WFRP 2e - A campaign blog

[The4th1]

Greetings all! I may be a newbie but I'm still eager to share my P&P experiences with you all.

 

The background

In the seemingly less darker times of 2532, a full ten years after Archaon's hordes ravaged the Old World, the Empire is once again in a state of turmoil. Though its source does not lie outside its borders.

 

A dastardly plot, involving the Countess of Nuln, has split the Empire in two. Those that support the Grand Theogonist on one side and those that support Karl-Franz on the other.

 

The Grand Theogonist long suspected that Emmanuelle was really servant of Slaanesh, her parties are often extremely wild and some say even teeter on excessive. He hired a group of adventurers to discover if he was right and it seems he was. Exposing the Countess for the puppet she was, he marched his armies to the City of Nuln and demanded that they turn over the Countess. Nuln, not wanting to be burnt to the ground by a massive army of Sigmarite fanatics, decided it'd be best to hand her over quickly and be done with it.

 

Though a few months later, that's what exactly happened.

 

Karl-Franz, enraged by what had happened, demanded that the Grand Theogonist step down and be summarily trialled and executed as a traitor. Unfortuantely, the Grand Theogonist of the Sigmar cult has far more allies than even the Emperor does. Instead, the Grand Theogonist rebuked Karl and in fact had the daring to call him a traitor, claiming that his mind was corrupted by the sweet words of Emmanuelle and the Ruinous Powers. Of course, only war could ensue. Karl had to flee Altdorf and gather his allies in the North but few were willing to side with him lest they be claimed heretics and traitors as well. In the end, only the Ar-Ulric of Middenheim supported himand with the Ulrican army they travelled south and met the Grand Theogonist's massive host.

 

It did not end well.

 

The Emperor escaped by the short grin of his wit. Orcs had crashed into Volkmar's side and so his forces were pulled back to combat the new threat. Without his Griffon, Deathclaw, he fled to Middenheim where to this day he still hides within the Ar-Ulric's Palace, for fears that he may be assassinated.

 

The Party

The party, for now, consists of

Hargin Irongun, Dwarf Gunsmith

Johann Otto, grizzled Human Coachman

Gottfried, Human Outlaw

Borat, Kislevian Kossar

Aldebrecht, Human Pit Fighter

Haladin, Elven Kithband Warrior

 

I'll just leave it like this for now. I'll update in the future.

Edited April 3, 2011 by The4th1

[Gorth]

Just out of curiosity, have you read the two "heroes" books featuring Ludwig Schwartzhelm and Kurt Helborg?

 

Same conundrum, except the protagonists are slightly different. The fight is over the empty elector seat in Averland (after the death of Marius 'The Mad' Leitdorf) and Helborg/Schwartzhelm is fighting to the death supporting the two opposing sides. All masterminded by a clever Slaanesh cultist who wants the province for herself

 

Nothing like a bit of intrigue at court to get the blood flowing... quite literally.

[The4th1]

Just out of curiosity, have you read the two "heroes" books featuring Ludwig Schwartzhelm and Kurt Helborg?

 

Same conundrum, except the protagonists are slightly different. The fight is over the empty elector seat in Averland (after the death of Marius 'The Mad' Leitdorf) and Helborg/Schwartzhelm is fighting to the death supporting the two opposing sides. All masterminded by a clever Slaanesh cultist who wants the province for herself

 

Nothing like a bit of intrigue at court to get the blood flowing... quite literally.

 

Khorne would be pleased :D

 

I hadn't actually. I had heard that Emmanuelle was hinted at being a slaaneshi cultist, so I decided to expand on that. I may even entitle the whole campaign 'setting' Death of the Empire, which the Empire over the course of a few hundred years, succumbs to turmoil and in-fighting and then when all seems the bleakest. Archaon launches another strike at the Empire (by which time the current 'campaign' is done, I should have Tome of corruption!) but depending on what's being done

 

===========================

 

To be editted.

[The4th1]

Hm. Will probably just have to double post. Bad design choice there.

 

First Session

It was getting dark when Johann got to the first stretch of road from Ferlangen that led to a toll-gate. He decided it wasn't worth it and then used a secret passage that he reckoned only he knew about. When he got about halfway, there was a noise. Phwoosh! and a "arrrrrk..." followed by the thud of a fallen body. The wagon had cells containing Aldebrecht, Haladin and Gottfried. This was before a volley of arrows hit Borat, Hargin and the Ogre mercenaries.

 

Our Adventurers

 

Aldebrecht is a Pit Fighter owned by an Pit-Fighting 'Arena' Company in Middenheim. He's spent most of his life in the pit and not much time outside of it. He went to Praag to fight with his team but he was the only one that came back alive. The rest had been slaughtered by the Terrible Two, an Arena Champion and Master Shadowmancer, it was an unfair fight and the fight was called before they could finish Aldebrecht.

 

Borat is a Kislevite Kossar hailing from Praag, he got tired of the Kossars and decided an adventure was in order so he enlisted as a guard for Johann's coach trip.

 

Gottfried is an Outlaw from Middenheim, however he commited some crime in his past and he fled to the Forest of Shadows. He was captured there after an unsuccesful raid of the town of 'Nowhere' and for some odd reason, he was sent to the Kislevian mines near Praag but he ended up on the Slave Market. He was bought by the Arena Scout which had been looking for new contenders to go with Aldebrecht.

 

Haladin, an elf from the Laurelorn forest, saw his Kithband die in front of him. They were all slaughtered by the beastmen they tried to stop attacking an unsuspecting village. Haladin was barely alive when he was found by slavers which took his weapons. He was brought to the Slave Market in Praag, hoping that he'd fetch a decent price. A decent price was what they got, all thanks to a sly Arena Scout.

 

Hargin is an Irongun, a renowned family of gunsmiths and engineers. Coming from Karaz-a-Karak, he made his way to Erengrad where he met Johann. They instantly became friends and he decided to travel with Johann to see where the road went before he cracked down and started his gunsmithing.

 

Johann Otto, son of the infamous pirate lord Captain Gustav 'Flaming-Cutlass, Monkey King' Otto, though he doesn't like to admit it. (He dropped out of Pirate School at the age of 3, why? Because all the other pirates were playa-hatin on he.) At the age of 15, he escaped the secret-pirate-island-that-no one's-allowed-to-reveal-its-location-to-anyone...-ever and made his way to Middenheim. Getting there, he enlisted as part of a fledgling coaching company which was called 'Eyepatch Travels'. He always seemed to do well in whatever he did and nothing bad really happened to him during his service, after a few years and he was awarded his own coach. Until this day, he has never had a bad trip.

 

Back to the story...

 

Approximately 20 bandits jumped out and assailed the party. Borat, after being wounded, was pinned to the ground and held there as Johann was carried off and Gottfried was released from his cell. Hargin called out for Johann but was answered only with silence. Aldebrecht got his equip from atop the coach and lent Gottfriend and Haladin some weapons. They all found out that the wheel of the coach had broken too so their only choice was to walk. Borat led them to the Sovereign Skull Inn where they were let in on the mention of bandits attacking their coach.

 

The Innkeeper met them with a grumble. He made fun of Haladin by joking about Ear Tax. Naturally, he was a Dwarf. The Inn was at its typical loudness, boisterous men singing raunchy songs. Wailing and screeching of drunken lyrics. Hargin felt right at home and joined in. Aldebrecht sat in a corner and pondered. Haladin asked the Innkeeper about the bandits in which he exaggerated (unbeknownst to Haladin) that they were worth 50gc a head.

 

As the night wound down, the party tried to sort lodgings out. Hargin and Borat paid for their own rooms leaving the rest to sleep in the stables without paying. The following morning they were woken up by the residing roadwardens and thrown in a pit-cell when Hargin, their apparent benefactor, claimed he didn't know them. He soon coughed up 6s for them and they were released. The Innkeeper told them of a toll-gate that might have an Imperial Scout that will do the job of tracking the bandits to their lair.

 

As they made their way to the toll-gate, bandits jumped out and attacked them. It was slow at first then it went swifter and all the bandits were killed. The party laid claim to some weapons, their armour and went back to moving towards the toll-gate.

 

Eventually, they arrived at the toll-gate and asked the toll-keeper about the bounty on the banidts. They were given 10s and 1gc for their troubles. The toll-keeper then led them into the living room where they saw at least 24 bandits sharpening their swords. Obviously they ran for it.

 

Hargin, being of the stocky sort, was a sort of pin cushion for the bandit's arrows. The others got away. After they got back to the Inn, the bandits were trailing behind them and they only had a few minutes to get ready.

 

The archers set up a line on the second floor with a journeyman wizard of the heavens helping them. As the bandits fired on the Inn, the Wizard helped put out the fires. Until a stray arrow poked through the roof and killed him. Then, Haladin jumped out of the window and landed safely. There was another Elf too, a Mercenary, which jumped out of the Inn but he broke his neck. Haladin made a note to loot his body later.

 

Cautiously picking off the bandits from the gate, they whittled their numbers down until they reckoned they could take 'em. They could. However, Borat suffered grevious wounds and nearly bled to death, if not for the intervention of Haladin.

 

And so our tale ends here. Until next time!