Episode 15: The Guilty Party Part 2 Report

General Summary

Prequel to The Enemy Within Episode 15 - “The Guilty Party (Part 2)” 4/18/2020 Post-Game Notes   Day 59 - Festag, 11 Erntezeit, 2512 IC  
Sixth stop: The Journey’s End in Bogenhafen
  • Crew spends the bulk of the journey into Bogenhafen sleeping off a major Bugman’s hangover (except for Kris who again practices his lute, again poorly)
  • The journey is so peaceful, however (Idle Time), that the Crew wakes up feeling refreshed, and attempts further endeavors:
  • Kris practices lute (nope)
  • Beau practices lassoing (also nope)
  • God and Karl gather information
  • The inn just within the city gates is packed, and all people seem to want to talk about is the upcoming autumn Schaffenfest.
  • Crew drinks and eats, and Kris’s terrible singing riles up a nearby table of foreign merchants. The woman who looks like the leader (according to the bartender: first name Keiti, last name unpronounceable) sends over one of her bodyguards to ask Kris to stop. Kris smooths things over and offers a fist bump of reconciliation.
Day 60 - Wellentag, 12 Erntezeit, 2512 IC   Seventh stop: The Festival Rest outside Bogenhafen
  • Clearly heartened by their brief trip to the big city, the Crew sets off on the next stage successfully practicing their lute, lasso, watchfulness, and acting!
  • They pass a group of robed pilgrims headed towards Bogenhafen; a close look at one reveals red blotches on his face. Run away…
  • In the bar, Karl gets suspicious looks from a quartet of humans at a nearby table. They whisper a few strange encouragements to him, drop off a bottle of brandy, and head up to their quarters. Karl’s attempt at tailing them is unsuccessful.
Day 61 - Aubentag, 13 Erntezeit, 2512 IC   Eighth stop: Pitcher & Peryton in Havelfurt
  • Uneventful trip; quiet small-town tavern with no gossip to be gleaned.
Day 62 - Marktag, 14 Erntezeit, 2512 IC   Speared Pike at the bridge outside Blutroch
  • En route, Crew encounters a band of goblin wolfriders circling a merchant wagon.
  • They chase off the goblins, and come to the aid of Josef, Lottie, and Wolmar.
  • Josef follows them to the inn, where his barge is waiting, and after tending to Lottie’s arrow wound, treats the Crew to drinks, food, and stories late into the night
  • Much talk about how, in Josef’s twenty years of moving goods up and down the Reik, he’s never seen greenskins so bold in the daylight
  • He tells lots of boring trading stories
Day 63 - Backertag, 15 Erntezeit, 2512 IC   The Standing Stones, infamous tavern along coach road Starts to rain...
  • En route, Jan has to stop the coach because of multiple potholes (intentional, by the looks of them) in the road
  • He starts at them with a shovel, while the Crew carefully scouts the area, checking for an ambush
  • Beau is pretty sure something is in the forest watching them…
  • After twenty minutes or so, Kris lends a hand with a spare shovel, and they get the hell out of there before it gets much darker
Day 64 - Bezahltag, 16 Erntezeit, 2512 IC   Broken Hart, fortified coaching inn along road
  • It rains harder...
  • En route, crew spots evidence of a coach accident along the side of the road
  • They find the coach a few yards into the treeline, and signs of a battle
  • They follow a path into the woods, trying to be stealthy, again aware that something may be watching.
  • Just prior to a clearing, their rampaging gait alerts some goblins and a ululating alarm is raised
  • Waaaagghh! Eleven goblins await them in an isolated clearing! Some archers approach from behind them on the trail; others scramble for the wolf pens to mount their beasts. The goblin who looks like the leader shouts orders in their bestial tongue.
  • God and Karl attempt to deal with the archers blocking their path back to the road, while Kris and Beau charge headlong at the erstwhile riders, attempting to incapacitate them before they can get mounted.
  • Things are going well for the Crew, but eventually the sheer number of greenskins plays a factor, and luck runs out: Kris narrowly escapes a serious wound not once, but twice, sacrificing portions of his sexy new armor in the process.
  • Karl somehow avoids a killing blow from a wolf-mounted goblin that looked like it was surely going to cleave him from armpit to collarbone (“How did that miss?!?”)
  • After confirming the half-eaten remains of some humans and horses, the Crew cuts off the head of the lead goblin and heads back to the coach…
When the Crew finally pulls into the Hart, Kris and Beau make a big freaking deal about killing a bunch of mangy Goblins. And since everyone loves a braggart, they maintain a rapt audience.
  • Beau starts journaling (because he can read & write, you see)
  • Kris starts singing and playing his lute (because he is now convinced that all problems can be solved through song, you see)
Day 65 - Konigstag, 17 Erntezeit, 2512 IC   Crossed Axes, their destination in Bruckthin
  • Still raining…
  • En route, something on the coach snaps, and Beau helps Jan corral the horse in good time; they still make it to the Inn by dusk
  • A fancy Cannonball coach is parked conspicuously outside the Inn
  • Inside, Andreas greets the Crew warmly and arranges much food and drink before going to check on Jan
  • An hour later, they head up to the suite to give their report
  • Gershwin excuses his men-at-arms and other associates, and starts grilling the Crew for almost two hours (Godabert, unsurprisingly, takes the lead on the recap)
  • Crew punctuates the punchline by rolling out the Goblin head; Gersh is pissed
  • Andreas is at a loss -- says something along the lines of, “there’s no way we can pin this on Elicha…”
  • Gershwin was apparently promised otherwise, and he storms out with his retinue. Andreas says he thinks the Crew deserves pay regardless, and heads to his room to “fetch it.”
  • He actually climbs down a rope, out the window, gets on his horse, and rides off for Altdorf. Thanks to Karl’s elf-like hearing, they get to the window in time to see Andreas wave and mouth “thank you.”
  • Gersh is gone; Jan is gone; Andreas is gone. Crew still needs to get north of Altdorf… so they arrange with a late-arriving armed coach that is due to drop off two Tilean gangst respectable businessmen in Altdorf tomorrow. Thanks to Karl’s racounteuring, they lower the price to 6 shillings apiece in order to deliver them to the Coach and Horses just north of Dorchen. Thanks to Kris’s songcraft, the younger Tilean convinces his older partner to deal with company for just one day.
  Interlude:   Beau, Kris, and Karl are packed and ready this morning, finishing off their morning mead and light breakfast in the taproom of the Crossed Axes. The coachmen, Stathos and Sven, are in the stables making preparations, and the Crew’s traveling companions, DIno and Paolo, are at a separate table, near the entrance to the inn. Their figures are hunched, intently discussing something in their native Tilean.   Godabert is the last one to arrive, dragging his luggage and lanky frame down from the loft to join his companions.   “Gods, God! Look at you!” Beau pulls out a stool for his mystic pal and motions to the innkeeper for one more mead. “Not like you to oversleep. Feels good to get a good’s night rest though, doesn’t it?”   “Actually, I slept terribly.” Godabert sits himself at the bar, accepts his beverage, and then glances around the room to make sure his next words remain private. “I did some fortune-telling last night, before bed. And… it was weird. Disturbingly weird.”   “All your visions are weird though, God.” Karl tries to encourage him.   “You’re weird.” Kris shrugs. “We’re used to it. Now what’d you see?”   “Well, now keep in mind these things are a bit difficult to describe. And sometimes I get nothing more than vague senses, or ideas. But sometimes, like last night, the imagery and the sensations are quite visceral.” Godabert takes a tiny sip of his mead.   The Crew scoots in closer and leans in as Godabert continues in a more hushed tone.   “It started with a feeling of a city. The most crowded, abominable city you can imagine. People everywhere, sounds deafening, a real sense of oppression, almost like drowning in a human mass. And then -- eyes.”   “Eyes?” Beau’s own eyes get bigger.   “Yeah, eyes. Like all the people in this urban congestion suddenly are looking at me.” Godabert pauses. “And looking through me. The eyes aren’t just on the people either. It’s like they’re in the air all around me.”   “Sure, that’s weird.” Kris motions for another drink. “But I’ve been to Altdorf. That’s just how it is. Crowded and smelly.”   “You told me you haven’t seen Altdorf since you were seven.” Karl turns back to Godabert. “Keep going. Then what?”   “So then… it just… clears. Like, the sun comes out, and I’m in a open meadow. Air and nature all around me. I can breathe. But… just for a moment. Then the sun is blacked out and iron bars spring up out of the ground all around me until I’m encaged in darkness.”   “Uh huh. We better not get fucking arrested again. Not having that.” Beau leans back away from the group, visibly irritated.   “No, it’s like an animal cage. And my last sense is feeling something else in there with me. I start to make out this pair of dark red eyes at the far end of the cage and… and… giant hands, the size of wagon wheels, with razor-like claws reaching out for me!”   “And then..?” Kris hasn’t taken a sip of his newly arrived mead.   “And then that’s it. I snapped out of it. End of vision.” Godabert exhales deeply.   “I’m sure it’s fine. Hey look! Our coach is here.” Karl bounds off his stool grabs his stuff, and waves to his new Tilean friends on his way to greeting Stathos and Sven in the front courtyard. “Let’s go to Altdorf!”   * * *

Rewards Granted

XP:
  • 20 pts for helping out Josef
  • 10 pts for helping Jan fix the road before something bad happens
  • 50 pts for taking out Gobrat’s goblin band
  • 35 for a splendid session
  • Godabert: 115
  • Beau: 115
  • Karl: 115
  • Kris: 115
  Loot:
  • A decapitated Goblin head
  • A nice velvet bag with assorted rags

Character(s) interacted with

Locations scouted and new NPC’s engaged:   Bogenhafen, Artisan’s Quarter - The Journey’s End
  • Keiti (last name unknown) and her bodyguards
The Festival Rest
  • Unnamed suspicious fans of Karl’s
Havelfurt - The Pitcher & Peryton   Blutroch - The Speared Pike
  • Josef Quartjin, merchant
  • Lottie Shortcrust, merchant
  • Wolmar, merchant
The Standing Stones   The Broken Hart   Bruckthin - The Crossed Axes
  • Gershwin Fischgrätenmuster, Fleet Master of Cannonball Express
  • Frau Bastel, his secretary
  • Dino Sansovino, respectable businessman
  • Paolo Innocenti, Dino’s nephew and respectable businessman in training
Campaign
The Enemy Within
Protagonists
Godabert
Report Date
02 May 2023

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