Episode 38: "A Day at the Trials, Part 1" Report
General Summary
The Enemy Within: Death on the Reik
Episode 38 - “Day at the Trials, Part 1”
6/12/24 Post-Game Notes
Day 111 - Marktag, 29 Brauzeit, 2512 IC
Picks up on the street near the Dwarven quarter in a surprise meeting with the witchhunter Matthias Hubkind
Day 112 - Backertag, 30 Brauzeit, 2512 IC
In the morning, the Gravin reminds the Crew that the Dammenblatzes are tricky bastards – stay vigilant. She asks them to head down there early; she’ll arrive around 11:00. Trial to commence at noon.
- Hubkind again expresses his admiration for the Crew’s heroism, but questions their involvement with a woman “prone to excess” and “accused of witchcraft.” Says he’ll rely on the gods and his own first-hand impressions of the trial to fully formulate an opinion. Turns out he was just in Kemperbad not two months ago to oversee the trial, conviction, and burning of a cultist.
- Upon further reflection, stalking and assassinating Ivan may not be the best plan. Crew goes back to plotting ways to cheat.
- Crew part ways with the coach, promise to make it back to Sfartz’s for dinner, and head back to Orem’s. Godabert leaves his leather armor to be repaired, rush job, pick up in the morning.
- Kris purchases the “Creature of the Night” upgrade package from Orem: dyed-black leathers, guaranteed for life of the armor; matte-black enamel coating over the links of his mail coat, which will require regular maintenance to keep looking dark and intimidating. Pricey, but sexy. Also asks for seagull wings to be stitched in black on the side of his leather helmet. This’ll take a few days. Bet it’ll look amazing.
- Oren gives Crew a lead on who might be interested in buying the copper ingots. Dremmel gives God a tip on a local dwarven gambler who may have dice for sale. The Crew heads over to the The Cinnamon Beaver where, after buying a few tankards, God chats up Urag Mithrilrage, and buys a very expensive set of “charmed” dice carved by an Arabyan merchant from cah-mell bones.
- Gustaf leads them into the study where he shows the Crew “some things that were just lying around,” and reminds them that none of this can come back onto him or the Gravin. Among the items are: two tiny leather pouches with long strings; a strand of glass anal beads; a vial of topical Black Lotus; two empty glass vials; some preparations of schlaf; a skin of “Divine Wine” from Sfartz’s cellar; seven small throwing knives; a compact mirror; and a bag with two dozen iron caltrops.
- At dinner, Georg comes over to wish Beau luck in the morning, and to pass along a little “something for the anxiety.”
- After lights out, the Crew breaks curfew and goes to the courthouse to scope out the arena. Some civilians are milling about, excited about tomorrow, and about a dozen guards are on hand watching over the cordoned area and two newly erected champion pavilions.
- Kris sneaks into the Gravin’s pavilion, covering up some creaky stairs thanks to a Godabert distraction, and plants some goods: a vial of poison and a vial of Ranad’s Delight in the upholstery of the single chair (don’t mix them up!) and in a hole dug under one of the water buckets, buries the Griffon’s Gulp and Divine Wine.
- On the way out, he narrowly avoids detection by another guard thanks to Karl’s blathering defense.
- Back to the manor, and Godabert tests out his new fortune-telling dice. Good news: these dice work great! Bad news: the images are a clash of valiant combatants; an explosion that separates the two; smoke clearing on a puddle of blood where once there was a fighter; blood coalescing into… something sinister.
- Seems fine. Let’s have a good night’s sleep.
- On the way to the courthouse, the Crew stop back at Oren’s so that God can collect his repaired armor. Kris takes back his armor temporarily so that he’ll have it for today.
- At the courthouse, more anxious onlookers have gathered, and the guard presence is much greater. God sees Gustaf talking with the three magistrates, and he goes over to eavesdrop. While overhearing their conversation regarding the procedural details of the trial, he notices two suspicious people – a man and a woman – scrutinizing the conversation from the crowd.
- At the far side of ring, the Kappon thugs bump into Karl to get his attention. Karl passes along the hand signals to communicate their boss’s cell location. They smile in acknowledgment.
- God connects with Gustaf after the three magistrates re-enter the courthouse. He points out the curious individuals in the crowd, who are now clearly more interested in Gustaf than the magistrates, but they melt into the crowd before Gustaf can get eyes on them. Gustaf is, however, very interested in their presence. “Describe them to me.”
- Another pair of clumsy fellows bump into Karl, but this time one of them manages to snip a lock of Karl’s hair. They tear off into the alleyways. Karl, unperturbed by his history of inefficacy in combat, chases after them without hesitation.
- Despite their speed and impressive headstart, Karl exhibits uncharacteristic agility and grabs one of them from behind in a darkened alleyway. The two cloaked strangers draw daggers, but even with their number advantage, they are no match for Karl’s inspired swordplay. He severs the fingers from one of the stranger’s hands, leaving him to bleed out on the edge of consciousness and likely death. The one with the lock of hair escapes during the combat. The clank of metal boots alerts Karl that a watch patrol approaches, but before he scarpers, Karl observes a tattoo on the chest of his dying foe: a purple hand.
- Meanwhile, back at the arena, all heads turn in unison as a railing collapses on the grandstand. All heads, save one – a sneaky fellow has his hand in Kris’s purse! Kris, ever vigilant, shows off his catlike reflexes and snatches the pickpocket’s wrist. A wallet falls to the cobbles. Turns out the rogue wasn’t trying to take something, but plant something. Kris calls out; guards, Beau, God, and Gertrud converge.
Rewards Granted
XP:
- 10 for successful reconnaissance of the trial arena (all)
- 15 for sneaking into the pavilion and planting the contraband (Kris)
- 10 for vigilance and alerting Gustaf to his “admirers” (God)
- 20 for chasing down the Purple Hand cultists and cutting one down in the streets like Liam fucking Neeson (Karl)
- 30 for a fun session, heavy on flavor albeit light on protein
- Godabert: 50
- Beau: 40
- Karl: 60
- Kris: 55
- New dice for God
- One topical preparation of Black Lotus
- One dose of Ranald’s Delight
- Two preparations of schlaf
- One wineskin (two draughts) of Divine Wine
- Two small leather pouches
- Bag of iron caltrops
- Seven small throwing knives
- Compact mirror
- Glass anal beads
Character(s) interacted with
Locations scouted and new NPC’s engaged:
Kemperbad, The Cinnamon Beaver, tavern in the dwarven district
- Urag Mithrilrage, dwarven gambler and raconteur
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