws something shiny towards his column. A throwing star lodges itself into Sir Pierre’s shoulder. The figure disappears into the sewer wall. They bandage his wound and examine the star; Karl collects a corruption point in the process. Thurngill says its tinged with warpstone -- drop it! They do. Sir Pierre looks concerned…
• The party follows the trail into another narrow tunnel that veins out from the main sewer, down and around… leads to a Skaven lair. The skittering chattering Skaven were prepared for the party…
• In the main chamber, lit by iron lanterns and a weird green phosphorescence, they are engaged by two large Skaven gutter runners and two smaller clanrats. The gutter runner with the warpstone throwing stars buries two projectiles into Thurngill’s body; he bleeds profusely and is later incapacitated by a clanrat.
• Another gutter runner draws its serrated blade and leaps into the fray; Sir Pierre is soon incapacitated as well.
• At the end of the chamber, a portal opens into another room, from whence the party hears crashing rock, like a cave-in, accompanied by a low unearthly roar.
• A cloud of dust fills up the far cave opening and in it looms a very large, very muscular figure. A massive, disgusting rat ogre charges into the fray…
• The two clanrats are dispatched quickly enough, but the three remaining party members are close to death. Beau and God finish off one gutter runner and the other one gets pinned into a corner by Karl, who finishes it off.
• The rat ogre never connects with one of its vicious claws or spiked tail (except into its own shank, when a fierce blow is deflected off of Mace Windu), and it stumbles over a table allowing God and Beau to batter it. Beau provides the final back-cracking blow against its massive spine.
• The farther room is a laboratory, replete with human remains, cauldrons of black and greenish sludge, chains that once leashed the ogre, and a collapsed tunnel under a carving of a giant horned rat. The trio feels chaotic energies in the air, and they resist the temptation to take any souvenirs.
• Much fortune and resolve was lost this day. Much corruption was gained. But in the end… the Crew prevailed.
• ...and then they ran back to the manor.

  Interlude:   Dimzad’s back is pressed against the far wall of the sewer, his knees bent and arms spread against the rock. His clothes are rank, dripping with effluent, and there is excrement in his hair. His eyes widen in the glare of Kris’s torchlight.   “N-n-no sir, no… No! I can’t do this. Keep your shilling. Take your shilling! I may be an informant, but I don’t belong down here with the rats!”   Kris is just relieved to have caught up with the poor kid. He took a few wrong turns which led away from the tunnel beneath Niederstadt, but he made enough noise thrashing through the shitty water that tracking him down was easy. And there must have been some favorable stars shining down on the shoeless vagrant that night, because they now find themselves a few yards from a proper exit. Within a stone's throw of Dim’s cowering place are twelve feet of iron ladder rungs sunk into the sewer wall leading up to a street-level manhole.   Now Kris just needs to convince Dim to rejoin the party, and then remember how to retrace their steps back to this spot…   * * *   Sir Pierre rallies himself to his feet, and before collapsing in Godabert’s arms mumbles, “We need to leave… need to get out of here…”   “That’s the plan. For once, we’re all in absolute agreement.” Godabert helps the Bretonnian knight to his feet and starts leading him back to the narrow tunnel. “Whatever is in the air here, it’s…”   “It’s warpstone. It’s evil. Need to set fire to this entire lair… I just…” Pierre reaches out with his sword towards one of the iron braziers, perhaps intending to knock it over onto the bedding, but he loses his balance and falls to his knees. Godabert forces him back onto his feet, slings the non-injured arm over his shoulder, and starts dragging the knight towards the exit.   “Fuck, dwarves are heavy.” Karl can’t quite manage the same trick with Thurngill, who himself is flickering in and out of consciousness. Beau bounds over, wiping his hands off furiously on his leather. With two hands under the dwarven brewer’s armpits and a quick heave, Beau straightens Thurngill up some. Karl grabs the feisty little feller by the collar, and they all stumble after God and Pierre.   Just as the five adventurers reach the mouth of tunnel where it meets the main sewer, a bouncing torchlight greets them from downstream.   “What happened?” Kris has one hand on a torch and the other is furiously clinging to Dimzad’s scrawny neck. “We’re leaving? Fantastic. Follow me.”     * * *   Outside the Niederstadt Manor, Erich von Holzenhauer and several members of his staff are climbing into a loaded coach. Captain Pfeiffer, who has now fully changed out of any vestige of party attire, sees the party approach from up the road, her scowl quickly giving way to a look of shock.   While giving a detailed re-telling of the events below-ground, including a description as to how to find the creatures’ lair, medical attention is assembled for Pierre and Thurngill. Pfeiffer takes in the entire story without a word and then, finally, puts both hands to her face, breathes in deeply, then straightens up with renewed authority.   “Ubersreik is in your debt, boys. And so am I. I need to prepare a report to the General for the morning… well, in a few hours, really. You should head on home, and as mentioned before, don’t worry about your morning shift. I’ll get a message to Rudi.   “Get a good night’s rest, and, when you’re able, check in with Dr. Kranken at the Precinct for any nagging injuries. I’ll alert him to expect your arrival. I’m going to check in on Sir Pierre and our dwarven friend. We’ll make sure someone helps them home. Captain Blucher was supposed to send some watch reinforcements from his regiment…”   She starts to head back into the house, and then, a few steps from the party, turns. “Oh, and, please. Let’s keep discussion of tonight’s events between us, yes? Especially any mention of the… what did you call them? The ‘Skaven’? Right. No sense causing a panic. This city has dealt with enough excitement in the last few months.”   * * *   “Should we wash off before we head back to the Inn,” queries Kris with a smirk. “Beau, maybe you can draw us up some water from the garden well.”   The four trudge home, stinky and exhausted.    

Rewards Granted

XP:

• Godabert: 90
• Beau: 85
• Karl: 85
• Kris: 60

• Beau & God: +5 for recruiting Dim; +10 for copying the map and chatting up the dwarves
• God: +5 for coordinating preparations
• Karl & Kris: +15 for gathering intel at the manor, including insight into the Sigmarites possible political leanings
• Everyone: +10 for steeling themselves for the fearful tunnel trek and following the tracks; +5 for fending off the rat swarms
• Kris: +5 for bravely running after Dim
• Beau, Karl, and God: +30 for killing a quartet of Skaven and a rat ogre
• Everyone: +25 for a good time.

Character(s) interacted with

Locations scouted and NPC’s engaged:   Red Moon Inn

• Esmeralda Fenstermacher
• Hilda, her maid/chaperone
• Guthrie von Hammerstrat

Tunnel under the Niederstadt Estate Two main sewers in the south-east zone of Ubersreik Skaven lair and laboratory